September has been quite an eventful month, with plenty of ups and downs! With a cross-country move and a whirlwind of changes, it’s been both exciting and exhausting. I’m ready for things to calm down and to just sit back, breathe in the fall air, and admire the beautiful colors that autumn will bring. (I think the fall season is one of the things I missed the most about the East Coast!)
Mio has been loving all the space she has to run around in, and practically lives in the backyard during the daytime. Here are some snapshots I took with my phone yesterday while she was enjoying the last of the September sunshine…
Mio on my childhood swingset.
In the sun’s spotlight.
Surrounded by green.
fence + ivy
Very rustic.
Mio with a leaf. She can say “happa” (Japanese word for “leaf”) now.
Pulling bowls out to play with.
She loves arranging all the colorful bowls on the floor.
Mio has always been very observant, and in recent months, she likes to imitate what she sees people around her doing. One of my favorites is how she sees me spreading toner and moisturizer on my face every night, and pretends to slap and rub some on her own cheeks with the biggest smile on her face. She loves doing this so much that every time she goes to the sink and gets some water on her hands, she does the same thing. It’s really funny and cute to watch.
This morning, Mio was watching my mother applying makeup with much curiosity, and wanted to try it herself, too. My mother handed her a near-empty powder compact, and Mio went to town with it! It reminded me of how I’d always sneak into my mother’s makeup as a little girl and try on her lipstick and blush, very eager to grow up and feel like a lady!
Here’s a video of Mio “prettying up” in my parents’ room.
I’d thought that Mio was going to grow up to be a tomboy, but lately she seems to be very interested in girly activities like skincare/makeup, trying on different shoes, hats, and accessories (she loves to raid my necklaces, bracelets, and sunglasses… and my sister’s, too), and twirling around while dancing. I’d thought that this stage would come much later (maybe around 3 years old or so at the earliest), so it kind of took me by surprise! I think, though, she’s just interested in trying everything grownups are doing in general, rather than the “girly girl” aspect of it.
My sweet little girl… don’t grow up too fast on me! 😉
Mio has yet to learn enough words to form full sentences, and a lot of her “words” are not quite real words but more abbreviated versions or sounds that represent them, but I’ve been noticing that she’s been picking up 3-4 new “words” every week, and it’s really made communication with her a lot more comprehensible and fun! I created a list of all of the things she says these days, and I was surprised at how much she’s learned over the past few months.
English Words
daddy mamma bubble ball baby cracker
Japanese Words
pahn – bread (derived from French word pain) meh – eye mimi – ear teh – hand ikou – let’s go itai – it hurts, or ouch kocchi – over here (She often uses this to point out that she wants what I’m eating, instead of what I’m trying to feed her) kore – this achicchi – Japanese word for when something is hot nenne – Japanese baby word for “sleep” kkukku – Japanese baby word for “shoes”
Sound-Based Words (Onomatopoeia)
wan wan – dog (Japanese version of “woof woof”) boo-bboo – car (Japanese sound for car honking) poopoo – need I explain? pippee – peepee ooh-ooh-ah-ah – monkey ppo-ppo – train (Japanese sound for train puffing out smoke) buu buu – pig (Japanese version of “oink”) gwa gwa – duck (Japanese version of “quack”) moh moh – cow (Japanese version of “moo moo”)
“Words” Invented by Mio
daiii – short for “daisuki,” which means “I love you” in Japanese chicchi – short for chinchilla
We can’t wait to see what new words she’ll learn next!
Now that we have a lot more space for Mio to play in the yard and driveway, we recently ordered a classic red Radio Flyer tricycle for Mio to ride! Though we thought she might be a little young for it, she’d taken an interest in other kids’ tricycles lately, and we wanted to take advantage of the last of the warm weather to let her try out her own. 🙂
It arrived yesterday, and I think I was more excited than Mio! Dan is away for three days for an introductory orientation for work, and he’s usually the one who would do all the assembling. But I couldn’t wait until Friday, so I decided to assemble it myself. I know, I know… I should get the Super Mom of the Year Award. 😉
Me working hard assembling the tricycle last night.
Once I got the wheels on, Mio recognized what it was and wanted to ride it. Here she is straddling it while I’m still in the middle of assembling it. The seat and handlebars weren’t on yet, but that didn’t stop her!
The assembly actually wasn’t too difficult; it just would have taken Dan a third of the time that it took me, because he’s much better at this sort of thing.
