30 October 2010

Emily and Nick went swimming with Cliff and Charlize while I attended Japanese class in Shimbashi. It sounded like they had a wonderful time, and apparently the floor of the small pool is adjustable because this time Emily was able to just touch bottom, whereas last time it was set at 110cm and she couldn't.


Meanwhile, a typhoon was passing close to Tokyo and it was a horrible day of heavy rain and strong gusts. After we met at Shimbashi station, we walked over to Shiodome to find somewhere to eat lunch, but en route my umbrella got completely demolished by a few blasts on an exposed piece of the high-level walkway and that prompted a weary and starving Emily to start yelling for five minutes, inconsolable about my ripped up brolly. We managed to calm her down and hurried inside the mall nearby to take shelter and track down a suitable lunch venue. We found a great little onigiri cafe and ate several enormous ones each.


The reason for being around the area and not going home was because Emily's nursery was holding a Halloween party that afternoon. Nick got drenched carrying her the half mile from Shiodome to Ui without a brolly. When we got there I put on her cloak and hat and handed her the wand and broom. Goki also had matching witch hat and cape. Tim arrived at the same time, dressed in his homemade devil costume. Emily was subdued right from the start. Maybe she was disturbed by seeing the nursery all decked out in black with spooky cut-outs, and the teachers all in outfits, or by the sheer number of people in the small room. She was close to tears several times and didn't smile for more than an hour, when a lot of people had already left.




Back at home, Emily showed off her cat costume for Nick, part of a Halloween parcel of goodies from Gail. She adores the outfit and luckily it has mileage for general dressing up.




In the evening we relaxed and watched a film after Emily went to bed and it finished by 10.30, but instead of going to bed we channel-hopped and began watching Die Hard 3. It was truly awful but somehow it pulled me in. I had not even watched it from the start so didn't know the plot. Maybe it was just because it was a film on TV in English. We turned in at midnight with the chance for extra sleep lost. We really are our own worst enemies!

27 October 2010

What a chill wind now! But it cleared up during the day, so when in the sun it was lovely and warm. Emily's new Peppa Pig pyjamas (courtesy of Pam) were a big hit. And very timely too as she only had short-sleeved ones and it has suddenly cooled down at night.

Emily has had some strange sort of flesh-coloured raised bumps on her torso, upper legs and arms for a long time now, perhaps even a year. Back in the UK a doctor said they were nothing to worry about, but this last month a few on her tummy have flared up and look very angry and are obviously itchy. Finally, I took her to the medical clinic. The doctor knew what they were straight away: molluscum contagiosum, apparently. It is a viral infection and can take 18 months or more to clear. She advised against interfering with the red spots but prescribed some cream so hopefully that will help until they fade naturally. She said it is very common in kids.

Afterwards we had lunch with Nick and were glad to be able to be outside. Emily and I went on to Akabanebashi playground for a while then we shopped and returned home. We had collected large amounts of dry leaves during the day and had a go at making some pictures with them, though she was very tired and not very focused on what we were doing, even though she was allowed to wield the glue stick for once.

26 October 2010

Today saw the first snow of the year in Hokkaido. It was actually rather cold at night, and there was a howling wind swirling.

We made a joint decision not to buy a house for the time being. I'm glad we both came to the same realisation at the same time. After all the time and emotional effort I have put into this for the last few weeks I felt rather hollow but I do think it is the right thing to do as we really are under no pressure so we should not act precipitously. At some point we are going to have to face the same choice about where to buy though: where we want to be or where it is practical to be.

24 October 2010

We all slept well for a good nine hours, without waking at all, with Emily finally coming round at 6.30am. We lay on our futons while she roamed the room, until it was time to get ready for breakfast. This was served in the same dreary room downstairs. Again the surroundings diminished my appetite and I just picked at most of the usual fish, rice and accompaniments laid out. After hurriedly packing up we checked out with the same doleful chap on reception and got on our way.

It was very gloomy outside to start with but continued with our plan to begin with a walk on Mount Mihara. A switchback road took us from sea level to the car park at the edge of the caldera, several hundred metres above.

