Kokochi

Being attached to things

Two things dear to me broke recently. The cup...I've had since I was 9 years old. I remember exactly where I bought it (Kunitachi). After moving to Japan as a kid, I quickly learned where the "cute" shops were. I used to stop by the local Hello Kitty shop after school, pondering what cute thing I wanted to get. I was mesmerized. I bought that cup because it pleased me so. And because it was one of my own first purchases, it was special. And I've used it ever since. As an adult, it became my cup for brushing my teeth. Well, the other day it fell and broke. I knew one day it would happen. Dav kindly glued it back together so I can still enjoy it by putting stuff in it. But it is broken. Even worse is Java Fu. I have never loved a car so much. I've talked to it, and been protective. It symbolizes when I first visited Dav from Japan - and having started our relationship long-distance, every moment together during our short visits is etched in my mind very clearly. Borrowing his car to shop or meet friends in SF was memorable..."wow, here I am visiting the best person in the world, driving around SF in his Java!" And the sounds Java made, how cool it looked with all its geeky, funky stickers, made me fall in love. Java even has a fan. It's been on decline for years, so much that when I was pregnant, we took a road trip with Java to Mexico expecting to ditch it there. But Java perked up and made it back in a major way even though we broke its back window by accident (and it rained). Later, I backed out wrongly and Java took a hit. We thought of donating Java then but it still drove; you just had to remember to disconnect the battery when parking the car or else it'd go dead. With mommy brain, I kept forgetting that important step enough that I gave up driving Java. When I used our other jeep car, because it felt safer with Tesla, and was hit, Java came to the rescue and provided transportation until we bought our next car. We both dearly wanted Java to have a retirement as a loved art car at Burning Man. However, its suspension no longer allows more than 2 people to ride so it can’t be done. And most recently, the alternator caught on fire when Dav drove it. So...now Java sits on our street, and runs enough so Dav can move it for street cleaning. It breaks my heart. Dav is going to give Java for donation to NPR, or if it's not even worth that, Java will go to the junkyard soon. I am so sad because Java is a very symbolic car that has such personality, and totally helped us out when we needed it. So this is for Java and my cup. I will always remember you!

Videos on Kokochiino

Teetering chair, slipper dance, diaper inspection, and napkin busywork --> at Kokochiino.

Tesla in action

Testing out new slippers

Balancing on a chair

The more skilled she becomes at walking, climbing, reaching, or doing all the little things that comes to her mind, we get a better understanding of how she relates to her world and what she is fascinated with. It's fun to watch and a lot of times is pretty hilarious.

Napkin play

Just before bedtime...

sweet!

voting day!

With Tesla on my back.

Potrero Hill fun

I didn't really notice how family-friendly Potrero Hill is until we had Tesla. We have 3 fun kiddie parks in walking distance, 2 which have indoor gyms full of toys for toddlers, soft flooring for crawling babies, and paint tables for older kids. The gyms get packed on rainy days. I meet other parents at the park, and in general like to hang around as Tesla plays to her heart's delight. I haven't signed up yet, but they have local kiddies classes too. This is the park on Arkansas street that has a view of the bay. Below are pictures from a recent rainy day at the Jackson Square gym. Strangely, there were only 2 other kids there; two rambunctious wild boys. When we first entered, Tesla got scared and pretty much crawled up me to be held. Then she decided to ignore them and drove in her favorite car all the while the boys ran around screaming and throwing balls right past her. Man, the parents of those boys were so happy to have a gym where they could let their boys run around!

