Halloween Cuteness

Alas, we haven't any record of our costumes on the Big Night. Nate dressed as a Gulfi Arab, I as a belly dancer, and Mayumi as a bunny rabbit (wearing her cousin Allie's old costume meant for someone 3-6 months). It really is a shame we don't have a picture (yet) of her in that costume because the leg cuffs of the costume only came down to just below her knees. Ha! We had some fun the week before carving pumpkins:

As we've enjoyed lots of warm Fall weather, Mayumi and I spent a great deal of time outside a week or so ago--much of it with our good friends Brittany and Juliette. Here we are at Clemyjontri Park in McLean.

The Farm at Frying Pan Park is another one of our favorite destinations. Mayumi CANNOT get enough of animals. She'd have climbed right into the pig pen if she could have managed it.

Sadly, Mayumi caught some nasty chest cold last week. We barely left the house (boring!) and spent lots of time cuddling (fabulous). Here are a couple of clips showing just how lackluster our little fireball was.

Adventures in Yumiland

This girl knows how to have fun! A few (or more than a few) pictures to entertain you: At Clemyjontri Park in McLean, VA.

All suited up and ready to be carried in Shanandoah National Park.

Beautiful waterfall in said park.

With our buddies in Shanandoah, L-R: Juliette (Mayumi's 'best friend'?--Juliette fell on Mayumi and accidentally knocked her down today, so maybe the bestfriendship is off...I am not sure), Mark, Brittney, Nate, Mayumi, Hilary.

An important conversation between Mayumi and Juliette in Shanandoah.

Wouldn't it be nice? Mayumi, living the good life.

With Grandpa Astroland at the Sterling Library park. Mayumi cannot get enough of these see-saw things.

Like, totally pyschadelic, dude.

Mayumi absolutely ADORES animals, especially dogs. Here she is at Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C.

Warning: no Mayumi in the next few photos (gasp!). Nate and I indulged in an anniversary weekend up where we honeymooned--the Finger Lakes region (thanks Mom, for babysitting!).

It was beautiful!

But a little cold.

And finally--Mayumi with her buddy Juliette and J's mom Brittney on the Mall in D.C.

The Force is strong with this one

Catching up

The fact that I need such a massive catch-up post...one that is already outdated without anything really recent...should excuse me from writing clever, detailed text. So--without any frills, this is what I've got:

We promised ourselves that when we lived in a home we'd start a garden and develop some food storage. After lots of self-prodding, we've made SOME progress. Here we have a picture of some basil and tomatoes from our garden, followed by a photo of some peaches that I canned (CAN you believe it? hee hee). We also canned tomatoes, oven-dried tomatos and basil, prepared 72-hr kits, and bought enough oats/beans/wheat to last two months. I say this not to brag--well, just a little.


Our great friends Jeoff and Rachel (featured on this blog before) threw a marvelous birthday party for newly four-year-old Bekah, pictured below. She is biting straight into her cake (and Wilks family tradition). Note the gourmet-ness of this cake--Rachel is the crepe chef and does nothing part-way. She is a Martha in the Making.

The party theme was, naturally, princesses. Mayumi was (kindly) invited, although not really a part of Bekah's peer group.

The darling Nate was nice enough to send me off to NYC for a weekend (and my NYC friends were kind enough to receive me). Here's us out front the one show I saw: Burn the Floor (feature ballroom dance).

And now for a few Yumi Muvis:

Mayumi is starting to feed herself. She's not much better now then at the time of this video (at least three weeks ago). She DOES, however, say 'please,' 'Kids Klub' (where she goes when I work out at the gym), and many other words in Arabic (I think she's brilliant).

Mayumi's closest friend (in age, at least) is Juliette. These two girls have been 'playing' together for nearly a year, but I think only recently realized the other existed. Now, they are even trying to say each others' names. Juliette has it easy; she says 'mmmm mmmm mmmm' to refer to Mayumi. Yumi, however, isn't quite up to three consonant words yet, but she's trying. We THINK she refers to Juliette as 'Jushbab.' We think.

Mayumi's favorite place to play is Rachel's house, which was created for young children (unlike ours). Here she is, with loads of other kids, entertaining themselves while their mothers are visiting teaching or being visit taught.

A Day in the Life of The Cute

Just a little cuteness to brighten your day.

Mayumi, it seems, is a girl to the very core. She was born hard-wired to pose...as you can see her doing here. Whenever she knows she's caught your eye, she puts on some kind of pose.

