Frogs and trees...

I felt like something sweet after dinner.

j remembered the "Country ma'am" biscuit stash in his bag from when we went camping months ago and kindly offered them up for us to eat, as long as I hadn't already gotten in to them. Lucky for me I am good at keeping my hands off what I perceive to be other people's chocolates/sweets so I hadnt touched them:)

He brought them downstairs and we dished out one each. K, L and I ate ours in a flash. J's was still sitting on the table, the rest of us eying it off....when he finally went to eat it, the three of us were just like pavlov's mutt. J just laughed and said "蛙の子は蛙ね"

I nodded, yep, "the leaves never fall far from the tree" ??

I rephrased....." the acorn never falls far from the tree" ?????

So I googled "The APPLE never falls far from the tree"

Hahaha, at least I knew it was something to do with trees;-)

Insomnia?

Fell asleep with kids tonight(and last night) at 8:30pm.
Woke up when J came to bed at midnight.
Am still awake at 1:49am.

Same thing happened last night.

Why is sleep so messed up for us all?

So it's been a month since my last post about L's sleep lack-of-schedule.
I think we have pretty much transitioned to one nap a day, but still it varies each day....
Lately a nap after lunch ha been working but we still get a couple of days a week where he'll pass out sometime in the morning. Being out in the car tends to put him down. Example from this week:

Sat - asleep at 12:30 in the car seat, slept until i woke him at 2pm
Sun - lovely 1-3pm afternoon nap that I might have indulged in too:-)
Mon -asleep at 11:15 am, in car seat, eta 5mins from home! Slept until 1pm, in car seat which I brought into the genkan with him asleep in it!
Tues- out to it from 12:20pm after morning playdate. Asleep in stroller until
Wed- asleep at 9:30am, while in ergo doing shopping. Awake at 10 after unsuccessful attempt to move from back to car seat:(. Afternoon nap 2pm-3pm
Thurs- asleep 1-3pm, in stroller

Kinda random, right??I know the movement of vehicles sets him to sleep but still!!! At least Mon was the only day he fell asleep before I could get him lunch.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring? Am guessing that I will be needing an afternoon nap the way this is going-- wonder if I can get K on board??(altho napping her means super late bedtime at night ***so*** not worth it! Better off catnapping on lounge while she cuts/draws/watches tv ;-)

'ni-night zzzzzzz

What time today?

L seems to be playing a little game. It is called - screw the schedule!

the last few weeks he has been dropping his morning nap and going down just once a day. Then we went on a road trip holiday and for 5 days he took a morning nap at 10:40am until noon ( or when we work him up for lunch) then an afternoon nap around 3:30ish. Then we came home, and he still wanted to sleep in the morning, but not so keen on going down in the afternoon. He even had a three hour nap sleeping right through lunchtime the other day!
THEN yesterday, he woke up at 6ish, and fell asleep in the car at 9am, sleeping until 10:45 ( which was kinda handy as we were driving across town, and the roads were a bit heavy). Then we had a huge day out with friends and he was playing all day, and crashed in the car in the way home at 6pm, and slept through the night from then....until stirring early this morning, eventually up at 5:30am.

now I thought he would sleep by 9am again this morning, and even threw him in the stroller as opposed to the winne the pooh trike for a walk with R, but wouldn't you know it, he is STILL going strong right now, at 10am!

so do we try for a 10:45am type morning nap today? What to do? What to do?
I just wish he got the memo about the new nap times,and that whatever they are, he would STICK to them! Lol

Cancelled

Due to approaching typhoon, K's once a week half day pre-school is cancelled for today. She is bummed.
so am i-- I was planning on checking out a sports gym a couple of stations away that seems to have a child minding facility for members. I thought I could join up as a morning member and go swimming while K is at pre-school on wed mornings. depending on what age they take kids to loo after, I might even be able to leave both kids there and go another morning too?? How cool would that be!! I am really itching to swim some laps.

But i guess i'll have to go check it out another day now......Watch this space!

Looking for toothpicks

To prop my eyes open.

L had "woken up" 4 times already by 10pm....gave up counting after that. I know I got a bit of sleep in somewhere between then and when J woke me up when he came to bed at 11:30pm. Also had a patch after I checked the time at 2am. Other than that L was pretty much attached at the boob ALL night :-( couldn't shove that dummy in for love nor money haha.

I know I have said it almost daily but it is totally his teeth-- I can see one of those back double-headed teeth (molars?) just breaking through. Poor tyke. Just wish this teething would be over soon -- I feel like I am gonna be running on empty today ( which is why I think I deserv to have a cookie for breakfast!!)

Diligaff

I sound like a right royal spoilt bratt in my last post, aye!?! Haha.

Today(Wednesday) was a struggle...Or should I say, still IS a struggle.
With two kids still awake, at 9:30pm, (one of those a little miss that shows no sign of sleeping anytime soon), a house that looks like it was hit by the recent typhoon, dinner dishes still sprawled out everywhere, and a massive headache too, I just want to curl up and go to sleep

Cut to 30 mins later when I was sound asleep with the kids, haha!!

