Some of the things I didn`t complete (but would still like to- one day)

- Pass Level 1 of JLPT

- Take a Japanese cooking Class

- Get paid to write something

- Go to the cinema 20 times ( I went 9 times in 2.75 years. Lame!)

- Perfect one piano piece. (For those who don`t know I took lessons for 14 years. I was quite good- but I pretty much had reached my peak when I quit at 17. I think it had been a few years since I had improved much. I can still read music though and I would love to play again for enjoyment. Someday)

My 101st (101th?) thing was to donate $10 to charity for every uncompleted task and I actually did this BEFORE the date was even over. I donated to World Vision while I was in Australia last year and then I also donated to Red Cross Japan recently after the earthquake.

I enjoyed doing the list- I think my “desires” changed a lot though after I got married and had Noah (and then Shion)- the things I wanted to achieve changed. That said, this list was a HUGE motivator for me and I doubt I would of done half the things on it if I had not been keeping a record of it and if I hadn`t written the list in the first place. I think I might do this, or something similar again in the future.

Maybe next year I will do 27 things for the year I turn 27 or something like that. I am undecided if I will remove 101 things from my tabs at the top of my page or not yet. I think I will keep the list there for awhile as a reminder of what I achieved and also a reminder of things I wanted to do when I wrote the list 3+ years ago.

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• Shion was weighed today at his doctor`s appointment at the university hospital where he spent his first 6 weeks. He came in at 4530grams and 52.4cm long. He had his final synagist vaccine (he might have more come Winter) and so now I have to start looking into his regular vaccines. He is 3.5 months old (6 weeks corrected) so he is doing well! He is smiling up a storm now and coos a lot- especially in the mornings.
• Noah has decided he hates showers. Most nights he just has a shower with me and then after our shower we sometimes hop in the bath depending on whether or not I have remembered to fill it( it takes about 20 minutes to fill halfway) and whether or not Shion has settled for the night. For the last three nights he has SCREAMED the entire time. Some of it has to do with washing his hair so I have stopped doing that every night and instead just wipe his hair with a wet face washer and do the shampoo battle every 2nd or 3rd night but still he screams. We have lots of toys, I am always with him and I always remind him we can brush his teeth after the shower (which he loves to do!). I wrote about this on facebook and have got some good advice which I will try out tomorrow. Playing music during bathtime (taking laptop into bathroom) and letting him brush his teeth in the shower- hopefully he stops screaming.
• Noah tried to “sing” incy wincy spider today. He failed. But it was still cute.
• Shion is starting to show an interest in toys (and Noah) and Noah is starting to show more of an interest in Shion and is even attempting to be gentle at least 50% of the time. Shion also likes it when I read to Noah if his bouncer is close to us- he likes the sound of my reading voice I think and the sounds that Noah makes while we read (by pointing at objects and saying “bah” “gooo” at different objects- he thinks he is saying the words I guess?)
• House plans- Shun, Shion & I went to a model house display area on Sunday while MIL watched Noah for the day. We saw three different house makers (and as my mother pointed out “house maker” is not an expression used in English- so we saw three building companies?)- Sweden House, Mitsui House and Kinoshita Home. I liked the first two- Sweden House might be above our budget though (since we need to build house for in-laws too) but it was beautiful- I liked the wooden floors and cabinets and the windows were amazing (keeping heat/cool in, sound proof etc) and the guy we spoke to was great. A bit too much “wood” for my taste though. I would like a bit more “modern” look though I think- that said though it was beautiful and the decks built on were fantastic- definitely something to think about. Mitsui Home is one of the big house makers here- I liked the options etc and they seem to be pretty accomodating. I liked them  and the layout, especially the kitchen in the house we went to and the guy we spoke to was great – got a lot of brochures to steal ideas from. I should mention that last year when we started looking we spoke with Misawa House, Hebel Haus and Daiwa House- I still have all of the information from them as well. So far nothing has been “OH I MUST USE THIS HOUSEMAKER” but we are meeting with some others in Golden Week and possibly meeting with Sweden House and Mitsui Home to get some more ideas and a possible mock up of what we COULD do.
• We have another decision to make and it will need to be made relatively soon. This coming July we will have been in our current apartment for 2 years and if we decide to stay we have to pay 1 month (or 2 months- I still have to find out contract) gift money to the landlord if we decide to stay. If we do renew and stay on (and there is no official contract with how long you stay but usually if you don`t see out the 2 years you don`t get back all of your bond) then we will be here for a further 10 months TOPS. Now, Shun`s grandmother, who lives behind his parents (and that is the land we will build on) lives in a town house with two other town houses next to hers (which she owns) and one of them is currently open to be rented out. It is 64m2 (I think- It is a 2SLDK- so two rooms and a small storage area upstairs and a living/dining kitchen downstairs with the bathroom) and it has been offered to Shun & I if we want to take it- this will mean we will be close by when the house is getting built, I will have Shun`s parents to help me with the boys when I need it, and we will save a ton of money leading up to moving into our house (we would still pay rent but it would be a fraction of what we are paying now- plus no bond or key money). The thing is it is smaller than we currently are (but I saw inside recently and it bigger than I thought it was) and it would involve me packing everything up soonish and unpacking and then doing the same 6-10 months later. The plus`s are closer to Shun`s work, we could save money (and therefore furnish our new house with the money we save during the time), have Shun`s parents to help, Noah could play in the in-laws garden everyday and I am sure I am missing some. The cons would be the packing/unpacking and the smaller space. The other thing is since we are going to be knocking down Shumpei`s parents house his parents will have no where to live while the house is been built- the idea of them moving into one of grandma`s town houses was tossed up as well as the option of dead uncles other house (I know that sounds weird- but basically grandma`s younger brother died 2 years ago and his wife lives in a house 50m away and on the same land she lives is another house that has not been lived in for 20 years) but they have not yet spoken with Auntie about this and we think that even if they could live there that it might not have a very good water system- probably enough to cook/clean with but not enough to shower/bathe.)- I am not sure of the entire story here but it seems they do not want to ask Auntie yet about the house but to me, it would make sense to ask now before Shun & I make a decision about Grandma`s open town house because if MIL & FIL (and the dog) can`t go to Auntie`s house then I think we should stay in Funabashi. Anyway- it is something else we are thinking about.
• Golden Week starts Friday week- can`t wait. A whole week of having Shun around to help with everything. Yay! I am sure by the end of it though I will be BEGGING him to go back to work- we will be having a lot of house related meeting/things during the week though.
• After the earthquake I lost a bit of weight- 4kg in a week actually. Happy to report that I gained 2kg back (it wasn`t exactly a great way to lose weight) and seem to be now at a steady weight. Let me just say though, the weight I am, well, I weigh less than Shun for the first time EVER- since we got married we have been about the same (except when I have been pregnant) but now I am a good 3-4kg lighter than him! I am also 4kg less than what I was when I got pregnant with Shion (and 6kg less than when I got pregnant with Noah)- I am pretty sure, from memory, that this is what I weighed when I finished high school actually. So that is pretty damn good!

