A day at the Nature Center

Busy days...

I (Takeo) have been busy for last a few days. Some surprise visit, and thunders of e-mails from students...almost threw me into the swamp.

Hana has been sick with a thore throat. It is very sad to see that she is coughing at night, and looking that she has problems in sleeping. She has not slept well for at least two nights now...means Antonela and I did not have a good sleep....either.

Last week the campus hosted a Holiday Party for all staff and faculty members. Very nice...we enjoyed ourselves alot. Hot dogs...BBQ...I loved meals as well. The only thing was Hana did not like the Santa...well, she does not like any Santa....and keep crying all the time. I do not remember when I saw Santa for the first time in my life, but she was crying very loud.

December 9, 2008

It is almost 6pm now, and Takeo is already awake.

Antonela and Hana are still sleeping in the bed.

Antonela went to see Dr. Torres yesterday, and our baby boy is doing great. Her stomach is much bigger than the one she had for Hana, though. I mean much much bigger.

We has a strong thunder storm last night, and of course a large noise woke up Hana, and we had to bring her into our bed. We started putting her in her own bed we bought in IKEA a few weeks ago. She seems to like it, but still cannot make it through the whole night.

Anything new in the world.....a few weeks ago, Mumbai was attacked by terrorist, and guests at the expensive hotel were killed....economy is not good, and still talking about the auto maker bail out....

Hana has grown...

• October 1, 2008 We can definitely say Hana is partially potty trained :-) Proud mama!!!!


• September 10, 2008 Hana got an ear infection-again. It is the left ear again.


• July 2, 2008 Hana got an ear infection.


• June 2, 2008 Hana's 1 year check-up. 29 1/4 inches (74.29 cm) and 21lb3oz (9.61kg)


• May 17, 2008 Hana got her first tooth


• March 17, 2008 Hana started crawling forward! No teeth yet! She can point to the ball when she sees it in the book.


• March 15, 2008 Hana's first Hinamaturi party-we had around 35 guests.


• March 10-12 Hana's first trip to Washington D.C.


• March 8-9 Volley in the Rock-Little Rock


• February 13, 2008 Hana's 8 month check-up. 27 1/2 inches (69.85 cm) and 19lb3oz (8.703 kg). Dr. McClain said she is perfect!


• January 16, 2008 Hana figured out she can "walk" where she wants to go


• January 15, 2008 Hana learned to play peekaboo


• January 5-6, 2008 Oklahoma City


• January 1, 2008 New Years Day at Travis'. Arkansas lost against Mizzo....


• December 31, 2007 New Years Eve at Bogner's.


• December 30, 2007 Hana said her first word..."Ba-ba", and started the potty training.


• December 29, 2007 We all went to see Tanja and John for their baby shower in Russelville.


• December 09, 2007 Hana rolled from her stomach to her back for the second time.


• December 04, 2007 26 1/4 inches (66.7 cm) & 16 pounds 12 ounces (7.597 kg)


• November 30-December 10, 2007 Miami


• October 13-14, 2007 Mr. Okazaki came and stayed with us.


• October 12, 2007 Hana slept all night from 8pm to 5:50am for the first time.


• October 11, 2007 Hana got three shots.


• October 08, 2007 25 inches (63.5 cm) & 14 pounds 12 ounces (6.405 kg)


• September 17, 2007 Hana started rolling around...now she can flip her body from her back to stomach.


• August 14, 2007 23 inches (58.42 cm) & 11 pounds 12 ounces (5.3297 kg)


• August 03, 2007 21 1/2 inches (54.61 cm) & 10 pounds 12 ounces (4.876 kg)


• July 23, 2007 21 1/2 inches (54.61 cm) & 9 pounds 12.5 ounces (4.137 kg)


• July 11, 2007 8 pounds 9 ounces (4.03 kg)


• June 29, 2007 7 pounds 3 ounces (3.260 kg)


• June 22. 2007 6 pounds 6 ounces (3.000kg)


• June 15, 2007 19 1/2 inches (49.53cm) & 5 pounds 12 ounces (2.608kg)


• June 13, 2007 19 1/2 inches (49.53cm) & 5 pounds 6 ounces (2.540kg)


• May 29, 2007 19 1/4 inches (48.895cm) & 5 pounds 11 ounces (2.579kg)

Gifts from Japan

Every few months we get the package from Japan.

You can say we have a Christmas every second month.

The best part is openning the package. I am probably more excited about it than Hana.

This time we got cookies, toys for Hana and beautiful blanket for the baby.

Arigato Mayumi!!

Since it was warm day, we went to the park. Hana and Takeo were playing around and I was enjoying the sun.

Thanksgiving week

It is a Thanksgiving week and I love it. No turkey, stuffing, or pumpkin pie for us, but I am really happy because Takeo is off the work for the rest of the week which is great. It is so nice to be together at home all day long. Since both of us are not Americans we will use free days to go to Dallas, do some shopping and visit Dijana, my high school friend, and her family.
We are planning to buy a bed for Hana so she can finally start sleeping in her own room.
Yes, she is sleeping with us. She slept in her crib until she was 9 months old. Then, we went to Bosnia, she started teething, and as we turned around, she was in bed with us. Now, we can't wait longer since the new baby will arrive in February. Yes, baby boy is coming, still no name for him. It is my turn to think about his first name and I am just not sure yet. It's not that easy. We need to find the name that will work in Japan, Bosnia and the USA. So far, we are thinking about Filip or Leon (yes, Takeo likes Leon better) but I am just not 100% sure.
When I was pregnant with Hana it was much easier. Well, I guess we still have some time to think about it.

