30 September 2010

September bowed out, damp and cool. We had a play date over at Bettina's. Until the kids ate there was lots of fighting but once they had been fed the mood was a lot lighter for a while with lots of fun in Tim's bedroom.

As they got tired the tears came more and more frequently though, so Jo and I felt that it was time to head for home and cool things off.

29 September 2010

After a couple of dreary and cool days, a bright, warm one. With the rising temperatures came a resurgence of mozzies, which beset me when I took Emily for a play at Mamiana playground on our way to lunch with Nick. While waiting for him at the office, I took her up to the 24th floor lobby so that we could have a look at the diggers on the building being dismantled opposite.


We were glad to be able to have a picnic lunch in the nearby little playground, then all too soon our hour of family time was over. Emily and I moved on to Midtown Park. On the way, I couldn't help notice an interesting product available at a party-goods store: Fanny Napkins! At the park we explored a few of the little paths in the landscaped garden behind the small lake, then spent ages playing Pooh sticks on a bridge over a fast-moving stream. We ate our snack in the little resthouse by the water. I know it is only a manmade urban green space but it is very restful there. The willows and rushes with their darting dragonflies are lovely.

I suspected that the small fountains would still be in operation, and of course, Emily wanted to play in them. She ended up stripped to her pants and spent a happy hour around there, including making mud pies.


Having had such a nice time, Emily naturally did not want to leave and make a huge fuss, screaming and kicking on the busy streets of Roppongi as I began to push her home. It is such a shame to spoil a nice day out with a tantrum at the end. I did not give in to her requests to go to another park, though I felt really mean as we may have had time to drop in somewhere else for a short while. However, she has to learn that I will not give in to that sort of behaviour. Hopefully the penny will drop quickly as I hate to have people turn around and stare at us as if she is a spoilt little monster, instead of the angel she usually is.

I am also pondering on whether to introduce a star chart reward system to make mealtimes less stressful. She just won't concentrate on eating when at the table, and also, I usually end up spoon feeding her as she loses interest after she has eaten her fruit or veggies.


Emily hasn't used the potty for more than a day; since I gave her a step she has been using it to get up onto the big toilet. On the way to bed, we stopped off to use the toilet and she said she wanted to do a poo. I thought it was just a delaying tactic to avoid bed, but she soon began to produce some, getting up after each one to have a look at in the bowl. I remarked that they looked like logs, and she said 'they haven't got any leaves on them. If I plant them they will grow into poo trees'! She seemed very pleased with herself and I was certainly glad not to have to clear up a messy potty. Sitting in that position will help her to go more easily, I think. That's the third time in a row she has done a number two 2 days apart, so the medication is doing the trick.

26 September 2010

A brighter day though the air temperature is still cool. Nick felt he had put in a lot of effort towards the exam with his three late-night tutorials, so we had a full family day out to Minato Mirai. After the obligatory coffee stop, first was the bayside park, where we had a picnic (though Emily was too distracted by all that green space and the maritime vista to eat well). We took along a toy plane that is powered by rubber band and had a bit of fun getting it aloft on the grassy area.

By the water's edge we spotted a jellyfish (made me shudder to think one like that may have stung Nick last week) and small crabs in the slopping waves that occasionally sprayed us, eliciting squeals.

The sun felt a bit strong for Nick and he was gradually turning pink, so we moved on indoors. Emily was keen to go up Landmark Tower again, and as it was a clear day we thought it would be good to take another look at the great views from the 300m building. We spent a good hour taking in the panorama over the bay and the mountains.

I had an amazing run in the evening and felt like I had winged feet. A strong 42 minute performance. It helped enormously that the temperatures were so comfortable, and also that I had eaten a small high-carb meal a couple of hours earlier. The old days when I ran then ate a huge pile of pasta afterwards are gone. Clearly this is the way forward. To cap a good evening, I got on the scales and came up at 65.2kg. That is another 1.5kg off since last Sunday. I'm not sure I deserved such a loss as I have slipped a little once or twice in the week, but generally I have been much more in control of what I eat and drink.

25 September 2010

At breakfast time it was only 17C and drizzling, also very gusty. There was a typhoon passing Honshu to the east. By 11am the sun had come out though, and the rest of the day was much more reminiscent of glorious early autumn, warm but with cool air and clear skies. I think we have really turned the corner from summer this time and am so thankful.



