The Time We Visited Miyajima the Three of Us

To Miyajima we go!!!

We really like Miyajima. It's pretty, has a nice hike, it's full of deer, and the fried momiji manju with custard cream is to die for. So naturally, when we finally found out when the annual ALT Hiroshima conference is taking place, I didn't hesitate to make plans to visit Miyajima the day before the conference began.

August 11th was to be the day, a Sunday, and to my surprise, also a major festival day on the island. I hesitated a bit, thinking about the hordes of people it bound to produce, but in the end, we realized that we will be far away from all the commotion in general, either up in the mountains or down at the beach. So off we went.

We packed our bags, got Rini in the stroller, and caught the local train to Hiroshima city. It cost just under ￥2000 per person to get to Hiroshima city, but it was a nice and easy ride. We checked into our hostel when we arrived and dropped most of our things off, then headed back to Hiroshima station to keep going to Miyajima. At the hostel, we decided to buy a 2-Day Pass (another ￥2000 per person), which included the ferry to Miyajima, the ropeway to the top of the mountain, and free street car for those two days in Hiroshima city. Considering the ropeway by itself was to cost ￥1800 per person, I think we got a fair deal. So once we arrived to the ferry to the island, since we had our passes already, we were able to skip the long lines to the ticket booth, and get on the ferry right away. I really like boat rides and Rini seemed to enjoy herself as well, so all was good.

The best place to get fried momiji manju, I promise!

Once on the island, we could see that there were definitely more people than usual, but it wasn't too bad. Food stalls set up specifically for the festival were already churning out all the festival food goodness one can ever dream of. One of the reasons I like Japanese festivals so much is the food. Other than the usual staple of Japanese foods, like fried soba or okonomiyaki, and festival foods, like cotton candy, there are squid on a stick, frozen pineapple slices, corn, candy apples and strawberries (yes, candy strawberries.... it's mouthwateringly delicious), and a couple other things that I don't know the name of unfortunately, but it was one of the best "unhealthy" foods I ever had, which was probably still more healthy than most foods in America in the same situation. And of course, the fried momiji manju, that I've only ever seen on Miyajima. Momiji manju are these specialty cakes in Hiroshima city, shaped usually as a maple leaf (momiji means maple leaf), and they tend to have fillings of red bean paste, custard, or chocolate, but there are many other kinds as well. We prefer custard flavor the best, but all flavors are worth a try. What's amazing is that on Miyajima, these little cakes get a stick shoved into them and get fried, which makes them oooh, a million times better. One of the things I will seriously miss when I leave Japan, is not having the option to eat these devilishly good treats.

James with one handsome smile after another,
just had to add them all.

Anyways, let's back away from the sweets and food of festivals on Miyajima. Once we were on the island, we headed straight for the ropeway to the top of the mountain. On our walk, Rini fell asleep, and we also happened to walk past our favorite fried momiji manju place, so we picked up a couple to eat as we walked. It was really hot and sunny, so we made sure to use plenty of sunscreen. Luckily, Rini was in her stroller, so she got some shade as she napped. There's a bit of a walk to get to the ropeway, which was doable with a stroller, and in all honesty, we might have been better of with our Ergo Baby carrier, but it was just too hot to even imagine strapping Rini to us. We made it though, slowly, but surely, and Rini didn't nap long anyways, so she was able to walk a bit on her own, too.
Luckily there weren't too many people waiting in line for the ropeway, and we were on our way to the top quite fast. We had to leave our stroller at the station, but it was not a big deal. It was a nice ride, and though the weather was humid and muggy, it didn't bother us quite as much during our ride to the top. Once we arrived, we looked around a bit and enjoyed the view, which was quite a bit limited, due to the heat I guess. 

There was almost no visibility.

Posing at the top.

A quick hi after the ropeway.

The famous Mijayima gate.

We didn't spend a lot of time at the top for three reasons. First, because we've seen it before when we climbed the mountain on our previous visit; second, because it was incredibly hot and sunny; and third, we wanted to make sure we caught the bus to the beach, which only seated 9 people and did one round every two hours or so. We took a few more pictures on our way down, then decided to wait for the bus that moved between the ropeway station and the edge of the town. We were quite lucky, as we were one of the last people who fit on the bus. The bus in general doesn't save much time for anyone who can walk well, but we had Rini and our stroller to deal with, so it probably gave us the couple minutes we needed to make the difference between  missing our beach bus or getting there just in time. We had to rush a little between the two buses, which was hard, as the number of people on the island increased quite a bit, so I decided to run ahead and get in line, while James pushed Rini n the stroller as fast as he was allowed.
Luckily, we got to the bus with a good 5 minutes to spare, but there were quite a few people waiting around, and I got worried, that maybe we won't fit on after all. However, once the bus pulled up, it was plain that no one was interested in our particular bus, as we were the only ones to go to the beach. When we arrived, we rented a tarp to sit on, then changed into our bathing suits. Sadly, the facilities were no where near as nice as the ones at Innoshima, but the beach more than made up for it. The water was super warm, and we spent at least an hour in there just playing and swimming. Rini enjoyed herself much more this time around, too.

