Signing Time & "Ow! Ma Foot!"

Hana has been absolutely cracking us up lately!

It seems that when she learns the ASL sign for something, she is more inclined to broach that subject with us as well--so we started learning the signs for feelings in an attempt to help her cope with the frustrations that come with being two. :O) She knows: hot, cold, grumpy, sleepy, tired, proud, sad, happy, excited, surprised, scared, sorry, and probably some more. She uses cold, happy, sad, and sorry the most. It's so great to see her able to express herself in this way. Every night, after bath, she tells us she's "cold" as Da rushes to dress her. "Happy" often comes up during outings, when she has friends over, or when she is helping to take care of Baby Sister. "Sorry" often comes up a bit during those latter times as well as Hana is learning how to be gentle with Baby Sis. When we tell her she's being too rough, she is usually quick to apologize and try a more gentle approach. And Hana is occasionally "sad" when she wakes up in the morning--she is SUCH a grouch sometimes, lol (just like her daddy!).

Having a two year old really makes you realize (and watch!) what you say. Luckily we do not curse, so we don't have to worry about her picking up any foul language--however Da sometimes has a short fuse with Petunia, and he has had to watch it because Hana went through a phase a few months ago where she actually started yelling at the dogs! She loves animals to death, though, and that attitude quickly stopped. When the girls are lying down together, Baby Sister often coos to her older sis. I always say, excitedly, "Haha, Baby Sister's talkin' to you!" So now whenever she hears Menna babbling away, she exclaims: "Baby Sister talkin' you!" It is too cute! She also started using possessive pronouns. When she gets an "owie" (boo-boo) nowadays, she will say "Ow! Ma (my) foot/hand/hair/etc." It is adorable. And if she gets an owie bumping her head on the table or something, she actually will apologize to the table ("Sorry, table") after she recovers from it. Such a sweetheart.

I also gave her her first real haircut today. :O) I'd been holding out for 2 1/2 years, but her hair is so fine that it tangles really easily, especially since it was heavily layered, naturally. The poor thing was getting a rat's nest in it every time she dozed off in the car. She now has a little chin-length bob. Pix to come. Ha was incredibly brave throughout the procedure. She kept saying "More cut!" and enjoyed having her hair snipped so much that she even asked me to cut her foot ("help please, cut foot"). LOL!

Oh, and one more thing about signing. When Ha does her signing videos and Baby Sister is in the room, she will go and do the signs right by Menna's face (she is trying to teach her!). And when Menna has her hand in the position of a sign ("S" and "I" are popular natural hand holds), Hana gets so excited and says "Baby Sister signing S!" With such a great teacher, Menna will pick up ASL in no time! Hana is also learning how to string signs together. For instance, today during breakfast, Ha signed "Mama eating bread." She is so smart and absolutely loves to learn. We are so proud of her and it's amazing watching her develop.

Menna had her dedication today--that was very nice. We really enjoy the Church we go to out here: Calvary Okinawa--and we will really miss it. I've never seen such a nice ministry for toddlers--and they have lots of other outreach programs as well--for instance, while recovering from childbirth, we were blessed by the Manna Ministry, and enjoyed some yummy homecooked meals prepared by congregants. The girls and I were planning to help out in the nursery or the Wednesday night youth program (similar to AWANAS, which Martin and I volunteered for in Misawa), but since we are leaving so soon, we won't really have a chance. I'm sure there will be plenty of meaningful work to get involved with in Orlando, though. :O) I really like having the girls do whatever community service work they can enjoy at their age levels (for instance Ha and I did free music classes for kids and helped out at the children's waiting room at Lester Hospital out here, and we do fundraising walks as well), that way they can hopefully grow up with a love for helping others and a great deal of empathy.

Okay, well just wanted to do another quick post. We are so crazy about our girls!! I love watching them together! Even though two is a lot of work, I find myself a lot less stressed out than when Ha was an only child. Maybe that is because I have less time to think/worry about things, lol. But I think it's because watching their blossoming love for and how they bring out the best in each other already is such a beautiful thing. :O)