Hana in Harrison

Hana is sick.

20081120
November 20, 2008
Again…I am in this office. There are a lot of architectural designs around with this simple or humble office. Nothing fancy, but the design sheets look this office very sophisticated. People working here probably are intelligent, enjoy Jazz, and wearing glasses.

It was not that wonderful day…you know one of the days that it was not easy to accomplish a lot of things. Students were coming in and out, the phone was kept ringing, e-mails were flying in to the inbox and piling up. I have 7 things which I wanted to get them done…but they ended up with being mission accomplished. Well, you have a day like this…not bad day, but tomorrow will be better..at least I know my priorities and things need to get done.

Hana is sick. She started coughing last night, and was soaked and sweat at 3am in the morning. Antonela and I knew that was not a good sign at all. She woke up at 5am, and refused to get back to sleep. The temperature hit over 100F, and her face was really red and she looked hot. The thing is that she did not look bad, and smiling and very cheerful all morning. She had a good breakfast as usual…had yogurt and Cheerios, had some orange juice with new cup and straw. She did not like an orange juice, though.

Hana's appetite and our first parents out...

20081119
November 19, 2008
I am here at one of the architects’ office and listening to the webinar… This one supposed to last for two hours. Yes, two hours…I will be released in 2 hours and 10 minutes from now. Coaching volleyball with kids is fun, but this is not fun at all. 5 of us are listening to the expert, or experiences coach, and looking at the powerpoint presentation. They just covered the sexual harassment part and listening to the negligence stuff.

Hana is doing extremely well. She is bigger and taller, also she understand more and better what we tell her. Like…Antonela was telling her that we are going out a few hours ago, Hana just started walking toward the door, and pointing toward the garage. Hana follows Antonela’s instruction pretty well….go and get that…come here…kind of simple things. I need to catch up with her Croatian instructions…I mean I should talk to her more in Japanese. It is not easy for me…or this is just an excuse maybe…but I can spend only a few hours a day…in weekdays…as I leave for office before 8, and come home after 5. She goes to bed at 7 or 8….that means…I can spend only a few hours a day with her…versus Antonela’s full day…well, I think I just need to spend more time in speaking in Japanese…to her.

What Hana likes to do…now… she likes to eat corns…a LOT. This Sunday morning I was just cooking corns..sweet corns..and she did almost finish the whole can. A whole can. We could not believe the amount she can eat now. She really eats well and a lot. The other thing she likes is eggs…especially spinach omelets. She can easily finish two egg omelets with spinach. Oh yes…one other thing..which just started a few weeks ago…is she wants to eat and drink by herself. She cries or screams if we take them off from her hands…and will not stop complaining until we give them back to her. Maybe this is a good thing, as she started using spoons and folks….(or is it forks???) She loves using them so much. Also this is so funny..but she did not like her hands get dirty. When her finger touches chocolate or something, she asked us to clean them….however recently she found out that she can just lick them off. Now she loves cleaning her fingers by licking them thoroughly. Almost every morning she eats yogurt with Cheerios. She sits very comfortably in her high chair, and quietly eats them using her own yellow spoons. She is not a fast eater, and it usually takes sometime for her to finish them all.

Okay, so no issues with food or her appetite. We do not have to force her to eat any kind of foods. She loves vegetables as well as meats and sweets…almost any foods. Only problems…or maybe this is just a common thing, but Hana is attached to Antonela…maybe a little too much. She cries often simply because Antonela is not around. This is a new thing and just started also a few weeks ago, but she is even jealous when I am talking to Antonela. Nonetheless when she does not like me to hug her…. One more new family member is on his way, and it will be interesting to see how she reacts to or against him. She will not like or can hate when Antonela is breastfeeding him.

Other likes and dislikes…she loves taking a bath…most of the time. She likes watches and bags. She likes her green horse rides..or the swings.

Last Friday we had our very first parents-day-out. We dropped her off at the First United Methodist Church around 6pm…and to be very honest..we did not know what to do. All we knew for sure was we have some “free” time and need to pick her up by 8pm or even 9pm. Well, both of us agreed that we did not know what to do…ended up with having a cup of coffee at Sweetbay. Antonela had hot chocolate, and I had sweet chai. We ordered our drinks at the counter, sat down one of the chairs..looked at each other…and both of knew we were thinking about Hana. We enjoyed a quiet moment for about 60 mins, and decided to go back to the church and picked her up. Her existence changed our life style completely, and we are enjoying the every moment of our life now. We just do not watch Late Night Show, or cannot go out for movies and nice dinners. Wherever we visit or go, we have more stuff we need, usually extra two bags for one night trip to anywhere.

A boy on his way here in….2 months and 21 days…if he is punctual…does not have name yet. We have been talking about the candidates…but cannot pick one yet. It could be Leon, Filip…and Yamato..Suzuki. I like Leon and can be written in Japanese easily…and my parents and Antonela’s can pronounce it without any problems. I like it…but Antonela is not sure yet. I like Leon….though..what do you think?

It is almost 9pm….yes 2 hours has passed and it has only 30 minutes to finish this session. I just cannot wait to see the last slides and head back home soon.