New Year, New Friends

It's been a busy New Year so far.

We spent New Year's Eve day in Sacramento visiting friends and family, and today, January 1st, we headed up the coast to Muir Woods (which was far too crowded, so we settled on a very windy Muir Beach).

Why all the driving?  Well, we had to break-in Sumie's Christmas present.  More details on that in a later post, but I will say we averaged 45mpg on our Sacramento trip and it's not a Prius.

Before heading for the beach, we started the New Year with "Ozoni," a traditional Japanese soup with mochi.

Mimi loved the soup, as you can see, but unfortunately she decided she just wanted broth.  No chicken.  This toddler is getting picky.  

On Thursday we had a visit from my cousin, Gina, and her two boys.  We headed over to the Academy of Sciences and had a great time.  While Gina, Ethan, and Noah were hanging out in the planetarium (Mimi was, wisely, not allowed entry), Mimi decided to climb some cats outside.  This meant pushing some older children aside, but that's her forte.  She's small, but tough.  At least until she realizes that she can't get down on her own.  She shifts from tough-girl to cry-baby quite quickly.  

We've also been busy at home during the break.  Yesterday Mimi insisted on playing a few rounds of pinball.  She's getting good at loading the pinballs into the chute...

but her favorite thing is watching them tumble down the playfield.

Mimi's also getting better at keeping herself busy.  She's starting to recognize numbers (even out of sequence) and attempting to sing the alphabet song on her own.  I'll often find her flipping through her number book, shouting out numbers in Japanese (some right, some a bit off, some woefully wrong),  or toggling through the songs on her play kitchen to get to the alphabet song.

The biggest change in the past few weeks happened when Mimi started bonding with some of her toys.  Mimi's had preferences for certain toys since she was only a few months old, but now she has a few definite favorites. 

Several weeks ago Mimi started carrying her stuffed kitty, Nyan-Nyan, with her around the house.  Eventually she wanted to take him on walks, trips to the store, and even to bed.  Nyan-Nyan was special.  We have no idea why she chose Nyan-Nyan.  She still prefers real dogs to cats and she has a cuddly stuffed dog, but for some reason Nyan-Nyan won his way into Mimi's heart.  But now, after Christmas, he has a bit of competition.

We did not buy Mimi many presents this year.  Just two.  A small snow globe and a baby doll that, unlike so many others these days, didn't look freakishly evil.  Unfortunately, Mimi's doll was "commandeered" by her cousin Lucey at the Christmas party (Mimi was too busy playing playing in the cardboard spaceship we'd set up) and became her favorite toy of the night.  We didn't have the heart to break them up, and given that Mimi didn't remember getting the doll, we let it slide.  The following day Mimi decided to fling her snow globe on the tile.  The snow globe did not appreciate this and decided to crack in half.  So, by the day after Christmas, Mimi was left with no presents from her parents.

I remedied this two days later with another baby doll.  Mimi found her before I did.  "Baby!" I heard as I was walking up the aisle, Mimi holding my hand.  And she was right.  There in front of us was the same baby Mimi had received on Christmas Day.  We brought "Baby" home and by the end of the night, Mimi had two best friends instead of one.  Sumie and I were amazed.  We'd never seen her take to anything so quickly and with such abandon.

Now we go everywhere with Nyan-Nyan and Baby (I'm hoping Mimi will get a little more creative with her names in the near future).  Mimi even takes both of them to bed with her.  In the past, Mimi would normally squirm and scream a bit after we'd put her down and closed the door.  But now, cuddled with her friends, she tends to drift off with minimal fuss.

I'm looking forward to that first night I hear Mimi "talking" with her friends as she drifts off to sleep.  With such busy days, I'm sure she has a lot to share.