A Time of First Meetings

So after about 20 hours of traveling, we have finally arrived to New York City! The journey itself went pretty well all things considered. I think we were really lucky, that the longer of the two flights (Narita-->JFK) was pretty empty, so we got the whole first row in the middle to ourselves as well, not just our seats on the side. Unfortunately, since it was the first row, the TV and food tray were built into the armrest, leaving us only two seats to "stretch out" on. But hey, that's still two seats longer than we would have had, if the plane was full, so I'm OK with it.

There was a little rushing in Narita, because our flight was a little late (10 minutes or so), then as we tried to get through immigration, we forgot to fill out the embarkation cards (again) mainly because there were huge signs of "MILITARY, TAKE ONE" right next to them. As we are not military, we didn't take any, and had to go back and fill them out. To my defense, I'm used to dealing with immigration into the US, where, if you're not a citizen, you fill things out as you come in, and keep the paperwork in your passport until you leave. Japan is the opposite. Then, when we were almost at our gate, James realized that we left his backpack behind at a pre-immigration check point. So off he dashed to retrieve it, and I went ahead to our gate, finding that pre-boarding for families just started. I boarded the plane with Rini, frantically telling to whichever ANA employee that would listen what happened, hoping to help James out from afar, knowing the possible problems he'd face at the immigration check point. They called to the check point to notify them of his return, but it seemed it wasn't really necessary, as James joined me in the aircraft within ten minutes.

Rini didn't seem to have any problems with the pressure change of taking off and landing. She also enjoyed the flight as much as it was possible in the circumstances. Outside her naps, she slept a good 3+2 hours or so, and in the bassinet to boot, so I think both James and I got a little rest.

I also had a chance to finish two movies, Billy Elliot and Hitchcock, both of which I liked very much. They had The Hobbit, too,but I dared not start such a long movie, in case I couldn't finish it.

The food was good, and I was really pleased with the Baby Meal ANA offered. I forgot to take a picture, but it had some hot watery rice (please excuse my bad memory of the proper term) with some steamed/cooked vegetables, as well as regular baby food in a jar, yoghurt, senbei, 100% vegetable juice, and water. I've also prepared some apples, strawberries, a banana, raspberry pancakes, and cheese at home for the flight, so we were pretty well set.

We landed in JFK a little late due to such a heavy fog, that the captain decided to abort landing twice. I could barely see the landing strip once we did touch down, so I wasn't surprised at all at the multiple attempts.

We got through immigration smoothly and our luggage came pretty fast as well. To our surprise, James's mom was waiting for us at the gate, and it was a very happy reunion. Rini was shy only for a little bit, and warmed up by the time we arrived to the apartment. Then we just relaxed, and let Rini explore her new environment and get friendly with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here are some pictures I took from last night:

Grandma feeding Rini her dinner: fried rice! YUMM!!!

Playing with Grandma after shower.

First hugs from Grandpa. It took a little time to warm up, since Grandma already had a couple months of Skype on her side.

The night passed by alright: Rini stayed up until about 10 PM, slept until 1AM, stayed up again until 3AM, and has been sleeping with only minor interruptions of feeding since then. Well, I'm off to create several events on Facebook and contact our friends to set up meetings. Updates on our trip here will come whenever I get a quiet morning to myself.

A Visit To Bunny Island

Yesterday we went to Okunoshima, more commonly known as Bunny Island (being named because of the abundance of fluffy little bunnies) with some friends.
The way you get there from Fukuyama is you take the Sanyo-sen to Mihara (that's where we were meeting up with our friends), then transfer to the Kure-sen to Tadanoumi, then take a ferry to the island. It was a bit of a hassle to get to, because our train out from Fukuyama station was 15 minutes late. It's quite shocking, I know.
Now, generally this would not be a problem, however, the Kure-sen from Mihara runs really, and I mean really, infrequently. The train leaves from Mihara to Kure between 9AM and 2PM at 9:29, 11:15, 12:52, and 13:25. Yes, that infrequently. The train we were taking from Fukuyama was stupposed to arrive to Mihara station at 11:09, but it was late, so we missed our train out to the ferry. Since we already came this far, and we wanted to be back in Fukuyama by 4:30PM to meet some friends for a last-minute hanami, we decided to try and catch the 12:30 ferry we were supposed to catch by taking a taxi to the port. It cost us ￥4000, but we got to the ferry on time, and met up with our friends after all. The ferry tickets for round-trip cost ￥600/person.

