Rusie Dutton yoga

My friend picked me and my sister up and we all went to "Rusie Dutton" last night. My friend introduced us to this Thai traditional ''hermit'' yoga, an ancient exercise posture, which focuses on the twisting and turning of the hands and body. And it also will release stress and tension from the body, help the body heal itself, and promote deep relaxation.

It was easier than Yoga, but yet released my shoulder pain, and it felt so good to stretch my body! Also we did Zazen (Zen meditation) before the class started, because the class was held in a temple. It was also my first time to do Zazen... My friend, my sister and I did it for only 15 minutes, as we were little late for the class. When we finished Zazen, we found out that the other people had been doing Zazen for 30 minutes!!!! (I was glad that we were late -- hahaha). But I might try 30 minutes next time (or maybe I will be late again...).

My sister and I really liked this style of yoga, so we will go to the class as much as we can while we are both here in Niigata! Hopefully all of my tension will be gone by then (^-^)

Cousins

My sister and her kids arrived at our family home in Niigata yesterday! I have been looking forward to seeing them this year, and introducing Luke to his cousins. Well, Luke is still too young to get to know them, but he does follow Yuuma around (sometimes), and he likes to touch Kie. In a few more years, they will all really enjoy hanging out with each other!

Yuuma (2 yrs old)
I was surprised how much he has grown since I saw him last time! I thought he was just a baby, but he is a big brother now -- whenever Luke tried to touch Kie (Yuuma's little sister), Yuuma rushed up to Kie and tried to protect her from Luke (^-^). Luke likes babies, so he just wanted to see her, but still Yuuma thinks Luke is going to hurt her -- hahaha

Kie (6 months old)
This was my first time meeting Kie. She is so cute and I love her chubby cheeks!!!! She is only 4 months younger than Luke, but she seems so small (I should say "delicate") compare to Luke. Boys and girls are definitely different!

Look at me!

For the past 3 or so weeks, Luke has been practicing walking everyday... and lately he likes holding onto a bucket when he's walking around. Check out the result of his practice (^0^).

Pretty good, isn't he?

Summer day!

Our neighbor brought over a summer vegetable this morning! It's called "yuugou", and we can make plenty of miso-soup and other dishes with this size (^0^) -- it is almost as big as Luke. He has enjoyed playing with this summer vegetable all morning!

When Luke woke up from his nap today, we found out my grandpa was outside weeding in the garden. So we decided to join him! This was Luke's first time on the gravel. We had a good time and enjoyed in the shade (^-^)Well, we couldn't pick all the weed, so we will have an afternoon activity another day!

Seasonable food

When I looked on the table at dinner time, all our food tonight came from my grandpa's vegetable garden -- summer vegetables! And it reminds me of something that my family told me when I was young -- "Look to the east and smile when you eat. If you do, you will live three years longer!" My sister and I always do this when we eat fresh vegetables from my grandpa's garden.
Tonight, we had a lot of smiles at our table (^-^)

Three amigo(a)s!

Two of my friends, Chiemi and Nakatomo, from when we were all in fashion design school, came and stayed with us this weekend! Chiemi brought her two kids -- Koharu (girl, 5 yrs old) and Tsumugu (boy, 3 yrs old) with her, so Luke also had nice company!

This weekend, Koharu learned how to feed a baby (^-^). And when I was trying to get Luke to take a nap, she asked me a cute request like this "can I watch how to make Luke sleep?", and her next request was "I want to see Luke's face when he is sleeping!" -- hahaha Is that a girl's thing?!

I was really happy to see my old friends! I haven't seen Chiemi or Nakatomo for a long time, so it was fun to catch up on our lives!

We put all the kids to bed by 8:00 pm, and we began our chat and stayed up talking until 1:00 am... well, all the kids were awake up around 6:00 am the next morning, so we were sleepless and sleepy all day! -- but it was worth it (^0^). We are planning to see each other a couple of more times while I'm staying Japan. It's going to be fun. Oh? Are you wondering why Koharu is holding the ball in her sleep??? She decided to sleep with a ball, and she really did!...

10 months old! -- he likes to do...

Recently Luke has been practicing walking all day long. At first (just a couple of weeks ago) he walked only a few steps at a time, but now he can walk for 1 or 2 meters (well, sometimes)! When I see Luke, I'm always reminded of the phrase "practice makes perfect!" -- he is always a hard working little fellow (^0^)

Here are some other things that he has learned so far!

* Open a box and take out all the things from inside...
* Wave his hands and say "bye-bye".
* Climb the stairs (he is doing this 4 or 5 times a day...)
* Find bugs on the floor and put them in his mouth...
* Reach and grab things from above his head.
* Love people, and give his big smile to everyone.

He is learning and growing everyday (^0^). I'm looking forward to finding out what will be his new thing next month!

