Moved!

(From May 11)

In case you haven’t heard, we’ve moved to Los Angeles! Our house is in the Westwood area, right next to UCLA, and we love it! The movers packed the truck on Wednesday, and we drove down late that night (so Riley could sleep, she gets really bored being awake in the car), arriving to our new home at 2:30am. Yesterday was hectic with unpacking, but it was fun. My mom is here to help (thank god) so between the 3 of us there was always someone to play with Riley. She seems completely unphased by the move… maybe because we’ve traveled so much in recent months (we just got back from a week in Boston for Emily’s wedding in Cape Cod). I think she likes the house! It’s a very multi-leveled house with each room up or down a few stairs from the previous room, which she thinks is fun. Her room is awesome, but I’m not sure she’ll full appreciate it till she’s older. There is lots of outside space for her to roam around… she’s really into picking up leaves these days and there is plenty of opportunity for that!

Home!

(from April 24)

We made it home yesterday afternoon after a pretty uneventful flight from Tokyo. Riley had a little trouble getting to sleep on the plane, but after that slept most of the way while I watched movies. It ended up being a reeeaaalllly long day for all of us with the weird time change (left Japan at 6pm, flew for about 10 hours, arrived at SFO at 11am). Riley went to sleep at 7pm because she was exausted, but then woke up at 10:30 and just could not fall back asleep. Lucky for her, I also couldn’t sleep due to feeling anxious about starting residency and becoming a surgeon and how I am ever going to be able to balance work with spending as much time as possible with my little girl and husband… So we got up and played, had a little midnight snack, did some laundry, then went back to bed at 2am. She then slept all the way through till 1pm!

After eating lunch with her, I brought her to daycare, expecting to have to stay with her for a while till she felt comfortable again. But surprise surprise, she walked in with a big smile on her face! There was 3 other kids there and they seemed happy to see her and walked (crawled) right over. One boy (Camden, who looks like he could be her brother and seems to be a big Riley fan) even gave her a pat on the back and gave her some toys to play with. Kids are so cute.

Riley is at such a fantastic age right now. She loves to explore, but still wants us close by with her. She likes to wrestle on the floor and be tossed around and is small enough still that it’s easy to do. We were outside gardening together this evening (which deserves a post of its own – stay tuned) when she heard a plane overhead and pointed up and said “airpane!” then paused a moment, then said excitedly “Moon!” while pointing at the moon rising in the sky. I had no idea she knew what the moon was! I mean we show it to her in books, but not really outside that often. It was pretty cool. She’s learning so quickly and is very interactive and laughs and giggles so easily and is just such a joy. We have to hold ourselves back from scooping her up and covering her in kisses all the time (well, we try to hold ourselves back – she still gets a lot of kisses).

We tried to keep her up till her normal bedtime this evening, but during dinner she fell asleep in her highchair! Pretty cute. We’ll see how the night goes…

Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe must be very special in Japan… it costs $58!! Other fruit was normally priced. How bizarre. It’s too bad because at home cantaloupe is one of Riley’s staples. Good thing we realized before we got to the register!

Cell phones

Apparently we talk on our cell phones too much, because Riley has spontaneously learned what to do with them. Whenever she sees one lying around she puts it up to her ear and says “hello?” (although the way she says it it sounds more like “yo,” she’s very hip). The phone we rented in Japan was a flip phone and had a picture of her as the wallpaper that she really liked to look at. She also likes to push the buttons, which unfortunaly makes the baby disapear, leading Riley to demand “baby baby!” while thrusting the phone at the nearest person. On one of our last days, Riley was randomly pressing buttons and we weren’t really paying attention, until suddenly we heard Brads voice saying “hello? heeelllooo? anyone there?” Riley’s first phone call! but she was too shy to speak back.

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Last Japan post

So we didn’t write about our 3 days in Tokyo while we were in Japan, and I’m feeling a bit burned out by all the Japan blogging and want to get on to current day events… so here’s a quick summary of those days… then no more Japan!

We took the subway a lot in Tokyo, which was usally pretty crowded. Riley quickly became obsessed with hanging from the rings… she’s pretty strong! She could hold her own wait for a few seconds, but mostly she wanted us to swing her around on them.

