A Fish Out of Water

Nappy

Shuma is a very erratic napper, but on this day he napped well. And all over the place. First he fell asleep on me and, completely expecting him to wake up, I transfered him to the sofa next to me. Lo and behold he stayed asleep, and now I had a problem- you're not supposed to let babies nap on the sofa! Suffocation hazard, SIDS hazard, falling hazard, drool all over the cushions hazard. So I just took a picture (wishing I'd dressed him a little snazzier that morning) and transfered him to his crib. Where he woke up crying, of course.

Later on he was happily playing in his crib when things got really quiet, and this is what I saw when I checked up on him. Why does he have so much trouble sleeping when I put him down on a nice, comfy bed or crib, but he can fall asleep by himself while backed into a corner on a pile of toys? I'd really like to know.

Pajamas

I'm not quite sure what babies are supposed to wear at night in the summer- it's obviously way too hot for sleepers, especially in this year of setsuden (conserving electricity, in this case do to power shortages caused by the ongoing nuclear reactor problems). I'm also not a fan of Japanese style summer pajamas, which come in two pieces, are loose, and often have a very high waist (like a built-in haramaki, or tummy cover), and he seems a bit cold if he's just in his diaper. So I've taken to putting him to bed in short-sleeved and legged coveralls, or rompers, or whatever they're called. Is that what everyone does, or are we doing it all wrong?

Anyway, I really like this one, from Akachan Hompo. Like all their rompers, the snaps at the crotch have three different colours, which stops you from doing up the wrong snaps. Unless you're colour blind (which Shuma may well be, but he's not the one doing up the snaps).

Also, pajamas are a very good subject for the Fashion Show series, as the only time he holds still long enough for me to get a good picture of an outfit is when he's asleep. So expect to see lots of pjs!

We're back

Shuma and I got back from a wonderful visit back home last Friday and have been busy fighting off the jet lag. Yes, babies get it too. It's usually not so bad when returning to Japan, but this is the worst jet lag I've ever experienced thanks to the little insomniac who shares my bed. I'm getting less sleep now than when he was a newborn.

I'm really enjoying one side effect of the jet lag though: the loss of appetite. As you might notice in the picture above, Shuma chunked out quite a bit. Well so did I, and sadly it's less cute on me than it is on him. Seriously, I was already disappointed at the slow pace at which I was losing my baby weight, but this trip has put me back up near my pregnancy weight. Actually, considering that a large portion of that weight consisted of a baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, extra blood, and other stuff that isn't around anymore, I guess I'm fatter than I was when I was pregnant. Yikes.

Hopefully the appetite-surpressing effects of crossing twelve time zones will stick around long enough to let me get into healthier eating habits than those I developed at the non-stop smorgasbord that is my parents' house.

This might help: while back home we discovered that Shuma has a dairy allergy, and I'm giving up dairy too so I don't pass any on through my milk. I'm not sure yet if this is temporary or will last for as long as I nurse, but even a few weeks without cheese, ice cream, chocolate and pastries should be good.

Wish us luck.

Meahwhile, here's Shuma's Canada Day outfit. Those shorts were a gift from a family friend, who sewed them herself (her husband also gave Shuma a whole fleet of handmade wooden cars and trucks- a very talented couple).