Playgroup

Yesterday, I went to an unstructured playgroup, that is running for most of the day on Tuesday-Saturday in my town. I packed little Pi up and off we hopped on the bus. I was a bit nervous. I like meeting new people, but with the language barrier I wasn't sure if it would be filled with mums who were already in cliques. The place is called wakkun hiroba. (http://www.wakkunhiroba-tsurumi.jp/)

The staff were friendly, and after signing up, took me for a small orientation of all the things that I would need to know. She also introduced me to a Japanese mum who is married to a Canadian. She was super friendly, and was willing to put up with my bad Japanese, which was great.

Pichan had a great time climbing over things and eating all the various toys around. He wasn't too much trouble to other kids, but was much stronger than them- even the kids twice his age- so I was a bit worried with the inevitable toy snatching that comes with sticking a bunch of babies in the room. He is not a violent baby, luckily (do they even exist).

All in all, it was a really fun time. We only stayed for an hour or so as I had to get Pichan back for his nap. We will definitely go back, as it was good for Pi to see other babies and hopefully become a little bit more social. It was also free; which is my favourite price.

Picky eating.

Why is it that babies will refuse the meal you spent ages preparing, and other offerings of fruit and such, but eat anything off the floor?
I am really struggling with keeping things out of his mouth. He loves plastic, paper, and cardboard. Most of his books look like they have been attacked by rats. I do give him lots to eat. Both breastmilk and meals, so I know he isn't hungry. He is a good eater of regular food (except the last few days due to teething and having a cold), so in that I am lucky. I just wish he would stop eating every speck of food off the floor.
Thank goodness we don't have pets with pet food lying around or this would totally be Pichan...

Breakfast- what's on the menu

Breakfast in our house is usually about 8am. Pichan wakes up at 7ish (though sometimes much earlier, occasionally later). I bring him into our bed where he nurses to start the day, and then we play in bed for a while (read: Pichan tries to eat everything he shouldn't) before we get him dressed and then come downstairs to play again.

At about 8, or an hour (ish) after he has woken up, I usually make breakfast for us (we eat our meals together). I usually just have some sort of spread on toast, and Pichan has toast (sometimes with peanut butter, sometimes mashed banana, or plain), with some sliced banana for him to feed himself (he LOVES feeding himself). Sometimes I make some baby cereal for him, though that is happening rarer and rarer as he doesn't like being fed (prefers to feed himself). If he is still hungry, or doesn't eat much then I will give him some yogurt. They have this baby yogurt in Japan, which I think comes in perfect sizes! In Australia, the baby yogurt was in huge tubs, and while Pichan did eat it all, I think it was a meal in itself. Whereas yogurt here is in nice, snack sized containers.

This is what I feed him (it comes in different flavours- I usually buy the vegetable ones)





The main reason why I wanted to write this post was to share the type of bread I use. In Japan, they sell crustless bread for making cute little sandwiches. The bread slices are much smaller, and I find one is perfect, and nice and easy for Pichan to eat.





I used to cut the crusts off (beacuse I thought that they might be tough for him to eat), so this saves me some effort. As he only would eat half a slice of bread, this makes it easy and little wastage. The only thing is I would prefer to feed him wholemeal bread, but it is really hard to get wholemeal bread in Japan.

In, On and Under-standing

Thanks to this wonder week, little Pi is comprehending more and more. He knows "no" both in a firm tone of voice and normal, Mum, Dad, Nap and I think also kiss. I am sure he probably understands a lot more, but these are the ones where I have had a reaction to, so I know he knows it.

He is also getting better at doing things, not just destroying things. He can put the rings on the ring stacker, put small objects into a small bag- and as we have found, put small objects in shoes. We now have to go back to our Australian roots and start checking our shoes for things (In OZ you do it for spiders).

He loves reading, and lifting flaps, and turning pages. It makes it a really great activity that we can do together.

Right now, Pi is in the "stormy" part of the wonder week. AND teething (of course). But he hasn't been too bad, or not compared to last ones. Maybe because he can do things now. He is also taking some very wabbly, very flukey steps with his walker. I think walking is still two months off, though- he has just turned 10 months last week.

I will still be glad for the wonder week to be over, but it is exciting watching him be able to do things that were not achievable just a few weeks before.

 Pi's ring toy.

Glue Gun

Pichan is standing these days, but as it is winter and we have cold floorboards, I always like him to wear socks. The problem is that many of his socks don't have grip on the bottom, and the ones that do, don't have enough.

I read somewhere online that you can add grip to the bottom using a glue gun. Thankfully, Japan's dollar stores are well equipped, so well that you can indeed get glue guns and glue sticks from them. I have seen them both in Daiso and Seria. I bought mine from Seria as well as 20 glue sticks (for Y108 yen each, including tax). The power cord on it is TINY. Like, 15cms long. It's pretty pathetic, but who I am to complain for a dollar...



I tried it on a pair of my house socks and a pair of Pi's socks. Insert the stick, heat the gun, draw a squiggly patter on the bottom and wait for it to set.