Next day I got my period. Along with that comes the sore, lumpy 詰まってる boob. Am now (friday) coming into day three of dull constant headache. It seems periods post-partum really do me in. With both K and L they came back around 14months. I do remember a few months after they came back with K that I had a big "I hate Japan" spiel.
This time the PMS is horrid (I become even more of a biatch). Then I am all dilligaff and don't wanna (can't find the energy to) get off the sofa for two or three days.
At least yesterday K was at kindy so I could curl up with L and pitter-patter around the house doing a minimum of work. Actually got more done than with the two kids home haha. Amazing how much mess that 2nd kid makes of the rooms I have just cleaned.

So anyway, yeh, holidays next week are off. Well at least o/s trips are. Ttytt, we couldn't afford it anyways. It just pissed me off(more do at the time than now) when J suggests another bloody onsen trip.
Sept is the only time that J is guaranteed to have off, that we know about in advance and is not gonna be sabotaged by an impromptu biz trip. So to miss out on using those precious 5 or 6 days in a real holiday kinda makes me mad:-( And did I mention that the following long weekend in sept, J us going away with his mates to one of the islands south if Tokyo?? I just want to get away from Japan and all the constant worry about food safety....going to the supermarket these days is stressful. Let me rephrase that, I go to SEVERAL supermarkets a week and STILL we seem to have no fresh veges to eat at dinner time:-(

This post is all over the place!!
We prob will end up at Gero onsen ( am sure it is a lovely place but just cant get it outa my head that the name of "Gero" also means "puke"). Also I suggested camping and/or seto-nai-Kai so will see where we end up, I guess.

Gonna be a boring holiday....

as we will prob be stuck at home.....or at Gero f*cking onsen:-(
Nothing booked.
J starts holidays in a week.
Last night when he came to bed he suggested Beijing (last minute tours available apparently) to eat Peking Duck.... But I need a visa for China!! Not impossible, *but* would involve a day to go to embassy pay expedient fee to get it issued on day (usually 4working days, girigiri).

Taipei still on cards...if any tours actually available(cheap tours, I mean) But I said he had prob left it too late to book an o/s tour so he suggests this time we go to Gifu, Gero onsen?!?!
Nothing wrong with that under normal circumstances I guess but I am so f*cling sick of this country, and using our only "long" holiday break to go to ANOTHER onsen just makes me shake my head and sigh:-(

I shoulda booked it all myself a month ago and just told him where we are going!

A 贅沢kinda question

Probably not the most important thing I could be blogging about, but it is taking up our thOughts here at the mo: where to go forour summer holidays.

J will take his obon holidays from sept 14 and tack them onto the long weekend for a 4 or 5 day holiday. Nothing booked, and already some of our options seemingly booked out but here are our "choices"....where would you go with a misbehaving 4 year old, teething 1 year old and their exotic-craving mummy? :

1) Taiwan (Taipei)
2) Korea (seoul. Or more expensive to go to jeju island)
3) Saipan
4) Miyako-jima, Okinawa, WITH in-laws most likely *worried about typhoons
5) Macau *actually too expensive, boohoo but I would love to go. Not sure if there is enough to do for 5 days tho
6) roadtrip to Shikoku
7) Hokkaido
8) Los Angeles for 1.09man yen( not including surcharge)* jetlag would be hell for kids tho, right?

Leaving it to the last minute, most if the cheap package tours to Korea, Taiwan and Saipan are full anyway. And I have been to Korea, LA and Macau as well as Hokkaido....
Hmmmmm what to do?????

worthy of a blog post...

Got my PR today.
- 6 and a half months after I applied for it (guess the "6 month" rule holds)
- just a few weeks after my 12th Japanniversary.
- just a few months short of my 6th wedding anniversary
- at a time when I am seriously feeling less and less happy about being in Japan....but I guess that is for another post.

I can now cross that at least off my 101 things list.

So, happy Permanent Residency to me ;)

Some days...

Linking up to Lulu for my first "some days"

Some days I am happy to peek in see my kids sleeping peacefully. Most days I end up going over and checking to make sure they are breathing :)

Some days I nap in the afternoon with both kids, and am then awake until midnight or later.Most days I am up with L at 5:30am and so tired by bedtime that I fall asleep with the kids at 8:30pm

Some days I get a chance to read a book ( a whole chapter Sunday afternoon while L napped and K played with Daddy.) Most days the only reading I do is facebook updates.

Some days I "write" blog posts in my head all day long. Most days I go blank when I sit down to actually write a post.

Some days I skype with mum for 30 or 40 mins. Most days the peanut gallery get antsy when I am on the computer for anything longer than 5-10mins so our skype conversations are cut short:(

Ojirogawa Ravine, Yamanashi

We went camping over the Marine Day long weekend, to the mountains, as you do on marine day ;)

Left home early Sat morning to beat the traffic, and headed out past Mt Fuji to Hakushu, (famous for fresh water they use in Suntory Whiskey) and Ojirogawa Ravine in Yamanashi. After seeing pictures of Nay's camping trip just a day beforehand, we wanted to try the same camp spot she had stayed at, but it was totally booked out (ok for 1 night, but Sunday night was full, so we couldn't stay 2 nights in a row) when we rang up at the last minute.

