A Fish Out of Water

Christmas 2011

Christmas has come and gone, way too fast as usual but it was good while it lasted. Shuma was a good boy so his stocking was full of presents from Santa and the tree was surrounded by presents from his fans.

We started Christmas morning with mimosas, because we're fancy like that.

Don't I just emanate Christmas cheer? This is before I had my first sip, obviously.

That's better. Shuma doesn't need much to get in the spirit, a little water and a Cheerio or two will do the trick.

On to the stockings, and after hearing about how kids this age care more about the packaging than the goods inside, we were slightly disappointed that Shuma had no interest at all in ripping the wrapping paper or playing with boxes. He did like the presents themselves though, so we're taking that to mean he is extraordinarily mature for his age.

His favourite presents were the banana, which he insisted on eating right away, and the clementine, which he doesn't think of as food but made a pretty good ball.

Next up was breakfast, with Shuma eating close to his weight in strawberries. We opened the rest of the presents after that, and just enjoyed ourselves without bothering with the camera. It was nice.

Christmas dinner started with oyster soup for the grownups and Cheerios for the little one.

Then roast chicken legs, greens sauteed with bacon and garlic, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I knew I wouldn't have time to roast a bird this year so went to the local chicken shop a week early to order a roasted chicken (a delicacy only available at Christmas). The owner replied that there would be lots and lots so there was no need to pre-order, so of course when we went to pick it up on Christmas there were none left. He was very apologetic and we were happy to buy just a few of the momoyaki (broiled drumstick with thigh attached) that are available all year. That's the best part anyway, and it was nice not having to deal with leftovers.

Shuma ate the same as we did, minus butter and gravy. He especially liked the chicken.

Dessert was a chocolate truffle cake from Nakataya, our local cake shop. Exactly the same as last year, and exactly as good.

Shuma made do with more strawberries, and had no idea what he was missing.

Now we're off for a very brief visit to the in-laws in Osaka. Happy New Year to all of you!

 

 

Summer Roundup

Photo dump warning: I'm going to post all the pictures from this summer that didn't get posts of their own, not because they were no good but because I was too busy, or lazy, or some combination thereof.

The first big event of the summer was moving Shuma's crib from our room, where it had been set up sidecar to our bed, to his own room. Well it's not quite his own room yet, it still has all of our computer equipment, the closet is full of boxes, and it has a balcony where I hang the laundry (and also where Hideaki smokes, though I'm trying to get him to stop using that balcony). He didn't actually sleep there at night for a few more months- we set up a guardrail on the side of our bed and kept him with us at night.

Then came almost two months in Canada, which I've only finished blogging about, and we had quite a hard time adjusting when we came back. Shuma didn't handle the jet lag well, nor did he enjoy the sudden lack of of a big house full of people fussing over him all the time. We had two weeks of a very grumpy boy, and unfortunately they happened to be two very hot weeks where no sane person would go out in the daytime. So we took to going out in the evenings when it was starting to cool down, and on this little hill in the local park there was sometimes even a breeze. We would have camped out here if weren't for the mosquitoes.

The adjustment took away his appetite, but it eventually came back with a vengeance and he fell in love with a series of fruits as they came in and out of season. We spent a fortune on fruit this summer.

He made such a mess when he ate that we gave up on bibs and had him eat in his diaper. If his high chair would have fit in the shower we would have fed him in there, it certainly would have made clean-up easier.

He liked to hang around in the nude even when food wasn't involved. I wonder what he's trying to convey with that strategically placed cone?

Just after getting back from Canada, when Shuma was nine months, he started to crawl. This was his first time, at a jidoukan (play centre- the excact same place he learned to walk), although he'd been on the verge of it for a couple months. He had a funny way of doing it, with only one leg doing the work and the other just kind of dragging along, but it didn't bother him.

We found some relief from the heat one day at Shakujii Koen, although he fell asleep almost as soon as we arrived and it was mostly just me walking around with a sleeping baby on my chest. Oh well, he'll be a better age for it next summer anyway.

While shopping at Lalaport in Shinmisato we came upon a splash pad and let Shuma get wet. The older kids were really interested in Shuma (Japanese kids seem to be way more into babies than Canadian kids), but forgot him once they got talking to Hideaki. Kids like talking to him for some reason, and he always gets involved in these long convoluted kid conversations where it's half really cute and funny and half "Oh my god these annoying brats won't shut up, get me out of here". It's a gift and a curse.

Shuma did a lot of playing in the water this summer. Right across the street we have a splash pool, and we went as often as we could. Here he is after a dip with his friend Hiyori.

