In January we were determined to take oren skiing or tubing. Since December's surprise snowstorm and Oren's pronouncement that he doesn't like snow we tempered our goals a bit. On our first attempt we booked a weekend in Leavenworth where we could go sledding and maybe skiing. But there was no snow in Leavenworth strangely enough so we cancelled plans. On our second attempt, we forged out toward Snoqualmie in a wind and rain storm and made it nearly to the mountains when Hiroko had the brilliant idea to check the ski mountain's website where they announced they would be closed for the day due to rain. We turned around and went to an indoor play gym. On our third attempt, we made it all the way to Snoqualmie Pass on a beautifully cold light rain kind of day. Hiroko and Naoki watched as Ryan and Oren made several runs down the hill. Afterwards, Oren said "I like snow!" and exclaimed that he wanted to go skiing. (He later quickly took back his affection for snow)
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| New Year's Eve hike! |
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| Snow tubing! Woohoo! |
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| Ready to roll in the Inman's Tesla |
Super O-chan!
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| Naoki and Juliet |
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| Then there were four |
In the beginning of November, we started potty training with Oren and made a sticker chart so that every time he used the potty, he got to put a sticker on the board. I told him when he completed the board, we would go out for ice cream sundaes to celebrate. Maternity leave combined with winter break was the perfect time to get Oren completely out of daytime diapers. He figured it out fairly quickly but particularly loved the sticker chart and it wasn't until January that we got around to sundaes at Molly Moons.
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| Celebrating the end of Potty Training with a Sundae and sprinkles! |
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| Go Potty Training! |
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| One day, Naoki, one day... |
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| I'm bumbo training |
Naoki is starting to become more smiley and interactive with all of us. He especially loves watching his big brother running back and forth around him and pushing his toys in front of him. He is very chatty and lets us know that he's part of the conversation as well. He loves being included in any and all activities with us.
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| Naoki's buddy Momo-chan |
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| Oren's preschool's New Year Performance - Oren was a star! |
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| Oren dancing at the zoo to African music |
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| FaceTime with Obaachama and Jiji |
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| Oren's birthday party at school |
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| "I still fit" |
In mid-January, Grandma visited to spend time with Naoki and Oren. She comes with her energy and games with even Jersey excited to see what's in her suitcase for him. She's our only visitor that lets Jersey sleep on the bed. Grandma went to the zoo and to Wallingford playground with us. We got to celebrate Oren's 3rd birthday together before his actual birthday in Japan, which would be after his school birthday celebratation, literally his third birthday.
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| Celebrating Oren's 3rd Birthday at home |
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| Grandma and Naoki, equally festive |
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| Packing for Japan |
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| Last photos with Grandma before our flight to Japan |
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