She's coming for you, bunnies!

The welcome sign of the island.

We had some lunch as soon as we got off the ferry, as both Rini and our friend's baby were quite hungry by now, not to mention us, adults. Already we saw at least ten bunnies around us, and while I set up our lunch, James tried to acquaint Rini with them with some success. After our lunch, we walked to the abandoned factory near by. While the island is now famous for being overrun by bunnies, during the war poison gas factories operated here, testing the effects of the chemicals on rabbits. After the war, the rabbits were let loose, and lived here ever since. Of course, the bunnies seen today are many many generations down the line from the test bunnies, and having no natural predators, there are literally hundreds of them if not more.

It is a huge building.

The view from the stairs...

After taking a few pictures of the factory, we tried to befriend a few bunnies outside. Though supposedly you can buy rabbit food for a ￥100/cup at the hotel lobby on the island, we brought our own food (cabbage and carrots), since our friend, who has been on the island many times before, said the bunnies prefer it. Though the bunnies are really friendly and will come close for food, they generally don't let themselves being pet.

The only place Rini could sit without sitting in bunny poop was the road, but few people were around, so it was fine.

Well, hello there bunny! (^_^)

The clear, clear sea.

Next, we started walking towards the museum. As we walked along the coast, it surprised me just how clear and beautiful the sea surrounding the island was. Right there I made up my mind to come back in the summer and enjoy the tiny beach that's available for swimmers. The only problem is, there probably won't be too many bunnies around then, as they get really lazy in the heat and prefer to stay in the shade. For this reason, it is said that the best time to visit the island is in April and May, with the added bonus of seeing baby bunnies around this time, too.

Taking a rare family photo along the coast.

Near the museum, there are some big bunny ears that try to simulate how bunnies can hear. I personally could not hear anything special, but James said it was interesting.

We didn't go into the museum, because our time was nearly up, so instead we hung out near by and fed the rest of our cabbage to some more bunnies.

We visited the small gift shop which had lots of plush bunnies, bunny key-chains and phone charms, the obligatory senbei (Japanese crackers), and other bunny related things. Finally, it was time to go, and just before we got on the small ferry back, I snapped a picture of the ferry schedule for future reference. The first big column is for the ferry coming to the island, in the order of Tadanoumi, Bunny Island, and one more stop, and the second one is for going back, stops being in reversed order. The times in grey are for the ferry that can transport cars.

We missed the ferry we were planning on taking back, missing our train in the process, but luckily we met some friends on the island, who owned a car, and we got a ride home to Fukuyama. So in the end we were able to join our friends for hanami with being late to the festivities only a little bit. We even acquired a balloon on our way to Castle Park.

Overall, it was a nice and relaxing day, with good friends and adorable bunnies, and we hop to visit the island again soon.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place...

The closer the day of our trip to New York gets, the less enthusiastic I am about it. I'm not talking about the people, because I can't wait to see all of our family and friends, but about the impending ~20 hour journey with a 1-year-old, the jet lag, and the rushing around, trying to get everything done madness. I really wish we could stay longer, but I'm down to less than two days of vacation until August, which I need to hold on to desperately, in case Rini or James gets sick enough that I would need to stay home from work. 

I have been working like a crazy person, and thank goodness I like my job, otherwise I might have gone nuts by now, but too much of a good thing is still too much, and I really REALLY would like an actual vacation. Being lazy in a new place, taking strolls with my sweetie, talking about everything and nothing, and watching Rini play... that's what I would like. If only I had a time turner and a teleportation device...

However, amidst all my whining, I am really looking forward to seeing a lot of people! I know we're not arriving at a really convenient time and that all the people we wish to see have jobs and things to do, which, as convenient as it would be, won't go away just because the T. family is coming back to New York City. So I'm trying my best to plan, to accommodate as many people as I can, as much as I can, because that's just who I am: I need to plan and organize, otherwise I fret and worry, and time flies by, and I'll feel like I could have done better and/or wasted less time, if I just planed a little more and better. 

