Very Crafty....

Pi and I have a game he loves to play. It's called- pulling off and losing my socks. He loves it. Me, not so much.

Apparently socks aren't just for feet, but also tasty snacks- which is probably why they are dripping wet most of the time. They are also extra work for shop assistants that find baby socks in the aisles and madly dash around playing "match the sock to the baby". Thankfully, so far all lost socks have been returned, but I really don't want to trouble the workers any more.

I found a great product called "Sock Ons"






They can be bought off Ebay or Amazon, but between the shipping and the fact the Pi's socks never fit, I thought I would try and make something similar.

Feeling rather crafty (pun intended), I had some elastic around the house that I bought from daiso, and some felt that I bought from the craft store. Taking care not to make them too tight, I whipped these up... They work great.





Now I don't need to play "find the sock" any more.

$$$

Money, money, money... While I didn't get much in the way of bonuses from my work place- no maternity leave pay or anything from the government due to the "creative phrasing" my boss uses for various reasons., we do get the monthly child allowance. In my town (Ninomiya) for one child we get 15000yen a month. Which is great considering that I am breastfeeding. So that covers nappies (diapers), toys, and clothes each month that we buy. It's nice to be able to buy Pi lots of things and justify it (to an extent).

While I knew I was going to receive this money, I didn't know when though. It seems that payments are made at specific times of the year. As I missed the payment date for the first payment and so I was paid 75000yen all at once at the next one (45000yen + 30000yen for the first few months). This lead to a rather happy bonus for us when I checked my bank account one day.

 Mind you, we are being responsible parents and actually using that money for Pi, rather than going out and buying a Playstation. Who on earth has time for games now, anyway?


The payment is called the Jido Teate, and was applied for after the birth of my baby from city hall. I believe the payment is 15000yen/month for children under 3 years of age, and then 10000yen per month for children over 3 years. The first payment period will be calculated starting the month after the applicant is approved to receive benefits. Benefits are paid out 3 times a year, in February, June and October. The amount disbursed will be calculated based on the length of the most recent payment period, and will be transferred directly into the recipient’s designated bank account.

For more information, see this post:

Child Payment

Sitting like a champ

My little man, for the first time, got into a seated position all by himself. I think it was a complete fluke, but still. Yay! Go little fella!

Sleep training- Day 18

Today's naps were a bitter disappointment on the heels of yesterday's naps. Only 30mins each! When I calculated it, it was only 2 hours, or just over 2 hours between naps, so in the future I will try and keep him up a bit more, even when he is grizzly. See if that helps extend the naps...

This is how day 17 looked:

Nap 1- 3 mins to get to sleep- 30 minutes sleep.
Nap 2- 1 mins to get to sleep- 30 minutes sleep.
Nap 3- in prams- 30 minute sleep.

Bed (at 6:11pm)- 1 mins to get to sleep

During the night:

6:45pm- 6 mins to get back to sleep
11:20pm*- 19 mins to get back to sleep
3:54am*- 12 mins to get back to sleep

Awake at 5:30am

As you can see he had a really early bedtime as he was soooo tired.
The day had some crappy naps, but great night sleep! Go Pi-chan!

Sleep training- Day 17

WHEFESNVSFBJSRGIRG!!!! That is my excitement coming out over how fantastic his sleep was today.

This is how day 17 looked:

Nap 1- 1 mins to get to sleep- 1 hour and 37minutes sleep by himself.
Nap 2- 2 mins to get to sleep - 1 hours and 40 minutes- I nursed him at the hour mark and he went back to sleep.
Nap 3- 8 minute to get to sleep- 30 minute sleep- but I woke him up as it was getting late

Bed (at 7:15pm)- 11 mins to get to sleep with one resettle pick up.

During the night:

9:08pm- 4 mins to get back to sleep
12:12am*- 17 mins to get back to sleep
5:12am*-  18 mins to get back to sleep.- only slept for 3 mins before awake for the day

*Feed

Awake at 5:33am

How good were those naps and night wakings, hey! I was so surprised. Needless to say, my boobs were quite painful as he was going about 5 hours between feeds. A bit of an early morning, but he had so much sleep at night I think he was well rested.

Sleep training- Day 16

Well, no new teethies have popped through yet so not quite sure what is going on with the longer wake ups. He did really well for day 16 though.

This is how day 16 looked:

Nap 1- 1 mins to get to sleep- 1 hour and 12 minutes sleep by himself.
Nap 2- 11 mins to get to sleep (he was WAY overtired- over 3 hours)- 1 hours and 43 minutes- I nursed him at the hour mark and he went back to sleep.
Nap 3- 3 minute to get to sleep- 36 minute sleep.

Bed (at 7:35pm)- 0 mins to get to sleep

During the night:

11:00pm*- 15 mins to get back to sleep
2:22am*- 12 mins to get back to sleep
3:37am-  8 mins to get back to sleep.

Awake at 6:22am

I thought I should mention (if I hadn't before) that when I feed him, the time I note that it takes him to get back to sleep is more the time it takes to feed him and then get back to sleep. Most of the time when he is finished and I lay him back down, he just rolls over and goes to sleep. It takes him roughly 15 mins to feed in the night.

How great was that night sleep. Apart from the extra waking, he did so well. Three times a night is a huge improvement on 6 times. Lets hope it continues to get better. I am aiming for two, personally (and then phasing out to once, then none when he is over a year).

Sleep training- Day 15

The good news about keeping such a detailed log... I noticed that when Pi was awake for a little bit longer than the 2 hours, he slept for a longer time. We thought it worth a try to keep him up a little bit longer (even though I tested this theory ages ago) and by gee, it worked (some of the time). Some of the time is much better than none of the time.

We spend the day at the shops today, and Pi was such a great little boy. I love Terrace Mall in Tsujido. They have lots of great shops that I love, like H&M for baby clothes, and Zara, and they also have some yummy restaurants and lots of baby rooms.

This is how day 15 looked:

Nap 1- 2 mins to get to sleep- 1 hour and 9 minutes sleep by himself.
Nap 2- In the pram. Took about 10 mins to get to sleep as I tried for about 6 mins in the baby room, but that wasn't working. But then I moved to my secret dark spot in the far stairwell  that has a braille bump, and he was down in 2 mins- 1 hour sleep
Nap 3- 3 minute to get to sleep- 30 minute sleep. He may have slept longer but a screaming kid woke him.


Bed (at 7:04pm)- 4 mins to get to sleep

During the night:

8:00pm- 35 mins to get back to sleep- Possibly teething. No idea. We gave him some Nurofen, just in case.
12:00am*- 15 mins to get back to sleep
1:24am-  32 mins to get back to sleep. We think he may have been teething and gave him some more Panadol, as we don't want to overdose on one.
4:42am*- 16mins to get back to sleep.

*Feed



He had some long naps in the pram and at home, which was so great for him. We have no idea why there are a few long wake ups in there. Maybe teething issues. I wish he could tell us. We stay in the room with him at night if he needs us, and leave when he is asleep.