Some clarification

Congratulations to most of you for figuring out the Japanese--or at least putting two and two together to see that we are expecting another little Ito next summer.  The little accessory for my purse was given to me by the city where we live.  It says, "there is a baby in my tummy".  We get the little accessory when we get our booklet for pregnancy and child development.  In Japanese healthcare, Akihiro feels like this is a very good thing.  Each child has a book that is taken to the doctor from prenatal to school age health information--immunizations, height, weight, etc.  Anyway, back to the accessory--they are all pink, so to those of you who thought it meant we were having a girl.....you'll have to wait a bit longer for that bit of news.  I'm not sure exactly what the purposes of the accessory are, but if you flash it to someone on the train, they will usually give you their seat--kinda handy!
     I am going to the same local OB clinic where Tomoki was born--Shibata Clinic.  The doc speaks English well, the staff is nice, it is close (7 minutes by bike?), and I know basically what to expect there.  That clinic doesn't do VBAC, so we will be scheduling a c-section.  I'll find out more about that on my Monday appointment, I guess.
     As far as how I am feeling....to be honest, pretty crummy.  I have that first trimester fatigue, nagging nausea, excessive saliva, strange dreams, and not the greatest sleep.  Big burps are reasons for rejoicing!  I haven't been a very patient mama for my teething two year old, but I am hanging in there thanks to my good hubby's help and support.
   Next week we are off to Beijing for one night to see Li-san and his wife and daughter and then to Hong Kong for Akihiro's cousin's wedding reception.  I'm hoping and praying that our travels go well.

A new accessory for my purse

We are very thankful to, Lord-willing, be able to wear this little accessory until early July 2012!  Thanks for your prayers and may you all have a blessed Thanksgiving! 

A visit to Hiroshima, etc.

 Here is a view from the top of the ropeway station at Miyajima--we had a beautiful day--and good company, as you can see below.  Akito and Marie, Ed and Jenni Schwartz, and Mark and Bev Bahr and we went by bullet train to Hiroshima for one night.  It was a blessed time--I got a good share of American humor--miss that sometimes!

On other happenings, we attended a wedding of a friend of Akihiro's from middle school.  It was a chapel style wedding which is getting to be more popular here in Japan recently.  I was slightly shocked to see that the person marrying them was American.  He did some of the very short service in English and read some stilted Japanese for their vows.  Well, they got married, anyway.  The harp music was gorgeous, but it seemed quite interesting to be singing the "Christian Home" at a non Christian's wedding.  After the wedding there was quite a reception with lots of speakers.  The bride changed her clothes--a different ballroom style gown.  I guess this is normal--sometimes they might even change clothes twice!  Nevertheless, it didn't make me dissatisfied with my own simple wedding.

Tomoki continues to speak an interesting combination of Japanese and English.  This week he overheard Akihiro ask me (in Japanese) when I was going to cut his hair.  Tomoki said "hair cut" to me in English.  It is amazing to see his little brain process these languages.  (Speaking of hair cuts, I gave Tomoki one and somehow he looks a lot like my dear departed Dad!)  Of course, we think he is terrible smart! :)  He loves doing puzzles recently--his favorite being the power shovel one, which he has done so many times that now he can do it on his own.

I finally got my fall/winter garden planted...daikon, turnips, spinach, Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, bok choy, and red radishes.  I hope it does ok as I am kinda late getting it planted.

Cosmos, Tomoki's birthday

We had a holiday last Monday and so we went with Manuela and Akito and Marie to a local park--Showa Kinen Koen. The cosmos were gorgeous!


I hope to get birthday pictures from Uncle Tsuyoshi as I didn't have much time to take photos. The birthday party was a great success. All of the Ito family except Aunt Yaeko and Uncle Shiochi were here. I had had a cold for two days prior--meaning I was cleaning house with a kleenx stuffed in my nose (which Tomoki didn't like at all!). The Lord answered my prayer, though, and it was much better by Saturday. I was also worried about Tomoki getting it, and he didn't--not until Monday! Also in answer to prayer, he slept in really late that morning, so was ok to go down very late for his nap as the gathering was at noon and people didn't leave til 3. We had homemade mochi (compressed rice) made in Akihiro's birthday present from me--a mochi maker. It was our third try at it and thanks to Akihiro's research, we were able to keep it really soft and yummy for quite a while! Tomoki loves it dipped in soy sauce. (He's a real "dipper"--will eat almost anything if it has "dip" or "sauce".) We also made pizza and since Akihiro's dad had just caught a big fish (buri) at Hakodate, we had teriyaki fish steaks too--quite the combination--but it was good. Grandpa Ito was so impressed with how Tomoki could blow out his candles on his birthday cake, that he wanted to do it again! He loves the new dump truck and puzzles he got and went to sleep saying, "dump truck" that night.

He is speaking more and more. His little Japanese is so cute. Probably only people whose second language is Japanese can appreciate its cuteness. Japanese people have heard "baby Japanese" a lot before, but I haven't, so it is just priceless when he says, "kore nani?" to ask, "what is this". It is equally cute, though, when he says, "this guy?" I've got to get some more videos of him. We have quite the "conversations" now.

Otherwise, we are enjoying nice fall days. My Japanese mom next door has a tree with Chinese dates on them, and I tried to dry some in my oven, but I pretty much burnt them the first time. My second and third batch turned out good though. They are really tasty fresh--Tomoki gobbles them down. They taste a bit like apples.

We have been enjoying going to the library as they have a decent English section. "Read book please, mama" is a frequently heard saying at our house. I think he has discovered that if he uses "please," it is so cute and polite, that mama has a hard time turning down his request!

Tomoki talking about his birthday party ("Ni sai" means "2 years old" in Japanese)

It's fall!

Tomoki has some nice new bright pjs--thanks to Costco!

Reaching for the moon!

Here's some of my garden produce...Green shiso leaves (in back), Japanese eggplant, yellow and green bell pepper, shishito green and red peppers, mini tomatoes, myoga (Japanese ginger --pink and green).  Things are starting to slow down in my garden.  Tomoki especially will miss the mini tomatoes.

Feeding ducks at the river--not very exciting, but I think he's pretty cute in his little hat and jacket--kinda biased, I know!