Paparazzi/パパラッチ

Saturday we found out what Lady Gaga has been singing about...we were enjoying a day in Red Hook, Brooklyn with a stop at IKEA and the Fairway Market, a grocery store similar to Stew Leonards without the animatronics and after shopping we crossed the street to take a few pictures by the water overlooking the Statue of Liberty. While carrying Madison there we passed this lady with a fancy camera and I heard...click click click click click...that was weird I thought, but Madison is pretty cute and I'm having a good hair day so I guess that makes sense...then I was showing Madison the Statue of Liberty and I heard...click click click click...then when Anna came the lady explained that she was from the Daily News and asked if she could take some pictures of us and she took down our names...it was fun...we checked the paper today, but we didn't make it in there...maybe tomorrow :-) Or maybe the lady just wanted us for her personal collection...I guess we may never know.
土曜日、３人でブルックリンにあるイケアストアとフェアウェイマーケットというステューみたいな食料品屋さんへ買い物に行って来ました。その後、駐車場の横にある橋からマディソンに自由の女神を見せてあげようと、パパが急ぎ足でマディソンと向かっていたらカシャカシャカシャカシャって音が...何だろ？マディソン可愛いからかな〜？パパの髪型決まってるから良いやー：）丁度ママが追いついて来た時に写真を撮っていた女の人がデイリーニューズ用に写真を撮っても良いかって...なんだか面白い経験が出来ました。今日新聞を調べたけどマディソンとパパの写真は載っていなかったから明日かな〜？どのくらい新聞を買い続ければ良いんだろ〜？

Madison and I pose for Daily News photographer.
デイリーニューズの写真用にハイポーズ。

夕ご飯日記/Dinner Journal

夕ご飯日記：
Dinner Journal:

土曜日：山菜スパゲティ
Saturday: Mountain Vegetable Spaghetti

日曜日：タイ料理のテイクアウト
Sunday: Take Out from Thai Malay Cafe

月曜日：レンティルスープ
Monday: Lentil Soup

火曜日：レンティルスープ、サラダ、＆　サワードーパン
Tuesday: Lentil Soup, Salad, & Sour Dough Bowl

水曜日：ラーメン＆海老と豆腐の春巻き
Wednesday: Japanese Ramen Noodles & Shrimp-Tofu Spring Rolls

木曜日：朝ご飯の夕ご飯！
Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner!

金曜日：野菜のカレースパゲティとサラダ
Friday: Vegetable Curry Spaghetti and Salad

日本人プレイグループ/The Japanese Play Group

今日行ったプレイグループが今までで一番！！昨日も言った通り今日はアッパーウェストサイドまで１時間かけてお出かけしました。多分１時間以内で着けたと思うけど、間違って'A'電車に乗っちゃったから降りるはずだった１１０町目を通り越して１２５丁目まで行ってしまう結果。また下町行きの電車を待つはめに...そして、駅から出た後この綺麗なマンション(写真無し)に到着して受付の人が名前をチェックした後やっとサトコさんと７１/２ヶ月のコンラッド君に会う事が出来ました。もう一人来るはずのママ(ナツコさん)と１８ヶ月のコナツちゃんを待つ為にマンションにあるプレイルームへひとまず移動して待つ事に。この部屋はヨガにも使うからか部屋中鏡で囲まれていてマディソンは入るなりとっても嬉しそう早速ハイハイ...マディソン鏡大好きなの言ったっけ!?そこにあった赤ちゃん用の滑り台も使った見たけどマディソンの履いていたタイツのせいで静電気がバチバチ発生しまくり！とまた鏡の壁に戻る事にしました。

The play group we went to today was the BEST!! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we made an hour trip to the Upper West Side to meet up with the Japanese Moms and babies! Well, It could have taken a bit less time, but I got on an 'A' train by mistake so it sped passed my stop(110th) and went straight to 125th so we had to get on another train to come back a few stops... We walked up to this beautiful high rise(no picture) and after the concierge checked off my name that was on his list we took an elevator to meet with Satoko-san and her 7 1/2 month son, Conrad on 2nd floor public lounge... One more Mom and her 18 month old daughter were supposed to show up, but were running late so we then moved to the play room that this place had and waited/enjoyed exploring there. This room was surrounded with mirrors(since it's also used as a Yoga room) so Madison was quite excited! Did I mention she LOVES mirrors!? She also sled down a baby slide that was there but her tights and the slide were making static electricity so she went back to looking at herself in the mirror after that.

