Photos of my Indiana stay

Well!  That month and a half went by quickly!

I am back home in Japan and realize that I really didn't keep anyone informed about what my month in Indiana was like.  I rarely had time alone to sit down and blog though I actually can't report that much was accomplished while I was there.  I've got pictures (mostly baby pictures) and I did spend yesterday telling stories to Tetsu about my stay so I'll try to recap here.

We actually didn't get out of the house too much for the whole month that I was in Indiana.  I think Luka and I walked down the road to a pond a couple of times but that was about it for my exercise.  I did mention in my last post that I was getting exercise in other ways and so I decided to record my new routine in my bullet journal.  Baby bouncing, Stair stepping, Deep waist bends, Room walking and Getting up and down from the floor. 

On top of that, there was a lot of baby holding to give Leiya a break or to just let her take a nap.

I gained great confidence at putting a baby to sleep in my arms with just a lot of bouncing and a pacifier!

Taiga-kun wasn't much for sleeping unless he was being held...

This is a practice that I didn't ever get the hang of...  baby wrapping otherwise known as swaddling.  I suppose it must be a common practice as even baby Jesus was swaddled, but I couldn't do it and it looked so uncomfortable for Taiga-kun, but he seemed to sleep better when he was wrapped up like a burrito so to each his own.

By the way, Taiga's Chinese/Japanese characters were chosen.  Tai 太 meaning mighty and gentle and Ga 河 meaning huge river.  One of those characters is similar to one in Luka's name also so that was another deciding factor.  Tetsu gave a lot of input to the choice of characters and many text messages flew over the ocean (and that Tai in Taiga's is also used in the Japanese translation of Pacific Ocean!)  When all was explained in great detail to Tony, he made the deciding vote. 

I'm proud to report that Luka has made a good adjustment to becoming a big brother!  

He isn't too thrilled to be sitting next to screaming Taiga in the car but he's just going to have to get used to that (or Taiga will have to get used to riding in the car.)

As you recall, Leiya set me on the task of making two baby quilts that she could give to her friends and so we made numerous trips to JoAnne's (about the only store I did ANY shopping in this trip!)  When Luka was at pre-school and Leiya and Taiga were napping, I'd scurry off to the bedroom where Leiya had set up a sewing machine for me.  She definitely needs a new sewing machine though!

At my last post I showed the one quilt that I'd gotten made and then I started on the second... with new fabric from the original main fabric she'd chosen.  Leiya chose to have a border added to this one and instead of doing stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around ALL the blocks like in the first quilt, I just quilted around the main blocks and then did some decorative stitching in the border.  Leiya liked this quilt so much that she has decided to keep it for herself... and we went to JoAnne's AGAIN for her to choose MORE fabric for a new quilt for her friend!  That is going to be my first project once I'm settled back in my sewing room in Japan.  (I've still got jet-lag today.)

Luka was very interested in my sewing, both at the sewing machine and when I was hand quilting, so I made a cardboard sewing board for him to try on his own.  I can't say that he loved this activity but he stayed at it for quite awhile...

Is there something strange about this photo?  Yes!  Taiga and Leiya are covered in leaves!  Leiya and I had been chatting while I was quilting when Luka ran into the house all excited and happy and obviously wanted to share his joy at discovering something.  He suddenly threw an armful of damp leaves up in the air... filling the room and covering his mother and brother in debris... and then he realized that maybe it hadn't been his greatest idea.  After a stunned silence from all of us (Taiga didn't even wake up) Leiya calmly suggested he take his muddy shoes off and maybe outside things should be left outside...  Luka agreed that might be so and quietly went to take off his shoes.  Leiya whispers at me trying not to laugh "Quick!  Take a picture!" and so I did!

Except for the one day of snow that we had before Taiga was born, we began to see the changes of spring arriving in Indiana.  Trees started to blossom. 

We passed fields of purple flowers as we drove places.  

Daffodils began to bloom.  

The deer came out.  

Squirrels visited us daily (one of my favorite things to do was to sit and quilt by the window and watch the birds and squirrels!)

I love the Indiana countryside!

For the last week or so in Indiana, I got it into my head that I should be speaking to Luka in Japanese as much as possible and Leiya and I switched to Japanese when speaking to him or each other, except when Tony was around or when Luka needed to be disciplined.  He got pretty good at understanding what I was trying to get across to him and even began to mimic Japanese words.  Leiya and I got the feeling that he thought of it as a puzzle to be solved...  "What is Grandma Tani saying to me now?"  I don't think Leiya can keep it up too much but maybe Luka will remember that with Jiji (Tetsu) and now Grandma Tani, he's going to have to understand a bit of Japanese...  And what is this photo?  In February Japan has an event when a parent will dress up as an ogre and the children will throw peanuts at him chanting "Out with the ogre!  In with good luck!"  I had brought a couple of paper ogre crowns (Luka wanted to be an ogre too) and instead of peanuts we had him throw bird seed at me.  "Oni wa soto!" (Out with the ogre!) he said in his cute little voice.  

