New to Us

On the last day of each month, I go through all the photos we have taken in that month and choose the ones that will go in the Chronological album. I have not decided the new layouts and themes for the 2009 album, so I may not do this quite yet. Last year's themes included a Calendar page, a General Highlights page, My Stuff (or Yusuke's stuff), Ailin's Stuff, Special Family Events, and New to Us.

The New to Us page was fun because I got to look back on the month and find photos which represented new developments for Ailin, new stuff that we had purchased for our condo, new people in our life, new habits or experiences, etc. So, here is my New to Us brainstorm for January 2009.

New Developments for Ailin
Words
Yuuuuusukeeeeee! (to help him wake up in the morning)
witch kowai (scary witch)
mickey jiji (draw mickey for me!)
kaijuu jiji (draw a monster for me!)
obake yaaaa! (Ghost!)
fuu fuu! (blow on it!)
Moon bye bye (Goodnight Moon!)
House
Brush teeth!
DVD watchy!
Movie watchy!
Bicycle ridey!
Ailin eaty!
Chocolate milk (mispronunciation here, but I get what she means.)
raisin
natto
dai jo bu? (are you okay?)
Cow, bear, bunny rabbit, etc.
okii ne. (big, isn't it?)
oishikanai (doesn't taste good.) Actually, she mispronounces it...it should be oishkUnai.
Papa (or mama or Max) daisuki (I love ...)
Who's that? ... Mama da! (or whomever she is pointing at)


Ailin's songs
Happy Birthday to you
ABCDEFG....
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
BINGO

And then, one that she made up based on a Japanese song, complete with hand signs. It goes like this:
Ton ton ton
An pan man!
Ton ton ton
Viking man
Ton ton ton
Dokin chan
Oshimai

Ailin's favorite book
Goodnight Moon


Ailin's New Experiences
1st hair cut at a beauty salon
1st time to watch a puppet show (at daycare)

Ailin's Happenings
Got sick with the Croup (January 23-26)
One of her classmates "bullied" her by blocking her way to get into the classroom. Ailin started crying. (That little brat!)

New stuff we purchased for Condo
A shelf for the living room
A desk for scrapbooking
A cabinet for scrapbook storage

New People
None this month...we missed out on a few events because of illness.
Oh, but the doctor at the Kaihin Hospital was SO MUCH BETTER than her regular pediatrician. Her name is Dr Kato and she is young and speaks English well enough. I might keep taking Ailin to her in the future.

New Habits or Experiences
Trying to find restaurants where Ailin can actually enjoy the food and behave at the same time! This month, out of all the places we went, we had the most luck at Bamiyan. Anpanman posters covered the walls, so she was entertained and she liked the food. Not my idea of good Chinese food, but you take what you can get.
I will, so help me god, try to keep my new and improved scrapbook area clean and free of dust. The best way to do this is keep the area beneath the desk free of clutter so that I can vacuum it easily.
Yusuke is supposed to be working less hours, but I don't see that happening yet. He is also supposed to stop using my rocking chair as a coat rack and temporary wardrobe holder.
I am trying to eat more veggies at lunch and dinner.