Sierra's weight check

We have been jet lagged for a week and I am stressed and exhausted. It just started getting a bit better the last 2 nights. Sierra cries in bed for an hour before she goes to sleep.... She wakes up once at night but after I nurse her, she goes back to bed. Due to the change of environment, and a bit of stress on her part, she also went on a nursing strike. For a few days, she refused to nurse, which freaked me out. I tried to give her water but she didn't want it. So I ended up giving her apple juice straight from the juice box, which she took but is a big no-no for babies. I also got her some yogurt drink and she seems to like that. Slowly, she is coming back to me. I just can't nurse her in her room where we have our rocking chair. At night, I bring her into my room, turn on the TV to pretend that we're not going to nurse - just watch TV, then she would start. What a trip.

Size has been an issue for both of my children. I think Terran was about 18 lb at 12 months. Sierra is even smaller - 16 lb 6 oz as of 11 months. She likes to eat, and usually, she nurses often and a lot. But her weight gain is slow. So I was happy to find out that she gained a pound since 2 months ago! The doc was OK with it too. She just blames me (for my shortness) and Pat (for his super metabolism) for the sizes of my children. Sigh....

Terran went back to school this week, just for 2 days. He will be transitioning to pre-school next week. Sierra will also be starting daycare in Sept when I go back to work. That's going to be another stress and heartache for me. Another sigh....

More photos from Japan:



Pat and Terran went to the Mitsubishi industrial museum in Minato Mirai and had a blast. It show cases all the high tech stuff that Mitsubishi is working on and kids get to play with them. Here, Terran is operating a train virtually. Excellent!



We went on a trip to Karuizawa. It stays relatively cool during the summer and historically a place where foreigners set up their vacation homes. John Lennon vacationed there while in Japan. Now it's a summer resort town for anyone. The place is woodsy and charming. Terran just loved the playground.


Sierra and Patrick in Karizawa.


Riding on the trains was the highlight of the trip for Terran. Before our big trips outside of Yokohama, he dragged my parents many times to go on subways, trains, and monorails. He saw all the trains that he loves. This is a photo of Terran in front of MAX Yamabiko. Notice that he is holding a little toy train version of it.



Taken in front of Terran's favorite train, E-3kei Komachi. I don't care much about trains but this one was really beautiful.

Because of this trip, I know so much about shinkansen. When I reserve seats, I've said exactly which seat I want so Terran can be on the second floor of the double decker, facing the ocean, with a playroom on the lower floor. I specify the model of the trains, so Terran can be on Max Yamabiko, going one way, and on Komachi coming back. For us to actually be on Komachi, I had to specify the exact train number, since Komachi is pulled by another train, and we had to get seats somewhere on the last 8 trains. Am I doing too much for him and his obsession?

more photos

I guess the Japanese love waterfalls. They build beautiful viewing spots in front of it, often with a quiet teahouse or a restaurant. This one is Yudaki falls, a waterfall of hot spring water. It almost seemed wasteful watching the water gushing by.


Terran and my dad walking the trails around Yudaki falls.


My dad and I climbed up 1/2 km to the top of Yudaki falls, only to find out that there's a road right by and one could drive there. Later on, we did drive there so everyone could see the top. The top of the waterfall is calm and rather uneventful.


At Toshogu temple in Nikko. The place is colorful and mystical, even with hundreds of tourists. Each building is ornate and extremely colorful. I wish we had more time there but Terran was not impressed....


Patrick and Sierra on the dock in front of Nikko house. Enjoying the coolness of the late afternoon.

some photos

We're back and very jet lagged. I had been sleeping with Terran for the last 2 months. Now, he doesn't want to sleep in his room. Sierra had forgotten her own house and doesn't let go of me. Our house is a mess from the unpacking. But we had a great time in Japan!



Sisi biting my mom's nose.



My pretty Sierra.


Terran's 3rd birthday! Happy Birthday Terran!


Sierra, My dad, and I in front of Kengon-no-taki waterfalls. It was very foggy but the view was spectacular. Sisi could bearly take her eyes off the falls.




Terran in front of Nikko house. This is the summer house that we visited as a family every year when I was a kid. My mom has so many photos of me, just like this one, in front of the house. It was nice to be able to bring the kids and Patrick there. Patrick really loved Nikko, the house, and Chuzenjiko, the lake. A cool welcome relief from the hot summer days in Yokohama.

We are still in Japan

I haven't blogged in awhile but we are still here in Japan - for just another week. Patrick came on July 5 and we have been doing lots since then. We are able to go out on our own at night while the kids sleep and my parents are at home. The other night, we went to Japanese restaurant called "show". We were served 9 beautiful dishes with sake and came home totally satisfied. It's hard to explain what Japanese food can be to people outside of Japan. The type of food available is also limited outside of the country. I wish there was something like this in the US.

We also made a trip to Nikko. Dad's company has a vacation home there and as kids, we use to go there in the summer every year. It was nice to be able to take Patrick and the kids to a place where we enjoyed as kids. The house is in a mountain and located on a lakeside - Chuzenjiko. It's been so hot and humid in Yokohama but up in the mountains, it was chilly and refreshing. We went to an Onsen, first time for Pat. I was a bit worried about his reaction to the Japanese way of stripping all the way down to get into a public bath with old men but he was fine with it.

We purchased Japan Rail Pass which is valid for a week. Our initial plan was to go to Hiroshima to see the A-bomb dome and the museum there along with other sites. But because of this heat (and even hotter in Hiroshima), we changed our plan to go North to Sendai instead. Terran is making full use of the JR pass. He loves the Japanese trains and shinkansen so for this week that the pass is valid, Pat is taking him on all of his favorite trains. He knows the names of so many trains and gets so excited by the site of them. One main reason we chose to go to sendai is so that we can ride his favorite train, Komachi.... His knowledge of Japanese trains surpass mine for sure.

Ooops, Sierra is up. Photos to come.

We

Green China

I was just watching the news and saw that the sea where Olympics sailing events are to take place is covered in algae. The news interviewed a Japanese athelete who recently practiced there. She said it was like sailing on a soccer field....
Found a clip on the web. Check it out.
It seems like anything can go wrong in China.