On our first day in Tokyo we walked all around downtown tokyo, starting at the Hama Rikyu gardens, which is basically just a huge park in the middle of the city… nice but not super exciting.

Chasing pigeons at the park never seems to get old…

From the park we took a water bus up the river to Asakusa, passing assorted large modern high-rise buildings squished next to old wooden temples. Riley liked the boat, especially the churning water at the back. She tried her darndest to throw the guidebook in the river, but thankfully was not successful.

We walked along some ridiculously busy streets crammed with vendors selling everyting you can imagine, then saw some equally crowded temples…

Then off to the zoo! Riley was kinda shocked by the elephants, which were making a lot of noise (lots of the animals in the zoo seemed mad actually, and were stalking around), but ultimately she decided she liked them and started doing the elephant sign she learned at daycare. It’s gotta be surprising to learn elephants are actually HUGE when you’re used to them being little fuzzy stuffed animals.

The tigers walked right alongside the glass, so you could get really close…

Riley’s favorite part by far was the bird house with tons of tiny little birds (which is funny because without Riley, Sage and I would probably have skipped the birds, but they were actually pretty cool). We sat and watched a monkey swing around his cage for a long time too.

The next day we started out in Shibuya. It was Earth day, so there was a huge festival going on with lots of Japanese hippies (who are way more fashionable and clean then American hippies) selling all kinds of eco-stuff. We bought some random food on sticks (chicken?) then sat on the steps with a cute little family with dogs. They asked to take our picture, so we took a picture of them too…

From there we headed through Yoyogi park, which was filled with bands playing a mix of heavy metal and rock music. They were all right next to each other though, and playing quite loud, but entertaining nonetheless. The most entertaining though, was the random teenagers who hang out on the bridge by the entrance to the Meiji Shrine. They’re a mix of goth and cartoon characters, and they want to have their picture taken. There were lots of Japanese tourists doing just that…

There seemed to be multiple fancy weddings taking place at the Meiji Shrine, where we got told off (very politely) several times for sitting in the wrong place (on the floor, on the steps…)

We then headed past Harajuku station (Riley was wearing her Harajuku Lovers t-shirt, and we were hoping for a good photo-op with her and a station sign, but it didn’t work out).

We walked down Takeshita-dori, which was crammed with young people wearing outrageous outfits. It was hard to take pictures because it was so crowded. The outfits were impressive though.

By the time we reached the end we were exausted and decide to go home and rest up for our big evening out. Brad’s friend’s wife aggreed to babysit for Riley (while she slept) so we could experience a little Tokyo night life. Brad and George’s friends work at Tokyo Disney as face characters (snow white, peter pan etc) and we met up with some of their Disney friends, who proceeded to talk about their crazy fans while we listened amazed. I finally asked the guys who they played, and they were Princes! Apparently there are 4 Princes: Prince Charming, Prince Philip, The Prince, the beast Prince. We were informed in great detail about the differences between these princes. One guy (the chain smoker) has been a prince for 4 years so he was quite the expert. I couldn’t resist having my picture taken with them beofre we left the bar, it was just too funny.

After the bars, RT and the Prince dragged us to karaoke, which turned out to be really fun! Even Brad sang. Good times.

The next day we flew home! Nothing really eventful to report there, it was a pretty easy overnight flight…

More Tokyo pictures here: First day Second day Last day

50 words

When Leslie was visiting recently, she mentioned that her sister thinks Riley should be saying about 50 words by now… which seems like a lot! So we decided to count:

up, down, open, more, no, bye bye, hello, cold, go, walk, all gone/done
kitty cat, dog, horse, bird, bee, duck, squirrel, elephant, bunny
airplane, car, train, bus, boat, truck
milk, banana, pea, cracker, bread, blueberry, strawberry, agua, pasta, cheese, toast
mama, dada, Eric, Mike, grandpa (well she calls him bapa), grandma, baby
nose, eye, ear, toe, shoe, teeth
ball, balloon, book, picture, door, school, keys
flower, tree, moon
yellow, purple, blue, orange, red, pink

