Originally, this blog was created to chronicle the experience of starting our family in Japan. Now in Canada & expecting our second child...the journey & the adventure continues...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Auntie Bret changes first diaper!
Bret has sooo many amazing experiences under his belt but when Keenan was born we found out that he had NEVER changed a diaper. We vowed that someday he’d be responsible to change Keenan and he managed to dodge the task until we sprung it on him one evening shortly before Keenan’s first birthday. He bravely stepped up to the plate even though we couldn’t guarantee a poop free experience. The following video documents that monumental event. Oddly Bret keeps calling Keenan “Baby” even though he’s known him for a year, perhaps some sort of subconscious dissociation instinct was kicking in. Bret’s participation took about 6 minutes with Sean stepping in a couple of times to wrangle Keenan and then in the end to dress him. After a couple of minutes of shooting this video I was laughing so hard that I hit the stop button on the camera by accident so there’s a wee bit of a transition. You don’t actually see too much in the following video but the commentary is truly priceless.
Friday, June 29, 2007
13 ½ months
There was just no time to write a 13-month update so Keenan’s public will have to be fine with 13 ½ months! I figured the video would be a crowd pleaser too!
So much has happened in the last 6 weeks and as much as Sean hates to admit it Keenan is now a full-blown “toddler”. Apart from that the biggest news to report is that Keenan has finally made the leap from being afraid to try walking to wanting to do it all the time. We bought him a Fisher Price walker a couple of months ago and he could only ever push it in straight lines and would freak out when he got it wedged into a corner or under the table. Now he runs with it, spins it around corners and pushes balls around the apartment with it. The other evening Sean and Keenan walked to the drug store together and Keenan had his walker with him. They were walking thru the cookie aisle and Keenan spotted a package of the raisin cookies he likes and he picked them up and put them right in the basket area of his walker! They proceeded to the checkout where Sean paid for their cookies and then they walked out. You can imagine how everyone in the drug store melted into pools of oob due to the extreme cuteness overload. While Tom and Pat were here Keenan ventured into full blown walking attempts sans walker. And within hours he had all of us on the floor encouraging him to walk between us. Now he can manage a distance of about 15 feet on his own. He’s also mastered getting up from a sitting position on the floor but still doesn't consider walking as his primary mode of transportation. I’m sure that’ll come in the next month or so and should make our 7 days in Tokyo that much more interesting!
The thing I find most endearing as of late is the rapid development of Keenan’s “ha ha I’m a funny man” personality. Basically he’s a ham and he totally knows how to work the crowd. He has a fantastic repertoire of gestures that he’ll do on command including “Power/Hulk Smash”, “Who knew?” “Sniffy face while eating”, “yeah while clapping” and the cutest one so far titled “Oooohhhhhh”. They have to be seen to be believed so hopefully I can get them all (there's a wee bit of the Power/Hulk Smash gesture in the video above) on video and posted. Not only is Keenan a funny guy himself but he finds many things around him funny like silly faces, Sean sitting on the toilet and putting his fingers up anyone’s nose. Actually that last one has become a bit of an annoying past time and although we should probably be trying to discourage it we still find it too cute to do so! Adding to the laughter it appears that very recently Keenan has become a walking tickle zone. It seems everyday he develops a new ticklish spot and we can send him into peels of writhing and giggling with very little effort whatsoever.
This week there has been a new development in his limited vocab. Apart from calling us mumum and dada he’s starting saying “oh ma ga” or “oh ma gu” which I guess is “oh my God or goodness”. And he understands the context in which they should be used. Interesting, as I didn’t think either one of us said either of those phrases very often. I guess it’s time to start watching what we say. Especially the “f” words. Frig it is from here on out!
Books glorious books. Our child is a bookworm and we love it! He loves all of his books and reads most of them several times a day. Keenan will get up in the red chair all on his own and sit and go through 4 or 5 books on after the other. He inspects each page, looks at the pictures and talks to himself all the while. He’s quite particular about when we read to him though. If he’s quietly “reading” to himself he usually doesn’t like to be disturbed by an adult butting in to read to him. He does love to be read to but under his own terms. He especially likes his books being sung to him in silly voices, which is cool cause that’s generally my favorite way to read to him!
We haven’t been buying Keenan very many toys recently since we’ll be leaving so soon and don’t want to pack many back to Canada with us. It really is amazing how few toys kids actually need especially when so many household items make good stand-ins. There are a few things he can’t seem to live without like his Duplo, ring sorter and growing collection of balls. He’s up to 6 different balls now and loves rolling and chasing after them. Yesterday I bought Keenan a couple of water park toys. There is a fantastic kids water park at Ecology Park in Otofuke and I’m sure we’ll be heading back there a few times before we leave. Keenan fell in love with another kid’s truck when we were there last so I got him one of those, a small watering can, rake and shovel. They’ve proved to be hits around the house already so maybe they’ll come to Canada with us.
There seems to be interesting developments in Keenan’s eating behaviors on perhaps a weekly basis. While Tom and Pat were here Keenan starting doing this business where he would scream and scream when we put him in the high chair and then we’d have to hold him down and put a taste of food in his mouth. After that first bite he’d totally shut up and sit there with his mouth open like a starving little robin. Very strange. Then there was the “I’ll eat anything if you coat it in yoghurt” phase which quickly turned into the “I won’t eat anything unless it’s coated in the yoghurt you’re eating right now at this very second” phase. Confusing. I’m not sure words can convey how vile Vegetable beef rice pilaf coated in tropical fruit yoghurt smells. Sean nearly barfed up his dinner over that one. Now we’re in the “I’ll eat anything if it’s coated in green” phase. Yup, that’s right. If Keenan doesn’t want to eat his rice just dot it with green peas. Not eating the toast? Then just shake some dried parsley on it. Oh and he won’t eat oatmeal without cinnamon.
Keenan has possibly the cutest, most perfectly square, bright white front teeth, which have earned him, the new nick name “Chiclets”. He also sprouted a lower incisor about 10 days ago and last week he sprouted another on the other side. Today I noticed an upper molar punching through on one side and another on the other side just under the surface. The amazing thing is he isn’t making much of a fuss about it at all. Just lots of drooling.
Despite all the teeth I’m still breastfeeding him about 3 or 4 times a day. He is gradually weaning himself and no longer needs the boob to fall asleep at night or for naps. I’d like to keep up the breast feeding for the flight back home as it is so comforting for him and really helps with the ear pressure change during take off and landing. I imagine some time after we get ourselves settled in Canada he’ll be fully weaned. I’m not in a great rush though.
I’m really reticent to type this for fear of jinxing us but it appears the Holy terror diaper changes are growing less frequent. He’s moved up to the next size in diapers as of this week. We’ve started using diaper liners again because we’re simply so sick and tired of scraping shit off diapers and subsequently reaming said shit out from under our finger nails. Someday I’ll plant a tree for every 100 liners we’ve used.
Our little guy is getting so tall but he’s a lean fellow too. He still has his umbilical hernia but it’s not as bad as it used to be. Hopefully it heals itself soon. I don’t have recent weights and measures but will update this likely by the end of the weekend.
Keenan was a very lucky little boy to have his Gramma and Grampa here for a fully month between May and June. From the first morning they were here he pulled them into his tractor beam of cuteness from which they will likely never break free! It was especially great for them to see him take his first steps, develop his gestures and just be a part of his daily life. They were likely 10,000 photos taken (I really do wish I were kidding!) to document their stay and many are of the boy with Tom and Pat, which is really lovely.
In the next month we’ll be leaving Keenan’s birthplace to return to Canada. Sean and I will be going home but Keenan will be leaving his. It makes us sad to leave but we’re also very happy to be going back. Sean and I are looking forward to bringing Keenan back to Obihiro when he reaches an age when such a trip has meaning for him. I hope time continues to creep by in this part of the world. For the next 15 to 18 years at least.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Just the 3 of us again
At 12:30 am on Saturday morning Tom, Pat and I struck out for the Obihiro train station. The train ride to Chitose would be their last adventure in Japan on this trip. They left for the train station tired and nervous but were smiling and waving as the train pulled away from the platform. We had a good visit. No month long adventure with ones family is ever without a few bumps in the road but we all survived. Once again we logged lots of miles on the car, toured the spectacular Hokkaido countryside, met lovely people, bought lots of bits and bobs and ate great food. We watched plenty of “Keenan as TV” and he really loved having his gramma and grampa around to kiss (oob), chase, read him stories and hold his hands while he practiced walking (yes, the bunlet walks, more about that later). We did too much to include in what is supposed to be a short post but I’ll try expanding on the highlights in future posts.
So yesterday morning Keenan had a 3-hour nap while Sean and I cleaned house and enjoyed a rare two-latte morning! I had a great phone chat with my sister for almost an hour and a half. We could have gone on longer but we were disconnected. We spent the afternoon running errands and then we fully enjoyed an in car MOS burger dinner at Obihiro no Mori park whilst our babe slept in his car seat in the back. Then we headed over to the A Co-op and I bought a few groceries in a sleep deprived, zombie-like stupor. I don’t really remember getting home but I do remember Sean waking me up on Tom and Pat’s bed at 8:30 pm to help him put Keenan to bed. Then I woke up once again at 6 am in Tom and Pat’s bed feeling remarkably refreshed. My first 12-hour sleep since Keenan was born! Both Sean and Keenan are still asleep and it’s 7:40 am so I have this delicious time to myself! I’ll upload some photos and perhaps start another post before reality sets in.
The countdown is officially on. 1 month and 3 days until we leave Japan. Oh, bring on the mixed emotions, long lists of things to do, packing and teary good-byes already. We are finally ready to return to Canada.
So yesterday morning Keenan had a 3-hour nap while Sean and I cleaned house and enjoyed a rare two-latte morning! I had a great phone chat with my sister for almost an hour and a half. We could have gone on longer but we were disconnected. We spent the afternoon running errands and then we fully enjoyed an in car MOS burger dinner at Obihiro no Mori park whilst our babe slept in his car seat in the back. Then we headed over to the A Co-op and I bought a few groceries in a sleep deprived, zombie-like stupor. I don’t really remember getting home but I do remember Sean waking me up on Tom and Pat’s bed at 8:30 pm to help him put Keenan to bed. Then I woke up once again at 6 am in Tom and Pat’s bed feeling remarkably refreshed. My first 12-hour sleep since Keenan was born! Both Sean and Keenan are still asleep and it’s 7:40 am so I have this delicious time to myself! I’ll upload some photos and perhaps start another post before reality sets in.
The countdown is officially on. 1 month and 3 days until we leave Japan. Oh, bring on the mixed emotions, long lists of things to do, packing and teary good-byes already. We are finally ready to return to Canada.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Japan is better with more Japanagans
Well Sean, Keenan and myself are feeling much better a week after the snot fest. Last Friday we did indeed take Keenan to the hospital, as he didn’t since to improve on Thursday. The sensei gave us a decongestant/antihistamine/cough suppressant/mild sedative concoction for Keenan that worked absolute wonders. He was feeling much better in just a couple of days. Sean and I still have a fairly persistent dry cough but we’re doing much better all the same.
So last Saturday morning we packed our wee family into our car to make the trip to Sapporo to pick up Sean’s parents. The 3 of us were definitely not feeling top drawer but a trip to Saptown always lifts ones spirits so we were happy to hit the road. Sean picked up Tom and Pat at the train station late in the evening and due to the complete lack of train service back into the city they took a $140 cab ride back to the hotel. Regardless it was great to see them again the next morning and we had a great time farting around in Sapporo before heading back to Obihiro. We’ve had a great first week and the next 3 promises to be just as fun if not funner!
I really feel like our time is slipping away from us here though. After Tom and Pat leave Sean, Keenan and I will only have 1 more month here. It seems hard to believe that 3 years have gone by since we set foot on this island. Time is flying and I wish it would crawl.
So last Saturday morning we packed our wee family into our car to make the trip to Sapporo to pick up Sean’s parents. The 3 of us were definitely not feeling top drawer but a trip to Saptown always lifts ones spirits so we were happy to hit the road. Sean picked up Tom and Pat at the train station late in the evening and due to the complete lack of train service back into the city they took a $140 cab ride back to the hotel. Regardless it was great to see them again the next morning and we had a great time farting around in Sapporo before heading back to Obihiro. We’ve had a great first week and the next 3 promises to be just as fun if not funner!
I really feel like our time is slipping away from us here though. After Tom and Pat leave Sean, Keenan and I will only have 1 more month here. It seems hard to believe that 3 years have gone by since we set foot on this island. Time is flying and I wish it would crawl.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Snot fair-snot fest-snot funny
It’s a snot hodai over here at #304 Koukyou 62 this week. It’s been all you can booger since Sunday night starting with the littlest Japanagan. He woke up crying 2 hours after we put him to bed on Sunday. He was congested and a wee bit too warm. I rocked him to sleep but he was up again an hour later. We brought him to bed with us and propped him up on a pillow but despite the Baby Tylenol he wouldn’t close his eyes again. So Sean and I took turns staying up with the babelet all night. The next day I put a pillow under one end of his mattress so he could get some relief from his congestion and that worked wonders. A hot bath, some eucalyptus and camphor in the aromatherapy burner and he had a two solid naps. He had varying degrees of a fever Monday night and all day Tuesday but he overcame that nicely as well. Then Tuesday night Sean started to feel sick and Wednesday morning I was towing the line too. Yippee! This morning Keenan seemed to be less congested but now he appears to have a bit of a cough. He’s still very genki but I’ll take him to the doctor tomorrow if things don’t change for the better by the morning. The babe cries must run.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
1 year
I’m posting this a little late as somehow there only appears to be 40 minutes in each hour now. But Keenan my dear boy you sure know how cram as much activity as physically possible into an hour! You have become a very busy little man in these past few months and you’re giving your parents a run for our yennies! Thankfully you are not yet walking but that’s gonna happen any minute now. You’ve earned your wall and furniture cruising badge and you’ll go forever if we put a walker, stroller, shopping cart, high chair or other similarly wheeled object in front of you. I must admit I half expect you to wake up from the nap you are having right now, crawl out of your crib, walk across your room, slide open your door and say “yo mummummum, where’s the apple juice at?” Speaking of talking, you’ve made serious progress on “bye-bye”. You’re starting to understand that you say it when someone goes away and that it’s paired up with the waving action. You have several ways of actually saying bye-bye which include “da-da”, “dai-dai”, “nyai-nyai” and “ba-e-ba-e”. Hopefully soon you’ll be able to put it all together AND do it before the person leaving is less than 500 feet away!
Books continue to be a favorite pastime for you. You more than doubled your collection of board books on your birthday and you’ve been in page turning bliss ever since. Apart from books you’re really into activity-based toys. If the toy doesn’t “do” something it doesn't’ even attract your attention. You love things that require a bit of brainpower like stacking rings or puzzles. I bought you the Cone Sorting toy by Plan Toys out of Thailand for your birthday and you’ve already played with it for hours. You are also really into your Duplo and can already stack two blocks together. But you really love ripping apart anything your dad or I make. It’s become a bit of game for us to try to construct something before you lean in and pull it apart. Your dad and I have also had unofficial competitions where we try to make the most Keenan proof structure. For the record, there is no Keenan proof structure.