Which is why (RANT ALERT) I can't help, but feel guilty about feeling relieved, when someone, who I planned to visit on a daily basis, decides she doesn't want to see us... at all. All because I can't give in to a ridiculous demand the way she wants me to. I tried to compromise, but when she wants something that my husband is specifically against (and with sound reason), I can only go so far, and if it's between meeting her demand versus siding with my husband, I'll choose my husband 100% of the time. That's just the way things are, and I feel saddened by the fact that she can't respect this and my relationship, and would think that I would hide something from or lie to my husband just to cater to her wishes. Of course, this makes me ::insert sarcastic tone:: a bad person, who has never EVER helped her out when she needed it ::end of sarcastic tone::, and it does not matter that there were sound reasons why I would not help, like I was having my own problems, or I didn't care to carry the responsibility of her ill-thought-out actions, or that I didn't (and still don't) want to get mixed up in anything shady, just so she could make quick and easy money. I wish I didn't know anything about that part of her life, but when that's all there is to her life, it's hard to avoid. I may be family, and family has a responsibility to one another, but that bond lessened considerably, when I entered into a family of my own, and they come first... always. So when she decided that if she couldn't have everything, she would rather have nothing, I guess I'll just have to learn to live with that. I'm tired of being emotionally bullied and abused, tired of feeling like a worthless person, and I will not crawl and beg, because I never did, and never will. I try and give as much as I can, and change when I can, but if someone doesn't want my company, they only need to say so, and I'm out of there. (END OF RANT)

And with that I'll go a make a nice breakfast to my family because they'll be awake any minute. Then I'll make some picnic lunches, and get ready for a nice day on Okunoshima, or bunny island, as it's most often called, because supposedly there are so many bunnies there and they are so nice and tame and friendly. I'll try and post pictures later.

Rini's First Year

It's a little late, but I wanted to share this little update of tid-bits about Rini and her first year.

So many people came to my birthday! COOL!!!

Height: 73cm

Weight: 8.8kg

Clothing size: 80cm

Shoes size: 11.5cm

Diaper size: medium

Teeth: 6, and they consist of the bottom two and the top four in the middle.

Eyes: At this point we're certain her eye color is set. It's definitely brown with strong overtones of olive green, which becomes stronger or weaker depending on many factors, like her mood, the color of the clothes she wears, and her environment.

Food: At this point, she's eating pretty much everything. We haven't tried honey yet, and I'm not in any rush to do so. She has been eating whole eggs for a while already, and she likes them well enough. We have also been giving her sips of whole cow's milk, which is the first flavor she's definitely not crazy about. She still loves broccoli, and spinach is quite popular as well. Other major likes in the food department are cheese, rice, tomatoes, strawberries, banana, apples, natto, bread, peas and corn. As for drinks, her main sources are breast milk and water, but she also likes tea. We have not really tried juices yet, but the few times we did, it wasn't popular.

Bottle: None any more. Since I was only allowed to pump breast milk at work during the first year, I can't bring home refills anymore, so my husband stopped offering it to her, and she doesn't seem to miss it. During the day she drinks water from a sippy/straw cup instead, then she gets breast milk when I put her to bed and during the night. She's also allowed to breastfeed during the weekend before napping, if she comes to me, though I feel that those times are more about comfort than actually drinking milk.

Sleeping: Our nightly ritual hasn't changed much over the past 6 months or so. Dinner is around 6PM, we start the bath around 7PM. Bath time lasts between 10 minutes to half an hour. Then we brush her teeth, and get into PJs. If she doesn't demand boobies, we have a bed time story. We're in bed ready to sleep between 7:45-8PM, when she falls asleep as she nurses. Usually around an hour after she falls asleep, she's awake again and more often than not she has a hard time going back to sleep without nursing again. After this, the next time she wakes up is usually between 11PM and midnight, then around 2AM, then between 4AM and 5AM, finally sleeping until 8-9AM. Since most times I'm in bed by 10PM, she crawls to me for nursing and we fall asleep next to each other for the rest of the night, unless my husband puts her back onto her futon.

