Mika on the Move

 Mika has hit many milestones these last few weeks. While Paca was here, she learned how to wave, and while Jii and Baachan were here, she finally started to call me "Mama." (But only when she is upset, just like Baby Ramona). She is up to seven teeth--four on top and three on bottom--and uses her hands to clap and point. The big milestone, however, is her forward motoring skills. Now that she's decided to crawl, she zips around the room to get her fingers on anything which interests her . . . which is basically everything.

 She used to take baths for me like this: lying down on her back with only occasional kicks and swats at the water. Now: she rolls and scoots all over the tub.

My baby is on the move and life as her mama is certainly more exciting.

Grandparents' Visit, Part Two: Jii & Baachan

 Jii and Baachan were with us for one week in May and also one week in June while they were visiting the West. I think being around Ramona and Mika for that long really wore them out, but hopefully they had fun. I know the girls did!

Downtown Loveland

Walking under the Colorado state flag

My parents were the patient guests at Ramona's multiple picnic parties

Ramona making cookies with Baachan

Ramona rolling out playdough pizza with Jii

Cottage time in the backyard

 Among the many items my parents brought over from Illinois was a little outfit which apparently belonged to me when I was a baby. It had been a gift from my grandfather in Japan, and my mother had carefully kept it all these years. Mika wore it to church one of the Sundays Jii and Baachan were here.

"Shabondama tonda . . ."

While my dad was around, I arranged a "playdate"with my friend and violinist Carita, who has a mini-library of sightread-able orchestra music. We played trio-style with me on the cello for most of it, then tried out a violin duet with piano accompaniment. My dad seemed a little uncomfortable about playing the fiddle at first, and was overly apologetic about every missed note, but I am pretty sure by the end he didn't resent me for scheduling a little music time.

 On the last day of their visit, we all made it over to Estes Park for a picnic and a walk around the lake.

 While on our walk, Forest got a scare from Ramona's proximity to a deer right next to the trail. His reaction scared Ramona more than the actual deer, and for a while she was rather upset . . .

 . . . as you can see in the picture below.

 From the trail we could see smoke billowing up North from the High Park Fire before we heard about it on the news. (At the time we didn't realize the fire would end up being one of the worst in Colorado history).

 Despite the smoke, I was glad we had a chance to let my parents enjoy some Colorado scenery while they were here, and provide some sense of recreation amidst being swamped by the demands of little voices and little hands. Visiting young grandchildren (at least ours) isn't exactly a vacation.

Thanks for making the trip, Jii and Baachan!

Grandparents' Visit, Part One: Paca

 This past month we've had the pleasure of hosting several of the grandparents in our home. For starters, we got Paca stay with us for a few days in May.

 It was a short visit, but we packed in some play time at various playgrounds . . .

 . . . and went on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.

 (Uncle Dan came along, too)

This was how Ramona was carried for a good portion of the trip

"Paul Bunyan's Boot"--or, as Ramona described, a sock with a hole in it

exploring

 We got rained on a couple of times as rain clouds rolled in, but our girls handled the less-than-ideal weather conditions quite well. Paca showed Ramona how to hide behind a big rock to escape the strong gusts of wind.

 Upon seeing Gem Lake at the top, Ramona declared: "What a day at the beach!"

 It was almost clear again once the wind carried the dark clouds away.

Family Photo

The girls got to see Paca for about an hour on Memorial Day as he swung back through on his way from Utah. They spent the time on the couch reading books.

Thanks for coming to see us, Paca!