Here she is playing with her daddy...

And here is she getting very excited about a wedding buggy we encountered in the Alkgonkian Regional Park. Everything is a 'cat' to her (although she only knows the word in Arabic), so Nate is explaining to her that this is a very BIG cat.

Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere

I've taken Mayumi to a nearby library's storytime, which ended this last time with bubbles. Mayumi seemed fascinated and tried, along with her peers, to 'catch' some:



As I've mentioned previously, we've been taking advantage of our community pool. Mayumi is always trying to eat Nate's goggles, so we found her a pair of her own.

This little girl finds all kinds of ways to be cute. Or mischievous. Ever since beginning to feed herself, she demonstrated a fondness for putting her food behind her back. We have no idea where she got this idea--obviously we don't toss unwanted food over our shoulders. And yet, she does it, leaving us no choice but to strip her down before particularly messy meals. Why, you ask? Check out what happens if we don't. What you are seeing is the banana that Yumi sneakily stuffed behind her back.

As mobile as is legal

Here's proof: she's learned how to do it!

Heba's Big Samoan Wedding

You may not believe it, but I have other interests aside from Mayumi. Friends...I have friends!! One friend in particular many of you know has my indefatigable travel partner-in-crime Heba. Heba married the love of her life on Saturday--a Samoan guy that we all met many years ago in Hawaii. She reconnected with him when she moved out here and, considering their shared interest in Polynesia, really hit it off. Heba was always into Polynesian culture, particularly Maori culture. Yet, when I first met her, I doubt she'd even ever taken a Polynesian dance class. Boy, have things changed. As you'll see from these video clips, she's practically given up her haole-ness and become a true wahine. (The clips are no longer than 30 seconds a piece, so please take a few minutes and watch them all!)

Her wedding was fabulous. Nate, my dear friend Marliss, and I went and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. I took a few video clips--all are 30 seconds or less so they won't take much time to view.

Now, one last thing: Not only was I particularly interested in celebrating with Heba because I love her dearly, but also because I became rather 'involved.' See, she asked me and Marliss (who was staying at my home on visit from Florida) to put together some of the costumes for her wedding dance performances. I'll point out which ones we did:

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First--pictured here is Koko's son and Heather's new step-son Kopelani in his Maori 'Haka' costume. Marliss and I made the little loin cloth AND headress.

And now for the video clip of the boys (Kope and some cute little boy named Tavita) doing the Maori "Haka" dance. Kope's dad (the groom) is on the drums and doing the chanting.

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Marliss and I were also responsible for Heather's Tahitian costume, at least the grass skirt and 'belt.' This particular number is called an 'Otea,' and that is her new husband for whom she is dancing.

One of my favorite Polynesian dance numbers is the traditional Samoan slap dance. Here is Koko (groom, in the middle) and some of his buddies.

Finally--the dance number that had Heather the most worried. The bride, or a representative of the bride, is supposed to do this special dance titled the "Princess Dance" (in Samoan, that is). She was nervous to be dancing it in front of a bunch of Samoans...but did a MARVELOUS job. I had nothing to do this with this costume but wanted to include this clip. She started out the dance alone, but within SECONDS zillions of people joined her, dancing with her, and throwing money at her (or tucking it into her dress). It was just too much fun.

Fruit is good

I haven't taken any good videos of Mayumi lately and I promise to repent. In going through a few older ones, however, I found a little one I don't believe I posted. This is primarily for the true Mayumi fan, who lives for even the most mundane pieces of news about her.

This clip features Mayumi eating some fruit, which is something she loves. What I wish I had a clip of is her eating blueberries. Who knew that one little girl could stuff so many blueberries in her mouth at one time?

Then there are apples. She attacks them eagerly, and smacks her lips after taking the last bite...dislodging the hundreds of bits of apples that have sneaked back OUT of her mouth and onto her chin after she's gummed them for a while (she DOES have five teeth but you have to give a baby a break...).

We were treated to a delicious dinner at by our wonderful friends Lindsay and Mike the other day (c.f. exotic Korean wedding ceremony a few posts ago) and they served a fruit plate for dessert. I don't know if anyone actually got to eat any of it, as Mayumi pretty much assumed responsibility for it.

Enjoy!

Mayumi is getting a....

SISTER!!

Surprise! Many of you viewing this had no idea that I was expecting. Don't worry--I basically have kept this a 'secret,' telling only those who have seen me and asked.

