Room thermometer

With winter coming and the sleep-sack juggle, it has been really hard to know what to dress him in at night. I always check the hour by hour forecast to see the lows, but inside and outside temperatures are very different. Enter the room thermometer.

We bought ours from Nishimatsuya. I have seen them at baby stores (like Nishi and Akachan Honpo), as well as online and at electronic stores like Bic Camera, Yamada Denki and Nojima Denki. Amazon have the same one for less than 1000yen. Just look up: デジタル温湿度計 (Dejitaru onshitsudokei)

Ours was super cheap, about 1300yen, and does the job fine.



At first, I had no idea what the min/max buttons were. I was hoping I could set it so that the smiley face would change to my settings. When I learned I couldn't change the min and max, I wondered what the point of displaying that was; then I realised that it is helpful to check what temperature his room gets without me monitoring it. For example, maybe the temperature was 20degrees at 7pm, then got up to 23 at midnight and then down to 19 degrees at 6am.  By being able to check the minimum and maximum settings, it means I could see if he was dressed appropriately to sleep.

Now that I have bought one, a room thermometer with a backlight button would also be handy to tell what temperature it is when it is dark in his room. Luckily, there is enough light in his room for me to see when I go to check on him- but it would still be a useful function.

For the cheap price, I really recommend getting one.

Onigiri snacks

Buying convenience store onigiri is my go to when I am in a rush driving home and Little Pi is hungry. The biggest problem with it though, it that it breaks apart and his car seat and surrounding areas get covered in rice and salmon.

The other day, I saw a mum with tiny little rice balls, which are just perfect for small hands.

Turns out, you can get a cute little device for making these tiny balls at 100yen shops. I bought mine at Seria (108yen including tax).

Its a cute little holder that makes cute little bite sized balls. 

Just snap the top of, put some rice in and shake!

The bottom picture, with the more oval shaped ball was done over-filling the hole. The other, more rounded balls were done by just filling it up to the top of the green container. 

Then, all that is left to do is add a little 'furikake' (savory sprinkles). Pi loves the dried plum one on the left. There is also an Anpanman vegetable one,  sesame one, and a salmon one pictured; but they come in a range of flavours that can be bought at any supermarket. 

If you are looking for a cheaper option though, you can put a little bit of rice in a small container like the one pictured below, and shake. They don't turn out in perfect little balls, but almost as good. 

I didn't mind paying the 100yen though as the end result is cute, and Pi can shake it to help. I did try to make some little fried rice balls, but the oily wetness of the fried rice meant that they didn't stay in little ball shape for long. The little balls are not just great for a snack, but if the rice is in bite-sized ball when serving up with dinner at night, Pi is less likely to turn into the rice Yeti that he usually does.

What to do with all them apples- bake a chocolate cake!

I bought some applesauce from Costco ages ago. They are great little pouches of 100% apple- no sugar, so a great little snack for Pi. But lately he has gone off so many of his go to snacks (I blame me getting lazier with his meals). So, rather than inevitably throwing away so many pouches, I thought I would use them to make some chocolate cup cakes.

I found a recipe here, which doesn't call for vinegar, and have adapted it:

INGREDIENTS

SERVINGS20YIELD1 cakeUNITSUS

• 1⁄2cups sugar
• 1⁄2cup oil
• 2eggs
• 2cups applesauce- or- 6 pouches of Costco 90g applesauce.
• 2 &1/2cups flour
• 1 1⁄2teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄2teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2teaspoon cinnamon
• 3tablespoons cocoa

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Beat sugar, oil, eggs, and applesauce.
3. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa. Beat well.
4. Pour into cupcake/muffin pan.
5. Bake in 180 degree C oven for 15 minutes.

Enjoy.

Next time, I think I will substitute the oil for coconut oil. 

They turned out really great. Not the healthiest snack, but not too bad either and a great time killer for our Friday afternoon baking.

I put some spray oil to grease the pans, and it worked well. Just make sure you let your cakes cool for at least 5 minutes before trying to take them out of the pans,

Enjoy!

Baby playpen.

I still find the baby playpen useful even after all this time. Pi can't really be trusted to be left alone for any period of time longer than 10 seconds. I'm afraid he will break something, destroy something, or unlock the locks of the glass sliding doors and go outside for a stroll.