A Hello from the past

Way before Kokochi, before I moved to SF to be with Dav, I worked for the International Monetary Fund in Tokyo. It was a small office with about 12 people, half who were hard-core macro-economics folks. I worked there to manage 2 scholarship programs that the I.M.F. ran with funding from the Japanese and Australian governments. The program brought in young government officials from countries transitioning to modern economies, and was established to train these students to help build their countries' economic systems & policies. I have to say, it was the most amazing job. I got my very own office in Tokyo, pretty much ran the program from start to end during the two years I was there, learned a ton about relationships and a little about how governments work, and I got to travel to places like Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Australia, and Niigata (almost did a trip to Cambodia and Myanmar but SARS broke out). I even had a U.N. passport. Most importanly, I got to meet a phenomenal group of hard-working students. Being able to support them and get to know them was inspiring. It was during that time that Dav got me hooked on moblogging. But I never told the students that...and always maintained a professional "IMF-ish" face (as best as I could). I wanted to share more about my personal life with these folks, yet didn't. But yay for blogs and search engines! One of my former students recently found me by chance via Kokochi, and sent me an email. It was a true pleasant surprise from the past, and I'm thrilled. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Prague at the Mathematics and Physics Faculty, Department of Probability and Statistics. Now that makes me proud. From Bobo:

You know today I was looking through web-pages for something (by now I don't remember what was it) and occasionally found out Kokochi. At the first sight I didn't believe that I can see Mie Kennedy. Now I do believe this is you, Ms.Mie.

Thank you , Bobo for reaching out. I look forward to hearing more about your accomplishments. I've been in touch with just a few other former students. I'd love to hear from more...so if any IMF students read this, let me know!

BabyCenter updates

I found BabyCenter weekly development updates to be fun and useful while pregnant. And I continue to enjoy the updates now that T is a toddler. I'm not the type to read about and compare T to a standardized chart of development, but it's neat to hear about general things that are to be expected, and learn why she is doing certain things. This week she entered her 19th month. And BabyCenter's blurb is spot on.

New this month: Running out of control This month you're likely to see your toddler continuing to test her locomotion skills. She delights at walking backward, sideways, up and down stairs. And she also wants to run, or at least try to. Her galloping will probably be more enthusiastic than graceful, but that's normal.

She's pretty good at all that. She loves running away from us. Loves to "jump" although she barely gets air and it looks like she's just taking a giant step; we clap with joy and she does it over and over with a huge grin. In terms of skills, she has mastered pulling up her little chair to whatever table or counter to reach up and grab. She can open drawers and take everything out in a matter of seconds. She's learning where things are, and will push her way through my legs when I open the fridge, and she will point at the specific cabinet that has her crackers. She's starting to "put things back" although that does not mean back where they originally were. I've lost a credit card and my bank card twice in a row (they are in the house somewhere...), and we've found Dav's keys in the strangest places. She moves her toys around, so like this morning, I walked into the bathroom and found a giant bunny sitting on the toilet. She keeps us busy, but it's all quite hilarious!

Snow in Tokyo

Picture via Eddie. Brrr. It doesn't snow much in Tokyo, but this year is a bit chilly apparently. I'm slated to go to Tokyo for work in a week. I had sworn I'd never go back to Tokyo in August and February as they are weather-wise the most miserable months. I don't have real winter clothes anymore. I'd use my super warm Burning Man clothes, but obviously that wouldn't be very appropriate : ) It'll be a cold week for me. What's more on my mind, however, is that I'm leaving Tesla home with daddy. I have never been away from her for more than a day. Tesla loves daddy, and granny will take care of her as usual, so she will have her regular comfort. But still, I'm not sure how it'll be. I'm imagining her yelling, "maaaaamaaaaa" and I'm not there. In reality, I think it's gonna be harder for mama to be away from her baby. On the other hand, I'm very much looking forward to being "free" in Tokyo without having to rush home after work to be with Tesla. I can go out, and I go shopping! Yay!

Firemen - my weakness

Best lunch ever today! Dav and I met in the neighborhood as we now work a few blocks away from each other. Afterwards, I wanted to get coffee at Philz, so he obliged and walked with me. Just as we entered, 4 firemen walked in too, their truck just outside and them in all their fireman gear. A few of you know that I, uh, have a weak spot for firemen. I've heard this is not rare. I was sheepish, but after encouragement from Dav, I asked for a photo. They happily accepted (they get such requests a lot, they said) and even let me get in front of their truck. So nice! Just as we lined up, they got a call, and off they zoomed with their sirens and red truck. I came back to the office grinning : )