I figure if I complete 93 or 94 of the items on my list then I did pretty well, no? Of course ideally 101 would of been better but I am still happy with my efforts even if in recent months not much got done. It is true that my goals changed in the last 3 years since I made the list and perhaps if I had changed some more things around then I would of completed more but as I said I am still happy with my efforts.

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I have asked before but can`t find the comments on the subject and now we are almost heading to Australia- what are some good toys for 1 year olds? I like wooden toys (and hope to buy some in Australia even though they will be heavy to bring back!) and toys with some educational value as well as the usual type stuff.

Any brands you can recommend? I was thinking in Australia I want to get blocks, another wooden train or car, puzzles, some more books, a shape sorting toy (hopefully wooden) and some other things as it will be Christmas and his birthday while we are there.

I have also been looking on Lakeshore Learning although not much available in Australia it seems- I figure some of the stuff for older kids I could buy now and use with Noah and Edamame-kun as they get older too. In the meantime I could use them in some of my kids teaching classes.

Also does anyone know where I can get bigger sized flashcards in Australia or other educational products? Is it best just to go online? Anyone work in early childhood in Australia know of some good places/online shops? I know there is a lot online in America as well but sometimes the shipping is a bit too expensive to make it worthwhile.

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Yesterday we celebrated Misora`s 1st birthday near Tamagawa River (Mel`s daughter)….Lots of fun and also great to catch up with some friend`s especially before we head to Australia on Wednesday.

Lots of photos: More on my flickr and facebook as well but here are a couple of my favourites.

