In Mama's Shoes

19 Months

Another month has gone by. Wow, time flies. We have been to Thailand, several parks, the zoo, weekly trips to the indoor playland, multiple trips to the 100 Yen store, the neighbor's house, many playdates, and the gym. Busy month! Over the course of the month, Ashlyn has learned many new words and can follow directions quite well.

Her words now include:

doggie, kitty cat, bunny (baba), butterfly (bubba), monkey (mama), turtle, elephant (elll), duck, doll, book (bopfh), boat, juice, cracker, noodle, door, car, truck (beep beep for the sound they make backing up), bath, bubbles, ball, candle, star, moon (moo), grandpa (sounds like "bubba"), grandma, night night, Elmo (Melmo), pants, shirt, sock, shoe, mama, dada, Jack (her little buddy here), apple, banana (nana), more, all done, dip-dip (for the sauce she dips her broccoli, meat, pancakes, etc. in), balloon (ba-oo), flower, purple, oh-no, bee, baby, nose, teeth, and of course . . . "no", and as of the last few days - "yes." Of course there are the animal sounds too: dog, cat, bird, pig, tiger, lion, fish, horse, sheep, cow. And she's learning new words each day!

She continues to amaze me with her words and understanding of what I say, both in English and Japanese. It's so cute when she attempts to repeat Japanese back to us (I'll have to get a video of that soon). I can ask her walk to the car, walk to the front door, find her juice, go get the phone, walk upstairs to go night night, find a book to read, sit on the couch, give me a hug, sit on her bottom, push the button for the bath water, get me a new "mimi" (diaper), put my socks back in the drawer, and so much more! I feel like I can actually see her brain make connections and expand before my eyes.

She is still a ham and loves attention, especially from Japanese people. She will look at them shyly and then wave and smile and sometimes blow kisses, all to get a "kawai" (cute) from them. She makes the best facial expressions and laughs and giggles so hard when you tickle her or do something humorous. Hunter's favorite is when he tickles her and she says "da -da" in a way that sounds like "dada, you're funny and I like it and it tickles and you're making me laugh but I want you to stop but I like the attention."

And then there are the tantrums, which I am getting better at ignoring or walking away from, but my, does she have a temper. When she doesn't like something or you tell her no, she will throw whatever is in her reach. I'm chalking it up to being a toddler for now, but am not totally convinced.

But most of the time, she is a fun-loving, happy, silly little girl who loves shoes, putting things on her head (books, towels, hats, anything to get attention), eating, and her daddy.

At the Zoo

SOOOOOO excited about the zoo

my sweet little monkey

oohhhh. . . . monkeys!!! (real ones!)

the first sakura no hana (cherry blossoms) of the season!!

a little fun before we hit the road

the zoo was so exciting that she fell asleep a few minutes after we got into the car

Girl's Day

The first time we visited our neighbor's house was one year ago, on Girl's Day (Hina Doll Festival Day), so of course we were invited back to celebrate again this year.

What a difference a year makes:

New Talent

Daddy taught me this one

What Does a Horse Say?

Reading

She was so studiously reading to me (with her feet crossed as always) that I had to get the video camera out and, of course, as soon as I turned it on, she stopped, flipped the book around until she got it just the right way, then finally started "reading" again. This just cracked me up!

Mt Takao

riding the cable car 1/2 way up

where's our little monkey?

"o sarusan wa doko desuka?" (where is the monkey?);

we LOVE that she's learning Japanese along with us!

1/2 way up view

snow monkey, walking

hiking to the top, through the slushy snow

made it! now let's explore :

Exploring the "Yard"

on top of the utility cover

over the stepping stones

through the puddles

momentary pause for a photo

Blueberry Randomness

Diaper Woes

Poor girl, she will hate this photo later in life, but it's just too cute not to share. I was in the process of changing her into PJs, and got as far as getting the clothes off when she just got up and started roaming around, diaper 1/2 off, but happy as a clam.

Thailand, Installment 5: Bangkok

the view from our hotel room

daddy entertainment on the boat ride

just let me lay in your lap for 2 seconds

on a "boabph," heading back to the hotel for bed

And that wraps up our Thailand adventure. Different type of trip than we expected, traveling with a toddler, which resulted in early mornings, early bed times and pauses for a nap during the day, but we are thankful for the opportunity to explore a new country and enjoy the beach, hot weather, and great food!

Thailand, Installment 4: Dinner "On the Rock"

On our last night in Phuket, we ventured over to neighboring Karon Beach for what was intended to be a relaxing, picturesque way to wind up our time down south. Well, the picturesque part came through for us, but the relaxing and peaceful part did not, thanks to an opinionated little person who refused to sit in her chair. SO, while one of us was sitting at the restaurant enjoying the dinner, the other spent time down on the sand with Ashcake. It worked out well for her, but disappointing for us. Ah, such is the life of parents with toddlers.

Thailand, Installment 3: Elephants, Monkeys, an Ox and a Waterfall

This was our only day of adventure, away from the pool and beach. A 1/2 day tour to ride in an ox cart and on an elephant, and to see a waterfall and monkeys. It was a LONG, hot afternoon and after this day, we decided that it be our last day of adventures on our trip.

the view from up top

refreshing treat after the elephant ride - an orange slushy

look - monkeys! (gibbons)

The gibbons - why isn't Ashlyn in the cage with them? Isn't she a monkey?

ox cart (water buffalo?)

BangPae Waterfall

Thailand, Installment 2: The Hotel

stepping right out the door to the pool

nice and relaxing

open please

Good morning fishies, nice to see you today

yep, they got a pretty breakfast here - ya'll should come check it out

roaming the halls of the hotel

Thailand, Installment 1: Traveling & the Beach

our first Thai meal - at the Bangkok airport, waiting for our flight to Phuket

(pronounced "Poo-ket")

Employing the monkey - this was after 11 hours of traveling, so she was at the end of her rope; too bad we still had an hour flight and then an hour drive until we got to our final destination. BUT, as seen below, it was worth it:

(thank you nice Swedish lady for taking this family photo)

flopped out on the beach chair, away from the icky sand for a while

Inai, Inai, Ba! (Peek-a-boo in Japanese)

aahh, the water is so much better than the sand