Mama, Papa, Hapas

Fancy Fillo Chicken

2011-01-28T20:53:00.012-06:00

Thanks to French Fridays with Dorie, I'm blogging two days in a row. Wow! Unfortunately, this week it became deadline cooking. But, the dish was worth the effort. This week's recipe from Around My French Table is chicken b'stilla.

It's a sort of Moroccan chicken pot pie. Although there were several steps and a few hours involved, it really wasn't a difficult dish to make. I love saffron and was excited to use it with a different combination of flavors.

I marinated the chicken thighs in onion, garlic, coriander, cinnamon, and ginger, and saffron overnight in the fridge. Then came slow cooking the chicken and making the sauce, which combined the savory of chicken broth with the sweet of honey. I followed the advice of fellow bloggers and tempered the eggs, which worked perfectly.

It was my first time working with fillo dough. It wasn't as difficult as I imagined.

It's like flexible paper, but a little more fragile. It ended up a beautiful color.

I did use some foil on top to keep it from getting too brown. I decided to forget about taking the whole pie out of the container and putting it on a serving platter. I thought it would just ruin what had looked pretty so far.

Of course, I couldn't wait longer than five minutes to dive in, which meant the first piece was not so pretty on the plate, but others looked better. Funny how it never looks like the picture in the book:)

It tasted great! It had a nice complexity of flavor and texture. I loved the little bit of crunch from the sliced almonds. My hubby thought it was a little too sweet. I would agree that the sweetness sort of takes over. The saffron ended up being a background flavor instead of the main attraction. However, I really enjoyed making and tasting something so different than the usual pot pie comfort food. It's been a long time since I've had Moroccan food, so this was a nice departure. I would recommend the recipe for a dinner party or other special occasion, since it does take some time and work.

I probably wouldn't have tried this recipe on my own, which is why this cookalong is so fun. Next week...basque potato tortilla (hey, isn't this a French cookbook? C'est la vie!)

Now, we're talkin'

2011-01-27T22:01:00.010-06:00

By being such a blogging slacker, I've really missed out on opportunities to keep a good record of what Hana's doing. She is developing so fast! Of course, this is all new to us. Mieko's development was completely different. I feel like a brand new parent.

It's funny to look back at my worries last year, when she was about 18 months old and only saying four words... "hi", "no", "Dada", and "uh-oh". Most developmental checklists will say a child has about 50 words at that age. I asked every speech therapist I knew for advice. I realized she was communicating with sounds and gestures, which was key. She also experimented with sounds, but just didn't have a lot of words. I learned some of the tried and true techniques for promoting speech.... information talk (narrating everything you do), following the child's lead, and giving them a reason to talk (don't do everything for them). We worked hard on filling her receptive language bank with words. If you want a child to talk, then you have to talk to them. But, you also have to give them time and space to talk too. Wait time doesn't come naturally to a lot of us, but teachers and therapists know it's important.

Hana is now two years and three months old. She has at least a couple hundred words (we stopped counting) and she's saying sentences like these...

"I like peanut butter"
"I missed you Daddy"
"Say hi kitties" (this means she wants to go upstairs and pet her kitties)
"I don't like it"
"Hana, stinky farts"
"Sit here Daddy"
"Come here Honey" (kitty Jordan)
"I see piggy toes"
"Where going?"
"What doing Mommy?"
"I love you"

We also worked on communication with Mieko, but in much different ways. I don't know of any children or adults with full Trisomy 18 that are verbal. Though Mieko didn't have words, she communicated with smiles and so many expressions. She made sounds and some gestures. We used sign language when speaking with her, but she did not sign. She used pushed buttons to activate toys and the touch screen on a computer. We were thinking about getting some kind of augmentative communication device for her. Unfortunately, we didn't have the chance before she passed away. We spent a lot of time repeating and responding to her sounds and expressions. She still let us know just how she was feeling. She loved to clap and we will never forget all the raspberries.

The challenges are completely different now, but the lessons from Mieko stay with us too. There's so much to learn, but we are learning together and having a great time.

Pieces of Chocolate Goodness

2011-01-21T21:48:00.014-06:00

I'm interrupting this family blog to talk about food. I'm jumping into the Around My French Table Cookalong you'll find at French Fridays with Dorie. This week featured one of my favorite foods in the world... chocolate. It's called michael rostang's double chcocolate mousse cake.

It was actually quite easy to make with not a lot of ingredients. Melting the chocolate and whipping the meringue went well. I loved pulling out my Kitchen-Aid again, after a long hiatus. The recipe calls for twice baking the cake. First, you make a bottom shell using just the ring of a springform pan. This is where not following directions got me into trouble. You were supposed to put either a silicone mat or parchment paper underneath the ring and on top of a sheet pan. Well, I couldn't find either one, so I just put it on top of my non-stick and slightly warped cookie sheet.

As you can see, some of the cake oozed out the side. I saw that others had this problem too. The cake didn't puff up along the sides as described in the book. It remained a flat shell. I made the "warm" cake recipe. I chilled the shell for just an hour in the fridge instead of overnight. Then , I baked the remainder of the batter as directed on top of the shell. It came out looking and smelling lovely.

The big problem came when it was time to serve to some of my friends.

The cake was positively glued to the cookie sheet. There was no way of prying it off without turning it into cake "shards". So, that's what we ate along with some vanilla ice cream.

My buddies, the knitting chicas, were fine with that. All that chocolately goodness was still there, just didn't look so pretty. Lesson learned. Directions are there for a reason. At least the failure was still pretty satisfying. Next week...chicken b'stilla.

Happy 2011

2011-01-17T21:26:00.013-06:00

Another year, and another opportunity to start blogging more. I've really been inspired by my friend Jen who has been blogging everyday of this year, so far. You check her out her blog Jfibers here. For more motivation, I've also decided to join my other good friend Heather on the cookalong for Around My French Table. It's connected to the author's blog French Fridays with Dorie. I will be blogging about the week's recipe every Friday. This week, I'll post my adventures with Chocolate Mousse Cake.

But, before we move on... let's cap off 2010. In mid-December, I finished my Early Childhood Special Education student teaching and submitted my portfolios (with help from some friends). Now that I'm done with my coursework, I'm just waiting for the Minnesota Department of Education to grant me a license. Then, I'll be an official teacher. Woo woo! In the meantime, I'm subbing for Osseo Public Schools in their Infant/Toddler program. It's been a great experience. Unfortunately, it's only a six week maternity leave fill-in. I'll be looking for a more permanent job after that. I'm enjoying the home visits with babies, toddlers, and their families. This time around I'm getting some great experience with assessments too.

OK. I digress. After finishing student teaching, we drove to California for the holidays. First, we went to Northern California to visit relatives, including Hana's namesake Auntie Hanami.

My brother and his wife also met us up there. Then, we headed down to LA for a few more days of sun, warmth, and time with friends of family. We were really excited to see Jess and her family, who were home from Australia.

Hana had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

It was a very Hello Kitty Christmas, as you can tell. Hana wanted to open EVERYTHING. All we heard all week was "open it".

We had the chance to see the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Shawn played as much golf as possible.

It was such a quick trip, but worth the effort to see friends and family. Hana did pretty will with all the driving. She entertained herself with the La Bamba puppy from the Aunties. You can see the yotuube video here.

As soon as we got home, we were surrounded by more friends and family for Eric and Sarah's New Year's Eve wedding. It was awesome. The bride was gorgeous, the groom got "Rick rolled", and the party was stupendous. Hana had so much fun dancing, she was out there bouncing around for about three hours. Amazingly, she made it to midnight. We couldn't think of a better way to ring in the new year.

