Mimi Helps Out: Cutefully Ineffective

With the family moving into our new place in San Francisco tomorrow night, I'm taking a moment to reflect on all that we've accomplished since arriving in California on the 24th.  We have secured a wonderful new place to live, updated all of our accounts, battled the DMV (new licenses are on the way and 1 of the 2 cars is already smogged), spent time with friends and family, and have been rapidly increasing both Mimi's vocabulary and gregariousness.  She's really come into her own since we've arrived in California.  Perhaps it's having both Sumie and I around.  Or maybe the change in scenery has forced her to adapt faster than we thought she could.  I'm not really sure, but I am very proud of her.

Her vocabulary, particularly in Japanese, has increased dramatically.  She can still use only a few words on her own (doggie, Papa, Mama, uhn [with a nod, for "yes"], and no), but what she understands is remarkable.  She's able to interpret sentences with different objects.  For instance, with the sentence, "Give _____ a kiss," she can correctly identify and kiss the person who fits the blank (as long as that person is Mama, Papa, or one of the Grandparents).  Actually, as I was writing just now, Mimi came into the bedroom, carried by Sumie, clutching a huge metal strainer.  As she approached me, Sumie whispered to Mimi "Dozo," which is "Here you go" in Japanese.  Mimi immediately thrust the strainer at me and also whispered "Dohzsho." I had to take a 5-minute break.  It was just too cute.  She's becoming a veritable tape recorder.   

Mimi has also taken to making sounds when she plays with toys.  Whenever she picks up a car, or Thomas the Tank Engine, she now makes a "vroom-vroom" sound as she pushes it along.  Is this word universal?  I've rarely, if ever, uttered it in front of her, and yet there she is, supplying a soundtrack.  I find it fascinating that kids do this.  They're not prompted by us to do so, and yet, as they imagine during their play, they know something is lacking.  So, they supply the soundtrack themselves.  Perhaps humans are, by their very nature, inherently creative.

I've found that Mimi is particularly talkative just before bed.  I'm not sure why, but this tends to be when she really tries to "talk" with me and Sumie.  However, she's also rather wilely during these times, particularly if she's not wearing much clothing.  The picture below may look cute, but it's deceptive.  She had already punched her mother in the head, kicked her father in his "gentleman's region," and nearly rolled off the bed three times before we snapped this photo. 

I am not that strong when it comes to learning languages, so watching my daughter pick up two simultaneously has been, without doubt, a rather humbling experience.  Her ability to repeat words, and even short phrases, is uncanny.  In addition to her linguistic development, she's also learning how to communicate in non-verbal ways.  A smile, a tilt of the head, placing her hand against her cheek to show she wants to go to sleep, or against her ear to show she wants the phone, they are are all attempts - and understandable attempts - to communicate.  She's becoming less a baby and more a "person" each day.

Another way Mimi is now demonstrating her "personness" (for lack of a better term) is by consistently attempting to help me and Sumie.  A few days ago a friend of mine gave me a new lens for my camera (he is, really, too kind).  It's fantastic for portraits, but has a very narrow depth of focus.  As such, when taking the photos that follow I was far more involved with the camera settings than actually figuring out what Mimi was doing.  Mimi started out by attempting to hand me the remote.  It was early afternoon, so she probably knew that either Doctor Who or Top Gear (two of Papa's biggest weaknesses) was on BBC America. 

It turned out that I didn't need the remote (I was too busy taking snaps of Mimi), so she went around the coffee table to look for something else.  I took the following picture a minute or so later.  Can you see what she's holding?  I couldn't at the time. 

Once she had acquired the mystery object, she then made a rapid advance towards me.  With the lens I was using this meant that I had to scoot away rapidly for Mimi to stay in focus, which seemed to annoy her.  I was able to get this shot off. Can you tell what she's holding now? 

I didn't recognize it until I put my camera aside (Mimi having come too close to remain in focus) and picked her up.  It was my lens cover.  I was absolutely blown away.  Here I was, sitting on the other end of the living room, trying to get some keepsake photos of my little girl, but all-the-while she was a step ahead of me.  She had recognized that I was using my camera.  So, she sought out my camera lens cover and then rushed over to give it to me.  I often say that I'm humbled by my little girl in this blog (in fact, I did so just a few paragraphs earlier), but this moment really took me down a notch.  She had not only connected the lens cap with my camera, she had thought that I might need it.  I was just taking pictures of her, not really considering what would make her happy, but she was trying to do what she thought Papa might want.  Seriously, seriously amazing. 

