The Golden Week

For the first time in all the years my husband and I have been together, Shimon took all of Golden Week off. Those of you who don't know a whole lot about Japan or Golden Week, allow me to explain. Japanese workers are allowed on average 20 paid holidays a year. Workers generally do two things a) never use the holidays or b) use them when they are sick (even though sick days are allotted as well). This year there were three work days in the middle between two long weekends. However, and this is the real breakthrough, Shimon took those three days off and had a full 10 day holiday!

To save money, Touma and I left earlier (saving about 30,000 yen+) and Shimon followed on the Saturday. We hung around my husband's hometown most of the time seeing some of his friends, going to an onsen in Kyushu overnight, and playing at playgrounds and other places with little guy.

As a picture's worth a thousand words... here are some of the highlights...

Mealtimes became the main attraction!

Trying to climb up is at least as fun as going down

Exploring the swings with Dad

This kid already loves the ocean!

Family portrait...

The kabuto (helmet) didn't last too long!

Changes...

This spring has been full of changes. On March 22, I was contacted by a teacher friend at my old school; the school I loved working at and that I only "quit" because I was having a baby. She wondered if I could come back and work two days a week.

I was conflicted. I had just agreed to be playgroup co-leader for a group that I really loved taking Touma to and that I really loved being a part of. Taking the job would mean that we would only be able to go when I wasn't working. The real turning point was when Shimon asked me to take the job.

Up until that point he had been trying very hard to work and make enough for all of us. I could tell it was beginning to strain him and the 35,000 yen a month from my one university teaching post wasn't quite cutting it. So, he called the day after the job was offered and asked me to take it. I couldn't very well say no.

Start date for school was April 10th. I got babysitting lined up for Touma and proceeded to prepare for part-time work. Nothing really prepares you for the first day of dropping off your baby to go to work. Though I was sad to leave him, I was also glad to be back in "the world" again. Glad to be interacting with students and teachers. It felt really good.

We're still adjusting, but I think going back to work was a wise decision at this point. I'm hoping it proves to be so moving forward.

Pre-Birthday fun

On January 31, 2012 there were three little boys born at Sun Maternity Clinic. Every couple of months us mums try to get all the boys together. And since January was birthday month we decided to do a mini pre-birthday lunch and play date.

We went to Bubby's for lunch, which is a very family and kid friendly restaurant in Yokohama. (Sorry, we were all busy feeding the boys and didn't get any pictures!) Usually we try to let the boys play a bit and often we go to a free play area, but since it was their birthday we went to the Bornelund play area (you have to pay!). That's where we got some pictures.

At Bornelund there's an area that is for babies (0-18 months) and then the rest of the kids. We stayed in the baby area.

The ball pit!

 The ball pit was a HUGE hit with Touma. The balls were a bit bigger than the average ball pit, which was perfect for our little guys.

Close up of the handsome boy. :-)

Touma and Taichi. Boy was it hard to get more than one kid in a picture at a time.

The novelty of the ball pit did not end with the balls themselves. It was the fact that you could climb out of it on your own that also appealed to the boys. Whereas Taichi usually tried to turn around and safely get out... Touma generally tried to go head first. Always the danger boy!!

Touma 2 joins in the fun! And the difficulty of wrangling 3 boys begins.

Two of the little boys are called Touma in this group. Touma Yamamori (our Touma) is actually the oldest of the three. Then comes Touma Mori (Touma 2 for the purpose of this post), who was born a few hours later. And last comes Taichi still a few hours after Touma 2. Taichi is in the grey shirt and Touma 2 is in the black shirt. On our walk over to the play center, Touma 2 fell asleep, which is why he's not in the previous pictures.

The bead coaster!

I have no idea what these things are called, but in Japan they are called bead coasters. I think it's a pretty fitting name really. Touma likes them a lot. The best thing about them is that the beads spin... and he will sit and spin the beads for quite awhile before he gets bored and moves on to something else.

Double Toumas!!

 Near the end it was just a heap of kids grabbing each other (and the toys).

Another attempt at all three boys... this time it was fairly successful.

 The toy Touma is holding was the biggest hit. ALL of the boys wanted it and were grabbing it from each other. It just happens that in this picture our Touma has it!

Three boys and two mommies!

There wasn't anyone around to take a picture, so Sachi took a picture of all the boys and Chi-chan and me. Touma is barely peeking over his stroller muff, but you can kind of see him. It was a great day and all the boys were very tired (as were the moms!) after this day. Happy Birthday, boys!

