Keila's 47 Month Update

  So I've obviously skipped Keila's 45th and 46th month updates. I kept meaning to get to them, but honestly with the chaos of preparing to move overseas and everything else we had going on, it just didn't happen. I guess this update will be chock full of surprises, then!

1. We have been in Japan for about a week and a half, and while Keila seems to be understanding a bit more of the language, she still isn't speaking more than a few words. I'm guessing this will all change after she starts kindergarten, though. Keila is also confusing people with her British accent, since they then also hear my American one. Wonder how long she'll keep it for? Hopefully it sticks, as I think it's quite cute!
Keila is also using quite complex phrases in sentences, such as 'I'm eating an apple right at this moment'.
2. Jet lag threw us for a loop in the sleep department, but that's to be expected of anyone with an 8 hour time change to adjust to. We're back to sleeping through the night again now (mostly).
3. Keila is still really into jumping around and climbing things, and as of 2 days ago she's taught herself how to move hand-by-hand along a bar (not quite monkey bars, just on on straight horizontal pole). She has also suddenly made huge leaps forward with her drawings---she will color designs into coloring books, make 3-D animal pictures (head on one side of the paper, back on the other) and basically spend any and all free time drawing or coloring. I know she's my kid so obviously everything she does is great (haha), but really it's impressive!
 Keila also seems to be on the verge of starting to read. I got her some very easy rhyming phonics books, and she can point out words when I ask where a certain one is on the page, although she won't necessarily say what the word is when I point to it and ask her. We're getting there, though.
 Not sure when we will get back to swimming, but I think we will start lessons once we get settled here. More on that in the future.
 Keila misses all of her friends in England very much, and we talk about them every day. We've been drawing some cards for them and have mailed a few pictures off already. She's been remarkably happy here so far though, probably because we are still at Grandpa's house and she loves her Grandpa!
 4. A story for this post....well there are probably a ton seeing as how long it's been since I posted, but yesterday's comes to mind. Keila was talking to her daddy on the phone last night, and he accidentally hung up on her. Keila handed me the receiver and said 'I guess Daddy's lunch is over. The bell is ringing'. She knows he has a bell at the end of lunch at his company, so she just assumed that's what the dial tone was.
 5. Last but not least....I have no clue how much Keila weighs. I think she's holding steady around 17 kilos? I roughly measured her with a kids' store height chart yesterday, and she was well over 105 cm so growing quickly!

  That's it until the birthday girl turns 4......

Keila's VERY Late 44 Month Update!

  Well, seeing as it's nearing time for Keila's 45 month update, I figured I'd better get her 44 month one done. The 6th of July came and went with family here visiting, and I did realize about 2 days late that I hadn't posted her blog, but then I just never got around to doing it. Until now.
 So...here's what she's been doing in the past month and a half!

1. My entire family was commenting on what a cute British accent Keila has...and she likes to use British English more than American English, probably because she's often speaking with her British friends at nursery or church. She likes to correct me when I say the 'wrong' word and tells me how to say it the British way.
2. Sleep progress went sharply downhill with all our visitors, but we are finally back on track after I resorted to bribing her to sleep through the night. At this point, I will do whatever it takes to get some rest!
3. We haven't been swimming lately, but hopefully we will get the chance to go to the pool after our holiday in a few weeks. I did buy Keila a paddling pool for the back yard (back garden, as she would tell me) but it's only recently been warm enough to get it out. Hopefully the lack of practice won't set her back at all.
 Keila is on summer vacation from nursery school now, so she's been keeping me busy. She has a little farmer tan despite the fact that I keep slathering her with sunscreen every few hours. We've been to the splash pad at the park, on picnics, and just playing outside as much as possible. I find that sleep quality improves in proportion to how much outdoor time she gets!
 Keila is also asking me to teach her math and numbers, so we've started basic addition and subtraction. She gets the concept without any problem, and she can even add and subtract a few numbers in her head without counting them out. Not sure if she's just memorized the answers or what, but it's a great start. I think that reading will likely follow shortly, as she's been asking me to teach her that, too.
 4. Quick story for this post: Keila kept asking me tonight how to say in Japanese something about 'eating a real toe'. I told her that nobody eats toes, real or otherwise. She got quite frustrated and kept insisting that yes, it was about 'eat a real toe' and it means 'thank you'! I finally figured out that she was trying to ask how to pronounce 'ARIGATOU'! Haha!
 5. Keila is about 16.8 kilos, not sure of her height but people are talking again about how much she's grown. Will try to measure her before the next post!

Keila's 43 Month Update!

   It's been another month already! Keila keeps progressing in leaps and bounds, too.