So, there must be something about the level of estrogen in the Johnson clan, because this little girl will make the fifth of ONLY granddaughters in my family!

Now I know that ultrasound photos are, at best, vague (at worse, downright frightening), so we chose the 'cutest' one: her FOOT. :-) I love it. I love Mayumi's feet and I am sure I will love the feet of this little baby girl.

According to the radiologist, she is perfectly healthy and sound in every way. That is great news! She was moving around and around as we were viewing her. Hopefully she'll KEEP moving since she was (as of this afternoon) head up, or 'breach.'

Nate and I already have started our list of names. I am sure you can expect I am vetoing all of the 'biblical' names (Sarah, Catherine, Anne, etc.) and Nate is holding out against all of the names he deems too 'ghetto' (Aisha, Malaika, etc.). We'll see what happens. I like deciding pretty early on a name and then thinking of her by that name for a while...to see if it settles in.

Anyway!! 9 December...mark it on your calendar!

I've been a little busy...

This has been a busy summer! First of all, the garden. I am happy to report that we are reaping the 'fruits' of our labors. Behold our tomatoes! We ate some this evening. Delicious. Also featured in the salad was a home-grown cucumber and in the lasagne, basil.

I'd say one of the most fun Saturday's I've spent in a long time was attending the wedding of our great friends Lindsay and Mike. I've known Lindsay for over ten years, back from our intern days (also pictured here are Noelle and Jenna, other dear 'Washington Semi-student' intern friends). We all met Mike here in Washington, D.C., and finally Lindsay and Mike found love in each other. As you can see here, they incorporated some of Mike's Korean heritage in their wedding reception.







As I've mentioned previously, we've been making it to the pool as often as possible. While Nate swims laps, Mayumi and I splash around in the kiddy pool. Here is the Cuteness having fun in the water.

Yankee Doodle Baby

Eastern Market is home to a sub-neighborhood; Barracks Row. Home to the U.S. Marine Corp Band and Drill Squad, every Friday night of the summer the neighborhood boasts a huge performance. The streets are blocked off, 'free' tickets are made available at the beginning of the summer and gone within seconds, and Washington, D.C. residents turn out in high style.

Nate, Mayumi and I often ate out on Friday nights on Barracks Row and would weakly attempt to get into the 'standby line.' No luck. Especially not on the night that the President attended. We noticed that cars, parked on the surrounding streets, were being towed. Upon questioning some Secret Servicemen we learned that any owner of those cars would simply have to pick them up at a nearby lot if they wanted them any time soon. Needless to say, we never got a chance to see the Parade.

I've made a friend out here named Amanda. Amanda's husband is a Marine and actually has duty at the Parade each Friday night as an escort/usher. I was thrilled when Amanda said she'd get us tickets, and made it a surprise for Nate (arranging babysitting and the works). We went with Amanda, her husband Jesus, and our other great friends Rachel and Jeoff. It was a fun night full of pageantry and patriotic fanfare. Enjoy the following clip:



This was two days before the Fourth of July. On the morning of the Fourth we headed on over to the church for the annual breakfast. Here is the Cuteness exploring her patriotic side.

Later on that day we were excited to receive one of my best and oldest friends Marliss and her two adorable girls in our home. Here is Melia, the oldest of the two, at the ghetto park near our home. All in all, a great holiday.

In other random news, it turns out that Mayumi adores cheese. Here is a package of cheese I handed her without a thought in the grocery store to soothe her grumpiness. When I arrived at the register I found it...torn open and pockmarked by her razor sharp little teeth. That little cuteness!

Getting ready for the Ivy League...

Nate's work is sending him to Georgetown for the summer and Mayumi and paid him a visit a couple of weeks ago. If you look closely, there is a cuteness standing in front of the hallowed halls of Georgtown.

When we're not jetting into the District, we are exploring Fairfax County. In nearby Reston is a cute 'planned' community known as Lake Anne. Here's Mayumi playing in a fountain near the lake.

Water Baby

We are trying to take advantage of our mandatory membership in the HOA by making frequent visits to the pool. Mayumi is getting used to it, slowly but surely.

Nate's other darling

Nate has a new love. Sometimes I notice him regarding his new paramour lovingly, but I'm not jealous. Hard to feel jealous of a ten-pound rod of steel. The sights may be made of hard plastic--I am not sure.