Way more then 50 (66 to be exact). We keep waiting to post this because we keep remembering more words. She also has a bunch of words that she just signs but doesn’t say… we didn’t include those. I’m sure we’ve forgot some, but she’s also learning new words everyday, so this will have to do for now…

Back to Tokyo

This morning Riley amazingly slept in again till 8am. Breakfast was served at 7:30, and was just as delicious as dinner last night. On our trays was an egg that for some reason we were convinced was raw… so we tried to slyly spy on the Japanese couple also staying at the house to see what they did with the egg. Turned out to be hard-boiled. All that drama for nothing. When we went back to our room, Riley was just stirring and gave us a big smile. Traveling in Japan seems to really be agreeing with her. In fact I’d even venture to say this past week has been the most fun our little family has had together yet.

Riley has made friends with Brad and George, so they watched her while we went down the street to the onsen. They fed her breakfast (rice, nori (seaweed), banana, milk, yum!), then kept her entertained playing with the picture cards. Riley also likes it when George draws her flowers. (more? more?)

The onsen was fantastic. Men and women are separated, and there was almost no one else there. There is an amazing smelling steam room and large indoor jacuzzi tub, but the best part is the outdoor hot bath which has a beautiful view of the river and waterfalls in the distance. It was a lovely, relaxing way to start the day.

Afterwards we quickly packed up and went to catch the bus. Today has been a big travel day… long bus ride followed by long train followed by another long train… and unfortunately Riley is feeling a bit out of sorts today. But she’s hanging in there.

Dinner at the hotel in Tokyo…

In other cuteness news, Riley has learned to say nose, eye, mouth, teeth and ear… although her favorite by far is nose. Out of the blue she’ll reach up and touch your nose and say “noooo,” then act very proud of herself. Pretty cute. She’s also gotten good at saying car, bus, airplane and train. It’s pretty cute when she signs car (you move your hands like they’re on a steering wheel). Sometimes when we’re walking on the street she goes crazy trying to point out every bus and car, it’s pretty funny. She pretty much demands to stop and look at every flower we pass , (“wower!” she can’t really make the “fl” sound yet), and can differentiate the purple and yellow ones (“purpa,” not sure how to describe how she says yellow). When she wants to walk, she’ll ask nicely to be let down (“wah? wah? dow?” dow? ) then start wriggling her way out of your arms. Luckily, she’s a pretty quick walker, although she does get distracted pretty easily. Even though she can walk on her own, she still prefers to hold one of our hands, which is probably better anyway. When she really wants to walk, but we need to get somewhere in a hurry, we do 1-2-3-upsula! which is a game my parents always did with me and my brothers. We each take a hand, then count, then swing her in the air and run forward. She loves it, and we cover a lot of ground that way too. We taught her to give kisses, which are pretty messy (since her face is usually covered with drool/snot) but it’s sweet nonetheless. I think her cutest word is “uh ohhh.”

Oh! And it turns out the delicious strawberries we’ve been buying for Riley are special! We’d been remarking how they stay fresh for so long, and have a perfect texture and delicious taste… then George saw this headline in the newspaper: “Hybrid super strawberries getting ready to conquer the world” (I swear that’s exactly what it says, check out the link!) Apparently these berries are “crossbred to be less squishy and super delicious.” They come from Sagahonoka and are being exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong, with plans to eventually include other overseas markets… so keep your eye out for them! They really do live up to the hype!

More pictures from today here.

Shirakawa

This morning Riley decided to sleep in till 8am, so we were able to peacefully eat our fancy Japanese breakfast (served in our room again). I think breakfast was even better then the dinner last night (which was pretty damn good).

When she did finally wake up (it took a while…), she enjoyed some nori with rice and tofu (cooked at the table in water in a little paper bowl over a flame).

While packing up we realized we’d left our camera battery charger at the last hotel, so we stopped by to see if they had found it. Not only did they have it in a plastic bag labeled with our room number, but they had also included the change we had left in the room (worth less then a few cents, but still it’s the principle), proving once again how nice and thoughtful and honest Japanese people are.

We then took off for Shirakawa via Kanazawa (where we took a very brief internet break to check on the paper work for the house we’re buying in LA, before running to catch our bus).