Touma Turns 1

How did we even get here? How can one year be over so quickly? The tiny baby that I brought home last year, is now walking around and no longer a baby but is a toddler! Eek!

Shimon took Thursday off and we went to the Nogeyama Zoo (it's free!) and went to the petting zoo in particular. Touma was not terribly interested in the individual animals and the whole petting experience, but was definitely more into everything than the last time we went to the zoo. Now that walking is easier he's trying to test boundaries and try to climb things.

Ready for birthday breakfast!

Round one of present opening!

The paper is totally the best part!

Baby chicks!

Mom, I'm so not into the guinea pig. Climbing is more fun!

In the afternoon, Touma got a nap. We picked up an easy dinner and shared with Touma. Haha. The dinner wasn't terribly exciting, but then it was cake time. I actually made and decorated the cake. It was a lightly sweetened pumpkin-apple cake with a cream cheese/whip cream frosting.

I ran out of room for "birthday!" Oops!

Time to blow... He wasn't super sure what to do.

Messy eating is a sure-fire sign of enjoyment!

We had a great birthday day. I'm so glad that Shimon took the day off. It meant a lot to me and to Touma too. Happy Birthday, baby boy! Here's to many, many more!

Snow!!

Monday was a holiday. So, in theory Shimon should have been off of work. Unfortunately for us, he had a big pile-up of work to do and was leaving on a business trip on Tuesday. Thus, no holiday for him. :-( It was actually ok, since it snowed - a LOT!! Things would have been even more messy if it had been a regular work day (as it was Tuesday was a bit of a mess with transportation anyway!).

This is what the snow started out like... yay, it's actually sticking!!

Overlooking the neighbors garden

 Within a few hours, it was looking like this.

The roof across from our living room!

The one thing that you cannot see is the horrible wind that went along with this snow. Due to the wind and the fact that Shimon wasn't home, we waited until Tuesday to go explore the snow. Which was both a good and bad decision. Good, because it was finished snowing and there was no wind. Bad, because the snow was all crusty and no fun to play with. :-( Though... we did explore it a little.

Curious about this white frozen stuff

Just a cute picture!

Trying to walk in his new shoes...

Mom and Touma

 I'm still hoping we get some more snow this year. Next time it snows I'm definitely going to try to get out in it sooner. Also, I'll layer up Touma's legs so he can crawl around in it! Either way, here's to hoping we at least get one or two more snow days this year!!

Holiday Roundup!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Since I haven't posted in awhile, I thought I would start with that greeting first. Geesh! The holidays flew by this year. There are two things I'd like to see invented: 1) Star Trek-style "beam me up, Scotty" teleportation technology and 2) a way to make time slow down just a little bit! It hardly seems possible that we're halfway through the month of January.

Our Christmas was busy, but really nice. We went to a few Christmas parties, had Christmas Eve lunch with friends, and had a relatively relaxed evening of church and dinner afterward. This year Christmas Eve was a day off for Shimon, so we didn't have to worry about how to work around his work schedule. Next year will be different I'm sure!

So, here are some highlights from the festivities!

On December 22nd, we went to my friend Lauren's place for a Christmas party. There was lots of nice food and drink and the little ones exchanged presents! (Exchanged, in that they both opened and ostensibly the present was given by the other!)

Eating yummy butter roll!

Touma ripping into the box, while Gwen looks on...

Gwen enjoying her ladybug backpack (with baby leash function)!

We did most of our Christmas celebrating on Christmas Eve this year. First we went to my friend Robin's place for a potluck lunch. The kids played a lot and parents got to relax a bit (especially the moms!). Shimon got to see what Touma may be like in the future as Robin's little boy, Oscar, is nearly 4! And what a lot of energy he has!!

Almost everyone made it in the picture... minus Shimon!

Touma enjoying a big boy toy - Spiderman!!

But he's not so big that he doesn't enjoy the bouncer still. :-)

That evening, after church, we came home and opened presents. Since Touma is still young, we kind of just flew by the seat of our pants on this one. Next year, we'll really have to figure things out and make it all a bigger deal!

Opening his first ever Christmas present, with mom's help.

Yum! Shoes!!

Box 2 - Touma did the thing he's best at and tried to rip the paper with his teeth. 

He really liked this shaker from Daddy.