I haven’t weighed or measured your height just yet but I do know that your feet are a Japan size 12. You’ll get your first pair of shoes this week apart from your leather slippers. And I’m going to make sure we get you outside walking everyday. It’s good for you and honestly it makes you sleep like a baby afterwards! We’ve had some good success with getting you to sleep in a bit in the morning. We tried pushing back your meals, snacks, naps and bedtime by an hour and (knocking on veneer) now you get up around 6:15 am. You’re fed and back in bed around 9 am and then I try to get you down for an afternoon nap around 1:30 or 2. The bedtime ritual starts around 7:15 pm and you’re off in la-la land by 8 pm.
Changing your diaper has now progressed into a full contact sport. There is nothing you hate more than receiving a clean ass. I may have said this before but you have more temper tantrums over diaper changes than anything else. The other day your father put a new diaper on you while you were standing up. He got many “creative diapering points” for that stunt. Although the diaper was crooked you were quiet and I didn’t see any veins bulging out of your fathers forehead when he lifted you down from the changing table. The only other progress we’ve made is that we know we can distract you from freaking out by giving you something you don’t usually get to play with while we’re changing you. We bought you your own baby cell phone toy for this. Other things that work are empty yoghurt containers, my watch and your father’s glasses. All easily replaceable items offered up for a peaceful butt wiping.
I guess I should say a bit about temper tantrums. You throw them. In many forms. And they’ve lead us to the realization that you need discipline now. Nothing hard-ass we just don’t give in to your temper tantrums. So wait, I guess we’re disciplining ourselves. Frig.
One of your other loves is personal hygiene! Now that it’s warmer here I run your bath, strip you naked in your room and then set you down on the floor. You can hear the bath running and you crawl lightening fast towards the bathtub, screeching all the while. Then you stand by the edge of the tub until I lift you in. It’s one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen! Once in you splash until I’m nearly soaked. It’s just so much fun and I’m very pleased that you’re turning out to be a water baby just like I was. Brushing your teeth is still a joyous activity for you and you are now the proud owner of two toothbrushes, which you put to good use. You still generally don’t like to get food on you and are a pretty tidy eater. I thank my lucky stars for this paragraph. These things go a long way to offsetting the diaper changing exploding forehead veins!
Food is also very popular with you and you’ll eat pretty much anything other than broccoli and carrots. Apart from those two you prefer most veggies to fruit. You’re just like me and you like sour things like plums and cranberries. We’ve recently introduced you to ice cream and you love black sesame seed and strawberry the most. String cheese is right up there as a favorite also. Last week I discovered that you love raisins. That was ok until your horrified father opened your diaper to find a dozen or so of them totally re-hydrated and nearly in their original grape form and size. Sorry babe, no more raisins until you can digest them. You have started protesting against any form of baby food. Nothing pureed or bland gets into your mouth anymore, which is great for us because you can more easily share our meals.
All these things added up the good, the adorable, the sometimes bad/frustrating make you the sweetest little boy ever. You’re very thoughtful of others and share your toys and food. You are so incredibly social and a total pleasure to have around our friends. Some of which have commented that they would consider having children since they’ve met you! There is nothing better than watching you roll around naked on our bed, eat dozens of peas one at a time, playing hide and seek in our apartment or watching you sit and carefully play with your books. As a mother I cherish the 3 times a day you fall asleep in my arms. You look like a tiny sleeping doll with your blonde hair, apple cheeks and long dark lashes. I love laying in bed in the morning listening and waiting for your morning whinging to turn into mummummummum. It’s fantastic watching you discover fun like on the slide at the park or riding on your dad’s shoulders. Getting our family to this point has been so mentally, physically and emotionally all consuming to the point that I can’t believe it’s been a year since you were born. It all just seems so fresh (unlike most things!) in my memory. I am the kind of person who feels nostalgia for the past in the present and that’s what I’m feeling right now. I’m watching you sit on the tatami in our bedroom. You’re running your fingers up and down on your lips and making that “bbbbbbbbb” sound. It’s another of my favorite things and I know I’ll miss it when you do it no more. I know for sure that some other tractor beam of cuteness’ll replace it and I intend on cramming as many minutes into every hour I can so I can enjoy every second of you now and forever.
Books continue to be a favorite pastime for you. You more than doubled your collection of board books on your birthday and you’ve been in page turning bliss ever since. Apart from books you’re really into activity-based toys. If the toy doesn’t “do” something it doesn't’ even attract your attention. You love things that require a bit of brainpower like stacking rings or puzzles. I bought you the Cone Sorting toy by Plan Toys out of Thailand for your birthday and you’ve already played with it for hours. You are also really into your Duplo and can already stack two blocks together. But you really love ripping apart anything your dad or I make. It’s become a bit of game for us to try to construct something before you lean in and pull it apart. Your dad and I have also had unofficial competitions where we try to make the most Keenan proof structure. For the record, there is no Keenan proof structure.
I haven’t weighed or measured your height just yet but I do know that your feet are a Japan size 12. You’ll get your first pair of shoes this week apart from your leather slippers. And I’m going to make sure we get you outside walking everyday. It’s good for you and honestly it makes you sleep like a baby afterwards! We’ve had some good success with getting you to sleep in a bit in the morning. We tried pushing back your meals, snacks, naps and bedtime by an hour and (knocking on veneer) now you get up around 6:15 am. You’re fed and back in bed around 9 am and then I try to get you down for an afternoon nap around 1:30 or 2. The bedtime ritual starts around 7:15 pm and you’re off in la-la land by 8 pm.
Changing your diaper has now progressed into a full contact sport. There is nothing you hate more than receiving a clean ass. I may have said this before but you have more temper tantrums over diaper changes than anything else. The other day your father put a new diaper on you while you were standing up. He got many “creative diapering points” for that stunt. Although the diaper was crooked you were quiet and I didn’t see any veins bulging out of your fathers forehead when he lifted you down from the changing table. The only other progress we’ve made is that we know we can distract you from freaking out by giving you something you don’t usually get to play with while we’re changing you. We bought you your own baby cell phone toy for this. Other things that work are empty yoghurt containers, my watch and your father’s glasses. All easily replaceable items offered up for a peaceful butt wiping.
I guess I should say a bit about temper tantrums. You throw them. In many forms. And they’ve lead us to the realization that you need discipline now. Nothing hard-ass we just don’t give in to your temper tantrums. So wait, I guess we’re disciplining ourselves. Frig.
One of your other loves is personal hygiene! Now that it’s warmer here I run your bath, strip you naked in your room and then set you down on the floor. You can hear the bath running and you crawl lightening fast towards the bathtub, screeching all the while. Then you stand by the edge of the tub until I lift you in. It’s one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen! Once in you splash until I’m nearly soaked. It’s just so much fun and I’m very pleased that you’re turning out to be a water baby just like I was. Brushing your teeth is still a joyous activity for you and you are now the proud owner of two toothbrushes, which you put to good use. You still generally don’t like to get food on you and are a pretty tidy eater. I thank my lucky stars for this paragraph. These things go a long way to offsetting the diaper changing exploding forehead veins!
Food is also very popular with you and you’ll eat pretty much anything other than broccoli and carrots. Apart from those two you prefer most veggies to fruit. You’re just like me and you like sour things like plums and cranberries. We’ve recently introduced you to ice cream and you love black sesame seed and strawberry the most. String cheese is right up there as a favorite also. Last week I discovered that you love raisins. That was ok until your horrified father opened your diaper to find a dozen or so of them totally re-hydrated and nearly in their original grape form and size. Sorry babe, no more raisins until you can digest them. You have started protesting against any form of baby food. Nothing pureed or bland gets into your mouth anymore, which is great for us because you can more easily share our meals.
All these things added up the good, the adorable, the sometimes bad/frustrating make you the sweetest little boy ever. You’re very thoughtful of others and share your toys and food. You are so incredibly social and a total pleasure to have around our friends. Some of which have commented that they would consider having children since they’ve met you! There is nothing better than watching you roll around naked on our bed, eat dozens of peas one at a time, playing hide and seek in our apartment or watching you sit and carefully play with your books. As a mother I cherish the 3 times a day you fall asleep in my arms. You look like a tiny sleeping doll with your blonde hair, apple cheeks and long dark lashes. I love laying in bed in the morning listening and waiting for your morning whinging to turn into mummummummum. It’s fantastic watching you discover fun like on the slide at the park or riding on your dad’s shoulders. Getting our family to this point has been so mentally, physically and emotionally all consuming to the point that I can’t believe it’s been a year since you were born. It all just seems so fresh (unlike most things!) in my memory. I am the kind of person who feels nostalgia for the past in the present and that’s what I’m feeling right now. I’m watching you sit on the tatami in our bedroom. You’re running your fingers up and down on your lips and making that “bbbbbbbbb” sound. It’s another of my favorite things and I know I’ll miss it when you do it no more. I know for sure that some other tractor beam of cuteness’ll replace it and I intend on cramming as many minutes into every hour I can so I can enjoy every second of you now and forever.
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Birth Story ~ Part VI ~ The Delivery
How fitting that on Keenan’s first birthday I sit down to write out this account. It’s been a very nostalgic couple of days and it’s been great for both of us to relive all those moments in photo’s, conversations with friends and in those rare quiet moments when there’s just Sean and I awake.
So back to where I left off last night...I spent a lot of time reading about pregnancy and childbirth before and during my pregnancy. A lot of those words were dedicated to things I would feel. But most everything was described in a fairly ambiguous fashion. “Pregnancy effects everyone differently and although we’ll do our best to [insert topic du jour] you may or may not feel this/them as described”. For example: I knew contractions would be very painful but it could not be compared to any other pain. When Keenan’s head entered the birth canal I knew exactly what the hell was going on. I knew baby was on the way out and like right now. I have never in all my life felt such a sense of urgency. Mother scratcher did I ever wanna push that baby out. Everyone was telling me “no!” and in seconds the doors to our room flew open and all the equipment for delivery which was wheeled in. As everything was getting set up I started to feel the contractions building. This whole time I’d been pushing so hard during them and now everyone was telling me to breathe through them and relax. It felt very counter intuitive to follow their request and I voiced my opinion. Immediately the whole room broke into a low panting chorus of “ha, ha, ha, ha” and I joined in and ha, ha ha’d my way through the contraction. That was the last time I felt any pain. In the meantime the room filled with people. The doctor, Sato-san was there, 2 other midwives, the birth nurse and an intern. I remember the birth nurse throwing hospital gowns at Jess and Sean and they both fumbled to get them on. It was going that fast. I could feel the baby’s head moving down and I could feel its legs pushing against me from the inside. I watched my belly changing shape and honestly it freaked me out a bit. I’d spent 9 months and 8 days protecting this little person with my body and now he or she was on their way out and I had no control over it. I had one other very big long contraction and we did the ha ha business again. At this point Sean told me he could see the baby’s head and that the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. So two things were going on here. First of all Sato-san was trying to slip the cord over the babies head and secondly she knew the baby was going to be large and she was trying to spare me from any tearing. She succeeded on both accounts and she truly is the best midwife in the whole world. With the next set of contractions I was given the green light to push as hard as I could and our baby came out just like that! Our baby was born at 12:14 pm. I saw him come out but Sean told me it was a boy. I could hear him getting suctioning and watched him getting wiped off and then he was placed on my tummy wrapped partially in a green paper towel, still attached to the cord which was still attached to the placenta which was still inside of me. Wild. It was all just so overwhelming. Cameras were now going off. The entourage in our room seemed to swell. People were saying how big our boy looked. He was so slippery and round! He had all kinds of guck in his hair red curly hair and he was very quiet. ‘We had our “congratulations” photo taken by the hospital and then they cut the cord while Keenan was on my tummy. We got to feel the cord and it was soft like mochi. I suspected it would feel like well, like a telephone cord! A piece of the cord was cut off and was later given to me in a small wooden box. A tradition I wasn’t prepared for but it was cool all the same (can’t wait to get that through customs in Canada this summer!). Finally, Sean got to hold Keenan and he cried tears of joy. I was next and then Jessyca. There were tears all around. After that Keenan was taken to be weighed and his health assessed and I got to the task of delivering the placenta. I didn’t feel it at all. It came out without any contractions and naturally Jess and I wanted to see it! So the doctor showed it to us and we of course took pictures of it! Then I got a couple of stitches for some internal tearing and we had a really nice time chatting with the doctor both during and after the stitches. He was pretty sure Keenan was the biggest baby born to his hospital that year and the biggest first baby ever born in his hospital. Excellent titles to hold! Keenan was returned to us and we were told he weighed 4373 grams and was 51.5 cm long. He had a bit of a minor internal infection and was given antibiotics to help clear that up. He also was running a bit of a fever but that as likely due to the infection. I remember holding him for that first time and being so totally flooded with emotions, joy, relief, excitement, wonder and disbelief. Here was our beautiful baby on the outside. In my arms! He was a perfectly beautiful, round healthy boy. We immediately named him Keenan Thomas. Keenan is a Gaelic name and in Japanese it means “anniversary or in memory of”. Thomas is the name of Sean’s father, grandfather and great grandfather.
Someone asked me before I left the delivery room if I would give birth without any pain relief again and I was a little unsure at the time. In hindsight I’d say yes. For the next one I’d like to do it naturally as well. As much as I can’t find the words to convey what the pain felt like I felt good knowing that I could feel everything. You can’t really read enough or attend enough classes to fully prepare yourself for what you’re going to go through. So much knowledge was gained in that first experience. I know it’ll be different the second time around but most of the critical unknowns are no longer a mystery to me.
It’s 12:14 am. Keenan is 1 year and 12 hours old. Tonight both Sean and Keenan are snoring in their beds as I write this. A whole year has gone by since you were born sweetest boy. We’re so lucky to have you. Happy Birth Day babelet!
