Already past summer solstice, and already the end of June, which means the day's getting shorter and one third of summer already gone. Taiyo now can climb up the big sphere in Union Square Park playground. "I'm so proud," he says. I'm so proud he's been almost tantrum-less these days. I can't believe we were battling over toilet training just a year ago. Yesterday, we were at the library, and he came to me with a little book, "Look, I found something for you." It was "The I Ching or Book of Changes, a guide to life's turning points." Is he trying to tell me something? I decided to take a look at it. It seems like an interesting book.

It was supposed to be the finale of hectic two weeks. I wasn't looking forward to it but I really wanted to get it over with. And it would've been the longest day ever at the hospital. We were summoned to Mount Sinai Hospital uptown at 7:30 this morning for dental procedure under full anesthesia. I was very nervous about the whole thing, of course. How was I going to get there by 7:30, and how was he going to react that he couldn't eat or drink anything when he got up? I'm sure there will be long wait in between every move, and I was told that we'll be at the hospital all day. So the night before, Taiyo who hardly gets sick and was sick probably only once in the past six month, became sick. He had a little fever, cough, and terribly stuffy nose. He kept tossing and turning, asking for water, asking for tissue to blow nose through the night and I knew we couldn't make it to the hospital. The doctor told us that it cannot be done if he is sick. So Taiyo successfully sabotaged the surgery. So we had a day off after all. He was just as content and energetic as when he wasn't sick all day. We went to the west side and played a while in a playground with water fountains. Interestingly he didn't seem to mix well with Tribeca crowd. So we decided to have lunch at PJ Clarke's at World Financial Center. I wanted sit outside, but Taiyo voted for inside. "It's too hot!" It was pretty hot and muggy.

We've been there. Maybe I wrote about it too. It's fairly kid-friendly not the greatest food and of course a bit overpriced for what it is but comfortable and friendly place. Taiyo settled for mini sliders and per extremely friendly waitress Diane's recommendation I got halibut. Oh the fish was so gorgeously presented but dry and curiously flavorless. Taiyo loved the mini cheese burgers and fries. Overall it was still nice and relaxing dining experience. We were brave to head back in the rain and thunder. We were drenched by the time we got home, but he didn't make a fuss. I was proud of him.

It rained all day, all the time, hard at time, drizzled most of the time. It reminded me of the rainy season in Japan- which is happening right now. It rains almost continuously for at least a month. But I don't mind rain at all. It's quite inconvenient with a small child, but I like the sound of rain. I always liked a little bit of rain for my run. So much is going on lately and I didn't mind the rain if it slows some things down. "Save the garden!" activities are giving me more work as webmaster. Taiyo was scheduled to have a dental treatment under general anesthesia at a hospital. Too many cavities at age 3! With a huge hole on his molar, he was going to need "baby root canal." My dentist laughed that I made so much contributions to dentistry when he examined my teeth for the first time. I have all my teeth but so much work has been done. Unfortunately Taiyo decided to follow my path so early. I catered for 60-people lunch up the block yesterday, and already had a call for another one today for next week. This will mean more cooking through weekend. So these are my excuses for not blogging much lately. The best news this week was that Taiyo got a placement at Earth School. I thought it would've been funny if they saw YouTube video of him as a little activist and said, "We want this kid!" We are getting excited for "Costume Rally-Party" at the garden this coming Thursday. Taiyo's been telling people, "I'm going to be a super-hero and save the garden!" He's so awesome.

Here's more on Taiyo, the "pint size protester," report from gothamist. And the video clip by Times Up! totally makes me a proud mother. Maybe he'll be a great man.

What a week it's been! My universe was completely out of alignment it seemed for days. Today was just a perfect day to do nothing after that; it drizzled all day. All day long, continuously.