Since then, it's been back to battling the snow. It's snowiest winter of the last eight years. Hana is back at daycare. She loves being around the other kids, but once again, she's been sick. I hope she has immunity of steel after all this. Otherwise, she's been happy. She loves to sing and often wakes us up in the morning singing a favorite song, like "Baa Baa Black Sheep". But, she's also become a very stubborn two year-old. We are going through many battles over putting on coats, etc. But, we are also thankful to have such a headstrong girl.

Even during these busy times, we keep thoughts of Mieko with us. The holidays are always a challenge. For some reason, the new year is a hard time for me. Mieko would be seven this year. We try to think of all the wonderful memories we have together, but there will always be a piece missing in our lives. I'm looking forward to sharing what Mieko taught me during my new career.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Catchin' Up

2010-10-31T21:00:00.018-05:00

Ok. It's been way too long. So much has happened since March. I've really neglected making this a baby book for Hana, but I guess it's never too late to catch up.

Let's see... we spent Spring Break visiting Grandma and Grandpa in California.

We took the kitties and all of their medications along and everything went well for them. Hana got some kind of unknown infection and ended up in urgent care with IV antibiotics for part of the trip.

We still had a great seeing friends and family in LA and SD.

I wrapped up my St. Paul schools job in June and continued with WCCO-TV through the summer. However, for those who don't already know, I left the station in September to start my student teaching. I've just finished up the preschool practicum and I'm starting seven weeks doing home visits with the birth to three program. I will be licensed as an early childhood special education teacher by mid-December. Yay!

Getting back to the catch up... Hana had a great summer. She and Daddy spent a lot of time at Cascade Bay water park while Mommy was at summer school at St. Thomas. She also played in the parks and went to visit her aunts and uncles in Detroit Lakes. We had a fun reunion with Uncle Dave and his family in August. We also attended the SOFT conference in Sioux Falls and released balloons for Mieko.

Hana started full-time daycare in the fall. She seems to be enjoying it, although she was kind of the class bully at first. She has since learned more about getting along with others (we hope). Hana remains a very active child. She loves running, climbing and jumping. We had been concerned about her speech development, but that seems to be improving. When she hit about 20-22 months she started saying many more single words. By then, she had about a hundred words. When she was 18 months, she was really only saying about three words. Now, she is putting two and three words together and expressing her wants and needs pretty well. Her favorite phrase this weekend was "Wow, whas dat?" Hana is a happy girl most of the time. She is also quite stubborn and knows how to throw a two-year-old fit.

Hana had her second birthday party at the Minnesota Children's Museum. She enjoyed the cake and presents and running around the party room. Then, everyone found their favorite thing to do at the museum. Hana also had her first haircut a couple of weeks before her birthday. The sucker got her through the whole experience.

At Hana's 2 year check-up , she weighed 27.2 pounds (57%) and was 34.1 inches tall (85%). We are fortunate she's a healthy girl, although several new bugs at daycare caused some problems.
Our doctor said kids are usually sick 21 of the first 28 days in a new daycare. I had no idea! But, daycare has been great for Hana's socialization and development. She's singing songs and reciting the alphabet. She can also count to 14. It's not all daycare. Daddy reads with her everyday, which is one of her favorite activities.

Shawn has been very busy with his position as secondary Vice-President of the Osseo Teachers' Union. He's also teaching both Sophomore and Junior English this year. I have a new found respect for all teachers after my first classroom experience as a student teacher. I had no idea how much work and energy it takes to keep everything running smoothly and meet everyone's educational needs.

Whew! I think that wraps up what we've been doing for the past several months. Hana enjoyed her first door-t0-door trick or treating experience. Garrison Keillor even gave her some M&Ms. But, she was a little scared of him and almost all the other adults in costume. Our little sharky sure was happy with the candy!

Darcy Pohland... the great adventurer

2010-03-05T20:51:00.008-06:00

Every time I saw Darcy Pohland roll into the newsroom with her big smile, it brightened my day. She would usually have a funny story to tell and was full of enthusiasm. I loved catching up with her every week. Everyone loved Darcy. She was funny, compassionate, and just a genuinely caring person. She was real. She always told you what she thought, but also had a kind word for everyone. We all wanted to be around Darcy and share in her zest for life. But, I had another incentive. Darcy got it. She understood better than anyone what disability means. She was always so supportive of Mieko. She knew so well how fragile life as we know it can be. She always said just the right thing. She understood and she cared.

Darcy accomplished so much without wanting recognition. She showed disability didn't have to keep you back. Though life as a reporter in a wheelchair wasn't easy, she didn't let it keep her from doing what she loved. She told me about the days she had to suffer out in the cold to get her work done because she couldn't get her chair into the live trucks. Sometimes she couldn't even get to interviews because the homes or buildings weren't accessible. Darcy was a straight talker. She wouldn't sugar coat things, but she always chose to be positive. That's how she made it. She didn't have to tout that she had overcome so much, she just did.

I really thought she could do anything. Recently, I was amazed at her composure during her mother's funeral service. She got up in front of everyone and spoke joyfully of her mother without missing a beat. I will never forget what she said to me after the service. I told her what an incredible job she did talking during such an emotional time. In comparison, I couldn't say more than "thank you" at Mieko's service. She said, "Well, that was different. I had my mom my whole life." No matter what she was going through, Darcy made you feel important and loved.

I'm still having a difficult time realizing that I won't see her rolling through the newsroom again, that I won't hear her laugh or the excitement in her voice when she talks about a game, story or show. She made all of our lives brighter with her sense of humor and sensitivity. I only knew Darcy for a short time compared to other friends and colleagues, but she taught me so much. Hellen Keller said "Life is either a great adventure or nothing". I'm so thankful to have been a small part of Darcy's adventure. I only wish it would have lasted much longer.

Switching Channels...temporarily

2010-02-07T14:09:00.013-06:00

I started a new (temporary) job as a long term substitute special education teacher last week. I'm doing home visits for children from birth to age 3 years in the St. Paul School District. I'm filling-in for a teacher on maternity leave, so I'm very fortunate WCCO-TV has allowed me to take a leave through mid-Arpil. I'll be back doing the t.v. reporting thing 3 days a week after that.

For those who didn't know, I'm working on a licensure/Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of St. Thomas. I'm a little more than halfway through, which means I could have a license by this time next year. I learned so much from Mieko and my experience with special education that this seemed the right thing to do. Mieko and all of the other kids I saw at Rondo School showed me every child has potential. I can't think of many things that could be more rewarding than helping a child overcome obstacles to live a better life.

After my first week of home visits, I realized that it's not that much different from reporting. I'm meeting new people from all walks of life, learning about them, and compiling and processing a lot of information. I've never had a "desk job" and I think this is going to suit me well. Of course,the goal is entirely different. I love playing with the babies and toddlers, but I still have a great deal to learn. Luckily, I have a supportive team to help me and I know several of the other teachers and therapists who took care of Mieko. In many ways, it feels like going home.

In other news... Hana had her 15 month check-up. She now weighs 22 pounds 8 ounces and is 30.5 inches long. She still doesn't have many words, but uses "no" and "uh-oh" pretty liberally. She's also starting to share toys and bring books to us. It's very cool to watch her hit milestones as I'm studying child development. Hana has become very good at climbing up stairs and can walk down stairs while holding the railing. She's just started having some separation anxiety, but it usually doesn't last long. Hana really gets scared by "Tracy the Talking Tree" at the Rainforest Cafe. I think she left a mark on Daddy's ears.

The only concern we've had lately is with her blood sugar. She sometimes shakes , especially her hands, so we had her blood sugar tested. It was low, so we started testing her at home. It's the same kit diabetics use, but low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is the opposite of diabetes. So far, she hasn't had any low readings. We hope it was all a fluke.

