As I sit and write this, E
astern Ontario is bracing for yet another winter storm. According to our friends at Environment Canada, we’re expecting up to another 50 centimeters of the stuff in the next 36 hours. This, I should point out, is on top of the already 355 centimeters we’re received so far this year.Now, it should be noted that we in this house are actually snow junkies. Generally, we love the stuff. But, enough is enough. We are officially ceding property to the snow because there is just nowhere else to put it. Our arms are aching from shoveling (well, at least Kohji’s are cause I make him do most of it), we can’t see out the windows for the snow piles and the general morale of the city is slipping into snow despair.
Thankfully, the snow hasn’t brought a screeching halt to all winter activities. Between the digging and scrapping, w
e’ve managed to get out and about for some fun. In early February, we got together with a number of adoptive families we know to celebrate Chinese New Year. We are now into the year of the rat (eh, maybe that explains all the snow). Our little group had a great time, with the main activity being watching the toddlers tear around the room. Our kids are all getting so big, and it’s incredible to watch them all together. I can almost imagine a time when they sit there as teenagers at a similar gathering, giggling and colluding.
We t
ook advantage of the record snow to get away for a ski weekend at Mont Tremblant. Kiyomi had the chance to hang out all day with Ella and Alex, by far some of her most favourite people – while moms and dads took advantage of a babysitting service and hit the slopes. Kiyomi was ecstatic to hang out with the cool kids, and mom and dad were rather excited to have the opportunity to actually ski together (well, ok, more like ski in tandem cause lets face it, there is no way I could possibly keep up with Kohji). 
Friends from Winnipeg, Pat and Sheila, came for an all too brief visit to take in some of the Winterlude festivities. Kiyomi loved waking them up every morning, and I think they even decided to stop sleeping naked by the last morning when Kiyomi tromped up the stairs yelling "Pat and Sheea, where r uuu"? I also managed to con Pat into dragging the ski pulk on one excursion to Gatineau park, so that was a major score!
We took part in our tenth annual Lumina Lodge excursion near Algonquin Par
k. This time, Kiyomi spent three days with her most favourite person of all times – her cousin Mika. The girls got on amazingly well and spent a great deal 
of time wearing princess dresses, giggling and playing in the snow. Kiy
omi even went skiing for the first time, and seemed to really love it. It took Kohji a good long time to convince her to take them off and head into the cabin (I believe the promise of a cookie was involved). Of course, I discovered a few days after getting home that Kiyomi had ac
tually been pocketing utensils from the cabin, and brought them home with her to proudly display at daycare!
As for day to day life, it trundles along well. Kiyomi has settled into the pre-school room at school and seems to be liking it a lot. She’s certainly learning more and more, and I have no doubt she’s ready for it. But I confess to the occasional pang when I drop her off. She’s definitely one of the smallest and youngest in her class, and when I leave her, she looks so little that I have to fight the urge to grab her and run. But she’s learning to assert herself more and more, as evidenced by her occasional firm assertions of “no mommy, I don’t like that!” She’s also picking up a little French along the way - rather surprising to us when we heard her count in French the other day.
We’re getting a real kick out of Kiyomi’s ‘pretend’ play. It’s pretty hilarious to watch her concocts scenarios for all of us. A typical exchange with her might be something like: “ok, ok, ok, ok, you, you, you, be Dora, you be Boots and I Swipper”. You can substitute Simba, Nala, Pumba and Timon if you prefer, but you get the gist. She also has developed a fondness for pretending to be a cat, and will meow and crawl into your lap. You can actually carry on an entire conversation with her in “meows”. That exchange is a little more tedious:
Kiyomi – “meow, meow, meow”
Me – “meow, meow”
Kiyomi – “meeow, meow, meow, meow”
Well, you get the idea. This can go on for quite some time.
Her independent streak is definitely growing, and we often hear “I do it!” Whether it’s put on her jacket, get in the car seat or vacuum the floor, she definitely has ideas about who should be doing what. I don’t mind saying she’s got a wee bit of a bossy streak going on as well, and has no compulsion about telling you exactly what you should be doing at any given moment.
That said - and fair warning, I pass this along as one of those proud parent moments – I wound up taking her to my guitar lesson a couple weeks ago and was rather amazed with how incredibly well she behaved. She watched my teacher intently and tried to mimic his foot tapping, which she happily bopped along in her chair to his rendition of “Bare Necessities”from The Juggle Book. She was priceless to watch!
