Cherry Blossom Adventures

My friend Nicole was staying with us for a couple of days before she headed back to Australia (after 2 years in London). We have been friends since high school but she actually lived in Japan for a year in 2004 so it was her second time.

Noah of course loved the extra attention.

Nic said good bye to her fiance in England and they are trying to work out some visa stuff before he joins her in Australia (he is Colombian) so leaving England was bitter sweet for her. While she is excited to be heading back to Australia I think she is nervous all the same. Anyway, I wish her the best of luck and am looking forward to catching up again in November and December.

Yesterday we went to look at 5 properties in our house/land hunt. Two were blocks of land, one was a block of land with an old house on it (that will be torn down) and two were new houses built in the last couple of months. It definitely made us realize what size things were. I originally was thinking land of about 35 Tsubo but my MIL kept telling me she thought that would be too small and to only look at places 40 tsubo or bigger. I am glad she did- we looked at one block that was 37 tsubo and it just seemed so tiny and I couldn`t imagine a house even fitting on there but that said there are plenty of properties bought on land even SMALLER than that here. My MIL has been great- she went to the bank for us to get some estimates on loans, and sussed out some places for us to look on Sunday. My FIL watched Noah for the 2 hours it took us to look around. It was just our first weekend of looking (and now the next two weekends are busy with camping and then with Benay and her family staying and Sakura`s birthday party) but one was a possibility (the one with the old house on it currently) although we are not in any hurry and will look again in a couple of weeks. Nice to know what is out there though, what the prices range from and also what some new houses looked like on the inside.

Some other recent snaps:

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I missed Things I love Thursday yesterday because I had visitors and a friend and her daughter stay over, so playing catch up today while baby naps!

Things I loved this week

• Home made ricotta cheese for the lasange for dinner.
• Sunny weather yesterday, despite the fact rainy season is DEFINITELY upon us.
• Baby napping so I can blog.
• Sleepovers with friends- was great having Cassie over (and I can`t link to her today because her blog is down- hope it gets fixed soon hun as it looks like her account was hacked!) and having extra hands to help with Noah and I always have fun spending time with her and her daughter. She is such a lovely house guest too – not only did she watch Noah while i had a shower this morning but she also did the dishes at the same time while simultaneously making sure her daughter ate breakfast. Yeah, she rocks!
• 2 year old speak from Cassie`s daughter Nana- “dope” for soap (Like, “where`s the dope?”, “mukit” for music oh and when she talks about Noah she always calls him “A Noah” or “Its a baby Noah”- so cute.  Can`t wait til Noah starts talking!
• Chiba Peanuts playgroup 2nd meeting success- had lots of fun at the oyako cafe the other day and some new members join too. English playgroup rocks!
• Seeing Nay, Naoki and Leilah for a bit yesterday- Leilah has changed already and getting so big! So cute in her little black and white outfit.
• Been all prepared for father`s day this Sunday. I am prepared because I thought it was 2 weeks ago but still!! Shun`s first father`s day!
• Recent videos of Noah- I will eventually get around to uploading them!
• Aircon- it has been so hot but I am glad we have aircon. I can`t leave it on all the time though but it is nice to flick it on and cool down the room for an hour.
• Looking at houses/apartments online- not that we can afford to buy one right now but looking is fun too!!!
• My mum getting time off work to come to Melbourne while I am there later in the year for  a wedding.
• Parcel from Australia with some stuff for Noah.
• Baby sign
• Bonus day (not sure if it is Bonus Day for others in Japan but Shun`s work bonus came in today- most salary men in Japan get two bonus`s a year!)
• six month birthday for Noah tomorrow- yep, my little koala munchkin will be six months old! Hard to believe that this time six months ago I was sitting on the sofa, probably watching re-runs of ER, without a baby but that I had had him by 11am the next day…(he came FAST!)
• Cooled teething rings and frozen wet face washers- Noah is grumpy a lot because of teeth coming in (yet we still have no teeth) but If I give him one of them he will happily sit and chew for awhile which is a bit of a lifesaver.

Oh and onto rants because, well, what week would be complete without some?

