VacaDay 2, Electric Boogaloo - New Year's Eve 2011

On this, the final day of 2011, i'd love to say that i sat quietly and reflected on the year and the journey it has been.  Alas, instead i got called into work to cover one lesson (1 hour on the train each way for a 40 minute lesson!) for a teacher who needed an emergency dentist appointment for a filling that fell out, then a brief respite of bookshop perusing (bought yet more kids books - Shinryu better learn to read soon!), and home to find Ulala frazzled and holding a crying baby.  Nothing a walk couldn't help, though, so we strapped Shinryu into the Ergo carrier and i headed out on walkabout.  I had a great time.  That did, in fact, give me the time for reflection and introspection that i had wanted on this final day.  The weather was great and it also gave me a chance to take some pictures and explore a neighborhood adjacent to ours that i had never wandered through before. I wove my way northeast and made a large arc back toward Osaka Castle Park and then headed parallel to Uemachi-suji back toward home.  I'd been walking for about an hour and a half before Ulala called and came to join us.  She had needed a break and was now in a much better mood.  We did some grocery shopping for dinner and chatted about the year behind and the year ahead.  All in all i walked for about 2 and a half hours and Shinryu got a much needed long nap. A lovely last day of the year.

 I won't bore you with my thoughts on 2011 and goals for 2012 just yet.  I'll save those for a future post, when the ideas have had more of a chance to ferment.  For now here are a few of the pics i took on my walk.

Winter Vacation Day1 (of 6)

What a great start to my winter vacation!  Up at 6:35, watched the sunrise, did some non-essential e-mails to feel semi-productive, then crawled back under the covers for another hour or so.  Woke up again around 8:30, had some yoghurt, and took care of the baby so Ulala could get a bit more sleep.  We did our morning meditation and then i cooked french toast with real maple syrup using delicious Danish bread (the country, not the pastry).  We agreed that even though we are on vacation, we would not turn on the TV all day.  So she chose Paul Simon's "Graceland" and we spent some time dancing around the living room, much to the amusement of the baby.

We did, however, use the computer:

Christmas at Chris'

Merry Christmas!  We were up early to get ready to go to Chris' place in Senri chuo for a holiday get-together of new parents.  Four couples and 6 little ones.  I gave Shinryu his present from us, Maisy's Snuggle Book.  A plush book that we can read and play with.  Then we braved the long train ride North and the cold wind to get to Chris' place.  Had a great time, ate way too much cake, and drank just enough wine.  Then took the train all the way home.  Shinryu had a good time, but i think Ulala had to take care of him a bit much. He certainly was the whiniest baby of the bunch.  Later on, Ulala expressed her worry that he is so clingy.  I tried to assuage her fears by reminding her that he is only two and a half months old.  The New Years break is coming - i get a week off from work - so hopefully i'll be able to help out more around the house and see how the afternoons are.  Today was a big day for Shinryu and i think he handled it very well.  It was also really nice to sit and chat and compare notes with other new parents.  =)

Possibly the cutest picture EVER

Pictures of Peppers

What?  You were expecting something else, maybe?

Car Rides to CostCo

That ought to be a country album title...

Shinryu Achievement: CostCo!  Car Ride!

   We took Shinryu on his first car ride (yes we used a back-facing, front-seat, infant car seat).  Chris was generous enough to drive all the way into town from his place in Senri to pick us up. Then we wound our way slowly (avoiding the toll roads and thus rendering our Navi-system extremely vague) toward Amagasaki.  It was a Wednesday morning and the place was still packed.  There was a time, not that long ago in fact, that i was at CostCo with Ulala and we watched as families struggled by with their infants and children and we said to each other, "We won't do that.  Bring our kids to CostCo? crazy!"  And yet there we stood, somewhere between the six-packs of two litre pasta sauce bottles and the four litre bottles of Heinz white vinegar, contemplating whether it would be worth it to buy a jar of olives that is actually larger and heavier than the 9 week old baby i carried in one arm.  Woah.  