After all the hiking and swimming, Rini was out mighty quick.

When it came time to leave, we caught the bus back to the ferry, bought a bit more festival food, and tried to take pictures with the deer. I was a bit sad that we couldn't stay for the fireworks, but with Rini, we had to get back to the hostel and rest. We caught the ferry, and once we arrived to Miyajima port, and saw just how many people were still planning to get to the island, I was glad we left when we did. 

Over all we had a wonderful time, and while we're sad that this was probably our last time visiting, I think we did great at making the best of the day.

Enjoying a cob of corn on our way back to Hiroshima.

Summer Fun

Part 1:
Over the summer we've been doing a few small things that I just haven't had the time to write about. I'm personally not a big fan of summer, but I like swimming, so my plan for this summer was to go to the beach every weekend. This unfortunately didn't happen, as the weather kept interfering, being nice and sunny during the week and rainy on the weekends. At one point, our friends just decided to hell with the weather, and go no matter what, as it will be one of the last times for all of us to be able to hang out together before some of them left Japan for good. When the weekend came (on July 28th), it was quite hot, but still had a slight rain. Since the beach was some distance away, and it promised to clear up, we decided to go anyways, and take our chances. 

Rini has only been to the beach once last year, when she was still only 4 months old. Being July that time as well, the water was still a bit chilly, and the beach we visited (Sensui-jima, near Tomo) was quite rocky, making it hard for me to hold her and walk while in the water. Needless to say, we didn't much enjoy it, and I was determined to show her the fun side of being in the water this time around. We packed our new bathing suits, sunblock, food, and other small things, and off we went!

This time we went to Innoshima, which holds a Japanese Pirate festival every August with some amazing fireworks. I've visited this island and the festival shortly after I arrived in Fukuyama the first time, and remembered how nice and sandy it was. We arrived after about an hour or so traveling, but unfortunately it was still raining slightly. At least it was really hot, and we couldn't wait to get into the water. My memory for once didn't disappoint, the beach was indeed nice and sandy. 

We changed quickly and Rini and I headed to the water. Unfortunately, it was a bit cold, so I tried to move around a bit with her in my arms. She liked it well, I suppose, and splashed around a bit, but the chilliness of the water and the slight rain was pretty distracting. Rini was also just getting over a cold, so we didn't stay in the water long. After toweling her up a bit, I let her play in the sand for a bit more with James around, as I took a small lap in the sea. After a few minutes, I came to check on Rini and she seemed cold, so we just decided to get dressed again. Luckily Innoshima is one of those beaches that has a hot shower available for a few hundred yen, and I was glad for it. I didn't quite realize just how cold I felt, until Rini and I were standing under the warm shower.

She was walking just like her dad at her age:
hands behind her back.

Once we got dressed, all of us decided to just go. Our blanket was wet, the food was getting wet, the rain just did not stop. It was also quite a different feeling dealing with the rain now that in the morning. In the morning we were hot and it was nice and cooling, but now after the warm shower, it was just plain cold, and all I wanted to do was to stay dry. We headed back to the bus, and while we were waiting, ate some yummy ice cream.

In the end, I'm glad we went and spent time with our friends, and I wish we could have gone again on a nice summer day. Maybe next year!

Family photo on the bus back. Rini passed out almost as soon as we got on.

Part 2:
Next weekend (August 4th) the weather was once again too cool and sunless to swim, but I was still determined to not let the summer just go by. We decided to just hop on the bus to Tomo and spend some time there. Tomo is a nice old town, which is officially part of Fukuyama city. It's famous for quite a few things, like being the inspiration to Hayao Miyazaki for his movie "Ponyo," or boasting of the most beautiful view this side of the country, or the new Wolverine movie being shot there, or finally, some of my past schools being here as well. And they got sea salt ice cream, which is always worth to buy when in the area. So we went and walk around a bit, appreciating the beauty of the old houses, and eating some ice cream.

Rini got to re-try finally the first non-breastmilk food she ever had. She definitely liked it!

