September Round-up

Lots of happenings this month but I'm afraid that I don't have much to scrapbook about!

Events:
Three friends gave birth to baby boys!
Sept 12, Christine had a boy whom she named Ken.
Sept 19, Alya had a boy whom she named Ryohei.
Sept 22, Dai and Yukiko had a boy they named Zen.

I love baby boys. You can tell because I am so in love with my little Luka.

Birthdays:

• My dad celebrated his 65th birthday on Sept 17. I forgot to send him his favorite chocolate from Japan, but I will be sure to do that soon.
• Adie celebrated her 28th birthday on Sept 16. We spent an afternoon at Starbucks discussing work-related issues for an upcoming meeting, and I treated her to a coffee and snack. It's so nice to get out of the office sometimes, but shhh...don't tell anyone.

Outings:

• We took the kids to Nihonbashi in Tokyo for the day and ended up in Ginza, as always. We ALWAYS hang out in Ginza when we go to Tokyo. I managed to not buy anything while there, but I did get Yusuke to take my photo in front of the Prada store, just to say I was there.
• I took the kids shopping for fall/winter clothes. The weather changed suddenly and it was a bit of an emergency.

Changes:

• I am preparing to start grad school in January, so my scrapbook desk has been cleaned up and most scrap stuff is being put into storage. I am working on selling or donating other stuff. I will be doing digital scrapbooking for the rest of the year, and then who knows after that?
• I got a gold star for losing more than 5 pounds since starting Weight Watchers in July. I won't make my goal by December, but at least I am on my way!

New Developments for Ailin:

• Ailin can now fold an entire load of towels when she puts her mind to it. I was amazed last weekend when we were all cleaning together, and she folded all the towels while I folded the rest of the clothes. In fact, she does a much better job than Yusuke ever did.
• She has developed an affinity for several stuffed animals and insists on bringing her litter everywhere with her, claiming that she is the mother, Luka is the big brother and I am the big sister. Papa is still papa though.
• Ailin likes to draw faces and can make a variety of faces with different hairstyles and eye expressions.
• She prefers that I pick her up late so she can have the 6pm snack. In fact, she gets mad at me when I pick her up early.
• (Edited on 10/05/2010) I forgot to mention this before, but Ailin is now up to the letter G. She is learning how to write the letters, and she sometimes watches the Sesame Street podcasts which go through each letter.

New Developments for Luka:

• He plays chase with Ailin and with Max sometimes.
• He can now eat by himself, for the most part, and rarely gets frustrated during meals.
• He loves sweet potatoes now.
• He indicates when he has dropped food on the floor and wants me to pick it up before Max can get it.
• He wore blue jeans for the first time.
• He likes to peek at me from around a corner and then run away.