This makes shower time in the morning very difficult. While I try to have as quick a shower as possible, he still needs something to occupy him completely so I don't come back to ripped wallpaper (yes, this happened), or a missing child. Usually my 'go to' is to put on 'PlaySchool' (Australian TV show) for 20 mins while I prepare and shower, but today I got the playpen out again. It was such a nice change from my usual babysitter (t.v).

I bought my playpen second hand, online, and have been super happy with having one. He is big enough now that he can move the whole thing, and climb out of it if he is determined enough. However, with the help of some Duplo, and a quick shower, it was a safe and effective place to let him play.

Winter drool.

You might be able to see from the above picture of my beautiful little man, that he has a red rash around his mouth. The other day he was eating green grapes and suddenly it got worse. Was he allergic suddenly to grapes, but not before? I didn't really go away. The next day I gave him raspberries and again with the rash. I though he might suddenly be allergic to everything. Then I remembered that the same thing happened last year- I took him to the doctors thinking it was an allergy, but it turns out it is a drool rash. 

My lovely little boy drools worse than Pavlov's dog- even though his teeth are all well and truly through (I have looked into it, apparently some toddler still drool for a long time, like, until 5 years old). Last year the doctor gave me some special cream which helped clear it up. This time I haven't been back to the doctor, but am trying Pawpaw ointment (bought in Australia) and Aquaphor cream (bought from I-herb) first to see if it clears up. So far, it is working a little. 

So if your bub still drools and gets a red rash around his mouth in winter, it might just be drool rash....

Machida Squirrel Garden

I am always looking for fun activities to do with Pete. While I was looking for a branch of the okonomiyaki chain that we like so much (okonomiyaki honpo- in case you were wondering), we discovered a place in Machida called "Machida squirrel garden". 

Though Machida it north-west of here it is technically in Tokyo. Driving to the squirrel park would take about an hour and 10mins from our house. Public transport isn't much quicker (in fact, about 10 minutes slower), however Pi loves trains so we decided to make a day of it and go via public transport. 

When you get to Machida, take bus 53 or 55 from Machida Eki bus stop to Yakushiike (薬師池). It takes about 14 mins on the bus and costs 240yen. The bus drops you off almost outside (just a teensy walk down the hill before you see big pictures of squirrels at the entrance).

Kids under 3 are free. Adults were 400yen each. Once inside, there are a few cages with other types of squirrels, guinea pigs, rabbits, chipmunks and a patagonian mara of all things. The last was a bit depressing to see in a small cage. You can buy a small saucer of lettuce leaves and carrots for 100yen and feed the guinea pigs and rabbits. Pi loved doing this. 

 

After that, you can enter the big squirrel enclosure. A small bag of sunflower seeds is 100yen. They provide oven mits (kids and adult sizes) to wear so the squirrels don't scratch you (and also a host of other reasons). There is a fenced off area but the squirrels will happily come up to you (one even jumped on my leg). We go there about midday and though a lot of the squirrels were settling down for a nap, or too full, we still found plenty to feed. 

They are skittish, but friendly enough

Pi loved it, but took a minute or two to get used to the squirrels.

Over the road there is a beautiful park too- which I highly recommend checking out: Yakushiike Park. We ate hot udon in the gardens- it was lovely! Going to the park too certainly makes a nice day of it. 

The pro's and cons of the squirrel park:

Pro:
Entry was cheap
The main squirrel enclosure seems nice, and if I were a squirrel I would be very happy living there.
The animal feed is cheap too.
They employ special needs staff.
Pi loved it!


Cons:
There was a bit of overcrowding of the guinea pig cages
Some of the cages at the start were a little depressing- but my husband and I get easily depressed by animals in small cages.
 

For more information:

http://www.machida-risuen.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1060907-d2042765-Reviews-Machida_Squirrel_Garden-Machida_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/Machida+Squirrel+Garden/@35.5780635,139.4500186,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xfb901826db30cd3?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjc3MPaqITQAhWDyrwKHfRoAEsQ_BIIggEwDw

Natural science museum, Tokyo.

The other day rainy day we took Pi to the Museaum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo.
It is super easy to get to from Ueno station; just take the park exit and walk through the lovely park.