So back to where I left off last night...I spent a lot of time reading about pregnancy and childbirth before and during my pregnancy. A lot of those words were dedicated to things I would feel. But most everything was described in a fairly ambiguous fashion. “Pregnancy effects everyone differently and although we’ll do our best to [insert topic du jour] you may or may not feel this/them as described”. For example: I knew contractions would be very painful but it could not be compared to any other pain. When Keenan’s head entered the birth canal I knew exactly what the hell was going on. I knew baby was on the way out and like right now. I have never in all my life felt such a sense of urgency. Mother scratcher did I ever wanna push that baby out. Everyone was telling me “no!” and in seconds the doors to our room flew open and all the equipment for delivery which was wheeled in. As everything was getting set up I started to feel the contractions building. This whole time I’d been pushing so hard during them and now everyone was telling me to breathe through them and relax. It felt very counter intuitive to follow their request and I voiced my opinion. Immediately the whole room broke into a low panting chorus of “ha, ha, ha, ha” and I joined in and ha, ha ha’d my way through the contraction. That was the last time I felt any pain. In the meantime the room filled with people. The doctor, Sato-san was there, 2 other midwives, the birth nurse and an intern. I remember the birth nurse throwing hospital gowns at Jess and Sean and they both fumbled to get them on. It was going that fast. I could feel the baby’s head moving down and I could feel its legs pushing against me from the inside. I watched my belly changing shape and honestly it freaked me out a bit. I’d spent 9 months and 8 days protecting this little person with my body and now he or she was on their way out and I had no control over it. I had one other very big long contraction and we did the ha ha business again. At this point Sean told me he could see the baby’s head and that the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. So two things were going on here. First of all Sato-san was trying to slip the cord over the babies head and secondly she knew the baby was going to be large and she was trying to spare me from any tearing. She succeeded on both accounts and she truly is the best midwife in the whole world. With the next set of contractions I was given the green light to push as hard as I could and our baby came out just like that! Our baby was born at 12:14 pm. I saw him come out but Sean told me it was a boy. I could hear him getting suctioning and watched him getting wiped off and then he was placed on my tummy wrapped partially in a green paper towel, still attached to the cord which was still attached to the placenta which was still inside of me. Wild. It was all just so overwhelming. Cameras were now going off. The entourage in our room seemed to swell. People were saying how big our boy looked. He was so slippery and round! He had all kinds of guck in his hair red curly hair and he was very quiet. ‘We had our “congratulations” photo taken by the hospital and then they cut the cord while Keenan was on my tummy. We got to feel the cord and it was soft like mochi. I suspected it would feel like well, like a telephone cord! A piece of the cord was cut off and was later given to me in a small wooden box. A tradition I wasn’t prepared for but it was cool all the same (can’t wait to get that through customs in Canada this summer!). Finally, Sean got to hold Keenan and he cried tears of joy. I was next and then Jessyca. There were tears all around. After that Keenan was taken to be weighed and his health assessed and I got to the task of delivering the placenta. I didn’t feel it at all. It came out without any contractions and naturally Jess and I wanted to see it! So the doctor showed it to us and we of course took pictures of it! Then I got a couple of stitches for some internal tearing and we had a really nice time chatting with the doctor both during and after the stitches. He was pretty sure Keenan was the biggest baby born to his hospital that year and the biggest first baby ever born in his hospital. Excellent titles to hold! Keenan was returned to us and we were told he weighed 4373 grams and was 51.5 cm long. He had a bit of a minor internal infection and was given antibiotics to help clear that up. He also was running a bit of a fever but that as likely due to the infection. I remember holding him for that first time and being so totally flooded with emotions, joy, relief, excitement, wonder and disbelief. Here was our beautiful baby on the outside. In my arms! He was a perfectly beautiful, round healthy boy. We immediately named him Keenan Thomas. Keenan is a Gaelic name and in Japanese it means “anniversary or in memory of”. Thomas is the name of Sean’s father, grandfather and great grandfather.
Someone asked me before I left the delivery room if I would give birth without any pain relief again and I was a little unsure at the time. In hindsight I’d say yes. For the next one I’d like to do it naturally as well. As much as I can’t find the words to convey what the pain felt like I felt good knowing that I could feel everything. You can’t really read enough or attend enough classes to fully prepare yourself for what you’re going to go through. So much knowledge was gained in that first experience. I know it’ll be different the second time around but most of the critical unknowns are no longer a mystery to me.
It’s 12:14 am. Keenan is 1 year and 12 hours old. Tonight both Sean and Keenan are snoring in their beds as I write this. A whole year has gone by since you were born sweetest boy. We’re so lucky to have you. Happy Birth Day babelet!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Birth Story ~ Part III ~ The Contractions
Well here we are almost exactly a year after the contractions that brought Keenan into the world started and I’m finally sitting down to write this segment of the birth story. There are many things that I have forgotten about the delivery once it actually got rolling but the contractions will likely be burned into my memory forever. I remember saying beforehand that I was more afraid of the pain of getting an episiotme than I was afraid of the pain that accompanies the contractions. Well thankfully I didn’t actually get an episiotme but I did require several stitches which I didn’t feel one bit thanks to the help of a single needle of freezing. The contractions on the other hand were well they were hell on earth. This evening I was going over the notes Sean and Jess took while I was in labor. Jess had the brilliant idea of writing down all my contractions including the length of each contraction, the intensity of the contraction, the length of the rest period between contractions and all the other stuff I was doing like going to the bathroom or changing position. The log starts at 11:25 pm on Wednesday, May 10 and goes right through until the time of delivery the following afternoon. There are 4 full, double sided pages of notes and I think the process of keeping this log, Sean’s ability to take everything I said to him both good and bad, Jessyca’s fantastic coaching skills and our amazing midwife kept me from losing my sanity.
Here’s how it went down. Between 11:25 pm and 12:35 am not too much was going on. I was having contractions that were spaced fairly far apart with varying degrees of intensity but nothing too consistent. By 1:35 am the contractions were anywhere between 3 to 15 minutes apart and they lasted about 30 seconds to a minute and a half. At 2 am things really started to get consistent. I was having mild to medium intensity contractions every 1.5 to 3 minutes. After 2:30 am there was only 5 instances where I had greater than 2 minutes (but never more than 2.5) rest between contractions. It’s funny I look back at these notes now and I see that I was telling Jess at around 1:35 am the contractions were “strong”. They were a walk in the park compared to what was around the bend. Now I really know why they changed the system for judging figure skating! Around 3:50 am I was starting to get cramping in my lower pelvic area and my contractions were changing so that they were very strong and then they would just suddenly drop off. Pretty much up until this point we were being left alone to get through the early stages of labor. So it was just the 3 of us talking, breathing and keeping track of things on the log. There were two midwives on duty that were assigned to us and they’d pop in once and a while to check on us. It was really great to left alone like that. We had a pretty good system going and we were all in good spirits. If the doctor or midwives wanted to know how I was doing they would check in with Jess and her amazing log and that was that. Then I got a monster contraction that lasted 12 minutes. This seemed to be the turning point from pleasant to not so pleasant. Jess called the midwife and then the doctor came and examined me. I was 7 cm dialated and not looking too forward to many more 12 minute contractions let me tell you. From this point on all the contractions were strong. Stronger than the past “strong” contractions. I was doing a lot of creative breathing and starting to get very uncomfortable. The thought of water or food made me want to barf and I began seeing my hourly pee break as a vacation. Get the baby monitor off, remove myself from the situation, have a few minutes of just Sean and me time in the john, then get back out there and get back to work. I started thinking about the very near future and what kind of labor I was going to have. I knew I wasn’t even at the pushing stage yet but I was already starting to have significant pain. I thought back to the videos we watched in the prenatal classes which showed the soon to be moms mewing like kittens through the real productive contractions. I began hoping we were in a soundproof environment. I foresaw myself as a howler and not a dainty mewer. At 5:30 am I changed my position to upright with my legs crossed. It helped relieve my low pelvis cramping a bit. At 6 am I was 8 cm dialated, hooked up to the IV as I was getting dehydrated and the contractions were still strong lasting 20 seconds to a minute with 30 seconds to a 1.5 minutes rest between. At 7 am I had my blood pressure, temp and blood taken and when examined I was found to be 8-9 cm dialated. At 7:45 am I was examined by the doc who felt the baby’s head was starting to come down. He told us the baby would be born by 9 am. I was soooo relieved. I need to take a minute and describe what it was like to have those internal examinations. It hurt like a motherf**ker. It felt like the doctor was trying to rip my heart through my cervix. And every single time he examined me I felt like something was wrong. Actually no, I felt like he was “doing” something wrong. Nice to get that off my chest. At 8:20 am the nurses changed shift and Eriko Sato-san aka the best midwife in the whole world came to see me. Although she was in charge of a few other women she stayed with me nearly the whole time. In hindsight I wonder if she was called in as an extra and assigned to me. I’ll have to ask her next time we go to the hospital. Sato-san was amazing. She got right into the birth bed with me and put her right hand under my pelvis for nearly 4 hours. She said she could feel the baby that way. She talked me through many many very painful contractions. And then at 9 am I got the first sensation that I wanted to push. This is when the really strong contractions started and I fulfilled my destiny as a howler. Sean and Jess stopped writing in the contraction log at around 9:40 am as they were at my side and talking me through each contraction, reminding me to breathe and bringing me back down to earth. The pain was so friggin’ intense. With every contraction I would push 4 times really hard. Every time Sato-san asked me to push a fifth time. I couldn’t, it was too painful. After about an hour of these intense contractions and pain I felt myself cheating a little. Not pushing as hard as I could, trying to spare myself a bit of the pain. At 10 am the doc came back to examine me again. I was now very gun shy of his dialation examinations and had told Sean how I felt. I was also fairly disappointed that the baby had not been born by 9 am like he had sad. During his examination I kicked and screamed for him to stop. And I saw Sato give him a look of surprise. So here’s my theory. The doctor maintained up to now that my water hadn’t broken at home. I think every time he examined me to see how far I was dialated he try to “break” my water. I think that my water had indeed broken at home. I lost sooo much fluid that it couldn’t have been anything else. I think Keenan just acted as a plug and kept the rest behind him. Either way I was now 10 cm dialated and I made Sean promise me that man would conduct no more internal examinations. He was more than happy to oblige as I don’t think he could watch me go through that again. The next 2 hours were the worst and I realized I had to give up on my little cheating exercise. Hell I’d push 6 times with each contraction if Sato-san wanted me too. Turns out she did. I could focus on nothing else but the ebb and flow of each contraction and the “fuuu, fuuu” breathing sounds Sean, Jess and Sato-san were making with me. The very end of each contraction was the worst. The pain got so intense at the end I couldn’t breathe. If I couldn’t the baby couldn’t so every single time Jess calmly reminded me to breathe. Somewhere during the two hours of hell I changed my position to nearly flat on my back and it felt a million times better. The best part was I could put the grab bars to better use and all of a sudden it all started working. The pushing, the pulling the breathing, the “fuu fuu’ing”. Sato-san kept encouraging me to look down at my belly as she could see the baby moving but I just couldn’t break my concentration. I was getting exhausted. I had read about and met many women who had survived more than 24 hours of labor. Surely I could last. I could start to see the worry on Sean and Jess’s faces. Then just before noon Sato-san took a well deserved break (I learned later she went down the street to the daycare where her 9 month old son was to breast feed him). At noon the doctor came in said in Japanese to Jessyca that he was concerned I was getting too tired. So he suggested we consider other options like a picotin drip or a vacuum delivery. He also said at this point he was willing to let me carry on naturally if I wished. That was it for me. I went thru the whole f’n labor process totally naturally and now they’re talking drugs and mechanical delivery? Screw that. So I made the decision that with the next contractions I was going to push until this baby is out. Within minutes of him leaving the room I was calling for Sato-san as I could feel the baby’s head starting to come down. She was there in an instant and…the rest is part of the delivery story which I’ll write tomorrow.
Right now it’s 12:07 am and officially Keenan’s first birthday. He’s snoring quietly in his crib and has no idea what today means just yet. Presents, cake, decorations, balloons, candles, friends and lots of love and attention. I can’t remember being this excited for one of my own birthdays!
Here’s how it went down. Between 11:25 pm and 12:35 am not too much was going on. I was having contractions that were spaced fairly far apart with varying degrees of intensity but nothing too consistent. By 1:35 am the contractions were anywhere between 3 to 15 minutes apart and they lasted about 30 seconds to a minute and a half. At 2 am things really started to get consistent. I was having mild to medium intensity contractions every 1.5 to 3 minutes. After 2:30 am there was only 5 instances where I had greater than 2 minutes (but never more than 2.5) rest between contractions. It’s funny I look back at these notes now and I see that I was telling Jess at around 1:35 am the contractions were “strong”. They were a walk in the park compared to what was around the bend. Now I really know why they changed the system for judging figure skating! Around 3:50 am I was starting to get cramping in my lower pelvic area and my contractions were changing so that they were very strong and then they would just suddenly drop off. Pretty much up until this point we were being left alone to get through the early stages of labor. So it was just the 3 of us talking, breathing and keeping track of things on the log. There were two midwives on duty that were assigned to us and they’d pop in once and a while to check on us. It was really great to left alone like that. We had a pretty good system going and we were all in good spirits. If the doctor or midwives wanted to know how I was doing they would check in with Jess and her amazing log and that was that. Then I got a monster contraction that lasted 12 minutes. This seemed to be the turning point from pleasant to not so pleasant. Jess called the midwife and then the doctor came and examined me. I was 7 cm dialated and not looking too forward to many more 12 minute contractions let me tell you. From this point on all the contractions were strong. Stronger than the past “strong” contractions. I was doing a lot of creative breathing and starting to get very uncomfortable. The thought of water or food made me want to barf and I began seeing my hourly pee break as a vacation. Get the baby monitor off, remove myself from the situation, have a few minutes of just Sean and me time in the john, then get back out there and get back to work. I started thinking about the very near future and what kind of labor I was going to have. I knew I wasn’t even at the pushing stage yet but I was already starting to have significant pain. I thought back to the videos we watched in the prenatal classes which showed the soon to be moms mewing like kittens through the real productive contractions. I began hoping we were in a soundproof environment. I foresaw myself as a howler and not a dainty mewer. At 5:30 am I changed my position to upright with my legs crossed. It helped relieve my low pelvis cramping a bit. At 6 am I was 8 cm dialated, hooked up to the IV as I was getting dehydrated and the contractions were still strong lasting 20 seconds to a minute with 30 seconds to a 1.5 minutes rest between. At 7 am I had my blood pressure, temp and blood taken and when examined I was found to be 8-9 cm dialated. At 7:45 am I was examined by the doc who felt the baby’s head was starting to come down. He told us the baby would be born by 9 am. I was soooo relieved. I need to take a minute and describe what it was like to have those internal examinations. It hurt like a motherf**ker. It felt like the doctor was trying to rip my heart through my cervix. And every single time he examined me I felt like something was wrong. Actually no, I felt like he was “doing” something wrong. Nice to get that off my chest. At 8:20 am the nurses changed shift and Eriko Sato-san aka the best midwife in the whole world came to see me. Although she was in charge of a few other women she stayed with me nearly the whole time. In hindsight I wonder if she was called in as an extra and assigned to me. I’ll have to ask her next time we go to the hospital. Sato-san was amazing. She got right into the birth bed with me and put her right hand under my pelvis for nearly 4 hours. She said she could feel the baby that way. She talked me through many many very painful contractions. And then at 9 am I got the first sensation that I wanted to push. This is when the really strong contractions started and I fulfilled my destiny as a howler. Sean and Jess stopped writing in the contraction log at around 9:40 am as they were at my side and talking me through each contraction, reminding me to breathe and bringing me back down to earth. The pain was so friggin’ intense. With every contraction I would push 4 times really hard. Every time Sato-san asked me to push a fifth time. I couldn’t, it was too painful. After about an hour of these intense contractions and pain I felt myself cheating a little. Not pushing as hard as I could, trying to spare myself a bit of the pain. At 10 am the doc came back to examine me again. I was now very gun shy of his dialation examinations and had told Sean how I felt. I was also fairly disappointed that the baby had not been born by 9 am like he had sad. During his examination I kicked and screamed for him to stop. And I saw Sato give him a look of surprise. So here’s my theory. The doctor maintained up to now that my water hadn’t broken at home. I think every time he examined me to see how far I was dialated he try to “break” my water. I think that my water had indeed broken at home. I lost sooo much fluid that it couldn’t have been anything else. I think Keenan just acted as a plug and kept the rest behind him. Either way I was now 10 cm dialated and I made Sean promise me that man would conduct no more internal examinations. He was more than happy to oblige as I don’t think he could watch me go through that again. The next 2 hours were the worst and I realized I had to give up on my little cheating exercise. Hell I’d push 6 times with each contraction if Sato-san wanted me too. Turns out she did. I could focus on nothing else but the ebb and flow of each contraction and the “fuuu, fuuu” breathing sounds Sean, Jess and Sato-san were making with me. The very end of each contraction was the worst. The pain got so intense at the end I couldn’t breathe. If I couldn’t the baby couldn’t so every single time Jess calmly reminded me to breathe. Somewhere during the two hours of hell I changed my position to nearly flat on my back and it felt a million times better. The best part was I could put the grab bars to better use and all of a sudden it all started working. The pushing, the pulling the breathing, the “fuu fuu’ing”. Sato-san kept encouraging me to look down at my belly as she could see the baby moving but I just couldn’t break my concentration. I was getting exhausted. I had read about and met many women who had survived more than 24 hours of labor. Surely I could last. I could start to see the worry on Sean and Jess’s faces. Then just before noon Sato-san took a well deserved break (I learned later she went down the street to the daycare where her 9 month old son was to breast feed him). At noon the doctor came in said in Japanese to Jessyca that he was concerned I was getting too tired. So he suggested we consider other options like a picotin drip or a vacuum delivery. He also said at this point he was willing to let me carry on naturally if I wished. That was it for me. I went thru the whole f’n labor process totally naturally and now they’re talking drugs and mechanical delivery? Screw that. So I made the decision that with the next contractions I was going to push until this baby is out. Within minutes of him leaving the room I was calling for Sato-san as I could feel the baby’s head starting to come down. She was there in an instant and…the rest is part of the delivery story which I’ll write tomorrow.