For months...years...Nate has been DYING for a gun. Little did I know how I would inflame the desire by taking him to a shooting range for his birthday last year. Our new home happens to be relatively close to the range, so occasionally Nate would ask me accompany him to the range store and, I suppose, tolerate his longing looks and loving strokes of all the 'ladies' in the shop (why do guns have to be female I wonder?). We finally decided (emphasis on we--Nate definitely consulted me on this) that he should have his heart's desire, and one day she arrived to her new home. Our home.

For those of you out there worried about Mayumi's safety, you are not alone. Nate has agreed to keep the gun unloaded and locked (although in the closet near our bed). He is anxious for Mayumi to start her gun safety training but I am opposed to her early exposure to weapons more on ideological grounds than an actual worry that she'll figure out how to climb up to the top of the closet, unlock the gun, load it, and fire it. Those who know us well will not be surprised to find that we disagree on the utility/need/wisdom of owning a gun, but we both agree that if someone has a (legal and moral) passion then they should pursue it. So--we have a gun. Well, correction: Nate has a gun.

Enjoy (or tolerate) the following pictures and video clips.



The following clip is of Mayumi at the shooting range, following around the 'range dog,' named (curiously) Darth Vader. Darth was terrified by the very fascinated and (hee hee) doggedly pursuing Mayumi.

I Heart New York

Since 2003 my mother and I have been bringing groups to New York City, staying in Times Square, and introducing them into the "real" New York.

We encourage the group members to take advantage of the various promotions and discounts offered on Broadway and to see as many shows as they can. For us, that means a show per day! In the past, I have lived up to this goal and, in two weeks, have seen 16 shows (there are matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays).

Thanks the help of wonderful family and friends, I was able to fulfil my duties as Assistant to Glo (my mother) AND see many shows...all while enjoying the companionship of the junior tour conductor-in-training Mayumi. HUGE thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law Rosalie and sister-in-law Audrey, who came out to New York for the first week to spend time with Mayumi (and seriously help me out), my father (who came for the second week), my mother (who makes this whole thing possible), and my handful of great friends who babysat, entertained Mayumi, saved my spot in ticket lines, etc. Tim, Sally, and Amber...and Amber's crew...THANK YOU!

So yes, I saw 10 shows!! Here they are: Billy Elliot, Exit the King, Next to Normal, Blithe Spirit, Rock of Ages (although we left at intermission so it doesn't really count), 9 to 5, God of Carnage, Mary Stuart, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and Guys and Dolls. I'd love to review them each for you...whoever you are...but knowing that no one is likely to read this I'll just let the random reader do their own research or contact me privately if curious. I WILL say that Next to Normal was by far my 'favorite' musical (hard to use that word since it was such a 'hard' show to watch (v. emotional)) and God of Carnage and Mary Stuart tied for favorite play. Rock of Ages was the worse musical (hence the early exit) and Exit the King was (by far) the worst play (I loved each of the others).

Enjoy the photos, courtesy of grandpa Astroland, as I took NONE. This last one doesn't even come close to capturing the funniness of the moment; one moment, she was sitting in a restaurant high chair, looking all innocent. Next moment we looked, she was practically swallowing a salt shaker. We tried to get her to do it again for a picture, but it never QUITE was as funny.

Climbing the Stairs

Mayumi climbed our staircase today while I wasn't looking. Seven stairs, not an inconsiderable height. Ugh. I had a student come while she was awake (usually she naps during my lessons) and I started her out in the swing next to our lesson table. This has worked fine in the past, but apparently now that she can walk she will NOT be confined to a somewhat stationary chair. Sigh. I apologized to my student and released Mayumi to wander about the room while I attempted to teach a lesson. Considering how noisy she can be, I was relieved when she went behind the little wall the separates the main room from the stairwell going up. I was even happier to note that she was silent, and figured she was having fun playing with some toy on (I hoped) the bottom step. Knowing that she has a tendency to try to climb the stairs, I strained my ears in her direction while attempting to simultaneously teach an Arabic lesson. Nothing--not a sound. When I finally heard a sound a few minutes later, it was clearly not from the downstairs. I excused myself to my student and dashed to the stairs; that little baby was no where in sight! I dashed upstairs and she was playing far across the room. She had climbed up the stairs entirely on her own!

Now don't worry; I don't plan on giving her free range to the staircases but I was actually quite proud of her (while also terrified of what could have happened...).