Entry was 6.10yen per adult, and children under 18 (yes, 18!) are free. It was super cheap!

There are elevators but it isn't super stroller friendly. It is much easier to access things through the escalators. However, if you don't mind waiting for the elevators then it isn't much of a problem. The layout of the museum was super confusing. You enter in B1, and then work your way up or down, and there are kind of two buildings (most of the exhibits are in the back building).

I was actually a little disappointed by the museum. I have been to some of the bigger ones around the world, and was expecting something much better than it actually was. I think the museum in Brisbane (my home town) is actually bigger, and better.

They have a small dinosaur exhibit, and some taxidermied animals. They have some science-y type exhibits that are mostly Japan related (like an earthquake simulator). They have a few other exhibits too, but nothing that made me go 'wow!'.

On the third floor, there is a kid's playroom called "Compass", which is free to get into, but needs to be booked ahead through their ticketing system. We got into the 12:00-12:45 timeslot. Pi had fun in there, which is mainly a big junglegym with taxidermied animals hidden in there, and some activites. There is a T-Rex statue in there too. You get the ticket for Compass on the first floor near the information desk (not to be confused with the B1 floor information desk). I believe it is for kids up until age 13. Children who cannot walk/climb will probably not enjoy it. Best ages for kids is 4-6. Pi enjoyed the run around though.

They have a cafe with some free space where you can bring and eat your own lunch near the B1 entrance. There is a restaurant there too (I think on the 1st floor), but we only had a glance at the menu. The prices were okay, but I can't comment on the taste. We ended up leaving at about lunch time and getting something from Ueno station that was most to our liking.

There is a gift shop too with some really cool things, and a theater with some sort of movie showing- but we didn't watch it.

Even though I was disappointed in it (because of my high expectations), for the price I definitely recommend it. It was a nice way to spend a family day. I hear it can get super packed on public holidays, and rainy weekends though. I thought it was busy enough on a Friday with all the school groups.

More information can be found in English via their website:

http://www.kahaku.go.jp/english/#

Rice pictures

It has been raining almost non stop for the last two weeks, which means we have been going slightly stir-crazy and running out of activities to do in the house. Luckily, I remembered some of my old artwork from preschool and thought we could make some rice pictures.

What are rice pictures? Essentially, they are just pieces of paper with rice stuck to them but they killed an hour or so, and gave him some different stimulation. Best of all, I already had all the ingredients at home.

You'll need:
rice
food colouring,
paper (for the picutures)
paper towels
glue (liquid glue)
a large container or bowl.

The first thing to do it color the rice. If you have different colours, you can make as many as you like. Put rice in a bowl with a little bit of  cold water (just enough to cover) and add food colouring. I suggest adding A LOT of food colouring, as it doesn't all get in there. Soak for about 5-10 minutes.  Drain and rinse the colouring off the rice, then pat dry with a paper towel. leave until it is dry. I cheated by spreading the rice on a plate and putting it the rice in the microwave and nuked it until the rice was dried out. You really need dry rice.

Next. take you paper and glue (the runny kind) and draw a picture with the glue on the paper (liberally apply the glue). Next, put the glue paper in a large container, add the rice on top and shake it back and forth until the rice covers all the glue.

Next, lift up the paper and leave to dry. Viola! Magic artwork.

Pi enjoyed doing it, and all up with the washing, drying, gluing and ricing took about an hour of fun. You can also do it without coloring the rice, but I think coloured rice is more interesting.

The food colouring that I used is a powder that should be found in the baking section of most supermakets. This colour was red, which turned the rice pinkish as I didn't soak it for too long.

Here are some other people's pictures for inspiration:

Pi's first haircut

We were planning on getting Pi's haircut in Australia- mainly because we were worried about being able to communicate about the kind of hair style we wanted, and because of the possibility of a lack of experience Japanese hairdressers might have cutting curly (ringlet curly) hair.

We had no idea how much of a chop we wanted so the ability to explain what kind of haircut we wanted was kinda moot. In the end, because we wanted to make a paintbrush (see related post when the brush arrives) with his first locks, we decided to get his haircut in Japan.