Right now it’s 12:07 am and officially Keenan’s first birthday. He’s snoring quietly in his crib and has no idea what today means just yet. Presents, cake, decorations, balloons, candles, friends and lots of love and attention. I can’t remember being this excited for one of my own birthdays!
Friday, May 04, 2007
Happy Children’s Day!
Today is kodomo no hi “Children’s Day”. It used to be called Boy’s Day but it was too exclusionary towards girls so it’s been changed. Either way one of the most beautiful things about kodomo no hi is that koi no buri “koi wind socks” are flown outside the home in honor of the family and with hopes the koi will impart their characteristics of strength and long life unto the children. These wind socks come in an insane array of colors, patterns, fabrics and sizes. There are custom sets that can lighten your pockets of $10 000 + or you can purchase a wee set at a dollar store for well, a dollar. The largest koi no buri we’ve seen were being flown from a tower and were well over 7 meters long. We’ve seen them flown on shrine grounds, farm grounds, private residences, farms and in the dozens alongside bridges. They are truly breathe-taking to behold fluttering in the spring wind.
Sean and I were most excited to go shopping for a set for Keenan. The 3 of us went several times on our own to get a general idea of what we wanted and then Eiko joined Keenan and I on our final fact finding mission. Traditionally the father and/or his parents shop for and buy the koi no buri but logistically that just wasn’t going to work out for us so Eiko, Keenan and I narrowed down the choices to the 3 best based on price, pattern, size and pica pica (Japanese onomatopoeia for something that is shiny). Sean made the final decision and I then he picked the best of the lot. We brought our set home and I stayed up late one night assembling the balcony clamp, pole, ropes, clips and windmill. Under the cover of darkness (so as not to make an idiot of myself doing this for the first time) I secured the hardware to the balcony. The next morning was bright and sunny and I hung the family flag and the 3 koi. I couldn’t believe how little breeze set them to sail. They billowed and twisted from the pole with the sun glinting off the gold detail. When Keenan woke up I opened his curtains and the koi immediately caught his attention. Arm up, deploy finger, point, smile. It was a great moment. So Sean took him to the living room sliding door to look out and meet his koi no buri for the first time. Then they went out on the balcony for a closer look. Sean explained what the flags represented…the top one is our family flag, the biggest koi is daddy, the next one is mommy and the smallest one is for baby. Keenan truly loved them. He pointed and smiled and cooed for as long as Sean’s bare feet could stand being out on our cold concrete balcony. Since that day we’ve had to have them inside a few times because it’s been too windy or raining and I’ve hung them in Keenan’s bedroom window. He plays with the soft silky fabric and delights in the bright colors and shimmering gold. I think after this weekend I’ll hang them in his room over his crib so he can see them when he wakes up.
We hope you grow up with the strength and long life of the koi our dear boy. We’ll fly your koi no buri every year at this time in honor of you and to remind you of your birthplace. We love you Keenan!
Sean and I were most excited to go shopping for a set for Keenan. The 3 of us went several times on our own to get a general idea of what we wanted and then Eiko joined Keenan and I on our final fact finding mission. Traditionally the father and/or his parents shop for and buy the koi no buri but logistically that just wasn’t going to work out for us so Eiko, Keenan and I narrowed down the choices to the 3 best based on price, pattern, size and pica pica (Japanese onomatopoeia for something that is shiny). Sean made the final decision and I then he picked the best of the lot. We brought our set home and I stayed up late one night assembling the balcony clamp, pole, ropes, clips and windmill. Under the cover of darkness (so as not to make an idiot of myself doing this for the first time) I secured the hardware to the balcony. The next morning was bright and sunny and I hung the family flag and the 3 koi. I couldn’t believe how little breeze set them to sail. They billowed and twisted from the pole with the sun glinting off the gold detail. When Keenan woke up I opened his curtains and the koi immediately caught his attention. Arm up, deploy finger, point, smile. It was a great moment. So Sean took him to the living room sliding door to look out and meet his koi no buri for the first time. Then they went out on the balcony for a closer look. Sean explained what the flags represented…the top one is our family flag, the biggest koi is daddy, the next one is mommy and the smallest one is for baby. Keenan truly loved them. He pointed and smiled and cooed for as long as Sean’s bare feet could stand being out on our cold concrete balcony. Since that day we’ve had to have them inside a few times because it’s been too windy or raining and I’ve hung them in Keenan’s bedroom window. He plays with the soft silky fabric and delights in the bright colors and shimmering gold. I think after this weekend I’ll hang them in his room over his crib so he can see them when he wakes up.
We hope you grow up with the strength and long life of the koi our dear boy. We’ll fly your koi no buri every year at this time in honor of you and to remind you of your birthplace. We love you Keenan!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Feeling the burn
Keenan has been a workout this week. We finally managed to break the getting up at 4 am habit. Halleluiah and thank you all denominations of the Lord. We suspected he might be getting up with the sun rising and in a stroke of genius Sean found yet another use for our thick, cushy and indispensable Patagonia Synchilla blanket. He hung it over Keenan’s window and it plunges the room into near darkness. So now he’s only getting up at 5:15 am which is still a little on the painful side especially for Sean the night owl who comes to bed at 3 am on the weekends. Apart from waking Sean up too early and making me grumpy, these early mornings make Keenan a wholly terror requiring FULL and COMPLETE engagement, 3 naps and too much scolding because when he’s tired and cranky he gets into things he’s not supposed to. And it makes him bite me. We definitely gotta get this biting thing sorted out but we’re gonna tackle the sleep issues first. So Sean spent a lot of time researching the "issue" on the net yesterday and we’re gonna try pushing back Keenan's breakfast, lunch and dinner times followed by his nap times by 1 hour. The ideal result being that after about 2 weeks he’ll start waking up later in the morning. Wish us luck.
In kimono news…I did indeed go back to the kimono shop and I inspected the "deal of the century kimono" mentioned in a previous post. Viewed in the daylight the sun and soiling appeared to be much more extensive than I thought so I didn’t get it. But I did get a few other things including a kimono overcoat, some more fabric, a casual obi, kimono shipping envelopes and a monkey made out of kimono fabric for Keenan’s first birthday. Come on, how many other kids can say they’ve got a monkey made of kimono fabric?!!!!
In kimono news…I did indeed go back to the kimono shop and I inspected the "deal of the century kimono" mentioned in a previous post. Viewed in the daylight the sun and soiling appeared to be much more extensive than I thought so I didn’t get it. But I did get a few other things including a kimono overcoat, some more fabric, a casual obi, kimono shipping envelopes and a monkey made out of kimono fabric for Keenan’s first birthday. Come on, how many other kids can say they’ve got a monkey made of kimono fabric?!!!!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Gosh, are you sure 4 loud speakers are enough?
It’s election time here in Obihiro. Not sure what the election is for. All I know is there is 38 or so candidates and they each have their own van which sports no less than 4 loud speakers affixed to the roof. A loud speaker attached to each corner of the exterior roof surface of a van would be pretty harmless if a man or woman shouting keigo (honorrific Japanese) at you as it slowly creeps through your neighborhood didn’t back it. There’s been at least one of those per candidate spreading noise pollution thru our fair city all week and it’s getting downright tiring. The thing that really rots my socks is that all they have time to say is their name, good morning, afternoon or evening, thank you very much and what roughly translates into please treat me kindly. Maybe if you haven’t woken my son up from his much needed naps on no less than 5 occasions this week I’d have some kind thoughts for you but right now I’m thinking about what objects in my fridge compliment your campaign colors.
So to make matters worse. As of right now there’s one such aforedescribed van parked outside of our building as crankypants is sleeping. So I go outside with the video camera with hopes that a foreigner video taping them will weird them out enough to drive them away. It works on one silver haired, older guy but then the candidate herself runs right up to the building with two of her neon green clothed designated wavers and starts talking to me. In English. While I'm getting the whole thing on video. My only opportunity to tell them to keep it down and I giggle girlishly and wish her luck. Yet another Aw Fer Fuck Sakes moment. So I come back in, sit down at this very seat and the doorbell rings. It’s some guy, trying to sell me something I don’t need and now Keenan is crying in the background. Keenan slept through multiple loudspeaker-encrusted vans blaring right outside his window only to be woken up by the doorbell. Classic. Now I’m gonna go figure out how to upload the video to this blog. After of course I go to the kimono shop.
So to make matters worse. As of right now there’s one such aforedescribed van parked outside of our building as crankypants is sleeping. So I go outside with the video camera with hopes that a foreigner video taping them will weird them out enough to drive them away. It works on one silver haired, older guy but then the candidate herself runs right up to the building with two of her neon green clothed designated wavers and starts talking to me. In English. While I'm getting the whole thing on video. My only opportunity to tell them to keep it down and I giggle girlishly and wish her luck. Yet another Aw Fer Fuck Sakes moment. So I come back in, sit down at this very seat and the doorbell rings. It’s some guy, trying to sell me something I don’t need and now Keenan is crying in the background. Keenan slept through multiple loudspeaker-encrusted vans blaring right outside his window only to be woken up by the doorbell. Classic. Now I’m gonna go figure out how to upload the video to this blog. After of course I go to the kimono shop.
Snow, kimono? What’s it gonna be this weekend?
It’s 7:30 am on Saturday and I’ve been up for 3.5 hours, nursed Keenan, made Keenan breakfast, fed Keenan breakfast, nursed Keenan again and then suffered through 10 minutes of Keenan crying because he was simply too tired to fall asleep. Sean and I sat in the living room quiet as two house mice while Keenan wailed in his crib. Usually when we do this he gives in before 5 minutes and falls asleep or kicks up the intensity and rips my heart out with “wuh uh uh waaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA” punctuated with “mum mum mum”. So I went in picked him up, snuggled him against me and then I deployed my secret weapon…the whispering of French lullabies. I don’t know very many and I'm more than pretty sure I get some of the words wrong but they sure as hell work wonders on our child when he gets himself worked into a “screw you mom and dad I'm not falling asleep” mood.
So now Keenan’s sleeping and after Sean paid his respects to my baby whispering by deeply bowing before me several times he headed back to bed as well. I’m not feeling much like going back to bed though and sadly I think it’s because I’m getting used to Keenan’s new starting hour of 4 am. So perhaps I’ll blather on here for a while.
I must say that I while I lay in bed at 4 am in a haze of procrastination and prayers for Keenan to magically talk himself to sleep I found myself wondering what the weather was up to on the other side of our bedroom curtain. You see during the months of April and May winter mysteriously only works on the weekends. I’m not kidding. We’ve woken up to snow on either Saturday or Sunday morning nearly every weekend save for one this month. Same thing happened last year. I won’t go so far as to say it never snows during the week. It might snow a bit but we get seriously dumped on over the weekend. I think we got almost 25 cm last Saturday during the daylight hours alone but come Monday you could barely tell. I opened the curtains to rain this morning but there’s enough chill in the air to coax flakes from the skies if the temp drops a few degrees.
In other news, yesterday we got a flyer in the mail from a local kimono shop advertising a huge sale. I love everything about kimono shops. The colorful, patterned and beautifully textured fabrics, the accessories, the purses, hair ornaments, the impeccable customer service and the long list of traditional must have accoutrements whose purpose I can’t even fathom. These shops are packed with “stuff”. Stuff you could blissfully spend hours sifting through only to find many other layers of more stuff beneath begging for your attention. So it’s never a “quick” visit to a kimono shop especially not one packed to the rafters with sale goods. And it's typically not a place you go to with a baby that’s a bit whingy because he blew off his afternoon nap but we went anyways. We ended up spending 5500 yen total for a very pretty, formal obi thanks to Sean’s keen eye, some great kimono fabric scraps, 2 small wall hangings and 2 noren. A good haul by my standards. But and this is a big BUT, the best deal I have ever laid my hands on in all my life was at that shop and I didn’t buy it. I had to curb my desire and exercise the “24 hour + sleep on it rule” as I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it because it was such a freakin’ good deal or because I actually liked and wanted it. Need doesn’t factor into this equation and I know you know exactly what I’m talking about. So what was this fabled deal of the century? A 580000 yen (approx $5800 and yes that is the correct number of zeros) silk kimono for 3900 yen (approx $39). I walked away from it for 4 reasons…it was only basted and not yet sewn, a bit dirty, a bit faded from the sun and it was unlined. The fading was minor and the liner doesn’t matter to me as I’d never wear it and would only hang it on a wall or stash it away in a box as my most prized, most deeply discounted find. The dry cleaning would be costly and it would take me a while to hand-stitch it back together. But geez, the whole process and the thing itself sure makes for such a great story doesn’t it? Not to mention that the kimono itself is quite lovely. It’s not something I would have been attracted to at first glance as it is very light in color but the pattern and embroidery are very traditional and quite beautiful. Naturally I’ll be going back today for a reassessment come snow, rain or screaming baby!
So now Keenan’s sleeping and after Sean paid his respects to my baby whispering by deeply bowing before me several times he headed back to bed as well. I’m not feeling much like going back to bed though and sadly I think it’s because I’m getting used to Keenan’s new starting hour of 4 am. So perhaps I’ll blather on here for a while.
I must say that I while I lay in bed at 4 am in a haze of procrastination and prayers for Keenan to magically talk himself to sleep I found myself wondering what the weather was up to on the other side of our bedroom curtain. You see during the months of April and May winter mysteriously only works on the weekends. I’m not kidding. We’ve woken up to snow on either Saturday or Sunday morning nearly every weekend save for one this month. Same thing happened last year. I won’t go so far as to say it never snows during the week. It might snow a bit but we get seriously dumped on over the weekend. I think we got almost 25 cm last Saturday during the daylight hours alone but come Monday you could barely tell. I opened the curtains to rain this morning but there’s enough chill in the air to coax flakes from the skies if the temp drops a few degrees.
