Jet Lag takes its toll

So we are currently in the wild throes of jet lag. I just got Edamame to sleep after he woke up crying for grandma at quarter to midnight. Luckily he didn't want to play, but finding the sandman was still hard for him. Kept asking for cheese/crackers/milk. I should care about rotting his teeth out, but I care more about him getting onto Utah time right now. Sacrifices.

Oh, by the way, we made it safe. Edamame did TERRIFIC on the plane rides, slept for half the way from Tokyo, played quietly, and enjoyed the fact that I brought his airplanes and trains to play with. He slept through the whole flight to SLC. Everyone thought he was a doll, but everyone didn't need to watch him during the layover in SFO. Oy, he was so tired he kept crying and begging to go on the plane so he could go back to sleep. Trust me the airport was WAY too busy to think of sleeping there, but we survived. We also survived both meltdowns at security when he had to take off his beloved backpack and frog shoes. We even survived no nap the day we left, and a ONE HOUR delay departing out of Narita. Oh and the bus got there super early too, so we were there for FOUR HOURS. They do have a rad observation deck where we watched airplanes land and take off for close to an hour, but it was getting too hot so we went inside.

Things I'm loving about Utah so far
the fruit! - mom goes to Costco and picks up rad fruit, we are loving it, such a variety too.
Grandma - staying up until almost 4 the night we got in because Edamame woke up at 11:45 running to the bedroom dooring and asking to eat, oh and ready to play. I was exhausted and just laid down on the couch while she entertained him with YouTube videos of Anpanman
dry heat - say what you will, it feels SOOOO much cooler here, even in Pam's unairconditioned house I can comfortably wear clothes. It is pure heaven.
cousins - So much fun to talk to and play with. Clark still needs some alone time too, but them and Aunt Pam are all he talks about
The Great and Abominable Church a.k.a. Walmart - wow, I always forget HOW MUCH STUFF is there. I went looking for face lotion and my head nearly exploded. It was truly overwhelming.
Maternity clothes - got some rad shorts, and my butt fits them great. Woo hoo!



Things I'm missing
007 - I'm already imagining running up to him in SLC airport when he comes in. I feel bad he is suffering in the humidity too. At least he has a whole bunch of frozen curry, spaghetti sauce and chili so he won't have to cook on work days.
no car - seriously I like being able to walk to a store right away and get what I need what. I want to go to the mall, can't bike there very easily from here.
the train - we took the Front runner today, it was nice, but I've been spoiled by the train system in Japan.
my bed - we're sleeping on my new step-brother's bed. He's a single dude, so Clark and I are on a single bed...with no down mattress bad...it sucks. I want my super comfy bed.
the humidity - My lips are super duper pooper chapped. I can't apply the lip balm fast enough!
007 - 'cause I love him that much.

Have an awesome summer everyone, and don't expect pictures anytime soon...sorry!

crafts and pictures

I should be napping. I told 007 I was going for a nap when he left with Edamame for a run. I HAD to finish this one project. It is a purse for my niece's 2nd birthday and I'm excited to have it done.



I also promised pictures so here they are.

Edamame got a new backpack from 007's cousins for his birthday. The instant he saw it he loved it! I know what we are taking with us to the airport(incidentally, anyone up for a trip to SFO Monday morning?)




It has been wicked hot here, so to beat the heat we spend a long time in the bathroom when we shower. The water isn't running the whole time, but we are playing. Edamame decided he wanted to be extra clean one day.


do you like the photoshopping...yeah, all those years of experience culminate to this!

He also still remembers how to use the potty. Mostly when his pants are already off. If anything is on his nether regions he forgets what to do. When he's running around pant less he'll climb up by himself and pee. He likes to do it because our new toilet is easy to flush, climb on, wash hands with, and then climb back down. He can be almost entirely self sufficient...except for getting off the toilet seat itself. He almost fell in moments after this pictures was taken, luckily he laughed about it.


He's also taken a liking to having his teeth flossed. Of course he tries for himself as well, but he'll let mommy do it too.



It is July, a.k.a. month of birthday's, so we went to aunt Michiko's house for her big day and got some family pics with 007's new camera.


Ok game time, can you spot the differences between these two pictures??


Then of course it was his birthday, and with temperatures around 98 degrees with 70% hummidity it was time to BUY an ice cream cake instead of baking at home. Happy Birthday sweetie! Can anyone guess how old he is?

We're getting a lot of use out of that 3 candle...next year all three of us will use it!


By the way, sorry for only one post this week, it has been miserably hot, and we've taken it easy, and done a little Utah prep. I probably won't be much better in Utah unfortunately, because all I'm bringing is a camera in way of electronics, but check out Pam's blog for pictures.