I went to go do Noah`s Polio immunization today. For those not in Japan, Polio, at least in most cities, is only administered 3 times a year to all the babies in the area. You don`t make an appointment- you just go, get a number, line up, take bubs temperature and go in. They still do the oral version too (same in Australia, right?). Anyway I went today for it but turns out If I want to do Noah`s 3rd DPT shot on time (10 days away) then I can`t do Polio. Shun rang the clinic previously to make the DPT appointment- usually I would just ring and make the appointment but it was going to be our first time there (although then I got sick and went anyway, oh and then Noah got constipated so we went again!) so Shun rang to make the appointment etc etc. He asked and said we wanted to do Polio today at the cattle call but that the 3rd DPT shot has to be done within 8 weeks of the 2nd (or you have to start over again) and they said the appointment he took etc would be fine, blah blah blah.

I go to get Polio, want to double check first (AGAIN!) and they say, no no, if you want to do DPT in 10 days you can`t do Polio today. And then I said well maybe I would do Polio and reschedule 3rd DPT shot and they look at Noah`s baby health book and say “no no, then it will be more than 8 weeks” and so yeah. a wasted trip to the community centre to line up with all the other mums to get the Polio.

DPT seems to be more important so I am glad we will finish those shots up first but I had been hoping to have his 2nd Polio in October (another cattle call) before we went to Australia but now he will have his 1st in October and his 2nd next February when we come back from Australia. Good thing Australia doesn`t have a Polio problem I guess.

I wish that we could do all the immunzations at the same place and they would just put a schedule in place when the baby is born- would make it a whole lot easier. I would rather do Polio at a clinic instead of a cattle call too but there is no choice for that unfortunately…

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Anyway visiting from FYBF- HI and welcome!

It is Flog  Yo Blog Friday over at Mummy-Time so go join in!

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On Saturday we headed to Kinuta Koen (Park) to have hanami (flower viewing) party with some of my foreign wife friends, their husbands and their bubs and kids. It was a great day out and the weather was actually even warm at certain points of the day.

Thanks to Khea who organized it.

I took a ton of photos and so did Melanie and the set of pictures can be found here on flickr (over 100 photos and that isn`t even all of them!)

It was Noah`s first “Hanami” experience and while he was a bit fussy at times I think he had an okay time. We had tons of great food that each of us had prepared and it was a lovely lovely group of people.

Some of the food (I made the apple cake (thanks to Sherry for the recipe), hummus and veggie sticks and some guacamole as well. Also cut up a whole bunch of fruit for everyone to munch on)

Nana & Cassie (both doing Nana`s attempt at the peace sign!)

Sarah & Khea

Our little family

Missha in her party dress

Mel & her family

Bubbles

Noah flying under the blossoms

Blossoms up close

My koala munchkin and the sakura

Babies on the move

And napping

We were supposed to go to another hanami party on Sunday but we were all too tuckered out after the busy day Saturday (and it was also really cold yesterday). I want to do hanami at least one more time before the cherry blossom season ends and will probably go with my brother, Gemma and Noah later in the week once they are back in Chiba.

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The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom which means it is my favourite time of year!!!

I have so many things to catch up blog wise like my brother arriving, trip to hakone and Noah`s 100th day celebration (Okuihajime), Noah in his jolly jumper, new pictures of my little koala munchkin and more but will start with what we did yesterday which was head to Kichijoji and meet up with Heather and her girls for the first time as well as Cassie & Nana!

It is no secret that I LOVE Kichijoji! It was where I originally lived in Japan, where I went to university, where I met Shun and where Shun & I had our first apartment together so there are many happy memories there and yesterday was the first time I had been since before Noah was born meaning it was his first time in Kichijoji. The weather was a bit strange all day raining on and off and sunny at other times.

We met in the park (Inokashira Park) and it was nice to see that the blooms had started to come out- my guess is that in another 5 days it will be perfect there so anyone planning to do hanami this weekend should be in luck (We actually have hanami plans BOTH days this weekend!)- we ate lunch in Peppa Cafe and while I have walked past it SOOOOOO many times I had never eaten in there but it was awesome and I will definitely be going back!