So we rang up another place, and they said there was space, so we headed there,
Ojirogawa Ravine Tourist Campsite (I found some good info and photos here on someone's blog, cant find an official website). ,The campsite was a bit hard to find, we put the address in the car navi, but it took us to a carpark at the start of a hiking track, that had a "no cars allowed past here" sign at the end of the carpark. So we did a few loops around the area, asked a few people but no-one knew where the campsite was. J finally caved and rang the campsite (my first suggestion of what to do, lol) and they said we needed to drive down the road that said "no cars past here" and the campsite was about 500m down from the car park. The road was SO narrow -- one of those cliff-hugging type dirt roads. I didn't think we were gonna make it, but we did, and found the campsite.

After setting up the first day (around 1pm by this time) we had a play in the COLD COLD river, all of us braving it and getting fully wet, except for K who was ok with the coldness of the water, but NOT ok with the tadpoles under the rocks ;(

Then we went for a bit of a walk, and found just a cute little shrine just 100m from the campsite, and a suspension bridge, under which the actual ravine was. There were a lot of people swimming, playing in the water here, so we had a splash too.

Got back to camp, set up the barbie for some yakitori (store bought) and curry rice for the kids haha.

Had a lovely, cool night's sleep in our new 5-person tent! woohoo. Until now, we ave always stayed in one of many of J's 2-person mountain climbing tents - you know how tiny those things are? Great if you are going hiking as light to carry, but a bit hard on a hot day with kids! Since it doesnt take J much convicing to buy a new tent(he is a bit of a tent-a-holic) we bought the new tent earlier this year, and this is the first time to try it out.

Sunday we headed off in the morning to the Michi-no-eki to get some veges, and supermarket next door to get some meat, then to the ”Verga" park where we played in the river again, then played in a splash pool in a park, then hopped in the
onsen before heading back to camp for more yakitori (J-made this time) and beer ;)

Kids woke up early Monday morning anyways, so we packed up camp and were out of there just after 6:30am, and we headed back to Tokyo, to visit PIL, where within 1min of us getting in the door, MIL suggests we all go out for sushi lunch at the yummy joint that ALWAYS has a long line up (sometimes we have waited over an hour, even with the kids *sigh*) so we get there 45mins before opening and are lucky enough to get a seat in the first sitting. All fed and back into the car to come home where we unpack, clean up and try to chase out all the bugs and beetles and other creepy crawlies that jumped ship and headed home in our bags with us.

Overall I liked the campsite for location and we had a great time.
The campsite was lovely and cool by the river; cheap, just over 6000yen for 2nights with all of us; dogs ok; close to onsen (5mins drive) and supermarket(less than 10mins drive) but still totally away from civilisation at the campsite.

But the road into there could do with some fixing (widening!!) and the drop toilet at the campsite was just vile! Really, really stinky!! Now, I am usually ok with stinky toilets, but I couldn't hack this one (men and women's together). Luckily the shrine 100m up the path had a much nicer (seperated male and female) toilet, and we took the potty for K so all was good.

Also, the campsite had a few taps with running water set up under a covered area, but basically the facilities at the site were crappy. I also wouldn't want to go there to stay in their bungalows!!!There was, however a small kiosk at reception that sold very cold beer for just 300yen ;)

things I love Thursday

so i meant to post this yesterday, but saved it so i could add a link, and, well, never came back!!
A day late but here goes anyway:
*******************
Since I am too late to join in with the "some days" post I love reading on Lulu and other's blogs, I had better go for a TILT. After all, I just got
home from a big day of playgroup with BOTH kids, and (wait for it) BOTH kids are still asleep -- 27mins after we walked in the front door!! (one in the stroller, one on my back -- can you guess which one is where, lol!!)

Sooooo, the things I love this Thursday are:

(obviously) getting home with both kids asleep, and being able to sit down with a cup of coffee and a cookie (ok, I had two!) AND actually being able to write a blog post and STILL the kids are asleep ;)

raisin & craisin bread fresh out of the bread maker for breakky, and then toasted the next morning!

my fancy loving daughter. she loves to look "cute" and choose her own pretty dress to wear, and loves me doing her hair all nice and pretty -- braided today;) She also loves to do her own hair and mine all fancy. She does a good job, too.

our camping trip last weekend (which I really must blog about) *edit I ended up posting the camping trip blog post before this post in the end, haha)

finding something new AND tasty to do with Japanese eggplant (dinner last night) that J even said he enjoyed!

R being away for a "doggy holiday" at the in-laws. Yes, we miss her, but it is a nice break not to have to do the walks in the typhonic or hot weather, AND we may even go away this weekend without having to worry about finding a dog-friendly place. She loves staying at the in-laws too, where she totally rules the roost, and enjoys LONG leisurely walks several times a day :)

Facebook. I am so happy to be in touch with several acquaintances over the last few weeks, including primary school "friends" and uni "friends"; a family I stayed with when I went to Mongolia in 2002, and even a student I took on a trip to our sister city when I was working as a CIR on JET, who is now living and working in the `states (I like to think that her homestay trip o/s when she was a high school student opened her eyes to possibilities that she pursued after school!)

*I say "friends" but really I haven't seen or heard from people from primary school in over 20years!! (makes me sound old right) but it is nice to catch up and see where everyone is at now.

advance apologies to everyone I see this summer.

I bought some deoderant at costco, a three pack, "Lady Speed" or some other crack name like that.

I don't really like the american stuff, ttyt, but desperate times (kuso-atsui days) call for desperate measures.

I was on skype to my mum in the afternoon after we got back from costcos.

L was trying to climb the stairs, getting into EVERYTHING as he (and K still) do whenever I am on the phone/skype.