Napping on the train to Kanazawa…

Shirakawa is a more rural, traditional (or as the Japanese travel agent described it, primitive) village that’s been designated a UNESCO world heritage sight because of the gassho-style farmhouses with thick thatched roofs. We arrived in the afternoon and spent a few hours walking around, including up to a look out point where you can see the whole village. It was very peaceful and quiet.

We stayed in a farmhouse (traditional tatami mat lined rooms again) and had the most delicious meal yet served to us by the woman who owns the house. The meat was cooked in front of us on a little burner (like what we made the octupus balls on in Osaka) and the fish was unbelievably delicious (and I’m not even really a fish person). After dinner, George and Brad went to the onsen down the street (traditional Japanese bath house) after some convincing from us that it would be an interesting experience (sounds like it was). We decided we’d check it out in the morning…

More pictures of Shirakawa here.

Kyoto (day 2)

Today was a gray and drizzly day. We split off from Brad and George again (more baby break) and went to the Gion Corner theater, where the geisha were performing a special cherry blossom dance. We bought 2nd class tickets, which gives you entrance to the highest balcony, where you sit (with shoes off) in a little tatami mat lined terrace. Riley slept through the first 10 minutes or so of the performance, but then the music woke her up. She amazingly sat and watched the next half hour or so, seemingly transfixed. She loved the scene changes (it was an old wood stage with scenery that slides in from the sides or comes up from the floor) and pointed excitedly whenever another Geisha came on the stage. It was a very colorful performance. She did eventually get bored, but then just played quietly next to us while we watched. Everyone in the 2nd class seats was taking pictures and talking quietly, so they didn’t seem to mind the occasional baby noise.

Riley pointing at the cherry blossoms

After the show, we went to get lunch in the Gion area around where all the fancy teahouses are. We love eating in places where you sit on the floor on tatami mats because then Riley can roam around and the table is the perfect height for her and she doesn’t get bored. At lunch she decided she likes rice again, but only if we feed it to her (she went on a rice strike after getting frustrated with how sticky it is – she really hates having stuff stuck on her hands).

I can’t get over how cute her little shoes look next to ours…

After lunch, it was raining. Riley had her jacket and hat and didn’t seem bothered so we pushed on. First priority was a baby wipes mission, since we were running low. I figured out how to ask for wipes using the phrase book (oshirifuki wa arimaska?), but struck out at the first few places. Finally, we went to a supermakrket and asked. They didn’t have any, but the woman decided to take on our mission as well. So she ran around with us in the rain looking for a store to sell us baby wipes (despite our constant protesting that she didn’t have to), and finally we came up successful. So incredibly nice. If you stand on a corner looking at a map with a confused look on your face, someone will just come up to you and ask, “Can I help you?” Japanese people must think we are so rude when they visit the US… I can’t imagine anyone ever just volunteering to help a tourist without being asked. Maybe now I’ll start…

Anyway, we then went to Kawai Kanjiro’s house (partly to get out of the rain for a bit) which has been turned into a museum – he’s a famous potter and a bunch of his stuff was on display, pretty cool. Also just nice to see the inside of a traditional Japanese house.

We then walked up a hill through a cemetery, catching some smaller shrines and temples along the way…

Our last stop was the Kiyomizu temple, which the signs say is a candidate for the new 7 wonders of the world. It was pretty amazing. The view was even spectacular, despite the rain and clouds.

We wandered down the cute little streets filled with people (and umbrellas) and souvenir shops and amazingly found the little Riyokan we were staying at that night (Tamahan Yokichi), which is not very clearly marked and on a tiny alleyway. There we met up with Brad and George, and were served a tea ceremony (funny frothy green tea that is very grainy) with a yummy biscuit in our room. This place is a kind of fancy traditional Japanese inn. You leave your shoes at the door, and we had our own little suite with a bathroom complete with a steaming hot bath and little sitting area and tatami mat room where we ate and slept. Our dinner that night was incredible. Many many courses of deliciousness served very quickly.

After dinner, Riley fell right to sleep, and Sage and I took a quick dip in the hot (i mean really hot, you have to sit very still) bath then slipped into bed exhausted.

More pictures of day 2 in Kyoto here.

Riley being cute

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Riley being cute at the Ryokan in Kyoto.