Noah sat in a highchair for the first time (and loved it- but I forgot to get a photo as I was enjoying eating my lunch without a baby in my lap for the first time in what seems like forever!!!) and Nana used chopsticks for the first time (without prompting I might add, she just picked them up, positioned her fingers and started picking up daikon from her mum`s soup! The staff and the rest of us were WELL impressed! It was still a cold day so I had to rug Noah up a little

I got to meet Heather and her two lovely daughters Meg & Amy! Heather was just how I imagined she would be (down to the lovely aussie accent and all- I love meeting up with other Aussies as it is like been back in OZ!)- i hope to visit her and her family in Nagano sometime!! After lunch we ate gelato and then went for a walk around Kich – the two older girls tried on some make-up and I snapped a picture of them with Noah before saying goodbye!

Noah had a couple naps while out but none were very long so he was a bit overtired by the time we got home yesterday afternoon but that didn`t stop him from attempting to sit by himself- so I will leave you with a shot of that!

Like I said I still have lots of blog posts to catch up on but for those not on my facebook you can check out any recent photos over at my flickr page here.

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I missed my Things I love Thursday post this week but I probably would of written good friends and old friends. I have had my life touched in the last week by three old friends in particular…two of whom I hadn`t been in contact for for quite awhile.

One is Clare who came to Japan on her way to moving to the UK. Clare and I met on our first day of highschool at age 12 and have been good friends ever since- in fact when we were about 14 we were inseparable unable to go a day without speaking to each other and even though we were together at school all day we would often write letters to each other or ring each other once we got home from school.  Her family were like my second family especially when my dad got sick when I was 15 and her parents would often take care of my brother & I or help my mum out when she needed it.

Strangely enough Clare`s little brother Timmy and my brother went to the same highschool and while were not very close in junior years they became great friends as the years went by and are still now very close. Through us, our parents also became quite close and have stayed in contact and her whole family was at our wedding last year.

With Clare, no matter how much time has passed since we last saw each other we can always just pick up where we left off!! I love that! She was here Thursday but left Friday morning to go to Kyoto for a couple of days but will be back in Tokyo/Chiba tomorrow! Watching her with Noah was great and I can`t wait to spend some more time with her before she leaves on Tuesday morning.

Next friend is a girl I met in kindy named Sarah-Jane. Sarah-Jane moved to NZ when we were only 6 or so and we lost touch and my parents also lost touch with her parnets as they separated soon after they went back to NZ. I had been thinking about her a bit lately wondering what the hell happened to her and with the wonders of facebook I tracked her down! She was my first friend I made myself if that makes sense. I was 3 or so and she was 4 at the time and while of course I had friends before that but they were my cousins or neighbours or kids belonging to my parents friends…

We have started a bit of a message thread back and forth and have been busy catching up. It is quite amazing really.

The third old friend is Kanako- a Japanese friend I made in my final year of highschool. We hadn`t been in touch since I was still in Australia and she sent a letter congratulating us on our wedding- we did catch up a couple of weeks before I moved back to Australia as well but hadn`t spoken much since! I didn`t have her old mobile number anymore but I still had her parents home number so I rang last night after having thinking about getting in touch for weeks and weeks- I did try when I first came back to Japan but her email had changed so it was no good. Luckily she was still living at home (she is a teacher in Nagasaki now- teaching English) although she lived out of home in Kyoto for university and will also be moving to her own place soon because she has just gotten a full-time (recent teaching job was just a year contract) with a highschool that is part of nihon daigaku (Japan university) which has highschools all over the country. She will still be based in Nagasaki but quite far from her home town.

Anyway- she didn`t know about Noah so it was great to share that news and also catch up on what has been happening over the last year or so! Nagasaki is really far from here but hopefully one day I can go visit her in Kyushu or next time she heads up this way to Tokyo then we can catch up (She said she was here just 3 weeks ago for a wedding but didn`t know that Shun & I were back in Japan)

It is great to catch up with old friends!!!!