Luckily, we've been able to rearrange all of Hana's classes, so we're still going to baby ballroom, ECFE, and music. We're also enjoying weekends off together. Though Mommy and Hana don't get to play as much during the week, Hana is spending more time with her cousins. Hopefully, they won't eat her ;) They are great. As you can see, they love entertaining her. So, here we go on the next big adventure. So far, so good.

Not the Biggest , But Still a Loser

2010-01-13T12:41:00.011-06:00

So, I've lost about 25 pounds since September. Since people have asked, I thought I'd blog about how I did it. One of my co-workers lost 40 pounds on the Flat Belly Diet last year. Another friend of mine, a woman, lost 30 pounds. Both have kept it off, but basically changed their eating habits for life.
The photo above was from last August. I didn't start this Flat Bely thing thinking I was going to make a lifelong change, or I probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere. But, I have to say it's not that bad and I will probably keep going in some fashion. Here's the deal:

Four meals of 400 calories.
Eat every 4 hours during the day.
Eat a monounsaturated fat (MUFA) with every meal
Most meals have a moderate amount of protein and starch and larger portion of vegetables or fruits

The diet also advocates exercise, but does not dictate what to do. I work out 3-5 times a week. I do a half hour of cardio each time and weights at least 3 of the days. I make sure I have a fun book with me that I only allow myself to read at the gym. Right now it's Can you Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella. You can see why I feel I need to be in shape anyway... Hana never stops moving.

The diet has been harder than the exercise, especially in the beginning. I was really, really hungry the first couple of weeks. But, now I'm accustomed to eating smaller meals and more often. I try to drink a lot of tea or snack on veggies and fruit, when I just need something. The calorie count is designed for a woman who is about 5 foot 4, so my co-worker modified his portions. I'm not sure if I buy the book's theory that MUFA's fight belly fat, but I do like those foods (nuts, avocados, olives, peanut butter) and they help me feel more full.

The diet does take some pre-planning, but you get used to it. I carry snacks with me and make my lunch. That's a pretty big deal, since I loved going out to lunch during work. Cooking can be a pain, but I've tried to streamline it with my own frozen meal components. I freeze my small portions of ground turkey when I get home from the store. I also buy individually packaged chicken breasts and fish that I freeze as well. I throw my protein together with some frozen or fresh veggies and some rice, tortilla, or pasta. I keep half cup portions of cooked rice in the freezer too. There are a ton of recipes in the Flat Belly Diet book and cookbook. I used some of the ideas, but I really haven't tried the recipes. They do look tasty. So, that's my story. I've made to 129 pounds. I want to lose about ten more pounds and then I'll be the weight I was when I got married in 1998. Wish me luck.

Things I really like:

Crafty Givers: Here's a link to the etsy store of crafters donating to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Relief. If you're on ravelry, there are a lot of designers there doing the same. Thanks to my friend vegancraftastic for sharing all this. She has more info on her blog.

Arc Value Village thrift stores. I like all thrift stores, but Arc is one of my favorite organizations as well. They recently opened a store on the east side of St. Paul and I don't think a lot of people know it's there. It's big and bright with a lot of room. There are always deals. At the Brooklyn Center store, my friend found a sweater she saw at Nieman Marcus a few years ago for about $300 for less than 10 bucks.

Podcasts: This is how I catch up with my favorite NPR shows like Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, This American Life, and Radio Lab. I also listen to a variety of knitting podcasts. Don't laugh, doesn't it make sense to listen while you're doing something with your hands? If you didn't know, one of my favorite radio stations the Current 89.3 has a free download of the day as well as a review show called Musicheads. Good way to keep up with the latest music.

I've heard people talking about:
Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets. Some parents I know are giving it a big thumbs up. They have products for adults too.

Things I've learned recently:
How to join a sweater as you knit. Pretty cool technique I found in Lily Chin's Knitting Tips and Tricks. I also darned some socks after watching a youtube video. They didnt' look so pretty, but I guess it did the job. I wasn't about to let my handknit socks go down without a fight. After all, I spent probably 16-20 hours making each pair.

Christmas in January

2010-01-10T20:41:00.012-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with family a little late this year because a blizzard kept the Fargoans off the roads. But, we had the added bonus of Auntie Sherry and Cousin Hailey joining us from the Milwaukee area when we got together a week later.

As you can see, it was a Rock Band Christmas. The kids (big and little) had a great time jamming together.

Hana enjoyed all the attention, but didn't quite understand the present opening ritual. Next year should be much different. She received many wonderful books, clothes, and toys from relatives and a cool easel from Santa.

Hana is still more interested in walking and climbing, but at times she shows interest in scribbling. She's also starting to put objects inside of things. This is, however, unfortunate when when she hides her sippy cup of milk.

I'm going to try to blog more often this year (let's see) and discuss the various things I learn about and run across, which will probably be mostly parenting and craft related. If you're interested in WCCO-TV news stuff, you can follow me on twitter (mnishi) or on facebook (Maya Nishikawa Wcco) or go to this link.

Things I really like:
18 year-old balsamic vinegar. I found an olive oil store in Mendota Heights called the Olive Grove just before the holidays. You can taste all of their various olive oils and other specialty oils and vinegars. They will bottle what you choose. It's a lot of fun to try out all of the oils and the traditional balsamic (18 years-old) is awesome. I put it on everything from bread to chicken and broccoli. It tastes like a very sweet wine. I'd eat cardboard with this stuff.

Things I learned recently:
Norwegian Purling: I doubted my friend Jen when she said how fast this technique is, but once you get the hang of it, it's really speedy. Check out this youtube video.

If an adult tooth gets knocked out, rinse it with liquid (preferably saline or something with salt like gatorade) and put it back in as soon as possible. Leaving it out for half an hour will mean no chance of re-attaching it. This came from a dentist who visited our ECFE class.

If you sell stuff on amazon.com, they'll charge 15% commission plus a sale closing charge. Be careful you don't sign up for a merchant account without realizing they will charge you $40

Things I hear people talking about:
Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman Good advice or more hype?
A year's worth of slow cooker recipes at
Crockpot365.blogspot.com

What's off/on the needles:
Lots of gifts:

Just finished four doggie sweaters for Christmas from The Gift Knitter, various cat themed dishcloths, and fingerless mitts (Humanity pattern available for free on ravelry.com) for a cold co-worker.

Next up: more baby knitting and finishing the Central Park Hoodie I started two years ago.

Water Baby

2009-12-15T20:52:00.010-06:00

I figured I had better blog something before we actually hit the holidays (not counting Thanksgiving). Life has been good and busy for all of us. Hana's class schedule has expanded to include "water babies" at the YWCA. This has turned out to be a private class for her.

She seems to be enjoying the water, though she's not wild about getting her face wet.

Hana is such an active girl, we thought this would suit her. She's continuing with music class at MacPhail in Minneapolis, Early Childhood Family Education, and baby ballroom dancing as well.

We want to expose Hana to other kids and these classes have been great. She is quite social and enjoys watching and sometimes chasing after the other toddlers. Occasionally, she tries to sit on another kid. We're working on that. Hana is a fast walker, though she's still a little unsteady sometimes. She also likes to climb. One of her favorite things is just grabbing as many objects as she can and walking around with them. She just started placing blocks (instead of just throwing them around) and holding crayons (eating them too). It's been fun to see her make so many changes.

Last Sunday, I attended the St. Paul chapter of Compassionate Friends' Candle Lighting Remembrance Service. This is an international group supporting families who've lost children. It was a nice way of honoring our children before the holidays. I've discovered a whole new set of friends on the grief journey, most I've met through the grief groups at Children's Hospital. Though we'd rather not be together for this reason, it has been encouraging to find each other. Our lives are forever changed in so many ways because of Mieko. She continues to bring wonderful people into our lives.