1. Keila's British accent continues to come along, as does her grasp of the English language in general. She will often ask me what words mean when we are reading and then sometimes try to use them later. Japanese is still pretty much never spoken, although she did say 'Itai' (ouch/it hurts) the other day when she bumped her elbow.
2. Sleep is ok, although Keila likes to wake up around midnight now and request a glass of water if I've forgotten to leave one by her bed. Still no accidents even without the diapers, too!
3. Keila has been loving playing outside now that the weather is slightly warmer, and will happily spend an afternoon at the park if allowed. She's very confident ie fearless about climbing anything, which of course leaves me on the verge of a heart attack sometimes. ('Look Mummy! I don't need hands to hold on at the top of the slide!!!').
 We are still going swimming once a week and still refusing to put our face in the water. Haven't been able to break out the paddling pool yet as it's just not that warm here. I don't know if she'd even put her face in it either, since she told me she'd do so 'when I am 5'.
 Keila's writing is quite good, at least based on comments by other people who have seen her. She does love drawing and will often sit making pictures and cards for up to 20 minutes or more, which is pretty amazing considering how much she loves running around, too. 
4.  Wasabi's birthday party was a great success; at least I think all the kids enjoyed it. Wasabi herself wasn't too thrilled with the shenanigans, especially the part where she was forced to make an appearance in a birthday hat. Keila is still talking about it a few weeks later, so I'm glad we did it. And the house wasn't even all that trashed afterward, amazingly.
 Story related to the party: we did face painting at the party, and apparently it was such a huge hit that another little girl was 'painting' kitty faces on everyone with markers at nursery the following day. She actually had a crowd lined up for it! Keila of course had hers painted but they washed it off before collection time so I unfortunately didn't get to record the moment.
 Keila's also convinced that she's marrying Daddy when she grows up, no matter what I say to convince her otherwise. She will at least share with me, though. Haha.
5. No idea how tall Keila is? I think she's about 16.5 kilos now and seems to be growing every day!

 

       Helping Mom dehydrate almonds! 

Keila's 3.5 Year Update!

   Well, Keila is now closer to 4 than she is 3. I'm already having awful thoughts about how she'll be out of the house and off to university before I know it. How is time going by so, so quickly?
 But on to her update.

 1. Keila is still going strong with the British accent, and she will often correct me if I pronounce things like 'tomato' the American way instead of the British way. Apparently Mommy (Mummy!) doesn't know how to speak properly.  The alphabet is another point of contention: 'z' is not 'zeee' but 'zed'. Keila has added her own twist to it however and will randomly say 'e...f....'jed!'' instead of 'e...f...gee'!
 2. Still sleeping pretty well for the most part, and now we are officially a big girl ie no more night time diapers! Go Keila!
 3. Keila is continuing to gain self-confidence, although this has been a bit troublesome when the self-confidence involves wandering away from Mom or Dad when out and about. Maybe time to bring back the leash? Just joking! Really.
 We just ordered a paddling pool for the back yard that is supposedly large enough for kids to submerge themselves. Hoping it will help Keila practice putting her face in the water and getting a bit more at ease. We are also good to go in terms of getting back into the big pool next Monday!
 Keila has also really gotten into dress up and princesses recently. She now has 5 Barbie princesses, along with a Barbie horse and a Barbie Jeep, since a friend from church was selling some unwanted toys. Her dolls like to dress up and go to the ball, although now we 'need' to get a prince so they can dance. I tried to tell her that the girls are happy to dance without a prince, but that didn't go over so well. Guess I need to start searching for one on Amazon or Ebay? 
 4. I'm sure there are tons of stories from this past month but only a few are coming to mind. This afternoon, Keila locked me out of the house while I was unloading groceries from the car. (Honestly, who installs a deadbolt at ankle level on a door??). Thankfully she listened to me and opened the door right away when I told her to. Praying she doesn't catch on to the fact that I won't be able to do much if she doesn't open up! Perhaps now is the time to start carrying a spare set of keys to the patio door?
 Other story: Keila has decided that we need to have a birthday party for Wasabi the cat, who is turning 5 this month. I am apparently crazy and have agreed to this idea, so we will be having up to 18 children over to celebrate. Praying for clear skies that day as otherwise this party will be a disaster! Keila is insisting that Wasabi will dress up and perform tricks for everyone, although my bets are on the guest of honor going into hiding for the duration of the party.
 5. Not sure of Keila's height, although yet another person told me she seems tall? Her weight is holding steady at 16 kilos, however.

 That's it for this month!

Keila is 41 Months Today!

  We've been busy since last month...here's what's happened in the last 30 or so days:

1. Keila's accent is further developing, although into what I'm not sure. One of my friends here told me that she sounded Irish! Keila is also having a bit of a rough time with her r's and l's...as in, most of her l's sound like r's instead. And I thought most kids had trouble with r's, not the other way around. In any case, apparently it's pretty normal and she will likely outgrow it. For now however, Keila has been getting quite frustrated with me when I think she's talking about 'Mari' instead of 'Molly'. Poor kid!
 2. Sleep! We are more or less sleeping through the night! And we are having dry nights consistently too, go Keila! Now if we can just get Daddy to stop working so late and getting home in the wee hours, then maybe I will start to catch up on rest at some point.
3. Keila has become more and more outgoing in the past month or so, I think as a result of attending nursery. She will happily wave at strangers when we're out for a walk, and she will reply to most people when they talk to her. Her shyness does return off and on, but overall she seems a lot more confident. During church services she will often try to wander off and go visit some of the women who teach her Sunday school class!
 We haven't really been swimming in the past month thanks to Mommy being on crutches, but we're hoping to get back in the pool within the next couple of weeks. One of Keila's little friends just got a couple of swimming badges for putting her face in the water, etc, so hopefully that will spur Keila into getting a bit more adventurous.
4. A few stories this month: Keila started crying one night before bed. When I got her to stop long enough to tell me what was wrong, it turned out that she had heard Wasabi (the cat) sneeze....and then tried to wipe Wasa's nose for her with a tissue. When Wasabi wasn't all that agreeable and then ran away, Keila got quite upset and began crying. She was exhausted but kept insisting that Wasabi 'really needs her nose wiped!!'.
 Also, Keila likes to make up fake words sometimes. Today's was 'pungees'. I asked what a pungee was and was informed that they are 'a type of kangaroo; they hop very fast and they don't give people kisses but they do give hugs'. When asked what made them different from regular kangaroos, I was told because 'they are blue' in a tone that implied I should have recognized the obvious!
5.  Keila is about 100 cm now!! She's really shop up since the last time I checked her height. I think she's about 16.5 kilos too but that was after a big meal so maybe a bit less?

