Arno's recent developments

Arno started his pre-K year at Willowbrook on Thursday. He is again in Willowbrook's dual-language program, and this year he's in "Take" (Bamboo) class, which is mixed with younger "Takenokko" (Bamboo Shoots) students.

Arno is very proud to be an older student, especially one who does not cry when his mother leaves the classroom and shows the ropes to his classmates. He's also very conscious of the privileges of being in the older group from his experience last year, as a younger student in the Sakura/Sakuranbo class. For example:

Every morning on the sign-in sheet, older (Take) students (age 4-5) write their first and last names while younger (Takenokko) students (age 3-4) write only first names. On Day 1 of school, which was a Japanese day, Arno waited for me to produce Blaine's WashPost business card so he could copy the katakana for "Harden." (he learned "Arno" in katakana last year.) This morning, he quite nicely wrote "Harden" in English for the first time.

The summer has also proven to be an effective transition time in other areas. Most crucially, Arno has given up his stroller - big news around our house! Last spring, he whined incessantly when we made him walk to Willowbrook, about 1/4 mile away. Since our return to Tokyo, the stroller is stashed in the garage and he walks most places without complaint. (We also take him places on our "mom-bike," with a seat on the back, but we don't mind that.)

This afternoon, Arno walked from our house to pick up Lucinda at Nishimachi, which is perhaps a 1/2 mile, and then to Tokyo Midtown, which is close to a mile. No wonder he is sleeping well. When I tell him he has to walk somewhere, he likes to say, "That's not very far at all!"

To finish off the week, Arno - who rarely tries new foods and particularly avoids eating most fresh fruit - sampled pear and peach tonight for the first time. I admit it: I bribed him. We had the season's first pears and some ripe peaches, and I offered him 200 yen for a bowl of each as a "fruit allowance." Timing is everything. He wants to buy a particular toy, which costs 200 yen. Now he can buy 2 of them.