In other news, yesterday we got a flyer in the mail from a local kimono shop advertising a huge sale. I love everything about kimono shops. The colorful, patterned and beautifully textured fabrics, the accessories, the purses, hair ornaments, the impeccable customer service and the long list of traditional must have accoutrements whose purpose I can’t even fathom. These shops are packed with “stuff”. Stuff you could blissfully spend hours sifting through only to find many other layers of more stuff beneath begging for your attention. So it’s never a “quick” visit to a kimono shop especially not one packed to the rafters with sale goods. And it's typically not a place you go to with a baby that’s a bit whingy because he blew off his afternoon nap but we went anyways. We ended up spending 5500 yen total for a very pretty, formal obi thanks to Sean’s keen eye, some great kimono fabric scraps, 2 small wall hangings and 2 noren. A good haul by my standards. But and this is a big BUT, the best deal I have ever laid my hands on in all my life was at that shop and I didn’t buy it. I had to curb my desire and exercise the “24 hour + sleep on it rule” as I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it because it was such a freakin’ good deal or because I actually liked and wanted it. Need doesn’t factor into this equation and I know you know exactly what I’m talking about. So what was this fabled deal of the century? A 580000 yen (approx $5800 and yes that is the correct number of zeros) silk kimono for 3900 yen (approx $39). I walked away from it for 4 reasons…it was only basted and not yet sewn, a bit dirty, a bit faded from the sun and it was unlined. The fading was minor and the liner doesn’t matter to me as I’d never wear it and would only hang it on a wall or stash it away in a box as my most prized, most deeply discounted find. The dry cleaning would be costly and it would take me a while to hand-stitch it back together. But geez, the whole process and the thing itself sure makes for such a great story doesn’t it? Not to mention that the kimono itself is quite lovely. It’s not something I would have been attracted to at first glance as it is very light in color but the pattern and embroidery are very traditional and quite beautiful. Naturally I’ll be going back today for a reassessment come snow, rain or screaming baby!
Friday, April 13, 2007
11 months
One month away from celebrating your first birthday. Wow! I’m sure this next month is going to fly by as quickly as the last 11. I wonder, what it is about having babies that accelerates the passing of time? This past month has been another action packed, baby chasing, house-baby proofing adventure, as you love to explore places that are deemed unsafe by your parents. You charge every door that has been left open especially if it spends the day cutting you off from some magical mystery that is being unfairly kept from you. You have graduated into the 4 x 4 category of crawling. Simply put, not much other than doors can stand in your way. Even the bodies of your pooped parents splayed across the hardwood are mere molehills to you. Despite your crawling conquests you are very reluctant to try walking. For the time being you are quite happy to stand and cling to chairs and tables but as soon as moving your feet is required you’d much rather get back down on your knees to get from A to B. And yes, we’re fine with that for now! Take you’re time sweet boy, you’ve got a lifetime to run us off our feet!
You LOVE books. They are the first thing you want to play with after you wake up and the last thing you want to play with before you go to bed. You have two categories of books and they are located in two areas of the apartment. Your bedroom books are those with paper pages and are mostly gifts from friends and family and you require supervision while looking at them or you’ll tear the pages. Then there are your living room books, which are board books or soft plastic and fairly indestructible. You easily spend an hour a day looking at your books, flipping the pages, pointing at things and of course toting them around in your mouth as you travel our apartment. You have no problem sitting still for stories and you carefully turn each page in the proper direction. You don’t watch TV but you do get to see a few video pod casts. Your favorite pod cast is National Geographic video shorts and you get to watch a couple on the computer after dinner.
We weighed you yesterday and you are now 9 kilos (19.8 lbs)! Yippee! Dad gets to turn your car seat to face forward! And you’ve grown 4 cm in length in the last month so you are now 74 cm tall. We haven’t really had a solid word out of you yet but I think you’re starting to direct mumumum and dadada at us. Hopefully your first word won’t be fart (at least I’m hoping that anyways, your dad of course would be thrilled!). You eat a lot and love green peas pretty much more than anything. We have to give them to you at the end of your meal otherwise that’s all you’ll want to eat. Peas are good for you and all but they make for downright epic diaper changes! You also really love noodles, which is a blessing for those rare occasions when we go out for dinner. Two full-length udon noodles can keep you occupied for quite some time. You love to share your food and are always wanting to feed your mom and dad bits of your crackers or fruit. I’ve started teaching you what to do with a fork and you’ve got the basic concept down. In recent days you seem to have developed a sense of humor! You will outright laugh or giggle at all kinds of things like your father sitting on the toilet! You got your first hair cut last weekend and it makes you look so much older! Your dad held (wrangled) you while I managed the clippers. We did a pretty good job and only missed one spot. You didn’t seem to mind the process too much although you seemed to dislike the vibrating action of the clippers against your head. Drooling is back on your list of full time activities. We don’t see any new teeth yet but the ones you have now are defiantly moving closer together so there something going on in those gums of yours. You’ve established a solid sleep schedule of in bed between 7 and 8 pm up between 5 and 6 am, morning nap at 9am for 2-3 hours and then a little afternoon nap around 2 or 3pm for usually less than an hour. Missing the afternoon nap is not a big deal but missing the morning nap is parentcide and we avoid this AT ALL COSTS. It’s one thing to have grumpy parents but a grumpy baby takes days to recover from. You had your first quasi illness a couple of weeks ago. Some sort of minor sinus infection we figure. It was a week of hell for you and I won’t get into the details of what it did to us!
Eiko, your dad and I have been busy shopping for a koi no buri set for you. We’re really looking forward to celebrating kodomo no hi with you and can’t wait to watch your beautiful flags spinning in the spring wind from our balcony.
This next month we will take you on your first camping/road trip. It will be our last big adventure on Hokkaido until we bring you back when you are old enough to remember and appreciate seeing your birthplace. We’re both excited and nervous about this trip as we’ll be more than a days drive from home, which makes pulling the plug a little difficult so please be a good boy!
Happy 11 months birthday my boy. You never cease to amaze us with your how fast you learn new things and adapt to different and new situations. We love you squishy!
You LOVE books. They are the first thing you want to play with after you wake up and the last thing you want to play with before you go to bed. You have two categories of books and they are located in two areas of the apartment. Your bedroom books are those with paper pages and are mostly gifts from friends and family and you require supervision while looking at them or you’ll tear the pages. Then there are your living room books, which are board books or soft plastic and fairly indestructible. You easily spend an hour a day looking at your books, flipping the pages, pointing at things and of course toting them around in your mouth as you travel our apartment. You have no problem sitting still for stories and you carefully turn each page in the proper direction. You don’t watch TV but you do get to see a few video pod casts. Your favorite pod cast is National Geographic video shorts and you get to watch a couple on the computer after dinner.
We weighed you yesterday and you are now 9 kilos (19.8 lbs)! Yippee! Dad gets to turn your car seat to face forward! And you’ve grown 4 cm in length in the last month so you are now 74 cm tall. We haven’t really had a solid word out of you yet but I think you’re starting to direct mumumum and dadada at us. Hopefully your first word won’t be fart (at least I’m hoping that anyways, your dad of course would be thrilled!). You eat a lot and love green peas pretty much more than anything. We have to give them to you at the end of your meal otherwise that’s all you’ll want to eat. Peas are good for you and all but they make for downright epic diaper changes! You also really love noodles, which is a blessing for those rare occasions when we go out for dinner. Two full-length udon noodles can keep you occupied for quite some time. You love to share your food and are always wanting to feed your mom and dad bits of your crackers or fruit. I’ve started teaching you what to do with a fork and you’ve got the basic concept down. In recent days you seem to have developed a sense of humor! You will outright laugh or giggle at all kinds of things like your father sitting on the toilet! You got your first hair cut last weekend and it makes you look so much older! Your dad held (wrangled) you while I managed the clippers. We did a pretty good job and only missed one spot. You didn’t seem to mind the process too much although you seemed to dislike the vibrating action of the clippers against your head. Drooling is back on your list of full time activities. We don’t see any new teeth yet but the ones you have now are defiantly moving closer together so there something going on in those gums of yours. You’ve established a solid sleep schedule of in bed between 7 and 8 pm up between 5 and 6 am, morning nap at 9am for 2-3 hours and then a little afternoon nap around 2 or 3pm for usually less than an hour. Missing the afternoon nap is not a big deal but missing the morning nap is parentcide and we avoid this AT ALL COSTS. It’s one thing to have grumpy parents but a grumpy baby takes days to recover from. You had your first quasi illness a couple of weeks ago. Some sort of minor sinus infection we figure. It was a week of hell for you and I won’t get into the details of what it did to us!
Eiko, your dad and I have been busy shopping for a koi no buri set for you. We’re really looking forward to celebrating kodomo no hi with you and can’t wait to watch your beautiful flags spinning in the spring wind from our balcony.
This next month we will take you on your first camping/road trip. It will be our last big adventure on Hokkaido until we bring you back when you are old enough to remember and appreciate seeing your birthplace. We’re both excited and nervous about this trip as we’ll be more than a days drive from home, which makes pulling the plug a little difficult so please be a good boy!
Happy 11 months birthday my boy. You never cease to amaze us with your how fast you learn new things and adapt to different and new situations. We love you squishy!
Monday, April 09, 2007
The blossoms are coming!
I never cease to be amazed by the contrast in technological advances and lack there of in this country. We had to pay to have a separate gas hot water heater installed in our kitchen as only dish soap gelling, frigid water comes forth from the taps. On the other hand there is an entire division at the Japan Meteorological Agency that tracks the “sakura front” (桜前線, sakurazensen) as it makes its way north to the very tip of this cherry blossom crazed country! They even publish and regularly update a webpage that plots the progress of the advancing pinky goodness!
I must admit we’ve really come to look forward to the arrival of the cherry blossoms. They are the true sign that spring is here to stay. We’ve even planned 2 days and nights of our spring road trip to coincide with the blooming of 1600 sakura trees in Goryoukaku Park in Hakodate. We’ve never been there before and we’re really looking forward to exploring this beautiful city as the warm spring breeze swirls the delicate petal around us. We plan to partake in some “flower viewing” (花見, hanami) which is taken very seriously amongst avid cherry blossom fans. Apart from going for a nice steamy onsen, hanami is one of the most relaxing activities I’ve encountered in this country. You pack yourself a picnic or pick up your favorite bento, some beverages, a blanket and of course the one accessory that shows you really know what your doing…a blue tarp! Then you head out to your favorite cluster of flowering trees, set up underneath them, sit back, enjoy the flowers, the food and the company of other hanami enthusiasts. It’s really amazing to see all the stuff folks will tote along to their chosen site. You’ll see carts that are loaded up with BBQ’s, tripods, spotting scopes, folding chairs, obscene amounts of skewered meats for the grill, blankets, liters of bottle tea, mochi, video cameras, kids toys you name it. If it will prolong the hanami experience it goes along!
This time of year will always be very special to me. When I went in to labor for Keenan almost a year ago the blossoms had yet to open in Obihiro. Keenan was born at 12:14 in the afternoon on a Thursday and that Saturday I noticed the first blossoms opening from a window in the hospital down the hall from our room. There is also a sakura tree just outside the window of the maternity floor lounge and it burst into bloom that same day. On Sunday (my first Mother’s Day as a mother) I awoke to the unforgettably striking sight of snow falling on the blossoms. It was truly breathtaking. The whole 7 days we were in the hospital trees all along the building were in various stages of bloom. It felt wonderful to me as we had planned to name our baby Hanako(“hana” means flowers and “ko” means child) if she was a girl. Instead we had a beautiful baby boy in the middle of a city in full bloom. Looking at the blossoms thru the hospital windows was one of the first things Keenan and I did together apart from the routine hospital stuff and I will always hold that memory close to my heart.
Eiko, if I have made any kanji mistakes please let me know! Yoroshiku!
I must admit we’ve really come to look forward to the arrival of the cherry blossoms. They are the true sign that spring is here to stay. We’ve even planned 2 days and nights of our spring road trip to coincide with the blooming of 1600 sakura trees in Goryoukaku Park in Hakodate. We’ve never been there before and we’re really looking forward to exploring this beautiful city as the warm spring breeze swirls the delicate petal around us. We plan to partake in some “flower viewing” (花見, hanami) which is taken very seriously amongst avid cherry blossom fans. Apart from going for a nice steamy onsen, hanami is one of the most relaxing activities I’ve encountered in this country. You pack yourself a picnic or pick up your favorite bento, some beverages, a blanket and of course the one accessory that shows you really know what your doing…a blue tarp! Then you head out to your favorite cluster of flowering trees, set up underneath them, sit back, enjoy the flowers, the food and the company of other hanami enthusiasts. It’s really amazing to see all the stuff folks will tote along to their chosen site. You’ll see carts that are loaded up with BBQ’s, tripods, spotting scopes, folding chairs, obscene amounts of skewered meats for the grill, blankets, liters of bottle tea, mochi, video cameras, kids toys you name it. If it will prolong the hanami experience it goes along!
This time of year will always be very special to me. When I went in to labor for Keenan almost a year ago the blossoms had yet to open in Obihiro. Keenan was born at 12:14 in the afternoon on a Thursday and that Saturday I noticed the first blossoms opening from a window in the hospital down the hall from our room. There is also a sakura tree just outside the window of the maternity floor lounge and it burst into bloom that same day. On Sunday (my first Mother’s Day as a mother) I awoke to the unforgettably striking sight of snow falling on the blossoms. It was truly breathtaking. The whole 7 days we were in the hospital trees all along the building were in various stages of bloom. It felt wonderful to me as we had planned to name our baby Hanako(“hana” means flowers and “ko” means child) if she was a girl. Instead we had a beautiful baby boy in the middle of a city in full bloom. Looking at the blossoms thru the hospital windows was one of the first things Keenan and I did together apart from the routine hospital stuff and I will always hold that memory close to my heart.
Eiko, if I have made any kanji mistakes please let me know! Yoroshiku!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Monkey express
Now that Keenan is fully mobile in the crawling department he's decided he'd like to be able to take things along on his exploits. The problem with crawling is that it employs both of his hands. So last week he started to put things in his mouth to get them from point A to point B. The results as you can see are often quite hilarious!
Monday, April 02, 2007
I survived last week…
…but the day after the previous post was even worse. Keenan developed a bit of a runny nose, cried nearly all day and wouldn’t sleep. Sean came home that night and brought along Eiko, Bret and Sara. Keenan and I both had such a shitty day and company was just the thing we needed to get us out of our funk. Dinner, cake and a bit of fun made us both feel better but the next morning it was clear that Keenan had come down with something. There was nothing we could do to make our wee boy happy or ease his discomfort and yet he didn’t seem sick enough to take him to the doctor. So we decided we’d tough it out and if he wasn’t better by the end of the day we’d take him to the hospital. Then we had an “a ha” moment. We discovered that he would sleep if he lay against our chest when we were reclined at about a 45-degree angle. And he would sleep that way for hours. Clearly he was tired and needed the rest so we traded Keenan back and forth and let him sleep on us. He would scream if we tried to put him down. I was starting to wonder if perhaps he inherited my tendency for head colds accompanied by painful sinus congestion. Until very recently I never used to get chest colds if I got sick at all. I was always the stuffed up nose kid that emanated Vicks Vaporub. I’m sure that, my chocolate sandwiches and tendency to kick my teachers added greatly to my popularity! Maybe our little guy was really stuffed up and every time we tried to lay him down he got stuffier? I filled the essential oil burner with a good dose of camphor, mint, rosemary and eucalyptus and put it next to the tub, ran a bath, closed the door and let it get all steamy in there. Then I gave him a long hot bath, breastfed him and he fell asleep in his crib for about 90 minutes. A pretty short nap by Keenan standards and even shorter for a sick boy but he was way more genki when he woke up. By Saturday afternoon he was pretty much back to himself again. Phew!!!!! We’re so lucky he’s made it this far and that’s the most sick he’s ever been. Knock on wood, fingers crossed.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
One of THOSE days
*CAUTION: Profanity used at will in this post and I can’t be bothered to spell/grammar check either.