Monchhichi

Luke got a hair cut today (my mother's work...). I don't know how many people are familiar with Monchhichi (モンチッチ)... It was a famous doll, and then an animated TV show for children that was popular in Japan in the 1970s and 80s -- the series was also on TV in America for a couple of years, seen on Saturday mornings. My sister and I had a Monchhichi doll when we were little, and we loved it!! I'm sure it still in our storage somewhere! Anyway, Luke looks like Monchhichi with his new hair style -- hahaha.

Here is picture of Monchhichi.

And here is Luke... he is my Monchhichi (^-^)

It was a busy BUSY day!

We had a lot of visitors today -- well, actually they all visited to see Luke! Here are the all visitors pictures (^0^)/ Thank you for visiting us!

After Luke's morning nap, my mother's friend "Miya-san" came over, and spent time with Luke.

Around lunch time, my cousin Shinya and his daughter Hiiragi came over!

Luke and Hiiragi had a fun time together. They played with balloons for a few hours. In the end Luke bit the balloon and popped it...

Later in the afternoon, my grandpa and grandma (on my mother's side), aunt, and Shinya's older daughter Kaede joined us.

The kids had a lot of fun!

And the last visitor was my aunt, Luke will call her "Shinbo no Baba" (^-^) She came to see us this evening, and will stay in the house tonight. Yes, Luke will have a lot of fun with her all day tomorrow!

Paul's in Nagoya for the sumo tournament

I'm in Aichi prefecture this summer, studying at the Yamasa Institute -- learning more about Japanese culture and communication for a research project. The big summer sumo tournament is coming up in nearby Nagoya city starting next week, so we had a chance to spend the day with the wrestlers from Nagoya University yesterday. First we did some warming up exercises, then had a round or two with them (they were really nice and didn't hurt us too much), and finally end with a shared meal "chanko nabe" -- a vegetable and meat stew that really packs on the pounds!

Taking a nap on the futon

I've been questioned a few times about how we sleep in Japan. I usually explain that we use a futon on the floor. But I understand that many foreigners have no idea what that looks like (^-^). No, it is nothing like the horrendously heavy American "futon" sofa mattress! In Japan, the futon goes directly on the soft floor (tatami) and is so light it can be easily folded and stored in the closet every day when not in use. To illustrate, here is a picture I took when Luke was taking a nap on the futon today!

And this was what happened two hours later... I decided to use two Futon mattresses (side-by-side) when he takes a nap after I saw what he does. But still he is all over the place -- hahahaDon't worry, he's safe. The floors are soft and clean -- remember, we don't wear our dirty shoes in the house ever! Now, at least I don't have to worry about him falling down from the crib!

Welcome Julie and Richard

Julie and Richard came to visit us in Japan on their way to the States! Paul and I often talk about how much we miss our good friends on Guam. So it was so nice to see them again, and we had a great time with them and so did my family! This is Julie and Richard's first adventure in Japan -- they said that they landed in Narita Tokyo airport many times, but never made it out into Japan -- well, this time they did...

My mother's house is not close to Narita airport or Tokyo.... so Paul gave them directions on how to get to our small town. I was a little bit nervous about them traveling by themselves all the way to the backwoods of Niigata. But they were fine!

We picked them up at the Echigo Yuzawa station, not too far from our house. I was so excited when I saw them walking toward to the ticket gate!!! Julie was planning this visit even before Luke was born. I'm so glad that it really happened!

We had dinner at a small restaurant in downtown Muikamachi. They ate REAL Japanese food! -- heeheehee

On Sunday morning we all had a BIG Japanese breakfast (^-^) My family very much enjoyed having them with us.

After breakfast on Sunday, we visited "Kaisan do" temple. It was built in 1857, and there are beautiful carvings on the ceiling of the temple.

I don't remember when this tradition started. But we ALWAYS take pictures in front of the house whenever we have guests or relatives visit. So, here is the picture of my family and the Fees!

First steps

This morning when we were eating breakfast, Luke started walking a few steps. We were all so excited!! My mother thought he did three steps, but I thought he did four (^0^)/ I felt so bad that Paul was not here. But when Paul came back from Okazaki (a city in Aichi prefecture) this evening, we encouraged Luke to walk again. And... yes, he did it, but this time is was much better -- and we got it on video. These are some of his first steps!

96 years difference!

My grandpa and Luke are 96 years apart in age! And he gave Luke his middle name "Shigenari/茂成". Shige/茂 is my father's name and Nari/成 is part of my maiden name. Paul and I are so glad this summer to introduce Luke to him!!!

Relaxing day

We had a relaxing day at home in Niigata yesterday. My grandpa enjoyed playing with Luke and so did Luke (^-^). The first time they met, Luke just stared at grandpa, but now whenever Luke sees him, he gives him a big invitation smile, as if to say "let's play!"

Luke is getting spoiled with all the toys here... My sister left some for Luke to play with -- a lot of cars!!!! And today I got a call from my aunt and uncle that they already bought three toys for Luke... I told them that we don't want to too many toys, but I guess they can't help it...