Yesterday was a touch chilly. I came home late because a meeting I had ran until 5:30, so I was greeted at the door by Oakel who was excited to see me, and need to give me plenty of hugs. Ah that is a good feeling. Mayumi wanted a fire, so I went over to the fireplace loaded in a fire log and stacked wood around it. Evidently the wood that came with the house is defective. I’ve had MAJOR issues getting it to light and it isn’t too terribly wet. Well the fire log fought and I fought with the logs off and on until I went to bed with the final embers of logs eating away at the cursed wood. We had a lovely dinner during which Oakel talked about his day, and the girls he played with, and then talked with Mama in Japanese and they babbled away for a while, every now and then I could catch something. 3 ½ and his Japanese is better than mine. Afterwards we all sat in the den near the fire and watched Sean in his walker as he chased the cat around the house. Oakel would dutifully tell him not to play in the fire if he got to close to it. Too close translates into that side of the room. After a while Oakel went over and stood on the back of the walker to keep Sean from moving. Mayumi and I were both laughing because that was really quite a smart plan. I mean 7 month old vs the weight of a heavy 3 year old. Well Sean dug in and started walking around, albeit a little slower, with Oakel in tow. Sean loved it and was grinning up a storm, Oakel had a great time, and Mayumi and I both enjoyed watching and encoring the kids.
As soon as we can do something with the townhouse I’m going to enroll Oakel in some form of Martial arts. He and I do some exercising together, a few push ups, some sit ups, then I get him to practice his balance. My biggest concern is that at 3 he might not remember to not hit other kids. We are careful about what we watch on TV but every now and then something slips through, and Oakel will let us know that that not not nice. Not not nice, no hitting.