27 June 08

A quiet day, apart from a trip over to see Sharon and Taylor in the afternoon. Emily didn't seem very keen on the carrot and potato in the morning, but I suspect that was more to do with the bitty texture of it. It's good to see Taylor from time to time and monitor his progress. He is still rolling well, but doesn't get up on his arms as strongly as Emily and doesn't seem as interested in sitting. He has a tooth through now; still no sign of Emily's coming through as yet though she is gumming a lot.

26 June 08

We met Geraldine & Gaby for lunch at Times Square. Emily and I got there early and had a look around the kids department of Takshimaya department store first. I don't think I can justify buying Ralph Lauren or Burberry for Emily! The toys were fantastic, but the price tags ridiculous. It's just not worth spending £30 on a toy that she will outgrow in a matter of weeks.

I'd whetted Gerladine's appetite with descriptions of the curry we'd had at the weekend, but we couldn't eat there as they were full, so we went to the creperie along the corridor. As it transpired that Geraldine was half- French, she no doubt felt at home. We tucked into scrumptious galettes, and both babies behaved really well. Gaby sat in a high chair, and I longed to be able to put Emily in one too. Her pram was pulled up at the table so she didn't feel too left out though.

Back home after 7 hours without sleeping and very groggy, she roused herself when it came to dinnertime and wolfed a decent portion of baby rice mixed with apple puree (a.k.a. slop). Balancing her on my knee to feed her is not ideal, but I tried feeding her in the Bumbo in the morning and that didn't work either because she still slumps forward. Getting a high chair is imperative.

25 June 08

So far, so good. The feeding is going well, though Emily thinks she can feed herself and she's very wrong! She obviously doesn't really know where her mouth is. What a mess; the washing machine will be in overdrive as both of us get plastered in gunk.

Tokyo New Mums group had a meeting at a place called Ai-port, over near Aoyama cemetery. It's a great facility for young children, with a large playroom equipped with lots of toys, and plenty of soft seats for feeding time. Amazingly, the annual registration fee is just 500 yen (£2.50). I'm sure that once Emily can crawl and walk she will get a lot out of it, and for now she can at least watch older babies in action and hopefully pick up skills and progress faster. No doubt she will also pick up germs - we have been mercifully free of any bugs, but that can't last as we socialise more.

Afterwards we went to pick up a secondhand activity mat for her from a mum who was having a clear out. She has had the rainforest for more than three months and is getting bored with it. It's not worth spending good money on a new one as she should soon be on the move and won't need one any more.

22 June 08

It's Emily's half birthday today. Half a year sounds so old; a lot more than 6 months, or 26 weeks somehow.

She ate rice again today and enjoyed it more. I'll be glad when she's onto finger foods as puree is so messy.

It started raining as we went out and got progressively heavier all day. Finally, some semblance of a rainy season. Our destination was Shinjuku. We returned to Times Square for lunch, though the roof garden was obviously out due to the weather. We struck lucky and picked an Indian restaurant where we had a fantastic curry. It compared favourably with a certain part of a dog's anatomy. By far the best South Asian fare I've had: light and grease-free, well-seasoned, the crispest poppadums, garlic nan not at all doughy. The accompanying deep pink chilled hibiscus tea was refreshing, the taster selection of desserts all delicious. We will be returning there, for sure.

My visit to the loo was instructive. A sign in the toilet showed 'how to wash your bottom': at last, after all these years! With all those options it is quite handy, if you fancy trying a bidet function.

Downstairs in the department store we looked in vain for high chairs, before going across the street to IDC. They actually had a young man outside taking wet umbrellas and locking them in the secure brolly stand for customers. He even wiped the key with a flannel before handing it over! That's what I call service. The man who helped us with our furniture order was equally as obsequious, to the point of fawning.

21 June 08

The day finally dawned when we'd set the date for starting Emily on solids. Nick was very disappointed that she was only to get a couple of teaspoons at first. The baby rice looked very unappetising, though it tasted alright: similar to Ready Brek. We were surprised that Emily didn't seem all that excited, particularly given how much she'd enjoyed sucking on banana and watermelon before. In fact, she was frowning most of the time. Of course, she wanted to hold the spoon - fine, but she also wanted to stick her fingers in the sticky gruel.

It was quite overcast and very humid but we couldn't stay in all day, so finally got ourselves organised to go out at 2.30, just for a walk to Arisugawa park. The expat community was out in force; there was a gathering of Finns from the nearby embassy having some sort of celebratory picnic. Under the trees the air was heavy with moisture and loaded with insects so we had to keep moving so as not to give them easy prey. We strolled around the pond and looked at the ducks and turtles, before heading for the relief of Starbucks.

Emily scared us by choking on a bit of vomit just as we were about to bath her. It must have gone down her windpipe and she went red and struggled to breathe for a minute or two, then spent the next 20 minutes crying. It made me realise that I am clueless in an emergency and need to get myself educated about infant first aid.

20 June 08

I'd arranged to go to Kinshicho with Momo and Jean, to blitz Babies R Us and Akachan Honpo (Japan's answer to Mothercare). I invited Jo to come along as I thought she'd like to meet Jean because she had lived in Melbourne, where Jo is from, and because she also lives in our area. I seem to be forming a Tamachi breakaway group. Nick says I am becoming a 'hub' for mums and babies!

The afternoon went very fast and before I knew it, I was running late to get Emily home to start the evening routine. So I made my goodbyes and headed back to central Tokyo on my own. Bad mistake. The train I took terminated at Tokyo station instead of going through to Shinagawa. It was rush hour and Tokyo station is very complex and spread out so I had real trouble trying to find an alternative way to get home. I was very close to tears, I admit, and also sweating profusely in my panic. Eventually I made it back to our local station, only to find that I'd lost my ticket. Fearing a tirade in Japanese and a heavy fine, I approached the barrier timorously. However, the official knew exactly what I was trying to say, and even charged me less than my original ticket, intimating that next time I'd face a penalty. Since he didn't give me any kind of receipt or take my details, I very much suspect that he pocketed the 160 yen.

17 June 08

A very hot day for the walk back down to the station with all our things. We left the big pack in a locker and walked across to the river, where we got a good view of the hills behind the town.

Then we trudged back up the main drag in search of souvenirs and lunch. It was a good schlep almost back to the 'divine bridge' to track down a Korean restaurant in the guide book, but we were really glad that we did. Apart from a little old lady who soon left, we were the only customers in the small eatery. The old couple who ran the place made us very welcome and were taken with Emily, to the extent that the woman took her off my hands so I could eat (she soon had to give her back as she started crying, unusually).

We ate a fantastic spicy 'bibimbap' dish of rice, vegetables and egg cooked in a sizzlingly-hot cast iron pot, washed sown with lashings of chilled oolong tea.

Our train was delayed soon after leaving Nikko - almost unheard of in Japan where trains run like clockwork. It seemed that a drunkard had wandered onto the track and had to be removed by police. Emily and I were pretty tired and nodded off part of the way home.

In fact, she was so worn out that when it came time for her late evening feed we just couldn't rouse her, and left her in bed. She slept for 11 hours and even then I woke her when Nick got up for work the following morning, as I couldn't believe she could sleep that long unless something was wrong.