Dinner around our house is always an... um... how do I say this... an interestingly challenging affair. Kuri tends to eat well - especially if there's apple sauce (which there invariably is) - but only after he sits down. That's the primary challenge. He hasn't quite figured out the use of his food tray, nor has he realized that combining stuffed animals and fresh food results in his furry friends taking a trip to the washing machine.
He also loves to eat independently now, which is great, but not always advantageous, again when it comes to laundry volume. Tonight, we had a rare reprieve from extreme mess when Kuri decided he'd let Mama feed him his yogurt.
Mimi and food have a love-hate relationship. She'll either attack what's on her plate or completely ignore it. Tonight I served leftover quesadillas and udon (I know, not the most traditional meal, but that's what we had). Mimi tore through her quesadilla, but when it came to her udon, she ignored it with a fervor that I can't help but feel she'll use on overweight, acne-ridden middle school boys (I know that look).
Protests from her father were to no avail.
Despite Mimi's dinner performance, we still took some time to go through some of the pictures she had composed over the past few days. Mimi seems to have a little talent, which is a bit of a shock for Sumie and me as Mimi has already surpassed our less than meager artistic gifts.
Like most little girls, Mimi is obsessed with princesses, princes, kings, and queens. As such, there's always a lot of royalty showing up in her drawings. Here's a queen...
...and here's the "Midori Love" princess.
Over the weekend we watched a Japanese music show featuring "NyaKB" - an offshoot of Mimi's favorite group, AKB48. It is a group of about ten girls who sing in frilly skirts and kitty ears (after years of exposure to Japanese culture, I sadly no longer find this kind of behavior odd or even surprising). I think Mimi's take is rather good!
Our favorite drawing of the night was Mimi's public service poster. Why she decided to create a public service poster, I have no idea, but traffic safety must have been weighing heavily on her mind. Take a look at the poster below.
You most likely made out a girl, a car, and a big "X". Under that is written "da-me," which is "don't" or "not allowed" in Japanese. In short, Mimi's public service message was "Don't hit girls with cars." Now I know... and, as we all remember, knowing is half the battle.
You may have noticed that Mimi's PSA was folded. That's because I'm hiding my favorite part of he message. Mimi, being the modest little girl she is, decided to sign her work.
Right there, in the middle of the poster, Mimi had penned "Created by Mimi." My little girl likes to be recognized for her work.
Sadly, and rather unfairly, by the end of the night Mimi had still failed to recognize the excellent contribution her udon could have made to her dinner. Poor udon. You were good, but you end today unloved. Even Sumie and I cannot eat you. We've already had far too many "second dinners" this week thanks to our fickle little girl.