Added bonus this month: Keila's Cinderella video!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXUdTW-Qz1M&feature=youtu.be

 That's it until the 3.5 year mark!

Keila is 40 Months Today!!!

  Here is Keila's 40 month update....how is time passing by so quickly?? I feel like I'll be doing her 40 year update before I know it!!!


1. Language is still coming along quite well, although Japanese is lacking. People are starting to notice her cute British accent, though. She's picked up a lot from nursery school, although the American accent from Mommy sneaks through at times, too.
2. We are sleeping better, for the most part. Enough so that she sleeps through the night more often than not, and I'm getting accustomed to having a full night's rest again!!!
3. Keila is still enjoying nursery immensely, and she tells me stories about all of her friends there. Her nursery school has a lending library too, and she gets to bring home a book to borrow just about every day. Today, Keila came home from nursery and told me that 'God gave us brains, so I can think'. Clever girl! I can't remember if I mentioned last time that Keila can now write her name on her own? We practiced it a few times, and now she signs cards all by herself! She's very interested in letters and numbers, so we will work more on those in the following month.
 Keila is still scared of putting her face in the water while swimming, but this past week she was able to swim with just a ring around her middle, instead of her armbands and the ring. We are definitely making progress!
 4. Story of the month: Keila told me yesterday that when Wasabi (the cat) dies, God will tell Wasa to stop being naughty and knocking things onto the floor. (Wasabi has an awful habit of jumping onto counters and dressers and batting around whatever she can find). She also told me that Daddy's work is bad, and we should bury him in bananas so he can't go. Seemed logical enough to me! Haha.
 5. I think Keila is still around 16 kilos? Need to measure her height again soon!


    Snacking on broccoli while watching Mickey Mouse on the iPad

Keila's 39 Month Update

  Well, I've just about given up on blogging other than Keila's montly updates. Now that she's in nursery, I do have more time but it's spent swimming or cleaning! We did find a new product at Whole Foods the other week that I may post about...maybe. How do people with more than one child find time to blog??
 Anyway, here's what Keila has been up to the past month*


1. Language is of course progressing day by day, although her Japanese hasn't made any noticeable improvements since last month. We really need to stop speaking English so much in the house!
2. Sleep has finally gotten somewhat back on track....it was at an all-time low when she was sick with a cold AND we were stupid enough to take her paci away at the same time. Apparently I like to torture myself. Now that we're doing relatively better (she still gets up at night if she needs the toilet), go figure she's caught another cold and has been up a lot tonight already.
3. Keila is doing great full-time at nursery! The transition to eating lunch there and staying until 3 pm has gone really well! By Thursday afternoon she's pretty worn out from 3 straight days of playing and having fun, but she loves it. It's been great for her social skills, too--we aren't quite as shy around other people now, and I often catch her singing songs from school when before she never sang along to much of anything. However, sometimes she's a bit overly confident and I have to chase her through the store when she runs from me!
 4. Story of the month....literally a story! Keila was eating dinner and decided to tell me a fairy tale: 'Once upon a time, there was a little mango who thought the sky was falling. He lived in the woods with his mama and hurt his knee.'  I asked if he fell and hurt his knee, to which she responded (as if it were obvious): 'NO, he hurt his knee because the sky fell!!'
 5. Keila is almost 16 kilos now, so she really has been going through a growth spurt. Not sure how tall she is?


Preparing for Valentine's Day...

Keila is 38 Months!!!

Keila is 38 months today! We've been up to a lot in the past month, too. Here's what's new:

1. Keila's improved her Japanese quite a bit just by being back for a few weeks. She still doesn't speak a ton, but her understanding has made a lot of progress. We are of course speaking more and more in English too.
 2. Well, Keila slept GREAT in Japan, once we got over jet lag. Likely due to the fact that she got to share a bed with Mommy and Daddy. Sleep now that we've returned isn't going so great....what else is new, right? I actually had to pause just now to go put her back to bed...the third time she's been up in as many hours!
 3. Keila is really, really excited to start full days at nursery this term! She'll go 6 hours, 3 days a week. She's most excited about taking her lunch and eating with the other children.
 We had a great time in Japan playing with Grandpa, and Keila keeps asking when she will see him next. She also told me that we're going on another airplane soon, this time to visit Grandma in America. The kid really likes to travel!
 Today, Keila earned her first swimming badge! She had to blow bubbles in the water, swim by herself (with floats of course) and get her head wet (but not submerged). She's come a long way from the shrieking 'I-don't-want-to-get-in' child of August!
 4. Memorable quotes from the past month.....Wasabi (the cat) puked and Keila commented on how she must not have gotten her flu shot.  Another one was confusion regarding 'Wii' the game center and 'wee' as in pee. She thought that Daddy must've strained his back going pee, after I asked if maybe he pulled something while playing Wii. Hah!
 5. Keila seems to be holding steady at around 15 kilos and 98/99 cm. Maybe she'll hit another growth spurt soon?
 

Slurp!

