2010…

Another decade has passed us by once more.  So far, January has been quite busy for all of us.

Jason’s working on middle shift which means he sleeps in an hour or two and gets to come home for dinner and quality time with me and E. With E being so mobile these days, it’s more fun for Jason to interact with her.

Ellie’s been quite active this month.  She’s heading towards toddler-hood and at quite a fast pace too.  Over the holiday season, she went from a baby that did a slow, jerky crawling movement to one that constantly needs to be chased.  She cruises a lot now and she is fast!  (and I don’t mean cruising as in the boats but as the walking-with-assistance thing)  She’s even managed to free stand a lot now and can take a step or two on her own.

On the eating end, she’s taking in more solids and less breastmilk these days.  We’re still giving her 50/50 boobie/formula so she still gets that but she’s definitely eating a lot more solid food.  (and her diapers definitely holds proof of that!)

She’s also sleeping through the nights on her own in her crib now.  No more co-sleeping for us.  She still wakes up once in the middle of the night but is easy to put back down.

Yes, my baby hamster is growing up fast.

Me, well I’ve been preoccupied with several projects I’ve started to keep my mind sharp in terms of designing things, etc.  I also cook a lot more now since eating out isn’t good in the long run for me, Jason and now E.  We have groceries delivered to us every week so I have no excuse about not cooking because we don’t have food.  In fact, a lot of the food I cook also has a side note on how to prepare an infant friendly portion.  So these days, E pretty much eats what we eats.   I’m hoping I can put some of these recipes up on this blog under the food section soon.

I’m also in the process of figuring out what to do once I go back to school and possibly work.  The daycare situation gives me a headache because there just isn’t enough daycare spaces available and sending E to an international preschool seems too expensive an option.  I still have some time to try to figure out what to do…but time is also running out.

Anyway, back to January events…

Jason celebrated his 30th birthday on the 4th (same day as his mom coincidentally).  We didn’t really do anything big since he worked that day.  The 3 of us headed out to Akiba for some kaiten sushi and just to visit the hamsters at the amusement centers and stores.  E ate a plate of tamago-yaki.  I helped her out by eating some of the rice but she pretty much polished off the plate on her own.

On the 15th, E and I met up with several other mom friends and their babies and just hung out with them.  It’s really amazing seeing how much everyone has grown since we last saw them.  I really enjoy their company and I’m pretty sure E will one day appreciate her little friends.

On the 20th, a good friend of mines from high school gave birth to their first daughter, Lily (short for Lilian).  I recently got to see a picture of her online and she is one cute baby!  I hope that one day she and E can become friends too.

And that pretty much brings us up to speed as to the January happenings in our lives.  Not too exciting maybe but for me and Jason, watching E grow from an immobile infant to a lively little toddler has been amazing.  Of course, there are still days where we wish we can just hold her and not have her grow up so fast….

J.

Today, I took E to the local play area that’s operated by the ward.  It’s actually a nice service that they offer families for free since they provide toys and lots of play areas for kids who need to run around an indoor space.  It’s not a daycare center since a parent or guardian has to be present at all times but it’s still a nice place to take kids to.  I take E there whenever it seems like she needs more space to release some of her energy and our apartment is just too small for her to do that.

There were 4 other moms there when we went.  Their kids were a little bit older than E, probably in the 1.5-2 year old range, and one other baby.

As soon as I put E down in an unoccupied area, she found herself a toy that kept her occupied for a while.  She was actually having a blast chewing on the fake mobile phone.  I’m sure they keep their toys pretty clean there but to be on the safe side, I went over to the cubby hole area to get a wet cloth from my bag to wipe down the toy.

I kept an eye on E the entire time since she has been very clingy to me lately and I was afraid she will burst out in hysteria when she noticed that I wasn’t near her.  As soon as I got the cloth from my bag, I started heading back to E when this 2 year old girl ran up to E and grabbed the toy out of her hands.  Not knowing what to say in Japanese to that little girl, I ran back to E to make sure she was ok as that little girl darted off with the toy.

I was appalled at what had just happened!  If I was with E, that little punk would never have gotten close to E.  E was a bit shocked over what had just happened to her but she found another toy nearby and carried on as if nothing happened.

I looked around the room for that punk kid and saw her telling her mom that Ellie was chewing on the toy and that it’s all covered in saliva.  Her mom, who was talking on the cellphone, said “daijoubu da yo” or “it’s ok” and then went back to ignoring the girl.  Then that little girl threw aside the toy and proceeded to take the toys from the other kids in the room, making them all wail and scream in protest.

E and I watched as this little girl terrorized everyone else in there and I was just surprised that her mom never really did anything to stop her.  She finally got off her phone at one point when her daughter was crying hysterically because another kid won’t let go of his toy and she apologized to that kid’s mom for the disturbance that her daughter caused.

I must admit, this whole experience is a sudden departure from what I’m use to.  Pretty much all the playgroups and other play areas I’ve taken E to up until today have been predominantly with the foreign community.  Every time E or another child got a little mean with each other, the mom would interfere pretty quickly.  This is the first time that interference didn’t happen for a while.

This could just have been a rare occurrence but from now on, I will have to be on guard when I take her to the play center again.

