Wordless Wednesday: Airborne

Quick note to say welcome to any new blog readers who stopped by after my Newport Aquarium post was featured on the freshly pressed blog. I loved reading all of your comments and hope you’ll come back.

Nye Beach, Newport, Oregon.

On This Day Six Years Ago…

Six years ago this morning, I found myself eagerly anticipating the birth of my first born (well, after the Epidural kicked in anyway. Before then I was eagerly anticipating a little pain relief).

What we experienced over just a few hours was a ton of excitement, then worry, then deep concern, then surgery, then immense joy. It seemed appropriate that, from the moment he was born, Thomas started us on the roller coaster that I’m sure will continue well beyond his teenage years.

A few facts about Thomas at six:

He changes his toy obsession from moment to moment. Right now our house is being overrun by Super Heroes. Lat week it was Cars and Wonderpets. Makes it difficult to shop for his birthday.
He is currently going through a stage where he will sing everything to me, opera-style. It’s really sweet for the first 10 or so minutes. (blame Wonderpets)
He is incredibly sensitive and often surprises me with his empathy.
He is smart – and getting smarter every day (and I’m only a little biased).
He has grown so much over the past year. From learning to ride his bike to blowing us away with his ability to learn everything from Math to Japanese, this kids amazes us every day.
He will NOT be celebrating his birthday with a cast on his arm.

Happy birthday baby (I’ll still be calling you that when you’re twenty). We are so proud of you.

The Outtakes

I was going to come on here to share a few wonderful photos of my children on their first day back at school – and then share some of the outtakes just for fun. But then I looked through my photos and realized that the outtakes were the norm and that, really, our life is just one long series of outtakes these days.

The first day back went as well as could be expected. I only had to leave one screaming child in the arms of a caregiver (Samuel) and was able to peel Thomas off my leg within 5 minutes, so I consider that a successful drop off.

Thomas’ first day of Kindergarten (that’s Prep, for my Aussie readers) was just an orientation so they only needed him for an hour – just enough time for me to grab a coffee and read a few emails on my first day back at work before I had to go and pick him up for his assessment. He did extremely well at assessment and declared himself to be “possibly the smartest kid in the whole school.” So I guess his confidence level is right up there with his math and reading scores.

Excited for the rest of the week – a birthday to celebrate, a real first day of Kindergarten to prepare for and a whole lot of work to do. Two weeks of vacation doesn’t do any favors for the inbox.

For now, enjoy some of our first day ~~outtakes~~ photographs.

Back to Reality

Today is officially the last day of Summer for our little family – despite the fact that our sad Portland weather makes us feel as though Summer has just begun. No, school and work will not wait any longer and tomorrow we will all be forced to come back to earth with a big, heavy thud.

Not that it’s all bad of course. We’re excited for Thomas’ first day of Kindergarten and I have all of his school supplies purchased and ready to go. We also have our house back after months of hosting guests. As much as we enjoyed playing tour guide this Summer, there’s something to be said for the pleasure that comes from putting everything back in it’s proper place.

I also have my access to the computer restored and plenty of vacation photos to share. See? Not all bad.

I’ll begin with our first day at Nye beach, Newport. We left sunshine in Portland to drive three hours to the misty, cold ocean, with just enough remaining sunlight to take some quick photos of the beach…

… and one of the most impressive sand castles I’ve ever seen.

Thomas and Karin decided to brave the freezing water.

You’ll notice that Thomas is wearing gumboots while Karin is not.

Which gave Thomas an advantage until he stepped in a puddle that his boots couldn’t handle.

So needless to say, it was a quick visit to the beach on our first day.

Back with more soon.

Friends? More Like Siblings.

The photo in this post is my entry for the latest I Heart Faces photo challenge, “Friendship”.

It’s interesting to look back over the last month and see how things have changed since Mayumi and Karin first arrived.Karin is not a shy child so, from the very first moment they stepped off the plane, she seemed comfortable in our house and with our children. But being comfortable and feeling at home are two different things and I think we can now safely say that Karin feels right at home.

This past weekend was the first time that Samuel and Karin really connected. And when I say “connected” I mean fought like siblings. Until now, Thomas and Samuel have kept up their constant bickering but Karin has largely stayed out of it. Now she is right in there with them, sometimes purposefully causing problems between the boys or trying to play on her cuteness. And I see this as a good thing. It means she’s comfortable. It means she can be herself with us, which I love.It means she treats our boys as she would a brother.

The challenge, however, is that the same rules don’t apply with Karin as they do with other children. When Karin takes a toy away, I can’t just ask Samuel to tell her how he feels and ask for it back because she doesn’t understand him. Of course the same is true of Karin – when she is upset she has trouble expressing her feelings in words unless Mayumi is close by to translate. Unfortunately it has resulted in a little more frustration and sometimes they act out that frustration by hitting. Still, I see this as a good lesson in patience (theirs and mine) and communication techniques when words don’t work.

So, where’s Thomas in all this? Well, he’s experiencing his own frustration. He doesn’t like it that the two little ones copy everything he does or when they take things away from him. He’s also having trouble finding his own space which is something we need to work on.

At the end of the day, though, the first thing Thomas and Samuel say when they get home is “where’s Karin?”. And Karin is all smiles the moment they walk in the door and they’re pretty much inseparable from that moment on. Maybe it was just a case of too much time together this weekend. Or maybe we just all need a vacation (coming soon!).

One thing’s for certain though, they are going to miss each other like crazy when Karin and Mayumi head home. Maybe, by then, I’ll manage to get a picture of the three of them together without the funny faces – or maybe this photo is a better reflection of real life right now, just a little bit crazy.