We heard of a great salon in Yokohama from the mother's group, that specialises in kids hair called Hana Kids- located near Motomachi shopping street in Yokohama. www.hana-kids.net

While no-one spoke to me in English, they had English forms and lots of pictures to point at to show what kind of cut you are looking for. They had a great waiting area for the kids with lots of toys (for both boys and girls). You can then choose which movie to play on the kids of personal tv screen while they get their haircut. There was a great selection of Western movies/shows. We chose Thomas the Tank Engine, but there was literally an A4 page of English options, and about 2 or 3 A4 pages of Japanese options.

The kids sit in a car to have their haircut, and having the screen on means that there is little head movement.

Luckily, Pi has seen me and Husband get out haircut countless times, so there were no problems from him. He didn't like to have his head shampooed (though it's optional, I believe) but it is easier for them to style with clean, wet hair. He was so great through it all, and only minor tear shed from his parents.



I am so sad to see those beautiful curls go. I never realised how much I would miss them. As for his new haircut- it is so much cooler (temperature) and doesn't get in his eyes anymore but I think it makes him look like Florence Henderson, or Julie Andrews from the Sound of Music.  >-<

Either way, the haircut experience was a good one, and for only 3240yen, it was great value.

Day flight with a toddler

Soon enough, our holiday was over with and time to get back on that plane. The flight departed at 10:45 Brisbane time, and arrived 7:00pm Japan time- which are very, very resonable times for both getting to/from the airport. We left at about 7:15am to get to the airport, and got home in Japan at about 10pm (11pm Brisbane time), so it was a very long day for a two year old.

The inflight entertainment didn't go as well as planned as the two shows he was really interested in were only 30 minutes each- which means by the time he watched it twice, he didn't really want to watch it again and again for 9 hours. He is also a bit young to sit through most movies- or sit with his earphones on (he kept taking them off to eat them). So when he did watch TV it was usually without sound.

Qantas served lunch at a reasonable time- but this time the vegetarian meal plan backfired. It was a vegetarian green curry- and while nice enough, Pi didn't like it. I ate that and gave him what he would eat of my meal. Maybe a kids meal would have had more appetizing things (He likes Indian and Japanese curries, but not Thai).

After lunch he was getting really crazy. Mainly due to being tired and sitting in one spot for too long. But it was hard to walk him up and down the aisles as Qantas took so long to get through with the carts (not usually a bad thing, expect when you want to take the toddler for a stroll). Another hour later and he was getting really crazy so I strapped him into the ergo to get him to sleep. It didn't work though, he just screamed and screamed. Eventually I took him off and laid him down in his seat, covered him with my body (in a hugging way) and shushed him to sleep. I couldn't believe it worked! It was lucky that he was tired, and I tried getting him to sleep at about 3pm Brisbane time which is about 2 hours later than usual. It made me so happy hat he slept as it meant I didn't get a sore neck sitting with him strapped to me.

Pi had a blissful hour and 20 minutes before he woke and could stand a bit of T.V again. When he got bored of that, we got out Husbands laptop and put on Peppa Pig and Playschool.

Dinner was a panini- ours was chicken and salsa (or something- I was too motion sick to eat it and Husband hates those sorts of things), and Pi's was a vegetarian chilli panini- which he did like and eat, even with the spice.

Thankfully, when we all thought that we couldn't take any more of the flight- it was over with. All 9, slow, tiring, bouncy hours.

Despite the late time, Pi didn't sleep on the way back home. I suppose there were too many transportation changes but he was fairly well behaved for an over tired boy.  He was so happy to be home. The look on his face when he saw our house and all of his things was absolutely beautiful, and priceless.

If I had to do it again, here is what I would do differently:

Bring an ipad- (not that we have one) because it was hard for him to look up at the screen in the back of the chair infront. I would also put more of the shows he likes (9 hours worth of them) on it. Maybe some games or something too (not that he has ever played them).

Order the children's meal. Yes, I like to make sure he has healthy food, but I think it is more important that he has a full belly than healthy but hungry. I would like to see what the children's meal would be....

If it were a longer flight, I would get one of these inflatable flight cushions- as he was constantly trying to rest his feet on the back of the chair in front:



and maybe one of these Travelsnugs:



but, at the end of the day, I don't know if spending the money on those things would make the much difference...

Night flight with a toddler

I am actually getting a cheeky moment to write this while on holiday in Australia. But I figured as Husband has taken Pichan on an adventure into the city, I might as well catch up on emails.

