Been too long

Can't believe I haven't posted anything for over 4 months. Me bad bad bad ...
JJ has changed so much that I don't know where to begin. How about what we did today.

We let JJ sleep until almost 10:30am today to see how far he could push it. Noriko thought that he might be transitioning over to no PM nap mode. Or, he might have been too exhausted from yesterday. Anyhow, we all felt taking it easy so we just woke up whenever.

Finally, JJ got up by himself. After the initial wake up ritual of inseparable attachment to mum and a quick bite of porridge (yesterday's leftover but still very good!). We headed off to VIP Seafood in WLA for a dim sum fix. Noriko and I were both longing for one.

JJ, as usual, went for the baked barbecue pork buns. There were superb! No wonder he couldnt' stop eating them. I did the chinese eating thing where I kept shoving stuff in with minimal conversational pauses while Noriko took time to feed JJ. Boy, was I a lucky dude!
Noriko had quite recovered from her cold and she only ate a little. Nonetheless, it was a rather satisfying $46 tab for 2.5!

On our way to the beach, we stopped by a few open houses. JJ was making comments about the properties like " Hey, this is big", "Oh, I want to see other rooms", "Nice bathroom". His expressions were more interesting than the houses.

JJ's talk has progressed so much that he's conversing in full sentences (to be expected for an almost 3, I suppose) Still, as parents, we are constantly amazed by what comes out of his mouth.

He is switching between E and J pretty effortlessly. Hopefully, this skill will stay. I am sensing the taking over of E because of his interaction with his E speaking play buddies. Good thing is that he's interested in songs so I have been teaching him Cantonese songs like "It's a Small World", which he seems to like a lot. Not singing it yet. But, potential there. Or, may be all parents think about their kids that way.

Anyway, back to today's saga. After the open houses in SM, we headed to one of our fav places for JJ to run away - Pepperdine campus. The school was on break so everything was closed and the place was deserted. We hung out by the water fountain near the student center. JJ was climbing up and down the permiter and ventured into the center of the fountain occasionally.
Noriko and I took turns to nap in the lovely shade by the ocean. Boy, the air was sooo good. I kept thinking about buying a house in Ventura.

JJ kept wanting to go to the beach. We obliged. He had his first taste of the ocean when he slipped and fell into the water while wading. He was all soaked so he had to go topless for a while. He seemed to like the ocean a lot and was gaining courage to test the waves. All in one, it was a fun fun time just watching him wade with Noriko.

He felt asleep on our way back so Noriko jumped off and did some shopping at Nijiya. We got him "sasa" so he was happy to wake up to a nice cream puff when we got home.

Still going to bed late

JJ has been going to bed around 11pm. He can't fall asleep earlier than that. He used to go to bed around 930. His pattern was upset by the trip to Japan back in Oct. We still have not been able to push it back to normal.
He was running a lot in Japan so he may not be getting enough exercise back at home He goes to kids' club almost every day but the running there may be enough. We need to find more time to take him running. It used to be a lot easier before winter. Now, it's dark and cold.
Our evening exercise spot is now the mall where he can run around and plays to his heart content at Playtown when there aren't too many kids around.

JJ's way of saying NO

He has developed a new way of refusal.
Mummy says " Do you want to go the park?"
Parks are one of his fav places. But, sometimes, he just doesn't feel like going
JJ replies " What if I fell and hit my head? or "What if sand got into my shoes"? "What if bugs bit me?"

Is this a sign???

Just when we thought ...

An amazing event took place this morning. JJ woke up quietly, went down to the toilet downstair where his private toilet was located and took care of business. Gone was his signature wake up wailing and fuss. Man, we were impressed. Our boy had finally made it to the big league.

Then, as the day went on, our excitement waned and disappointment set in as he had 3 potty accidents. Our guess was that he did it deliberately because we were giving him enough attention. Daddy and Mummy were watching their fav. Japanese drama in spite of his strong protest. He kept proclaiming how uninteresting the drama was, telling us how scary some of the characters were (it was a trendy comedy), how unattractive the actresses were, yelling as the TV to tell the characters to go somewhere else, and demanding the TV be switched off.

I guess we were somewhat guilty and his behaviour ( if our guess was right) would put him in the feline category!

JJ's speech

JJ's fav. phrases - "This is mine", "Don't do it", "What are you doing?", "Don't touch"
As for Nihongo - " Yada", "Yatta", "oshiko". and many many regular conversational phrases.
Sometimes, JJ goes on a monologue that is mostly unintelligible and somewhat German sounding. We are looking forward to his proper English speeches.

The toy tree trunk at Playtown in Valencia Mall is one of his favourite stages on which he stands and proceeds to espouse his thoughts in an almost Hitlerish manner, and sometimes orders his parents around during the process.

It's just amazing to witness the contrast between his almost withdrawn demeanor for the first few min when he enters Kids' Club everyday and this dynamic and commanding presence.

Hansei Kai (Time Out)

Hansei Kai in garage as necessary. JJ had a taste of it. Now, it's a great deterence. Boundaries are still being tested. Rarely out of control though.

Road to pre-school

Mummy found a nice pre-school which offer child care and recreational activites just a few min walk from our house. 'Shooting Stars" is very new, nice and has good vibes. A family run biz with the owner living just across the street. JJ has been there twice already. Had a good time on both occasions. There are several rooms w/ different amenities for different purposes. Quite well run from what I could tell. Teachers are high energy and very friendly.

Mummy and Daddy both agree that it's good place for JJ to start pre-school, and to get some temporary babysiting relief since they have supervised play hours on most evenings of the week.

JJ needs to get more exposure to English. While we are not too concerned, it'd good for him to get more comfortable with it now that his Japanese has reached a pretty decent level for his age.