Thanks for the name suggestions, I think I just need to sit down with 007 in Utah when he isn't distracted and we'll hash it out there. In the mean time Adzuki is just kicking away inside. He kicks me when I lay too much on my stomach, it is pretty funny. Oh and yes, I have a pseudonym all picked out already, just the real thing takes more time.

Oh and Edamame has surpassed me in Japanese knowledge. We were at the neighbor's house yesterday and he started saying 'dango'(ball/round object), and while I know what it means, I don't know all of the myriad uses for the word, and he was using it in a new context for me. It's the beginning of the end for me! One word today, a whole bunch next week. Oy! He also plays this game where he'll switch to the other language and want us to start using the other one. Pretty cool, eh?

One more thing. Would it be a water saver to wash your dishes on the lawn? We don't have a lawn(maybe we'll put one in the back next year), and our dishwasher is a 'Nicole', but I got to thinking one day. Hey a fun way to save water in the summer might be to wash your dishes on the lawn. Get some organic soap or some such thing, play with the hose with the kids, i.e. bathtime, have to tubs, one for clean dishes one for dirty/being washed dishes, and viola! I guess everyone has a dishwasher these days though. Oh well. I just think of it because I know Edamame loves to help me wash dishes, would be more fun on a lawn. Oh you'll look trashy to the neighbors, but oh well.

A OK

Since I am so blessed to have friends who worry about me when they hear about earthquakes in Japan, I figured I'd assuage anyone else's fears out there as well. We are fine, the earthquake was pretty far north of us. I dreamt about shaking and woke up to the earthquake, but other than that no disturbances at all. I didn't even think of it this morning. Thank you.

...and since I can't keep a secret anymore...we're supposedly having a BOY! Woo hoo. So far 8 people voted for boy, 4 for girl. Boys win. That being said and done, we need name help ASAP. I'm impatient to have this kid named(we had Edamame's name picked by the time I was 2 months pregnant), my only two stipulations are, not in the recent top 100 names, and not something too strange. I mean his last name is already foreign and gets mispronounced by all sorts of people including relatives, the least I could do is give the kid a somewhat normal name. 007 likes to say no to a lot of my suggestions, but I think that is because he is playing on his computer. Please share, and have your friends share too!

ohh...and pictures soon, I promise, at least before we leave!

To the left...

Is a lovely poll about what kind of child we have produced. I should have put it up earlier, but oh well. Please vote, and see if your guess is correct. I unfortunately have tentatively found out which it is, so I can't participate. The Dr. said it was too early to be certain, but we'll get another look in 5 weeks to know for sure, and then 4 weeks after that.

Oh, and going back to the old hospital(new for this kid) is nice, but has the LONGEST wait in the world. Oy! At least next time it is an EARLY appointment so hopefully won't be so backed up.

...and Edamame is super cute, we were looking at ceramic bunnies today. I love it.
I'm exhausted
good night!

p.s. we have a new toilet! WOO HOO! It isn't 30 years old anymore, tomorrow we get a new bathroom sink and floors, and it'll look very pretty. I'm stoked.

Went all hippy!

I did it, I bought bamboo fabric. Ok, so you know I was looking at the SleepyWrap and started thinking "Hey, all it is is 5.5 yards of stretchy fabric, I can make that!" Then after going on a different tangent in my head of how bad tobacco crops are what we could do with the land if everyone just quit smoking, which jumped to other less worth while crops(cotton is nice, but requires a butt load of pesticides and arable land) to thinking, "Wow, I hope bamboo fabric takes off more, 'cause jeez with the amount of bamboo we cut down in our yard every year I could make a new set of jeans", to "Hmm, can I make the sleepy wrap myself out of bamboo fabric?" I can, and I will. I'm kind of glad I put my money where my mouth is. I bought 5 yards from the Bamboo Fabric Store and I'm stoked. That and I started thinking of hemp too, and started to wonder if we'll ever have Church approved hemp garments. Weird, yeah I know.

Oh and the steel bowls I was drooling over...Ikea sells some stainless steel bowls for way cheap! Props to Ikea Dunno about plates, but hey my kid uses a bowl 90% of the time anyway.

Now that you've listened to me go all hippy on you, let's get to some fun stuff...like, pictures of Edamame!!!




He is so cute, and still LOVES that umbrella.