Emily was really tetchy at first and complaining about being cold despite several layers, but thankfully her mood improved, even as the weather also took a turn for the better. By the time we had ambled up to the lip of the caldera it was coming through blue and sunny and we ended up stripping down to T-shirts while in the shelter of the flat half-mile or so between caldera and crater rim. We all walked along a few hundred metres of the path through the scrub and black lava rocks and sand, but then it became obvious that Emily would not make it much further and as we didn't have the carrier I told Nick to go on so that at least one of us could ascend far enough to see the main crater and steaming fumeroles.

Emily and I strolled back towards the car, collecting many interesting leaves, berries and sticks along the way.

Coming towards us, I was not that surprised to see the gaijin family again. After a while I spotted a distant lone figure coming back down hastily, so we waited for Nick to catch us up. He was quite sunburned as he hadn't taken his hat and there was no shade on the exposed path.



It was only a 20 minute drive over to the eastern side of the island and Oshima Park, which has an extensive camellia wood and also a small zoo. Emily loved the many ring-tailed lemurs and also the farm animals.

The staff had some guinea pigs and a rabbit out for petting, and Emily got to hold the fluffy grey bunny on her lap. I'm not sure who was the more nervous!


I thought she would like the lesser panda best


but I think hunger had taken over by then as she seemed uninterested, and we whizzed around the other exhibits (giant tortoises, emus, llamas, parrots) before heading back out to eat lunch. The area we had hoped to eat at - with grassy slopes leading down towards the sea far below - was out of bounds due to large-scale redevelopment of parts of the park, so we pulled up a bench outside the small kiosk and had our picnic there. A cat came over to inspect us and Emily enjoyed throwing it a few tidbits. It started to spot with rain and as we needed to get on anyway we packed up and got back into the car.


By the time we had driven the 20 minutes back to the port it was bucketing down and did not relent the rest of the day, so we considered ourselves very lucky to have had a pleasant morning. Emily fell asleep on the drive to Motomachi, so we had to park at the car rental return place and sit out the rest of her nap. When the announcement came to board the jetfoil we scuttled out onto the unsheltered quay and took our seats in the busy boat. The journey back felt longer as we couldn't see out of the steamy windows, but luckily I had planned ahead and brought the iPod, so Emily was happy listening to her CDs on there most of the way. We were annoyed to have to wait quarter of an hour for a taxi at Takeshiba, because the other passengers were picking up passing cabs up the road and not at the designated taxi rank (unusual for Japanese to flout the rules like that but due to the rain it seems it was every man for himself this time).

23 October 2010

I had to wake Emily at 6am to ensure that we were ready for the off at 7.30. Luckily she came to straight away and ate her breakfast quickly for once. We flagged down a taxi and rode to Takeshiba pier for our jetboat ride to Oshima island, 100km and two hours away.

Though the boat's progress felt smooth and leisurely, a look at passing reference points showed that we really were going at about 40mph. We had a good view from our window seats as we passed Haneda airport, and could also see Fuji-san with its feet in cloud. Emily was very tetchy towards the end of the journey and began to cry just as we sighted the island ahead. I put it down to it being too hot in the boat and the sea had a bit of swell out of the shelter of Tokyo Bay too (which had me feeling rather queasy). As soon as we were off the vessel she perked up straight away, though once we had set off in our hire car she soon dropped off to sleep.

We drove a third of the way round the island's 40km circumference on empty roads, then found a great picnic spot at Fudeshima, which is a very attractive little bay hemmed in by wooded cliffs and has a rock stack just offshore.

A gaijin family we had noticed on the boat turned up in their identical hire car and we had a brief exchange before they moved on. I had trouble finding a spot in the bushes for Emily to wee as there were many large spiders hanging in them.

Despite a cool wind, she seemed very keen to get her costume on and go in the sea, but it was very rough and there was no sandy beach to speak of so we were able to talk her out of it.

We stopped off to see a supposedly quaint fishing village, but found that though in a scenic location, the buildings there were all modern rather than old and wooden as we had expected. We moved on clockwise round the coast road, enjoying glimpses of some of the other six islands in the Izu Islands group, which string out south from Oshima, the largest.