Pichan is now 2 years and 3 and a bit months and can definitely understand what is going on (mostly). Last year I made him a special book for his Australia trip (see here), but as my parents have moved house (so the pictures of their house/his room etc) are different and I didn't make another one, we didn't use a book this year. I did mark our trip clearly on our big calendar with pictures of aeroplanes (one for going to Oz, and one for coming back to Japan) and coloured in all the dates so he knew when we were going to Nanna and Poppy's house, and when we go back to Pichan's house.

I did prep him before hand that he would need to sleep on the plane and all sorts of other things like: the things we would pack in his suitcase, how we would get to/from the airport and what we would do in oz.

We flew Qantas this time into Brisbane instead of Jetstar. Unless you get a super sale with Jetstar, the price of the sale Qantas tickets were almost the same price as regular Jetstar tickets. Pi had to pay almost full price now that he is over 2 years old. I think my tickets were 75000yen return, a Pi's were 55000yen return. That included meals and 30kgs of baggage each.

Originally I ordered the kids meal for Pi, but then got worried it would be chicken nuggets and chips (I am kind of strict with his eating), so I changed it to a vegetarian meal. I was so impressed with his meal. Nice and healthy (though a little salty). It was a spinach pasta with vegetables in a tomato and parmesan sauce, and fresh fruit salad for dessert. It was super yummy. The only problem with the Brisbane flight is it takes off at 8:45pm, which means it was about 10pm by the time the meals were served. Naturally we ate at the airport before the flight, so we only picked at our dinner.

*side note- if you are travelling out of Termimal 2 of Narita- I highly recommend "Miso kitchen" (or something like that). It has so many options- both Japanese and some western options like minestrone soup.

By the time they cleaned the meal up it was about 11pm, and turned out the lights shortly after. I was disappointed we didn't received an amenities pack- one that has a toothbrush and eyemask, etc. I tried to get Pi to sleep lying down in his seat with his head on me but that just wasn't working. I ended up giving up and putting him in the ergo, and rocking and singing to him. An hour later- shortly after midnight- he was finally asleep. Though having the extra 14kgs pulling at my front meant that I couldn't sleep on the flight- unlike the last two trips where he was small enough to go in the bassinet on the plane.

By about 4am I thought I was going to throw up (too tired, too heavy, and I get motion sickness), so I unstrapped him to give him to Husband. He woke up and started screaming so I took him back and then was able to lie him down across the two seats (mine and his) and then cuddle him while laying down and curled up so that I could protect him from rolling off. Ofcourse, it meant that I was propped on the edge all night, but I actually managed to get 20 minutes of sleep that way, and he slept right through- even through breakfast and the lights coming on. It was only that we had to wake him before landing that he woke. I was so surprised, as he can be such a light sleeper. Obviously he was exhausted (he usually goes to bed at 7pm) and the flight landed at 5:30 brisbane time- so all up he only had 5 hours of sleep- thankfully we had a big nap together during the day.

I was dreading the flight, and it was pretty horrible, but Pi was really good in terms of not screaming too much. It helped having the TV in front of him so he was pretty mesmorised. The other great thing about Qantas was the screens in the seats in front were playing the whole time (except when there was an announcement)- before takeoff, durning, and even when we landed- so it meant he was entertained the whole time and could keep the screaming down to a minimum.

Now we just have to get through the flight back- which is a day flight- but still 9 hours of entertaining a toddler in a small space...

Blackout curtains

Summer is a bit of a pain. Between the heat and the long daylight hours it can be hard for children to sleep. At our last house in Ninomiya, we had storm shutters on the doors and windows upstairs, so Pi's room has always been pitch black. The biggest problem with that is it made it really hard for him to sleep in a room that wasn't pitch black (sleep aids are great...and terrible).

When we moved last year to a house with no storm shutters upstairs, we came up with a simple and most importantly cheap solution to get Pi's room nice and dark. Cardboard...

We bought lots of black construction cardboard from the hundred yen store (this time Seria), and stuck it up all over his doors and windows with packing tape. It was great! It looked fine from the outside too, as all you could see were black doors and windows. The only problem was if you wanted to open the door, then you are also letting in unobstructed light. To solve that problem we saftey pinned a black blanket in front of the door, but it only worked so so.