  On a big-kid swing

Keila's 37 Month (And One Day) Update

　　I haven't forgotten about the blog...but I have been rather busy lately. Christmas is fast approaching, meaning lots of shopping, packing, and just preparing in general. Don't even remind me about all the Christmas cards I still have to write. Plus we did a full-on Thanksgiving dinner this year, even though it ended up just being the 3 of us thanks to illness. Speaking of illness, Keila has been sick for the past 5 days and is only finally coming out of it thanks to some much-needed antibiotics. It's been a long week, and our house looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years. Does anyone else with toddlers have that problem? No matter how much you clean, it's imposible to keep the mess at bay!
 But enough rambling. Here is Keila's monthly update, before I get back to frantically working on her annual photo album!

 1. Keila talks. A lot. I've probably said that before, but not it's even more so. I can't remember how much more from last month, but I'm sure it's a lot. Daddy has been working on her colors with her in Japanese, so she's got a lot of those down now. Keila also understands that not everyone can speak Japanese, although she tells me that her nursery school teachers can speak 'a little' since they know some of the words she has taught them.
 2. Keila has set a new record for number of wake-ups in one night!! I think it was somewhere around 15, although I lost count after 10. To be fair, the poor girl had a terribly stuffed up nose and cough along with a fever, so she was just miserable. And we all know that misery loves company! Fingers crossed she sleeps better this week...
 3. Keila will be in a nativity play at her nursery school this coming week. She's been practicing singing songs for it and is quite excited. She also tells me what all the other children are going to be, too. Not quite sure of the valdity of all of these costumes, as I was told that Issac was going to a shark. A navitiy shark, hmmm....
 Keila is REALLY into counting money now! She received a bank for her birthday, and she's somehow managed to weasel 20 coins out of me for said bank. Lately, she will repeatedly take the coins out of her bank, line them up, and count them. She can count to 20 pretty well all by herself, although the 'teen' and 'ty' parts confuse her a bit.
 We also love making up rhymes and songs about objects, although Keila will usually only sing these in front of Mommy. The latest song was 'Cheese and Chive went to town, to buy some beer for Daddy!' Did I mention that she likes food??
 4. One of Keila's best quotes of the month was from when I asked her which of her kumas (teddy bears) she wanted to take to Grandpa's. She said she was only taking her big bunny rabbit, as Grandpa was going to have lots of kumas at his house! There is lots more, but I'm too tired to think of anything right now! Will post them if they come to mind...
 5. Still no idea how tall or heavy she is. People keep telling me that she's tall, though?? Will try to check and post it next month. Until 2014......



        Oh, and she's been practicing with her chopsticks lately, too....

A Few More Keila Quotes

 I forgot to add these to her monthly update, but I don't want to forget them!

 (While smelling her favorite blanket) 'This smells like a Japanese doctor!'  Upon questioning, she couldn't really explain what exactly that smelled like, but she's said it of the blanket a few more times since. Hmmm?

 'Why do women sometimes have moustaches???'

and yesterday, 'Where does the sun sleep?'

Also, Keila has been learning her letters and will often point out 'K', 'M' etc when we are at the store or anywhere there is writing. I'm fully expecting her to start reading some time soon!

Keila is 3 Years Old Today!!!

Wow, the last month has pretty much flown by. And now my little girl is 3 years old!!! I swear that she's getting visibly bigger and more grown up by the day--much too fast for my liking!
 Here's her update from the past month:

1. Keila's vocabulary is still exponentially expanding, and she is often asking me what a word or phrase means. While she still tends to only speak in English, it's not for lack of understanding a lot of Japanese. I was quizzing her today on her fruits and vegetables, and she easily answered with the English word for every Japanese one I gave her. Smart girl!
2. Keila is now in a 'big girl' bed as of last Saturday night! We did opt for a gradual transition by putting a baby gate across her bedroom door, however. So now when (note I saw 'when' and not 'if') she wakes at night, she still can't come crawling into Mommy and Daddy's bed. Still hoping she will start consistently sleeping through the night at some point! Gro Clock is now being utterly disregarded unless it happens to work in her favor.
 3. Nursery school is still looked forward to with excitement every morning that Keila attends. She is also still asking when she can bring her lunch and stay longer, although she understands that it will happen after we return from visiting Grandpa for Christmas.
 Keila now has lots of imaginary friends, although Pho-Phen is the most consistent one and is always around. He is a 'big boy' and can do lots of things on his own, plus his mother is very talented and can make him a Dokin-chan birthday cake. (Look up Dokin-chan of the Anpanman characters if you are curious). I was informed of this fact after I told Keila I could probably only do well enough to make her an Anpanman birthday cake. Thanks a lot, Pho-Phen's mom! Putting me to shame!
 Keila is also still cooking up a storm and was thrilled with the chef's hat and new apron I found her last weekend. Play dough and clay are also favorite mediums, and Keila uses them to make all sorts of 'food'.
 4. A few quotes from this month: 'What happens if I go pee pee in the pool?? Will they have to go under water and get it out?' and also 'That's not right! That's not the way Mommy does it!' (this said to Yuki as he was trying to wash her hair). Finally 'What is nobody comes to my party? I will be saaad!' Luckily lots of kids showed up, so we didn't have to worry about that problem. =)
 5. I have no idea how tall Keila is this month or how much she weighs. More than 15 kilos by now, I'd guess!
 Happy Birthday, Keila!!!

Keila is 35 Months Old!!!

  Once again I've been awful about blogging. Maybe one day I'll get back on track and actually start writing some posts again. Until then, I'll at least be sure to keep Keila's monthly updates going. Still can't believe that she's going to be 3 next month!! I feel like I'm going to turn around and she'll be off to college soon. Guess at least I'll have these updates to look back on when that time comes!