Happy 1 and a Half Birthday!

I love this comic nonetheless.

More enlightened people (parents I trust) told me about six months ago that the term terrible twos doesn't mean one has an angelic and easy-going child until she reaches her second birthday at which point all hell breaks loose like in the comic to the right, but in fact that it's the second year of the child's life, the time between the first and second birthday where the difficulties start, and who hasn't heard of the terrible twos with their tantrums and constant "no"-s?

According to a parenting advice book a friend of ours gave us, called Your One-Year-Old: The Fun-Loving, Fussy 12-To 24-Month-Old by Louise Bates Ames, toddlers and children tend to be most unbalanced emotionally during their half birthdays, not when they turn "a year" older. As a child hits her different milestones, there's a time of figuring out how to control the new set of "powers" and a time when they're considered "mastered." In general terms, children master the new skills of their particular age around the time they hit a birthday, making half-birthdays the time when figuring things out is in full swing. This means a whole lot of frustrations between parent and child, with the half-birthday being the peak of this.

Of course, this is a generalization, and each child is different, but my point is, Rini turned 18 months old today! It boggles my mind how much she has grown so far, and I can't wait to see where she will go from here.

Since we visited the doctor for her well-child visit just yesterday, I will include some extra information in this month's development post. Our height and weight measurements between these check ups are done by us at a well stocked nursery area of a local mall, and are probably not quite accurate. The stats below were measured by nurses, so please disregard the apparent shrinking of my child.

Height: 77.8 cm

Weight: 9.84 kg

Head Circumference: 48 cm

Chest Circumference: 47.2 cm

Vaccinations: So far Rini has finished her Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hib, PCV7, Measles, Mumps, and Chickenpox vaccines. She still needs her booster shot for Polio, which we'll get sometime in November, probably along with her influenza shots. This will complete all her shots while we live in Japan.
We've decided no to get her the BCG or tuberculosis vaccine, until we know for sure where we will settle down for good after Japan. If she would get the vaccine, she would have to have a chest X-ray every year in the US when she's in school, because she would always test positive from the vaccine, and that's not something I'm quite prepared to deal with just yet. I will have to do research into Hungarian vaccination practices as well as US ones, sometime before we leave Japan, just to be clear on what is expected.

Clothing size: 80 cm

Shoe size: 12.5 cm - She's been slowly outgrowing her little size 3 sandals we picked up for her in the US in the spring, so I'm glad the weather is turning cooler, and she can wear sneakers now.

Diaper size: For night-time and going out we still use Moony, size M (6-11 kg), but it's starting to feel a bit short on her back. The next size up is for 9-14 kg, and I expect we'll switch up before the end of the year. At home, she still wears FuzziBunz Mediums, and will continue to do so for some time, I'm sure.

Teeth: All 12 of her teeth broke through fully. While a couple are only half-way to completion, they are all visible and well formed. I do have to note, that it's been much harder to catch the exact day a new tooth breaks through her gums, mostly because my husband is the one brushing her teeth and I keep forgetting to ask for updates. Speaking of brushing her teeth, Rini began using a small, but regular toothbrush a couple weeks back, which she seems to enjoy much more and is more willing to brush her teeth, than when she had her baby toothbrush. She's getting better every day at brushing her teeth on her own, though as I mentioned just before, my husband does a once over in the end just to make sure every one of her little teeth is pearly white. So far, we've only insisted on brushing her teeth before bedtime, but lately, she wants to brush with us when she sees us brushing our teeth in the morning, too, so I guess, it might be time to settle into the twice-a-day routine.

Food: Now that Rini has some molars, we've began giving her more textured foods, or at least, we don't cut them into quite as small pieces as before. She's also been getting much better at manipulating her spoon, so that she doesn't spill quite as much liquid, whether it'd be soup, or cereal and milk, as before. This helps a lot in broadening her pallet into the wonderful world of soups and stews, just in time for fall and winter.
On a slightly different note, I should mention that she quite prefers adult spoons and forks to her child size ones. So much so, that sometimes the difference between a happy meal and a not-eating child is the size of the utensils we give her. Oh, and she tries real hard to use chopsticks and can hold them to scoop up bits of food, like with a shovel.

Nursing: We're down to once a night nursing, not counting bedtime of course. As for the time she wakes up, it can be any time between midnight to 5:30AM, though generally it's most common around 3AM. She might wake up after 5:30AM, but I'm usually out of bed by then. If she wakes up before midnight, she usually goes for her sippy cup. There has been one or two night lately, when she woke up before midnight for her sippy cup, then slept through the rest of the night. Those nights were glorious for me.

