Yochien Ceremony

Today we had M's yochien ceremony. I went out late last night and bought her the standard uniform dress that 90 percent of the other Japanese girls would be wearing. It was a tough sell as she really wanted to wear her purple dress that we wear about 3-4 times a week, but I convinced her she could put on her purple dress as soon as we got home. She looked so cute and grown up, and very Japanese. Most of the students sat up front, but M got a little gun shy and sat with us in the back. After the ceremony, we had lunch with some friends who lived in the US, but are Japanese. It was a fun morning, but I can see the nervousness building up in M. I took her to the bathroom and she asked, "Why do I have to go to school?" She is also concerned that they will not speak English. I know the first few weeks will be tough, but once we get through that she will be fine, I just know it. Basically they just play in yochien so as long as they have a play kitchen and Anpanman she will be set. Here are a few pictures from the ceremony - I made Kan take a picture of all the dads lined up on the side with their video cameras. Sorry...it is just so stereotypical, I know, but you should have seen the number of cameras at this ceremony?! I think it was 1.5 cameras for every 1 person! :) I can write this because my husband made the same jokes. :)

I will have a whole other post about her first day tomorrow - with a little more heart from mama - but right now I am trying to show her the positive side of yochien so she does not see mama's heart a little bit sad on the inside. My baby girl is growing up!

More Hanami

We celebrated more hanami this weekend with a picnic along the Sumida River with another couple on Saturday. It was a bit chilly but we had a great time. It is interesting, the whole hanami spirit in Japan...people really do "let their hair down" so to speak during the blooming of the sakura. Everyone is out, enjoying family and friends with good foods and drinks. There is a lightness in the air that is hard to put into words - everyone seems to have an extra sparkle in their face and an extra skip in their step during the blooms of the sakura. We are already starting to see the blooms fall. Today at M's yochien ceremony, it looked as if it was snowing as the sakura blooms fell to the street. I am going to pay more attention this year and see if the serious side of Tokyo comes back to life once the hanami season is over...I have a hunch it will.

We celebrated Easter this year by decorating eggs and going to church on Sunday. Sadly I did not get any pictures from Sunday...I guess I think of that more in the US with the special Easter dresses and bonnets. M had a lot of fun decorating eggs. Afterwards, she hid them all over the apartment like Lucy does in Easter Beagle Charlie Brown. After a few cracked eggs, I had to switch out the real eggs for some plastic eggs to hide. We enjoyed our church family on Sunday celebrating the Resurrection. As we were singing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" I closed my eyes and envisioned myself at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, with our Opah singing beautifully next to me. I literally could here my American in-laws voices when we sang that song, as I love to listen to both of them sing.

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter.

Sakura Luncheon, Naka-meguro

There is a river in Naka-meguro lined with cherry blossom trees, and it is a major attraction this time of year. I went to a luncheon today sponsored by Wa-Navi Japan, and after a beautiful and tasty sakura themed bento box, we walked along the river lined with blooming cherry blossoms and happened upon a gorgeous Japanese garden in the middle of the city. The food was fabulous, the scenery was gorgeous, and I was in good company. I even met a new friend, which is always fun. I am taking a break from my Japanese lessons as I am having to switch my Nena day once Miss M starts yochien next week (insert gasp), and have decided to do some fun events around the city to appreciate the city a bit more instead...events like this luncheon or take in a museum or art exhibit. Once Miss M is in yochien full time (they start with just 90 minutes in the beginning and work themselves up to four hours) I can go back to Japanese class, but for now I will enjoy being a tourist for a few hours each week. Sadly my pictures do not do justice of the beautiful sakura in bloom...they are absolutely stunning and unless you have seen them in person, it is hard to capture to share (unless you are my fabulous friend/photographer), but hopefully these few shots will give you a glimpse. If you want to see them, you better come quick - the blooms do not stay on the trees for very long.

Dress Up

So, Grandma brought some dress up clothes to Hawaii, and we brought them back to Tokyo. They have literally been around the world, and my girl LOVES putting them on. Isn't she the cutest?

Shari Fest 2012

"Shari-fest 2012" is in full force this week. It started on my actual birthday, Monday April 2nd, and I got to start my day with a run and my IPod along the beautiful Sumida River. Then at lunch, Miyako-chan gave me a card with Minnie Mouse and lots of pink heart and butterfly stickers, a pink flower and a small piece of cake for us to "share." She sang to me with Kan and we blew out candles. In the afternoon, we we went to Shinjuku-Gyoen with my running partner and friend from BSF. The kids love her, as do I, and we enjoyed walking around taking in the beautiful sakura and letting Miyako-chan run in the grass with her jump rope while the K Man crawled around and ate grass. The night ended with a Girls Night Out dinner at Roti's in Midtown, a favorite restaurant of mine, with real New York style cheesecake and lots of gifts from friends. To top off a wonderful birthday already, my alma mater brought home the National Championship for basketball, the first one in 14 years and 8th total. GO CATS! Tonight after the kids go to bed, I plan to watch the celebration that I taped and the hanging of that 8th banner. But as you know, the birthday festivities must last all week. Friday we are going out as a family to dinner and to do a little birthday shopping. I still have a pedicure to cash in on from my American MIL. And Saturday night we are celebrating with two other couples with a date night out on the town. More details of Shari-fest to come!

Gas Museum

There is a gas museum that is FREE about 15 minutes by foot from us in Toyosu. Last week we met some friends there for a play date and had a blast! They have lots of hands on exhibits for kids and tables where you can sit and play with toys such as play food. They also had an area where the K Man could crawl around and get out of his stroller. And, you could take your food in and eat lunch in the cafeteria which was nice. Plus, you could go on top of the roof and play in green grass with a gorgeous view of Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba. However, on the day we went it was super windy, so we could not stay up on the roof long as it was a bit cold for the K Man, and his stroller was rolling down the hill at one time. Miyako loved running in the grass, playing soccer, jump rope and rolling down the hill. It was a lot of fun. On Saturdays they have craft time for kids. I imagine we will venture over there when we have a low key Saturday to enjoy the craft time. For you Tokyo friends, I highly recommend this place.

11 Months Old

The K Man turned 11 months on April 2nd, which is also my birthday. I cannot believe in less than four weeks he will be a year old!! He is still not walking, not even really pulling himself up, but that is okay. He gets around pretty fast with his army crawl. I do not want to rush it. He is eating solid foods along with 4-5 nursing times a day. I went back to the dream feed at 10PM which resolved all of my middle of the night wake up calls. I know he is big enough to go 12 hours but I would rather feed him at 10PM than at 2AM or 5AM. He has been much happier in the morning when he wakes up and is sleeping until 7-8 each morning, so I will keep this feed until I ween him completely at a year. We have been trying to find parks with baby swings. He LOVES the baby swing. Problem is Big Sis wants to ride in the baby swing too even though she certainly does not need it! He is babbling a lot more and will saw mama. He also signs for "more" food by clapping his hands. I have been lazy with his baby signing, but when he wants more he will let you know by either banging the table or clapping. He also says mama when he wants more so he knows who provides the food. He does not really have a favorite food. He eats anything I give him. I wish I could just pause this time...even though I feel like I want to pull my hair out some days, the kids are a lot of fun at this age.