Playing

Adam loves to dance to his Thomas the train videos. He loves Gordon (because he is BIG) the most.

Then we moved on to playing with Stitch. Stitch is NANI's favorite (of anything that's not hers), and that makes Adam angry. Back off, Nani!

Then we lined up all our Thomas trains. What a fun morning!

Package

Adam just loves to get packages. He always thinks they are presents for him. Today they actually were. He woke up to find the contents of the latest package from Grandma and Grandpa Chlapowski - a Thomas train plus some goodies from Grandma Tanaka (the Hawaiian rice candy and head scarf from the church). He just couldn't wait to try everything out.

Fun with Daddy

Mirror images.

Look at my hair! It won't sit down, especially not with the humidity from the rain.

Adam is still into his mouse ears. He loves Dis-i-ney (as he says it).

Daddy and Lottie at night.

Wall-E

There was a EOD, an Explosive Ordinance Disposal robot at the festival. Adam was first a little concerned, then realized it was a robot like Wall-E, and loved it. He spent the next hour asking where Wall-E went.

Performances

This was the Bon Jovi cover band on the outdoor stage. Love the wig!This was the Japanese dancing troupe on the indoor stage. Love the flags!

Yokota Friendship Festival

We braved the rain to take Adam to the Yokota Friendship Festival today. They had a bunch of planes and helicopters out on the flight line, as well as two stages for performances, and lots of food booths. Here we are in the hangar, about to go out in the rain.

Daddy and Adam love looking at the planes.

This plane flies to Hawaii, hence the Spirit of Kamehameha.

Sometimes it got too wet for Adam, so he would hop back into the stroller.

Adam got to drive the Japanese rescue helicopter.

He also got to sit in back, but that wasn't nearly as exciting.

Chris's Birthday

Lottie and Adam were happy to celebrate Daddy's birthday (a day late) with a cake. Adam helped decorate the cake with sprinkles and was very excited to sing Happy Birthday and eat the cake.

Swim Class

Adam and Calum pose in their life jackets.

Chris got to go in the water with Adam for the last day of swim class. Here is Adam almost blowing bubbles. He will now blow bubbles and kick at the same time, when he is focused, but most of the time he just likes being in the water. He is totally fine with getting dunked and going underwater now, so that's a big improvement!

Here is Adam with Ms. Kim, his swim instructor. She was very patient with the two boys and they learned a lot.

Adam and Calum swimming using the noodles.

Playing

Lottie's crazy hair after it was in pigtails.

Holding hands.

Joyce

Joyce is the wonderful JAG intern that worked here in Japan for the summer. She had the unfortunate timing of having to stay with us for three days about a month after Lottie was born, until her lodging was available. Then she had some terrible roommates, but that's an entirely different story. She was very gracious about all of it though. Anyway, Joyce left Japan on Saturday - here she is posing with Adam on Friday. She has a way with kids. Adam is still asking for her! "Mommy, where did the Joyce go?" Our jump seat in the back of the van has alternately been called the Grandpa seat, the Bapa seat, and the Joyce seat. Good luck at your last year at U of Wisconsin, Joyce!

Almost Rolling

Lottie could roll, if she wanted to. Here is Nani, getting in her way and licking her (as always). Lottie will hold onto anything she can though, to avoid rolling either way!

Swimming, Week 2

Adam's swimming is getting a little better. He's sometimes blowing bubbles, sometimes dipping his nose in the water, and he can swim all by himself using the noodle. He doesn't cry when he gets dunked now, ever. Yay! However, he doesn't really care for any of that, he just lives for the end of class, when he gets to do the Hokey Pokey (or as Adam calls it, "the Pokey Pokey"). He does like just being in the water, so I'm sure he'll continue to get better and better. He and his buddy Calum even try out their new skills in the baby pool on their own time. We can't wait for Thursday, the last day of classes, when Daddy gets to swim with him.

Big Girl

Lottie is getting to be a big girl.

Her sitting is getting better - she's not lying directly on her legs now. But she seems surprised to be doing it.

Jelly

Adam has rediscovered his love of jelly. I think he's on a growth spurt again, since he's eating everything in sight. Here he licked most of the homemade freezer jam (strawberry and raspberry) off the peanut butter before eating the bread. He's been on a strike against most fruit and vegetables, so it's a win for fruit today!

Adam's Olympic Dream

To be the best female gymnast in the world! He can dance AND tumble!

Lottie, Trendsetter

We were watching the Chinese women play Japan tonight, and noticed that TWO of the Chinese players and Kinga for the Japanese have Lottie's haircut! Check out numbers 3 and 7 on the Chinese team. They don't have the pretty bow in front though. Maybe this is a good sign for Lottie's future as a soccer player.

Swimming

Adam is on his second day of a two week long, daily swim class session. He's already better than he was last year. He got dunked three times today, and only cried a little. He's kicking pretty well, but will only blow bubbles on his own schedule. When you try to get him to get his face in the water to blow bubbles WHILE kicking, he says, "NO BUBBLES!" He also has decided both days that he's done midway through class, declaring, "All done!" Oh well. We'll see how he's doing next week.

Blankets

Adam is obsessed with blankets. He always wants to make sure that "feet covers up," i.e., his feet are covered up. He also loves trying to cover up Lottie.

Videos

Adam decided to stack all the family videos today. He also took all the covers off the DVDs, and set them aside. Such a great organizer!

A Day in the Life

Adam and Lottie pose for pictures.

Adam, as usual, gives Lottie a little too much love.

Adam showing off his sunglasses.

Lottie practicing "sitting." Nani gives her kisses.

Crazier Hair

Lottie's hair just keeps getting crazier and crazier. It will stay down for approximately two hours after her bath, then it's back to being crazy. Her hair takes up about one-third of the picture! It'll be time for a haircut very soon.

Olympics

Adam loves the Olympics. Not as much as Mommy, but Adam does enjoy the sports. Adam is showing off the Olympic dolls he got when he was born - straight from China! They were a gift from Gram & Bapa's driver in China.

Dancing

Lottie is big enough for Mommy to break out the baby dancing video. Adam still likes getting danced too. He's especially fond of the train dance, but he also likes dancing by himself. Or dancing with the dog.

Loving the ExerSaucer

Video of Lottie loving her ExerSaucer. She is surrounded by all the toys that Adam gave her. Such a helpful big brother.

Golf

Adam loves to play golf/baseball. He thinks it's the same thing. They both involve hitting balls with sticks, so they must be the same!

Sick

Adam and Lottie are getting the cold that is going around. Lottie takes comfort in Mommy and Daddy.

Adam tries on Lottie's dress, but gets mad when Mommy tries to take it off. Amazing that it fits around the ribcage at all. It's just a little short, like a cute shirt instead of a dress. He did NOT get to leave the house in it.

ExerSaucer

Lottie is now big enough for the ExerSaucer. Here she is, trying it out for the first time.

There are a lot of exciting things to play with, and Adam tried to show her all of them!

Of course, Adam wanted to try it out again, but he's just a LITTLE too big for it.