There was a section of road passing next to some superb exposed volcanic stratum, but to our frustration there was nowhere provided to park and appreciate it.

A bit further on we were mislead again by a map describing a beach, because there was just a set of steps leading straight down into rock-strewn water. We explored a few rockpools there before moving on, though there were only small dead crabs to be found.

Finally, we parked just north of Motomachi port and strolled along a path along the back of the large stones and detritus forming the shore. The sun was already sliding from the sky when we tracked down the public outdoor hot bath.

We paid the two old crones manning the tiny ticket booth and hurried into the changing rooms to put on our costumes (this being mixed bathing). As expected, Emily found the water too hot, though it was exactly to my liking. Despite the chill in the air she was happy enough pottering around on the side as we soaked, though we took it in turns to sit on the edge with her. Though conditions seemed right for a spectacular sunset it never quite materialised, though the orange-suffused sky and clouds were pretty enough. After a while the gaijin family showed up. We are never quite sure whether to strike up a conversation in these circumstances or if it would be unwelcome, so we decided to leave it up to them and merely said 'hi'. Emily tired of hanging around after half an hour and as the best of the evening light had passed we towelled off and left.

Our hotel was only a few hundred metres away. When we pulled up outside my heart sank as it was clearly below par (not that Japanese hotels are ever very lovely to behold). Nick felt that I was criticising him but I was just very disappointed in JTB, who we had booked through. As always, a short trip in Japan was costing an arm and a leg and I expected something a lot better. Going inside, my impressions were reinforced as the poky reception was dimly-lit and the man on the desk had no customer skills whatsoever. We were sent up to the 6th floor and the lights were not even on in the lobby when we got out of the lift - we had to grope around to find the switch. Our room was reasonable enough and with a small seating area looking across to the harbour as well as the usual tatami matting with table and legless chairs. There was even a second ante-room but it was too cool in there to be of use. The small bathroom had seen much better days and I didn't fancy drinking water from the tap.

We had been told that our meal would be served in a private room downstairs (they make up the futons while you are out of the bedroom). This room was another bedroom - fair enough as this is common practice - but it was very shoddy and grubby. Hardly conducive to eating the large meal set out there. There was nothing too challenging apart from a sazae (turbo shellfish) which I eschewed as I have hazarded a bite once and it was gruesome. I committed my now-usual faux-pas and lightly steamed my sashimi (slices of raw fish) in the hotpot, which made it rather tasty. The hotel seemed to be staffed entirely by three men in their sixties and we shuddered to think what the kitchen might be like. Feeling sated, and with Emily asking to be taken back upstairs to the toilet every five minutes, we soon retired. The futons had indeed been laid out and were actually very comfortable. Despite her earlier nap Emily dropped off soon, and so did Nick and I. I came to with a start at about 9pm and we resolved to ditch plans for a glass of wine in the cold sitting room in favour of brushing our teeth and turning in for the night straight away. Before I lay down I had a quick glance outside, determined to see the full moon and some stars.

22 October 2010

At aerobics the shiny pompoms look like a permanent fixture as they came out again. Afterwards, I met Vanessa, my one-time exercise companion who is now pregnant, in Starbucks. She is 19 weeks so just at that enviable stage where the first movements are felt. She is very nice so I am happy to meet her sometimes for a coffee and chat, but I do seem to keep putting myself in proximity with pregnant women. Most of the time I can deal with the menopause issue at the moment, especially with the house-buying saga to keep me occupied.


In the evening Nick's friend Ian called and explained that he had been to view the house we really liked in Witton Gilbert. Unfortunately my fears that it was too good to be true were correct. It turns out that it is next to a pub, and not a particularly nice one as I might have considered it if it had been decent, but the showstopper was that the ceilings are too low for Nick. Ian had not been able to view the other property of main interest so that led to an evening of discussion which ended up with us deciding to look at a few places in the next price bracket up. We are still veering from enthusiasm to apprehension on this subject so who knows whether we will see it through (and whether Emily and I will end up on a plane home soon)?

