Summary of March 2008

Liya is now 8 weeks old. She was 9 lb 2oz last Thursday (7lb 2oz at birth), doing very well. She now smiles often, and it is getting a lot more fun to watch her. She sleeps well at night, which is one of the best things I love about her, to be honest with you all, and she is quite easy-going overall. I am not sure that is how she is, or it is because we are more relaxed as 2nd time parents. Either way, things are going a lot more smoothly as I expected, and I feel rested both physically and psychologically. Since I did not update the blog recently, I summarize our March events here.

早いものでリヤは8週齢。笑顔も増え、成長の度合いを感じる今日このごろ。2週間前から仕事にも復帰してはいるのだが、職場の理解があり、半分くらいしか顔を出していない。それに弟が料理はもちろん、家事を全般やってくれているので、帰ってきてもみんなでご飯をたべてゆっくりできる。働くママにとって、こんなに有難いことはない。こんなに甘えさせてもらっちゃっていいのかしら？と思うくらいなのだが、ミーシャとリヤが「おじさん」である弟と時間を過ごせたことが何よりとても嬉しい。

それでは、瞬く間に過ぎていったテメスゲン一家の3月のまとめです。

March 3rd
Japanese Girl's Day
Uncle Hi-kun (my brother) prepared Sushi to celebrate Misha's 3rd Girls Day, and Liya's 1st.

ひな祭り：ロスのマネージャー（イーオン勤務時代の上司。なぜか今でもマネージャーと呼んでいる）が、リヤの出産後に送ってくれた物のひとつ、「ちらしずしの素」を使って、弟が用意してくれたちらし寿司。弟がもってきてくれたアンパンマンのあられを見て、ミーシャ大喜び。

Easter

City of Auburn hosts Easter Egg hunt every year - this year they prepared 22,000 eggs in the park. Now that she knows what egg hunt is, she really enjoyed it. Thanks to Auntie Debra in San Diego who sent her the cute tote bag with her initial on it! And also thanks to Irene, another good friend of us in La Jolla, who sent us 'special' cookies for Easter.

左の写真は復活祭の恒例行事、エッグハント。去年はわけがわからず出遅れたミーシャ、今年は拾うのが早い早い！右の写真はサンディエゴに住むデンマーク人の友達が送ってくれた手作りの感謝祭用クッキー。卵からでてきたひよこちゃん。

And whenever weather and time permit, we are out working on our still-unorganized backyard. So far we planted peach, persimmon, and blue berries. The persimmon tree, Japanese Fuyu Gaki, is to commemorate Liya's birth. I wanted to plant something relating to my roots, and since the climate here in Alabama reminds me of the one in Tokai region in Japan with hot and humid summer, I chose persimmon that is very common in my hometown area. We also planted some Ethiopian herbs as well. The picture below is Temesgen planting Georgia Bell Peach.

時間のあるときはみんな裏庭で庭仕事。3月は桃（下の写真）、ブルーベリー、富有柿（左）を植えました。富有柿はリヤの誕生記念。

And this is my favorite moment.... to watch my two girls sleeping peacefully. Innocent, yet filled with hopes. This is the very reason why I want to do better as Mother, wife, woman, human being... whatever role I take in this world. As Megan, my friend and mom of beautiful twin in San Diego, once wrote in her blog, these precious little moments make our life truly worthy living for.

夜中に起きると、私達のベッドに来て一緒に眠ってしまうミーシャ。朝になるとこんな光景になっていることもしばしば。こういうほんやかした、幸せな光景が私たちの起動力の源だね、やっぱり。4月ももう2週目に入ったけど、今月もみんな楽しく行こう！