After lunch we took the bus to BIC Camera. It was really overheated in the massive electrical store and extremely noisy, as it is every Saturday but I had forgotten. Emily was wide-eyed with all the bustle and racket and so many gizmos and gadgets to look at. I felt assaulted and we left pretty quickly for the sanctuary of Hibiya Park. Emily stalked the family of ginger cats that hang out there, and picked up many fallen berries. By the time we got the bus back home again it was 5.30 and the sun had left a warm apricot glow in the sky. Nick achieved his objective of splashing out on a new watch. He seems to have completely changed his tune lately. A while back he would be worrying about our nestegg and keeping it safe for a future house purchase; now he is saying 'you can't take it with you'. Much as I like the odd splurge and have quite expensive taste when I do, I think it would be wise to conserve our resources.


I seem to have a strong nesting instinct at the moment. It is exactly the same as the urge to tidy and sort that predictably came over me in the final stages of pregnancy. Maybe it's the same hormones at work? I am being ruthless in getting rid of things (never have been much of a hoarder anyway though) and have re-ordered our CD collection and been doing filing and re-writing my Japanese notes.

23 September 2010

Another national holiday, for the Equinox (though why it is the 23rd and not the 22nd is a mystery to me). Nick has had a hard week at work as the boss is away, and on top of that is doing three late evening tutorial sessions online at home, from 10pm to 1am. Therefore, his sleep deprivation is worse than usual so I let him stay in bed until ten, when I let Emily loose on him.


It was a wet morning and registering only 25C. By the afternoon it had dropped to just 20C; a full 12C drop from yesterday. As Nick needed to relax and to study, I had arranged for a playdate with Lottie, so Emily and I took ourselves off to Yoyogi Uehara in the downpour. The girls always seem to get on very well, even though they only see each other erratically. Emily was very picky over her lunch, and when it was time to leave she played merry hell because she was watching a film. The rain had relented for a while but picked up just as we left, so by the time I go to the station I was drenched all over again.


Emily really wound me up today. I think it is mainly due to the strain since we returned here of her being so clingy and wanting me to do everything with her. I'm sure she wasn't that bad before we went.

22 September 2010

A return to 33C and poor air quality. We met Lydia and Mia, and also their mates Nicole and daughter Camille, for a playdate at Hon Shiba. We congregated in the conveniently placed Starbucks, where Emily and Mia spent much of the time escaping into the car showroom attached, which had a Rody playpit and lots of model cars on sale. Lydia has expanded a lot in the 3 weeks since I last saw her, but she is not due for a month yet.

For an hour and a half the three girls played nicely, first in the pools and then digging up soil in the beds nearby.

They were more playing alongside than together, I suppose, but seemed happy enough. Emily and Mia were really sweet holding hands as we walked away to go home.

After her lunch I let Emily watch a bit of TV while I ate my low-fat one, and she picked out Mr Benn, which I bought ages ago and she seemed unimpressed by on first viewing. This time she loved it and sat transfixed. I am so pleased she likes my old childhood favourite; for a forty year-old it has aged well, really, and I enjoyed watching too. Then we had a craft session, with glue and lots of paper to stick on. We had created quite a gallery after she had finished. The highlight, though, was her unassisted attempt at a letter 'E', which we have been trying to encourage the last week or two.

20 September 2010

Though a Monday, it was a public holiday (Respect for the Aged Day) so Nick was off work. We had set the day aside for a family trip out and wanted to go to the seaside. Emily's behaviour was very tiresome at home, which I put down to the need for a poo, but she produced one just before we left and she was still being very uncooperative even then. As a result, by the time we got on the bus from Zushi station to get to Hayama, Nick was fuming and unable to speak to her for a long time.

It was my idea to try Hayama for a new beach as we have been to Zushi many times this year. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the name of the beach as there are several there. The one we ended up at was OK, but though much quieter than Zushi it was not such a nice place.

The sea was very churned up due to rocks under the surface and I don't like swimming in murky water, so I decided to wait until after our picnic to go in. Nick and Emily went in though, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. However, when they emerged it turned out that Nick had several nasty stings from jellyfish about his torso and legs. Even Emily had one on her calf, though we told her it was caused by prickly seaweed and she didn't seem bothered by it at all.



