Forgot to add some fun tidbits on Leia -
As of 3 days ago, Leia can now tie a bow! We are so proud, but not as proud as she is!
She is very forgiving of me when I forget things, (like including a fork for her obento one day!), saying "Mama wa kawaii matsuge shiteirukara itsumo yurushite ageruyo!" ("You have cute eyelashes, so I'll always forgive you!")
Her drawings are really taking on a new dimension. The other day, she drew a frog wearing rain boots like hers - with a princess on each boot! I will have to load a few soon to share...
We have a phonics book that Leia picks up almost every day to go through and say all the English words she knows. It's about 100 pages long, but she diligently goes through each page, saying the words she knows and asking me the ones she doesn't. Today, after the "benkyo", she said "Watashi eigo no benkyo de isogashiku naru ne." ("I'm going to be busy studying English, aren't I?") She still has a long way to go before she can express herself in English, but it seems she has begun accepting it as her duty to learn, especially so that she can communicate with all her aunts, uncles and cousins! (She knows that Jiji and Grandma speak Japanese, so she takes advantage of that factor here...! But she knows that Nikko only speaks English, so worked very hard on her communication with her - Sit, Down, Stay, Wait, and Off!)
In the meantime, I'm studying up on second language acquisition, and am gaining some interesting insight into the process! My goal is to someday find a like-minded group of parents with kids who don't mind taking a relaxed approach to bilingualism. (Most of the parents I come across approach the issue with too much self-interest, and don't have enough of a child-centered approach for me...)
Last month, I took Leia on an outrigger canoe ride in the ocean (with English-speaking kids, in fact!) and this past weekend for rice transplanting - she had a blast on both outings - she loved the ocean and riding in the canoe. At the rice paddies, she got fully naked in the mud and helped weed the paddy in between chasing the tadpoles and frogs! I hope to share photos when I get them from friends.
She is growing up quickly and I hate to let too much time pass before seeing you all again - hopefully we'll be able to get over to the US before too long.
Love to all!
Norie, Hiro and Leia
**Addendum**
Forgot to mention that Leia enjoys the breeze while we race to yochien on bicycle each morning - she says things like "Mama, watashi kaze de okesho shiteru yo!" ("Mama, I'm putting on my make-up with the wind." Or "Kaze de shower shiteru yo!" (I'm showering with the wind!") Today, since she said we were going so quickly, she had us flap our wings like birds as we flew to yochien! : )
And every morning, as Hiro sees us off, she shouts, "Papa, kaete kitara asonde agerukara ne. Matte te ne!" ("Papa, I'll play with you when I get home, okay? Be waiting for me!")
As of 3 days ago, Leia can now tie a bow! We are so proud, but not as proud as she is!
She is very forgiving of me when I forget things, (like including a fork for her obento one day!), saying "Mama wa kawaii matsuge shiteirukara itsumo yurushite ageruyo!" ("You have cute eyelashes, so I'll always forgive you!")
Her drawings are really taking on a new dimension. The other day, she drew a frog wearing rain boots like hers - with a princess on each boot! I will have to load a few soon to share...
We have a phonics book that Leia picks up almost every day to go through and say all the English words she knows. It's about 100 pages long, but she diligently goes through each page, saying the words she knows and asking me the ones she doesn't. Today, after the "benkyo", she said "Watashi eigo no benkyo de isogashiku naru ne." ("I'm going to be busy studying English, aren't I?") She still has a long way to go before she can express herself in English, but it seems she has begun accepting it as her duty to learn, especially so that she can communicate with all her aunts, uncles and cousins! (She knows that Jiji and Grandma speak Japanese, so she takes advantage of that factor here...! But she knows that Nikko only speaks English, so worked very hard on her communication with her - Sit, Down, Stay, Wait, and Off!)
In the meantime, I'm studying up on second language acquisition, and am gaining some interesting insight into the process! My goal is to someday find a like-minded group of parents with kids who don't mind taking a relaxed approach to bilingualism. (Most of the parents I come across approach the issue with too much self-interest, and don't have enough of a child-centered approach for me...)
Last month, I took Leia on an outrigger canoe ride in the ocean (with English-speaking kids, in fact!) and this past weekend for rice transplanting - she had a blast on both outings - she loved the ocean and riding in the canoe. At the rice paddies, she got fully naked in the mud and helped weed the paddy in between chasing the tadpoles and frogs! I hope to share photos when I get them from friends.
She is growing up quickly and I hate to let too much time pass before seeing you all again - hopefully we'll be able to get over to the US before too long.
Love to all!
Norie, Hiro and Leia
**Addendum**
Forgot to mention that Leia enjoys the breeze while we race to yochien on bicycle each morning - she says things like "Mama, watashi kaze de okesho shiteru yo!" ("Mama, I'm putting on my make-up with the wind." Or "Kaze de shower shiteru yo!" (I'm showering with the wind!") Today, since she said we were going so quickly, she had us flap our wings like birds as we flew to yochien! : )
And every morning, as Hiro sees us off, she shouts, "Papa, kaete kitara asonde agerukara ne. Matte te ne!" ("Papa, I'll play with you when I get home, okay? Be waiting for me!")
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