Hitting the Reset Button

Began my Monday morning with too little coffee and one car seat short. Thankfully I was able to stop at Starbucks for the coffee and borrow a car seat from a friend so I could get the kids to daycare. Monday is looking better already.

The weekend was filled with waterfalls, sunshine and snow (all on the same day!), a symphony in the park and a late night finishing the laundry. Pictures to come of course but first I have to get through Monday.

Plans for the day: whittling down the massive to do list sitting on my desk (photo editing, video editing, powerpoint editing), locating a couple of mattresses so my parents have somewhere to sleep during their visit, scheduling a cleaner in advance of the same visit, maybe getting the car washed and arranging a much needed pedicure appointment for my poor neglected feet.

In the meantime, I have these little monkey faces to look at for inspiration.

And Then the Sun Came Out…

After weeks (months!) of rain, the sun finally decided to show it’s face in Portland this weekend. We celebrated by continuing to show Mayumi and Karin around the city. In hindsight, probably not the best choice for the 4th of July/Portland Blues Festival/first nice weekend of the year. Still, we had a great time catching the train downtown and then navigating the the crowds, to sneak in a little waterfront fountain time and a walk to Pioneer Square. (Note to the Tourism Center: you need to stock more maps and materials in Japanese).

Making use of our Joovy double stroller again for the first time in at least a year. Came in very handy for toting at least two children at a time and sometimes even three.

The kids were a little hesitant about the fountain at first but as you can see, they soon got in the spirit. As difficult as it is to photograph in full sun, I love that we finally get to experience a few harsh shadows.

Oh, and temporary tattoos are big in our house. In case you were wondering about those unsightly marks all over my children.

And you can’t call it a trip to the Rose City without saying hello to at least one Beaver…

…or posing with a few local icons (Sapporo: 4,456 miles)

Such a fun day, harsh shadows included.

She Calls Him Oniichan

Thomas has really taken Karin under his wing. Sometimes she calls him Oniichan (big brother), other times Tomodachi (friend). He talks to her in Japanese and seems to understand almost everything she says. It’s sweet and more than I expected from this three-day-old relationship. They are kindred spirits.

Of course we’re also dealing with some jealousy issues from Samuel, mainly because his brother is more likely to spend time with someone who follows him around and does everything he wants her to do. Samuel is not that child, but, slowly, he and Karin have begun playing together. He calls her his little sister.

Right now all three of them are playing nicely upstairs. I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

On a side note, Samuel fell down the stairs this morning. I watched from above as he went head over tail down about 10 steps and then hit his head on the closed door at the bottom. Samuel gained a huge bump on his head, I lost about three years of my life. We drove to the emergency room but decided on the way that, since he didn’t lose consciousness and was talking and laughing by the time we got there, that we were better off spending our time watching him at home to make sure he’s OK than sitting in a waiting room.

Three years of age is a dangerous time. This is the third fall that Samuel has had in as many days. I’m pretty sure he’s having a growth spurt and it’s contributing to his clumsiness. I just hope he regains his footing soon for my own health as well as his.

It was difficult to capture it in a photo, but I assure you that the bump was immediate and very impressive.

On Being an American Mother

Growing up in Australia, my primary understanding of American childhood and adolescence were the images that came from the TV and movie screen. Happy Days and Grease (High school in the 50s), Family Ties (Family life in the 80s), Beverly Hills 90210 (High school angst in the 90s), Sesame Street (childhood with Muppets!).

Now, I realize that these representations of middle-American life are more stereotypical than true to life, but they gave me enough information to appreciate the many differences that existed for those wonderfully cool and attractive people that lived on the other side of the world, most notably…

School cafeterias
School buses
Cheerleaders
Jocks and football, track, basketball…etc. (but, strangely, few female sports)
Proms, homecoming dances and people who were given royal titles for such occasions.
Being able to drive yourself to school!
Lots of partying and drinking

Note: none of the above happened on Sesame Street. What I learned primarily from that show is that people and monsters can live side-by-side in harmony.

Right now, Kei and I are catching up on the one and only season of Freaks and Geeks. I don’t think the show ever made it to Australia and, if it had, I can’t help thinking that my view of the American adolescence may have been a little less bright and shiny and a little more like my own Australian experience (minus the cheerleaders).

I was the least popular girl in one of the slightly popular groups. We were not quite outcasts but we definitely lived near the fringe of school life. I was in the singing group (think Glee but with less impressive choreography), I played a minor character with a solo in the school production of Oliver!, I got mostly A’s but a few B’s (until they changed the grading system and I started getting S’s and C’s). For the most part, I flew under the radar and I knew, without a doubt, that my life would get better when I went to University.

And it did. Phew!

Now I find myself raising children in the world I saw on television and not the world I knew. Sure, there are similarities, but my kids will eat in a cafeteria, one day ride an iconic yellow bus to school… and then there’s the sports.

Thomas just finished his first season of T-Ball. Two practices and one game each week for three months. He’s only five. In two years he’ll have to try out for the team. On the one hand, I am excited that he’s growing up and spending time outside and, right now, seems to enjoy himself. On the other hand, I’m a little afraid of this brand new world that we’re both moving in to – the world of school buses and organized sports.

One thing’s for sure, though, I have never felt quite so much like an American mother as I did when I watched Thomas at his final T-Ball game of the season. And, while I felt as though I were having an out-of-body classic-American movie experience for some of the time, it was fun to watch my little boy run the bases.

And the best part? I can tell him about my couple of seasons spent playing with the Ferntree Gully Fireballs T-Ball team. Despite the fact that many of his other childhood adventures will also be new experiences for me, we’ll always have T-Ball.

I guess we’ll learn the rest together.