待合室のソファに座っている２人...初めてコンラッド君に会いました！

On a couch in the public lounge... Meeting Conrad for the first time!

コンラッド君とおもちゃで遊んでいます！
Sharing her toys with Conrad and showing him how to play with them!

鏡大〜好き！自分に自惚れ過ぎ!?
Love, Love, LOVE the mirrors! or Herself!?

ナツエさんとコナツちゃんが到着した後サトコさんの部屋へ移動し、早速うろうろ／遊び開始...マンハッタンのマンションって聞いて想像していたよりもとっても大きい、綺麗なお家で景色がまたすごい！目の前に巨大なカソリック教会敷地が...
After Natsue-san and Konatsu arrived we went up to Satoko-san's apartment and started to explore/play... It was a one bedroom apartment but much bigger than I expected for a Manhattan apartment and the view was great, over looking this huge Catholic Church complex.

マディソンは早速窓際で景色をチェック...最初はそんなに窓際まで〜って心配の私...
Madison loved looking out from the window... I knew she was safe but it still kind of made me nervous for a while...

今日のプレイグループのテーマはお気に入りの絵本を持って来てみんなの前で読んであげる事...交代で読みました、良い子に聞いているコンラッド君(コンちゃん)。マディソンはただ聞いているよりも味見する方がいいみたい！
Today's playgroup had a theme which was to bring the baby's favorite books and share so we took turns and read them...Here is Conrad sitting nicely and listening, all Madison was interested in was taking a bite of all of the books!

ナツエさんの１８ヶ月の娘のコナツちゃん...ベビーカーでのお昼寝から起きたばかりで見慣れていない赤ちゃん２人をジーッと見つめていました。直ぐに慣れたみたいだけどね！
Natsue-san's 18 month daughter, Konatsu... She has just woken up from taking a nap in her stroller and was standing staring at the stranger babies... She soon warmed up to them though!

コンちゃんのウォーカーを使わせてもらいました...目の前にあるいろんな音楽やボタンが気に入ったみたい：）
Here is Madison trying out Conrad's walker... She is not walking with it, but quite enjoying the fun buttons and music:-)

ウィリアムズバーグのママグループ/Williamsburg SAHM Group

たった今、今年の目標を決めました、というのはマディソンのママとして今までよりももっと活発になる事。例えば、杏奈達の行く教会ではマディソンと同じ年 の赤ちゃんがいないから他の所で友達を見つけてあげなければいけなかったり、それよりも一番大事な日本語で遊べる環境を作る事。だから先週行った日本語の プレイグループが今年初めての活発行動の例かな。今日見つけて行ったグループはウィリアムズバーグの辺りに住んでいるママのためだから普通に英語を話すグ ループなんだす。明日行くつもりのグループは日本人のママだけだからとても楽しみだけど着くまで１時間ほどかかるのが問題。そのポストは明日のお楽し み...

I've just decided this should be my new year resolution. That is to become more active as a SAHM(Stay-At-Home-Mother)! Since Madison doesn't really have any baby friends at Church I have to find them elsewhere most importantly I really want her to interact with more Japanese speaking people. So I would say the play group Madison and I went to last Friday would be the first activity for us this year and today's SAHM group in Williamsburg(an English speaking group) will be our second:-) Tomorrow I have another group on the Upper West Side which is The Japanese Play Group For Infants and Toddlers, but I will write about it tomorrow...

この２つのグループは meetup.comっ ていうサイトで見つけたんだけど、まず探しているグループを見つけたらそこで入会みたいのをして、そのグループのリーダーから次の予定日の招待状が来た後 返事をするって方法だから、会った事無い人達だけどそのページでグループメンバーの写真を見たり、来るって言った人のプロファイルを見たりと安全性には心 配無さそう。日本人ママのグループがそんなに遠くになければ良いんだけど...でも外が暖かくなって来たらもっと近めの公園とかで集まれそう。
Anyhow I found these groups on meetup.com and I think it's a great place to find all kinds of groups! Once you find a group you first have join the group and you would get invites for upcoming meetup to RSVP to and you can see who else is coming, how the previous meetup was rated, all the group members, etc, so even though I've never met these people I feel comfortable with the whole thing. I just wish the Japanese play group were not on the Upper West Side, a bit far to go!