Seriously was loads of fun- made me even MORE excited for Noah`s first birthday party in January (with Alex) and Melanie did such a fantastic job with the food. It was a “Around the World/It`s A Small World” theme with food from all over and lovely little party hats for the kids with icons from their heritage.

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Am almost up to date with my scrapbooking! Have done til end of September and have October`s photos ready to scrapbook but I might not end up getting to them before I go to Australia (but they are in order and ready to go)

Oh and my other recent crafty project was a scarf for Noah

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Just two sleeps til we leave for Australia now!

Four hours are 2 x 2 hour sessions a month on Saturday`s (one is on the same Saturday as my other 2 hours of classes) from the same lady that offered me the original Saturday work. They currently have a teacher doing those classes but want me to take over after the baby is born and want me to be an assistant teacher until then- I said that is fine as long as they have no issues with the 2 months I am in Australia or the month I will probably need off in March for the baby and that is all fine. The pay is 2500yen an hour but will be more once I take over the class full-time and teach it by myself. Both kids classes too which is good!!

The other 3 hours are English conversation with a group of 3 people (one of whom is in my Saturday mum`s class that I do once a month) that requires no prep, they want to come to my house (fine by me) and just chat for 90 minutes once a fortnight on a Wednesday from 10:30-12:00pm.

Kind of bad timing with heading to Australia but both know I am heading back home and everyone knows I am pregnant as well (and have a son at home) and are all very understanding. 11 hours a month is perfect for me! Plus with 6 hours of it on Saturday`s it means Shun can watch Noah (at least most of the time) and the rest at my house (except for 1 hour a month I do in Myoden but I can take Noah with me or leave him at home if Shun is around).

I was kind of worried that it would cut into “family” time since really all we have together is our weekends but honestly Sunday`s are still always free and 2 Saturday`s a month are also usually free and one of the Saturday`s is only the morning (10-12pm) so it doesn`t really make much difference.

So basically that bring my monthly earnings for 11 hours a month (of those 11 hours, only 4 hours require preperation, the rest prepare themselves or are just conversation) up to almost 40,000yen which is a nice chunk of extra change to have floating around . Would be nice to add one more private lesson after the baby comes perhaps that I could do at home that would be weekly- an extra four hours a month would mean I could DEFINITELY earn 50,000yen or so…

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I crossed absolutely NOTHING off my 101 things in 1001 days list in September. We are now 12th October and I haven`t crossed anything off for this month yet either and I doubt that I will be crossing anything off anytime soon. But at least I have done my monhtly update.

I have 2 months of letters to finish writing and posting for Noah (7 months and 8 months) and I am late on doing my 101 things in 1001 days  updates also.

Maybe I should try to blog everyday in September in order to make up for my recent slackness?

I have less than 4 months to go on my 101 things in 1001 days list and I am kind of over it- in the beginning it was great! A fantastic motivator for getting things ready for the wedding, and experiencing Australia with Shun and other things too but now as I near the deadline knowing I won`t get everything crossed off I am a little disappointed in myself. I know I shouldn`t be because I have crossed the majority of things off already but I am one of those people that doesn`t like to do things half baked (well at least not usually!) but have lacked the motivation in recent months to get things done…

78. Do a monthly update for 101 things on blog (29/33)

Crossing off another 2 months here!

96. Go camping with Shun

Done! We went camping last month (although seems like so long ago) with friends in Gunma. It was in cabin type things but that is still camping in my book PLUS we got to take Noah along!

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Have finally uploaded photos from Australia trip here! Most are from Australia anyway since we were there for most of the month of August. There are even more on facebook for those who are friends with me there.

A couple of favourites though…. (will embed more when I write Noah`s letters!)

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Books read recently

Finally finished “The girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and started the second book. Have also read “The Better Woman” by Ber Carroll (Nay you will like this so I will keep it for you! While you are in Australia if you see any books by her check her out- this is the second or third book I have read by her in the last couple of years and I enjoy her writing style and the books are always at least half set in Australia) and a V.C Andrews book which was part of a series too.

Also read the relevant parts (for us) of “How to raise an amazing child- the montessori way” about using the montessori methods in your own home.

Let`s not forget I have probably read at least 30 different pictures books to Noah in the last couple of months too!