Oh God, this day is a doozy. I’m saying “is” because it’s only 3:49 pm and there’s still plenty of time for it to get worse.
Today started off as most do. Up at 5:45 am to the sounds of Keenan burbling away in his crib. The only difference here is that I took the wood frames out from under my side of the futon yesterday and as a result I had the most amazing frickin’ sleep since Keenan was born. So I had some cobwebs in the brain and was a little slow to get to the boy so he got a bit whingey. No biggie, nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Breastfed Keenan, changed his bum, got him dressed for the day and turned him loose on his toys in the living room. Got coffee going and breakfast on the go. Then, hmmmm wonder if Sean needs a shower today? Better check. Opened door to bedroom, let Keenan loose on his dad. “Do you need to shower today Sean?” I shower every second day on opposing days to Keenan’s bath day. Don’t know why, it just worked out that way. Sean showers whenever but if we have to shower on the same morning then we need to step things up a notch, well no actually then he needs to get his ass out of bed earlier so we can both shower before he leaves for work. Sean gets out of bed, has a shower, I’m in the kitchen continuing to get breakfast ready while Keenan is biting me, pulling on my pants, pulling things off shelves, holding the fridge door closed when I need it open and then holding it open when I need it closed. You know, typical baby getting into everything kind of scenario. So I’m trying to juggle all this stuff and Sean walks by and says “ok, what’s the funniest line from last night?” I have no idea Sean. I don’t store that kind of info well anymore. What was the funniest line from the Soprano’s (or was it CSI)? That’s when the badness started. “You need to try to remember that kind of stuff or you’re just perpetuating the problem”. Right, I’m gonna have a shower. Which I did. I get out to a very quiet apartment. Sean fed Keenan who fell asleep in his high chair before finishing his breakfast and is now fast asleep in his crib 20 minutes before we have to leave to take Sean to work. Sean and I talk about the spat and how I spend the better part of my day trying to remember things I’ve forgotten and how that comment made me feel. Part of the problem is that Sean had an office party last night and I had Keenan by myself all day. It’s totally fine if he’s in a genki mood but if he’s not which was the case it turns into an exhausting endeavor. So, I was feeling like yesterday was just bleeding into today with any break and it was making me a little crazy. Anyways, we patch things up and then wake up the boy and get Sean out the door.
Keenan whinges all the way to Sean’s office and all the way home. It’s a good kind of whinge though. His I’m gonna fall asleep if I even just see a picture of a boobie kind of whinge. We get upstairs, Keenan gets two boobs and is not venturing off to lala land during the feeding. Shit. No prob, I’ll just set him down in the crib on his side and see if he’ll go off to sleep. Five minutes of crying later I go in and bring him out to play for a little while. “A little while” turns into a few hours but then I finally get him off to sleep at around noon. 20 minutes later someone’s pulling on doorknob and ringing the doorbell. Back home this would freak the shit out of me but it’s commomplace here for the delivery guy or gas guy to open the door if it’s unlocked and call your name into your apartment. I wasn’t too impressed the first time it happened, stopped keeping my purse in the hallway and never walk around in my underpants and bra in the daytime unless it’s 32 degrees Celcius or higher. And now I always keep the door locked too. Then Keenan starts to cry. Oh boy. If it’s that guy trying to sell me first aid kits again I’m gonna give reason to use one. Wasn’t him. It was Sean. “I didn’t have any lunch money so I rode home”. Great ok, well you just woke up Keenan after I tried all morning to get him down for his morning nap. He apologizes, makes lunch, hangs out with us for a few minutes and then has to get going again. I’m in the middle of eating my lunch, Sean walks out the door and Keenan starts crying. He’s been doing that lately when we leave a room and he can’t see us. So, I pick him up and take him into the hallway for a bye-bye hug, kiss and a bit of waving. That seems to do the job now he wants my lunch. He eats a bit of it and I get up to make him some too. More crying. I pick him up and take him in the kitchen with me. Lunch is pretty easy to make with one hand. Take rice from rice cooker and put in bowl. Open package of sesame seeds a pour some on rice. Set package down but somehow manage to drop it and when trying to prevent package from falling on the floor I dump the contents all over the kitchen floor. Likely millions of seeds are all over the floor, my socks and in the pockets of my hoodie. This was definitely an “aw few fuck sakes” moment. Fuckity fuck, ok Keenan you need to play in your crib for a few minutes while I get this cleaned up. “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” Geez you’d think you were getting a diaper change or something.
I’m tracking seeds everywhere but manage to get them swept up. Finish making Keenan’s lunch. Feed him and try to get him to bed. He’s dead tired. I try another 5 minutes of crying in the crib. Nope. I bring him out to play. He pulls the tea pot off a shelf he couldn’t reach yesterday, gets into the garbage, pulls on the heater cord, nearly pulls a kitchen chair over onto himself, falls on his face while crawling because he’s so tired, smacks his nose, more crying, reaches for a plant he’s not yet been interested in, only wants to play with the computer mouse, no luck there baby, more crying, pulls on heater cord a million more times. In the middle of all this I did actually have to change his diaper and he screamed so loud I thought my eardrums would pop.
When Keenan gets tired but won’t sleep he looses all interest in his toys. It’s like he forgets how to play with them and just goes trawling for trouble. Then he gets wound up and needs to be brought back down to earth. So I brought him over to his toy area, put everything in the toy bin and then took one thing out at a time and we played with each thing until it was boring. Plus we ate stray sesame seeds off the floor! Yummy! After an hour of plain ole quiet fun the boy starting yawning every now and then. So of to his room we went and he finally went down for his morning nap at 3:30 pm. If I could I’d give myself a raise. Maybe I’ll shave my legs twice this week.
Shit, it’s 4:46 and he’s crying. Here we go again.
Oh God, this day is a doozy. I’m saying “is” because it’s only 3:49 pm and there’s still plenty of time for it to get worse.
Today started off as most do. Up at 5:45 am to the sounds of Keenan burbling away in his crib. The only difference here is that I took the wood frames out from under my side of the futon yesterday and as a result I had the most amazing frickin’ sleep since Keenan was born. So I had some cobwebs in the brain and was a little slow to get to the boy so he got a bit whingey. No biggie, nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Breastfed Keenan, changed his bum, got him dressed for the day and turned him loose on his toys in the living room. Got coffee going and breakfast on the go. Then, hmmmm wonder if Sean needs a shower today? Better check. Opened door to bedroom, let Keenan loose on his dad. “Do you need to shower today Sean?” I shower every second day on opposing days to Keenan’s bath day. Don’t know why, it just worked out that way. Sean showers whenever but if we have to shower on the same morning then we need to step things up a notch, well no actually then he needs to get his ass out of bed earlier so we can both shower before he leaves for work. Sean gets out of bed, has a shower, I’m in the kitchen continuing to get breakfast ready while Keenan is biting me, pulling on my pants, pulling things off shelves, holding the fridge door closed when I need it open and then holding it open when I need it closed. You know, typical baby getting into everything kind of scenario. So I’m trying to juggle all this stuff and Sean walks by and says “ok, what’s the funniest line from last night?” I have no idea Sean. I don’t store that kind of info well anymore. What was the funniest line from the Soprano’s (or was it CSI)? That’s when the badness started. “You need to try to remember that kind of stuff or you’re just perpetuating the problem”. Right, I’m gonna have a shower. Which I did. I get out to a very quiet apartment. Sean fed Keenan who fell asleep in his high chair before finishing his breakfast and is now fast asleep in his crib 20 minutes before we have to leave to take Sean to work. Sean and I talk about the spat and how I spend the better part of my day trying to remember things I’ve forgotten and how that comment made me feel. Part of the problem is that Sean had an office party last night and I had Keenan by myself all day. It’s totally fine if he’s in a genki mood but if he’s not which was the case it turns into an exhausting endeavor. So, I was feeling like yesterday was just bleeding into today with any break and it was making me a little crazy. Anyways, we patch things up and then wake up the boy and get Sean out the door.
Keenan whinges all the way to Sean’s office and all the way home. It’s a good kind of whinge though. His I’m gonna fall asleep if I even just see a picture of a boobie kind of whinge. We get upstairs, Keenan gets two boobs and is not venturing off to lala land during the feeding. Shit. No prob, I’ll just set him down in the crib on his side and see if he’ll go off to sleep. Five minutes of crying later I go in and bring him out to play for a little while. “A little while” turns into a few hours but then I finally get him off to sleep at around noon. 20 minutes later someone’s pulling on doorknob and ringing the doorbell. Back home this would freak the shit out of me but it’s commomplace here for the delivery guy or gas guy to open the door if it’s unlocked and call your name into your apartment. I wasn’t too impressed the first time it happened, stopped keeping my purse in the hallway and never walk around in my underpants and bra in the daytime unless it’s 32 degrees Celcius or higher. And now I always keep the door locked too. Then Keenan starts to cry. Oh boy. If it’s that guy trying to sell me first aid kits again I’m gonna give reason to use one. Wasn’t him. It was Sean. “I didn’t have any lunch money so I rode home”. Great ok, well you just woke up Keenan after I tried all morning to get him down for his morning nap. He apologizes, makes lunch, hangs out with us for a few minutes and then has to get going again. I’m in the middle of eating my lunch, Sean walks out the door and Keenan starts crying. He’s been doing that lately when we leave a room and he can’t see us. So, I pick him up and take him into the hallway for a bye-bye hug, kiss and a bit of waving. That seems to do the job now he wants my lunch. He eats a bit of it and I get up to make him some too. More crying. I pick him up and take him in the kitchen with me. Lunch is pretty easy to make with one hand. Take rice from rice cooker and put in bowl. Open package of sesame seeds a pour some on rice. Set package down but somehow manage to drop it and when trying to prevent package from falling on the floor I dump the contents all over the kitchen floor. Likely millions of seeds are all over the floor, my socks and in the pockets of my hoodie. This was definitely an “aw few fuck sakes” moment. Fuckity fuck, ok Keenan you need to play in your crib for a few minutes while I get this cleaned up. “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” Geez you’d think you were getting a diaper change or something.
I’m tracking seeds everywhere but manage to get them swept up. Finish making Keenan’s lunch. Feed him and try to get him to bed. He’s dead tired. I try another 5 minutes of crying in the crib. Nope. I bring him out to play. He pulls the tea pot off a shelf he couldn’t reach yesterday, gets into the garbage, pulls on the heater cord, nearly pulls a kitchen chair over onto himself, falls on his face while crawling because he’s so tired, smacks his nose, more crying, reaches for a plant he’s not yet been interested in, only wants to play with the computer mouse, no luck there baby, more crying, pulls on heater cord a million more times. In the middle of all this I did actually have to change his diaper and he screamed so loud I thought my eardrums would pop.
When Keenan gets tired but won’t sleep he looses all interest in his toys. It’s like he forgets how to play with them and just goes trawling for trouble. Then he gets wound up and needs to be brought back down to earth. So I brought him over to his toy area, put everything in the toy bin and then took one thing out at a time and we played with each thing until it was boring. Plus we ate stray sesame seeds off the floor! Yummy! After an hour of plain ole quiet fun the boy starting yawning every now and then. So of to his room we went and he finally went down for his morning nap at 3:30 pm. If I could I’d give myself a raise. Maybe I’ll shave my legs twice this week.
Shit, it’s 4:46 and he’s crying. Here we go again.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
First haircut looms in near future
We woke up to Keenan's first dreadlock the other day. He still has quite a few newborn hairs that just won't fall out and they are really long and tend to get all fuzzy and form this halo around his head. Now they're getting really brittle and dry and they get tangled up while he sleeps. So it looks like we'll need to give the babe a hair cut soon. It's kind of sad cause his long wispy bits are terribly cute. But it won't be so cute when he gets his sticky fingers caught in the knots and accidentally pulls out his hair!
I'm not really looking forward to the haircutting event. It's gonna be quite a task to get him to sit still. There will be tears and they'll likely be from all three of us. I think the fastest and safest way to do it will be to use the clippers. That'll give us a better chance of a somewhat uniform cut as well. We'll be sure to take lots of before, during and after photo's and we'll keep the clippings as well. Wish us luck!
I'm not really looking forward to the haircutting event. It's gonna be quite a task to get him to sit still. There will be tears and they'll likely be from all three of us. I think the fastest and safest way to do it will be to use the clippers. That'll give us a better chance of a somewhat uniform cut as well. We'll be sure to take lots of before, during and after photo's and we'll keep the clippings as well. Wish us luck!
Already starting to miss them
There are many, many things that we are going to miss about leaving this country and Obihiro, the lovely little city we've called home for the past two and half years. Of all the things we'll miss, the great friends we've made will be on the top of the list. Some have already returned home, Alixe leaves this weekend and this summer a good load of us gaijin will shed many tears in airports and train stations and then go our seperate ways.
Waving good-bye to Bret and Sara will be truly heartbreaking. They are both the most unlikely & likely folks to be married and we love them so much for that and in fact for all the things they do and say. Everything's an adventure when we hang out with you two and we're really gonna miss the dinners, headturning escapades, cultural blunders and bizarre yet refreshing use of the Japanese language!
I snagged this photo from Sara's Flickr page. Bret's not too fond of sweets but Sara really wanted him to have a special treat so she made him this ridiculously brilliant birthday cake. In an effort to keep it a surprise she assembled the burgers and fries into the form of a 2 layer cake in her car, in the parking lot of their apartment building, in the dark! God, I wish I could have been there to see her order 22 cheeseburgers and 1 order of small fries at the local MacDonald's! I can't even imagine what that would smell like in the car! Then to sit there in the dark and put it all together as other folks from the building walked by. Just a glimpse into a typical day in the lives of Bret & Sara! Keep on keepin' on just as you are. You rock!
Waving good-bye to Bret and Sara will be truly heartbreaking. They are both the most unlikely & likely folks to be married and we love them so much for that and in fact for all the things they do and say. Everything's an adventure when we hang out with you two and we're really gonna miss the dinners, headturning escapades, cultural blunders and bizarre yet refreshing use of the Japanese language!