 1. Keila is still really interested in learning Japanese, and she continues to ask what words mean in both languages. She also recognizes Japanese characters on books, or she will at least recognize that they're not the English alphabet. Her English vocabulary of course is also rapidly expanding, and I'm not even sure where she's heard some of the words she knows!
2. The Gro-clock has been somewhat of a miracle! Keila fully understands that she's not supposed to call for use until the sunshine appears on it in the morning. That doesn't really mean she follows it all the time (she will often call for me and state that since there's only one star left in the countdown, can she please get up now?) but her sleep is way better than before we bought it! I can't remember if I mentioned in the last post how Keila had dropped her naps, too. That may have been within the past month; I honestly can't remember when it was, but it was a Thursday. She just stopped them cold-turkey. Meaning that bedtime is now 7 pm and I have a bit of the night back. But no break during the day!
 3. Nursery school is going amazingly well! Keila adjusted to it quickly and loves going so much that she's already asking to take her lunch and stay with the other kids. She adjusted so well, in fact, that she let her stubbornness show on the 4th day and earned herself a red card for 1. Refusing to hold a boy's hand during prayer, 2. then refusing to say sorry, and 3. finally, refusing to help tidy up! Poor girl was sufficiently traumatized by not getting a sticker at the end of the morning that she's been on good behavior since, thankfully!
 Keila has been quite interested in cooking and toy animals lately (more so than usual). She's asking for a barking, moving toy dog for her birthday, since she saw one at a friend's house. We got her some new toy food yesterday too, since she loves to 'cook' and serve me various dishes while I'm preparing our real meals.
 Pho-Phen is still alive and well, although Keila got mad at me a few weeks ago because I 'forgot' him at the swimming pool and then refused to literally get in the car and drive back to get him once we got home and she reminded me. A major tantrum ensued that time, although Pho-Phen did somehow make his way home in time to join us at the coffee shop later that afternoon. At least he's a resourceful imaginary friend!
 Another development: as of today, Keila has started mimicking me, word for word and action for action. She finds it hilarious, and I do too....for now!
 4. No real story of the month, just a few quotes/incidents. Apparently we have a music critic on our hands, as she heard a Maroon Five song and said 'This shouldn't be a song! It's terrible!' (I disagreed and she told me I was wrong). Also, last weekend when a friend was moving his car and Keila was getting into ours, she smelled the diesel and said 'I smell something....it smells like appetizers!' No idea where she got the word appetizers from, or why she thinks diesel smells like them!
 5. Keila is 96 cm and just over 15 kilos.
 That's it until her 3rd birthday!!!

Recipe Post: Secret Ingredient Mini Mushroom Tarragon Frittatas

  Well, finally I'm getting time to post something. It's been....how long??? since I wrote anything other than Keila's monthly updates. And yet, I'm still not going to post anything about Istanbul or Greece just yet. For once, there hasn't been time to sort through all of our photos yet. And two, I REALLY loved what I concocted for dinner tonight and don't want to forget how to make it. Hopefully more posts about our travels will follow shortly. Seeing as how Keila has suddenly dropped her naps though, don't hold me to that!
 For now....some amazing mini frittatas that I baked in muffin tins tonight. I got the inspriation from some Pinterest recipes (particularly this one: http://www.dailygarnish.com/2012/09/mini-mushroom-onion-frittata-muffins.html), plus the fact that we only had 4 eggs when I wanted 8. That, and I'm on a really big bean kick lately, but my husband actually begged me last week for a few less bean dishes. I figure he won't even know they're in this recipe, unless he happens to read my blog (Sorry, honey!).  So...here you go! Added fiber, with all the goodness and taste of a fritatta. I wonder if I can somehow make these things vegan for next time, though....

 Secret Ingredient Mini Mushroom Tarragon Frittatas
Makes 12-14 mini frittatas in muffin cups
   Ingredients:

  1 large onion, diced
  1 8 oz package of mushrooms, cleaned and diced
  EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  dried tarragon, about 1 Tablespoon
  garlic powder (about 1-2 teaspoons)
  salt (maybe a half teaspoon)

  4 eggs
  about 3/4-1 cup chickpeas, drained
  3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
  2 TB nutritional yeast
 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Preheat your oven to 180C/375F if using the oven. If using silicone muffin tins, you may also just microwave these little buggers.
First, heat the onion and mushrooms in EVOO in a frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes, then throw in the dried tarragon and garlic powder, plus a pinch of salt. Continue cooking until everything is soft and golden/brown, adding a bit of water if necessary to prevent sticking. Set aside and let cool a bit.

 In a food processor or blender, combine the rest of the ingredients (from eggs to sea salt), blending well. Then take maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the mushroom mixture and puree that in with the egg mixture, too. (You probably don't have to puree any of the mushroom mixture if you don't want to, but it increased the overall consistency of flavor, plus Keila never knew she was enjoying mushrooms, the one food she seriously dislikes).
Finally, stir in the remaining mushroom mixture and spoon into muffin tins greased with EVOO. (If using silicone tins, you won't need to grease them, of course). Fill maybe 3/4 to almost full, but not quite. Bake for about 20 minutes, until set and slightly browned. Allow to cool a bit before eating. Or if you're impatient like me, pop a few out with a spoon right away and burn your tongue scarfing them down. May also be eaten cold. In fact, I may go chomp on another one right now....

    Delicious and healthy!!!

Keila's 34 Month Update

 Well, Keila is 2 months away from turning 3. Where has the time gone?? I've started to think about planning her birthday party....and FYI, in case you're hoping to book a party venue in the UK, try to reserve it at least 6 months in advance. Who knew that children's party sites would fill up so quickly?? Luckily I've found one and am going to reserve it tomorrow. Keila is VERY excited for the big day!
  As for what we've been up to since I last posted....