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Noah will turn one in December and we will be in Australia. He is getting christened on December 26th so friends and family will be joining us for that ( I wanted it to be while Shun was in Australia and he is only there from 24th to Jan 3rd) so I think I will just have some cake and stuff and a little party back at my mum`s house after that so that Shun will also be there for his “1st birthday celebrations”.

Noah`s friends are all in Japan though and so I am wondering if I should have a little something when we come back to Japan in January too. We have so far missed 2 different 1st birthday parties due to illness (Noah`s first fever) and then been in Australia (Sorry Sakura and Missha ) but I think we will be able to make Misora`s later in this year (assuming we get an invite- Melanie, we are invited right? haha) Earlier this year we also made it to Nanami`s 2nd birthday party and I am sure Noah would enjoy having friends over to play with and of course MORE cake.

I will be in my 3rd trimester by then with edamame-chan (about 33 weeks along I think?) and am not sure if I would be up for planning it especially since we will be in Australia for the time leading up to it! Something to think about anyway! Noah might be too little to remember the festivities but I want him to know we celebrated his birthday when he gets older (and sees the pictures!)

It would be pretty cold around then too but I think I would probably hold it at our place or at the local oyako cafe (about 500m away)!

I have to look into dairy free cake! (and then real cake for those that can eat dairy- because really who wants to eat cake made with soy butter and soy milk. yuk!)…..

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Noah officially is a baby that sleeps through the night. He has continued the good sleeping since we have been back in Japan and it is amazing how nice it is to wake up at  6 or 7am and think “Wow, I got 6-8 hours SOLID sleep” – that said, still pregnant and running after a child though so still pretty damn tired!

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I have my baby doctor`s appointment tomorrow for edamame-chan. I hope he/she is growing well!

Update 101 things is 1001 days for June 2010

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months  (abandoned June 2009 due to pregnancy, to restart after birth. Managed 4 months before getting pregnant and started again Jan 2010) 6/6.
DONE! Since losing my pregnancy weight by the time Noah was a month old and actually losing a further couple of kilos I came out 3kg less than my pre-pregnancy weight AND means that since I started the 1001 days challenge I lost 10kg, put on 12kg, lost 15kg! That is a lot of yo-yo weight loss/gain in a short amount of time but hopefully I can maintain it now for awhile!

50. Learn how to use photoshop.

This has been a long time coming, and to be honest I can`t see myself using the program much but I know my way around (slightly!) and can do some touch ups if I want. I found it all very time consuming though and I would rather just take photos and upload as is unless I was making something special as a gift or something. But that is just me! It is an amazing program though and the things you can do with it (of which I only know a small amount) is incredible.

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Books read in June

I am still working on “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – This is without a doubt the longest it has taken me to read a novel before. I guess I just haven`t really gotten into it. I like it enough but all the Swedish names make it confusing and I think after caring for Noah all day my brain is just mush and makes it a bit hard to follow sometimes. Once I am done, while I own the next two in the series, I will probably hold off on reading them until I go to Australia later in the year. I am looking forward to reading a different novel but definitely something that doesn`t require me to concentrate so much (How bad does that sound. Honestly though, I think other mums out there probably understand at least those with under 3s)

Reading Magic- Mem Fox (more on this later)

Top 100 Baby Purees- Annabel Karmel

Oh and in June I probably read over 30 different pictures books (some more than 2 or 3 times!).

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Mem Fox is an author of Australian children`s books and also works on children`s literacy. I recently picked up her book “Reading Magic” which focuses on reading aloud to your children from birth or a young age and the impact it will have on their ability to read later on. I have read to Noah almost everyday since he was born- I usually have a little book in my bag in case we get bored on a train or while out, I read before bath time and at other times of the day and on the weekends I encourage Shun to read Japanese picture books to Noah and I always take books to my in-laws house so that they can read to Noah too (in Japanese)

Noah is not even 7 months old and has approximately 100 picture books in English (and only about 10 in Japanese), We haven`t read all the books we own but have read most of them. Some of the golden books I have though are a bit long so I am leaving them for when he is older.

I love to read. I have always loved to read and apparently I taught myself to read before I even went to kindy. How? Well my parents read to me everyday and I guess that helped.

Reading through Mem`s book I began to realize why I was able to teach myself to read really young. All the things she encouraged parents/teachers etc to do are things my parents did with me and a lot of the case studies in her books were of children reading younger than usual or those that struggled with reading were ONLY trying to learn from a phonics base focus instead of concentrating on the whole words and stories (which you do when reading aloud to children)

Anyway I found the book fantastic. Noah only has 3 of Mem Fox`s children`s books but I will definitely try to pick up some others when we are back in Australia.