L got into my deoderant three pack.

I have vague memories of taking the deoderant off him before he bolted for the stairs (I of course followed and saved him from a bad superman impersonation attempt)

I can't remember what I did with said deoderant though.

I have searched the house high and low, and can't find the three pack ;(

I wont be buying another pack, coz J insists it must be SOMEWHERE (he is right)

But until I find it (going on 4 days now aarrggh) I am a stinky sweaty mess.

So apologies to anyone I pass by or meet this summer -- I won't be offended if you stay your distance and hold your nose.

eeewwwww!

Trying to get out the front door with......

A 4 year old daughter screaming at top of her lungs at the front door-- which she can unlock herself :( -- that she wants to go with me.

A 1 year old screaming out "mama" from behind the toddler gate. 

A 40 year old husband looking up at me with terror in his eyes asking "どうする？"

I am on my way out for a few drinks with some friends. It is the third time since K was born that I have gone out  and left the kids with J (bar a few quick trips to the shops or swimming last year, and of course I got some "me time" when in Oz and my folks looked after the kids, but still....)

**Sigh**

Talk about mama-guilt ( ; _ ; )/~~~

Now, what shall I knock back first? I'm thinking since cold beer, it is summer after all! Cheers.

Coz I need a bit of self-imposed positive reinforcement...

Things I Love Thursday

oreos.and ice-coffee.

Need I say anymore?

ok,but I will just for the sake of the excersise........

the fact that our house in on the top of a hill, and we get the most refreshing breezes nearly every day in this "kuso-atsui" summer. Open the front door to the balcony, and the back door to the yard and the breeze just rips through the house. Also get a great manmade breeze through the kitchen window as the wind comes shooting down the gap between our house and the next ;) (will take any breeze I can get when it is this hot)

the fact that even though we live on the top of a hill, we basically have a flat walk to the train station, just 4mins away. I guess we live on the ridge, or maybe the cliff then? hmmm.

that the night-time emergency centre is just 5mins drive away from us. So when L woke up SCREAMING in a high pitch for 25mins on Tues night, and nothing I could do would settle him -- wouldn't take the boob (a first!), I could hardly hold him he was wriggling so much, he didn't open his eyes for most of that time -- I could at least take him down to the docs at 11pm and find out that it was, indeed a middle ear infection that was causing his pain ;( poor fella.

that the Peds doctor is only a 5 min walk away. I quite like this doctor, he is good at explaining and doesn't always just hand out medicine willy-nilly.

La Leche League International. Just being able to talk to someone sympathetic really helped when struggling with bleeding nipples from acrobatic toddler feedings.

"genki" oppai, as in FINALLY free from pain, splits, plugs and all other baddies. Just hope they stay that way again.

the fact that I "wrote" this blog in my head while out walking R this morning, AND for once in a blue moon, it actually makes it to the blogworld, rather than staying stuck in my head! Hurrah for napping baby, and kindy day for K!

So apparently....

The only thing worse than a MIL interrupting the bedtime schedule is a frickin DH doing it.

Neither kid asleep.

I have bailed out with L and we are now in living room after he spent the last 40mins wandering around the bedroom - he never does that!!!
K is in bed, at least.

*sigh*

Can't even drown my worries in chuhai or chocolate as got some bf issues -- tender breasts, possible plugged duct, bleeding nipple... The usual stuff :(

Nothing like the need for a rant to get me blogging again lol.

************
40mins later
And apparently Arnie shooting out the bad guys in トゥルーライズ is not the most sleep-inducive movie for us to be watching

Oh. I get it now " True Lies"

Visiting the in-laws

BigBig day tailed on to the end of a week of sickness. Three day fever for L last weekend(while we were away at a ryokan for the weekend, no less) followed by nasty phlegmy cough. K got a fever Thursday night, and is now battling the same cough . A nasty cough that had her awake at 5am this morning in a coughing fit:(

K finally asleep after big day of play, pool, BBQ and general granparent shenanigans.
L would have been asleep too if f*cking MIL didn't come in looking for the dogs food. Is it just me who feels the need to get two overtired kids to sleep trumps giving the dog her dinner (surely R could have waited half an hour for dinner!!) as it is, I am missing dinner myself because what should have taken 15 mins to put the kids to bed has turned into an hour long event.

Sometimes I really think MIL is a man masquerading as a woman-- no common sense, and no idea half the time!!
Right -- Rant over.
Both kids asleep.

Going upstairs for a cuppa. (would have a vino, but the three glasses of goon I had this afternoon with the barbie kinda knocked me sidewards ;)

Fwiw, I really did have a nice day today with the in-laws.

IPadding it

Have had some issues the last two weeks with blogging:
1) not having enough time to actually do it and
2) not being able to publish the posts wrote(moreso on my food blog)

I thought having the new iPad might make it easier to get to blog, but it really hasn't made much difference.... Just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day lately ( despite being woken up before 6am most days!!) but I think I am kinda getting a feel for the iPad so hopefully some of the thoughts in my head will get blogged about sometime :)

101 things in 1001 days update

Items crossed off the list in the last few months:

27 . Get back to pre-pregnancy weight
28 . Be able to fit into my Helly Hansen bamboo pants again
31 . Get a professional pedicure at least once.
(again! actually 2times while back in Aus. I love the spa pedis there...)