1. Keila is becoming more and more interested in Japanese the past few weeks. She has fully grasped the idea of one object having more than one word attached to it, and she will often ask me what is the word for various objects. For example 'What does 'book' mean?' is her way of asking me 'How do you say 'book' in Japanese?' I'm not sure how many of the words she's retaining so far, but she does seem to take everything in very quickly.
 2. SLEEP! I feel like I could write post after post about how this kid won't sleep through the night. Except that nobody cares to read it. But....hopefully a modern miracle has arrived today in the mail! We got something called a 'gro-clock' that shows a star on a lit-up blue background for sleep times...and it will change to a yellow sun for morning. I've told her over and over that blue means go back to bed, while the yellow sun means she can get up. I'm sure the clock will do its job, now we just have to wait and see whether Keila listens to it!
 3. Keila has been up to a LOT lately. I forgot to mention last time that she has an imaginary friend! His name is Pho-Phen (Foe-Fin??) and he's just a year older than her. Sometimes he goes and lives at his house in Japan by Grandpa, and sometimes he goes to live in his house in the US by Grandma. Most of the time he hangs out in our living room and plays with Keila's toys, though. Last week, we had to buy Pho-Phen some ice cream at the story. Only when we got home, he no longer wanted it and said Keila could have it instead. Funny how that works.
 Keila also has her first morning of nursery school yesterday! She will only be going 2 mornings a week at first, just to get adjusted. She did great on the first day and didn't really seem to notice I was gone (nor was she excited to see me when I came back, hah!).
 Keila has also been really interested in numbers and counting lately. She will count anything and everything she can. I'm trying to work on the concept of addition with her, but so far she is pretty satisfied with just counting things.
 4. Story of the month, just a quick one but pretty funny. I smacked my leg on the handle of the refrigerator the other morning while Keila was having breakfast. I yelled something like 'OW! That stinking handle!' and Keila didn't seem to notice much....until I turned around and saw her sniffing the handle. Yuki laughingly asked her if it smelled, but she said 'No, it's cold!'.
 5. Keila is at least 95 cm and almost 15 kg now, depending on whether we weigh her before/after a meal.
 Until October.....


                New backpack for school!

Keila's Belated 33 Month Update

  Apologies for this update being late....we were on holiday and it's been a busy week playing catch-up now that we're finally home. Hopefully I can remember all the progress Keila has made in the past month!

1. Keila continues to ask more and more complex questions. 'Where does God live?' 'Why can't I see him?' 'Why does Daddy have to go to work?' She's also using full sentences most of the time, too. 'Mom, I don't WANT to go home! I want to stay on holiday!!!' Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding, too. Yesterday she asked me what 'disappear' meant, and then after I told her said 'So what does 'appear' mean?' Smart girl!
2. Oh sleep. Will this child ever sleep? Of course entirely our fault for dragging her everywhere, but lately Keila has been waking around 2:30 or 3:30 in the morning and asking to come to our bed. Hopefully that will calm down soon.
 3. Keila's favorite activites lately have been: playing Mommy, playing doctor, 'reading' stories, trying to use her kiddy scissors to cut anything and everything (we had a HUGE fit when I wouldn't let her cut her hair), and also picking Wasabi up every chance she gets.
4. Story for the month: Keila, usually a really sweet little girl, especially when we are out, growled at another child during a play group session. When I put her in time out she got very upset of course. Later, when I tried to explain that she couldn't growl at people, she said 'Why not? Bears growl!!'.
 And a bonus story: While out driving, I told Keila 'Look, cows!!' to which a little voice from the back seat replied 'Actually Mommy, they're bulls'. Hah!
5. Last time we measured Keila, she was 94 cm. Not sure if that's accurate since everyone keeps saying she's tall for her age? We haven't weighed her recently, but she's definitely heavier to pick up than she was last month!

 Until September....


                Drinking water from a big girl glass

Clives Fruit Farm in Upton-Upon-Severn

   It's been quite a while since I've posted anything other than Keila's monthly updates. I can't actually remember what topic I was covering last, actually. Was it Palma? In any case, I give up. We have been too busy this summer, what with traveling back to the US, trying to maintain a normal schedule while dealing with a (still) bum leg, you name it. So....I'm going to just skip over whatever topic I was on last and move ahead to....berry picking!!!
 This past Sunday, we overslept thanks to jet lag and didn't make it to church. So, instead we headed to Clives Berry Farm for some pick-your-own (PYO) berries. We were a few days too early for the cherries, but the strawberries were nearly over-ripe, and the raspberries were perfect. Keila had a great time stuffing her face full of strawberries. She apparently doesn't like raspberries quite as much, or else she was full by that point, since she did a better job of putting those into the basket.
 In addition to the PYO plots, Clives also has a really cute farm shop with free range eggs, a butcher's counter (no thanks), and an assortment of home-made/hand-made/local products. There is a small cafe in the shop too. Service at the cafe was rather slow since Clives was crowded (there are signs stating that there will be a wait during peak times, but this was slow even with the warning), and we felt that the cafe staff could've been a bit more polite. One woman was nice; the younger girls...not so much. The rest of the farm shop staff were very friendly and helpful, however.
 Clives is a working farm (I'm not sure what all they do, but there were signs to beware of the tractors), complete with hens, pigs, geese, ducks, and even a peacock. They also have a children's nursery there, which would be great if they weren't a half hour drive from our house.
 I did a quick search online, and apparently Clives is best-known for their apples. I guess we'll be heading back in the fall to see how they are. If they're anywhere near as good as the berries, I will be buying a lot!