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Another lovely weekend was had in which we met up with Sarah & Nay, attended a 2nd birthday party for Cassie`s daughter Nanami, and had a lovely bloggy girl catch-up on Monday with the girls (Sarah, Nay, Cassie, Melanie & Khea- although unfortunately Sarah, Ryohei & Sakura could not stay very long) and the kiddies. A few favourite photos from the weekend…

The birthday girl

Noah`s first birthday party ever

Opening presents- her first doll

Yummy yummy cheese fondue

What a difference 4.5 months makes- Noah & Sakura make friends with each other!

Grown-ups talk and the kiddies play

Noah meets Missha

The bubs try walking

Noah sitting with me

Was such a lovely weekend as I said but we were exhausted after it was over so today we just chilled out at home and caught up on some play time just the two of us (Noah & I) while mama (me) caught up on some laundry and some chill out time! The good news is that Noah has been a bit of a champion sleeper most nights this past week waking up only once usually during the night (anywhere between 1-4am)…He is bathed and fed and put to bed between 7:30pm an 8:30pm and then sleeps for 5-8 hours usually and then goes down for another couple hours- today he slept in until 8:30am (after a 4am wake up, change and feed) but that could of been because of the busy busy days we have had lately.

My friend Clare (bridesmaid from wedding) arrives from Australia Thursday morning and will be with us for one night before heading down to Kyoto and then back with us from Sunday for two more nights and then she is off on an adventure to England for a couple of years. She of course hasn`t met Noah yet but is excited to meet him and I am so excited to see her!!! We have been friends since the first day of highschool where we met when we were 12!

So tomorrow will be another day spent cleaning up, cooking up a storm (want to cook lasange and soup so that on Thursday and Friday nights I can just heat up food and perhaps make a salad- plus I meant to make brownies today but didn`t get to it so will try them tomorrow!) and making sure everything is ready for my next visitor!

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We had a busy weekend (and the next two weekends are set to be just as busy!) but it was lots of fun.

On Saturday we drove out to Kugayama (borrowed in-laws car) in West Tokyo to see a little boy who I used to teach- I mentioned him a couple of weeks ago. Shion. Shion had been at the preschool I used to teach at for 4 months when I joined as a teacher and already his English was excellent- it was so hard to believe ha hadn`t been bought up in a billingual environment until that point. If Noah spoke English as well as Shion did at age 4 I would be pretty happy!

He was always a bit of a handful but such a great, spirited kid and he was always one of my favourites. I taught him to read before he turned 5 and he never looked back- often asking what shop signs said when we would walk to the park and always bringing books to me to read.

A couple of months ago when his mum got in touch with me to see if I was back in Japan I was so happy to hear from her and hear that Shion had gone into elementary school without a hitch. She said her other little boy Kanon was at another international preschool (the one I used to work at closed down 9 months after I left, and before I returned to Japan) and he was also doing very well (he is 3 now, Shion is 7)- then when I got a phonecall a couple weeks ago from Shion I was so excited to make plans to see them in the coming weeks.

So Saturday was the day. Shun had only met Shion twice and only met his parents once but it still went really well. It was my first time at their house and Shion`s mum had prepared temaki zushi (with non-raw seafood options as well) and it was delicious! Noah was pretty well behaved and Shion`s mum had set up a little rocker/seat for him to sit in.

I was most impressed that Shion still spoke English so well even though he has been in a Japanese elementary school since last April (he does do returnee English program 2-3 times a week though and also bible studies at the same school his brother goes to. Shion`s mum is Christian and they attend church each week) – I was also super impressed with how Kanon`s English had come along. When I left Japan he hadn`t started school yet and only spoke a handful of Japanese words and no English but he conversed with me in English at a similar level to a lot of native 3 year olds- certainly at the same level of a child who has one native speaking parent which is what Noah will have so I have high hopes for his billingualism (although Shion/Kanon are full Japanese and their parents don`t speak English- Shion`s dad is a famous song writer though and goes by the pen name “Hikari” and writes songs for bands like Every Little Thing, NEWS, Rinka and V6 -he even is written up on wikipedia here. Why the name Hikari? Well it is the second kanji in his given name and he gets called “Hi-kun” a lot apparently although I always call him by his given name plus san. hehe).