Milestones: Let's see... She can stand up on her own, but only for a brief time. Most times she still sits down as soon as she realizes she's standing on her own. She can also walk while holding our fingers in each of her hands, and now she also leads more than follows. She can climb up stairs, and she can climb up and down our sofa chair. She can also climb in and out of her little bath basin. She's been drinking from her sippy/straw cup for some time, and she's quite good at drinking out of a regular cup. She comes to us when we call her (if she wants to), and she comes and sits in her little chair on her own for meal times. She brushed her hair just this morning, so we still have to see if that's a thing or not. She moves to music, and she claps when she's happy or feels she accomplished something. She's not afraid of heights it seems, like when we hold her up high, or throw her into the air, or if she looks down a cliff. She definitely knows who she is, and recognizes herself in pictures and videos. She actively holds a conversation with people we call on Skype. She just recently learned how to blow air through her mouth, like blowing on hot food to make it cooler, or blowing air in water to make funny sounds. She also crawls to us and holds out her arms when she wants to be picked up.

I got this mom, now stop looking at me.

Words: "daddy," "anya" (Hungarian for mom), "cici" (Hungarian for boobie), and "hi."

Favorite toys: She doesn't really have one. She loves books, likes to play with blocks and "cause and effect" toys, and doesn't much care about dolls. We have a little basket full with clips, which she loves to empty out just to put all the clips back into the basket. She also loves touching water, and trying to grab hold of the streams of the shower. She plays peek-a-boo with us all the time. I can't wait to see how she will react to legos.

Likes: She likes to pinch and bite her father in a gentle way, although she's not quite aware of her strength yet. She also loves to hug and cuddle. She loves swings, and likes to dance in our arms. She likes to explore things, and puts everything in her mouth after long and careful examination. She likes to listen to stories, and loves looking through books.

Dislikes: She is not really fond of milk, or pork chops (though that might be because it's too chewy still). Though curious, she's afraid of cats. She doesn't like new people, especially if the strangers don't take their time to introduce themselves to her. Going up to her suddenly to touch or pinch her cheeks is a sure way to make her cry. Slow, steady, and friendly is the best way to get into her good graces. You know you're good to go, when she smiles and talks to you. She doesn't like napping/sleeping in new places, and takes at least twice as long to calm her down in those situations.

Mommy update: Since I had to stop pumping at work, my milk has gone down quite drastically within a couple of days. I get sad thinking about the impending weaning period, and have tried to cherish each breastfeeding especially in the past couple of weeks. My appetite has gone down recently as well. Having to deal with a period and PMS after such a long time (arrived on the dot when Rini turned 11 months old) is also a bit bothersome, but that's life. I'm around 61-62kg, the lowest I've been in over 6 years. I just hope I won't gain too much once Rini and I are done with breastfeeding for good.

And that is all. Here's to another happy and healthy year! (^_^)v

Rini's first picture with the pink kitty - 2012. March 29th

Rini's picture with the pink kitty on 2013. March 31st.

Dealing with Depression (aka Fix Yourself First)

This post has been brewing in me for quite some time, and I guess it's time to explore it.

During the last two years or so that I lived in New York City just before JET, I was quite depressed. James and I lived together, and I spent my days watching TV, staring at the computer screen, going to class, and babysitting. I also took care of the laundry and made dinner sometimes, though most times James helped after he came home from work.

I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt like there was no direction in my life. I dreaded finishing college because I knew there would be no real knowledge behind the piece of paper I'll receive. It also didn't help that it took me way too long to graduate, so I felt no pride in finishing school either. I had no accomplishments, and my only happiness came from James and knitting. Planning a wedding around that time was nice, I guess, but the weddings themselves brought a whole lot of heartache. In the end, I began going to a psychologist, to sort out all the issues that have been festering in me.

I often wonder what it was that got me out of that depressing period. Maybe it was getting counseling and dealing with some very painful things from my past once and for all. Maybe it was getting into JET and finally taking care of myself like never before. Maybe it was having a job with responsibilities. Maybe it was all of the above, with the final push of my husband joining me here in our new home. But who really knows?

The reason I bring this up is because my husband has been dealing with depression for some time now, and (to my surprise) I'm at a loss at how to help him. Although truth be told, I think he's doing way more than I ever did to take care of our home, and now our daughter, I'm still worried about him and our situation.

