Another week has flown by (John doesn't teach Friday, so it's like our weekend begins early here). Fall is definitely here with what I think of as East Coast colors -- reds, oranges, and yellows (like the leaf falling in this photo at Nakajima Park this week).
Kate bravely got her stitches out on Wednesday morning and then John rushed her back to school where her class was taking a field trip to a park -- thankfully she made it in time. Again, no tears, even as the doctor pulled on the strings and it looked like it was hurting. They also made John get some tape that she is to wear on it for the next THREE months. I think it is to ensure the most minimal of scars! And the final bill was not the super-expensive one we had preparing ourselves for -- less than $200 total and it should be reimbursed by our Blue Cross in Canada. So that was good news.
Also, Jack lost a second tooth today!
We asked Hiromi if anything special happens when a child loses a tooth in Japan. She said that if it is a lower tooth, you throw it off a roof. If it is an upper tooth... well, the word she showed me in the dictionary was "to do a thankless task", but she motioned as if throwing it under something -- under a bridge, or somewhere low.
Anyway, if you do both of these things, apparently it guarantees "strong adult teeth." I tried to explain the tooth fairy to her... and I think something was lost in my translation as well! The second photo here shows him looking at his newly exposed gums in the bathroom mirror -- where he spends a lot of time these days with his teeth.
The kids are getting excited about Halloween, which is not really celebrated here. There are a few decorations out at some stores, but not much, and people don't really go door to door. Ayumu (Hiromi's son) WILL go to a Halloween party and had to get a costume, though, as he goes to an English immersion preschool, which we are invited to visit tomorrow. This, of course, was confusing to the kids ("but you said no one dresses up here!"). We probably should make some plans soon...
The other big event of the week was a fancy lunch we had with the university president and some of John's colleagues on Wednesday.
No one fell asleep under the table this time (mostly because the kids were at school and you can pretty much count on me and John to stay awake when delicious food is around!). It was held at a "western" restaurant in a private (very fancy) room at a newly renovated hotel and the food was incredible! Mostly Italian-ish, although with a definite Japanese flair (the fish and some seasonings, I think). But there was... homemade BREAD! Delicious, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside homemade bread with cold butter. Sigh... it could have ended there and I would have been in heaven! The administrative people were very worried to have heard (after the fact) about Katie's doctor visit and sort of surprised that we didn't call them to accompany us and translate. I think if we had known we would end up at the hospital, we would have... but we really thought we could have taken care of it with superglue at the first doctor's office!
Most of the rest of the week was wonderfully routine...
bike rides, grocery shopping, meals (we had mac-and-cheese, number seven, on Wednesday night but not out of desperation... just a fun thing to have after having been at school), playing at the park, John's classes, some editing on my end, and getting ready for a visit from Jay and Judy starting Sunday. We were invited to have coffee and play at Hiromi and Ayumu's on Tuesday -- their house (soon to be home for four) is SO small! It makes ours here in Sapporo look enormous and I don't even want to think about how it compares to our house in Lethbridge. But it was full of toys -- pretty comparable to what a kid in North America would have, I'd say... lots of puzzles and games and noisy things, too.
We've been amazed at how well Jack and Olivia have settled in -- Jack is so at ease in the classroom and even finding his way on the subway, up and down the escalators, and Livie has been in great spirits, ready for whatever the next adventure might be. Katie has defintely been having a harder time, though. She was tough as nails when it came to the head wound, but pretty emotionally fragile about little things lately. She has always been a bit cautious -- not eager to leave me when ballet class started back in Lethbridge, nervous about playing soccer without John right there at the summer camp -- and she REALLY likes her routines and familiar faces. So I think just coming to Japan (and starting Japanese preschool) has been especially challenging for her.
The last week or two, she has just started melting down at the littlest thing... for example, she likes to have her hair combed and put in TWO ponytails BEFORE she puts a shirt on. If, for some reason, you put her shirt on first, it's the end of the world and tears flow for 20 minutes. If all three kids are talking to me at once (which they often do, especially when we pick them up at school) and I don't understand what she's saying, she just literally collapses and starts sobbing. We have been just trying to accommodate her needs/wants/obsessions when possible, figuring that she just needs extra control and attention and love when so much seems out of control (or something like that). And we tell ourselves that it IS a lot to ask a little person -- especially a naturally cautious little person -- to be plunked down in a new country, with a new language, and new food and people and routines. But we also feel a bit like we are negotiating with a terrorist sometimes too! And it's kind of hard for Jack and Liv, who see that their sister is struggling, but are finding that the same whining and demands are not dealt with in the same way (which they are actually fine with). And my other worry is about the twin thing -- I don't think her meltdowns would seem so dramatic if we didn't have someone of the same age handling it all just fine in the house... I mean, I don't remember what Jack was exactly like at three years and five months. So I wonder if we have higher expectations of her because Olivia is doing so well. Does that make sense? Anyway... maybe the bigger story is how remarkable it is that Jack and Livie already seem so at ease here, and not as much that Katie is having a harder time. But sending good vibes her way wouldn't hurt, either, so if you have them, send them along!
And on that note -- I will leave you with a few pictures of the inside of our house. We rarely close the shoji screens (because I am sure one of the kids is going to put a hand through the paper screen) but Jack asked for it to be closed tonight. It's very pretty...