21 October 2010

For the second day running we were over in Yoyogi Uehara, this time for a playdate at Lotties. We always seem to end up going to their place on dreary damp days and this was no exception. Tracey suggested that the girls help make pizzas for lunch, and they enjoyed spreading the ingredients on the bases; Emily ate most of hers and I made a mental note to try that out at home, maybe with some sort of novelty shape for the base. I must try making my own dough as it was so light and tasty compared to the bought bases I use. We left mid-afternoon so that Lottie could have a sleep, after a session of hide and seek and a few stories.

20 October 2010

For the first time in months I was coordinating the TMG meeting, which I held at Nandemo jidokan, since it is in close proximity to Nick's office and we were to have lunch together afterwards. There was a decent turnout, and the number included Tracey with Lottie and Rudy. Emily was very happy to see her little friend and they played together exclusively after that. It was hard for me to do my coordinator thing with a friend to chat to but I did my best and there were several nice mums there I would have liked to talk to further. At the end we moved into the old gym and the girls played with the ride-on toys, and had a bash on the piano.


Emily and I hotfooted it to see Nick; as it was drizzling we had to dine indoors and just missed the midday deadline for beating the office worker crowds, so had to wait for a table for quarter of the precious hour we have together. I took Emily on to Yoyogi afterwards to play at Bettina's. We had fun but there were periodic outbreaks of protest from Tim. Both Bettina and I had bought cakes for afternoon tea and it was tough to limit myself to only a few bites. Tracey came over just before we left, so of course that made Emily reluctant to go home but we managed ot make it back without any major blowups.

18 October 2010

In the morning we went to Lydia's place for a playdate with Mia, which featured some more arts and crafts. She looks huge and could pop any day now. While we were there Nick called to say he had passed the Stage 2 exam. Despite saying he did not expect to pass and did not really care, he was jubilant, and I was too as I would have been gutted if all those missed family days had been for naught.


After lunch at home we popped over to Julia's for a play, then we all went into Azabu to finish at the playground for a bit of fresh air. At home Emily had a total meltdown. She wanted to watch more cartoons on the PC. Nick called and she would not talk to him, but after he had rung off she changed her mind and said she wanted to talk to him. When I said she couldn't she went ballistic. She was throwing herself around and I really worried she would hurt herself. I tried to hold her arms and legs tight but she was too strong so I shut her in the bathroom. She banged her head on something, I think deliberately, and I got worried so let her out but it all kicked off again and she tried to bite my shoulder. I pinned her down onto the beanbag and finally got her to calm down. It all ended normally at bedtime but was quite traumatic as it was so unlike her, though she was obviously very weary, but then that is the same every day now she doesn't nap.

17 October 2010

Nick was studying all day so I took Emily to Nikko Nikko (which is baby-speak for 'smile') playground in Shinanomachi. We approached through a long tunnel formed by an avenue of ginkgo trees. Some of the foul-smelling fruit had fallen already and it reminded me of the stench to come from these otherwise beautiful trees as they move into their fine golden autumn colour.


We met Cliff and Charlize there; lately I am seeing more of him than Julia! Tongues will wag. The small entrance fee seemed modest considering what a fantastic place it is. I do so wish we had checked it out before. We first explored a wooded hill with multiple ways to climb up - tires, ropes, stepping stones etc - and a whizzy slide that is wide enough for two small kids to ride side by side.



Next we tried out the large manmade structure with a high and long roller slide, though being a weekend the girls had to battle it out to get on the stepladders with many kids, some at least six or seven years old. We moved on to the aerial slide then the many other smaller pieces of play equipment.

A collection of Rody ponies were a big hit and we all bounced around and pretended to fall off on the huge expanse of safety surface.


Around the centre there were comfortable chairs and tables set with with fresh flowers for people to eat their picnics, which we duly did. After a couple of hours, Bettina came along with Tim. Charlize was tiring by then and she and Cliff left soon after. We stayed another hour an a half before dragging Emily and Tim away.