72 . Organise the playroom so it's easy to clean and keep (relatively!) tidy.
I think I can say that the new organiser/cupboards I have in there are doing the job just fine!

90. Go to the hairdressers at least once a year
Also got a fab style cut (longish bob) while in Aus (colour honey brown with blond highlights) on a "grabone" deal. It looked great when they blowdried it in the salon....looks kinda ok still now, but no way I can re-create that salon look, since my hair flicks OUT rather than under :(

---

And I am working on these at the moment:
29 . Follow a daily face firming ritual every day for 2 months in succession (0/2)
Started this while in Aus and intend to keep it up. So far 3weeks :)
My "ritual" involves use of lotion, emulsion and cream with nanocube samples that J got :)

54. Read 5 novels in English (3/5)

---

Still, it seems like I have a LOT of stuff left to do on this list!!! Perhaps now L is a bit older, and not stuck to the boob 24/7 I will get a bit of a chance to get out and do some exercise? And since K has started pre-school/kindy 2 days a week I might get some time to get the sewing machine out? Well, that is kinda the plan.....

getting back into it...

the Helly Hanson Bamboo Pants that is!!! ( #27 on my 1001 things in 101 days!)

So obviously this blog was abandoned, along with my life in Japan 2 months ago amidst a partial-meltdown (my own and apparently one in Fukushima Daiichi too) that led me to Aus for a break. Well, we got back to Japan earlier this week, and am now trying to re-adjust to life. I lost any desire to blog whilst in Aus, as I often do, as there is so much else to take up my time, and getting on the computer at my folks place can be difficult....

But now I am back, I feel myself starting to think "ooh, I wanna blog about that" a couple of times a day. I guess I will get around to blogging some of that stuff, but for now, the only really important thing I have to blog about is the miraculous re-appearance of my Helly Hanson Bamboo pants. It has been over two years since I wore (fit into) them last, and even then they were verging on camel-toeing :(

But I pulled them out a couple of days ago in my "spring cleaning" effort in my wardrobe, and was pleasantly surprised to see they fit! My other favourites, the red "mamut" 3/4 length pants are also now back in the drawer of clothes to be worn, so I am looking forward to summer now and getting re-acquainted with many old clothing favourites ;)

As for blogging, I have managed to cross a few things off my 1001 things in 101 days list, so will have to update that very soon.

March 11 Earthquake

three days on, and my head continues to ache --I just need an outlet for my fears

I am one of the lucky ones. My family is all safe, and together with me. We had no damage at all due to the 'quake (yes, we felt the quake, the whole house swayed, and I felt like I was on a boat for the next day and a half with all the tremors, but in Yokohama we are so far away from any serious effects)

Yet still I couldn't bear to go to sleep last night for fear of what we would wake up to. What may have happened over night......

Unresolved issues with the Fukushima Nuclear reactors cooling; possible Magnitude 7 earthquake (aftershock?) in the next few days; images on the TV of thousands of people who have lost EVERYTHING - total devastation.

I feel confused - relief that my family, friends here in Japan are all accounted for, yet guilty that we are all ok, while so many others have lost their loved ones; relief that we managed to get supplies like water, canned food, candles so we are somewhat prepared for scheduled power outages, yet guilty when I think that so many people are lining up for more than a day to get minimal supplies like water and rice....

Many people are going back to their normal routines here (there were kids practising baseball in the park as usual, workers go back to the office today, many schools are open as usual....) yet I sit in the living room amist our emergency evacuation stash of clothes, helmets, water, sleeping bags........ready to jump in the car if somethng unspeakable happens in Fukushima at the reactors.

I feel an information overload, yet crave more information. I can't tear myself away from the TV/internet/facebook yet every piece of information, every image I see makes me more confused, scared one moment, suprisingly positive the next.

I want to flee, but if we leave now how long do we stay away for? Japan is an earthquake and tsunami prone country. If we leave now, I wonder how can we ever come back -- surely the fear will always be with us that the next time, it might just be the big one in Tokyo they are always taling about. Running away now, when we are at our most prepared seems innapropriate.

At the same time, the fear of the unknown -- what could happen if there is a nuclear disaster? - runs through my veins. I wont go outside. I wont let the kids or dog out (poor R). Is it over-reacting - we are over 300km away from the reactors? I just don't know......

I feel all of these things, and we really suffered nothing.
I can't even begin to imagine what the people in Tohoku are going through. My thoughts remain with them constantly.

someone's ears must have been burning...

Fri night, J was gonna be late home from work due to a one-day biz trip, so I was gonna miss out on ANOTHER ladies night out. The ladies had already been out once, and I missed out coz J was o/s. The next one is planned for when J is o/s again, so they kindly tried to make a mini-night out when my schedule was free so I could join in. Then, at the 11th hour, J found out he had a domestic biz trip, so I was gonna miss out AGAIN. I swear they thought I was lying about it all!!

BUT, things worked out and he got home at 7:42pm. I left home at 7:50pm, and made it only 30mins late for the nomikai!

