Does anyone else have trouble coming up with titles for their blog posts? Unless it is about something in particular I have no idea. Hot seems like a good one though since it is pretty damn hot although on the good side if I get my washing out by 7:30am it is dry by 9am!!
I worked on Saturday for 2 hours and then had a meeting about another job in my area which will be 2 hours a month. Plus I had my mummy class yesterday and have work again tomorrow in Nishi-Tokyo. Some of the work I do requires prep but usually it is minimal and takes me less than an hour the night before. Sometimes it is just printing some stuff out, other times I write up my lesson plans for my own aid. I worked out that this month I had just 7 hours of work but next month I will have more. It is reasonably easy to juggle with Noah since I can do the prep when he is asleep at night and it is not like I need to work on it everyday. The extra income is nice and I am trying to save as much as I can of it to use on the trip in Australia. SHOPPING! WOO!
This weekend though I have no work BUT we are going camping. It is not real camping since we will be staying in cabins but it is a bit of a road trip to Gunma where we will meet 14-15 others. I forget the name of the place but it is actually an adventure camp so there is white water rafting and paragliding. We will arrive in the afternoon so Shun will join in the paragliding. That should be interesting since he is deathly afraid of heights but when I asked if he wanted to do it he said yes so, we will see. He can`t even handle looking over our balcony and we are only on the 7th floor (and his feet are on solid ground!). Will be interesting to see how Noah goes. He has slept away from home before but I a not sure if the other will appreciate his possible 5am or 5:30am wake up call (plus once before that for some milk probably!)
I have been a bit under the weather recently and with the heat it has been easier to stay inside most of the time. We have had mid 30 degree weather all week and Noah is like me and does not handle the heat well. We did venture out on Tuesday to go to the doctor`s (Noah`s runny nose and eczema) and run some other errands- bank, conbini to pay bills, pharmacy, supermarket, shiyakusho (city hall), other shopping and then home. I was ready for a nap after that though after been out in the heat!
Noah is FINALLY eating more solids (although no cutting down on breastfeeds yet) and actually enjoying eating more. He actually opens his mouth for almost all of his food and enjoys trying to feed himself. We have started 3 meals a day from yesterday. I am trying, yet again, to get him to drink from a bottle but he won`t have a bar of it. I am losing hope of having him EVER take a bottle but any hints or tricks are appreciated. Shun gave it ago on the weekend but he screamed a lot then too and of course is even less interested when I try.
His sleep though- well he goes down at about 7:00pm or 7:30pm (I can not stretch this any longer because he usually wakes up from his last nap about 3:30 if he only has 3 naps) but is up between 5-6am. SO EARLY! (up 2-3 times a night for 1-2 feeds) Luckily Shun (although not readily) takes him one morning til 7:00 or 7:30am then I take him the next. Shun is not so good at STAYING awake to watch him though and at the moment he doesn`t move much so this is fine but in a month or so I am not sure this will be viable. I hope Noah learns to hit daddy and pull his hair soon the same way he does me when I play with him on the floor. hehe. 3 naps of 30-45 minutes a day. Such short naps 
He has always been a cat napper though- once a week or twice a week he will nap more than an hour…
It is less than 4 months til I head to Australia! EXCITED! And yes, I am already counting down!!!! Although the idea of 2 summers in one year is not exactly thrilling (especially since I had 2 last year as well!)
Popularity: 9% [?]
I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
It is HOT! Agree, hard to get out unless it`s early morning or late arvo. Good to see Noah is eating more but don`t stress about it, he is still getting most of what he needs from boob. It is just practice at this stage. As for him getting to drink from a bottle, have you tried other liquids (water or formula?) Miss A wouldn`t drink from a cup (that had milk in it) but water and other liquids were fine. If you aren`t against formula at all, it might make a difference as it is a different smell etc..might be worth a try (just tiny amounts to start with).
I am jelous of your warm weather. I’m actually from Australia and its so cold here : (
Where are you heading in Aus?
Exciting! Thats a big trip.
Go straight to a cup! :p Cup of water in the bath tub.
I agree that coming up with blog titles is difficult – I even have problems when I am writing about a specific topic, lol!!
In regards to getting Noah to take a bottle – when I worked at the day care centre we got a little 5 month old boy who had never been given a bottle in his life coming everyday ALL day as soon as his mum found a job. It was tough trying to get him to take a bottle – he refused and refused and refused… for weeks
Luckily he was eating a little bit so he wasn’t going completely hungry. It was emotionally draining for me to watch this poor little boy but he did eventually start drinking formula from a bottle. It just took a lot of perserverence…
Leilah too is waking up once or twice for a feed. I normally put her down by 8.30pm and she will sleep through till 2.30am/3am. I feed her, put her back to sleep but she wakes up ready to start the day around 5.30am. It’s hard
Sleep deprevation is a difficult thing to get used to hey! Hang in there!!
It’s so draining and horrible at the moment isn’t it! Hope you and Noah are finding ways to keep cool
Dear Lulu
As my auntie says, ‘some kids just don’t take rubber’. I don’t 100 per cent believe this, but it sounds like Noah’s not too keen on the bottle so I agree with Fiona about going straight to a cup.
When my friend’s little boy was five months old, he was so underweight he was off the charts – her milk supply was so low, but she just didn’t notice he wasn’t putting on weight, not surprising given she was chasing her three other kids around the place. The clinic nurse told her to give him formula, and out of a sippy cup. It took a while, he hated it, but it worked eventually.
Alternatively, try a cup with a straw. I started my little Sproglette on one of these (for water) when she was seven months old and she still loves the straw cup (one of the specially designed kid ones). Very handy becase when we’re out and about, we can buy any old drink and give it to her out of a grownup straw because she learned the straw technique so early. (Nuby brand in Australia)
We got back from our trip a week ago – being out and about all day was a little hot at times but it was overcast often. We went to Shirakawago and it must have been about 33 degrees and bright sun, and then we walked up a HUGE hill to get a picture! Sweaty and yuk! Keep yourself cool!
Yes!! is sooo hot….so i dont wanna go out, then i spend time at home with A.C. or senpuki, taihen da ne!! but until september we have no choice!
I know what you mean about the heat…it’S almost like the cold in that it tends to limit you doing certain stuff, but yes, the washing thing is GREAT!
I am about to give you some unsolicited advice, so please feel free to take it or leave it! When Luka was on solids, he wasn’t really all that interested in eating lots, but more interested in BM. I realised after the fact, that I was the one telling him it was time for milk. I think it was a good routine for me, and a chance to put my feet up and relax too…When we were out, he didn’t mind skipping a feed, and I think it was just the situation. Eventually, I stopped sitting on the sofa, where he would come and climb up on my lap for a feed, and we cut back together on the feeds, about one feed per week got cut. I loved nursing (after the initial problems), but had so much more energy afterwards. Oh, and Luka never went for bottles, dummies, anything with a teat. I think as someone else commented, some babies just don’t go for it.
so cute