Thursday, April 29, 2010

Look who's WALKING!

There she goes.....she took a record number of steps today I think. She's been progressively getting better and going further, but today she went all the way from the dining room into the kitchen past the stove. Amazing. Here she is when she started in the dining room.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Where does the time go?

Just for fun - I dug out Sakura's shirt from Dosokai last year, she was just 3 months old when we went. Here is a side-by-side comparison of Sakura then and now....her shirt still barely fits, it's a 6 month size so I was very surprised it even fit her.


Our Lil' Empress at 3 months and now at 14 months



And complete with the headband she wore last year with the pretty flower Auntie Eryn made.


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Look who is taking steps ...

Sakura has started taking steps on her own - first 2 steps, then 4 steps, and now she's probably up to about 8 steps. She only does it if you 'coax' her to come to you from one person to another, but she does a great job until she decides that she's done, then she buckles her legs and won't even stand up...little turkey!
These pictures are actually from this weekend, but the date is from when she took her first steps.

Sakura walking to Mommy at Cracker Barrel - Grandma couldn't stand that Sakura started to walk, so they came down for the weekend....she thought the video was on, but apparently it was just a still :( Darn it!

Sitting with Daddy

Cindy Lou Who?
Sakura woke up from her nap with a big case of bed head, her palm tree was like a fan palm before she went to bed....this is what it looked like when she woke up from her marathon nap of 3 1/2 hours (she's normally a 2 hour napper).
Sakura discovered the little rocker I had when I was a little girl, and crawled in the chair and out of the chair....

In the chair

Time for bed....
Sakura was enjoying one last show before heading to bed tonight, can you say "RELAXED"?

Look at her feet :p

Monday, April 19, 2010

Hanging Out.....

Nothing too exciting went on last weekend - but here are a few pictures of our ever growing girl - she heads to the Dr. in a couple of weeks, the only part I'm excited about is finding out how much she's grown, it seems like a lot to me, but who knows?

Just hanging out Monday evening watching Sakura's favorite show - Inai Inai Baa

RIGHT in front of the TV


Mommy cleaned out the drawers of tons of clothes that were too small - and found Sakura's Old Navy hat and some sunglasses, Sakura is getting a TINY bit better about leaving them on again - she left the hat on forever, but the sunglasses only a few mintues...

Look I'm wearing them Mommy!

Rocking at Cracker Barrel

Waiting for Auntie Carla to have breakfast at Mimi's


Saturday, April 17, 2010

Edamame anyone?

Sakura enjoys 'edamame'.....

I saw this play set and HAD to have it for Sakura - tiny little edamame babies that fit snugly in their pod :) So cute!


Sakura inspecting one of the babies....

Sakura's new thing is to say "Awwwwwww"..... I think Mommy says "awww" a lot and that's where Sakura learned it! After hearing her say it, I've noticed that I say that a lot to her! My little parrot :) This morning Sakura got a lick from Yancha Bozu and right afterwards she said "Awwwww" - so funny!


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Time in California

Like I said in an earlier post, our dear Uncle Fred recently lost his battle with lung cancer, so last week we headed to California to attend the services for Uncle Fred. We will sure miss him - he was an amazing man, generous, funny, caring, he loved Sakura chan very much - one time we were in California and didn't get by to see him (fearing that his chemotherapy would have taken it's toll on him, we didn't want to bother him), shortly after our return home, my Mother Inlaw called to tell us that Auntie said Uncle Fred waited for us to come by with Sakura - imagine how bad we felt. Every visit after that happened, we made SURE to stop by to say HI and let Uncle Fred visit with Sakura. As much as we will miss seeing Uncle, it is with some peace that he will no longer be in any pain from the cancer, and we know that he will always be "around".
We love you Uncle Fred - Rest In Peace.


On the plane headed to see our friends and family.

Sakura playing in the grass while we waited for Bachan and Jichan to pick us up at the airport.


Yawn....Sakura you wouldn't be tired IF you had slept on the plane silly girl!

Having fun with Daddy while we wait in the beautiful sunshine

Playing Around the World (on Daddy's shoulders)

There she goes....

Almost around.....

I always try to find some time to get together with our friends when we head to California, I only wish we had MORE time together, it is so much fun to see how the kids have grown, I really wish we lived closer so that we could get together for play dates too - as Sakura gets older and bigger (and someday walks) she would love to play with the kids. This time we met at Taro's for lunch.

Sakura (14 months) and Ivy (11 months)

Ivy generously shared her rice crackers with Sakura. Ivy had a cracker and Sakura had a cracker, and Ivy kept handing Sakura her cracker too.....so sweet!

We FINALLY got to meet Nikko, Eryn and Gregor's handsome son!
He is SO adorable, his personality as well as you can see his looks - what a charming little boy - Sakura ♥d Nikko!

Group shot - my best attempt....silly kids don't they know they're all supposed to look at the camera when 3 of us are trying to get a shot of them - LOL!
As you can see Sakura chan had other ideas, escaping from the bench!

Another attempt

Sakura got a little riding pony to keep at Bachan and Jichan's house!

Rocking on the pony

After the services for Uncle Fred, we all went to a Chinese resteraunt together, so we got a few minutes with our nieces - Jessamine and Stephanie with Sakura

The girls smiling

An extremely exhausted baby on our way home from the services

Daddy and Jichan with Sakura after the services

Sakura

Onigiri made by Bachan for Sakura - Sakura's 1st onigiri (rice ball)

Sakura enjoying her onigiri

Sakura enjoying lunch #2 at Taro's with Mommy and Daddy we Taro's!

Chips at Chevy's on our last night with Bachan and Jichan

Sakura enjoying playing

and exercising with Jichan (J/K!)

and then playing a little piano too! Busy kid!


And then we headed home.....Goodbye Family and Friends until next time, we and miss you!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Mail from Japan and our little climber

We had a nice surprise in the mail - a present from Japan. Dean's cousin Yuko sent Sakura a nice gift - we love getting stuff from Japan, it's so unique, we especially love getting stuff with sakura blossoms all over it! Yuko sent Sakura several towels some with Pooh and Piglet, one teddy bear and a few covered in sakura blooms. So special and so sweet!

Sakura has mastered climbing - here she is exploring the dishwasher. She may not walk on her own, but she can sure get where she wants to go!

Fun playing in the dishwasher

Isn't this the cutest card? How is it that Japan Hallmark has this and we don't?
These little animals with sakura - so cute! We love this card!

Sakura's card and present - more sakura :)


Thanks Yuko - we ♥ everything!
We are all so lucky to have so many people that love and care about Sakura chan!