New Years was pretty quiet this year. Since Touma is still small we didn't stay up really late. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, we went to our favorite park (Negishi Forrest Park) and tried out Touma's new shoes and just enjoyed the afternoon. We headed there quite late and stayed until the sun was setting. Brrr... it was cold once the sun went down!

New shoes!

Touma was highly distracted by his new shoes and tried to eat them a few times...

Changing into easier shoes...

We actually got a lot of pictures, but most of them were not of Touma walking. Since the ground at the park was a little bit bumpy he got tired of walking pretty quickly and reverted to crawling.

Nice pic, Papa!

As the sun was setting, we got a family portrait in.

Happy 2013!

Miscellaneous Oddities (better known as "Life")

This week has been a fairly standard week for us in Yokohama, which is saying a lot when you're t-minus 5 days from Christmas. There have been some happenings though and I thought I'd share! (Sorry, this will be a pictureless blog post!)

Monday - My friend Lauren takes her little girl to the library fairly frequently, so we decided to join them. This is a great idea! We can borrow books in Japanese and in English and get out of the house. I did not choose my shoes very wisely. I chose some kind of old shoes from when I was teaching. On our way there, which entails climbing a pretty steep hill with a jogging stroller, I realize my shoe feels loose. I look down and the strap is nearly busted. I walk gingerly on it for a bit until it does completely bust! Yay! Boo! :-( I pop in to a 100yen shop and get some tape. I hobbled around until we headed home. When I realized there was no good fix, I just wrapped take around my shoe until we made it home. It was ghetto-fabulous. And now I have an excuse to buy a new pair of shoes!

Tuesday - Decided to make a short Costco run. Yeah, that doesn't sound right, SHORT and Costo don't really coexist in the same universe. However, since I went last week, I could totally pull of a shorter run. Got baby in the car. No crying! (score!) Go out of the parking space. Got nearly around the corner and.. CRUNCH! Dang! I crunched the front right side of the car on a pole. BOO! I couldn't believe it. I hadn't ever come that close before and now I'd crunched the nose. Well, that put me off my A-game and made me pretty grumpy. Especially when I arrived at Costco and encountered the tons of people who don't know how to drive a cart! (Yeah, carts get stashed everywhere and are always in the way. AND they have food samples during the week too!) But, I did manage to get all the things I wanted AND get Shimon's Christmas present at the outlets and get back home in one piece.

Wednesday - Finished Christmas shopping! Yay! Found out that smaller stroller is great for getting around Yokohama station area. Must use smaller stroller when possible.

Thursday - Went to play group. Found that Touma refused all food that I prepared in favor of udon noodles. Which was fine because I was willing to share! Went to find out how much it will cost to fix the light (it busted in the encounter with the pole!) on the car. Luckily, it is far cheaper than expected (about $100!) Also, found out that the baby will eat apples. As long as they are not served up to him looking anything like an apple. Tiny, bitten off pieces of mommies apple will do fine thank you! At least I know he doesn't hate them anymore, but I'm not sure I can always feed him apples that way.

And the rest of our week is bound to be exciting... with a fun play group tomorrow, Christmas party on Saturday, and then Christmas Eve potluck lunch followed by candlelight service at church! What more fun could be in store!! :-)

Merry Christmas everyone!!

How did we get here? (an overdue catch-up)

The last thing I remember is it being November... and now we're nearly 2 weeks into December. How the heck did that happen? Ack! There's so much to do and so little time to do it!

This past month has been very busy. In November, we went and visited my mother-in-law in Shimonoseki. The trip was really nice and Touma got to be spoiled a lot! He also got to try a lot of new foods including udon (noodles) and shirasu (little tiny fish!). They are both long and skinny so he enjoyed slurping them down. We also went to a hot spring with Grandma and Auntie Chikako. It was right on the ocean, so we took Touma down to the beach to feel the sand. Not sure what he thought of that...

Looking unsure of the sand.

A little while after taking this picture, Touma decided that two feet in the sand was just too much. SO he changed it up!

One baby foot in the sand was plenty!

After getting back, it started getting pretty cold here in Yokohama and it definitely started to feel like the holidays were upon us. We got our tree... it is a total Charlie Brown tree, but it's still our first REAL tree in Japan.

Touma and our tree - pre-decorating!

Everyone knows that a tree always improves with lights and decorations! And luckily that was totally true of our little tree.

The finished product. Even though it's not nearly as full as trees back home, it's our tree and I love it!