We hope you all have happy holidays filled with joy, laughter, and many warm memories. I promise to post with all the holiday happenings soon.

One-derful

2009-10-27T22:27:00.008-05:00

Again, I've let too much time lapse between posts. Hana is one now! She's changing so much everyday. But, the biggest thing is she's now walking. She started walking across the livingroom on October 17th, the evening after her birthday party. Before that, it was just a couple of steps at a time. She's getting more confident everyday. Hana is also a climber. She loves to climb all over people and there's almost nothing that gets in her way.

Since, the last update, we had a fun visit to the pumpkin patch. The same one Mieko visited in fall of 2007. As always, Hana enjoyed the goats. It was a beautiful fall day and at that time still sunny and warm.

Hana's first birthday party was a blast. We celebrated at the Eagle's Nest indoor playground. As you can tell, Hana really enjoyed her cake. We were so happy to have many friends a family members with us. Hana also shared some of her birthday balloons with Mieko. We let them go at her tree.

Here are Hana's newest stats from her 12 month check-up. She weighs 20 pounds 7 ounces and is 29.3 inches long. Though she's only in the 34% for weight, she seems to be eating well. She really enjoys feeding herself and eats almost everything. She's not too excited about green vegetables, but she loves fruit, pasta, and pancakes.

She's also able to use her sippy cup now on her own. Hana is still babbling a lot, but we haven't heard any words yet. She's keeping very busy with music class, early childhood family ed., and this week she starts water babies. Hana is a very physical child and doesn't sit still for very long. It's really an adjustment for us, since we never had to worry about what Mieko was getting into or where she was going. At first, I thought all typical kids must be like Hana, but now that we're in group activities, I'm realizing she's more boisterous than a lot of other kids. She's also very curious, which is wonderful to see.

Last Summer Flings

2009-09-06T16:58:00.015-05:00

Hana capped off her busy summer with our traditional trip to the State Fair. She had the chance to pet a few animals and check out the crowds. She had a taste of her first fair food... the chocolate from a fudge puppy (belgian waffle on a stick covered in Chocolate). She seemed to enjoy herself, but pooped out before too long.

The fair is always a big deal for us, since it was Mieko's first outing after her open heart surgery in 2004. It was a real victory for her to make it there after spending much of the summer in the hospital. She never missed the fair during her four years and we have many happy memories there with her.

Hana and I went on two last road trips as well. We spent a day in Rochester visiting our friend Kathy and her adorable kids. We also had the chance to spend some time with our friend Bianca, who also had a little girl with Trisomy 18. We met through the Support Organization for Trisomy 13, 18, and Related Disorders. Both our families hope to make it to the SOFT conference in South Dakota next summer.

Lastly, we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to visit my college friend Gisele and her family. My friend and co-worker Carly came with us to explore the city. We really enjoyed Omaha, especially the pedestrian bridge and Old Market.

You can see, we left Hana in Iowa, but only for a little while. Omaha's Old Market is in downtown. We liked the shops and restaurants, but it all seemed very empty. Maybe because it was a weekday. We also checked out the Lauritzen Gardens. It was definitely worth the visit. There were traditional rose and Victorian gardens as well as a model railroad garden with replicas of historic buildings from Omaha and around the world. We also enjoyed a huge field of wildflowers. Too bad Hana slept through it all.

We were happy to spend a little time with Gisele and her family. Hopefully, we'll be back again soon for a longer visit. Or maybe they can check our our land o' lakes up here.

School is off to a good start for Shawn at Osseo Senior high. So far, he's not coaching advising any groups but he will have very full classrooms of Juniors.

Hana will be going back to ECFE soon and we'll also be volunteering during another class. Hana loves other kids and she'll be able to get extra interaction with them. We also signed up for a music exploration class at MacPhail. So far, it's great. No pics yet, I'll take them next time. I am a bit concerned, though, that she's decided to tackle other kids.

Last, but not least, Hana is getting very close to walking. For about the past week, she's gotten very comfortable standing up by herself for longer periods of time (see video below). If she could just stay in one position longer than a few seconds, I think she would walk. She's one busy body.

Little Angels

2009-08-24T20:36:00.013-05:00

I really should update more often. So much has happened since my last post. Grandpa Mits came to visit for two weeks. We made sure he had plenty of activities...including two family events, the PGA championship, and lots of rounds of golf. When he walked in the door, Hana cried at first. But, it didn't take long for her to smile and giggle playing with Grandpa.

We had our tree dedication celebration for Mieko's tree in McQuillan Park. It was great to see her teachers and physical therapist from Rondo as well as family friends.

We let a few balloons go and shared some memories of Mieko. Despite how sad we are she's no longer with us, we are remain thankful for those four years we had with our special girl and that she still brings us together.

That weekend, we traveled to Fargo for Hana's baptism at First Lutheran Church. All of the Johnsons have been baptized in that church. Hana didn't want to sit for the service, so her godmother entertained her while we waited. She did pretty well during the ceremony.

She didn't like getting wet, but she only fussed a little. She also managed to kick her booties off during the event. Mieko was baptized along with her cousin Gabriel in 2005. But Hana's ceremony was a little different. The congregation sang "Jesus Loves Me" to her at the end, which was a very nice touch.
Shawn and Grandpa played golf almost everyday and I even played a couple of times. Their new favorite course is Purple Hawk in the Cambridge area. Grandpa also saw some of his favorite golfers on the first day of the PGA championship at Hazeltine. He packed a lot in during this trip. Maybe next time he'll make it to the State Fair too.

Shawn is enjoying his last couple of weeks before the school year begins. Hana goes on walks all the time soaking up what's left of our summer weather. She's also figured out how fun the kids playroom is at the YWCA. She really enjoys the other kids and, of course, all the toys.

Speaking of playing with toys... my Tuesday night knitting friends and I had our much anticipated Artfibers Yarntasting party. It was a blast. We had the opportunity to try out almost 200 different types of unique yarn made for this San Francisco bay area company. I had the chance to visit their store last year and became a fan. So far the "try before you buy" program is free. I highly recommend it for any group interested in Artfibers.

They have all sorts of fibers from unusual types of silk to wool, alpaca, mohair, yak, bamboo, and synthetics. There's even a yarn that has paper in it. It was a very cool experience.

On the Road

2009-08-04T22:37:00.022-05:00

Hana did very well on our big summer road trip. We traveled about 3,500 miles in eight days. She slept quite a bit in the SUV or amused herself with toys. We are making it an annual tradition to attend the SOFT (Support Org. for Trisomy 18,13, and Related Disorders) Conference Picnic and Balloon Release. First, we drove to Toledo and had Hungarian food at Tony Packo's. It was the first restaurant we've ever seen with signed hot dog buns. Hundreds of celebrities have their "buns" on the walls.

We stopped at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which was very cool. Next, we visited Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania. We toured the civil war battlefields and saw the huge cyclorama painting of the Battle of Gettysburg. We also had lunch in an historic tavern.

We kept going east all the way to Virginia Beach, Virginia. We enjoyed walking the beach, but Hana was scared of the water.

We headed west again for the conference in Roanoke, but made a few stops on the way. We went to Colonial Williamsburg, but didn't make it in time to tour the buildings. We strolled some of the streets, where we ran into a founding father.

We also toured the College of William and Mary, including the oldest college building still in use in the United States. When Hana looks back at these pictures, she's going to think we never took her out of that backpack. But, she really does love the view from up there and was so comfortable, she even fell asleep in it.