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Noah`s napping has turned to crap. He still naps but a couple of weeks ago when his schedule changes (yet again!) and he started waking up  for the day around 6am every morning I would feed him at 6am, do his breakfast about 8am, feed him again at 9am and he would get drowsy or fall asleep while feeding and I would put him down for a nap and he would sleep for about an hour and then at 12 or so when I would feed him again he would fall asleep again.

This meant that he was no longer putting HIMSELF to sleep in his cot because he was pretty much asleep when I put him in the cot. The problem with this is that I spent so much time ensuring he was able to put himself to sleep previously that I knew if I didn`t break him of the habit we would be in trouble and he would start needing me to fall asleep.

When we were out and about he would still just sleep when he was ready in his pram or ergo- not necessarily after feeds but over the weekend and today I have tried to switch it up so that he naps without feeding first (He is not hungry or anything- he would usually have had a feed within 1hr30 mins) and it has been a nightmare.

A good 45 minutes each time of him screaming when I put him in the cot. I would pat him for a bit and he would settle but he would whimper for awhile and then start screaming again. It is not like me hoding him helps as he just gets frustrated. His first 2 naps today he has while we were out at the embassy. Both were very short though- only 25 minutes or so each so he was still pretty tired so I ave just managed to settle him again for another nap. I put him in the cot at 12:30pm and he FINALLY fell asleep at 1:20pm although he was exhausted. He would self settle for a bit but then scream again so I was in and out of his room non-stop.

Any advice? I don`t want him to be reliant on breastfeeding for sleep but I am happy to pat him until he settles or continue to go into his room to let him know I am close by.  Previously though I would just put him in his cot and he would play a bit and then fall asleep. At night he would often be asleep after his bath and feed before I put him down but if he was still awake I would put him in his cot anyway and he would chat” for a it then fall asleep by himself. I very rarely had to go back into his room once I had put him in the cot.

I think part of it might also be separation anxiety setting in because now if he is playing in the living room and I get up to go to the kitchen or soomething he will often turn on the water works.

In May though, sadly, I didn`t get much done.

I continued to maintain my weight loss and still weigh less now than I did when I got pregnant. So 5/6 months done for number 33. One more month and I will be able to cross this off! Yay!

95. Get a credit card.

This is done. I have had a debit card for years (ie, it is a visa but have to have the money IN THE ACCOUNT to use it) and have had credit cards connected to my parents account when I was travelling (emergency use) but have never had MY OWN CREDIT CARD. So I applied for two visa`s- one for me, one for Shun and they arrived. So I am happy I could cross another thing off the list.

I have 16 things left to cross off the list- six of them definitely will not be done, about four are unlikely and about six will be done or are very likely to get done. I guess I better start saving to pay $10 to charity for each uncompleted item. Since I will be in Australia for Christmas I am thinking however many things will remain undone will be money I spend on buying gifts to go under the tree for disadvantaged families/children at my mums local shopping center. Or I will send it to world vision OR the Ronald Macdonald House in South Brisbane.

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As I type this I can hear the fireworks going off at Disneyland. I hear/see them most nights.

Today I spent the day with Shun and Noah and we were home all day. It was nice. I did some cleaning, took some pictures, made some baby food, Shun made dinner and now I am relaxing on the sofa.

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Solids and feeding Noah is going well. He has tried rice cereal, banana, apple, pumpkin and spinach. He likes pumpkin best I think and although he hated banana the first time he likes it mixed with rice cereal. Today I made spinach, carrots, sweet potato mixed with spinach, and sweet potato by itself. I have about 2 weeks worth of frozen baby food since he eats only one ice cube a day…(and rice cereal with some fruit in the mornings usually although sometimes it is just rice cereal). We are on two meals a day- one about 8:00am or 8:30am depending on what time he wakes up and then again about 6pm. He gets excited when he goes into the high chair as he knows what is coming!!!

