Cherry Blossom Adventures

On Monday (11th) we took Noah to do his Omiyamairi, or first visit to a Shinto shrine. He isn`t quite a month old yet but I wanted to do it while my mum was still here and before it got even colder in late January or February (although Monday was freezing anyway!). Traditionally baby boys were taken on their 31st day of life and baby girls were taken on the 32nd day of life- it is done so that they are introduced to the shrine and to the Shinto gods.

My MIL bought Noah (although traditionally it is the maternal grandparents that would buy the outfit) a white outfit to wear for the occasion. It was very girly but the shop assistant had assured her that the same outfits were worn buy boys and girls. It reminded me a lot of christening outfits. Some babies are dressed in kimono instead but I told her not to bother shalling out that much money for an outfit he would only wear once (although I guess the white outfit would of been expensive too)

Since it was a public holiday the shrine was pretty busy- there were others there getting blessings too but we didn`t see any other babies getting blessed. We had an appointment at 12pm and went in with about 40 other people. They read out Noah`s name, our names, his date of birth and our address- Shun also went up to bow to the Shinto priest on our behalf. Noah slept through the entire thing except when they banged the drums when he woke up with a start (both times!)- we also got some gifts for Noah from the shrine including chopsticks to use when we give his first solid food (not quite sure how you can use chopsticks to eat rice cereal but oh well), some sweets, a couple of good luck charms and an ema (wish card?) to write our hopes for Noah.

Afterwards we took some photos outside the shrine (the shrine where we did it is near Shun`s parents place and the shrine they visit each new year and for other events- we do not know of any local shrines near our apartment so we choose to go there as Shun also did his omiyamairi there and so did his brother) and then went to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch (in which the waitresses gushed over Noah and his cute gaijinness and also on how “small” he is- I did not tell them he was less than a month old!)

Photos from the day (more in the album here at flickr)

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Noah is approaching three weeks old and is changing all the time- we seem to have gotten into a bit of a routine which is nice. He has his bath about 5:30pm then I feed him and put him down for the night- his first sleep of the night (6:30pm or so) is for 4-5 hours and then he is up every 3-4 hours after that which is not bad for a newborn- some nights he is up more often but most nights he is pretty good. Touch wood he continues to be an okay night sleeper!!! Usually at night after I change him, feed him and burp him he is already asleep again so I just need to put him back in his cot and he is fine. We were using a basket next to the bed for the first two weeks but he was a very noisy sleeper and I wasn`t getting any sleep even though he was so we have moved him to his big cot in his own room and just leave the doors between our room and his room open.

He is usually wakes up for the day anywhere from 6:30am to 8am and has his longest awake time for the day, usually an hour and a half or two hours. Since Shun is getting ready for work around this time he usually has cuddles with daddy and watches some tv before having some play time on his tummy and back. He also loves his rainforest bouncer and often if he can`t get to sleep I pop him in there with or without the music and he drops off to sleep by himself (thanks Cassie!)- if he doesn`t have any wind then he will usually drop off to sleep for his naps by himself if I put him in his bouncer or cot or be asleep by the time I finish feeding him.

Breastfeeding is going really well too- I was really worried before I gave birth that I would have issues but he has been a good feeder since birth and we have had no problems. I expressed milk the other day when we left Noah for a couple of hours with Shun so that mum & I could go to Funabashi to do a bit of shopping but Noah slept the entire time so mum ended up feeding him the next morning so I could get some extra sleep. He takes to the bottle okay as well which is good to know although breastfeeding him is much easier (and less time consuming, since boiling bottles etc is a bit of  a pain in the bum!)

I think I have lucked out (so far at least) because Noah is a pretty easy baby and is usually easily calmed down if he does get upset. Having my mum here also has been great since she is happy to help out with the baby, cleaning and cooking! She loves Noah so much and is already dreading going back to Australia. Noah does get a bit windy though and sometimes his belly gets sore but he calms down a lot if you rub his back.

I am a bit tired but try to get to bed reasonably early and will have a nap during the day if I am really exhausted- sometimes mum will take Noah in the morning and let me get a bit of extra sleep. I will definitely miss that when she goes home!!!