It was a fairly good, but not great solution. My husband also grew concerned after a year if the photo-degrading cardboard would cause any health problems.

So this year we decided to splurge and buy some blackout curtains. I looked at a few different shops- Ikea have both blackout blinds and curtains. Nitori have blackout curtains too. I ended up buying mine from Amazon because they were a little cheaper and had good reviews.

These do an amazing job of keeping out the light (that is the flash that makes the curtains look light in the photo). I actually took the lace curtain off and hung this curtain behind the original curtain. It works even better that way as it create more of a seal around the door frame.

This is what I bought:

1級遮光カーテン プラネット ネイビーブルー 幅100cm×丈200cm 2枚入 全2色8サイズ

Shakō kāten is the word for blackout curtains. 

The 100x200cm size was 4246yen including shipping. 

They are good quality curtains and said they would block out 99.9% of the light. I think they do. 

They also claim to help keep they heat out (which is good) and are washable (also good).

Do be careful if you are buying things online though. Some of the cheaper blackout curtains had some really bad reviews and let's face it, if they are not going to block out the light then there isn't really a point. 

Toy storage

Pi's toy collection is forever growing. Most of it is junk, but even junk needs to be stored somewhere (if not in the bin).

My best solution (besides throwing it into a cupboard and closing the door *really* fast), is to get some bookshelves. We bought ours from Nittori, for about 1000yen each. They sell them at all sorts of places- furniture stores like Nitori and Ikea, Large Aeon stores, and home improvement stores- like Daiyu8 or Beaver Tozan. They all seem to be priced at about the 1000yen mark- give or take a few hundred yen.

From Nitori we bought some really cheap boxes to go inside, they are kind of fabric covered cardboard, and were 999yen for the set of three (including tax). Nicer wicker ones are about  500-700yen each. We have some nicer ones for upstairs but Pi's toys these are fine.

It is really easy to sort Pi's toys into sections with these boxes. At first they were sorted perfectly, but he loves pulling out several boxes at a time and mixing up the contents, so except for the PLARAIL (which we make sure stays in one box) they rest got a bit mixed up. Pi can reach into all the boxes which is good, yet the boxes they can be tidied and contents concealed easily. 

From Daiso you can get boxes for 108yen that make good mini storage boxes. You can see the blue bus box and the red truck below that were bought from Daiso and are used for his Mama Goto (playing house) toys. 

The big police box in the back is awesome. It is hard enough that kids can sit on the lid (the lid is not shown in this picture), and can be neatly stacked or tucked away. We put the little Daiso boxes in the big box to keep things tidy. The big police box was about 2000yen. We bought ours from a small variety store, but I have seen similar at Akachan Honpo.

The end of attachment- Part 2

Now that it has been well over a week, I am happy to say that Pi is weaned- and not once has he asked for Mummy's milk. Even when my boobs were in his face. It is such a relief that he prefers to have 'moo moo juice' at night- he asks for it, and is excited by it.  After he is finished his milk, we lay down together for a long cuddle so he still has that closeness.

My body has dealt with it fairly well too. I was expecting the worst, but the hot flushes were minimal and the pain was bearable.

As soon as I finished the last feed, I made sure to drink some sage tea (A spoonful of dried sage leaves in a cup of hot water). Dried sage can be bought at your local supermarket in the herb section.



The next morning I woke up sore, but with the help of cabbage leaves in my bra it wasn't too bad. I found about 36hrs after the last feed I had a really sore blocked duct. Remembering that expressing a little is okay, I gradually worked out the blockage and by the next day it was much better.

Over the first three days, I had either a spoonful of sage mixed with peanut butter, or some sage tea twice a day. I found I only needed cabbage leaves that first day.

There was very, very, very minor leaking that first week (just a couple drops per day) and then it was all finished.

Now that the weaning is finished, I am glad that I did it. I do miss that special connection, but the cuddles that we have every night before he goes to sleep are just as lovely.

His dad is also happy that he gets to participate in the bedtime ritual a bit more too.

The end of attachment... Part 1

I have been putting off and putting off weaning Pi. There was always an excuse to delay weaning- wait until he finishes teething, wait until the end of next month, wait until he gets used to ichijihoiku (the three ours he goes to daycare on Wednesday mornings) wait until he turns two, wait until his cold is finished. In my heart I really didn't want to stop feeding him. The only real drivers to do it, were that he is getting older, and I want to get back on antibiotics (that I can't take when breastfeeding).