And a few minutes later he was asleep. He had been playing for hours and was just beat. If I could get him in the water daily I'd have his napping problem solved.

In the next city from ours, Asaka, is a park called Aobadai Koen which as an even better splash pool. It has five different water zones, all connected (as well as regular playground equipment, including an amazing climbing structure that would never be allowed to exist in North America). It's a bus ride away so I only went twice, but it was so much fun for both of us. I really hope I have a bike with a baby seat by next summer so we can ride here every day.

There was more blueberry picking, I went four times in fact. This time was at a weird farm where the ladies who ran the place kept following us around and picking the berries for us. They probably thought they were being nice but damn was it annoying, it only takes a few minutes to pick enough berries and we try to drag it out as long as we can, cause picking is so fun.

They were tasty though, and made a nice topping for an unbaked cheesecake for Hideaki's birthday.

More half-naked hanging out.

And more trips to the park. Looking back, it kind of seems like we lived at the park, but even still we didn't go as often as I wanted. I think I was effected by a bit of radiation paranoia and held back, which I regret. I mean if I thought there was any danger at all, we wouldn't even be in Japan. But the fear seeps in somehow and there were times we stayed indoors when we should have been outside.

In any case, Shuma is always so much happier when he's out of the house, and happiest of all at the park. I think the very small risk of being exposed to trace amounts of radiation is worth it, but I'll always wonder.

He accidentally took the picture above himself while fooling around with my camera. Not bad!

This is us at our playgroup's family picnic. I was in charge of face painting and Shuma was in charge of looking silly in costumes.

And then the summer was over, way too quickly. It made me really sad to pack away his summer clothes, knowing most of them will be too small when I take them out again next year. I'm learning to appreciate the other seasons more and more as I grow older, but only summer makes me mourn its passing.

Ready for Christmas

It's late as usual, but the Christmas spirit has finally arrived at our home, mostly thanks to my mom. Thanks, mom! First she sent some Christmas colours for Shuma to wear, above.

Next came the tree, which unfortunately mom couldn't send. Like last year I picked it up at Ikea, and carried it home along with my other purchases (and Shuma) on two buses and two trains. Hopefully that will help explain why I picked one that is barely taller than Shuma (especially after I had Hideaki saw off a good portion of the trunk to help preserve it).

Then my mom sent a couple more boxes of Christmas treats, which of course are 99% for Shuma. And he knew it. He was so excited to open the boxes, pull out and manhandle the presents, and take them off to his various hiding places. The littlest presents keep disappearing and I suppose in a few months I'll find them in a secret hiding burrow of his (along with the TV remote control, several odd socks and a spoon that have gone missing recently).

He was really excited about "The Night Before Christmas", which parents want me to read to him on Christmas Eve, a continuance of a family tradition. I think I'll be reading it every night till then, along with "Good Night Moon", because he keeps insisting.

Finally, I got the decorations up, and not surprisingly Shuma loved "helping". I really wish I had the video camera handy, because he kept saying "Oooooh!" whenever I turned the lights on. He's also taken it upon himself to redecorate the tree, and putting his toy box in front of it doesn't help- he just climbs right in the box and grabs what he can reach. I think I'll have to get a bigger toy box, or a higher piece of furniture to put the tree on, or maybe my mom can send some electric fencing.

Frog Legs

I found the perfect way to get Shuma to hold still for a Fashion Show picture: stick him in one of the fold-down baby seats found in public restroom stalls. OK, there must be a name for those. Or maybe not, as I don't remember seeing them in Canada- maybe it's a Japan thing? If so that's a shame, because they sure are handy. And not just for taking pictures.

The focal point of this outfit is these frog legwarmers, and the froggy theme continues to his shoes. Which is totally accidental, because Shuma does not have a closet full of shoes featuring different animals that he can match to each outfit.

He was all dressed up for lunch with a friend at Sizzler, which I think is an American chain and I get the impression that it's not really a place people dress up for in its native land. But in Japan a salad bar is a rare and wonderful thing, especially for a toddler learning to eat. I never know what to expect: one day he'll eat everything we feed him, the next he won't want anything but cucumbers. Or pears, or spaghetti, or whatever little food fad he's following at the time. Of course when he decides he loves a particular food I'm happy to feed him just that- as long as he's eating, right? And as soon as he notices I've stocked up on it, he'll suddenly stop liking it. Is every toddler like this?

So at the salad bar he gamely tried a few different things before he noticed the edamame on my plate, which I knew to be one of his favourite foods and was trying to hide, in hopes that he'd eat a variety of food. So I had to give in and give him some, and that was it- he didn't eat a single other thing. Just piles and piles of edamame.

