Once Upon a Tanbo

Tonight reminds me of 4 years ago…

Sprawled out on the tatami with my computer, Utada Hikaru as background music, no husband, no baby.. just me and the internet.

Makes you realize that alone time is important, but I don’t think I’d trade to go back to be unattached and no kids… too lonely. I can’t imagine spending every night like this anymore. So funny because even yesterday I was dying for a break, another night to be single with no responsibilities besides getting to work on time in the morning.

I’m not a “great” mom or wife… just a flawed person who tries her best but fails as much or more as she succeeds. Both Ryohei and Sakura try my patience at least a few times a week…  but now that he’s away on business and she’s asleep I realize that I miss the noise and chaos that is my little family.

I’m sure tomorrow I’ll think differently, but at least tonight I’m happy with the choices I’ve made.

I’m in a good place to start the healthy eating/exercise plan and also to start looking for work… no visitors for the near future, no more excuses.

Wonder where we’ll be 4 years from now?

I haven’t updated much on Sakura and her development lately so this is what is going on with my little 1 year old “cherry blossom”

Speech: Sakura talks A LOT. She understands quite a few words and can say some to. As of 1 year and a couple weeks she can say: “Mama” /”Dada(recently she’ll say Daddy too)” /”Mei-mei(milk)”/ “Doggy”/ “Meow-meow”/ *tongue click* “Neeeeigh” (for her My Little Pony)/”Bye-bye”/”baby”/”boobie” (she likes words with “b” sounds) She also tries to sing “E-I-E-I-O” from Old McDonald and the beginning of “ABCs”
She understands a lot of words such as parts of the face, names of toys and people, and simple commands like “please” and “come here” (although she chooses to ignore these quite a bit) We are so impressed with her vocabulary and understanding! The “English” influence of staying home with me and our recent string of visitors seems to be much stronger as doesn’t seem to respond to Japanese as much although I think she understands “Dako(hug)” and “Oide (come here)” I am sure that if she goes to kindy once I start working the Japanese will become stronger than the English but she seems to have a pretty good capacity for language so hoping she will be one of those kids that takes to both naturally.

ACTIVITY: Sakura still hasn’t really started walking or standing on her own. She can stand on her own for maybe 2 seconds. Shes quite capable of moving from furniture to furniture and crawls like a speed demon. We are wondering if she is just working on her language skills before moving on to motor skills.

SLEEP: Still not usually getting a whole nights sleep and getting her to bed is a b**** too… she screams and cries and gets angry. When does “sleep” get easier?? I mean no waking up at night unless and easier to get them to bed.. I was hoping that after a year things would get easier but alas no…

FOOD: Pretty much on everything.. she’s had everything but shellfish (my allergy) She was even given peanut butter by her grandma (without my knowledge actually) but shes fine. She hasn’t had a reaction to anything – yay!

OTHER: VERY SOCIAL. This kid doesn’t know the meaning of stranger anxiety.. actually shes very about “escape” and “greet” she loves going to play places or any other place with other kids and adults and will climb over to a complete strange for a cuddle or a “chat” She loves grabbing peoples bags and clothes on the train and people are for the most part charmed with her so it is ok but I just worry I will get some baby-hating person mad at me. She doesn’t seem to think other babies are real and plays pretty rough with them but LOVES older (2+) kids.