I snagged this photo from Sara's Flickr page. Bret's not too fond of sweets but Sara really wanted him to have a special treat so she made him this ridiculously brilliant birthday cake. In an effort to keep it a surprise she assembled the burgers and fries into the form of a 2 layer cake in her car, in the parking lot of their apartment building, in the dark! God, I wish I could have been there to see her order 22 cheeseburgers and 1 order of small fries at the local MacDonald's! I can't even imagine what that would smell like in the car! Then to sit there in the dark and put it all together as other folks from the building walked by. Just a glimpse into a typical day in the lives of Bret & Sara! Keep on keepin' on just as you are. You rock!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Pooh story #2 ~ The 'ole “grab & rub”
These days the only time you seem to be happy about getting your diaper changed is when you’re yanking on your penis or testicles. Yup, you’ve discovered your private parts my boy! And you’ll introduce them to anyone or anything you can get your hands on like your rattles, poor innocent & sweet Shinada or any clean clothes that are within arms reach. A typical diaper change sounds something like this…
“Woo hoo! That baby is stinky”
“Ok, I’ll change ‘im”
Baby gets set down in changing area
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Pants off
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Diaper undone
“Waaaaaaaaaaaa wuh wuh wuh waaaa a a a aaaaa”
“Oh crap, it’s a big, messy one!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Keenan!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Wait! No, not Shinada, we just washed him yesterday.”
“Heeeeeeeee he hum heeeeeeeeeeee hehh aahhhhhhh!”
“Oh geez, oh shit, honey? I need reinforcement! This is a 4 hand diaper!"
“Burble beeeeee beeeeeep beeeee buvvvvvvvvv!”
Oh and you like to get up mid diaper change too. So, we’re faced with crap on our hands, crap on your hands (which leads to crap everywhere) and then you decide “I’m done with this laying on my back business, let’s get mobile!” Necessity has forced us to become as quick and agile as calf ropers when it comes to changing your bottom. Please God let this be one of those stages you tire of quickly!
“Woo hoo! That baby is stinky”
“Ok, I’ll change ‘im”
Baby gets set down in changing area
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Pants off
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Diaper undone
“Waaaaaaaaaaaa wuh wuh wuh waaaa a a a aaaaa”
“Oh crap, it’s a big, messy one!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Keenan!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
“Wait! No, not Shinada, we just washed him yesterday.”
“Heeeeeeeee he hum heeeeeeeeeeee hehh aahhhhhhh!”
“Oh geez, oh shit, honey? I need reinforcement! This is a 4 hand diaper!"
“Burble beeeeee beeeeeep beeeee buvvvvvvvvv!”
Oh and you like to get up mid diaper change too. So, we’re faced with crap on our hands, crap on your hands (which leads to crap everywhere) and then you decide “I’m done with this laying on my back business, let’s get mobile!” Necessity has forced us to become as quick and agile as calf ropers when it comes to changing your bottom. Please God let this be one of those stages you tire of quickly!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
10 months
Well littlest, here we are at 10 months. On your 10-month birthday you woke up in a Japanese style hotel room at the Fukuhara hotel in Shikaribetsuko. All 3 of us were sleeping on the floor on futons and it's the first time in a while we’ve had a peaceful night together in the same bed. The 3 of us slept in the same bed for the first 3 months after we brought you home from the hospital. It was really convenient and cozy and we could listen to your milky breath and quietly inspect your sweet newness as you slept. You were so small and immobile. 10 months later I lay on the futon next to you barely able to sleep for an hour at a time. I’m not sure why I couldn’t sleep but I really loved laying there looking at you in the soft light coming in thru the rice paper shoji screens. On the other side of the window the snow was falling and the room was filled with that peaceful stillness that accompanies earthbound flakes. In that stillness I could hear your breathing and see your lips going thru the sucking motions even though I was a couple of feet away from you. After so many months of having so little sleep I now had the energy again to lay there awake and just watch and listen to you. It was the best night I’ve had in a long time.
It’s so hard to believe we started this journey only 10 months ago, it feels like you’ve always been here. And I’m so overjoyed that you are. You sleep thru the night now, can play on your own and can scoot around so fast on your little hands and knees that you can almost beat your running parents to any corner of the apartment. You stood up unassisted in your crib for the first time last Sunday (March 1st) so we are literally on the verge of having a tottering baby in our midst. Your sleeping pattern has become quite regular; you go to bed between 7 and 8 pm and wake up at 5:30 am. You play by yourself until 6 and then I get out of bed and our day starts. You’re usually fall down tired right after breakfast so you go down for a nap by 10 and are conked out for 2 to 4 hours. You really should nap again in the afternoon but you resist with all your might. If the weather cooperates we head out for a walk after lunch and you succumb to sleep for about an hour.
Some new teeth are trying to make their way onto the scene and it looks like your next one will be an eyetooth on the top right. You had your last DPT vaccine this month and you just need to get your Hep B booster and a polio shot in May. You are such a little tough guy when you get a needle. You only cry for a couple of seconds right after the needle goes in and then you’re all smiles again. Thank you for taking it so easy on your mother! We also had Maruyama sensei (your pediatrician) have a look at the umbilical hernia (aka Keenan’s spigot) you developed when we were back in Canada over Christmas. He said it was a pretty common thing and will likely heal itself before your first birthday. If it doesn’t then it may need to be surgically repaired. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. When we were at the hospital we visited with Eriko Sato-san the midwife who delivered you. She was so pleased to see how big you’ve grown and she was very impressed by your Shreddie eating dexterity. She is a very busy lady but she took a few minutes out of her day to hold you and crawl around on the floor with you. We promised to stop by for another visit before we leave for Canada. We took you to Ito Yokado shopping center last weekend, they have a great baby station with every manner of baby measuring devices and a nursing room. We weighed you and you are now up to 8.5 kg (almost 19 lbs) and are 70 cm long. Your dad is so anxious for you to hit the 9 kg mark so we can turn your car seat around. Your seat is rear facing right now and he totally hates not being able to see and communicate with you!
There are many things that you do on a daily basis to make us laugh. Most notable is your pillow diving, growling, open mouthed “kissing”, rolling nude on our blanket and fits of excitement. We have a couple of big Japanese style floor pillows on the living room floor and you love to dive face down into them with your mouth open. This is usually accompanied by your signature growling which is then followed by lots of giggling. We’re not sure about this open mouthed kissing business as it sometimes leads to biting but either way you target one of us at a time and then dive into us with your mouth open. You often get tired around the time I'm in the kitchen making dinner so you sit at my feet and dive at my slippers. When you’re the opposite of tired you have a tendency to have these short fits of excitement. You usually do it when you grab hold of something that has been eluding you like a rolling ball. Once you get the item in your hand you pull into your face and well, you get really excited about it! I’ll have to get it on video cause words just don’t do it justice. We purchased a blanket that we thought would be great for you to play on in the living room. Turns out it’s also very cozy on our bed and it’s never made it to the living room. This blanket is really, really soft and fluffy and you love snuggling up with your dad in it every morning. Last week we stripped you down to your nudity and let you loose on the blanket. Total hilarity! You crawled and rolled around in the softness just squealing with delight! It’s almost become a nightly ritual!
There are of course a few things you do that make us crazy. You are obsessed with our living room heater. I can’t count how many times a day I say “KEENAN! DON’T TOUCH!” How can a country, which is home to Asimo, the Prius and the Wii, still not have central heating?! God, I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to put the heaters away. Then of course you still hate having your snowsuit or any shirt or sweater put on you. Recently you’ve starting screaming when we change your diaper. We’re to the point where we’re looking in to going diaper free in an effort to get you out of the friggin’ things as soon as possible. You still whinge a bit but mostly only when you eat and if you’re really cranky. Regardless how much you whinge or how load you scream when you’re getting put into your snowsuit (which is for your own good I might add!) it just takes one little smile or a flash of those bright blue eyes to bring you back up to maximum sweetness again!
It’s so hard to believe we started this journey only 10 months ago, it feels like you’ve always been here. And I’m so overjoyed that you are. You sleep thru the night now, can play on your own and can scoot around so fast on your little hands and knees that you can almost beat your running parents to any corner of the apartment. You stood up unassisted in your crib for the first time last Sunday (March 1st) so we are literally on the verge of having a tottering baby in our midst. Your sleeping pattern has become quite regular; you go to bed between 7 and 8 pm and wake up at 5:30 am. You play by yourself until 6 and then I get out of bed and our day starts. You’re usually fall down tired right after breakfast so you go down for a nap by 10 and are conked out for 2 to 4 hours. You really should nap again in the afternoon but you resist with all your might. If the weather cooperates we head out for a walk after lunch and you succumb to sleep for about an hour.
Some new teeth are trying to make their way onto the scene and it looks like your next one will be an eyetooth on the top right. You had your last DPT vaccine this month and you just need to get your Hep B booster and a polio shot in May. You are such a little tough guy when you get a needle. You only cry for a couple of seconds right after the needle goes in and then you’re all smiles again. Thank you for taking it so easy on your mother! We also had Maruyama sensei (your pediatrician) have a look at the umbilical hernia (aka Keenan’s spigot) you developed when we were back in Canada over Christmas. He said it was a pretty common thing and will likely heal itself before your first birthday. If it doesn’t then it may need to be surgically repaired. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. When we were at the hospital we visited with Eriko Sato-san the midwife who delivered you. She was so pleased to see how big you’ve grown and she was very impressed by your Shreddie eating dexterity. She is a very busy lady but she took a few minutes out of her day to hold you and crawl around on the floor with you. We promised to stop by for another visit before we leave for Canada. We took you to Ito Yokado shopping center last weekend, they have a great baby station with every manner of baby measuring devices and a nursing room. We weighed you and you are now up to 8.5 kg (almost 19 lbs) and are 70 cm long. Your dad is so anxious for you to hit the 9 kg mark so we can turn your car seat around. Your seat is rear facing right now and he totally hates not being able to see and communicate with you!
There are many things that you do on a daily basis to make us laugh. Most notable is your pillow diving, growling, open mouthed “kissing”, rolling nude on our blanket and fits of excitement. We have a couple of big Japanese style floor pillows on the living room floor and you love to dive face down into them with your mouth open. This is usually accompanied by your signature growling which is then followed by lots of giggling. We’re not sure about this open mouthed kissing business as it sometimes leads to biting but either way you target one of us at a time and then dive into us with your mouth open. You often get tired around the time I'm in the kitchen making dinner so you sit at my feet and dive at my slippers. When you’re the opposite of tired you have a tendency to have these short fits of excitement. You usually do it when you grab hold of something that has been eluding you like a rolling ball. Once you get the item in your hand you pull into your face and well, you get really excited about it! I’ll have to get it on video cause words just don’t do it justice. We purchased a blanket that we thought would be great for you to play on in the living room. Turns out it’s also very cozy on our bed and it’s never made it to the living room. This blanket is really, really soft and fluffy and you love snuggling up with your dad in it every morning. Last week we stripped you down to your nudity and let you loose on the blanket. Total hilarity! You crawled and rolled around in the softness just squealing with delight! It’s almost become a nightly ritual!
There are of course a few things you do that make us crazy. You are obsessed with our living room heater. I can’t count how many times a day I say “KEENAN! DON’T TOUCH!” How can a country, which is home to Asimo, the Prius and the Wii, still not have central heating?! God, I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to put the heaters away. Then of course you still hate having your snowsuit or any shirt or sweater put on you. Recently you’ve starting screaming when we change your diaper. We’re to the point where we’re looking in to going diaper free in an effort to get you out of the friggin’ things as soon as possible. You still whinge a bit but mostly only when you eat and if you’re really cranky. Regardless how much you whinge or how load you scream when you’re getting put into your snowsuit (which is for your own good I might add!) it just takes one little smile or a flash of those bright blue eyes to bring you back up to maximum sweetness again!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Love that you wear
We had one day of visitation at the funeral home before the funeral. We had decided we wanted to fill the room with photos of mom’s life, flowers and things she had made. Tyler made an amazing photomontage of mom’s life on his computer that would play constantly on the large screen TV. Jose found Tyler and Nick’s baby blankets that mom made and a few weeks before she had given me a whole bag of baby things that mom had knit for her boys. Mom was very pleased that these things were being passed on to us and that Keenan would get to wear them as well. We were sure she’d be pleased to be surrounded by these things at her final send off.
The first morning we were in Ottawa when we went home for Christmas mom gave Keenan his first sweater that she had made especially for him. It’s kind of a light sky blue with blue buttons. I mentioned in a previous post that we woke up to mom playing with Keenan on the dining room table. Shortly after we got out of bed mom told me to go into her room and get the gift box off the shelf in her bookcase. In the box was the sweater, 2 pairs of her famous baby booties whose pattern has been in our family for a few generations at least, a couple of toques and a pair of mittens she bought. While Keenan sat square in the middle of the table we dressed him in his new sweater. It looked great and was just big enough that he would have room to grow and would be able to wear it until the chill left Hokkaido’s spring air. Mom was so pleased with herself and beamed with pride.
I had asked mom to make Keenan this sweater sometime late in the summer of last year. All I requested was that it be blue and a cardigan style as Keenan hates having things pulled over his big square head! Mom picked the color and pattern and started it when it became cool enough to sit with knitting in her lap. I knew from the start that asking mom to do this was a big deal. She hadn’t done much knitting or crocheting in recent years as her patience, eyesight and fingers were all conspiring against her. But like any best mom in the world she would do just about anything her kids, grandkids or great grandkids asked. She called me shortly before we were to leave to tell me the sweater was done. She had also started on a matching pair of pants but she was going to save them until we were there so she could measure his long legs and make sure she made the pants big enough to last as long as the sweater.
The pants are what I found the morning we were collecting things for the visitation. We stopped by mom’s to pick up a few things I had in storage in mom’s basement and some photo’s as well. It was the first time I had been in my mom’s place since she had died. It was so shocking to think that just a week and a half earlier we had woken up in this very house and hastily got ready for our early morning flight back to Japan. I can still see Mom holding and playing with Keenan as we got ready and she was very much alive. This time around we were once again short on time and basically just stormed the place and tried to get in and out as quickly as possible. I picked up moms knitting bag on the way out thinking there would be some things in there we could put up at the funeral home. Keenan’s half finished little blue pants were in there. Everything slowed down at that point. Seeing those pants on the knitting needles hit me with such a sense of finality. I hadn’t been to the funeral home yet, we had sped thru mom’s place and I barely had time to look at anything and I was still in a state of disbelief that mom was gone. Such a small thing made me still and delivered me tears. I thought about my mom and how she was so particular about making sure everything was taken care of or completed. She rarely started anything she knew she couldn’t finish. The pants were just another indicator of how suddenly she had left us.
We took the knitting bag with us to funeral home and set up her handiwork on a chair. She would have been proud to see those things there. Lots of people commented on how lovely they were and I think we all felt a sense of pride for our mother’s work.