Lately, has has been refusing to let go of the boob at night. For a long time he always wanted a little bit longer, and then a bit longer again, but this last week it has been ridiculous. He would stay there all night if it were up to him. It figured it was due to one of two options, he either wanted lots of milk but there just wasn't very much left in the boobies, or he just liked it so much. After a particularly long session the other night when he refused to let go, I decided that it was probably a good time to try weaning him.

I intended to do it the next night, but I wanted our last nursing session to be something special and not him getting angry at me because I was trying to unlatch him. So I took a long time nursing him on Friday night, and then come Saturday I started. I really wanted to get him a 'weaning book' to get him used to the idea of no more milk, but as he was only on one feed a day I didn't want to make a big deal of it and make him realise what he is missing.

For the last few weeks we had been introducing a new part of the bedtime routine. After bath, but before Mummy's Milk, Daddy has been reading him a few books. It has been nice for his dad to spend a bit more time with him. Come Saturday night, I told Pichan that he would get special "moo moo juice" tonight, as Mummy didn't have enough milk (which is actually completely true- it has been just a few mouthfuls for weeks now) and that Mummy would still give him lots of nice cuddles while he drank. To my surprise, he was more than happy to have his Moo Moo juice. Not a word of protest, and after he finished he asked for more (I didn't give it to him though as I don't want him wetting through his nappy).

I was really surprised that he took it so well. I, on the other hand was an emotional mess. For me, feeding Pi has been such a beautiful thing. As the mother of a squirmy octopus the night time feeds have been a nice way to hold him and have lots of cuddles (mind you with those cuddles comes pulling, grabbing, pinching and slapping).

I will really miss it. Probably more than him. It was the last thing that I could do for him, that only I could do. However, the fact that he has taken it so well makes it that much easier.

It is early days yet, and he may suddenly remember about Mummy's milk and have a meltdown. However, I am hoping that the cuddles and the moo moo juice will be an equally good substitute.

こどもの森わんぱくらんど Kodomo no mori wanpaku nando- Children's forest naughty land.

Out of the back of Odawara there is a fantastic park called : こどもの森わんぱくらんど- Kodomo no mori wanpaku rando.

This place is huge.  It is on the Yokohama side of Hakone, and actually feel like you are already in among the mountains. It is a huge park surrounded by forest. There is a rope bridge, two trains (one that runs on the road, and one that runs on a track), lots of grassy areas, a big long grass forest path, a big rope skills obstacle course for the older kids, pony rides, feeding of goats and sheep at certain times, a splash river for kids to paddle in, and lots of playgrounds.


It was such a lovely day and quite hot, so Pi loved the splash river. If you think your kids might go in don't forget the towel and change of clothes.

He also had his very first pony ride at the park. They don't have an age restriction, but the child must be able to sit up by themselves. Parents aren't allowed in the enclosure, but we voiced our concerns and one of the workers walked next to him to make sure he didn't fall off (One worker is always leading the horse). Pi loved it. I think it was 300yen for the ride, which was quite short but worth it for the experience.
 

Pi also LOVED the train. While we were playing on a grassy field, we could see the 'road train'  (a train that runs on the road) come past every now and then, and every time it captured his attention. We promised him a ride, and the smile on his face was worth any cost. I think it was 300yen per adult. Children under school age are free. I think school age children were 100yen.




Pi also had fun on the various playgrounds, and just running around.

It was a really lovely day.

Entry to the park itself is free. Car parking was 510 per car. There aren't really any places to eat, but on the day we went there were a few food vans. On that day there was Yakisoba, crepes, pizza, and a Koko ichibanya curry van. If you have time, maybe bringing a bento is best. There are plenty of vending machines and toilets. Oh, and there is a camping ground attached too.




All up, I highly recommend it.

The links below are in Japanese. I recommend running translate through chrome.

Access to the park: http://www.city.odawara.kanagawa.jp/public-i/park/wanpaku/park/wanpaku-access.html

About the park: http://www.city.odawara.kanagawa.jp/public-i/park/wanpaku/park/o-wanpaku.html