We took a couple of photos and I am looking forward to seeing Shion and his family again soon

Shion insisted on trying to hold Noah while standing up

On Sunday we spent the day at home until just before 5pm when we headed into the city towards Yurakucho to see friends and celebrate the engagement of Gen & Alice. Gen & Alice live in Melbourne but Gen & I studied together originally when I was a student in Japan and he grew up in Melbourne but with two Japanese parents. Alice`s heritage is Chinese/Vietnamese and she spent a bit of time visiting Gen while he was on exchange so I have known her for just as long- the got engaged late last year and were in Japan for this week so we all caught up- a lot of old uni friends (mainly Japanese) also met us for dinner.

Most of them had not seen Noah since he was a week old (except James, Hiro & Cat) and Megumi I hadn`t seen since I came back to Japan so it had been almost 2 years! It was great to catch up although Noah found the whole thing a little overwhelming I think- but he sure slept well when we got home and bathed him (from 9:45pm-4am and then until 7:30)!

Us with Gen & Alice

Technically yesterday was not the weekend but I have one more photo to share! Yesterday Noah & I ventured all the way to Shinjuku to catch up with Cassie & Nana. Was such a lovely day and we visited Kinokuniya (more books for Noah & me), H&M (in which I only looked and bought kids clothes although would love to go back to look for myself) and had a lovely lunch and starbucks!

Here is a photo of Nana, Cassie & Noah- Nana got a little upset when Cassie had held Noah for me earlier in the day so I asked her to “help” her mum hold Noah so I could get some stuff ready (in fact I think it was so I could do up my dress after feeding him. hahaha) and that went much better. It makes me realize though when we add a brother/sister into the family in a couple of years time that Noah might take some time to adjust! I loved this photo though- Nana is checking out Noah!

No Two for Tuesday this week but I am making Chilli Con Carne in the crockpot/slow cooker as I type so if it is a success I am sure I will have some recipes to share next week!

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Sometimes you just have a great day and for me, today was one of them!!!

Noah had a reasonable sleep last night and while i woke up for the day a little tired I soon recovered (as my body is certainly getting used to!). We set out at 10am to do a bit of shopping (Got Noah so jeans from gap for 9ooyen on sale) before heading to Kinshicho to meet Cassie & Nana for lunch. We hadn`t met up since September due to schedule conflicts, sickness, baby births and overseas travel so it was a long awaited catch up and it didn`t disappoint!

It was so nice to have lunch with a friend, talk about bubs and just catch up in general. Cassie & I have similar outlooks on life and it is always nice to catch up and while we live kind of far from each other it is still a doable lunch date!!!

We said goodbye about 3:30pm and Noah and I headed back to Funabashi to do some food shopping before heading home. Noah went down tonight quite well after his bath and feed and while he woke up once about 10 minutes after I put him down (so I went in and gave him a cuddle) he cried again when I put him down again but not a hysterical cry so I let him cry and within 5 minutes he was asleep. I never thought I could be one of those “let them cry it out” parents but for Noah it works- he is much better at settling himself than having me settle him. If I go in and settle him he falls asleep but wakes up again within 5 minutes of me putting him down and after a couple of horror nights last week and over the weekend in which it took me 2-4 hours to get him settled as he cried within 10 minutes of putting him down every time,  I decided to take my mum`s advice and the first time he cried after putting him down went in to cuddle him and say “shush, shush” and make sure he wasn`t crying because he was hungry or had gas but would then put him back down (usually asleep) and if he cried again I would let him cry it out- I made a deal with myself that if he cried for more than 10 minutes I would go in and comfort him again but I have done it twice now and he has always stopped well before 10 minutes and settles himself to sleep.

Some may say that letting him cry it out is cruel but I always make sure he is not hungry, gassy or cold so really he just wants to be held. In fact when I pick him up he always sleeps within one minute of me picking him up but will wake soon after putting him down again so this way is actually working well for us both. I know that the “letting them cry it out” method does not work for some but considering I do the bedtime routine alone it definitely works for us (and a sometimes he doesn`t cry at all but when he wakes up just chats to himself and soothes himself back to sleep.)