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This year I have been listing the books I have read each month and sadly, I have to say, I didn`t complete one book in May. I am still working on “Girl with the dragon tattoo” but I did read some of my baby sign booklets from class, some magazines and also some sections out of my baby books. It is very unlike me to NOT complete at least a couple of books/novels each month but honestly I find it a bit hard to concentrate on reading nowadays…

I am also reading “Mothering your nursing toddler” which Mel lent me. I am not sure how long I plan to breastfeed Noah- I guess I had thought I would start to wean him while in Australia around his first birthday. Does anyone have anything they wish to share on this? At the moment he doesn`t drink any formula and I breastfeed him 7-8 times a day including once, sometimes twice overnight (between 7:30pm-7:30 or 8am) and feed him twice a day. I want to continue breastfeeding him. I really feel like I would miss it if I stopped anytime soon but I think by his first birthday I will have wanted to cut him down a lot, if not weaned him completely.

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Big shout out to my good friend Cassie whose birthday is tomorrow! Make sure you stop by her blog to say Happy Birthday!!!

Same as I have in the previous months for 2010 I will list the books I read as well.

Take A Change on Me- Jill Mansell
My Darling is a foreigner (ダーリンは外国人) In English (Saori Oguri)
Heavenstone Secrets　- V.C Andrews
7 steps to raising a bilingual child— Naomi Steiner & Susan L Hayes
Also read a couple of magazines!

Now I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and am so far really enjoying it! I think Nooh recommended it originally!

What a dull post! Perhaps I will try and write again later tonight once Noah is down for the night (he is napping now but due to wake up any minute) and post cute photos of his first rice cereal experience!

5. Go to at least two of the following places: Hokkaido, Nara, Hakone or Nagasaki.

Well I went to Nara 2 years ago(!) and went to Hakone last month and I wrote about the trip on here! So Have now been to two of the above places- although I went to the two CLOSEST places. I still hope to go to Hokkaido and Nagasaki sometime soon though!

3. Take a Japanese cooking class or classes

I enquired about these at the ABC cooking studio at Lalaport since I went to a trial lesson with that school once before with my friend Suzy (We made Japanese style Christmas cake, it was fun!) but you have to buy a 12 class pass and I would never be able to get someone to watch Noah that many times. They do do one off classes but it is for certain foods and they are not Japanese style cooking which is more what I am looking for. Does anyone know of Japanese cooking classes I could take that are more Japanese style? It doesn`t matter if it is in English or Japanese.

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months  (abandoned June 2009 due to pregnancy, to restart after birth. Managed 4 months before getting pregnant and started again Jan 2010) 3/6

Now done for 3 months! I still weight a little less than I did when I got pregnant with Noah which is great!

72. Get paid to write something

Working on this by taking a magazine writing class through Writer U at the moment. I wish I had more time to devote to the course which is going for most of April but it is obviously hard with Noah (and my brother and Gem still been in town) but maybe next week and the week later I can focus on it a little more and hopefully it will help me get paid to write something!!

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Also, as in recent months, I will share the books I read in March. Only two though Did read a couple of magazines though as well and LOTS of children`s books. Both books read were great though!

Love in Translation- Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

House Rules- Jodi Picolt

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Go check Nay`s blog- she had her baby! YAY! SO happy for both her and Naoki.

I have so many blog posts to catch up on still…also need to start baby proofing as Noah is rolling more and more and today rolled from his back to his stomach for the first time (has been rolling stomach to back for a couple of weeks) after he moved around in circles with his feet for five minutes (before he flipped over). I will have to be on my toes a bit more now!!!

2. Read a Japanese newspaper or magazine and understand it.

Well I read “おはよう奥さん” a magazine with recipes and things for wives in Japan- still can`t quite believe a magazine like this exists. Now I skipped all the ads in it and I read through the rest. I have to admit after the first couple of pages of looking up every second kanji I gave up looking the rest up so technically I only understood about 50% of it. But, I did do a couple pages each day and read through reasonably slowly trying to get the meaning etc. I doubt I would buy the magazine again but I did like the recipes and have marked a couple to try. I also bought a cook book at the same time with Japanese recipes and have flicked through that a couple times and tried a couple of things from it- so I can read them well enough to do them without help!

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (2/6)

Maintained my original weight loss for another month and bonus here, I lost another 2kg since Jan 19th! WOOT! Was a nice surprise when I hopped on the scales at the end of Feb! So 2 months down here!

50. Learn how to use photoshop.

I am still working on this but I don`t think I could comfortably cross it off but I do know most of the basics now! Will continue to work through it and hopefully be able to cross it off soon!