We stayed in Richmond one night and had the best barbecue sandwiches ever. It was actually Texas barbecue at a place called Alamo. We also tried North Carolina and Virginia style barbecues. We really liked the No. Carolina style, which had a lot of vinegar in the sauce. Next, we visited Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello in Charlottesville. We also hiked the area around the natural bridge not far from Roanoke. Everything in Virginia seems tied to history. We saw George Washington's initials carved into the rock when he surveyed the bridge.

Speaking of history... we also visited "Foamhenge". It's a life size replica of Stonehenge made out of foam. You never know what you may find along the road.

We had a wonderful time in Roanoke at the SOFT picnic. There are many families we know from contact online and it's great to see them in person. This was only our second year, so we're still getting to know people. It is always inspiring to see kids who are long term survivors with trisomy disorders, some in their teens and twenties. I really wish we would've been able to take Mieko to a conference. We were supposed to go a few years ago in Chicago, but a hospitalization kept us home. It is always touching for me to meet someone who remembers Mieko and followed her life online or watched her videos. The big event is the balloon release for all the children who've passed away.

This year, we released the balloons from beautiful spot on the mountainside overlooking Roanoke. This is always such a moving event. I put together this youtube video, if you'd like to see it, here's a link:

Baloon Release 2009

I hope that we can continue participating in the balloon release every year. We would like Hana to grow up with this tradition. We see other siblings who come every year and they have such a sensitivity towards children with disabilities. We would like Hana to get to know the special kids and maybe feel closer to her sister.

We had time for a couple more stops on the way home. We visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We enjoyed hiking and seeing several waterfalls. We even saw a bear, though it was in the brush several feet away. But, it was still exciting for us.

Lastly, we spent some time in St. Louis. We saw the gorgeous Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. It has one of the largest displays of mosaic art in the world. More than 40 million tiles were used and thousands of colors. Shawn thought it was more impressive than Notre Dame.

We also went to the St. Louis zoo, probably the best free zoo we've ever seen. Hana had her first carousel ride. She also really liked the goat yard.

Since we've been home, Hana has been in constant motion. She's either crawling, climbing, pulling herself up to stand, or walking along the furniture at all times. How do kids get so much energy? She had her 9 month check-up and weighs almost 19 pounds. She's also eating finger food now like Cheerios. She really has fun picking up the little o's when she's not tossing them from her high chair.

Hana loves being around other kids, especially older ones. She squeals and laughs a lot. I took her on a play date at the Como Zoo with the babies of some of my colleagues at WCCO-TV. All five of them were born in Sept. and Oct. of last year. It was a lot of fun to see them interact, though most of the time they did their own thing. I'm going to try to get Hana involved in more group activities, since at home it's just her and the kitties. I think her buddy Jordan needs a break from getting chased.

Movin' On Up

2009-07-07T15:20:00.015-05:00

Hana is really on the move! She's commando crawling (and chasing kitties) and getting up on her hands and knees and rocking.

Just a couple of days after that she started pushing herself to sitting and then pulling herself up to stand. Now, she wants to grab anything to pull up.

She's making good use of Mieko's ballerina bar, though she's not taking too many steps along the bar. She can take several steps while we hold her hands. She's also turned up the volume on her voice and makes more new sounds. She's very good at saying "Da-Da" and clicking. Shawn also thought he heard her say" Ca-na-DA". We do live relatively close to the border. She goes out walking several times a day with Daddy and loves to swing in the park.

We've donated a tree for Mieko at McQuillan Park near our house. We're still waiting for the plaque to be installed. We'll share pictures soon. As we approach the one year annivesary of Mieko's passing, this tree and what it symbolizes brings us comfort.

We're looking forward to going to the balloon release at the SOFT (Support Organization for Trisomy 13, 18 and Related Disorders) Conference coming up in Roanoke. It will be great to connect with old friends and introduce Hana.

We cherished all the years we spent with Mieko and the joy she brought to our lives. It' s hard to believe sometimes that we're still going on without her. We miss her smile, gentle spirit, and unconditional love every moment. We were very lucky to be her family. We miss you, Little Kitty. You are always in our hearts.

May Madness

2009-05-27T22:11:00.014-05:00

Now, I know what Hana would look like with curly, pink hair. Thanks to an ingenious crocheter for giving us quite a laugh and letting Hana model her original creation. May really has been full of surprises. Sorry, it's been so long since my last post. Hana is definitely growing and changing everyday. She now has three teeth! They're all on the bottom. She's had some fussy moments, but overall, she's done very well. She's been doing a good job with the baby food too. Finally, she's able to eat peas and not gag. Grandpa is so proud.

She continues to smile, laugh, and bounce. This girl really loves to be on her feet. We're wondering if she's going to be an early walker, but so far, she isn't sitting up without a little support. But, it looks like it won't be long.Hana has been keeping up with her busy schedule of baby ballroom dancing, ECFE class, and many outings in the sunshine.

Daddy takes her out in the backpack just about everyday. It brings back a lot of memories of Mieko at this time of year. Though she was too big for the backpack last year, she spent a lot of time on the tricycle and on the swings. Daddy points out every dog and kitty in the neighborhod and Hana usually giggles whens he sees them.

We spent Mother's Day weekend with the animals. We went to Shepherd's Harvest in Lake Elmo and checked out the llamas, alpacas, angora bunnies, sheep, and goats. The baby goats were Hana's favorites. We also watched some sheep shearing and sheepdogs in action.

We had a nice Mother's Day dinner by Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. We miss Mieko so much during these times, but it's nice to visit the places we used to go with her.

Next is Father's Day, the 4th of July, and then the anniversary of Mieko's passing. We are still working on getting a tree planted in the St. Paul park near our house. It will bring us comfort to be able to visit the place Mieko enjoyed and see her tree.

We were so proud of her last Spring, when she was able to walk with her walker all the way to the park. Later in July, we'll be going to the Support Organization for Trisomy 18, 13, and Related Disorders picnic in Roanoke, Virginia. We'll relase a balloon for Mieko like we did in Colorado last year. We met some incredible people and look forward to seeing them again.

Thanks to everyone for keeping us in your thoughts during this time. All the firsts are hard, but they're made easier knowing friends and family are with us. Of course, Hana keeps us smiling as well as our precious memories.

6 Months and Feelin' Fine

2009-05-06T00:29:00.011-05:00

Hana hit the six month mark and is moving right along. At her check-up, she weighed 15 pounds, 15 ounces (63%). She was 25.8 inches long (67%) and her head size was 16.9 inches (76%). So, it appears she's right in the middle of the pack for kids her age.

We've hit some milestones as well. Hana started eating solid foods. She really likes the fruits like pears and bananas. She also likes the orange veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes, but the green veggies...not so much. In fact, she gags on them and throws them up. Grandpa is going to be disappointed. Since we're just getting her used to solids, we won't be pushing the issue right now.

Hana also had her first tooth poke through on the bottom. The teething is making her drool like crazy, but she's not too fussy. She has her unhappy moments, but for the most part she's coping well. Her only other problem is the eczema on her cheeks. We've put her on a stronger cortisone cream and we've taken dairy out of her diet (and Mommy's). After a couple of weeks of these changes, it seems to be getting better.

She's getting closer to sitting up on her own, but still not quite there. We've pulled out Mieko's floor table and she's playing with toys while propped up against the couch. Hana's already playing with some of Mieko's favorite toys. It still amazes us how fast she's developing. Her hands are all over the place and her mouth too. She loves to grab fabric and crinkly things. She's getting very attached to a little blankie/teether.

We've been out walking a lot, sometimes more than once a day. Hana loves the backpack and looking around up high. We went to the Walk for Animals and she was fascinated with all the critters. It seems like she gets very chatty while we're walking around. We're looking forward to spending the rest of spring and summer out and about.