We ate our lunch under a brolly due to the predatory black kites hovering overhead, then went for a walk along the beach, though early cloud had burned off leaving it feeling very hot. We found a small area of grass and trees just behind the beach and played there briefly, before moving off to make our way to a small beach we know back near Zushi, which happens to have a great coffee shop with delectable cakes. But then Emily got upset because she was so hungry, so we had to ditch our plan and instead ducked into a great little cafe come boutique come yoga studio we'd just passed, with decking outside and a very hippy feel. We had coffee and muffins then Emily got upset when I told her we would not have time for the beach now. After deliberation I decided to go with the flow and we ended up getting the bus to the little beach after all. I was really glad we did as we had it virtually to ourselves and the sea there was crystal clear. We even saw a shoal of pretty black and white striped fish in the shallows. Emily pottered happily as did we, with the sun slipping ever further down the sky.

Then we extended our day out even further and went over the road to Cafe Cha-ya where we shared cakes and had more coffee.

Emily was done in by the time we got the bus back to Zushi station and picked up the train back to Tokyo. Somehow or other she stayed awake until we got home though and we managed to feed and shower her without tears.

19 September 2010

I enjoyed the playdate at Odaiba on Wednesday so much that I suggested we have a family trip over there. We took the boat option to get there, then walked to the play and water area, where we first had a picnic under the 'usual' tree. It was fairly busy round the water feature (which incidentally Nick says has a sign saying 'do not enter water'!). Bettina, Steve and Tim suddenly turned up. I didn't realise that I had mentioned we might be there over the weekend, but it was very fortuitous as Emily had her playmate for a few hours. After they ate, the kids hit the water and the dads watched over them while Bettina and I chatted in the welcome shade and breeze.




Nick had to disappear for a study session so I took over and after a while we all packed up and headed off to Starbucks at Aquacity for refreshment. The boat back over to Shibaura was busy, when we rode back over mid-afternoon. We parted company at Tamachi then I got Emily home and let her watch Dora the Explorer so that I could get busy in the kitchen, since we were having another family tea. As on Saturday, due to her tiredness she was reluctant to eat, but once I shifted her onto my lap I was able to spoon-feed her satisfactorily.

At 9pm, I judged that my meal was sufficiently digested and went out for my first run in a month, the last time being with Tim in Pandy. I forgot to take a moistened sweatcloth, for which I paid dearly. It was very hot and humid and by the end of the four miles I felt that I could not breathe well and was very overheated. However, despite that I did almost enjoy the run, and certainly the buzz of endorphins afterwards. Once I'd cooled off I weighed myself, and registered 66.7kg, so that means I have lost exactly a kilo in a week. Not bad considering I haven't really done much other than reduce portions a little and try to avoid snacks. I suppose it helped to weigh immediately after exercise too, though I don't feel that I was cheating.

17 September 2010

Emily had a nightmare around midnight, saying that she had seen a spider's web. I took her out to see Nick in the living room and they had a bleary-eyed chat, then I took her to the toilet before settling her back to bed. When she woke in the morning, she had a dry nappy again.


Out and about, I can't help noticing the gradual introduction of autumn clothing, even though it is still 30C, such as long thick socks and furry ankle boots. This is either a case of sheep mentality, as it is officially autumn, or fashion victims who can't wait to parade the latest trends.


Now it is dark at 6pm. I always thought Tokyo was around the same latitude as Rome, but on closer inspection we found that it is actually a lot further south than that, being on a par with Malta and Gibraltar, so it is not surprising that our days are so much shorter than the UK.

Roland Buerk has been filing reports from Pakistan this last week or so. Obviously Japan is too much of a backwater, even with all the recent political machinations (another correspondent based elsewhere in Asia reported on the DPJ leadership challenge). No more chats in the buff with Roly in the ski resort onsen for Nick. I wonder if his wife and kids are going to go with him. Not a place I would want to raise a child right now. Or maybe it is only a temporary assignment.

I felt really buoyant today. I think it was a combination of exercise, wearing a new, more youthful top (bought at Arndale under Jill's advice - not my typical style but I'm quite taken with it) and having an iPod accompaniment as I went about my day. It may be Nick's toy, but I shall get more use and I'm enjoying loading up a library of CD tracks onto it; a bit of a labour of love.