Having to work full time and being a mom leaves me with little extra energy to deal with problems, which leads to quick (and many times unwise) ideas and rash comments. Suggesting to your partner to just "turn the damn computer/game/... off" or giving "helpful" ideas about what could be done around the house while our child plays on her own (ha!), are things that might have worked with me, though probably not. The thing is, some people are suited to being at-home-parents and can come up with wonderful activities for the kids and make new and exciting meals daily, and enjoy doing it to boot. Others feel more accomplished when they can measure their contribution in money earned after a day of hard work. I'm not yet sure which category I belong to, but I know James prefers the latter. Being away from the workforce for over two years definitely left its mark, I think. He seems to have lost his sense of purpose. Taking care of a household and a child, while hard work and a full time job, is only rewarding, if there's a feeling of accomplishment and pride as well. Otherwise, it's just a constant string of chores, and who likes to do chores all the time? But chores need to be done and children need to be cared for, which includes a relatively clean house, fresh air daily (preferably in a park setting), and good food. So it figures the way to help the situation is by making sure James feels a sense of accomplishment and pride concerning his situation.

And this leads me to my next point... It just recently dawned on me how I contributed to my husband's decline of wellbeing. (I know, I know...) Many days, after I came home, instead of asking how I could help, I unloaded all my frustrations from the day on him. Instead of appreciating the things he managed to get done next to our daughter, I grumbled about all the things that weren't done and the general mess in the house. If I had a particularly rough day, and when I got home, he happened to be in front of the computer, it was all I could do not to throw a fit, many times unsuccessfully. Way to make my partner feel accomplished and boost his sense of pride... (-_-')

So what have I learned? Since my husband has yet to provide me with a schedule of his day where every minute is accounted for, it's quite unfair of me to assume I know what's going on at home. Also, just because our daughter acts nice and sweet and plays on her own when I'm around, doesn't mean she acts the same when she's with her dad only. Furthermore, just as much as I need some alone time with myself and my thoughts, I'm sure he needs it, too, and if he gets this through his games, who am I to say no?

Now here comes the big question. What can I do to make sure both of us are happy? I've been trying to figure out what would make me happy, because it's hard to talk about something you have not formulated in your head, and this is what I came up with:

• I like it when there's a way to track accomplishments and progress.
  We tried a chores chart before our daughter was born, but it failed. The main reason on my part was because we divided the chores up 50-50, it lead me to resent the amount of chores I had to do, because I also worked full time. Not to mention, since our chart was on paper, once it went out of sight, it was most definitely out of mind. I've been using some apps to create good habits, and it's been working well, so maybe we could use an app for this, too, something that tells us what each of us should do and when. So I looked in the app store and found a couple interesting choices.
• When he tries harder, I try harder.
  I don't know if my husband sees it the same way, but I feel like the more I see my husband try, the more I want to help out. It's not foolproof, but I hope it at least counts for something. And hey, maybe that schedule thing wouldn't be a bad idea after all! (Also, I wonder if the reverse is true for him.)
• Update, compromise, let it go...
  It has been a long time since my husband and I had a long, honest, and understanding conversation. I miss these probably the most from our lives pre-baby, pre-Japan, pre-wedding. Stress on our plates have been multiplying, and I have a hard time expressing myself without sounding like I'm nagging, whining, or being resentful in some way. I also think I have lost sight of our partnership along the way. Though we have talked a lot about our hopes, dreams, expectations for the future in the first few years of being together, these have since became outdated, and in serious need of an update. We need to state our current expectations of each other and ourselves, make new compromises, and let go of what is not important for either of us.
• Priorities
  There are some things I feel take definite priority over others. However, I also have a feeling my idea of what has priority is not the same for my husband. (Like playing on the computer vs most other things, and knitting over many other things.) (^_~)v So clearing this up would probably make both of our lives much happier.

Now I just have to find out what my husband wants and hopes. More importantly, what are the things that make him happy and unhappy? What are the things I can help with or change so he can feel more supported and appreciated? What would help boost his feelings of accomplishment and pride?
Finally, anyone has any suggestions about anything discussed in this post?

Falling behind...

I've been really busy the past few weeks, so I've been falling behind blogging, among other things. I have half-written posts as well as post only in my head, but until I can find some more time to be just by myself so I can think, they will have to wait.