On Wednesday, I was woken up by someone calling my name outside of window. It was Michelle. She doesn't have a cell phone and I don't have a buzzer. "They are destroying the garden. You have to come. There's police and everything." I knew what happened. There was a talk about the private developer threatening us that he'll put up a fence around his property, which will take away the best portions of the Children's Magical Garden for a few months. "Taiyo, we have to go to the garden right away." "Ok, but can I eat some yogurt or something?" "Yes, you can have some yogurt. But you have to hurry up." He seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, and he quickly chugged down his bowl of yogurt. "I'm done!" On the way to the garden I told him that he should tell them to stop destroying our garden. I didn't know what to explain, but I think he somehow understood. When we got there, there was already a small crowd. Our friend Amy saw us and began shouting at the rude lawyer the developer has sent. "Look, this is one of the kids who come to the garden. You're taking away his garden. Shame on you!" She's a natural activist type, excellent heckler. Then we went into the garden to join other garden members. Mexican construction workers were quietly working- they ignored all the flowers and new plantings and digging wholes to erect a fence. There were 5-6 police officers "to protect the workers." So Amy was yelling at them "Where are the police force to protect the community? Shame on you, 7th Precinct!" Taiyo was throwing sticks at the cops. I let him be, since I didn't think they can arrest 3 year-old. I wasn't even standing next to him and pretended I didn't know him. He was walking around across police line and I was kind of looking away. Then he started yelling "Stop! Stop!" and one of the cop began to question him, "Hey, which one is your mommy?"

There were private security guards in suits standing outside. Then an angry protestor, who we've never seen in the garden, stormed in. This guy probably shows up every protest/confrontation in town. We didn't want the scene to become too violent and confrontational and tried to calm him down, but only made him more heated. The Mexicans continued working, the fence went up. Media people came and went. Since Taiyo was the only very little people there fighting for the garden, and since it was appropriate for the Children's Magical Garden, he ended up appearing in many media photos and TV news coverage. He was so proud to see himself on NBC and NY1 news later that day. Check out the
NBC segment- which I was also quoted.

We may have a long battle ahead to reclaim the whole garden. Or the case may continue to be ignored by city officials as it has been, since this is still the neglected Lower East Side, home of the many low-income families. Please sign the online petition here for the Mayor Bloomberg.

Then the next few days also brought me more bad news- our delivery bike stolen, my new personal bike's both wheels and saddle stolen, ankle sprain, and in the middle of it all I got a Health Department inspection, which turned out to be the only good event of the week resulting another "A." Taiyo has been reasonable and tantrum-less and I'm totally grateful. So this gloomy day I began making a thousand origami cranes to wish for a safe recovery of our oasis.

Sunday May 5th was "Children's Day" in Japan. So I suggested an event at the Children's Magical Garden. And it happened. It was a beautiful low-key event run by a few mom members of the garden, full of good energy and laughter. Kids were running everywhere. We had craft projects going on, but the main attraction was the chicken coop in-progress and the former chicken run. Kids loved going in and out of the skeleton structure of the coop, and raking and shoveling mulch in the former chicken coop. It really felt like the garden was such a gem, beautiful oasis in the city. I was also proud to introduce Japanese customs that closely relate to seasons. Next one I'm thinking of hosting is "Star Festival" on July 7th. Conveniently it's Sunday again.

Taiyo had his first salon hair-cut! Last week, we went to Beehives and Buzzcuts, and he had his hair cut while driving a car and watching a movie. It was so amazingly quick and easy. Then he jumped out of the chair and went to play with great toys they had- kitchen set and trains on tracks, two of his favorite kind! He was the only kid in the salon, so he had these all to himself. Meanwhile, I had my hair cut. This was also very quick, and it was really, really bad. Oh, well, this was a kid's hair salon. Kids look cute and fabulous no matter how you chop their hair. I wasn't really looking for the greatest haircut ever, but I didn't think it could be this bad. And the set-up was just too perfect I had to take a chance. There aren't any regular salon where I can take Taiyo where he can play safely while I get my haircut. Too bad this couldn't work for me. Next day Taiyo was talking about his salon experience to everyone.

I finally upgraded my personal bike and we really had to take a ride yesterday. It felt chilly when we left, but by the time we got to the Central Park, it was rather warm. Taiyo wanted to climb a big rock and run around first. It was a perfectly mellow kind of spring day, and fortunately the park was not too crowded. After we did all his favorite things at the zoo, Taiyo wanted to go home. Of course he fell right to sleep on the back of the bike, and I took a long detour around the park to see some cherry blossoms. The light pink ones will be over by next weekend. But darker pink ones were not yet in full bloom. We've been seeing more flowers at the Children's Magical Garden. Such beautiful season, but usually a short one around here.