Anyway, continuing on with my great day. After Noah had settled for the night I got a phonecall from an unknown number and when I answered it I repeated “moshi moshi” several times before I heard a little voice say “Is this Teacher Laura?”- it was one of my old international preschool students Shion (from my old job in Kichijoji). His mum emailed me just before Christmas to say merry Christmas and a happy new year and say that she hadn`t heard from me in awhile. I wrote back saying I was back in Japan and expecting a baby in the next couple of weeks and she wrote back showing me some photos of her boys- I finally got around to emailing her again about a week ago to say that I had had my baby and that I hoped we could catch up soon and I included my keitai number and email.

Anyway Shion`s English was still awesome- we were always in awe of this little boy whose English was so great despite having no English outside of school. He is now 7 (I met him when he had just turned 4) and at elementary school but still taking advanced English classes twice a week outside of school and returnee English twice a week at school. He talked to me about his elementary school and said that his teacher was “kind of nice but a little mean” and also said congratulations for baby Noah. It was so cute and hearing him talk brought tears to my eyes. This is a little boy who was one of my favourite EVER students who I had not spoken to in almost 2 years yet he still remembers me!

We have plans to meet up in a couple of weeks!!! I have to speak to Shun about which weekend/holiday suits but I think we will drive out to his parents house sometime soon. I spoke to Shion`s mum for awhile after talking to Shion and I can not wait to meet up again in person. They have another little boy Kannon (who was 3 months old or so when I met him!) and he is now 3 and going to a different international school.

Soon after I hung up I got a call from my mum and we chatted for a bit too- we spoke last night and I was a bit down so she was ringing to check how my day was today. I just feel like today was such a lovely day and I just have such a positive vibe! Dinner is all prepared and in the oven and Shun mailed before to say he shouldn`t be too late and will probably be home by 9:30pm (I might already be in bed however)…

Anyway to conclude my gushy post, here are a couple photos of Noah & Shun from last week in which Noah experienced his first “big bath”…

How was everyone else`s day?

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Noah is one week old today. In some ways it seems like he has been here for a lot longer and in others it feels like just yesterday that he arrived but I can safely say we survived the first week quite well. Motherhood is still definitely a learning curve for me but we are plodding along well!!

He is a pretty good baby (hope I don`t jinx myself) and sleeps quite well at night, waking up to feed every 3 to 3.5 hours and generally going back down fairly easily. Of course sometimes it takes some time to get him back down to sleep or once I put him back down he wakes up again with in ten minutes but most of the time he is good although I am still a bit tired!! He sleeps a bit during the day too of course and tends to drop off for a little bit after each feed then might wake up again 45 minutes later for some awake time! I think I need to start taking some day time naps if I want to survive these first couple of weeks! This might be more possible once my mum arrives (Shun is at the airport now and she should of landed already meaning they will be here in under 2 hours- SQUEEL!!!!!)- he generally stays awake for an hour and a half in the morning and another hour and a half in the afternoon and during those times we either sit watching tv together or he has some tummy time or plays in his bouncer. Yesterday being christmas we listened to carols and I read him a couple of Christmas stories (which I am sure he was thrilled about?! HAHA!)

The couple of baths we have given him have gone well although he much prefers to be in the bath and in the warm water than been out and getting dressed!! I have waited for Shun to be home before bathing him and of course it is easier having someone around but by the time my mum leaves I think I will be up to doing it by myself (Shun gets home too late really in general to wait for him all the time)

A couple of times he has sucked on his thumb or hand and he feeds well- breastfeeding is going quite well I think and he seems to be getting more than enough just from breast milk. He cries when he is hungry or wakes up (although often I will hear he is awake before he starts to cry) and sometimes when he is getting his diaper changed but generally his cries do not last long. I am waiting for them to get more powerful though as I know they will!!! He still has a tiny weak newborn cry at the moment!!!

He loves the song Puff the Magic Dragon and if I sing it while changing his diaper he doesn`t cry and it seems to quieten him down at other times as well. I have learnt to be very careful while changing him to to watch out for spontaneous peeing! Being a little boy it kind of goes everywhere often requiring a change of clothes! hehe!