AND, wait for it, I even went ALONE! I had assumed that I would have to take L with me, coz, well, J has NEVER put him to sleep, and he usually goes to sleep nursing anyways (at night), so I figured it was a no-brainer that I would just take him with me (wear him while swigging back a few pints, haha). But J offered to try to put him and K to sleep, and the selfish part of me said, why not! I was worried that L would scream and carry on and not get to sleep, but also had fingers crossed that J could "wear him down" (as in wear in the carrier), which he did. And the best part - L was even still asleep when I walked in the door just after midnight! Of course, he woke up the SECOND I entered the bedroom -- I swear he can smell me or sense me or something ;(

So, yeah, I had a great night with some great ladies, and enjoyed a few drinks. It's funny, when K was little, I really really felt the desire to have a night out, to have my own time, to just GET AWAY from it all! (I never got it, until K was something like 18months old, mind you, but I always wanted it). I really have not felt that need AT ALL with L. And now, I don't know what to do with myself when I am on the train alone (why does the same 25mins feel so much longer when I am not trying to calm/entertain a pre-schooler and baby for the entire trip), or in the bath alone (I usually call K in after 5-10mins anyway), or in the toilet alone, hahah!

So, anyways, yay for J, no matter whether his ears were burning OR he read my last post or not, his offering to look after both kids so mummy could go play were very much appreciated! lol.

Petty, perhaps...

But I am not going downstairs, gonna stay up here in bed with the kids and maybe even read a book.

All I did was ask J to brush K's teeth before bed. I had put BOTH kids in the bath myself, AGAIN (despite the fact that he was home) and yes, he did dry off L but really was there any need for him to snidely ask why he has to be the one to brush K's teeth?? It is the ONLY thing that I even ask him to do for the kids. And I have to beg, prompt, reminder him every night to do it. God forbid he should have to help out. In the end I brushed her teeth, got her dressed, got both kids to sleep while he enjoyed a leisurely bath all by himself, the bastard!!!! (said only slightly tongue-in-cheek)
So I am sulking upstairs.

I never thought he was gonna be such a hands-off daddy (sigh)

I feel like that Macaulay Culken kid in Home Alone

or maybe Miss Piggy.

J is off to China this time, for a week, for work. He left at about 4pm this afternoon from Haneda (so he had to go to work at normal time this morning)
I don't know what it is about him being away, but I might have gone a bit mental today.

I had several cups of tea. So I needed something to go with my tea. So I ate half a pack of country ma'am biscuits....and K and I made a chocolate cake, but turns out she didn't like it, so I had to eat it -- with whipped cream leftover from pancakes breakfast on the weekend.

I am feeling like I wanna throw up about now ;(

I have also been skyving around on yahoo auction all day. And bought myself a nappy bag *finally!*

I have been looking at the skip hop dash deluxe for more than 2 months, and wanting to order it from o/s as it works out almost half the price of retail price here in Japan. But I have just not gotten around to sitting in front of the computer long enough to actually order it....so today I put the disney cartoon network on (we are trialling hikari TV, as we just changed internet provider to hikari flets because we got a deal when the new Yamada denki opened up just down the road: buy a 32 inch TV for 500yen IF you sign up with hikari flets. The Tv is now in the playroom, a.k.a our winter hideout and we are now on flets.) So anyway, K has been entertained all day by the likes of "Olivia", "The Suite Life" and soon to be a bit of "Hannah Montana" me thinks. L is happy just wandering around, clapping and trying to eat whatever he can find (DVDs, K's toys, socks, etc etc) And I have been in front of the computer enjoying the thrills of the auction. I have also semi-unwittingly upped the price of a set of 4 nappy covers to 2.5 times the starting price (I bid at 1300yen, for the 4 -- bargain!). I am now "in the lead" for buying them -- auction closes in 4 hours so will see if they come my way, or I have to do some more tricky auction moves to win (must set a final price I am willing to pay for them or else I can see myself getting caught up in the moment and paying something rediculous, lol.

*************
7:12pm and just over an hour left on the nappies, I am still in the lead! lol
This auction stuff is all very exciting.

***************
8:45pm and the auction is still going!!
I was a bit naive, it seems, in assuming that bidding 5 hours before end time I would be in the running. Some serious players came out in the last few minutes and started a bidding war, which I participated in ;) Was a bit of an adrenaline rush!!! My highest bid of 4400yen held on until 1 min beforewas outbidded, (thankfully, was starting to get a bit worried I might actually have to buy it for that price, lol!). Final price was 4900yen - still a bargain for 4 new nappy covers, but higher than I was willing to go this time. But there is always next time.... ;)

taking a sickie

L was awake at 6am this morning. He prob would have slept a bit longer if only I wasnt fussing over him, checking to make sure he could breath -- looked to me like his head was wedged between the pillow and J's body, and I was worry-warting ;(

Lots of wind and rain over night and this morning, so I decided to proclaim a sickie for the day, and had 3 cups of tea before 9am in my pjs. But we had to get changed into real clothes as J is off to China next week and needed his shirts dry-cleaned, so into the car and down to the dry-cleaners, and quick stop off at the ymca there to see if they do 一時保育 at the nursery there (they don't) before heading home.

It looked like it was gonna end up being a fine day, so I did a load of washing, which I have just remembered about now (it is hanging outside....and it has started raining again, oh well.)

Sandwiches in the living room for lunch, as we are on day2 of our 3 month trial of hikari tv. bring on the cartoon network. Did you know that Olivia is a cartoon!!??? But apparently even K can get bored watching tv all day, as shown by her actions just now of clanging about the money box, thus waking up a sleeping L, of course just after I poured a cuppa (altho, admittedly it is my 5th for the day now, so I probably really dont need it)

And now that everyone is awake, I guess that means my sickie is over for the day. Better do something. I am thinking of tackling the clutter in the living room -- wish me luck!!