Last week I got to meet up with a friend that I haven't seen in over 5 years. We were both studying Japanese at Waseda when I first came back to Japan in 2006. After that one year program finished, she went back to Taiwan and I stayed on in Japan. It was really nice to see her and meet her husband. I have a feeling that we'll have to take a family trip to Taiwan one of these days...

In front of the Christmas tree at Akarenga. It is huge, but we couldn't get the whole thing in!

That catches us up to this week. We are officially in winter. Overnight lows hover around or just below 0C and it's too cold to really have play group outside. Since that is the case, it's actually nice to do a bit of shopping. We met up with Lauren and her little girl Gwen on Tuesday and did a bit of shopping. And at one point we let the kids run around near the big Christmas tree. But did I get a picture of the tree? No! Just the kids. :-)

Touma is working on his standing, while Gwen lurks in the background!

So, no promises about many more posts before we ring in the new year. Here's to a great 2013 and maybe even more blogging!

Fall cleaning?

The last few weeks have been a bit difficult around our place.

First, we had to send back the crib that we had rented for Touma. This crib had a good amount of storage underneath and when it went back it left us with a storage deficit. Because of this deficit we were left with piles of things in our dining room for a few weeks.

Shimon had been hatching a plan to reorganize our living room with large shelves and some other furnishings from Ikea. So in a mad fit about two weeks ago he bought all of the essentials and brought them home for the set up.

The new set up is wonderful, but it took time to get things sorted. It also took time to get rid of some of the stuff lying around our house. In Japan, unlike the US or other countries, there is no goodwill or other second hand store that takes in donations of clothes that can still be used. Instead most things get thrown away. However, a little while back a friend told me about tokyofreecycle, which is a website where you can post and give things away. I would rather do that than let things go to waste.

One thing that has kept the house from being as organized and clean as Shimon would like would be the fact that some days are harder than others when you spend your time with a 8-9 month old. This is something that has been incredibly hard for my husband to understand. Despite being home all day, chasing after the boy is exhausting. Going out, which is a bit more fun sometimes, is also a lot of work (work that he often calls "asobi" or "play"). What my husband sometimes misses is that when Touma is awake I can't get very much done. I can get things done in very small bursts, but overall it is not that easy.

We are finally nearly done with the cleaning and organizing process. My husband, I think, got to see a glimpse of what an average day with Touma is like when we went to a friend's place for lunch. Every 5 minutes (or less) I was up readjusting where he could go (this friend doesn't have kids, so the place wasn't fully baby proof!) and trying to keep him happy.

Anyway, this is a very disjointed entry. I'm just sharing what has been going on lately around here...

Second camping trip: Sagami Lake

The first weekend of October we went on a second camping trip! Considering that it had been a few years since we first went camping together this was a big development. It was spurred by our first trip actually. Two of Shimon's buddies decided that they wanted to go camping too and so the trip developed.

This time it was way more low key! We didn't even bring the big backpack for Touma. We booked a camp site at a camp ground that Shimon and I had camped out several years ago. It is on a lake and there's a tiny waterfall hike and you can kayak or rent a boat out, but the main goal is to relax. Also, unlike our earlier camping trip, we could cook over a campfire. That meant s'mores. And hot dog-like sausages. And "boys" playing with fire. It was a good time.

Once again Touma was a total trooper! He actually spent a large part of the evening in a carrier asleep. When he was awake he was pretty happy.

Heading out!

I have to admit that after not having had a car for nearly 6 years of living in the Tokyo area, it is really nice to have a car. Not for everyday things - I still take public transportation for play groups and meeting friends - but for the weekend fun! We can get out and get away from areas where you can't go easily by train. 

The group in front of the waterfall.

 Shimon set up his camera to take a series of 5 (I think) pictures of the group. Each one we ended up posing differently. You will notice that the guys have some funny poses!

Crazy tree... or crazy rock!?

 This tree wrapped around a rock or rock pushed up into the tree was really cool... and good for a picture op. I kind of wish that Shimon had zoomed in a little bit, but it would have probably lost the effect.

Setting up camp!

Getting the tents sorted.

Another great part of this camp was that we had new sleeping bags. After not having proper sleeping bags the last camping trip, Shimon did some research and found some reasonably priced (for down sleeping bags) mummy bags for us. These will last us for quite awhile! But they sure were cozy. The only problem with sharing a mummy bag with a baby? Zipping up! We didn't get to zip up all the way. It wasn't really very cold, but we're going to have to invest in a Touma-sized sleeping bag when he gets a little older.