Oh and to prove that he eventually liked the cake, we have some pictures of him eating it a few days later when it was no longer recognizable as Nemo






He's a lot of fun, we're trying to relearn how to use the potty because of the massive heat rash on his bum. So while we were running around in the buff he helped me scrub the shower and clean the kitchen floor where spills are way easier to clean up. He is a really helpful kid that loves to cook and clean. I'm getting him ready for his future eternal companion ;). For all that hard work he got a bicycle ride and some yogurt pop. He was so sad that they were all done, but I promised we'd make more after nap time. Oh and he was actually starting to try to pedal his trike! I can unlock his pedals so they don't more with the wheel and I just push(for when we go to the grocery store), but when we are just going for a walk I let him practice, and he seemed to really enjoy it.

Now we just get the joy of humidity! I hope someone in the neighborhood puts up their inflatable pool real soon!

Hmm maybe we'll do a Japan Cool post about his trike soon. In the mean time I need to shower and get dinner going before he wakes up.

Getting my engine going

This is what is getting my engine going...hydrogen powered cars. I guess there is a company in Japan that is making engine's that run on water. Ohh how glorious it would be.

Now how do we get an airplane to run on water?

Oh and if you want to convert your car...go to Utah and visit Intergalactic Hydrogen.

For some reason I've been stressing about the environment all week(probably because it is hot and humid and miserable). How humid? So humid the clouds literally burst yesterday. The air just couldn't hold anymore water. It ruined my yogurt too. I was a stress case until yesterday. I've got a few more big stressors but they should be over by Monday, and then it is just Utah prep! Woo hoo! Though I better get my CARES before we leave or I'll forever curse the postal demons.

Oh and any good ideas on places to get second hand maternity clothes?

The Saddest Birthday Cake

I did it, the cake looked decent and tasted very good. There was just one problem. Edamame wanted to eat it REALLY bad, but it was Nemo, and so got so upset at the thought of eating him. He cried every time we suggested eating the cake. He even stuck his fork in to eat it and just started to cry and cry. Finally we cut a piece off together, stuck it on his fork with him, and after much crying and soothing he was ready to take a bite. He slowly got used to the idea of eating Nemo, but I think I know what NOT to do for a birthday cake next year, despite his great love of all things Nemo. We caught it on video, so once 007 loads it, I'll post it. He was just so sad! It was actually really hard not to laugh, but I felt so bad for the little guy.



Interestingly enough we had a similar problem a few months ago with fish shaped pudding, but I thought it might have been due to the late hour at the time. Nope, definitely a fish shaped thing.

Our little Huckster!

Thursday night, after Daddy got home we were sitting around talking and I was trying to get Edamame to learn to say that he was 2 years old in English. He has it down in Japanese, but no dice in English. Anyway. I asked him "How old are you?" and he would say "My name is Takafumi." Ok, so I switched the question..."What's your name?" "My name is Naoki." Ok, so we're going through all of our nursery friends. I ask again..."My name is Nemo!!!!", and again..."My name isssss....GRANDPA!". It's pretty obvious he's trying to be funny, and it is really cute. We finally got him to understand "How old are you?" is supposed to be answered with a number, but he'd say "I'm three!" or "I'm one!" but he'd always skip two. Oh he's going to be telling jokes early!


Oh and here is a pic of me right before I turn 15 weeks....though I've popped out a bit this week.

Disneyland!

Wow, what a day! I was so excited that when I woke up at 5:45 to use the bathroom, I couldn't go back to sleep. Fortunately Edamame woke up pretty early too, so we got an early start to our day. After presents(yeah! he could FINALLY ride on his tricycle and take it for a spin around the block), breakfast of crepes, some playing, and showers we were off to Disneyland, and because of the early wake up time, Edamame at least had a decent nap in the car(as opposed to a really suck one he could have had at Disneyland).




We got there and met up with Grandpa, and the fun began.



This being Disney and Japan, the lines were long, so we rode on the carousel and teacups(a HUGE hit!), which only had a 10 minute wait each, before getting some lunch.



Then after much begging by Edamame we went on Roger Rabbits Cartoon spin. He was scared while waiting in line...bad sign. The two two year olds behind us we're taking turns being scared too. Then Edamame said he wanted to ride with Grandpa. Not a good idea, he was crying within the first 10 seconds or so. Fortunately the ride broke down and they got us off of it. I could hold my dear sweet baby, and we got three free front of the line passes! Being the smart people that we were, we each took a turn on a different ride with Edamame, without the 40 min wait! My turn was on Peter Pan(dark and thus scary necessitating mommy), Grandpa did Dumbo's Flight and 007 did Pooh's Honey Hunt.