Oh and we are looking for a one day a week day care option for K. She will go to "pre-school" (the Japanese bastarised version, which is actually a pre-pre-school one day a week thing) but I want to put her into day care for one more day a week, so that I can take L to playgroup. I am waiting to hear back from a few places, including the nursery school about 100m away (close would be good) and an international kindy near playgroup (they have a drop-in system, so I could put her in for just the 2 hours or so we are at playgroup). I guess in the end price will be the biggest deciding factor.

four hundred

It's my 400th post -wow!

Thought I should write something so as my MIL rant is not the first thing that pops up on my computer everytime I open it (J *CAN* read English, after all. Soft, ain't I, lol!)

Seems fitting that since this is a celebratory post, I should mention that I won a competition across at Homemade Mom. (thanks again!) I am looking forward to claiming my prize and trying out the "Sing with Olive" application from Swagsoft soon (well, K, not me, will be singing with Olive)

And what else is there to celebrate? TGIF, of course...even if Fri afternoon happy hour is only in my mind ;P

Why the hell....

(a.k.a. "some MIL gems from the weekend away")

Why the hell does she
* ignore the kids... until *I* go to them to hold their hand/pick them up/ whatever, then all of a sudden she rushes in.

* then ignore the kids a few seconds later when she thinks of something else (e.g. "ooh, look, a pretty flower") meanwhile the kid is left tottering on the edge of the stairs, or in the middle of the road or something.

* spend the entire dinner time asking K if she will eat some x, y z from HER plate. K has a plate of her own, let her eat her own stuff FIRST!

* spend the last half of the dinner telling K "If you don't finnish your dinner up, yaddi-yaddi-yah" when it turns out that BEFORE dinner, she plied same kid with a packet of chips (without telling me), but still expects her to eat all her meal?!?!

* then go and buy a dessert for the same kid she had just told off at dinner for not finishing it!

* pick up a happy baby from downstairs where I am, take him upstairs, then promptly leave him on the floor in the living room (where there are a set of stairs with no gate on them) while she fluffs about in the kitchen doing not much at all.

* sneak food to the kids - she seriously gives it to them only when I am not around, really sneaky like, esp when I catch her out. She never tells me she has given them anything, so when L comes up to me munching, of course I get worried that he has swallowed something he shouldn't have/picked up off the ground etc.

* get all offensive when, after she picks L up and shows him the strawberries for dessert, I say "please dont feed him strawberries as he hasn't had them yet". she says "I wasn't gonna GIVE him any". (yeah, right)

* insist on giving me those bloody uht milks for my tea. I DRINK REAL MILK IN MY TEA. (Lots of it, so one of those piddly creamers doesnt even whet the spot!)

aaah, nothing major, I know, but geez it annoys me, lol!

We're on our way

To the tip of the Izu penninsula again. Let's hope J booked the hotel for the right night this time(^з^)-☆
PIL are with us too -- bet they wouldn't be impressed if we get there and have to turn back lol.

Oh yeah and it's snowing!!! Brrrrr

get me some chicken on a stick!

So I wasn't gonna let go of what may be my only chance to get to yakitori, so when we woke up Sun morning, I did a search of yakitori joints around....anyway, J suggests we go to the Fukui (pref) style of yakitori/kushiyaki place Akiyoshi. So we headed out in the freezing cold SNOWing even, for an early dinner (got there just after 4pm).

This place has really small skewers, so you can eat about 20 or 30 each. It was yummy, but I would have liked to have seen more choice on the menu, esp if you eat so many (we had to order the same dish a couple of times). Still with a beer and a chu-hai each it was a good night, worth all 7500yen it cost ;) Even if we did have to supplement with Maccas on the way home (K wanted chips, and an apple pie for dessert for me didn't go astray either!!)

SOOOOO this means I can cross off #17 of my 1001 things in 101 days now too, woo-hoo.

lucky for some?

So we are home again - got back last night, 12 hours after we left, hahaha!

Ah, I am still giggling whenever I think about it.

I can't work out if it beats the time J drove us all the way to his parent's besso (strategic departure of 10pm to take advantage of the cheap highway toll), only to park the car and realise that he forgot the key (they weren't there) and we drove all the way home TO PICK IT UP and go back again!! 4hours plus driving back and forth!

Or if it beats the time I booked my parents and me into a hotel that didn't exist (still unsure of the details of that one, as my Japanese was a bit rusty and I was only 17years old at the time ;)

Anyway, we can't work out if yesterday was actually a lucky day for us or not.

Unlucky stuff:
* Obviously, booking a hotel for the wrong night ranks pretty high here, although I don't know if "unlucky" is the right word to describe that (lol)

* As way of saying sorry for the royal stuff up, J actually decided to take me to yakitori for dinner!! This is a big thing, as he NEVER takes me to yakitori for some reason, (I wasn't even upset, wish he pull this card more often when I actually am pissed off at something he has done haha) and we found 2 yakitori places at Yugawara, on the way home. The first one was more like a snack in someone's house, so we decided to try the other, which we couldn't find for ages, as the map was not clear (when will you get the hint: STREET NAMES, please, Japan!) When we eventually did find it, I took the opportunity to change L's nappy in the car before we went in, and in the time I was doing that, a couple of people entered the yakitori joint in front of us, and took the last seat ;(
So we had dinner at COCOs.