The doctor was slightly concerned about my blood pressure, so she suggested that I use the monitor at the sport centre to track it for a while. It came in at 131/82, which is much better than my usual borderline level; I put it down to listening to music as I travelled there.

16 September 2010

Emily woke me at 5.30am saying that she wanted to go on the potty. Her nappy was still completely dry when we got up at eight, after lying in bed for a while listening to a torrential downpour. There was a tannoy announcement nearby warning of rising river levels.

The rain finally stopped after breakfast, and Emily and I donned wellies and went for a quick splash in the neighbourhood. Though her feet barely got damp, after a while she refused to jump in any more puddles, which I thought odd after she relished getting sodden from the knees down when we were back home. We returned home and changed for our lunch date with Nick. Emily ate really well, even popping back black olives and strips of smoked salmon.

From there, I took her up to Toy Kingdom. When she realised where we were going she was very excited. We spent more than three hours there, which was quite enough shopping for plastic food, playing with Sylvanian family models and making Lego creations (though I confess I quite liked that bit and lost track of Emily now and again as I worked on my own constructions).

Emily has a couple of sweet little sayings at the moment: 'when I grow up I'm going to be a lady' (ie. woman) and ' once upon a time when I was born, I played with that toy/ate that food/crawled on the floor etc', meaning 'when I was a baby'.

At dinnertime I gave Emily her new hinged training chopsticks to try out and she did quite well once I helped her put the correct fingers in the loops. I ask myself yet again how so many millions (nay, billions) of people find this an efficient way of eating!

15 September 2010

Hurray! The weather has turned and it didn't go much above 26C all day, plus there was a very welcome strong breeze. I pray that the change is here to stay. We'll save a fortune on aircon at least.

To make the most of the comfortable weather, Jo, Bettina and I decided to take the children to Odaiba for a picnic and play at the pirate boat and splash area. Emily and I met Jo, Isy and Cooper in Shibaura and we rode the Yurikamome light railway over to Aquacity, where we hung out in Starbucks waiting for Bettina and Tim. As always the kids threatened to destroy the peace, so Jo loaded Dora the Explorer on her iPhone and that kept them quiet long enough for us to finish our drinks.

We walked along the waterfront to the play area and they clambered around on the boat for a while before complaining of hunger, so we set up camp under a tree by the edge of the bay and ate lunch. I felt really relaxed and happy for the first time since we got back; it is a gem of a spot with so much to look at, never busy, and always a nice breeze, plus the added attraction of the amusements for Emily.

After food we let them play in the water, and they must have had a good hour or more, in the main very happy pottering about alongside one another with cups and watering can. Bettina still has her work cut out with Tim as he will keep taking off and she is slowing down a lot now with only ten weeks or so to go. Eventually we called it a day and reluctantly turned back to the mall. We all wanted to pop into Toys R Us so trooped in there. Emily wanted another model train, but as I plan to get her a set of tracks for her birthday I thought it would be silly to buy a small model now that will be duplicated later by an electric one, so we bought the larger, moving Emily train. I was horrified at how much it was though - we will have to restrict the number of trains she gets, at 15 pounds apiece. The tracks are ridiculously expensive too, given how cheaply they must be made. Maybe I should try to put out a wanted ad for some secondhand ones.

I had intended to take Emily back home via the boat to Shibaura, but as we sat at the pier, eating a snack looking out at the boats and the bridge, I thought I had better check it was running, and wouldn't you know it? It was out of service for the day. She was rather deflated so I suggested that we call in at the 100 Yen shop (like a poundshop at home) on the way and she could pick out one item. She had never been in one of those bargain shops before and it was a revelation for her. I myself am a recent convert, and will now go regularly for all manner of things. Today's haul: pack of envelopes, storage baskets, roll of wrapping paper, various beads and ribbons for crafts at home, and Emily's choice: toy binoculars.

Emily had been really good with weeing all day, though she still seems to be going extremely frequently so perhaps doesn't have full control. However, on the way home as she was out of the buggy briefly to walk through a garden, she clutched herself and before I had a chance to whip her garments down she had wet herself. Luckily it was a quiet spot, and I got her cleaned up and changed without fuss. At home, the day three poo finally made an appearance after tea, and in the potty, thankfully.