         Heading to the strawberry plots at Clives Fruit Farm

Raspberries at Clives Fruit Farm

Peacock!

We were too late for the PYO eggs

Clives Fruit Farm....inside the farm shop

  

Keila is 32 Months Today!

   First off, I just realized that I cannot count. For some reason, the past 2 months, I've posted that Keila has turned 37 and 38 months, respectively. Where did I get that from?
 Anyway, today Keila is 32 months! Really. We've been back in the US visiting Grandma for the past month, and here's what we've been doing.

1. Keila is using complete sentences most of the time now. She also loves to ask WHY? thanks to listening to her cousin say it all the time. I was hoping we'd hold off on the 'whys' for a bit, but no such luck. And yes, responding to one 'why' invariably just leads to another one!

2. Nap time isn't really happening while at Grandma's. I'm hoping we get back on track when we return home in about a week, as Keila still desperately needs them and has been pretty worn out lately.

 3. Keila has been having a blast playing in the sprinkler and the kiddy pool outside on sunny days. She also has a favorite construction hat and binoculars, which she sometimes wears when playing doctor.
 Keila was pretty excited to go see the fireworks for the 4th of July, although in the end she much preferred rolling down a hill at the park where the fireworks were instead of seeing the actual fireworks, declaring them 'too scary'.
 We're also having a bit of a daily battle with her little cousin: he throws things at her and pulls her hair or pinches; Keila retaliates by knocking him over or smacking him. Toddler wars!

 4. Story of the month.....not really a story this month, but Keila did see her first movie in the cinema! We went to see Monsters University a few days ago. Keila easily sat through the entire movie, although a few points did scare her onto my lap. Poor girl had a nightmare that night, too, so perhaps we will hold off on any  more Disney movies for a while.

 5. I haven't weighed Keila or measured her height recently. I'd say that she's at least average still, but maybe we'll stick her on the scale when we are weighing our over-stuffed suitcases later in the week.

  Until August.....

Keila is 38 Months Today!!!

   Yet another month has flown by. What's happened since last time? Mommy's got a broken leg, we've visited Barcelona, and now we're prepping for a trip back to the US. Keila is a busy girl!

1. Keila talks. And talks. AND TALKS. She's outgrowing some of her shyness and will tell random people all about what's going on in her life. The stewardesses on our Monarch airlines flight back from Barcelona all got to hear about how Keila's little friend Sammy was coming to her house in a few days. Take the kid to Barcelona, and all she talks about is a playdate at home. =)
 Keila is also repeating a lot of what we say, word for word. She's showing more interest in what Japanese words mean too, and she will ask me what I'm saying if she doesn't understand some of her Japanese books.
 2. We've gotten our naps back on schedule, and sleep is going much better at night, too! I'm of course waiting for jet lag to kill any and all progress that we've made, however.
 3. What has Keila been interested in this past month....well, anything on the iPad still, but she's also been liking to play doctor and also dress up as a princess or in a 'wedding gown'. The blanket on our couch is cream-colored, so it is therefore a wedding gown. And she's started doing my hair too, since the new unicorn we got her came with various hair clips and brushes.
 4. Story of the month. Just a quick one....but when I asked Keila what she wanted for dessert, she yelled 'Daddy's beer!' Needless to say, she did NOT get any of that dessert! I think she was quite happy with some chocolate pudding instead, after we had a talk about how Daddy's beer is special just for him.
 Yesterday was Keila's (belated) 2.5 year check. She scored well above average on everything except for the section where she's supposed to be able to climb stairs with alternating feet. Honestly, what 2.5 year-old climbs stairs like an adult already? I'm more than fine with her taking them one at a time; better safe than sorry.
 5. No idea how tall Keila is still. People keep commenting that she's tall for her age, but she seems just about average to me?
  It's late, so that's it for Keila's June update. Until July....


                      Golfing with crutches....