It’s safe to say that my mom has knit almost all her life. She could remember knitting or crocheting as far back as her memory could take her. She learned to knit in grade school, before World War II. Like most girls of that time she attended a Catholic school that was run by nuns. At the beginning of grade one they were given a “dolly” as mom would call it, two knitting needles and a crochet hook. The nuns showed the girls how to knit and then they would all sit for a couple of hours each day and knit all the while chanting the directions in Dutch. I know for a fact that my mom remembered that chant up until at least the week before she died as she recited it for me. I’m sorry I didn’t write it down. By the time the girls finished grade 2 they could fully dress their dolly with either knitted or crocheted clothes. Take your pick. Hats, dresses, sweaters, pants, socks, underwear, booties, mittens, blankets, you name it. This has amazed me to no end for years. What an unbelievable skill to have from such a young age. Seems to be a hell of a lot more useful than cutting & pasting. Though considering the time my mother went to school, this would have simply been practical. “Once you know how to dress a dolly you can dress a baby,” she would tell me. Mom didn’t knit too much during her “teenage” years mostly because there was a war going on but also because she loved to sew. Not only could she knit or crochet any garment known to humankind she could also sew them. She made many of our clothes when we were kids. She made skirts for me out of my sister’s jeans way before it was “hip” to do so. Jose and I were talking about mom’s sewing skills when I was back home for the funeral and she revealed to me that she can remember when she got her first pair of store bought jeans, I believe they were bright yellow. Not many 46-year-old women can lay claim to that memory! Once babies came back in to mom’s life so did knitting and crocheting. She made things for her babies in the 50’s and 60’s, Charlie’s boys in the 70’s, Jose’s boys in the 80’s, Keenan in 2006 and any other babies that came along in between that needed something special. Her knitted baby booties are legendary and Keenan has grown out of his first pair already. Thankfully he has two more pairs to grow into. They match his blue sweater and the unfinished pants too.
I personally never really considered myself the knitting type. But for some reason I bought a book about knitting at Chapters when we were home for Christmas. It is filled with all sorts of “modern” patterns as my mom pointed out, but most importantly it has easy instructions for getting started. My mom would try to teach me how to knit when I was a kid and I would always have to get her to cast on or start the first few rows for me as I could never pick it up from her showing me. I'm sure at that point she probably felt cutting and pasting was a huge waste of her daughters time too! I’m a read and learn kind of person (some would label me a “manual reader” and you know who you are!) and this book had awesome casting on instructions and it was cheap so I bought it. I brought the book to mom’s place to show her and I proclaimed with a big grin on my face that I wanted her to show me how to knit. I was really excited and her excitement level was well, waaaaay below mine. She gave me that cool “Why would you buy a book to teach you how to knit and then ask me to show you?” She glanced through the book and basically told to me “just keep trying, you’ll figure it out, you’ll see”. This wasn’t exactly turning into the warm fuzzy mother/daughter event I had hoped it would. Did I keep the receipt? Frig. Then mom looks at me and says “I’ll make sure Jose knows that you’re supposed to get all my knitting needles and crochet hooks, don’t worry you can do it, just keep trying”. Well shit. Now I’m committed. Committed, pleased and deep inside girlishly excited.
Little did I know that within a month my mom would pass away, we would return to Canada for her funeral and then back in Japan again I’d be opening that book in the wee hours of the morning while sitting up with a 9 month old both of us trying to recover from jet lag. Those first few nights home in Obihiro were pretty confusing for Keenan. He’d get up at 2 am and think it was time to play. So I’d get up, bring some toys to him in his crib and I’d sit in the rocking chair watching him play and babble himself to sleepiness. At one point I figured “I may as well get that knitting book out and see if I can’t figure out how to get started”. Sometime between the Canada trips I had bought a ball of light blue baby wool and a pair of size 8 bamboo knitting needles so I had all I needed. That’s how it started for me. Sitting up between 2 and 5 am watching over my babbling babe trying to turn a ball of yarn and a slipknot into something called the “first row” with two bamboo sticks. I may be a manual reader but I couldn’t make the aforementioned ingredients look anything like what was being shown in the pictures. “What the hell is wrong with me?”, I thought. My own mother was knitting a full set of clothing for her dolly by the time she was 7 and here I am a grown woman with my own child and I still can’t loop a friggin piece of yarn around a stick! Good grief! So I have to admit that I looked at the LAST picture in the instructions, what I was supposed to end up with, put the book away and struck out on my own. After many failed attempts and downright shitty looking loopy tension issues I, Nancy, 36 years old, mother of 1 figured out how to cast on! Then I knit the first row and the second one and it looked just like my knitting when I was a kid but it was beautiful to me. I have both my mom and believe or not my dad to thank for this. My dad could figure out how to make anything from looking at the finished product and my mom…well it may be premature to say but I think she may have passed on some of her knitting DNA to me.
So there I sat knitting away, stopping every now and then to pull the lot out and start again. After getting over the initial rush and amusement of having figured the whole thing out I realized that I was actually enjoying myself. I could knit and think at the same time! How novel! It was a wonderful combination of being productive, relaxing, creative and escapist all rolled into the same ball of yarn. I started to think of what I was going to make given my limited talents. Naturally I envisioned cozy, chunky sweaters and toasty full sized blankets. But, I figured a scarf for Keenan would be best (even though he has no neck and I wasn’t sure I could finish it before the birds began sitting on their nests). Then I started thinking about my mom. All the years she sat amongst us quietly watching us and knitting away much like I was doing with Keenan and I was struck by a something I’ve never felt before. The feeling that I am making something long lasting for someone I love. It’s different than cooking. Not only was I going to make a scarf to keep Keenan warm but, it would be a physical and permanent manifestation of my love for him. I thought of how my mom looked so happy when the sweater she made fit so well and looked so good on him. And I remembered back over the years all the jeans, mittens, blankets, hats, sweaters, booties, skirts and even wedding dresses she created. She did it because she loved what she was doing and she loved us. I am so lucky to have all those great baby things that mom made for Jose’s boys. Even though mom only knit a few things for Keenan she indirectly made him all those other things as well. Her love will to continue warm whoever gets to wear her creations.
Now what of the half finished blue pants my mom started? I guess in hindsight I’m sad that I left them behind in Canada. At that point the last thing I could think about was having enough time, energy, emotional fortitude and brain cells to take on the task of completing them. Now I’m pretty sure I could do it but it’s too late. If there’s enough wool left for me to make them to fit him next year then I might consider pulling them out and making them bigger for next fall. If not, maybe I’ll pull them out and knit them into something else. Or maybe I’ll just leave them as they are, on the needles, forever a work in progress so I can pick them up once in a while and imagine my mom sitting there in her chair with a smile on her face peacefully knitting her love into warmth for us stitch by stitch.
The first morning we were in Ottawa when we went home for Christmas mom gave Keenan his first sweater that she had made especially for him. It’s kind of a light sky blue with blue buttons. I mentioned in a previous post that we woke up to mom playing with Keenan on the dining room table. Shortly after we got out of bed mom told me to go into her room and get the gift box off the shelf in her bookcase. In the box was the sweater, 2 pairs of her famous baby booties whose pattern has been in our family for a few generations at least, a couple of toques and a pair of mittens she bought. While Keenan sat square in the middle of the table we dressed him in his new sweater. It looked great and was just big enough that he would have room to grow and would be able to wear it until the chill left Hokkaido’s spring air. Mom was so pleased with herself and beamed with pride.
I had asked mom to make Keenan this sweater sometime late in the summer of last year. All I requested was that it be blue and a cardigan style as Keenan hates having things pulled over his big square head! Mom picked the color and pattern and started it when it became cool enough to sit with knitting in her lap. I knew from the start that asking mom to do this was a big deal. She hadn’t done much knitting or crocheting in recent years as her patience, eyesight and fingers were all conspiring against her. But like any best mom in the world she would do just about anything her kids, grandkids or great grandkids asked. She called me shortly before we were to leave to tell me the sweater was done. She had also started on a matching pair of pants but she was going to save them until we were there so she could measure his long legs and make sure she made the pants big enough to last as long as the sweater.
The pants are what I found the morning we were collecting things for the visitation. We stopped by mom’s to pick up a few things I had in storage in mom’s basement and some photo’s as well. It was the first time I had been in my mom’s place since she had died. It was so shocking to think that just a week and a half earlier we had woken up in this very house and hastily got ready for our early morning flight back to Japan. I can still see Mom holding and playing with Keenan as we got ready and she was very much alive. This time around we were once again short on time and basically just stormed the place and tried to get in and out as quickly as possible. I picked up moms knitting bag on the way out thinking there would be some things in there we could put up at the funeral home. Keenan’s half finished little blue pants were in there. Everything slowed down at that point. Seeing those pants on the knitting needles hit me with such a sense of finality. I hadn’t been to the funeral home yet, we had sped thru mom’s place and I barely had time to look at anything and I was still in a state of disbelief that mom was gone. Such a small thing made me still and delivered me tears. I thought about my mom and how she was so particular about making sure everything was taken care of or completed. She rarely started anything she knew she couldn’t finish. The pants were just another indicator of how suddenly she had left us.
We took the knitting bag with us to funeral home and set up her handiwork on a chair. She would have been proud to see those things there. Lots of people commented on how lovely they were and I think we all felt a sense of pride for our mother’s work.
It’s safe to say that my mom has knit almost all her life. She could remember knitting or crocheting as far back as her memory could take her. She learned to knit in grade school, before World War II. Like most girls of that time she attended a Catholic school that was run by nuns. At the beginning of grade one they were given a “dolly” as mom would call it, two knitting needles and a crochet hook. The nuns showed the girls how to knit and then they would all sit for a couple of hours each day and knit all the while chanting the directions in Dutch. I know for a fact that my mom remembered that chant up until at least the week before she died as she recited it for me. I’m sorry I didn’t write it down. By the time the girls finished grade 2 they could fully dress their dolly with either knitted or crocheted clothes. Take your pick. Hats, dresses, sweaters, pants, socks, underwear, booties, mittens, blankets, you name it. This has amazed me to no end for years. What an unbelievable skill to have from such a young age. Seems to be a hell of a lot more useful than cutting & pasting. Though considering the time my mother went to school, this would have simply been practical. “Once you know how to dress a dolly you can dress a baby,” she would tell me. Mom didn’t knit too much during her “teenage” years mostly because there was a war going on but also because she loved to sew. Not only could she knit or crochet any garment known to humankind she could also sew them. She made many of our clothes when we were kids. She made skirts for me out of my sister’s jeans way before it was “hip” to do so. Jose and I were talking about mom’s sewing skills when I was back home for the funeral and she revealed to me that she can remember when she got her first pair of store bought jeans, I believe they were bright yellow. Not many 46-year-old women can lay claim to that memory! Once babies came back in to mom’s life so did knitting and crocheting. She made things for her babies in the 50’s and 60’s, Charlie’s boys in the 70’s, Jose’s boys in the 80’s, Keenan in 2006 and any other babies that came along in between that needed something special. Her knitted baby booties are legendary and Keenan has grown out of his first pair already. Thankfully he has two more pairs to grow into. They match his blue sweater and the unfinished pants too.
I personally never really considered myself the knitting type. But for some reason I bought a book about knitting at Chapters when we were home for Christmas. It is filled with all sorts of “modern” patterns as my mom pointed out, but most importantly it has easy instructions for getting started. My mom would try to teach me how to knit when I was a kid and I would always have to get her to cast on or start the first few rows for me as I could never pick it up from her showing me. I'm sure at that point she probably felt cutting and pasting was a huge waste of her daughters time too! I’m a read and learn kind of person (some would label me a “manual reader” and you know who you are!) and this book had awesome casting on instructions and it was cheap so I bought it. I brought the book to mom’s place to show her and I proclaimed with a big grin on my face that I wanted her to show me how to knit. I was really excited and her excitement level was well, waaaaay below mine. She gave me that cool “Why would you buy a book to teach you how to knit and then ask me to show you?” She glanced through the book and basically told to me “just keep trying, you’ll figure it out, you’ll see”. This wasn’t exactly turning into the warm fuzzy mother/daughter event I had hoped it would. Did I keep the receipt? Frig. Then mom looks at me and says “I’ll make sure Jose knows that you’re supposed to get all my knitting needles and crochet hooks, don’t worry you can do it, just keep trying”. Well shit. Now I’m committed. Committed, pleased and deep inside girlishly excited.
Little did I know that within a month my mom would pass away, we would return to Canada for her funeral and then back in Japan again I’d be opening that book in the wee hours of the morning while sitting up with a 9 month old both of us trying to recover from jet lag. Those first few nights home in Obihiro were pretty confusing for Keenan. He’d get up at 2 am and think it was time to play. So I’d get up, bring some toys to him in his crib and I’d sit in the rocking chair watching him play and babble himself to sleepiness. At one point I figured “I may as well get that knitting book out and see if I can’t figure out how to get started”. Sometime between the Canada trips I had bought a ball of light blue baby wool and a pair of size 8 bamboo knitting needles so I had all I needed. That’s how it started for me. Sitting up between 2 and 5 am watching over my babbling babe trying to turn a ball of yarn and a slipknot into something called the “first row” with two bamboo sticks. I may be a manual reader but I couldn’t make the aforementioned ingredients look anything like what was being shown in the pictures. “What the hell is wrong with me?”, I thought. My own mother was knitting a full set of clothing for her dolly by the time she was 7 and here I am a grown woman with my own child and I still can’t loop a friggin piece of yarn around a stick! Good grief! So I have to admit that I looked at the LAST picture in the instructions, what I was supposed to end up with, put the book away and struck out on my own. After many failed attempts and downright shitty looking loopy tension issues I, Nancy, 36 years old, mother of 1 figured out how to cast on! Then I knit the first row and the second one and it looked just like my knitting when I was a kid but it was beautiful to me. I have both my mom and believe or not my dad to thank for this. My dad could figure out how to make anything from looking at the finished product and my mom…well it may be premature to say but I think she may have passed on some of her knitting DNA to me.
So there I sat knitting away, stopping every now and then to pull the lot out and start again. After getting over the initial rush and amusement of having figured the whole thing out I realized that I was actually enjoying myself. I could knit and think at the same time! How novel! It was a wonderful combination of being productive, relaxing, creative and escapist all rolled into the same ball of yarn. I started to think of what I was going to make given my limited talents. Naturally I envisioned cozy, chunky sweaters and toasty full sized blankets. But, I figured a scarf for Keenan would be best (even though he has no neck and I wasn’t sure I could finish it before the birds began sitting on their nests). Then I started thinking about my mom. All the years she sat amongst us quietly watching us and knitting away much like I was doing with Keenan and I was struck by a something I’ve never felt before. The feeling that I am making something long lasting for someone I love. It’s different than cooking. Not only was I going to make a scarf to keep Keenan warm but, it would be a physical and permanent manifestation of my love for him. I thought of how my mom looked so happy when the sweater she made fit so well and looked so good on him. And I remembered back over the years all the jeans, mittens, blankets, hats, sweaters, booties, skirts and even wedding dresses she created. She did it because she loved what she was doing and she loved us. I am so lucky to have all those great baby things that mom made for Jose’s boys. Even though mom only knit a few things for Keenan she indirectly made him all those other things as well. Her love will to continue warm whoever gets to wear her creations.
Now what of the half finished blue pants my mom started? I guess in hindsight I’m sad that I left them behind in Canada. At that point the last thing I could think about was having enough time, energy, emotional fortitude and brain cells to take on the task of completing them. Now I’m pretty sure I could do it but it’s too late. If there’s enough wool left for me to make them to fit him next year then I might consider pulling them out and making them bigger for next fall. If not, maybe I’ll pull them out and knit them into something else. Or maybe I’ll just leave them as they are, on the needles, forever a work in progress so I can pick them up once in a while and imagine my mom sitting there in her chair with a smile on her face peacefully knitting her love into warmth for us stitch by stitch.
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