I spent much of the evening loading tracks from our CD collection onto Nick's new pride and joy: an iPod Nano. It is a fairly basic model as it doesn't have a touch screen, but all we want is some means of playing back music so it fits the bill fine. However, it only has room for 2,000 tracks, and I could see quite quickly that we would never be able to get all our favourites onto the one device. I think we may have to have one each! It would come in handy when I am out and about, though I dare not use it while running, for personal safety reasons.

Thank goodness Naoto Kan beat that sly Ichiro Ozawa in the DPJ leadership contest. If that hood-eyed snake had pulled it off the country would have been straight back to the old pork barrel ways with public works money dished out to undeserving projects to bolster politicians' local standing. Japan would have been alaughing stock too, as it would have led to the sixth prime minister in about 4 years. Contrary to expectations, Kan reluctantly intervened in currency markets as the Yen is so strong against the dollar, and it immediately rose by several yen.

13 September 2010

In the morning I measured Emily and she is 102cm, which is still 99th centile for her age.

In the absence of a playdate I decided we would go to Akachan Honpo. It was a lightning raid as Emily seemed to be weeing every quarter of an hour or so, and had had a drink in the cafe just before shopping too, so we quickly got what we needed and just as we were browsing in the toy section she told me she needed a wee.

It was horribly hot and steamy - the worse day so far since we got back from the UK, and my temper was short as a result. Emily dropped one of her new hairties on the pavement and I got very cross with her as I had to go back to look for it in the sweltering heat. I felt guilty for my annoyance when she cried but her habit of always having to hold something when out and about is really tedious and invariably leads to lost items.

She did many more wees during the day, with one accident on the floor. At bedtime I'd just got her settled and was creeping out of the dark room when she said she wanted to use the potty. It seemed wrong to be exhorting her to wee in her nappy, though she only produced a couple of drops on the toilet. I don't think it will be too long before we drop nappies altogether, though I foresee many broken nights and wet sheets.

12 September 2010

Emily's first words on waking were ' I want to use the potty'. We could be able to leave nappies behind completely sooner than I thought, though I will tread warily for the time being as she is still not having dry nappies at night, mainly because she tends to drink so much at dinnertime.

We all went to Asukayama in the morning, where we met Cliff, Roy and Charlize. I dropped off to pick up a picnic and when I got there Emily saw me and ran over, but she fell on the way and yelled. She grazed her palm and that coloured the rest of the day as she cried about it frequently. She would not go on a slide she has used solo many times and there seemed so little she could do without using her hand so we adjourned for food. Afterwards we moved down to the waterplay area. The girls had lots of fun for an hour or so. Nick had to leave after a while as he wanted to buy an IPod and was also getting some scales for me. When it was time for Charlize to leave I decided we would pack up too.

After parting from them Emily and I tried to stop off at Starbucks by Oji station but it was full so we rode back to Tamachi and went to the branch there, where we found that Nick had dropped in to study. After our snack I left him to it and took Emily on home to play. She produced another big poo, this time on the potty. Maybe the lactulose is working already. Then she wee'd on my lap while we were talking to Sarah, Tim & Tom. Nick got back and we sat down for dinner together, but she would not eat the fig and blue cheese gnocchi. Admittedly it was far too rich, and had too much Gorgonzola. I managed to get some scrambled egg down her, but she was really flagging so I got her straight to bed with the briefest of showers.

Before bed I weighed myself: 67.7kg, or 10 stone 9 pounds. A little bit of competition with Sarah may help. I shall declare my intention here to try to get to 10 stone by Christmas, which should be achievable.

11 September 2010

I sloped off for my Japanese class and Nick took Emily up to Kamezuka, though to my mind it was far too hot for a park outing without water play. Again, she did well and came back without any accidents. Unfortunately, once we were all at home at lunchtime it all went a bit haywire. Nick and I for some reason were bickering over nothing much, and Emily was due for a poo, which affected her behaviour. Finally, she ended up making a mess in her pants, and though she was sitting on the sofa, the specially bought bath mat came into its own and took some of the hit. The rest ended up in a pile on the floor, which she trod in. I think we did well as we didn't overreact and just went about cleaning it up while reassuring her. Later she also did a wee on the floor, but that is childs' play with laminate strips.

By mid afternoon it was still very hot, so I took Emily to Hon Shiba on my own while Nick studied. We spent an hour there and I had to play with her all the time, which was a little boring for me, though it was nice to cool off and to see her having fun. She used the loo there a couple of times - like many at playgrounds here it has a second inner lid especially for kids' small bottoms.