66. (Buy) a Polaroid camera

Well technically I didn`t *buy* it but when Shun`s parents asked him what I wanted for my birthday last month he said he knew I wanted a Polaroid camera and that is what they got me! Yay! Along with 5 things of the film stuff so I have snapped quite a few cute pictures of Noah which are now stuck to our pinboard! I look forward to playing with it more!

100. Make a budget and stick to it for six months (6/6)

It feels so good to cross this off my list as it has been a long time coming! Shun  & I successfully stuck to our budget for six whole months!!!! We are continuing with a similar system but I would and am working towards trying to save more each month- this will probably happen by me taking on a few more private lessons perhaps as well as getting better at cooking Japanese food since it is so much cheaper to cook that here!

I still have 17 things to cross off my list before December!

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Oh and continuing on from January these are the books I read in February- not much but hey, I still tried to read a little each day. Plus I am not putting down the kids books I read with Noah but I read one or two a day too him!

Grasshopper by Barbara Vine (I didn`t like it- I have passed it onto Nay though so will be interesting to see if she likes it as she read the back cover a couple of months ago and requested I pass it onto her when I was done)

Twenties Girl- Sophie Kinsella (Good book! Usually like her work and it is so easy to pick and put down which is great considering I dont have so much time to read anymore)

Baby Signing (Teach yourself)- Jane Jarvis (Enjoyed it and have referred back to it several times. Noah and I are going to our first baby sign class in April but I already do about 3 signs with him on a regular basis)

I also read cookbooks, many kids books and the “ohayou okusan” magazine mentioned earlier!

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I seem to have lost my blogging mojo of late too- so if you find it please let me know! I guess I feel like most of the things I want to blog are about Noah but that it could get a tad boring for those who read after awhile. I love looking at his cute pictures but I am not sure whether everyone else wants to see picture after picture! hehe

2. Read a Japanese newspaper or magazine and understand it

Started working on this today! Obviously not finished yet but have started at least by buying the magazine “おはよう奥さん”　−It has some good recipes so far that I am definitely going to try!

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (1/6)

I made it back down to my pre-baby weight and have started maintainence again. I made it 4 months previously before getting pregnant but have to start again!!! So one month down!

78. Do a monthly update for each month that I do 101 things in 1001 days on my blog (22/33)

Just 11 more updates to go!

100. Make a budget and stick to it for six months (5/6)

Now we have stuck to it for 5 months! We also managed to save a lot more over the last month due to baby money, Shun`s Dec bonus and more!

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In January (this has nothing to do with 101 things though) I started writing down the books I read- I have tried this many times over the years and I use to write a monthly list in my journal (yes, I am THAT kind of person) more so that if I read a good book then I had the authors name so that I could check out others by the same author. Anyway, I don`t get as much time to read anymore as I used to obviously and I figured it might be a good year to start it again seeing as I won`t have as much to record- I used to do most of my reading on the train to and from work (both in Australia & Japan) or while relaxing in coffee shops and now, with Noah, if we are on the train I am moving the pram back and forth so he doesn`t crack up and it is similar in coffee shops!

That said, this month I tried to read a little each day even if it was just half an hour before bed.

The books I read in January are

Call me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural mothering – Suzanne Kamata (Ed)
Baby Love- Robin Barker
Are you my Mother?- Louise Voss
Split Ends- Zoe Barnes
It sucked and then I cried- Heather B. Armstrong

It was a pretty good mix. One was short stories/anthologies (Call me Okaasan), 1 reference/non fiction book (Baby Love), 2 fiction (Split Ends/Are you my Mother?) and I guess It Sucked and then I Cried could be considered a autobiography of sorts. All of them were good but I think I liked It Sucked and then I Cried best though as I had been waiting/wanting to read it for a long time. Suzanne Kamata`s (I read her blog!) book was great too- I am waiting for another fiction by her as I loved her first book (Losing Kei) as well. The short stories/anthologies were really great and I loved her introduction and the stories in the book. I am not sure how much I will read this month seeing as I am trying to read the magazine in Japanese (and my reading is so bad that it will take me A LONG TIME to get through it and actually understand it) but I am sure I will get a couple of English books in as well.

Anyone want to recommend any good books they have read lately? I have heaps of un-read ones on my shelves already but I am always on the look out for more!

Oh and if you missed yesterday`s post- see below! Lots of smiley pictures of Noah!