Of course, I had a less proud moment about 3 weeks ago when this blasted winter managed to freeze both locks on our car doors. Kohji had to climb through the trunk and Kiyomi and I went in through the window. It was, admittedly, hilarious. But, it was a little on the embarrassing side a little later when we had to haul Kiyomi out of the window at the daycare, as she was yelling “yeehaw” thanks to the Dukes of Hazard yell I had taught her going in. Yup, just another one of those proud parent moments!
Although not the custom for me, I close this entry on a rather sad note. We had a wonderful time celebrating Chinese New Year with some of the families with whom we traveled to China, but I had a few very sad moments watching our beautiful girls. My thoughts went to another amazing little girl who should have been around to celebrate, but who passed away unexpectedly this past November. Faith was from the same orphanage as Kiyomi. The two girls were born only a few days apart and we had the incredible honour of watching Faith be united with her parents. Her death has been deeply felt by all of us in our travel group, and our thoughts are often with her parents who miss her horribly. Faith was definitely with us as we honoured her heritage and the land of her birth, and I believe she will always be in our hearts.
We took part in our tenth annual Lumina Lodge excursion near Algonquin Par
k. This time, Kiyomi spent three days with her most favourite person of all times – her cousin Mika. The girls got on amazingly well and spent a great deal 
of time wearing princess dresses, giggling and playing in the snow. Kiy
omi even went skiing for the first time, and seemed to really love it. It took Kohji a good long time to convince her to take them off and head into the cabin (I believe the promise of a cookie was involved). Of course, I discovered a few days after getting home that Kiyomi had ac
tually been pocketing utensils from the cabin, and brought them home with her to proudly display at daycare!As for day to day life, it trundles along well. Kiyomi has settled into the pre-school room at school and seems to be liking it a lot. She’s certainly learning more and more, and I have no doubt she’s ready for it. But I confess to the occasional pang when I drop her off. She’s definitely one of the smallest and youngest in her class, and when I leave her, she looks so little that I have to fight the urge to grab her and run. But she’s learning to assert herself more and more, as evidenced by her occasional firm assertions of “no mommy, I don’t like that!” She’s also picking up a little French along the way - rather surprising to us when we heard her count in French the other day.
We’re getting a real kick out of Kiyomi’s ‘pretend’ play. It’s pretty hilarious to watch her concocts scenarios for all of us. A typical exchange with her might be something like: “ok, ok, ok, ok, you, you, you, be Dora, you be Boots and I Swipper”. You can substitute Simba, Nala, Pumba and Timon if you prefer, but you get the gist. She also has developed a fondness for pretending to be a cat, and will meow and crawl into your lap. You can actually carry on an entire conversation with her in “meows”. That exchange is a little more tedious:
Kiyomi – “meow, meow, meow”
Me – “meow, meow”
Kiyomi – “meeow, meow, meow, meow”
Well, you get the idea. This can go on for quite some time.
Her independent streak is definitely growing, and we often hear “I do it!” Whether it’s put on her jacket, get in the car seat or vacuum the floor, she definitely has ideas about who should be doing what. I don’t mind saying she’s got a wee bit of a bossy streak going on as well, and has no compulsion about telling you exactly what you should be doing at any given moment.
That said - and fair warning, I pass this along as one of those proud parent moments – I wound up taking her to my guitar lesson a couple weeks ago and was rather amazed with how incredibly well she behaved. She watched my teacher intently and tried to mimic his foot tapping, which she happily bopped along in her chair to his rendition of “Bare Necessities”from The Juggle Book. She was priceless to watch!
Of course, I had a less proud moment about 3 weeks ago when this blasted winter managed to freeze both locks on our car doors. Kohji had to climb through the trunk and Kiyomi and I went in through the window. It was, admittedly, hilarious. But, it was a little on the embarrassing side a little later when we had to haul Kiyomi out of the window at the daycare, as she was yelling “yeehaw” thanks to the Dukes of Hazard yell I had taught her going in. Yup, just another one of those proud parent moments!
Although not the custom for me, I close this entry on a rather sad note. We had a wonderful time celebrating Chinese New Year with some of the families with whom we traveled to China, but I had a few very sad moments watching our beautiful girls. My thoughts went to another amazing little girl who should have been around to celebrate, but who passed away unexpectedly this past November. Faith was from the same orphanage as Kiyomi. The two girls were born only a few days apart and we had the incredible honour of watching Faith be united with her parents. Her death has been deeply felt by all of us in our travel group, and our thoughts are often with her parents who miss her horribly. Faith was definitely with us as we honoured her heritage and the land of her birth, and I believe she will always be in our hearts.
The parting shot for tonight just screams 1000 words. Good night from a rather snowy Ottawa.
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