Once Emily was safely in the Land of Nod, Erna arrived and Nick and I went out for dinner. We had managed to regain equilibrium after our earlier wrangling and actually had a great time, though at one point I was on the verge of cancelling our reservation. Having felt a twinge of nostalgia recently for a certain potato dish we'd eaten in the Cordillera Blanca, I found on the internet a recommended Peruvian restaurant in Yotsuya. We enjoyed a couple of Pisco Sours, which were every bit as good as the cocktails we'd had in Huarez. As one would expect from the country from which the tuber originates, the potato dishes were really delicious and we also ordered a couple of fish dishes. The cebiche was unfortunately mainly squid and octopus so I didn't try much but what tai white fish there was, was very tender, after its marinade in lime juice, garlic and chilli. We both tucked into a yummy avocado and yuzu dish with gusto. We tried engaging the server in talk of our trip. It turned out he was Peruvian though we thought he was Japanese at first as he was so fluent. He professed to be impressed by our ascent of Pisco, but I doubt he had even heard of it, as it is dwarfed by the neighbouring higher and better known peaks.

10 September 2010

It was a regular nursery day. We made it there via bus and train with no accidents, having paused for a loo stop at Mita station for good measure. I keep wondering when it will all go wrong, as it has been really easy so far.


I went off to aerobics and really enjoyed working out again, though at the beginning I felt really leaden and unfit. You can't beat that life-affirming feeling of well-earned exhaustion afterwards.


Jo, Bettina and the children came to ours for a dinner and bath date after Ui, and it all went very well, considering neither Emily nor Tim had napped. There were no major fights over any toys and they really liked mucking about in the Peppa Pig wendy house.

9 September 2010

We were actually able to manage without the aircon in the morning as there was a lovely cool breeze coming from the north. That prompted me to take Emily to Akabanebashi playground for a bit of outdoor fun, as I have been fed up with being stuck indoors so much. She was delighted to run around and climb, along with about 100 kids in their colour-coded hats from the nursery that butts onto the playground.

We had an appointment with the doctor afterwards, and I tried my best to tell the doctor about the bowel issue without talking about poo, as I worry that Emily will develop a complex about the problem if I talk about it in front of her so much. It proved impossible to hide the reason for our visit from her though, as the doctor wanted to feel her tummy and also look at her bottom. She prescribed more stool softeners and basically said we need to persevere with that for some months, so that the frequency improves and there is no negative association between pooing and pain.

We rushed off from the clinic as we had a lunch date with Nick. I was a bit concerned about Emily sitting in the restaurant and doing a wee but she didn't let us down. Then we hared back home on the subway to dump the buggy, as she was due at nursery for the afternoon. They had called the day before to ask if she would go in as there would be filming for a TV programme. As they were offering a few hours of free childcare, including taxi home, I jumped at the chance, though I felt a bit guilty for being happy to have extra time alone.

Emily was in knickers from the outset today, and we made it through the day with no accidents at all. She even used the public toilet by the playground, and one at the station.

8 September 2010

We woke to pouring rain, an earlier than expected arrival of a tropical storm. This is the first rain in Tokyo for a couple of months. Unfortunately, that put paid to our planned playdate at the splash pools in Hon Shiba, so Jo invited Bettina and me, and kids, over to her place. She also laid on lunch, which was extremely good and must have been hard to put together at such short notice.

I had put Emily in knickers straight after breakfast and decided to grit my teeth and leave her in them for the time being. Just as a precaution I got her to sit on an open nappy in the buggy, though nothing happened on the walk over to Shibaura. On arrival I got her to sit straight on the potty and she stayed there for ages as she was determined to squeeze out a wee before she would get up. She stayed in pants until we left at two and had several successful visits to the potty and only one slight dampening of the underwear. I bottled it as we were about to leave though and she accepted a nappy without demuring. I am really plesaed with her progress but the pace is a little fast, for me at least.

When Bettina and I came to leave there was nothing short of a deluge outside. I was drenched from the waist down immediately, while Emily made a big fuss just because her toes poked out under the buggy rain cover and she didn't like them being wet. We dived into Starbucks for respite and a snack and luckily when we girded ourselves to leave it began to peter out a bit.