My evening run was good as I returned to my successful strategy of eating a light meal at 6pm and running at 9pm. My weight was also apparently down again. I really do not trust the scales as they are now saying I lost 1.5kg in 6 days. However, if the overall loss over the 5 weeks can be believed I have lost more than 3kg in that period, without too much pain.

16 October 2010

Emily had plaits for the first time, which were very sweet, though they made her look about four years old.

While Nick pored over his books in a last attempt to cram before his exam on Monday, I took Emily to Tamachi sports centre for a swim with Cliff and Charlize. The two both had the same Peppa Pig costume. Emily looked really cute in her white swim cap and armbands and I wish I could show a photo here but of course cameras are, rightly, not allowed. We enjoyed 40 minutes of watery fun during which she did not stop grinning, though that did lead to a lot of water swallowed. It finally ended in a few tears when she got chlorine in her eyes, but her crying was not surprising as she had not napped and must have been very weary after her swim, which followed an active morning in the park with Nick. With the pool at 110cm she could not touch bottom and most of the time she was holding onto me lightly, but near the end she did manage to go it alone for a few seconds with the armbands keeping her afloat. Charlize learned how to swim last summer at their family villa in Italy and was admittedly impressive swimming under water for several feet on her own and jumping in off the side (to the disapproval of the lifeguards, who had already spoken to Cliff about his tattoo - these must be covered in all Japanese pools as they denote links to gangsters). This was an experience that we will repeat frequently, since Nick and I are both strong swimmers and want her to be at home in the water.

15 October 2010

At aerobics, after we had learned the day's routines the instructor brought out a bag of shiny cheerleader-type pompoms and we had to do the remainder of the session brandishing a pair each. Being a Brit, I felt a bit uncomfortable about it at first, but if men in their 50s can do it, then I suppose I can, and actually it did add an element of fun.


I spent a while over in Odaiba afterwards, first feeding my increased metabolism with a session at Sizzler. Though it was mainly salad bar and fruit I predictably overate as I always do when paying a fixed price for all-you-can-eat. One to be avoided in future, unfortunately. Where else can you gorge on fresh melon, lychees and pineapple to your heart's content though?

14 October 2010

In the morning we had a playdate with Mia, going to their apartment for the first time. The girls played quite well alongside each other and did some crafts too. We moved on for our lunch date with Nick, which we were able to take outside. The hour always flies so quickly but it's better than nothing, just about. As she had woken at 6am, Emily was tired and actually asked to go home for a sleep, though I had intended to take her straight round to Julia's. It was the first time for a nap at home since April and it felt really odd to be able to relax with a coffee and use the PC, though of course I knew the downside would be a late evening instead.

As we were still going to see Charlize I had to go in and wake Emily after she'd had an hour and a quarter. We walked up to Arisugawa park and were supposed to meet Julia but we were there an hour before they made it, as they had first been to the doctors, and by then it was getting dark. Not that that stopped the girls from having fun, but after half an hour we had to call it quits and head home for tea. In any case, I found the mozzies there really terrible as it was a moist day and they always hang around under the trees there.


The idea of making a house purchase fills my every waking moment. I am so worried that the two properties we are particularly interested in will go off the market before I have a chance to get back and see them. Also I can't believe how nice they are for the price, which makes me concerned that there is something amiss with them. They have both been on the market over a year, which is slightly suspicious. It would be great to be back home though, even if only for a fortnight. We need to act now while prices are low and Nick has a job so can he get a mortgage! Personally I doubt his boss will give him the push even if he fails the exams, as he still gets positive feedback from various quarters, but maybe he will not get much of a bonus. With exchange rates as favourable as they are it would be wonderful to have one more good bonus to send back in sterling.

13 October 2010

Jo and the kids were going to Australia later in the day, for 3 weeks. As she had asked us to look after their fish they came over to bring them (though it ended up just being one as the other two died that morning) and have a last playdate, and Bettina and Tim also joined us. I was pleased with Emily as she shared her toys well. There were a few little battles going on but generally they all played fine together and ate reasonable amounts of their lunch.