Later that day Mimi attempted to help out both Sumie and I by bringing us the newspaper and then attempting to fold the laundry. 

Mimi's "help" generally doesn't make the job any faster - it doubles the time, and only then if we're lucky - but it's something we cherish deeply.  Over the past few weeks we have seen Mimi take her first steps to becoming not only a member of but a contributor to our family.  Both Sumie and I can't wait to see how she grows into her future role. 

A Grand Day Out

Although Mimi's not entirely used to her surroundings, she has made great strides in acclimating to the west coast and to the ever-changing schedule presented by house-hunting, visits from friends, and dinners out.  There's some routine, though.

Each morning Mimi wakes up around 8:00am.  Papa usually comes into her room when he hears what he likes to call "sustained whimpering."  It's not a cry, it's just a little "ih-heh, ih-heh" that lasts long enough to let me know she's not going to go back down.  Upon entering the room, Mimi will look up, greet me with an "arnghuuuh-aaaahhh," and then hand me her blanket.  When I put her to bed each night the last thing I give to her, the only thing she clutches the whole night through, is her blankie.  It's rather remarkable that now, when she wakes up, the first thing she does is to give me her blankie back.  I think it's Mimi's way of telling me that she's ready for the day.

After pulling her from the pack-n-play we head over to visit Mama, who has most likely already had her shower.  Mimi always greets her with a big kiss.  

After a little play on the bed - Mimi loves to attempt somersaults and nearly has the move down now - we head over to the kitchen for breakfast.  Currently, Mimi has taken to eating for about 13 seconds and then, once her tray is full of food, flinging everything to the floor with both hands.  Still showing no preference for one hand over the other, she flings to both sides equally well.  Within 30 seconds or so there is a 3 foot circle of refuse surrounding her booster seat.  Unfortunately, Sumie and I are almost always within this circle as well.  Perhaps this is why we've taken to wearing our PJs until after breakfast.

We've attempted to combat the carnage by placing much less food on her tray and by giving her an opportunity to eat by independently, even it it does mean she'll make a mess of herself.  Better her than us is our current motto.  She's actually taken to it quite well.

After breakfast it was time to explore the garden with Mama and Grandma.  Mimi still isn't much of a fruit eater, she even turns up her nose to strawberries after only a nibble or two, but she loves being outside.  Here she is showing us exactly what she wants: out.  It amazes me that it only took her a few days to figure out which door held what and how to ask to get outside.

After some heavy lifting in the garden - Mimi sorted basil into piles for a few minutes and then went about "unsorting" them - it was time for a nap.  And good thing, too, because we would be meeting Ojichan (Grandpa from New York, who was out on a business trip), Kae, Eddie, and the girls for Dim Sum for lunch.

Although Mimi's been eating less over the past few days she still tends to do well when we go out.  At the Dim Sum restaurant she jacked up the bill by tearing through a plate of noodles and then taking down some dumplings.  She'd take an occasional break to share a bit of the plunder with Thomas. 

Towards the end of the meal she'd had her full and was ready to play with those still finishing their tea.  First she cuddled with Ojichan and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Reber to steal their glasses.  I had been worried that Mimi might struggle with the transition to California, so it was reassuring to see that she still remembered Ojichan, even in different surroundings, and that stealing glasses wasn't just some weird kind of personal vendetta she had against her father. 

After brunch it was time for a second nap.  Everyone else took a picture to celebrate being together in California.  Had Mimi been in this one, at this time of day, you could have identified her as the only screaming child. 

We closed out the day with a visit from two close friends from our Davis years.  The transition to California will have its challenges, but at least we're surrounded by family and friends.  It can make all the difference.  We gathered at a Mexican restaurant (yes, I've been eating an obscene amount of Mexican food since getting back to California) where Mimi decided she'd dance for everyone's entertainment.  It was pretty cute, but not quite good enough.  I still had to pay for dinner.

The night came to a close in the usual way.  Mimi, Mama, and Papa hung out together on the bed, drinking milk, talking, and then brushing some teeth between somersaults.  It's at this time of day that Mimi's vocabulary really comes out.  She's taken to repeating almost everything we say.  It's remarkable, hilarious, and, for me, dangerous.  I really need to clean up my act.  Now!

Finally, it was time for sleep.  After a change of clothes, a kiss to Mama, and then a wave good night, Papa took Mimi to her room and laid her down.  She grabbed her blankie, as always, and headed off to sleep (about 2 very loud minutes after I closed the door).  Nice work, Mimi.  Despite you're father, you're getting smarter each day!