Of course we also hit up It's a small World, Teacups(again), the Disneyland Railroad and the Jungle Cruise, which we're all good choices. On the Disney Railroad there is a section with Dinosaurs, which was fun until the one scene with the T-Rex trying to take out a Stegosaurus, at which point I heard a little voice saying "No, dihdote, no dihdote", but once we were out in the sunshine again he said "moh dihdote! moh dihdote!". I guess the coolness of dinosaurs outweighed the scariness. At this point though it was 5:30 and Edamame was obviously tired, so we grabbed some more food, got a few presents vicariously from other people, and made our way to the exit. Oh and to top it off, our last trip to the bathroom, he wanted to go pee pee in the potty too! Woo hoo, good end to a good day. He then passed out in the car after 5 min(007 won the bet, I had said 10 and grandpa said 7.5 min).

Today's adventures will be Ikea to spend our gift certificate/prize and carrot cake with Obaachan, Ojiichan and maybe Uncle Tak. I'm going to try to do a nemo decoration on it, wish me luck!

Happy Birthday!

Yep, in just a few hours it will be 2 years since Edamame was introduced into the world. 4:57 am to be exact, it was a long night, let me tell you.

Anyway, this kid is spoiled this year! Grandma hooked him up with a ton of fun stuff from the States, he gets a trip to Disneyland, and a tricycle from Grandpa, and Nemo pajamas from GGD. We were just thinking about it this evening, and just totally in awe of the generosity of our family, and how spoiled this kid is going to be tomorrow! I just finished making crepe batter(and a batch with egg substitute thanks to grandma!), good golly it is fun, but scary!

Oh, and in case you weren't a reader 2 years ago....I'll repost what I wrote the day he was born using my old blogging software. I can repost the birth story too, but those always sound weird after the fact...or at least it did to me.

"Ok, so first and foremost the unofficial winner is PAMELA!***editor's note*** there was a contest to guess the date, and will be again this time around*** The reason she is unofficial is because she got her second guess in on July 1st, a day after the due date. Now I don't want to be mean, but I can't break rules for family, so that is why she is the unofficial winner, because her second date of the 11th was post due. The stats on the little guy are as follows

C Y K
born: July 11th, 2006 @ 4:57am
size 3094 grams and 49.2 cm or
6 lbs 13.3 oz and 19.3 inches

Black hair and black/blue eyes(seriously not a brownish black, but a blueish black/dark grey)

we've discovered he likes to chew on his shirt and he likes to have his hand held when he cries. He eats a ton and doesn't seem to have mongolian spots(blue butt). Dad(007) says he is extremely cute, which I second. Here have a look!"

Tanabata

Today's Japan Cool! is about Tanabata. It is called the star festival, and held on the 7th of July. The reason is that two lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi get to meet on that one day. They were introduced long ago by Orihime's father, and fell in love, got married, and promptly stopped working. Everyone was so mad that they were separated by the Milky Way, but her father had mercy and lets them meet once a year.

To celebrate we decorated a branch of bamboo that we got from primary at church. We actually got two, but Edamame thrashed one in half before we left, so we got another. You're supposed to write wishes on the paper for them to come true.

I forgot to take pictures, so we used our photo booth to take some.






Of course with any Japanese festival there has to be food associated with it as well. Somen(thin wheat noodles) is the dish of choice, but in variegated colors, like pink and blue and white. I was looking for something else besides just somen and didn't find anything, but I did find this AWESOME blog post by someone who went all out for Tanabata. Remember it is the star festival, so lots of stars. Even if you can't read Japanese, it is neat to just look at the pictures! We settled for miso soup with clams. Edamame didn't want noodles, and I was grubbing for some clams. I felt bad that 007 wouldn't eat it, but I've discovered that I need to eat what I crave. One of the huge benefits of being pregnant in Japan is that I tend to really dig Japanese food while I'm pregnant, makes it easier being here than anywhere else. I digress, the soup was GREAT, easy, and simple to make. Oh, and Edamame totally dug the clams. He was excited from the time I put them in the cart at the grocery store. We watched them move in the sink while we were soaking them in salt water to clean them out. It was a lot of fun to eat.

Now after a nice 4th of July weekend, have a great Tanabata too!

My wish list

I'm starting to think about stuff I want while I'm in the States. I can find anything there! So far here is my list. Any reviews, comments, suggestions.


Klean Kanteen Sippy Cup! Yeah for not being plastic!

Also on the no plastic bandwagon.

Stainless Steel kids set or click on the link at the bottom of that page and get stainless steel bento(lunch) boxes.

I'm also thinking about getting some hemp prefold diapers and newborn diaper covers. Any suggestions on where?

Oh and this!

Sleepy Wrap
Yes I am a sucker...oh well!

