Little sister

Stoop sitting

Good old fashioned stoop sitting has not gone out of fashion in our neighborhood. Young and old pile up on  the steps to catch a breeze and a little neighborhood gossip. We are lucky to have a handful of good kids Uta's age always ready and willing for a game of tag or soccer. And Kizuki is delighted with all the dogs passing by and friendly strangers to befriend. 

Soccer ball blues

Uta is at that sweet and fleeting age where he loves with all his heart (or at least tries to love as best he can) anything his Pop loves. At the moment it is soccer. Soccer represents all that is good about his Dad, all he admires, and all he hopes to become. So when Uta's soccer ball, the one given to him by Papa just a few days earlier on the very eve of Japan making soccer history, was run over by a truck, the whole wide and heavy world crashed right down on top of him. We heard him wailing his head off before he even stepped foot in the front door. I thought for sure he was the one split in two. It didn't help matters that as he cried in despair over the death of his ball, Hiroshi packed his suitcases to leave for Japan in the morning.

The next day we went out and replaced the ball with the exact same one. Uta styled his own special soccer outfit to match the ball and honor Japan's World Cup soccer victory. (It is no secret that Uta loves soccer style a little more than the game itself, though I think maybe Uta has yet to realize this about himself.)

Papa in Japan

The days leading up to Papa's departure have been volatile. Uta has had daily breakdowns and explosions of uncontrollable sobbing for any and all inane mishap that has come his way. Last night was a good one. A UPS truck hit his soccer ball as it rolled into the street, and popped it like a ballon. Uta cried so hard his nose bled and then screamed at me because my refusal to go into the city at that very moment (right before bedtime) to buy him a new one, was clearcut evidence that I didn't care and didn't understand how special that ball was to him. True. But its hard to be sympathetic when the hysterics are happening round the clock. Its like little deaths of invisible friends replayed daily. Our poor boy has been acting a little loony. But I've suspected its all really due to the fact that Papa has been getting ready to return to Japan by himself, which is a first for us. And now that he has finally gone, and is at this very moment somewhere high above our heads on his way to Tokyo, a much needed calm has returned to our home. The going is so much harder to bear than when in fact he's actually gone. He's gone for good reasons and of course he'll be back. We wish him lots of luck and all the love in our hearts.

Popcorn

My Grandson the Zombie!

Here are some photos of Uta on the day of his hip-hop performance. The kids all had their faces coated in baby powder to look like zombies for their rendition of Thriller.

Kiki painting

Big and little