He Did It

Osamu ran to me, with his arms open wide, wearing his rain boots on a sunny afternoon, smiling wide and shouting, "Papa, you came back!"

I did come back. From a haircut and a trip to the drugstore to pick up some shaving cream.

He waited as patiently as he could. I told the boys as they headed up for their nap after lunch that papa was gonna walk over to my barber in Ichinazaka, run an errand or two, and by the time they wake up and have a snack I'll be back and we'll play in the street and ride bicycles. 

Nap and snack time happened a little faster than I anticipated. Eri texted me that Osamu was super excited to play outside. I quickened my pace. As I turned the corner onto my street I could see Eri and Osamu. Even after a Saturday that included soccer club and tons of horseplay with Kenzo, Osamu was ready to double down on the shenanigans.

The neighbor kids were out, too, so excitement was in the air. The streetlight rule was slightly bended tonight. The rule is that when the streetlight in front of the house comes on it's time to go inside, but we ended up playing in the street until the last drops of daylight. Ball bouncing, badminton, caster-boarding.

And the big event... Kenzo decided he wanted me to remove the training wheels from his bicycle.

So I did.

And off he went. He did it. 

Saturday morning in the living room.

Post soccer club lunch, with a special dessert.

As if the day wasn't special enough, the boys had taiyaki for their lunch dessert. Osamu got full and left a few bites so I got to have a nibble. Cream-filled fish-shaped pastry. Usually they have red bean paste in them, which is fine too. But the custard cream kinda hit the spot today. Even just the one bite. Kenzo devoured his. He's growing like crazy and eating like a barnyard animal.

For dinner Eri prepared our first nabe of the cold season, full of oysters, vegetables, tofu, and other goodies. She even used a special cookie-cutter kind of thing to cut pieces of carrots into stars, which of course the boys loved. 

Nabe dinner at the Fejer house.

For some reason, even though he loves eating pretty much anything, even stuff like kimchi that isn't even age appropriate for him, Osamu was making faces when eating the tofu. Maybe it's the American part of his DNA. He complained a bit but still cleaned his bowl.

After a hot pot full of seafood and veggies, a hot bath, and a bedtime story on the living room floor Kenzo and Osamu went upstairs and conked out relatively smoothly. My favorite part about tucking them in is their tired faces. They look so satisfied with their day of play and antics.

I finally read the instructions on the Christmas lights I got last year. It turns out I didn't connect the controller thing. It was still in the box. I connected it and now I can change the way the lights are displayed. Tonight was just a simple glow. Tomorrow I'll switch it to the annoying flashing setting.