At home, I brought out paint pots and brushes and Emily had her first painting session at home, which of course she enjoyed immensely.

7 September 2010

At Tamachi pool, I saw a woman of about seventy with a punky hairdo. What drew my attention though, was her tankini costume, which was plastered with the following exhortation: 'enjoy releasing in the water'!


Afterwards I returned home for more Ikea flatpack joy. My back was killing me by the end, but now all the toys can pack away out of sight at the end of Emily's day and be categorised into different drawers (I know, very anal). Emily seems to like the new arrangement too, though she bemoaned the loss of the scabby old rug which I should have ditched months ago. Check out those bunches!



When Emily returned from nursery I learned that she had managed several hours without a nappy. She had two accidents, otherwise all wees were in a potty. I think I need to increase her wardrobe or I shall be scrubbing lower half garments every night.


The wind is getting up ahead of the tropical storm that is supposed to be hitting Tokyo mid-week, though the added moisure in the air makes the humidity even worse.


In the evening I had time to reflect on my morning visit to the doctors. I really should have found an opportunity to go while in the UK, but somehow I ran out of time. This little visit cost Y60,000 (at today's rates, more than, gulp, 450 pounds). However, as I had no fewer than five ailments to discuss at least I made the most of it. Actually, most of the cost was for blood tests, as I mentioned that I sometimes experience sudden fatigue. My instinct is that I may have mild diabetes, which would not be surprising after yo-yo dieting most of my adult life. Well, we shall see in a few days. I had my ear syringed and immediately the world of sound was improved drastically. One thing I didn't actually have on my list was menopause, but it came out in discussions anyway. The doctor said that with gaps of 70 days between periods it is highly unlikely that I am still ovulating. That came as a bitter blow, as I suppose I had been holding out hope until now, based on the fact that I have the odd bleed. It makes me feel quite bleak right now, knowing that I will never feel life moving within me again. As always, I know I should be very grateful to have our lovely Emily, and of course, I am, but it doesn't stop me being green-eyed whenever I see a pregnant woman.

6 September 2010

We stayed in all morning as the Ikea delivery was due. If I had known they would not come until after 2pm I would have gone out. However, as it was D-Day (or should that be P-Day?) it was probably better to stay close to home anyway. After breakfast, Emily had two hours in big girls' pants and managed to do three wees in the potty and had no accidents (I put a rubber-backed bath mat on the sofa just in case though). The only reason she stopped with the experiment, I think, was because she has a bit of an issue with washing her hands at the moment and I insisted she wash them each time she wee'd. The last time she asked me to wipe her and I think that was so that she could refuse to wash her hands again, as I'd said we must wash after wiping. Then she would not put the pants back on and that was it for Day One. A good start, but how to get around this hand-washing issue? Do I just agree to wipe her myself for now or stick with the correct approach of teaching her to wipe and wash from the word go?

When the delivery finally arrived, Emily insisted on me assembling the two childrens' chairs before we went out, making us late for our playdate at Julia's. The girls dressed in tutus and 'danced' around the living room, as Charlize was watching Barbie and the 12 Princesses when we arrived. Yuk. Saccharine junk.

Back at home I had to put the table together and Emily and Goki sat at it for tea.

5 September 2010

After a tough week, Nick really needed to get out of town for the day, so we went to Inamuragasaki. The black sand there was dangerously hot and Emily yelled when she burnt her feet. I too scalded the soles of my feet. It was just about bearable on the sand that had recently been wetted by the waves, so we set up camp there.


Nick and Emily wasted no time in getting into the surf. They had a good timeand Emily loved 'swimming', but Nick got stung on the torso - he thought by sea lice. It left a small red weal that stayed the rest of the day. After he told me I only went in to my hips. The water was very turbulent anyway, due to a sudden sand shelf close to shore.





We had lunch in an unpromising place on the main road that runs right behind the beach, which had sea views and turned out to be wonderful. As it is a bakery as well, for 350 Yen (2.50 pounds) Nick had open access to their interesting selection of home-made breads, which looked delicious (as I am trying to make small concessions in the hope of dropping the 5kg or so I put on in the UK, I gave it a miss though was very envious). Emily, too, filled up on bread, so by the time her pizza came she only picked at it. In any case, she was acting really oddly. She was very quiet and flopping around on my lap looking like she was about to fall asleep, before finally springing back to life as we left the restaurant for another stint on the beach.