All that bean-eating is hard work, so he had a little nap while the grown-ups had dessert. Hmm, maybe if I indulged his edamame habit more often he'd turn into a regular napper...

Canada Part Three

Well, it's about time I finished posting about our trip to Canada this summer (the first parts of the trip were blogged here and here). We've been back for over five months and it still feels like yesterday. And I want to be back so badly, and looking at these pictures again makes me so, so homesick. Warning: this post contains about eight hundred pictures, and is good proof that I am just blogging for myself these days.

Shuma continued to spend a lot of time outdoors, especially as it started to warm up. Watermelon season came, which is always cause for great joy for everyone except myself. It turns out that Shuma likes the vile fruit (I have no idea where that came from, as Hideaki hates it as much as I do).

Not only to eat, but to roll around. And wear.

Shuma was just learning to eat, and had some setbacks (his initial jet lag caused some serious lack of appetite) but eventually he ate well, and cost my family a fortune in fruit. I ate well too. Oh the food I ate! I didn't take pictures of every memorable meal, but here are a few in no particular order:

I finally got to try Portuguese chicken that is so popular. Wow was it ever good (as were the greasy potatoes that came with it), and now it's just one more thing I can never have here in Japan.

Here's another: tomatillo tortilla soup, made by my brother Greg and his girlfriend Sherry. I've never even seen tomatillos in Japan, so I'll just have to wait till my next visit home and hope to get served this again.

After the soup they served these beautiful steaks, with refried beans and salsa.

My mom baked some lovely halibut with bacon and leeks.

And made a wonderful rhubarb crisp. The ice cream was totally unnecessary, but what the hell.

Another Greg and Sherry meal fajitas and black bean salsa.

I think this yummy meal was a whole family collaboration: chicken souvlaki with tzaziki sauce, tomato and feta cheese salad, sauteed greens of some sort, rice pilaf and corn on the cob. 

Sherry made this blueberry pie, and it was every bit as amazing as it looks.

It's hard to tell what you're looking at, and the picture doesn't do it justice, but this is my mom's cheese bread and it's deadly. It's bread baked with butter, onions, poppy seeds and cheese, and it's rich, gooey, crisp on the outside and so so good.

Served with steak, baked potato and veggies.

This is Sherry's strawberry shortcake, with strawberries she picked herself.

I went out for sushi with my sister Julie and her daughter Zoe, and was surprised at how good it was. I think it's pretty funny that they serve this bento with sushi AND rice, and a few things weren't quite right from a Japanese perspective, but it was great. I think the salmon sashimi is as good or better than what we get in Japan (which is often imported anyway).

Zoe introduced me to the dragon roll, which has unagi (eel) and avocado. I know very little about kawarimaki (the creative sushi rolls mostly found outside of Japan) but want to try more.

This beef, barley and porcini soup my mom made was so rich and satisfying, more of a stew than a soup really. I want some right now.

Zoe made her specialty, chicken brian, and Sherry helped out by making the pasta and side dishes. Everyone loved it, including Shuma (who loves any kind of noodle).

We liked my mom's pineapple cake so much she made it twice.

And I've never liked the combination of fruit and chocolate but Sherry converted me with these.

My last dinner at home was a Korean feast cooked by Sherry. I had requested ddukbokki, a dish of rice cake in spicy sauce which is also popular in Japan (where it is called topokki). Next came pajeon (spring onion pancake, called chijimi in Japan), which was eaten up before I thought to take a picture.

Then came thinly sliced beef, to be cooked at the table and eaten with a variety of kimchi, sauces and greens.

Here is one bite: a lettuce leaf, about to be rolled up with a sesame leaf, chrysanthemum leaves, cooked beef, kimichi and gochujang (spicy bean sauce). Yum!

All those calories needed to be burned off, so we tried to get out for exercise as much as possible. Baboo took Zoe, Shuma and I to Kelso for a bit of hiking.

And even though I kept worrying they'd fall, I even let Baboo carry Shuma.

We drove down to Toronto's lakefront and spent some time walking around. Shuma loved this splash pool and Cletis (my sister's dog) loved the geese that were everywhere.

And we all loved posing for some highly original pictures with a monument to the QEW (a local highway).

Closer to home, Shuma made many visits to our local park, here with his cousin Zoe.

But it was nice just to hang out at home. Look how pretty these flower baskets are! They are mostly Sherry's work.

There was always something fun to do, like hang around with Cletis.