It was nice having Shun around so much too until Monday when he went back to work- he didn`t want to go back and every morning when he hugs and kisses Noah goodbye he always says he doesn`t want to go. He is already looking forward to the weekend. Next Monday we will also be doing Noah`s Omiyamaeri (first shrine visit for blessing?) so that my mum can also be there.

Now for some cute photos (maybe I am biased but I think he is pretty damn cute!)

New Years Day 2010- first family shot of the new year!

Mat time!

Tummy time at night! Pretty good head control already and getting stronger every day!

He loves his bath time and likes to kick away!

Getting aquainted with Spot (A gift from my brother and his gf)

Wink!

Before the new year, Sarah & Sakura came to visit! Sakura is a lot bigger than him now but in a couple of months he will be catching up!

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Time for a 101 things in 1001 days update but I am teaming it with a meme doing the rounds on a lot of Japan blogs at the moment where you reminise about the last decade.

First things first though- only one thing to cross off my list for the month of December.

92. Watch the rest of Heroes with Shun (season 1, 2, 3)

Done! Finished watching it in the hospital after Noah was born! We will start watching season 4 eventually but at the moment we are enjoying watching flash forward together when it comes back on in the states.

Also we stuck to our budget for the month and have done my December update. Looking through my list I know I don`t have many things left to cross off but I wonder how many of them I will be able to do now that Noah is on the scene- passing level 1 of the JLPT does not look promising  (nor does being able to read a newspaper although perhaps I should buy a magazine and work on that since they are a little easier!) as I doubt I would find the time to study but I really really need to start working on my Japanese again since it is definitely going down hill. Camping might happen this year (I hope so!), I can definitely buy a polaroid camera sometime and probably finish learning to use photo shop. Getting to the cinema might be hard though? Oh well, whatever I don`t finish by the end date (December 2010) means that some money will be going to charity!

Hopefully at the end of this month I will be able to say that I have maintained my weight loss again and start maintaining it for another six months as I got on the scales this morning and have 1.8kg left of pregnancy weight to lose. I would like to lose another 5kg on top of that but am in no hurry. Would be stoked to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight before the end of the month though and it looks like that might happen!!!

Okay, on to my decade on a nutshell! First saw this on umebossy`s blog but have since seen it on heaps of others! I posted a condensed version of my answers in the comments at umebossy`s blog but have added in a bit more now.

2000- Was 15, in grade 10 and doing a lot of sailing and was still singing for first half of the year. Was the year my father was diagnosed with cancer for the first time. Gave up music as a subject at school as well as singing and the violin (continued with piano til I was 17) despite having thought I might like to go to the conservatorium to study. Turns out I wasn`t nearly as good at music as I thought I was. Had a giant crush on a guy from sailing who was NEVER interested me in the slightest. Think this might of been the year I started drinking…I struggled at school a little and hit a rebellious streak with many of my teachers- I still got decent enough grades but I walked out of several classes and out of school on a couple of occasions. I think most of my rebellion was to do with dealing with my father being sick.

2001- Father went into remission after a stem cell transplant. Met first ever boyfriend at the end of the year when I was away for a week at stradbroke island with my highschool girlfriends. We were together 2 years. Don`t really remember much about this year except I was in Maths B and hated it since Maths really wasn`t my strong suit and it took all my effort to pass it whereas I never studied for any of my other classes. I wrote a short story for English that year that I was really proud of too. This was the year I went on anti-depressants after having suffered from depression for almost 2 years previously.

2002- Met Kanako a Japanese exchange student and we became friends and I took her under my wing despite her being older than me and we became really close- I spoke no Japanese at this point. Graduated highschool with reasonable grades. Still with bf. Drank too much, went to a couple of formals, had fun and got my license at the beginning of the year and drove a mini. My dad started doing the mini up for me when he was sick a few years earlier so I learnt to drive in it and had it for several years before selling it when I moved back to Japan for the second time.