As a quick recap of the last few weeks, here's what's been happening:

• Last week my daughter turned 1 year old. We had a party, and I even made cake with plenty of help from my husband. I have something special planned for the occasion, but I will make sure I post it by the end of the month.
• I also began participating in an online knitting class (see previous blog post). Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up since last week. I hope to catch up and fix that soon!
• Furthermore, we did some major spring cleaning and organizing the first weekend of March, so a much needed update of pictures of our apartment is also coming soon.
• The school year is wrapping up here in Japan, which brings with it a whole lot of changes, like saying goodbye to friends in March, and new schools in April.
• We're going to visit a friend of ours in Tokyo this weekend, while we deal with my daughter's Hungarian passport and other important documents. I can't wait!
• And last, but not least, our trip back to New York City is approaching fast. While both my husband and I would like to meet up with as many of our friends as often as possible, we realized just a couple days ago that, that because at least one of us will have to be home to put our daughter to bed, it limits that person's opportunities to hang out with everyone to the hours between our friends finishing work and 7PM. Not to say that there won't ever be a time where we can hang out together at night, but because of jet lag, new sleeping arrangements, still frequent night-time feedings, and the time needed for our daughter to warm up to people (especially after bed time), I have a strong feeling it will happen the one time, and one time only. But I guess we'll just have to see. My point is, I'm planning for the worst and we're trying not to promise anything in advance.

I will have some "days off" in the next two weeks, which I plan to use to catch up on school prep and other personal things. I hope this will include this blog, too.

My Perfect Sweater!

Back in the fall I saw a tweet from Ysolda Teague about an online class she was planning on teaching in the spring called "Your Perfect Sweater." I already own her amazing book Little Red in the City, and have always liked her designs, so I jumped at the chance, and signed up the same day.

I've not knit a sweater for myself... yet. I've always wanted to, but I'm just super nervous about shaping. Taking on a sweater is such a big project and I'm such a slow knitter, that though I like making them, I rather not invest the time to end up with something that looks just OK.

Blank Canvas by Ysolda Teague

Hopefully, now things will change. I've been waiting excitedly, and finally it has begun! The pattern that came with the class is called Blank Canvas, a simple bottom-up in-the-round sweater using DK weight yarn. One of the first things the class will talk about is choosing yarn for our desired pattern.

I’ve been thinking of what yarns I could use, determined to use something from stash, and came up with 3 candidates:

• 
  Fyberspates Scrumptious Solid DK, which I got when I visited London on my honeymoon, was my first choice, since it’s a wool/silk blend. Unfortunately, I only have ~875 meters, and since I estimate my chest size to be around 36-38”, I either have juuust enough or am short by 70 meters or so (and I didn’t even consider swatching yet).
  
• 
  Malabrigo Yarn Rios in Archangel is my next choice. I got plenty of yarn, but it’s a bit thicker than DK. I guess I’ll have to see how the swatching goes.
  
• 
  Finally, there’s Fable Handknit Pure Baby Alpaca. Once again, plenty of yarn, but I’m worried that since it’s pure alpaca, it’ll act completely different than a wool blend.
  

Anyways, since I’m not really a swatcher, I’m looking forward to swatching, and swatching well. (^_^)v

Eating Healthy

I got teeth! (^_^)

This post will be about some of my frustrations lately, so proceed with caution.

A week from now, my daughter will turn 11 months old. (Man, where does time go?) She's growing beautifully, reaching all her milestones as she should. To this day she can stand as long as she holds onto something (though yesterday we noticed her standing on her own for about two seconds), has three teeth, with the fourth coming in any day now, talks all the time, and she still breastfeeds plenty (though it's getting less and less). She seems overall to be a happy baby.

However, she is almost 11 months old, which means weaning will be soon on us. There's really no problem with that, it's the natural order of things, but I realized something couple days ago. While she's been drinking less and less breast milk lately (on her own), we failed to up her nutrition during regular meal times. I've been living in "7-8 month old baby"-mode for the past 3 months, where most of her nutrition still came from breast milk.

Don't get me wrong, she is being fed, but she generally eats what we eat with my husband, and it's not always the most balanced. We don't eat anything heavily fried or unhealthy, though, so that's at least a plus, but I doubt we reach our daily requirements of fruits and vegetables, for example. Maybe I kind of do, since I eat school lunches at least 4 days a week. (Don't think about US lunches here; Japanese lunches are healthy and delicious. Here's an article from the Washington Post about Japanese school lunches.) But I doubt my husband cooks a separate lunch for himself, which leaves our daughter eating either last night's dinner, bread, or apple slices (on a good day) during the day.