We made a sandcastle and scavenged a while



then Nick could not resist the lure of the sea and went in again for a short dip, accompanied by an eager Emily.



Our journey home began with the kitsch little Enoden line. While we waited at the tiny station we noticed a poster which Nick said was for a mens' prostate and urinary clinic; typically Japanese, it was dumbed down to cute level.



Though obviously flagging, we managed to get Emily home without a nap, so she went to bed at 7.30 and we were again able to retire at a semi-reasonable hour.

4 September 2010

It is still searingly hot but the humidity has at least dropped, to 30%.

The day heralded my return to my Japanese class. It was not as bad as I feared, after more than three months off. As always, I was fine on points of grammar but very lacking in vocabulary. Luckily it was a small class, with only two of the old hands plus a couple of newbies.

We stayed at home in the afternoon as Nick and Emily had already exhausted the Hon Shiba water option while I was studying. Nick went out to study, as another exam is looming. Emily and I got out the Playdough and she asked if we could make fruit and veg. She stopped me from opening one pot, saying 'We don't need the blue for vegetables, Mummy'.

We all ate dinner together, which meant that we had a clear couple of hours in the evening, then got off to bed relatively early.

3 September 2010

My return to aerobics was enjoyable, though my Achilles gave me trouble, as ever, once we began the high impact stage. I was also reminded of the weakness of my pelvic floor!


After working out I hightailed it out of the city to Ikea. With a limited amount of time I remained focused and tracked down all my previously listed items and got out of there, having left the majority of it for delivery at a later date.

I realised that my mouth condition is now better, thankfully, though I shall still mention it to the doctor anyway.

One of my take-away prizes from Ikea was a full single bed-sized duvet cover for Emily, which I installed without delay. It is so big on her cotbed that it wraps all the way round with loads to spare, so I'm hoping that will reduce the number of times I get disturbed at night, when she dislodges the cover and gets cold under the aircon. We shall see...

2 September 2010

At breakfast, Emily commented unprompted on cloud shapes she could see from the table: she identified a bat, a seal and a dinosaur, showing a good deal of imagination.


Lydia and Mia came round for a playdate. The girls hadn't seen each other for more than seven weeks and were definitely pleased to see each other, but they really only played alongside each other rather than together, and Emily was oddly clingy, almost as though she were the visitor in someone else's house.


After they left, we took ourselves off to Roppongi Itchome for lunch with Nick. In the restaurant, she got several comments of kawaii (cute); the number of people saying it has increased again lately.

1 September 2010

Though the thermostat was still hovering around 35C, today felt hotter, though perhaps a little less humid. Still, it's enough to make me crotchety and drove us back home earlier than I would normally have returned.

We met Jo and Bettina and the kids in Ebisu. Again, the weather affected plans as I would normally have taken Emily on the bus, but as that involves a five minute uphill walk I knew I would end up carrying her and all our things, so that was ruled out and the buggy was deployed.
After a quick smoothie we moved on to the small park and playground a few minutes away along the tracks, which has a water feature to keep us all cool. The three children had fun splashing, and Emily collected various flora and fauna (empty cicada skins) in her bucket. We had a picnic on the decking afterwards, though none of them ate very well. They wanted to go in the adjacent playground afterwards, but the slide and rocker had been in the scorching heat all day and would have scalded them. We called it a day soon after and went our separate ways.

Having decided to stay at home for the afternoon, I had to entertain Emily. I hit upon getting her to assist me in the kitchen and thereby get ahead with dinner as well. She really enjoyed helping me to make a quiche and was involved in all stages so felt very proud of the end result. At last, after six days, she finally did a large poo, and in the potty to boot. The Movicol is making it a lot softer but that doesn't seem to have an effect on the frequency, alas.

Any good vibes I felt from her turn on the potty were cancelled out when she would not eat the bean casserole I gave her; she went to bed with only a few reluctant spoonfuls of rice and beans and no pre-bath Youtube clips. I haven't tried her with any new dishes for ages so was really hoping she would like the casserole as there is so little we can eat together, her main meals often being meat based.

From the evening news I learned that this has been the hottest summer in Tokyo in more than 100 years, so we definitely did the right thing in avoiding most of it, though it looks like the misery is set to continue for a while yet.