We hope to take another driving vacation too, but this time we'll be headed east to Roanoke, Virginia for the annual SOFT (Support Org. for Trisomy 18, 13, and Related Disorders) Conference. We'll release a balloon again for Mieko and meet up with many friends we usually only see online.

Last weekend, I attended a memorial service for those who passed away at Children's Hospitals last year. It was good to see some of the friends I've met through the Children's grief groups. Some of us really bonded. We all had a chance to light candles for the kids and share mementos, photos, and stories. It was a very touching outlet for the parents and siblings. There are few places where everyone in the room understands your loss, but it was also so sad to see the photos of all the beautiful children who are no longer with us. It was intense to see how deeply each child was loved, but also missed. I think we were all grateful for the opportunity to share, even if it was painful. One of the chaplains talked about how our experiences showed us we are capable of such great love. But, I think we were the lucky ones to be loved so well by Mieko.

Spring Break in California

2009-04-14T22:23:00.022-05:00

Hana was great during her first plane ride. As you can see, she felt right at home. After only a little fussing, she slept the rest of the way to Los Angeles. The next day, we drove to the Sacramento area with Grandma and Grandpa for my cousin Jeff's wedding. Hana enjoyed meeting all of the family members there, some Shawn and I hadn't seen for many years. As you can tell, her cousins were very intrigued.

The wedding was in a small town called Walnut Grove and the reception was nearby at a huge mansion in the middle of orchards.
We all had a great time and Hana seemed to like all the attention.

Next, we drove to Corte Madera north of San Francisco to see Shawn's brother Dave and his family. We got to watch cousin Nick play some baseball and cousin Emily introduced us to their new kittens Cooper and Chloe.

On our way back to L.A., we also visited our friends Genie and Pat Hoggard in San Jose. We strolled through the San Jose rose garden while catching up.

We spent the rest of the time visiting with friends and family in L.A. and , of course, eating our favorite foods and searching out new delicacies to try. Shawn had his pilgrimage to L.A.'s #1 taco truck, which parks in front of Nishikawa Auto Service in Pasadena.

We also had fresh, handmade tofu from Meiji Tofu in Gardena. The biggest thing in L.A. right now is Korean Tacos from the Kogi BBQ truck.

Grandma and I waited 2 and a half hours for these tacos. They were really good, but I don't think I'd ever wait that long for any food again.

Hana got to meet her cousin Lani, who I hadn't seen since she was about five years old. She's now 14. That was a real treat. We also had a get together with some friends from high school and their families.

You can see Hana was ready to chest bump her new friend Sydney, who is exactly two months younger, but has much more hair. She also liked meeting Charlie, the Howorth family's new puppy.

We spent a lot of time outside. We walked almost everyday. Hana loves going for walks in the baby bjorn or her Daddy's backpack.

She's also giggling. Here's a fit of laughter prompted by Grandpa.

Hana is getting very good with her hands. She can pull her pacifier out and put it back in. She also transfers objects from one hand to the other. We really noticed on vacation how focused she can be on the things around her. She loved reaching out and touching the plants and flowers. She's become increasingly interested in toys, especially chewing on them. We love watching her explore her world.

So, it's back to work and Hana's social schedule. We'll be starting another session of baby ballroom next week and getting back to ECFE class. We're so thankful we had the chance to spend time with so many wonderful friends and family members. We hope to see them again soon.

Happy Birthday Mieko and Daddy

2009-03-24T21:06:00.017-05:00

March has always been a busy month for us with two family birthdays. Of course, this year has been different without Mieko. But, thanks to our friends at Rondo School, we had a very special celebration on what would have been Mieko's 5th birthday.

They invited us for lunch at school and we had the chance to thank volunteer Skip who designed and built Mieko's music bus. Everyone had a chance to see the bus and check out all of the musical instruments.

We donated a guitar in honor of Mieko's birthday. She always loved the guitar during music therapy. It was wonderful to spend the day with people who knew and loved Mieko. It means so much for us to stay connected to them.

We went to dinner that night at the Rainforest Cafe, where we took Mieko for her first birthday. Hana liked the monkeys, but got a little overstimulated. We are thankful for all of the friends and family members who helped support us on a day we missed Mieko's smile even more than usual. It helps to know other people are thinking about her too.

Daddy celebrated his birthday with a big burrito...then his favorite African food (at Fasika) a few days later. He's really enjoying taking Hana out in the backpack everyday now that it's warmer. She really enjoys seeing the neighborhood. We're hoping she will fit in the backpack through the rest of summer and fall.

Hana is getting so animated. Check out her wiggling here:

One of her big recent discoveries has been her toes.

Shes' gotten pretty good at rolling but isn't sitting up just yet. Hana's using both her hands to play with toys and, like most babies at five months, she likes grabbing things and putting them in her mouth. No teeth yet, though she does drool quite a bit. She pets and sometimes grabs the kitties too. She's also become very vocal and laughs a lot. We're so lucky to have such a happy, smiley girl (again).

Hana still doesn't sleep through the night, though sometimes she sleeps for longer stretches of about 5 to 7 hours. We're trying formula with rice cereal at night, which helps sometimes. We'll try solids in about a month.

We're looking forward to visiting Grandma and Grandpa in L.A. in a couple of weeks. We'll be going to a wedding in Northern California too, so we'll have a chance to see many relatives. We're really excited for warmer weather both here and in California. But, we're also concerned about everyone in Fargo. We hope all the Johnsons and friends stay dry and safe and the city is OK.

One more thing... March 31st is "End the R Word" Day. This is a campaign by the Special Olympics to teach everyone about hurtful language used against people with intellectual disabilities. If you'd like to learn more, go to r-word.org. Mieko would be proud of you.

Big Head Hana and the Kitties

2009-02-24T23:33:00.014-06:00

Hana is changing in many ways. She just had her four month check-up and her stats have flipped around. At 2 months, she was at 78% for height and now she's at 21% (23.8 inches). Her weight was 66% and now she's 43% (13 pounds and 14 oz) and her head went from 54% to 80%. Her pediatrician isn't concerned since Shawn and I both have sizable melons too (she didn't say it that way). We're pleased she's continuing to grow so well and we're anticipating many more such changes. Hana still doesn't sleep through the night, but her doctor says it might not happen for a couple more months. We're actually getting used to it. We're so thankful she's a healthy baby. Her biggest problem right now is eczema. What a completely different world.

Hana is such a happy little girl. She's laughing and smiling a lot now. She reacts to other people's expressions and, much like Mieko, she smiles with her whole body. She's quite flirty and tries to get people's attention, so that they'll smile back at her. Hana really loves to stand up. We've been putting her in the hanging jumpy thing and she does a pretty good river dance impression. She also manages to propel herself quite well.

Daddy calls her a little adrenaline junkie, since she loves all the big movement and action. Seeing Hana develop is a joy, but also different for us. We were used to Mieko's slow progression. She really worked hard for each new skill. We celebrated everything she accomplished. There was no such thing as a small achievement. Hana seems to be changing so fast. In the past few days, she's been rolling from her back to her tummy. She can also roll from her tummy to back. She likes to reach and grab for toys. Auntie Sue gave her an activity tunnel. Both Hana and our kitty Jordan love it.

We're starting the next session of Baby Ballroom in a week. We'll be tackling the waltz, swing, and cha-cha. We also started an Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) class. It's in the same building as Mieko's school, which gives us a chance to say "hi" to our friends. Hana is one of only two babies in the class, the rest are around two or older. We play all together for the first part of the class, then the parents split off to discuss parenting issues like potty training and saying "no". It's not all that relevant now, but the infant-only classes are full. I'm still enjoying meeting the other parents and teachers. Hana stays with me in the class for now. When she's 6 months old, she can go to an infant/toddler playroom with a teacher.