Jo departed with tears in her eyes (not least, I guess, due to the prospect of the upcoming stressful 15 hour overnight journey with the two children on her own). It made me realise how tough it will be when one of us three has to say sayonara though. Bettina and I took Tim and Emily to Hon Shiba and we stayed there a further hour.

The poor old fish didn't see the day out; though it ate its tea it was lying motionless on the bottom by the time Nick came home. I had to get him to take it out and wrap it up for the bin, being too squeamish, though we actually had salmon for dinner - hard to explain rationally, I know!

11 October 2010

It was a gorgeous day: almost a return to summer. Too hot, actually. I misjudged my clothing as I thought would be cooler and breezier by the bay. We took a one hour boat trip from Hamarikyu via Odaiba to Kasai Rinkai Koen. As ever, there was much to see and point out to Emily. She had lots of fun trying to catch shadows on the deck.

On arrival we found the park quite busy as it was a holiday (National Sports Day) so it took a while to find a free picnic spot in the shade. Emily announced that she needed a wee so I took her off to some bushes. She was about to get on with it when she said there was a spider, and indeed there was: a whopping great big thing in a huge web. Japanese spiders are not completely black and hairy like ours but it was still alarming to see one so close. Inspection of the surrounding bushes and trees revealed many more so we had to trek to the toilet block after all.

Once we had eaten we walked through the park to the Ferris wheel, the biggest in Japan at 117 metres. Nick and Emily had been on it a few months back but this time I decided I ought to join them and it was a lovely clear day so I wanted to see the view all the way across the city to the mountains. We had to queue for nearly half an hour, during which Emily got very upset and was inconsolable for ages, much to my embarrassment with so many onlookers. I think she was just a bit tired as she sometimes gets like that around 2pm before getting a second wind. Each gondola was just big enough to seat four people, and the glass came right down to the benches. We hadn't got far at all before vertigo set in and I had to sit down on the floor between the seats and cling onto the bars either side. I stayed that way until we were nearly down again, though I did eventually venture to gaze into the distance (looking straight down brought instant giddiness). I can't understand how I can be such a wimp now, having abseiled, paraglided and sky-dived.

We finished our visit with icecreams from the handy vending machine, Emily predictably getting very messy with her chocolate cone.

After a quick chuck around of the frisbee we had to make tracks, though Emily had another mini-meltdown when I couldn't find her any acorns to replace one she'd had earlier and lost.

Passing through the restaurant alley on the way back from Tamachi station, we stopped to look at some newly-trimmed daikon (giant white radish). We also noticed a small tank with a very sorry-looking eel and some flat fish lurking in it ready for evening service.

In the evening I reluctantly went out for a run, but it was awful, and I realised that I hadn't eaten anything other than a small icecream for seven hours before setting out. Eating first then running later in the evening is definitely the way forward. To cap it all, the scales put me at 65.7kg, which, if correct, meant more than a kilo back on in a week.

10 October 2010

With Nick having a lie-in and then studying the rest of the day, I had arranged to take Emily to Toy Kingdom with Charlize and Tim. Emily mainly hung out in the dolls and Sylvanian Families sections with Charlize.

Being a national holiday, and with a bit of a wet start, the place was teeming and intolerably loud. Never mind the children, I felt over-stimulated, and I was only too glad to escape after three hours of sensory overload.

Emily and I went to look at the theme park rides as she always wants to watch the rollercoaster. There was some sort of geeks anime gathering taking place round Tokyo Dome with hundreds of weirdly dressed youths milling about.

We had a family dinner but Emily was so difficult that we all got very stressed. I was so strung out that I abandoned my usual run in favour of a bottle of wine and a film. Of course the exercise would have served as a more healthy way to work off my frustration but at least we had an evening in together and an earlyish night.

9 October 2010

While I attended class, Nick and Emily went to a damp Hibiya park, where there was a railway festival on. She got to ride on a miniature Thomas.

Later, I took Emily to Sharon's apartment for a playdate with Taylor and Lottie. We hadn't seen them since February, but they were very welcoming and Taylor is a sweet little boy. Sharon had just landed a transfer to Mauritius, though they will not leave Tokyo until the spring. What a posting! It was dreary all afternoon, and at 5pm it absolutely pelted down so Ryan kindly gave us a ride home.