E is more mobile these days and once she starts going to daycare and school, the worry will only increase.  This whole parenting thing really does increase one’s paranoia about the world….

On the bright side of things, here’s E standing!  She’s been pulling herself up a lot more these days and is a lot more steady when standing with the help of something.

White onesie…. approx. $2.99

Blue plastic eco bag…. 157 yen

Yellow felt…. 105 yen

Black yarn… 400 yen

White shiny cloth… 105 yen

White Old Navy socks… approx. $1.35

An awesome Chun Li costume for Ellie’s 1st Halloween…. Priceless

(and yes, I hand stitched everything together.)

I don’t recall if I ever wrote about tanabata (七夕) when we first moved to Japan. Since I’m practically seeing a lot of things in Japan with new eyes these days, I guess we should revisit old holidays and celebration!

Ellie’s first tanabata festival!

Tanabata is on July 7th every year. It’s a star festival that originated from Chinese folklore. It’s actually a very tragic story….

According to the story (at least from the way I remember my dad telling it to me when I was little), there was an ox herder who, while out with his faithful old ox, caught a glimpse of the Dragon King’s youngest daughter as she was taking a break from her weaving duties by the lake. He was immediately captivated by her beauty and fell in love with her. Since he saw her roaming about in the human world, she promised to marry him and become his wife. The two lived quite happily together, even having two children together.

One day, the Dragon King noticed that the weaving has been neglected so he went to the human world to see what had happened to his youngest daughter. He became very angry that she had neglected her duties and married a mortal man so he took her back to the palace by force, separating her from her new family. Her husband and two children were saddened by her departure, knowing that they will no longer be able to see her again.

The ox herder’s faithful old ox took pity on them and told the ox-herder to kill him and use his hide as a cape to fly up to the heavens to see his beloved wife. Upset, the ox-herder did as his ox had told him to do and with his two children on his back, flew up towards the heavens to see his wife. The Dragon King received news that the ox-herder was coming so he created a river (aka. the milky way) to separate the two lovers.

The two lovers, separated by the river, wept knowing that they can only see each other from afar. A flock of magpies took pity on the lovers and their two children and formed a bridge for them to cross and meet halfway for one single night.

So every year, on July 7th, if the sky is clear, the magpies would appear and the family would be reunited for that one night. If it ends up raining, they would have to wait another whole year before they can be reunited again.

See? It’s a tragic story, isn’t it?

Anyway, this event is celebrated in Japan with people writing their wishes on slips of paper and then tying them up onto a tree. Usually this happens a week or two before the 7th. It’s said that the gods up in heaven will read these wishes and grant them for the year. Usually the wishes people make are for success in work/school or family health.

An example of some wishes on a tree at the temple near our apartment…

Ellie and I made some wishes for our family. Let’s hope they all come true!

For the record, Ellie officially lifted her head today! Yay!

She’s technically been slowly lifting it a little bit every time we put her on her tummy. She usually lifts her head maybe 1-2 cms from the ground but within 5 mins or so start crying from frustration. By the way, she hates tummy time.

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos to commemorate this momentus event. Why? Because it happened during our Mommy & Me class.

I was really surprised when she, while on her tummy, got on her elbows and lifted her head up high and looked straight ahead instead of at the ground. It was a proud mommy moment as the teachers and other mommy’s cheered her on . I was really caught by surprise since she has never shown any interest in lifting her head but here she was, doing it as if she’s been secretly practicing when we’re asleep.

I think it’s the peer pressure. Seeing the other babies do it made her determine to do it too. I know because if she was at home, she’d give up and put her head down and either cry or just lay there.

Ah, milestones… So many to meet but when she does it’s amazing. Now if only she would let me capture it on video or photo. She’s a sly one and she knows how to act lazy when the lens are on her.

I wonder if she’ll lift her head up for me again.

It’s been a pretty good week this past week. We managed to get Ellie to sleep in her own crib at nights for a few hours!

Since Monday, after coming home from going out for a little bit, I would hold her until she falls asleep (or getting there) and then try to put her down. Unfortunately, I don’t have the magic touch or something because she would start crying after 10 minutes or so and I would have to go and pick her up again to soothe her. I pretty much gave up after a few tries and would hold her until Jason comes home. He, on the other hand, can put her in the crib and get her to stay calm and quiet for a while.

Anyway, Monday through Thursday, she was pretty good. She went to bed around 8-ish and would wake up several times to eat but then quickly fall back to sleep. After Jason puts her in her crib, we have a good 2 hours of rest before she would stir from hunger again and we would bring her into our bed to sleep with us until 6 or 7-ish, which is when she would wake up and be active. I’d play with her for a little bit and then she would get sleepy and take her morning nap…

Then comes Friday.

I had a little trouble getting her to sleep at around 8…..already a bad sign.

I managed to get her to sleep most of the time until Jason came home….then all hell broke loose.

For some reason, she would not go to sleep and would cry and cry and cry. It was like she was a month old again. I thought we had gotten out of that stage and that things were improving because she was getting older. It was a pretty rough night….which extended to this morning and afternoon…..

*sigh*

Maybe it’s just a fluke and she’ll fall back into the rhythm we had started….who knows…

At least her awake times are spent mostly with smiles, gurgles and cooings…..with the occasional crying.