Meanwhile, Shawn is also back in school. He's going to Hamline University at night to get a reading specialist licensure. It will probably take him the rest of this year to finish. As you've seen, Shawn and Hana enjoy reading together. She also enjoys watching Daddy eat burgers (our new Valentine's tradition with friends) . This year, he only ate one and didn't win anything. Last year he won a t-shirt and a stomachache.

Some of you know, Mieko's birthday is coming up on March 9th. She would have been five years old and in her second year of pre-school at Rondo. We're so touched that her friends at Rondo are inviting us for lunch that day. We're grateful to be able to share part of this day with them. Shawn, Hana, and I will also do something together that evening. We'll make it something Mieko would've enjoyed. Though we know it will be a tough day without her, we are trying to focus on all the wonderful times we had together, and of course, that smile.

Dancing Queen (Princess)

2009-01-29T12:25:00.012-06:00

We've been getting used to new routines, now that the holidays are over. I went back to work earlier in January. Hana has been taking a bottle pretty well, but she wakes up more often at night. Instead of once a night, she now gets up about three times a night. She doesn't usually stay up, but either wants to eat or take a pacifier. We're really hoping for some longer stretches soon. However, the work schedule is fine. On Fridays, one of Mieko's former care attendants and another college student take care of Hana. Daddy has her all weekend. He's anxious for the weather to get warmer, so they can walk the neighborhood. Until then, it's trips to the Mall of America or snuggling up with a good book.

Hana had her two month appointment in January and her first shots. She did pretty well. Sorry this info is so delayed, but on January 7th she weighed 12 pounds and 2 ounces and was 24 inches long. She's in the 66% for weight and 78% height. I don't know where the height comes from, definitely not from the Nishikawas. As you can tell from her cheeks, she doesn't miss too many meals.

Hana seems to be getting more interested in her hands. She's grabbing toys more often and batting at things. She's still cooing away, which we love. She also really likes being on her feet. We've been putting her on the exersaucer with a pillow underneath, since she can't reach the bottom. She really likes being upright and seeing things.

We started Baby Ballroom with Meghan. Hana's in a class with three little boys, all a little older. She seems to like the movement as well as the songs and parachute time. It's fun to dance around with the babies and let them look at each others like partners. Hana also likes to admire herself in the mirror, of course. Mieko always loved the dancing and it's nice to carry on this tradition. This session we're re-learning Tango, Salsa, and Rhumba. It's all coming back to me. We'll be continuing for a few weeks with the New Parent Connection class at United as well. We're also thinking about baby yoga. We like to be busy, even if it is cold.

In other news, we have a strange update on our kitty Bailey. We received a letter from the organization in charge of cremating her remains. They said the van carrying Bailey's body had been stolen from an animal clinic. But, they later found the van with the animals inside. Whoever stole it, left it on the street somewhere and it ended up in the impound lot. The organization not only paid for the cremation, but also gave us a free urn. Weird huh?

Lastly, we want to wish Grandpa Mits a happy 70th birthday! Woo hoo! We'll be seeing him and all the family and friends in California in early April for Spring Break and my cousin Jeff's wedding. Until then, we're thinking warm thoughts. For those of you outside Minnesota, it's been the coldest January in 30 years!

Fargo to South Pasadena Express

2009-01-05T17:57:00.030-06:00

Get ready... this is a long post with many pictures!

We just returned from a great couple of weeks on the road for the holidays. First, we went to Fargo for an early Christmas celebration with the Johnson family. Hana enjoyed all the attention from her cousins, aunts, and uncles and a special visit from Santa.

It was 12 below zero with a 40 mile an hour wind when we left Fargo for the Los Angeles area. The blowing snow made visibility tough, but we were fine by the time we left the Dakotas. It took us three days to get to South Pasadena, where I grew up. Both Hana and Bailey (our second oldest cat) did well. Bailey needed daily medication and other care, which is why she went with us.

It was rainy, but of course, much warmer in South Pas. for Christmas. We spent it with Grandpa Mits and Grandma Akemi and the Sakai family.

Hana especially enjoyed meeting Rabbit.

We included Mieko in our celebrations by giving each family member an ornament with her picture and a dvd of the videos from her Celebration Service. The last time I had been home was two years ago with Mieko.

We spent the next week visiting with friends home for the holidays from all over the U.S. and even Africa. Hana hit a lot of tourist attractions, including the Santa Monica Pier, Griffith Park, and La Jolla Cove in San Diego.

She also went hiking for the first time (in Daddy's backpack) in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley.

Luckily, Hana is very easy going. She's smiling and babbling a lot now, which delighted her family and new found friends.

One of the highlights of the trip was an historic tour of Little Tokyo in Downtown L.A. I had been there many times, but never knew the history of the buildings. We also visited the WWII monument to Japanese American service members, where I found my Uncle Frank's name.

A California vacation wouldn't be complete without a lot of our favorite food. Shawn satisfied his craving for carne asada tacos from the taco truck at Nishikawa Auto Service. In fact, one night he ate 18 of them! We also had Chinese Dim Sum, Korean BBQ, Baja fish tacos, and much more. To top off the culinary adventure, my Dad made soba noodles from scratch.

If you eat the noodles on New Year's Eve, it's supposed to bring you long life. On New Year's Day, we had a traditional Japanese soup called Ozoni. The other dishes symbolized peace, family, and wealth. Our tastebuds had quite a workout.

New Year's Day we did what the locals do around Pasadena... watch the Rose Parade on T.V. and avoid the parade route. Instead, we walked around Lacy Park and enjoyed the sunshine and 70 degree weather.

Our trip home was not quite as bright. Bailey took a turn for the worse and we tried to get to St. Paul as soon as possible. The freezing rain in Iowa and Southern Minnesota made the trip even longer. When we took Bailey to the emergency vet clinic, we discovered her kidney disease had advanced and she also had lymphoma. We were glad we spent some quality time together before she went to the hospital. We said goodbye to her early Sunday morning. We're trying not to be sad because she had a long and happy life. We hope Mieko is taking care of her now.

We wish you all the best in 2009!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2008-12-18T22:49:00.011-06:00

As you can see, Hana has been really busy this holiday season. She had her photo shoot with Santa at Steamworks Coffee in North Minneapolis.

Though she was a little bored at times, there were some really cute shots.

Mieko had her first Santa pictures taken here last year. Though it was hard to go back without her, we really wanted Hana to have the same experience. She did a great job!

Hana also hit the holiday party circuit. She tried bowling at the WCCO Kids' party. She didn't mind being passed around at the Osseo Senior High English Department Party and even shared a few smiles. She also showed people how she could pout. Good thing she didn't do this for Santa.

Hana is definitely showing more personality. She often gets excited and kicks her legs and waves her arms while she smiles. She's "talking" more and we have fun taking turns making sounds. For the past couple of weeks, Hana has started sleeping for longer stretches at night, usually about four to four and a half hours. We're feeling more rested and used to our routine. The next challenge is getting her to take a bottle well. I'll be going back to work January 9th. I can't believe how fast the twelve weeks have gone.

We wanted to do something for the kids at Rondo for Christmas in honor of Mieko. We added some new instruments to the music bus, including an electronic keyboard type instrument that Mieko loved. The bus is fully decorated now and looks great. We got to see the kids in action with the instruments and they seemed to be having a blast. We'll add more goodies to the bus on Mieko's birthday in March. We think she would be happy to know her friends are enjoying the instruments so much.

We'll have one last hurrah before my leave is over. We're headed to Fargo for an early Christmas celebration with the Johnsons, then it's off the Los Angeles. We're hoping for good weather, but it looks like another storm is on the way here in the Upper Midwest. We're anxious for some warmth and authentic carne asada tacos. Of course, we're excited to see our family and friends in Southern California too.