This morning, we pulled it out onto the driveway for a test-drive.
Isn’t it a beauty? I love the retro look of the metal frame and the classic red color. Wishing they made a grownup version (streamers and all)!
Mio inspecting the pedals.
Climbing up onto the trike….
Success! Unfortunately, as we’d suspected, her legs are still a little too short for both of her feet to reach the pedals.
She still reached her foot out as far as she could to try to rest it on the pedal, so it looks she she’s grasped the concept of it!
My favorite feature is the bell – so cute! Mio seems to enjoy ringing it, too.
She’s growing up so fast…
Mio repeatedly says “bubbuu” (the Japanese sound for a car honking) while on the tricycle. To her, anything with wheels is a car.
Propping her feet up on the front wheel.
It looks like Mio loves her red-hot ride! Can’t wait until she can really pedal and ride her tricycle everywhere… 🙂
We spent a full day on Wednesday last week in San Jose, after moving out of our El Cerrito home, to spend some time with Dan’s parents before we left for the East Coast. We spent most of the late morning strolling around the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose, had lunch, and then walked over to neighboring Happy Hollow Park & Zoo to dedicate the afternoon to letting Mio have some fun at the kids park going on rides, playing on the playgrounds, and meeting animals there.
By the bridge at the Japanese Friendship Garden
The beautifully landscaped Japanese garden.
Koi in the pond.
The koi had such gorgeous colors!
You could buy a handful of feed for the koi for a quarter, so we got some for Mio to drop into the pond. Here’s a video of Mio feeding the koi and ducks. She says “gwa gwa gwa” (the Japanese sound for quacking) when she sees ducks these days.
More quacking from Mio:
Mio loved feeding the koi and ducks!
Mio throwing feed into the pond.
Mio with Daddy and her grandparents
Beautiful Japanese maple tree reflects the arrival of autumn.
Strolling around the Japanese Friendship Garden.
I love that there are so many Japanese gardens in the Bay Area.
Delicious homemade bentos for lunch! Dan’s mother prepared all the delicious food and I just helped with handling packing the bentos with the food.
Mio and Dan eating lunch.
After eating lunch at the picnic tables, we walked over to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, which is right next to the Japanese Friendship Garden.
Mio touching the dinosaur statue in front of the park entrance.
We decided to let Mio ride the Mini Putt-Putt Car ride, since it was one of the few rides she was tall enough to go on in the park. I was a little worried about whether or not she’d be okay riding it by herself, but she was perfectly fine!
Mio turning the steering wheel. (She even pulled the rope to ring the bell a couple times!)
Mio loved it so much that she protested when I took her out after it was over. So we let her go on the ride a second time, this time in the police car.
A video of Mio on the Mini Putt-Putt Car Ride:
Poor Mio wasn’t tall enough to go on a lot of the rides.
Mio expressing her frustration at not being able to ride the swing carousel.
The playground at Happy Hollow was HUGE. And this wasn’t even all of it — there was another structure (for smaller kids) almost as large, across from this one. It was a playground on steroids.
Dan and Mio climbing up.
Dan about to take Mio down the slide.
“Yay, you did it!” Mio looks bewildered.
Dan and Mio went down another huge slide.
Mio had so much fun with Daddy on the playground. It’s usually me who takes her to the park while Dan is at work, so this was a nice change for her.
Mio making her way through the tunnel to Grandma
Mio crawling through the stone tunnel. She looks so angelic looking up at Grandma!
Smile of delight while going down the slide!
LOVE! I can’t get enough of that smile!
Mio going on the carousel with Mama
Mother-daughter moment.
Riding the carousel with Mama and Grandma
Mio cautiously feeding the goats at the petting farm area of Happy Hollow.
A cautious Mio leaning down to feed a goat.
Greedy goats crowding around Mio.
Grandpa showing Mio the miniature pony.
Mio and Dan looking at the sheep.
In the evening, we went to San Jose Japantown to have dinner at SJ Omogari Restaurant to have a delicious Korean dinner!
Hot seafood mixed rice from SJ Omogari Korean Restaurant for dinner
Back at the house, we took a family photo with four generations of Allens. Dan’s grandmother (Mio’s great-grandmother) is 94 years old and is still so healthy and talkative – amazing!
The day was a really memorable way to wrap up our time in California! We got to spend time with family, see beautiful sights, and Mio had a blast, too!