So what do I do? Last night I decided to google "healthy weekly meal plan for toddlers" because A, I have no idea how much of what she should eat daily or weekly, and B, even if I knew the amounts, I doubt I could make it varied. But, it couldn't be that complicated.

What I found made me a bit upset. "Turkey Avocado Pitas," "Belgium Flax Waffles," "Pasta with Homemade Marinara Sauce," "Quinoa Fajitas," and don't forget "Vegetarian Tamale Pie"... I don't even know what that last two supposed to be, forget about making it! Yes, yes, I'm sure, if I googled it I could find a recipe or something, but that's besides the point. When did toddler nutrition become so.... sooo.... complicated and fancy? I understand variety, and I appreciate it, too. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, the shopping list for these meals seems like something I could only get in WholeFoods (costing an arm and a leg) and not very season-friendly (one of the breakfasts had blueberries... in February...). And considering how little a toddle eats per meal (according to Health24 a one-year-old should eat a tablespoon of each food), a weekly meal like the one above doesn't seem at all cost efficient, especially considering that even the smallest packaging tends to be pretty big, or if not, quite expensive.

There was one website that seemed a bit better, since I actually knew what most of the meals were supposed to look like and they put little reminders of making batches and freezing it for later. They even pulled the meals apart by food categories: grains, fruits, veggies, dairy, protein. Also, since it was a single sample weekly meal plan, I could even forgive them for having blueberries and peaches in there. Thw few problems I did have with it were not being able to buy some things (like turkey) in Japan and fish or beans/lentils missing completely.
The best looking guide I found was from a Canadian website, and it came in the form of a pdf. They included not just nutrition but things about keeping active as well. It's a start.

This is going to be a three-day weekend for us here in Japan. I'm going to spend it by making an extra effort in creating nutritious and healthy meals for my child. Because nothing says "I love you" better than a good meal... well, at least for a Hungarian. (^_~)v

Knitting Update #2 - Mom's Cardigan

This project has been in the works for three and a half years. Out of that time, I probably didn't touch it for about two years for sure. The reason is simple, I think: I stalled out at the sleeves like I always do. It's the decreases, or more specifically keeping count of them, that leaves all my sweaters and cardigans somewhat unappealing once I get there.

But my mom's 50th birthday was coming up in August, and I figured two sleeves will be a quick knit for over two weeks time spent on vacation. Needless to say I was wrong. For one, I have a baby, and for another, we were always on the move, visiting one family member or another, so not much downtime remained. The fact that once I finished a sleeve I realized it was too narrow and had to reknit it again, didn't help either.

But over fall and winter I made sure it was a priority, and just before Christmas, it was done. Well, the knitting part, at least. Then came the blocking, and the three days of drying because our house is so cold. It's hard to block something this big when you don't have a bed and your baby crawls around all the warmer parts of the house. So I ended up mailing it out a couple days before New Year's.

Pattern: Indigo Playmate by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Black (195) and Little Lovely (92)
Needle: US 7/ 4.5mm
Size: Medium

The yarn is Malabrigo, which was great to knit with. My mom chose pink, because she loves that color, and we chose black, because she wanted more of a coat-type cardigan, something to put on as she ran out to the store, so this way she wouldn't need to wash it every 5 minutes. I estimate I used about 6-7 skeins of black and a skein and a half of pink to complete this project.
My mom has a bit wider shoulders and bigger chest than I do, plus adding the extra ease that a coat would need, it looks quite big on me. Luckily it fits my mom much better. Some other changes I made were adding some buttons and pockets. Unfortunately, I could not find quite big enough buttons here in Fukuyama, which would please my mom as well, so the ones I ended up adding are just a tiny bit too small, hence they unbutton quite easily.
The pockets turned out alright, though I probably should have picked up the pocket stitches the other side, to keep the "lip" on the right side, making them lie flatter, than they do now. Luckily the pink edge helped a lot in this regard.
As for the sleeves, I decided to lose the second set of decreases completely, and I'm glad I did. They are nice and loose now, easy to wear over another sweater. I also knit them a bit long, as I like my sleeves on the longer side, thinking my mom can roll back the pink cuff if she needs to.
I also decided to crochet the belt instead of knitting it, but forgot to use a bigger hook for casting on, and it curls. Oh well, it adds an interesting design element.