Or jump around on the air mattress. I couldn't get any actual jumping on camera, because any commotion would attract Cletis and then Shuma would stop jumping and play with the dog.

Cletis managed to perfect the art of the photobomb, and starred in many, many pictures intended for Shuma.

Sherry was mostly in charge of bath time, and from the sounds of it they had great fun in the big bath. But when his eczema flared up we gave him an oatmeal bath in the kitchen sink. He'd never had a sink bath before as our sink is the wrong type, but it was the perfect size. He thought it was pretty nifty too.

And of course he liked his pool time out in the backyard. Basically he likes anything involving being naked, as it gives him access to his favourite toy.

But he really does seem to love the combination of water, the outdoors and nudity.

And then came Canada Day.

We all get dressed up in our finest patriotic finery.

The hockey stick was a big hit, and Baboo has great hope that he'll grow up knowing how to use it.

We played bocce in the field behind our house, which as always was really just an excuse to mock each other. Mom, Cletis and Shuma sensibly chose to watch.

And enjoy some snacks.

We taught Shuma how to stick a maple seed to his nose, which he took to right away. He's definitely one of us.

Zoe, as you may guess from these pictures, is a model and just got back from a few months in Bangkok.

She is known for professionalism and laid-back, sweet personality.

As well as her high standards of personal grooming.

Which is something we have in common.

Dinner was outside on the patio, which was a treat as most of the evenings until then were too cool to eat outside.

Shuma really enjoyed dining al fresco.

We had a lovely seafood dinner, including these clams roasted with potatoes and chorizo, and corn on the cob that came with little baby corns attached (the mini cobs were kind of disappointing actually).

And then it was fireworks time. This was Shuma's second pyrotechnic experience and he was very brave. His first time was Victoria Day five weeks before, and he'd been a little scared at first, but obviously interested. This time he really enjoyed them, despite being a little nervous.

On our last morning we went out for one last swing. I wanted to take the swing set with me, and I'm sure Shuma felt the same.

Back home we posed for some family pictures before I got ready to go.

And then it was goodbye. The flight home was uneventful and Shuma was well-behaved, which is pretty normal for a 9-month old. I know the next trip won't be so easy, but I can't wait.

See more pictures from the visit here. Please note that many of these pictures are not mine (namely: the good ones, which are by my brother Greg Bishop, his girlfriend Sherry Park or my father Jim Bishop).

Midtown

A few months back we had a nice day out that I never got around to sharing, so before I completely forget:

On a nice day in early October we went to Tokyo Midtown in search of the baby swing rumoured to be there. And we found it, sort of, in the park (Hinokocho Koen) to the northeast of Midtown. It's kind of half art instillation and half swing set, with a few regular swings and one toddler swing.

 

It's not really a baby swing though, and any kid big enough not to sit snugly in the weirdly designed seat is probably big enough to use a regular swing.

Just look how fun this swing is. Also, the whole swing set is really low and obviously parents have bumped their heads on the top bar, so on one side someone has slapped some ugly yellow and black warning tape. Not the side visible to most of the park though- wouldn't want to interfere with art. How the designers didn't anticipate bumped heads is beyond me, but it does seem to be a tradition in Japan for things to be designed by people who have never used them (thus my useless washing machine, obviously designed by a man who has never done laundry). End of rant, thank you.

We did have fun just hanging out on the lawn though. I don't know if it's on purpose, but most of the lawn is clover rather than grass, which is totally OK. The park is nice, and the other playground equipment looks OK, and there's a little Japanese style pond and garden and it's just a nice place to hang out.

We didn't find any four-leaved clovers though.

We had lunch at Union Square Tokyo, which I'd been wanting to check out since it opened a few years ago. They have a really nice patio, which faced the park and was spacious and had a few other families, which made us feel a bit relieved about bringing a baby to a nice place, but he was an angel.

I had pasta with oyster cream sauce, which was very nice, but Hideaki won for best order:

A nice burger, juicy and perfectly done, with good crispy fries. We also had some good wine, and the waitress fussed over Shuma, and combined with the nice weather and atmosphere it was a really really nice lunch. We've been back once and were kind of disappointed (especially since they close their patio at the beginning of November, regardless of the weather) but that lunch, and the whole day, was wonderful.

We're still here

Jesus christ, I just wrote a long ranty post about how tired and sick and uninspired I've been, and then I went and accidentally deleted it. My first post in over three weeks, and it's gone. I don't have the energy to try again, so here's the short version: sorry for not updating, feeling crappy, Shuma's doing well though. Here he is (months ago) taking a little nap during a diaper change. I wish he'd do that again. Or just take a nap.