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.....