Shun seems to have taken to fatherhood- always offering to help or hold Noah (although he is not much help at night unless I wake him up myself- he doesn`t hear him cry or anything unless I physically shake him awake but then again that was to be expected since he sleeps through all alarms and once slept through a fire alarm at our old apartment). He is even changing diapers, even the poopy ones, without complaint. It is really cute to see him with him and you can see the adoration in his eyes.

Here are some photos that have been taken since we came home.

Shun put the Sock Octopus (Made by Melanie) on Noah while he was sleeping in his basket on the sofa.

Noah next to Paddington Bear. I received this Paddington Bear from my dad the day I was born almost 25 years ago (my brother received one in different colours when he was born 2.5 years later). They are about the same size!!!!

First bath at home!

Big yawns while chilling with mama during awake time.

Today Catherine, Mai, Nao, Ryomei, Hiro & Junni came to visit little Noah-kun. All friends from when I was on exchange at Seikei University 5+ years ago. They were very excited to meet him!

Hiro holding Noah- he was so proud and happy!

I am enjoying being a mother. Of course I am tired and still adjusting but it has been a surprisingly smooth transition and one week in we are doing well. I can not wait to see what the next week will bring!

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On Saturday night we met up with a friend who was in town from Germany- my last little night time outing for awhile since Goma-chan should be showing up sometime soon. He is Japanese but was transferred to Germany three years ago and is just completing his stint there now- It was great to see him and some other friends I hadn`t seen in a couple of months. It was my first time in an Izakaya in ages as well- I forgot how much I love Izakaya food (although it is not very good for you!)

Shun, me & Cat

Ryomei, the one in the middle, is the one that was here from Germany. It was so funny to listen to him speak German and even funnier when Mai (girl on the right) said that when they were in Africa earlier this year travelling he spoke a bit of English  with a German accent. That cracked me up the most- listening to him try to speak English and him having an obvious German accent! Both of his languages have improved though- I had never heard him speak much English before and before he went to Germany he spoke no German so he has done pretty well!

Sarah & Sakura were also in Chiba overnight and I can not believe how much Sakura has grown in the 2.5 months since I last saw her!!! She was so alert and genki and had so much fun playing with her toys and watching what was going on around her. She was already asleep when Shun got home last night but they had some time together this morning and Shun was not nearly as scared to hold her as he was a couple of months back!!!

Sarah left this afternoon for the airport and they should be flying on there way to America now- I hope Sakura is being a good little girl for her mum. They will stay with us again on the 28th of December (and my mum will already be here then too- so full house!) since they fly in early evening and it would be too difficult to get back to Niigata after that long a flight. Will be interesting to see how much changes in the three weeks! Plus we will be able to get some cute Sakura & Goma-chan photos!!!

Here are a couple photos of Sakura- she loves playing with her rings a lot!!!

Doctors appointment yesterday went okay. The doctor said baby had moved down a little bit but not much- he said we can probably assume that the baby will be late. Shun mentioned that I was really against the idea of having a c-section unless absolutely necessary and the doctor said that should be fine and that if I am still pregnant on the 21 December they will induce and hope for the best. I am hoping of course labour starts naturally before then but at least I know they are not going to go straight to cutting me open if it looks like he is going to be late. Doctor didn`t do an internal but I assume he will do one next Monday when I will be a day overdue.

They said he was still super genki, looked to weigh about 3.1kg and that they would see me in a week unless contractions started sooner. I have a lot of braxton hicks type pain still and I think he has moved down a little bit but on the ultrasound it showed that his arms over his face are what is stopping him from moving down much further so hopefully he moves them out of the way soon! Shun asks me everyday if I think the baby will be born today and every day I tell him “I don`t think so”- it is cute that he asks though. I told him he will be the first to know if baby starts to make an appearance!

My blood pressure was a little higher than usualy- up until now I have had 110/70 at the highest but it was 135/75 yesterday- I think part of the reason was that I was nervous about seeing the doctor and hearing what he had to say this week but they didn`t even mention it to me (I take my own bloodpressure and it prints out on a piece of paper that I give to the midwife) so I am guessing they were not too concerned about it especially since up until this point I have had no blood pressure issues at all.

I am in pain when I walk or do much so will be nice once he is out and in my arms!!!

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