グループにはマディソンとママを含めて４組来たんだけど丁度良い人数で１時間半楽しむ事が出来ました。来た赤ちゃんは１歳のルイ、２歳のアレックス、そしてリーダーの子供達は２歳のエラと３ヶ月のイジー。マディソンはルイ君と仲良く遊んでいたんだけど、仲良すぎ？いきなりルイ君が近寄ってマディソンにチュッってしちゃいました！パパに内緒にした方が！？眠くなってグズッてきたマディソンの合図を見てプレイグループはお終い、次に会うのが楽しみです：）
There were 4 members including me which was almost a perfect number of people in Jeanene's basement play area where the kiddies got to play with lots of toys and the Moms got to visit and swap stories... Madison had Louis(1 yr) to play with while Alex(2 yrs) and Ella(2 yrs) got busy playing with each other. I guess Madison and Louis got along too well because all of a sudden he crawled up to Madison at one point and gave her a KISS!! Both Arlene(Louis's Mom) and I looked at each other in surprise... I was a bit nervous to tell Dave what happened... She is never gonna be allowed to play with boys! Anyways, after about an hour and a half Madison was getting really sleepy and fussy so we all started to get ready to go home. We will be looking forward to our next meetup:-)

他の子達の写真を撮る気がしなかったからマディソンがハイハイしているのを撮りました...
I felt weird taking pictures of other kiddies so here is Madison crawling...

ジェニーンのウィリアムズバーグのコンドーです。
Jeanene's basement play area... Very nice condo in Williamsburg.

新しい遊び場/New Play Area

今のマディソンはまだ一人で長い時間遊んだり、ママの言う事を聞く事ができないけど、ずりばい/ハイハイで何処にでも行きたい年なので新しい遊び場を台所に作ってあげる事にしました。これで、ママがご飯作ったり洗い物をしている時も一緒に居られるね：）先週末に見つけた冷蔵庫にマグネットでくっ付くおもちゃを買って良かった〜！これは、冷蔵庫農場って名前で５匹動物がいるんだけど後ろと前と分かれているからいろんな組み合わせが出来るんです。そして、組み合わせを作る度に歌を歌ってくれるという面白いおもちゃ：）一組作ってビデオに撮ってみました。
Since Madison is at an age where she knows when I'm not around her and can't quite follow my instruction to occupy herself and has an ability to get scoot/crawl to places, I came up with a brilliant idea of creating a play area in the kitchen so we never have to be apart!(JK!) Well, she did so well and the toy I picked up at Target came in so handy! It's called "Fridge Farm" and it kind of reminds me of songs from Stew's and it has 5 different farm animals but each animal is split into two(front & back part) so you can mix and match different animals and put them in the slot in the barn, then it will sing a song depending on which animal's part is front and back! It may be a bit confusing so I filmed one option animal I can create:-)

さてここから今日の出来事です。今日はまず最初に郵便局に行って日本の家族に荷物を送った後銀行へ、そしてその後パネラまでお昼のベーグルとコーヒーを食べに：）マディソンはバガブーでお昼寝をしてくれたのでママは少しゆっくりする事が出来ました！そして家でいつでも食べれるように余分にベーグルを買って冷凍するという良い考えを思い付きました。日本の家族まで何とか美味しいパネラのパンを送れれば良いんだけどね〜！
So this cool play area creation happened last night and today we had some errands to run like post office, bank, and Panera Bread for lunch... I started to buy a dozen of bagels at a time so that I can freeze most of them and toast & enjoy as I feel like! It's another brilliant idea of mine especially when it's so cold out and don't want to make so many trips going there every time I'm craving Panera's bagels. Now I can enjoy their bagel anywhere(my home) and anytime(before 10pm):-)