August 2008 Archives

Between Sacramento and Reno, I called my mom to check in. They were eating dinner. My mom got Tesla to say 'bye bye' and 'I luv you' to both Dav and I. We were surprised and delighted at how clear she was. The best gift for mommy and daddy!

...we head to the playa. But right now, all I can think of is how we're leaving home, leaving Tesla. She's in great care, and is clearly bonding more and more with my mom, and granny Marie will check in, even spending the night once. Auntie Elida will drop by, and Sofia is close by too. But the fact remains that we have never been away together at the same time...and for so long.

So unlike my previous post where I could feel excitement, now I have a lump in my heart. I still want to go and still look forward to the playa. It's such a special thing Dav and I share, and I'm looking forward to being lovebirds all over. Yet we both feel for our daughter.

Dav made these boxes with pictures of us for each day we will be gone. Beginning today, to introduce this concept to her, Tesla gets to open one box for a yummy surprise. We're even going to put chocolate in, which is truly special since I don't give sweets to her. We're hoping these boxes will help her understand how long she has to wait until we're back...and she can see with each passing day that the end is getting closer.

I'm going to miss my baby sooooo much! And I just hope she doesn't miss us as much as we will miss her!

... Dav and I will be in our RV, probably already in Nevada, getting close to the playa. I have to say I'm quite excited...because this year, without Tesla, it will be wonderful reconnecting time for Dav and I. This is how we first met. We both love the playa and are our best when out there.

I treasure going each year, but the past two years with Tesla, I was so focused on meeting her needs that I didn't have time to to get excited. I was in a different mind-set. It's quite nice to be feeling giddy again, looking forward to walking out on the immense playa, overwhelmed at how big and beautiful it is.

This is thanks to my mom who is flying from Tokyo to be granny to Tesla while we are away. I pick her up on Monday, and am excited to have her at our home!

Today, Tesla woke up on the wrong side...or so it seemed. All was well until her new gym class, which starts at 10:30. She usually naps around 11 or noon, so I knew this was pushing it, but she's been known to take naps later too. She loves gym so all was good at the start. She wore her favorite boots, and enjoyed the trampoline.

Gym is pretty much free play, but they have multiple short circle times with various activities as well. Tesla had zero interest in circle time and kept running off to do her own thing. I tried ignoring her, getting into circle time myself to be an example. I tried coaxing her. And near the end, I simply picked her up and brought her to the circle...partly because I wanted her to chill and learn about circle time, party because I felt a bit pressured to have her participate (even though it's pretty relaxed and circle times were super short followed by play). Anyhow, near the end of the hour, she was agitated, cried loudly, and eventually hit my face as I held her. She's done this before and she knows it's wrong. We all tell her this sternly. So it was a surprise that she hit me, and when we went to a corner to chill/time out, she wailed. Luckily it was time to leave then.

Later tonight, Tesla resisted bath time. So I picked her up and off we went...about which she wailed and cried. Usually, even if she says "no," she'll get into the bubbles and have tons of fun. But today, she cried the whole time, standing in the corner of the tub sulking. I pretended not to care for some time playing with her toys on my own, then when left the bathroom, to see if she'd get bored having a fit on her own, she wailed, "maaaamaaaa." So I pulled the bath plug to finish the turmoil. Then she wailed "noooooo." After nothing seemed to calm her down, I forced her out in spite her protests. She wailed while I dressed her. I can see how if one behaved like this every night, it'd drive a parent crazy.

I put her right into the crib, gathered her entourage that is required - blankie, doggy, horsey, Kitty-chan, and water - and when I handed one over to her, she pushed it away. So I said, "OK, go ne ne without it then" to which she yelled "blankieeeeee, horseeeeey, sob sob sob, doggyyyyyyy." By then Dav came in and took over. She immediately demanded, "song?"

As I went about my business, I heard Dav say, "if you say gomen [sorry], I'll sing a song." He was in there a loooooong time. When he finally came out, he said he got her to whisper, ever so lightly, "gomen." It was so faint, he had to ask her to repeat 5 times! And she knows what it means.

I still don't know what set her off. This has been I think the longest & weirdest upset commotion. Usually we can figure out what's wrong. Wow...she's got spunk! Still...I have to say that I find it cute...

The bunny clips I won thanks to Kurara arrived quite a while ago...I've been thinking about other things lately so wasn't in the mood to blog. But I do want to post this to show how cute the actual paper clips are. Love them...and love that they are from Kurara. I've used a few, but actually will keep them to surprise people when they need a paper clip or when I use one to deliver something to someone else.