2003- Didn`t get into the uni degree I wanted to do and ended up in an arts degree. Decided to study Japanese- broke up with bf near the end of year after applying to go to Japan on exchange and getting accepted. The break-up had been a long time coming and in the end there was another girl- I broke up with him but regretted it but really it was for the best and I can not believe we stayed together that long. First loves and all that though I suppose. We don`t keep in touch but I know he is still with the girl so I guess it worked out well for him (and her!) too. Had a couple of flings..

2004- Went to Japan- had several short term relationships in Aust and Japan. My year on exchange was one of the BEST of my life and I made many life long friends- in particular Cat & James who were both part of our wedding! I went to Thailand in the Japanese summer and met up with my mum and she came back to Japan for a few days also. Found out father was an alcoholic. Had a blast in Japan and my Japanese actually got better. One of the best years of my life despite health issues in the family.

2005- Met Shun in January 2005, went back to Australia in Feb 2005 to finish uni. Shun visited Aust. twice that year. Finished uni with a bachelor of arts in Japanese & Public Relations and a minor in Journalism. Worked full-time for six months with a part-time job & uni to get enough money together to go back to Japan- tried to deal with my father`s issues but never really succeeded. I left home for a couple of weeks near the end of this year and stayed with a friend as I couldn`t handle what was going on at home.

2006- Went to Europe for 6 weeks then back to Japan. My parents officially seperated, sold the family house and bought 2 new places.  Met Shun`s family and lived with them for almost 2 months before I found my own place and then we moved in together (I moved first, Shun followed just before Golden Week). Worked for a horror of a company first as an intern then as staff. Quit the job but was so emotionally drained from the experience that I took a couple months off and went to language school (courtesy of money from my parents) and took the level 2 JLPT.  Lived in Kichijoji- wish I could still live in Kichijoji. Earlier in the year when I was still an intern I worked part-time at two different international schools in Roppongi. This was also the year I got hit by a taxi in Roppongi! I am pretty sure I drank way too much this year as well. I visited Australia sometime too… & Okinawa. Shun`s brother also got married.

2007- Still in Japan, started at a preschool teaching in Kichijoji. Really loved the job and stayed in it until I moved back to Australia again for a year in 2008. I loved the kids that I taught and I can honestly say they liked having me as a teacher. Had a crazy guy (who was a friend of a friend) get very drunk at karaoke and hit me on the head with a heavy beer glass knocking me out and splitting my head open. Police and ambulance were called and by the time I came around they were already there and the guy had fled the scene and I thought I was dying because there was like 10 ambulance staff surrounding me. Had 6 staples (I think?) in my head. Still lived with Shun and we moved to Nakano as living in a 1K was killing us (well me!) and we moved to a nice 2DK. Found out Dad`s cancer was back and he was struggling with his alcholism again (he went into rehab several times in 2007)- I went home for Christmas as Dad had booked to come see me but he wasn`t up for it so we cancelled his tickets and I went home instead. Had a lovely christmas back in Australia but knew that I was going to have to go home for a bit in 2008 to help my family out (I decided this before going home, maybe in November). Shun decided that he would also come to Australia…

2008- Got engaged to Shun in Feb 2008. Moved to Australia in April/May 2008 and friends in Japan through Shun & I a surprise engagement party the weekend before I left. Shun followed me to Australia in July. I helped my dad buy Abbey, his dog, and we bought her home to live with us.  Had lots of family issues to sort through in Oz and was busy planning a wedding. Worked for government for the majority of the year. Was great to have Shun in Australia for Christmas and show him what an Aussie Christmas was like.

2009- Had lots of family issues that drained me emotionally and physically. We started trying for a baby and I went off the pill and was pregnant six weeks later. Got married, honeymooned at Hamilton Island, moved back to Japan, lived with the in-laws, found a place to live in Funabashi and had a baby. (So a very eventful year!)

I am excited about what the new decade will bring. So far 2010 has just seen me getting to know my son and spending time with Shun & my mum (it is great having her here!)- I have made no resolutions this year except to try and lose the baby weight and maintain a healthy weight (for me) and to continue to try and stick with our budget and save a little each month. Also try to continue to cross things off my 101 things in 1001 days list. I am excited about spending this first year with Noah as well as I am sure he will grow up fast and I don`t want to miss anything.

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