Overall I'm satisfied with the project, and I'm glad I finished it. My mom likes it a lot, too, and that's always a plus, especially as I'm quite sure it'll be the last one for a while. It's now my husband's, dad's, and brother's turn to receive something. (^_^)v

Knitting Update #1 - Rini

It's been bugging me a little lately that this blog is supposed to be about knitting, at least in part, but there has not been one knitting related post in.... a while. So let's fix this, shall we?

In the past year Rini has received four knitted objects from my needles. These are as follows:

#1 - Night & Day Baby Blanket 

Cherry blossom viewing in Onomichi on April 10, 2012.

Pattern: OpArt by Melissa Dominguez 

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Chunky in Oceanos/240 and Citrus/91 colors, 3 skeins each

Needle: US 11

Final Size: ~ 41 inches across

If I remember correctly, I started this blanket maybe two or three days before Rini was born. At that time, I didn't know about this, and thought that surely I would have another week before any Cesarian, and would finish by then. Since that was not the case, it ended up being my hospital project to work on, while she slept. I think it took me about three weeks to finish this, making me consider this a really quick project.

I've always loved Malabrigo for it's colors and softness, but this yarn went above and beyond! It's absolutely luscious and spongy, and great to knit with! It does fuzz a bit with wear, but it's nice and warm. Since it's not meant to be washed every other day, I use it at home only when Rini sleeps to avoid making it dirty as much as possible.

#2 - February Betty Lou

Not pictures again!

Pattern: Betty Lou Lace Cardigan by Kristen Rengren

Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2-ply

Needle: US 1.5/ 2.5mm

Size: 0-3 months old

This cardigan only resembles the pattern in name and starting number of stitches. Instead of garter on top I did stockinette, and instead of the lace pattern in the book, I used the one in EZ's February Baby Sweater. It took me about two and a half months to knit, but I didn't work on it every day or anything like that. Though I'm happy with it, it became too warm for Rini to wear it by the time I finished, so I hope it'll be good for baby #2. The yarn is really yummy, but it also looks really delicate, and not sure if I would really let my baby wear it for long, unless it's a special occasion. (>o<)

#3 - Stella Pixie Hat

Pattern: Stella Pixie Hat by Kristen Rengren 

Yarn: 1/4 skein (110 meters) of Malabrigo Yarn Sock

Needle: US 0/ 2mm

Size: bit small for 7mo Rini 

Fun little pattern, but turned out a bit small, making it really easy for Rini to pull it off, like a hood. Once again, baby #2 will enjoy it.

As for yarn, I used what remained from making a baby cardigan for my cousin's baby last year. The colors are nice and neutral, and they didn't pool at all. I like the springiness of it, but it always surprises me just how thin it is. Still, it was a relatively quick project, taking about two weeks to make.

#4 - All Ears

Pattern: All Ears by Katt Walker

Yarn: Karabella Yarns Boise

Needle: US 3/ 3.25mm

Size: 8 inches long

First I made a 9 inch long 3-stitch I-cord, then made ear flaps using seed stitch. When both were done, I cast on extra stitches, and knit the hat until the yarn almost ran out. It's slightly on the big side, so I think she'll be able to use it for at least a few years.

This yarn is the same one I used for my Ripley hat (where, the yarn was doubled up), so I knew it will be soft and warm. Finally something she can wear for a while!

There are also a few projects that I started but have not yet finished for various reasons.
These are:
* Bliss by Allegra Wermuth, is a current project. I made gauge swatch, did some calculations, cast on for 18mo size, and after finishing all of the cable section and getting used to knitting the skirt, .... I realized it was waaaaaay too small. So now I went up a needle size and cast on for 2T. I also want to add some button holes so that the straps can be somewhat adjustable. It'd be nice if Rini could use this as a little dress from spring to fall, then as a vest/skirt in winter and after. 
* Two Just A Little Undershirt by Robin Hansen, hibernating because I can't quite make the crocheted edges work.
* And one of Carina Spencer's baby cardigans, hibernating because my gauge is weird, and I should measure it against Rini, to make sure it'll fit. Plus, in truth, by this point, the size probably won't work any longer, with winter almost gone (especially by the time I'd be done).

So there you have it. All the Rini related projects. Next I'll show off something I made for my mom.