Sleeping: Rini is still a "nap enigma" as James puts it. The only thing he can tell me about Rini's napping habits, is that if she wakes up earlier in the morning (around 7:30-8AM), she is more likely to nap earlier, too (around 1PM). When she wakes up a bit later (8:30-9AM), then she's more likely to nap after 2PM if she naps at all. Going out in the morning to play in the park or to playgroup will make her napping more likely. Generally speaking she either falls asleep during the bike ride home, or comes to James to nap in his lap. Both times James is usually able to put her down on the bed once she falls asleep, where she sleeps for about an hour. Then she wakes up a bit, looks for James again, and snuggles into his lap for another 30 minutes to an hour of napping. In any case, we make sure she doesn't nap past 4PM (even if she hasn't napped yet), as that interferes with bedtime.

Milestones: Two major milestones that happened this past week are walking backwards intentionally (as opposed to stumbling back and falling), and being able to throw and kick a ball. I think she learned how to play with a ball when she spent some time with her new babysitter, because the next night she brought her big yellow ball to us after dinner, dropped it into my hand, then stepped back a little and waited for me to throw it to her. Then she did the same thing with her dad. The three of us played pass-the-ball for a good 10 minutes or so that night, and a couple more times since then! It's quite cute, and a new entertainment for all of us. This was also the night I discovered she is able to walk backwards.
I just missed where she kicked the ball all around... she seems rather tired here.

Another new thing is she (sometimes/when she wants) sits down on the diaper changing mat and waits to be changed. This is mainly after her bath, when she's naked and needs her diaper, not from a dirty to a clean diaper, but still. She also lifts her legs up when it's time to put powder on her. Also this past month she started asking for soap and soaping herself up during bath. She usually tries to wash her privates, her feet, and her hair, and is not doing a bad job with it either, though I do re-scrub, just to make sure she didn't miss a spot. I'm hoping to help her to find her underarm and her neck, and then we'll be more or less set for her to wash herself on her own. She also tries to brush her hair, and is getting better at it.
Finally, there's a little nursery rhyme in Hungarian about walking that goes like this:
Sétálunk, sétalunk, egy kis dombra lecsücsülünk, csüccs!
It means roughly "We're walking, we're walking, we sit down on a small hill, plop! (here we squat down)" Point is, whenever I say this little rhyme, even before I reach the word csüccs, which she knows already as the act of sitting down, she squats down for a second. Even if I stop saying the rhyme after the first two words, she waits a couple beats and squats, like I've never stopped. There are times I absentmindedly say the rhyme as I walk with her, and she squats down and doesn't get up until I squat, too. It's really cute!


Words: She started using "bye" regularly this past month. When she wants something she uses the sound "datdat," which I take is a form of "that." Finally, she started using the word "stinky" with the hand gesture in front of her nose. This usually happens, when her diaper is changed, but also sometimes when she pooped in her diaper.

Favorite toys: Balls, books, blocks. Also, her little wheeled animals she got from her grandma in a care package a few months back.

Likes: She really enjoys listening to Japanese children's songs, like the ones she hears during playgroup. These little songs usually have simple words and hand gestures, and I'm thinking of buying a CD or something so that we can play it together. It's so interesting how much I've forgot from my own childhood, when it comes to rhymes and games. I'm hoping to learn them back soon!

Dislikes: She not really into eating fried rice anymore, which even just a month ago was quite crazy about. Outside of this, there's not much else new.

Mommy/baby update: We've been spending more time together, which I'm really happy about. I've also started looking into places we could visit on a nice day as a family, like the zoo and amusement park. We're planning on visiting one such place tomorrow, in fact.
Last, but not least, we were able to sign up for a family helping service in the city, which basically means, we got paired up with an older lady to watch Rini when we need some time for ourselves. This older lady is (or used to be) a kindergarten or nursery school teacher, and she is really nice. She watched Rini only once for us so far, on the weekend of our anniversary, for about 3 hours. That day, I dropped Rini off at her house, stayed about 25 minutes or so, then said goodbye, and went to enjoy our time off. When we came to pick Rini up, she was happily playing away, listening to children's songs and doing some gestures as well. The lady told me they went for a walk around the block a couple times and have been just generally playing little games. Overall, Rini seemed to have had a nice time, and I'm hoping to set something up for every other week for 3-4 hours, just to give James and I some "us" time. Of course, there's a small fee, but it's very reasonable, especially when it's calculated into our monthly budget.