Though the holidays will be so different this year without Mieko, we're trying to focus on all the wonderful memories. Her stocking is up next to her sister's new one. Mieko and Hana both have handprint ornaments on the tree. We're also giving family members a special remembrance of Mieko. She will be included in our family celebrations this year and always. We want to wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday season. We hope you have a healthy and happy 2009.

Here come the cheeks!

2008-12-07T13:22:00.023-06:00

Hana is becoming a chubby baby. The round cheeks are making her look more like Mommy and Mieko. Hana weighs around 10 and a half pounds now. She's also smiling more and making new cooing sounds. Her head control is pretty good, but she's not holding it up on her own yet. She also seems to really enjoy books and focuses a lot on the pictures.

We've been going to the New Parent Connection group at United Hospital in St. Paul for the past couple of weeks. It's been fun meeting other parents and all their cute babies. We get to ask a lot of questions about all those newborn issues like feeding and sleeping. We've also heard about some other interesting classes we might try, like baby yoga and infant massage. I'd like to take Hana to Baby Ballroom dancing. Mieko really enjoyed it.

The grief support groups through Children's Hospital are wrapping up. We've made some good friends there and plan on keeping in touch. We've even started our own facebook group called "Remembering Our Children". Though none of us wanted to be in this situation, we're glad we've found each other.

Mieko's Music Bus has been decorated and it looks fabulous. Bev did a wonderful job drawing the children riding the bus. We hear the children at Rondo are enjoying the instruments and we plan on donating more for Christmas and Mieko's birthday. This is such a fitting tribute to our happy little girl.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving over at Uncle Shane and Auntie Jodi's.
We also spent some time with our friends the Nelsons and the Hammonds. We're thankful for such good friends and family to share these times.
For the Christmas season, we'll be on the road. We'll be having an early celebration in Fargo with the Johnsons and then we're driving to L.A. We'll be bringing our cat Bailey with us since she needs medication and fluids for her kidney condition.

We're excited to see family and friends there and enjoy some warm weather for a while. It's in the single digits in St. Paul right now. Hopefully, Hana and Bailey will enjoy the ride.

You might have noticed Hana's little swirl (cowlick).
Here's a little verse a friend showed me:

There was a little girl ,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
(uh oh!)

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One of the Girls

2008-11-19T23:15:00.013-06:00

Hana is now one month old! She's been very busy lately meeting new friends. We had a wonderful visit from my friends from South Pasadena: Jackie, Lara, and Stephanie. They flew in from the L.A., San Francisco, and Boston areas just to see Hana and spend some serious girl time together. Of course, we all took Hana to the Mall of America. We also enjoyed some great food and played some Dance Dance Revolution. We even talked to our friend Jessica via Skype. She lives in Canberra, Australia with her husband and little girl. It was the best time!

Hana seems to be growing and doing all the things babies need to do, which is mostly sleep. We're still trying to learn her cues, but luckily she's been pretty agreeable unless she's hungry. It seems she's been awake more of the time lately. She can be really alert and likes to focus on faces, a lot like her big sister did.

She finally had the chance to meet the Tuesday night Knitters at Borealis this week. Of course, she was wearing some of their lovely handknit gifts. She's been the third baby girl born this year to someone in the group. It's been wonderful sharing all of these moments.

Shawn has been able to take some time off and it's been great spending time together . This really is a whole new world for us. We're looking forward to watching Hana grow and change. We never really let ourselves think too far into the future before since Mieko's health was so uncertain. We know we have a great deal to look forward to, but we can't help but wish Mieko could be here to see her baby sister and enjoy her as much as we do. We know we'll be missing her a lot during the upcoming holidays, but we're also going to make sure we incorporate her memory into our celebrations. Though it will be much different, we will try to remember there is still a great deal to be thankful for.

Growing is hard work!

2008-11-06T18:38:00.013-06:00

Hana is now two and a half weeks old. So far, she's been a pretty mellow baby. She doesn't cry all that much, unless she's hungry. She's a good sleeper. She would sleep through the night, except we have to wake her up to feed her. We're really enjoying this time getting to know her.

It's a completely different experience for us. The day after she came home, we had to take her to the St. Paul Children's E.R. because she hadn't pooped for four days. Her doctor's office advised us to do this, since she could've had problems with jaundice. It felt very strange to go the same E.R. where we'd taken Mieko so many times. Most of the time it was for respiratory distress and she was whisked into a room right away. This time, we actually waited. It felt weird to be there with such a healthy kid. Though it brings back some tough memories to be at the hospital, we know they always give us great care. Hana got a suppository and pooped right away. They checked her billirubin level and she was fine. Almost every time we took Mieko to the E.R., she was admitted to the hospital. We are grateful for Hana's good health.

It's also strange not to have all the medications and machinery at home. We always knew how Mieko was doing when she was sleeping since she was attached to an oxygen monitor. Now, I sometimes check Hana's chest to see if it's moving while she's sleeping. But, it is a relief to know there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

The biggest challenge for me has been nursing. Hana can nurse really well, but it took some work. We had to supplement with some bottles at first, since she was losing so much weight. That made her somewhat averse to breast feeding. After some help from a lactation consultant, she started nursing again. She's about back to her birth weight and gaining now. Mommy is still struggling somewhat to get the hang of things, but Hana is a champ.

Hana is going to Mieko's pediatrician at St. Paul Children's Clinic. Though it's sometimes difficult to go back there, it feels right for us to stay connected to those who knew Mieko so well. Her primary doctor has been wonderful to our family and we are so happy she can be there for Hana.

As you can see, Hana has been visiting with many relatives and friends. We are glad to share her with as many people as possible. Today, we went to visit Mieko's school and see the music cart that was created for the instruments we donated. It's not in it's final decorated state yet, but it looks amazing. The bus will be decorated with Mieko's and other children's pictures. We look forward to seeing the kids at Rondo use the music bus soon. They're already enjoying honking the horn!

Mieko's Baby Sister is Here!

2008-10-21T11:48:00.023-05:00

We are so happy to welcome Hana Mutsuko Johnson. Yes, she finally has a name. Her first and middle names come from my Auntie and Mom. Hana is pronounced "haw-nah". As one of my friends says it's like Benihana, the restaurant. Hana also means flower in Japanese. She was born Monday, October 20, 2008 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. She weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces and is 21 inches long.

Hana's birth story:
My due date was Oct. 18th. Grandpa Mits and Grandma Akemi flew in from Los
Angeles on Sunday the 19th. We spent the day enjoying the fall colors in southeastern Minnesota and hoping something would happen soon. Shortly before midnight, I went into labor. We went to the hospital around 3:30 a.m. I got an epidural later that morning at and it looked like we were progressing nicely, but everything stalled a few hours later. By 6:45 p.m., my doctor said it looked like for some reason the baby couldn't get in the right position to come out even though I was completely dilated, so we went ahead with another c-section. Mieko was delivered by c-section because she was breech, so at least we knew what to expect. So, after 19 hours of labor and about 20 minutes of surgery Hana came out crying.

You can see she was pretty alert and entertaining us with her expressions even in the first few minutes. Later in the evening, she had a few difficulties. She dropped her temperature and was under a warmer. Then, she started dropping her oxygen level and they had to give her some blow by oxygen. Her lungs and heart sound fine. They did some blood work to see if she has an infection, but so far everything looks good. She spent the night and next day in the special care nursery, but no longer needed oxygen. The pediatrician here thinks her lungs were adjusting and may have had extra fluid.

We're so thankful for all the friends and family who've sent their well wishes. We feel so lucky to have our new little girl, though we so wished Mieko could be here with us. We are looking forward to telling Hana all about her big sister and how she touched so many people. This is all such a different experience and we'll be sharing our journey here.