A couple of nights before I left, we had a tornado warning and though we were all in bed, I could hear the sirens around the neighborhood and pretty soon Leiya came upstairs to explain and said in case she got any tornado alerts on her phone the plan was that we were going to hide out in a closet sized bathroom near the garage which didn't have any windows.  She took a mattress downstairs just in case but I didn't think much of it until about 10 minutes later I could HEAR the wind roaring at us!!!  "Leiya!  I think we'd better get into the bathroom!"  The lights flickered off and I was not waiting around to see what would happen next!  I pulled Luka out of his bed and lugged his weight downstairs (again, I don't know how many times this trip that  I thought about how grateful I am that my hip was mended).  Leiya was carrying Taiga and rounding up blankets and flashlights and water though Tony didn't think we were in any immediate danger.  She and I chose to hunker down in the bathroom with the two children though and there we stayed for about an hour with her messaging back and forth to her neighbors... most of whom weren't too concerned but offered the use of their basements if the tornado hit...  (How we'd make it across the lawn, I don't know.)  

The days to go back to Japan draw near...  The family seems to have established a routine and Taiga-kun with getting passed back and forth between mommy and daddy for awhile longer...

I will miss being part of the exchange...

Sunday morning before 5:00 AM, Tony drove me to the airport and I flew to a layover in Dallas/Fort Worth.  After that it was a 13 hour flight back to Japan!  But I have arrived safely though somewhat tired.  But I did it!  

Introductions!

A quiet few minutes here in the house.  Let me tell you, they are few and far between!

So...  The new baby's name is....  Taiga!  I wish I could tell you what the names mean but Leiya is still trying to decide on the baby's Chinese characters, and there are SO MANY to choose from.  As does brother Luka, Taiga-kun will have dual citizenship and so Leiya and Tony want to have the Chinese/Japanese characters chosen before Taiga makes the trip to the Japanese embassy to register.  Leiya has been in consultation with Tetsu about the choice of characters and that should be decided this week.

Just for fun...  Which baby is Luka when he was one day old and which baby is Taiga?  They weighed nearly the same and it is hard to tell their baby pictures apart.  Leiya says 

"Well, everyone thought Tony and I would make different babies each time because we've got Asian, African American, and Caucasian genes all mixed up in us but it looks like we only make the same baby..."  Luka is the baby on the left, Taiga on the right.

Taiga is a good baby, not too fussy but not much for long term sleeping either.  He and Leiya have made a couple of jaunts to a lactation clinic and so far breast-feeding is going better than it did for Luka.  He is not much for sleeping at night though unless someone holds him so most mornings I find Leiya in a recliner holding him.

For the past two weeks, Tony has been basically at home and he has ended up doing most of the cooking for all of us.  I handle breakfast (usually granola and fruit) and washing all dishes.  I've taken over laundry and straightening the house when necessary but probably my main job is keeping Luka entertained.  

I can't tell you how grateful I am that my hip functions as normal people's do.  I could never have handled this stay in Indiana with a bum hip!  I'm up and down the stairs with Luka or laundry, I'm down on the floor playing with blocks with Luka or bouncing on a balance ball taking my turn trying to get Taiga-kun to go to sleep.  I am so happy that I can do all this with only the grunts and groans of a normal aging grandmother.  Yeah!

Taiga-kun's first bath.

Early morning in the living room.

I think I reported that it snowed once since I've been in Indiana...

Leiya and I have made three trips to JoAnne's since I've been here, buying fabric for myself to take back and also buying fabric for two quilts that Leiya asked me to make.  I finished up one this morning!  We had a snag with the other (same pattern).  Leiya had picked out a fabric but when it was all laid out before sewing, she decided she didn't like the main fabric after all so back we went to JoAnne's.  (Coordinating the trip to the lactation clinic 45 minutes away).  I am almost ready to get into the quilting but I don't think I'll be able to finish up while I'm in Indiana.  That first quilt was all handquilted as Leiya's sewing machine is barely functioning.  (Something, probably Luka, has gummed up the innards of the sewing machine and it was a struggle to even sew seams).  I'll be taking a flimsy home and I'll have to mail the finished quilt back to Leiya which is a shame but I have less than two weeks left in Indiana so it can't be helped...

Luka attends pre-school for three hours, three days a week and so that is when I get most of my sewing done...  

He has helped out a couple of times though.

We mostly build things with his magnetic tiles...

Or play in the tire sandbox in the backyard...

We go for walks to a nearby pond...

Arrange meetings with his stuffed animals...

Or read story books...

And Luka is learning important skills in how to be big brother...  A lot of patience and self-control is involved!

The new family of four!

"My name is Taiga.  So nice to make your aquaintance!"