I did it again!

Yep, it got too hot and Clark had been itching his head as he fell asleep for the last few weeks. I can't seem to figure out how to do it part way, so we just take it all off. At least he's getting older so it'll grow back faster. He helped. Actually I couldn't shave it until he helped me start it.





We had more fun with Daddy and his camera.




Daddy clipped his hair this morning to match...though not quite as much.

July - the month of Birthdays!

Yep, great month! Tons of people born this month, including 007 and Edamame. Grandma and Aunt Michiko, I think Hiojiichan was born in July too. It bodes to be a lot of fun, especially Disneyland with Grandpa. Plus some cool stuff has happened already!


I got a postcard from the Japanese gov't saying that my visa was ready! Woo hoo, a week earlier than they said I could expect it!

Potty training is going surprisingly well, he's starting to ask to go pee pee and poo poo in the toilet(though sometimes as a way to avoid bedtime too). This morning he even asked while he had pants on. Before that the only way we knew was if we had nothing on from the waist down. Of course this hasn't stopped him from running around in his birthday suit a vast majority of the day. Once his pants are gone, the shirt has to go too. Oy! I guess I know what my mom went through with my sister. I haven't done much, just let him run around, and try to catch stuff when I could, and he figured out the rest. Heck, I don't even have to bribe him to sit on the toilet anymore!

We're thinking about getting grass in our back 'yard'. Trust me, it needs to be in quotes because it is only about 3 feet wide, and runs just a little more than the length of the house. Nevertheless, grass would be fun.

My cucumber are ROCKIN'! I think I'll be able to pick them before we...

...LEAVE for Utah this month! Woo hoo!!!! Can you tell I'm excited! I'm soooo excited. It'll be sad to be without 007 for 2.5 weeks, but sacrifices must be made.

The purse I'm making for my niece's 2nd birthday is looking really good so far. That doesn't mean I still can't mess it up, but at least so far so good.

I'm almost completely recovered from taco's on monday night. Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment, but they tasted pretty good.

My spinach plant is still growing strong!

I've realized that Clark has actually started to eat almost all forms of meat. Bad timing, I know, but hey at least now he's not the limiting factor. His only exception is chicken, it must be too dry most of the time because he'll only eat KFC chicken that is nice and tender.

I'm excited, after reading Elder Ballard's article in this month's Ensign to be a force for good on the internet. Yeah!

I'm officially trimester 2 now people. What does that mean, absolutely nothing. Though it does mean that when I start to show I won't feel as guilty as if I had already started to show. I need to run again...my stomach will cooperate or else! I just gotta say as yucky as pregnancy is, I'm still extremely grateful to be able to get pregnant in the first place.

Oh yeah! At church, I'd had a rough morning and couldn't eat much(watching 007 and Edamame chow down on oatmeal made me sick), and when I told one of the other ladies in primary, 'cause she asked, she gave me an onigiri that she'd made with her husband, complete with shisoand konbu. It was huge, delicious, and made my day. Thank you.

Sorry no pictures today, I've been lazy, and he's been sans clothing most of the time. Not a very picture conducive way to live.

Anpanman!

I said I'd talk about Anpanman, and now is the time! Plus, I really don't want to wash dishes or fold laundry, though I am contemplating blog design changes, oh la la! So now for, JAPAN COOL!


Anpanman is this cartoon superhero who's head is made from bread, not just any bread though, a roll filled with sweet bean paste. This was an very yummy Japanese treat until the advent of chocolate, and truthfully is still enjoyed by many, including me. What makes him even cooler is his plethora of bread and food friends who fight together against Baikinman. Baikinman litterally means Bacteria man. Yep, shoots Anpanman with his gun, and *gasp* Anpanman turns moldy, and is down for the count until one of his friends can get a replacement head from the baker JamOjisan. Anpanman gets a new head everyday. Wow!

Anpanman is instantly recognizable to ALL children here, including mine, who hasn't even seen a single episode.

He of course has a wicked rad theme song. Yes, the subtitles are normally there so that kids who want to read or sing along can. Sorry, I don't know of an English translated subtitled song.

Then of course, what would a cartoon be without merchandising? Anything from play vending machines, doctor sets, kitchen, vacuum, cotton candy maker(makes real cotton candy), and my favorite, a kaiten(conveyer belt) sushi restaurant.



Heck, Anpanman even has his own museum! One of them is right here in Yokohama. We'll have to go one day.

Ok, that's it for Anpanman. I better do something productive, even if it is sewing my niece's birthday present. What better way to recover from last nights tacos than lounging in front of the boob tube sewing.