Nick and I went out after getting Emily to bed. We had a reservation in Nishi Azabu. First we had a swift couple of rather nice bottles of beer at a small wood-lined bar beneath the expressway, then went across the road to Gonpachi restaurant. We ate some truly delicious Japanese food though the predominance of other gaijin somehow felt wrong, and, oddly, I disliked being addressed by the staff in English. This establishment supposedly provided the inspiration for the venue of the massacre of the Crazy 88s in the film Kill Bill (my favourite flick ever), and though less cavernous and swish than the film version there was a certain likeness. We ducked across the road for one last cheeky beer before jumping into a taxi to get home and relieve Erna from duty.

7 October 2010

Emily and I took a bus to Roppongi. With traffic lights every 200 yards it took as long as it would have taken to walk it and I rued the loss of opportunity to burn calories, though I wanted to find out where the bus went for the future when we are buggy-free.

At Midtown Starbucks we joined up with Jo and the children and let the girls run riot there for a while before moving on to the park, where we met Bettina and Tim. Soon Emily and I had to dash off to meet Nick for a quick picnic lunch, then we went straight back to Midtown, where we found that the others were just finishing their lunch. The three children drove the many other people on the decked area crazy running around and yelling and I had to give Emily a smack when she defied me and picked a flower despite me telling her what the consequence would be ('if you take one more flower I will have no choice but to smack you - do you really want me to do that?' .'Yes'). It is only the third time I have given her a smack and the other times were with a nappy to cushion her buttocks, but I suppose I didn't do it that hard anyway with so many people around. She didn't cry at all, and therefore I have probably weakened the threat of it for next time. I need to find a more effective way to discipline on the relatively few occasions it is necessary with our normally angelic little girl.



Jo took off with a sulky Isy and a sleeping Cooper and Bettina and I took Emily and Tim back down into the park area. They spent ages at the fountains (Emily soon stripping off after Tim took his kit off).

I felt uncomfortable about people seeing her naked but I'm sure I spent a lot of time undressed at her age and no-one would have thought anything of it then. After that we took them to the landscaped area where they played Poohsticks and pretended to fish with long willow sticks.



Tim went into meltdown at snack time so Bettina took him home, and we left soon after. Emily seemed close to nodding off so, desperate to stave off a nap, I suggested a bus ride home, which did perk her up. Unfortunately we had to wait more than 20 minutes for the bus, though once aboard it got us home quickly enough.

6 October 2010

As the weather was favourable, Lydia held Mia's 3rd birthday party at Arisugawa Park. It was an exclusive affair, with Emily and Camille the only guests.

We hung out in the sandpit for some time, making sand birthday cakes and collecting acorns, then moved on to the playground. Emily refused to use the toilet once or twice, because she wanted to wee in the bushes, which is all very well but results in drips. I was very pleased with her when I asked her to count out the acorns and she accurately counted to the total of seven. Usually, she double-counts an item or loses interest and starts looking around even while she is saying the numbers.


We adjourned for a picnic when Emily said she was hungry at 11.30 (which surprised me after her large breakfast). It took a lot of encouragement to get her to eat her sandwiches; the usual story when eating with other children and in a place full of distractions. I had to resort to threatening no birthday cake in the end, which did the trick. After the food, we made some funky egg-box spiders, then with Mia becoming a bit tetchy, it was time to pack up.



Once the party broke up we went over to Julia's. The girls are playing more nicely these days and getting along very well most of the time, though what they like doing most together is squealing. As it was such a pleasant day we finished up at Amishiro park. The two of them got filthy, and loved it when I buried their hands and feet in the mud that passes for sand there. Emily got involved in a 'sandwich' of about seven kids of varying ages on the rollerslide, to her delight.

Emily was worn out after such a full-on day and it took so long to get her to eat her tea that I had to cancel the bath and give her a brief shower instead. Even so, when I tried to tuck her into bed she got upset that I wouldn't let her get out and look at Tokyo Tower's lights.