Forn de Sant Joan in Palma, Mallorca

  Finally getting around to our Easter holiday in Mallorca! Or Majorca, if you like.
After getting settled into our hotel, first stop was of course, lunch. We chose Forn de Sant Joan based on the fact that we stumbled across it while out for a walk, and I remembered it had high ratings online. Plus the 21 euro set lunch seemed like a great deal.
 Food was great, and the service was exceptional. Even though Forn de Sant Joan is obviously a rather classy and upscale restaurant, they provided a high chair for Keila along with some crayons and paper for coloring. Our waiter and the manager both made quite a fuss over her, so it was obvious that children are welcome (at least for lunch...we did eat there again for an early dinner, but I'd feel bad taking a child in to eat during later evening hours).
 Appetizers in the set lunch included a choice of creamy tomato soup with avocado mousse and herb oil; Alaskan salmon tartar with capers, coriander, lime, and mustard ice cream; or grilled vegetables with pesto and Parmesan shavings. We opted for the soup and the salmon. The soup was superb; the salmon was also quite good but the mustard ice cream was an acquired taste (I liked it, hubby didn't).
 Main course options were: Grilled sea bass with a Saracen wheat risotto and zucchini with chive aioli; duck Magret with red berries and vanilla potatoes; or giant macaroni with carmelized onion, mozzarella, and truffle cream. Seeing as the last one seemed like glorified mac n' cheese, we chose the first two. I still feel bad about eating the duck, however (sea bass was out thanks to the gluten-containing wheat). Both dishes were good, but I'm not just really a fan of fowl other than chicken.
 Finally, dessert! 2 choices here, so we got 1 of each: creme brulee and 'Banana connection'. I can't remember what the banana dish was, but it had gluten in it so I didn't taste any. The creme brulee was ok but again wouldn't have been my first choice since creme brulee in general is a bit boring.
 Forn de Sant Joan does serve gluten-free bread if you ask, but I the service charge for it (and for any other bread they bring to your table) is 2.50 euros a person. So be sure to tell the waiter if you don't want bread before he puts it the basket down.
 All in all, it was a really good lunch at a reasonable price. I'd give the restaurant 5 stars based on our lunch experience, but our return visit at dinner brought it down to a low 4.
 We arrived for dinner exactly at opening time, and only then realized that the set menu was for lunch only. Our mistake, not the restaurant's, but I doubt we would have returned if we'd known, seeing as how expensive the regular options on the menu are. For starters, we had grilled octopus (14.50 euros), some kind of pork that I did not partake of (15.50 euros), grilled eel (14.50 euros), a pumpkin soup (8.50 euros for a regular-sized bowl). We shared one main of seared tuna (24.50 euros) and one dessert (7 euros), along with an order of fries for Keila (4 euros). We (and by 'we' I don't mean me) also had some beer and a glass or two of wine, along with one bottle of water for the table to share.. Bill came to 115.90 euros, and I left still hungry! We ended up eating a second dinner at our hotel because I was starving when we got back. What we ordered sounded like a lot, but the portions were miniscule.
 I could handle the menu being over-priced, but our service wasn't nearly as good as it was at lunch, either. Perhaps because the restaurant was getting full, it took quite a while for a few of our dishes to arrive, and I was beginning to wonder if they'd forgotten our order. Also, when I told the waiter that I couldn't eat the bread, she didn't bother to even offer a gluten-free option that time. In her defense, maybe she was new?
  In summary: go to Forn de Sant Joan for lunch. Dinner was just too little for too much money.

Forn de Sant Joan
C\Sant Joan 4
Palma de Mallorca


            From the lunch menu: creamy tomato soup with avocado mousse

   Alaskan salmon tartar

       Quack quack!

 Banana Connection for dessert

From the dinner menu. Grilled eel priced at 14 euros. Wouldn't have been a bad price except for the portion size: tiny! (Compare it to the wasabi on the plate).

  Grilled octopus was delicious.

Tiny portion of seared tuna. Again, about the same portion size as the eel, for 24.50 euros.

 Rather small (but tasty) scoop of chocolate ice cream for 7 euros.

Keila is 37 Months Today!

  Yep, my little girl is officially closer to 3 than she is to 2 now. How has time gone by so quickly?? And it seems like the past month has gone by even faster. We had a visit to Thomas Land, a mini-holiday in London, a tour of Keila's future nursery school, etc etc.
 Oh, and I think I forgot to post last month that Keila has outgrown her peanut allergy!! YAY! After almost 3 hours in the children's clinic at the hospital involving 1 teaspoon of peanut butter followed by 2.5 peanut butter chocolate cookies, it was pretty obvious that Keila's peanut allergy is a thing of the past. And that she gets really, really hyper when given too much chocolate and sugar. She literally bounced off the clinic bed just before we left. Good thing it wasn't too far from the floor.
 Anyway, on to Keila's monthly progress report.

1. Language is still improving daily. Keila uses lots of full sentences now but we hear a lot of commands too. 'Dada! NO!' or 'Daddy, get up NOW!' are some of her favorites. Also 'Wasabi, get DOWN!'. Keila will chatter away at home but can be quite shy in public. People keep telling me 'Don't worry, she'll really start talking soon'....hah!
 Keila is also showing a big interest in Japanese hiragana, and she will make me sound out each sound while pointing to the matching characters in her books. 
2. Sleep is still hit or miss. Most nights Keila will sleep through, although it just depends. She doesn't tend to like going to bed still and will often make up excuses such as needing a drink of water or having to go to the potty. Keila is also dropping at least one nap a week, leading me to fear that she may drop napping altogether soon!
3. Keila's favorite things this month include: doing puzzles on the iPad, along with spelling and matching apps on the iPad. Basically anything on the iPad whenever she can get ahold of it. She actually calls it 'MY iPad'. Nice.
 When Keila can't get to the iPad (ie Mom hides it as often as possible), she's been enjoying 'reading' her books, taking her dollies on walks in their stroller, and since it's getting warmer, playing in the back garden. Snails are a huge hit. 'Where do they live? Where is their house? Look at this snail!!!' I'm going to haul out her little tricycle tomorrow and see how well she does on it for the first time. She's used some at play groups before so hopefully this one will be easy for her.
 4. Story of the month: I chopped up a big chocolate Easter bunny and used it to make chocolate chip cookies. Keila had been asking to eat that bunny for days (I kept telling her 'not today', and of course she noticed that it was missing and asked where it was. I told her that it was now in the cookies I'd made. Keila looked concerned for a minute then happily declared 'So Keila has to eat cookies!!!'
 In other news, Keila also finds passing gas hilarious. She will proudly announce whenever she 'toots' and then laugh about it. She also likes to tell Mommy and Daddy that they are 'stinky' in Japanese. I'm not really sure how this came about, although we probably don't help the matter by laughing along with her.  Here is a recent video for your viewing pleasure: Keila Kusai Kusai!
 5. Keila was exactly 14 kg last time she climbed on the scale. I don't know how much she weighs right now though.

 Speaking of not sleeping, Keila is up and yelling for me right now so that's it for this month.