From the dinner chez Ian and Izumi's when the RV got painted. While we ate a delicious meal, Tesla entertained herself with Julia's baby stroller and pretend slip-on grown-up shoes (that made so much noise when Tesla walked on the wooden floor that we had to make her take them off). Julia kindly played violin for all of us. I can see Tesla mesmerized by both her cousins. They do many things she's never seen! Last pic is everyone laughing at various YouTube videos. As always, so nice to be with family.

Yesterday, we got the RV out from its parking spot in Oakland to prepare for Burning Man. We've been so busy, especially with our summer travels, that only recently have I started to feel the excitement about Burning Man. I'm half anxious, however, about leaving Tesla home, even though she will be spoiled by my mom. I'll miss Tesla, I know. Yet, this year will be special since it'll be like a honeymoon for Dav and I. We'll get to spend quality time together like we used to, at this city where we first met.

We stopped by my brother's for dinner, parking the RV in their driveway so everyone, including neighborhood kids, could add some color and fun to the RV. Slowly, over the last 2 years, the RV has become more personalized, more meaningful than the old brown it once was. It was super cute to have the kids paint, and they loved having free reign to paint such a big car. And thanks to Ian and Izumi who added some really nice touches!

June 10, 2008 to August 7, 2008

You have inspired and moved many people in your short time, taught us how to appreciate and treasure life, never taking for granted each moment we have together. Your spirit is strong, and will be with us forever. Thank you. Words are much too inadequate. I gave incense for you today, asking all our ancestor spirits to welcome you and love you as we do here.

I was looking for a certain picture and reviewed our recent Outer Banks ones, remembering how relaxing and natural the setting was. It truly was special.

And then I saw this one below that struck me in a way it hadn't before. Lately, I've been thinking more and more about peak oil, wondering as a parent what steps I should prudently start to take. I hope we're wrong, but I do think it's best to consider the major upheavals and change in lifestyle that could happen. So this picture seemed symbolic to me right now in terms of the waves coming towards us while Tesla plays. I'm protecting her so she doesn't fall and get overwhelmed by the waves, letting her play freely as much as she can ... just as we want her to have as magical a childhood as we can provide in spite an unstable future.

And then there was the one below - Tesla pulling me towards the waves with confidence. This made me think how I also need to listen to Tesla to guide me about how she sees things. She has energy and excitement to move forward. It'll be hard to watch her learn the many life lessons ahead, but I hope to be a support so that she grows stronger instead of me shielding her too much. Tis a bit more mushy of a post than usual, but yes, we are thinking more seriously about what may be ahead.

To celebrate Gizmodo Japan's 2nd anniversary, they made a post with comments and most favorite posts of the writers and translators. And they included a picture of little Ms. Tesla since she just turned two also!

Last year was this.

Thank you, Gizmodo Japan for including Tesla!!

On Dav's new comic book. I bought washable markers because Tesla loves to draw, but I left a permanent marker on the table right next to Dav's new book by mistake tonight. Later, I noticed Tesla made her mark and thought Dav might be bummed. Instead, he was pleased since her scribbling was much less random than before. We admired it.

Much to my delight, Tesla received a package from Mlle. A. for her birthday. It's taken me a while to get pictures and post, but I wanted to share. One nice thing I've noted about having a blog is that people know that Tesla is into Hello Kitty (I'll have to keep this in mind for when she's older)...and Mlle. A. filled a bag with Hello Kitty stickers and a super cute tissue package. Tesla immediately recognized Hello Kitty. She's a little inexperienced with stickers, so when we showed her that she could stick Hello Kitty on whatever she wanted, for some reason, she decided her foot was the place. And she was quite determined; kept fixing it when it started pealing off as she walked. Then she got out her boots and still put Hello Kitty on her boot. And yes, her boots are on the wrong feet.

It's so fun to watch toddler behavior. Clearly Tesla had an idea of her own, and why not?

Telsa also got super cute handmade pins. Mlle. A. has a beautiful store on Etsy, and I've always admired her creations. I was going to get just one picture of T with the pins, but I think the double pin style made Tesla look so much like a bigger girl that I couldn't decide which to post so here are all of them.

Thank you, Mlle. A. It was so nice to recieve the package! We love it!

This was from quite a while ago when Mika-san was visiting from Tokyo, and we happened to have an afternoon together when Patrick was visiting too to take Tesla at her 2 year old mark. I was so touched when Patrick called to make sure he got Tesla at this stage. But this time, since Mika was around with her super camera, she got some nice shots of Patrick at work.