It worked! But before I sound too impressed, it unfortunately did not work for long. It is a very temporary fix. The glue peels off after a while (and then becomes an eating hazard). It did kind of work (and survive the wash) on a very fluffy footed bear suit. A lot of the glue stayed on the bottom, but other socks not so much. Because of the eating hazard I probably won't do it again. But it was certainly good for a try.

Nappy wipes review

On Tokyo Mothers group (facebook group) there are often people wondering which brand of nappy wipes are bigger. As Pichan was born in Japan, I have been going through most of the Japanese brands, and not really noticing a difference. That was, until I went to Australia over Christmas and used the large, thick ones. Gosh! I now know what I have been missing. It was so nice to use just a few, intead of half a pack, and NOT end up with poop on my hands like I do in Japan because of the size. So, here is a bit of a review.

In Japanese, nappy wipes are called "oshirifuki"- (おしりふき)

Unfortunately, it has been so long since I have used each brand that I can't offer a detailed review. But what I will do it sort from best to worst, 

I have tried:

 The Pigeon wipes, while a little bigger, smelled horrible! I really didn't like using these. And still have one, half used packet from over a year ago. The label claims is it full of water, but I didn't think they were particularly soft or anything. The smell they leave on the hands and bum is just yuk!
 These were fine. Standard by Japanese size (so small). I bought a small case of these for my nappy bag. The didn't give any rashes or anything. They were soft though. I would actually like to try these again so that I can scrutinize more closely.

















I was given a HUGE box of these for free when I bought our expensive car seat. They are 99% water, and alcohol free. Small in size and not very thick. Bought from Akachan Honpo. No bad smells or anything, but tiny so I had to use a lot.










These are just like the above but with no alcohol and no paraben wipes (from Akachan Honpo). They rank so highly on here due to being paraben and alcohol free, but really they were so small and thin that the 'paraben free' factor is the only reason I would buy them again. I would use about 6-10 wipes to clean my LO's bottom (he has messy mess), so I went through these so quickly.


 This is Akachan Honpo's big and thick type. I really like the fact that it is 99% water, but now that I have gotten used to using a lotion type wipe (see Pampers below) I really felt like I had to use a few of these to clean Pi's bottom. They are kind of gauzy too- not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing, but I didn't notice any advantage.


















This is the water brand sold in Babies R Us in Japan. It is 99.9% water, and is soft on the bottom. There is no alcohol or parabens in these which is a very good thing. While most of the wipes in Japan are alcohol free, paraben free is a rarity. I want to try these again, but probably only will if I see them while I am out and about



But the winner is:  PAMPERS~!!!



Pampers wipes were the first ones that I tried when Pi was born, as the clinic gave a few packets in their 'gift' bag. At the time I didn't think anything of it, thinking 'wipes were wipes'. Then, when I went home to Oz I realised that you DO want large, thick wipes. After searching the internet I found these, which have the kanji 厚手 (atsude) and large 大きい (ookii). They are really great. They are as large as my hand (the Japanese wipes are about half a hand wide), and get the poop off nicely. No heavy rubbing needed. They are soft too (advertised as "fluffy sheet". I am a little concerned about nappy rash, as he is getting a little red, but I will keep my eye on it (edit* no problems with rash*). They have a lotion/moisturiser in them, which is nice and helps to get the poop off really easily and then leave Pi's bottom really soft. They are alcohol and fragrance free, but not listed as Paraben free.


So, if you are looking for a wipe that is just like home, try the Pampers.

Wonder week 7

Here is another leap. Argh! Though, in a way I feel like I am finally doing better than the other ones (maybe because it had only just started). The stormy week isn't suppose to hit until week 44 and a half, so it's probably too early to judge. Maybe because the last leap was when we were home in Oz- and his was taken out of his routine- that he got quite cranky.

In saying that; Pi is pretty cranky, but if you sit on the floor with him or hold him, he is actually pretty good. 

He is going through so many milestones. While some of them are quite small, they are big to me. His new thing is being able to wave goodbybe, being able to clap, being able to 'lift the flaps' in books, and being able to turn the page. He gets so excited turning pages, it's gorgeous. He is standing like a champ (and able to sit/fall back down again), and cruises a little too.

His sleep has taken a bit of a turn. Up usually 4 times a night (so not that much worse, actually), but his afternoon nap has been suffering and he is back to having only 30mins, and waking up really cranky. 

Here is a little about wonder week 7:

During a leap it is possible your baby:

• Eats less- sometimes. But I think he eats a lot more these days.
• Cries more then usual
• Sleeps less or wakes up a lot of the times- Yep! He wakes pretty early too.
• Cranky- check!
• Super clingy- Yep
• Is never satisfied- yep "Pick me up. No, put me down!"

Helping your baby through this leap

• Help you baby explore and experiment: Allow him to do things on his own. Don’t be quick to jump in and give him the solution. Then after some time, step in and show him how to do it correctly.

• Properly discipline/ correct and praise your child: Clearly let them know when they are going something dangerous or wrong. You should also spend time praising your child for doing something correct or following your directions.

• Use more Language: Always use correct pronunciation around your child. Don’t correct their incorrect pronunciation, instead repeat what they said in a correct pronunciation. For example if your child says, “dag” for dog, you should respond by saying, “Yes, that is a dog.” Also make sure you talk to you child telling them what you are doing and going to do.