Greetings from Michigan

Ah... summer vacation.  For another few hours at least, then off to work tomorrow.  Here's a quick rundown of the last few weeks:

1) I figured out how I should have been tracking our travels around the world for Kaylee.  I was watching her climbing some stairs in a park two weeks ago, and commented to Dylan that when we had first gotten to Tokyo that she was still holding railings or my hand to do even one or two steps, but was so much more confident about it now.  And I was thinking about how for every city we've been to, so far, there was something I noticed she could do when we left that she hadn't yet learned when we got there.   Like in Melbourne last spring, when she was just starting to really walk when we arrived in the city, but by the end was confidently walking down the hall from the elevator to our room on her own.  And Perth was where she learned to identify letters out in the world, not just with her toys, especially "P" (on all the parking signs).  I'm glad I documented some of these things on the blog, and I'm going to go back through and figure out a fun way to save those memories for us...

1B) Though really, the most important change for Tokyo is how much more Kaylee is talking - and understandable.  Full sentences, complete concepts, and way more vocalization then six months ago.  She's a whole different kid when it comes to communication.  She can also count to about 50, with a little prompting to remember "thirty" and "forty".

2) Packing was an adventure.  I knew we were going to accumulate a lot of extra stuff during a six month stay in Tokyo.  We did.  And I was faced with my first challenge of "how much of Kaylee's creations (school homework/artwork/etc) do I save, and how much do I throw away?"  My mom has BOXES of our childhood schoolwork/artwork around, and part of me totally understands the emotions attached to saving it.  But, seriously, I don't have the space.  I brought some home here, but I think I need to accept that pictures of the artwork saved in a digital space is more practical, even if it's less impressive (hard to appreciate the brush strokes or textures and gluing job on a digital copy).

3) We went to Disney Sea on our last Thursday in Tokyo.  Kaylee loved it.  She got to shake Pluto's hand while we waited in line for a ride in Ariel's Grotto.  

4) Japan has a crazy obsession with popcorn.  My theory is that it's because it's a good base for playing with crazy flavors.  Flavors of popcorn available at Disney: Milk Tea, Curry, Pepper, Strawberry Cola, Caramel, and many, many more.

5) A year ago, I was excited to be back in the States just so I could buy my favorite brands/kinds of shampoo/conditioner/deodorant/toothpaste/etc.  This year, I was glad to be back so I could READ THE LABELS on them (and then buy them).


More to come, when I get a chance to sort through some photos to post.