   But it was a fun adventure, and a successful one.  We walked away with a plentiful supply of diapers and beer.  You know - the essentials.  And Shinryu was well behaved almost the entire time, until he got hungry anyway.  The one disappointing thing was that they were sold out of Speed Stick deodorant, which had initially been our main purpose in going.  

   That is one small thing that drives me crazy about Japan: the lack of decent, affordable deodorant.  There is expensive liquid roll-on kind that lasts about as long as it takes to put on.  And there is the spray-powder kind that is environmentally destructive and lasts even less time. But the stick kind?  The kind that is ubiquitous in Western countries (at least North America)?  The kind that is affordable and makes the most sense and lasts the longest?  Nope. That needs to be imported at a premium - and is therefore one of the reasons why the crowded morning train ride to work is an olfactory assault that would make some people long to vacation in the mustard gas trenches of WWI.  Ugh.

Symian is: stinkin' up the joint and wondering who needs that much vinegar.

Currently Reading: A selection of Bach.

Currently Listening:  Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel GIlbert (audiobook)

Kanji of the Day: 臭い／におい／smell

Christmas at Peter's

Christmas party at Peter's house. Great time.  Tons of people - around 40!  Shinryu's first real big event with lots of people being loud.  He handled it pretty well.  He was a bit overwhelmed at first but Ulala fed him and then he held him close and people came by to say hello and meet him one by one instead of all at once, which helped.  He even fell asleep for a while! 

Return of the Hipsta

As you can see, i'm loving my new phone and the fact that i can once again run apps without the whole thing crashing.  Yay! Took these shots out at Osaka University on Thursday using the very famous "Hipstamatic" app.  There are a lot of great photography apps and i'm looking forward to trying a few different ones over the next few weeks (including the new years break).

Two months!

Little Shinryu is two months old today!!  We took him over to the Hospital for his two month check-up and all is well.  His belly button is healing well (finally), though he will have the hernia for a few more months and the doctor told us to be careful and keep an eye on it.  The doctor also told us some techniques for encouraging his movement and development, one of which you can kind of see in this picture.  put him belly-down with his arms over a rolled towel and he will try harder to push himself up to look around and that will help his arm, chest, and shoulder muscles, as well as his neck.  Sounds like my workout at the gym!

We also started Shinryu on his vaccinations.  We consulted the doctor and worked out a schedule with the nurse in charge of that stuff.  I know vaccinations are good, but i'm still worried.  It looks like a grueling schedule of appointments and injections.  I suppose it's good to do them while he is still young and not forming conscious memories.  Personally i hate needles.  *shiver*   His first two shots were today.  and they went fine.  We watched him through the  afternoon and evening and he had no fever or side effects, thank goodness.  He wasn't even all that fussy.  He had his bath as usual and we even got to bed at a good time.  All in all, a very nice day for the family.

In other news i finally upgraded to the iPhone4S, so i can once again use my phone for much more than just a texting machine and phone.  Yay!  The difference from my old 3G is intense and i am loving playing with all the photo apps.  Expect a lot more photos of the baby to be posted with weird retro effects...

Symian is: introducing the baby to gadgets early.

Currently Reading: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (re-reading)

Currently Listening: Your Brain At Work (audiobook) by Daniel Rock

Kanji of the Day: 迷惑メール／めいわくめーる／spam or unsolicited e-mail (it came up again when i was setting up my phone)

Lunar Eclipse

Took Shinryu out to see his first lunar eclipse.  Being just under 2 months old, he was ... unimpressed.  I, However, thought it was pretty cool.  Apparently this was the last full lunar eclipse until 2014, so i'm really glad i had a chance to see it.   I can tell Shinryu about it later.  And in 2014 he might be old enough to appreciate the next one!   Ulala also told me afterward that it was the first one she had seen, too, and she enjoyed it.  Below is the picture of me holding Shinryu outside our apartment (we had to look up through the middle of the building because the moon was almost directly overhead and we couldn't see it from any of the outer balconies).  And the pictures of the eclipse itself are all "borrowed from two of my friends via Facebook.   I do not have a camera or tripod setup capable of taking such nice low-light pictures.  So thank you to them for the pictures.  

Photo credits: Peetah Cheng, Paul Marlowe (x2), Kyodo News