* we got stuck in a bit of traffic coming back home, thanks to an accident.

The lucky stuff
* J DIDN'T get booked for crossing the orange line (changing lanes) on the highway near the exit. The police officer standing on the side of the road fully SAW him do it but LUCKILY the officers 50m up the road booking cars already had 3 cars at the side of the road they were booking, and there was no space for them to wave us in, so we escaped!

* J DIDN'T get charged a cancellation fee for the hotel for Sun (tonight's) booking ;)

* The blue smurfs won the soccer last night...hmph. Lucky for SOME I guess.

You'll like this

So we managed to get out of the house this morning right on 10am, and L fell asleep almost right away, sleeping until we got to hakone, so we stopped around noon for soba noodles then kept heading south on the Izu skyline for Ito, where the hotel is. Since we were running early, we played a bit at the much-no-Eki and tried all their free samples（＾∇＾）and even pushed K around on a kiddies dodgem-car type ride. And we ate 63yen cookie-crust choux creams, yum!!!
Got to the hotel in good time, and J went to check in, only to be told that his booking was for TOMORROW night!!!!!!!!!!!

They didn't have any cancellations for tonight so we are homeless for the night, lol!! But since K was soooooooooooopoooooooo looking forward to her onsen ryoko, I told J to take her into the onsen while I wait with L who is down for his afternoon nap. Shame, as the onsen here is a pool-onsen that you can all go in together. Oh well. J said he will bring us back again, when he can book it on the RIGHT NIGHT I hope

How funny

onsen-ryoko

"so do you wanna go on an onsen-ryoko this weekend?"

J thows this out to me literally just as I am getting the kids into bed last night, before he heads off to the gym. He wants to leave at 10am this morning. Ha! and he gives me confirmation that he booked a hotel last minute at 1am when he comes up to bed (and wakes me up to tell me this, yawn)

It is now just after 7am, I have had a cuppa, had a crap (well, L did on the loo again at least) and now K has just come down too, so I guess that means I can stop lazing around and start packing. I am SO BAD at packing - you know that saying about everything but the kitchen sink, well, I usually end up taking the sink and half the living room etc etc. So I *might* get a bit stressed with having to pack (even if only for overnight)with so little warning. Will try to be calm and keep it down to one bag only....with just 2 changes of clothes(never know when an explosion from top or bottom is gonna happen with kids, right), togs (as hotel has an onsen style pool, apparently) just a few toys...

9 months old and....

1. doing poopies on the toilet every morning for the last week or so.
We are usually the first ones up in the house, so when I go to the loo in the morning, I take L in with me. Sometime last week when I did this, I realised that he was starting to strain, so I whipped his nappy off and sat him on the loo and oula - poopy on the toilet! So now I have been keeping an eye on him and as soon as I see his straining face, we head to the toilet. Makes for a much easier clean-up ;)

2. eating like a trouper!
3 pieces of sushi rice at kaiten sushi on the weekend (as well as other stuff); 2 fish cakes and a half a bowl of rice at dinner last night!! I swear I can't fill him at the moment (HENCE #1 above, lol!) But it is nice to see him finally eating, as he really showed not that much interest until after new years.

3. walking in circles.
L seems to have the right foot step down pat...so much so that he can take 4 or 5 steps with his right foot only, which of course means he is doing a 360 on the spot! kinda cute ;)

4. weighing in at just under 8kg.
Since he started crawling, he seems to have slimmed down a bit, and no longer looks like the "big boy" that everyone was commenting on when they saw him.

5. he needs a haircut!
that fringe of his is too long, I know, I know, and I would just chop it myself but I want to make a calligraphy brush out of his downy hair, so am waiting to get to a hairdressers.....

6. babbling all the time.
The other day, I swear he turned to J when he got home and said "daddy" lol.

7. he has 2 teeth!
First one (bottom left) came in on Jan 7th, second one (bottom right) has made it's way through last week, Jan 18th.

8. he just adores his big sister!
She can make him laugh (and make him cry, lol) but he just watches her the whole time

9. he seems to be getting over his "stranger danger" phase.
Had some very tough stranger anxiety for a while there, but just the last week (after his 2nd tooth popped through) he seems to be more settled again, and happy to spend time away from his beloved mummy.

10. seriously, just as cute as a button ;)

a long weekend

like, really long.
K came down with a fever AGAIN. 39.6deg at it's height.
Took her to nighttime medical centre, and all they did apart from shove that super-long q-tip up her nose to check for influenza was give us some bum bullets to keep the temp down. So no idea what the phantom fever is all about.

She had a high fever on NY day (night) too, but it was gone by the next morning.

Although I would like to think this is a 24-hr one too, she has been feverish since Sat night. sigh.

Poor little pumpkin.

And she is so shitscared of doctors, that she won't tell me where, if anywhere, she is sore/hurting, in case we take her to the docs. Somehow managed to trick her into the docs room last night, but once her name was called she started yelling out "駄目といったでしょ!" ("I told you I don't wanna see the doctor") , screaming and thrashing, at least I could somehow hold her as L was waiting in the car with J.

Tomorrow morn is gonna be fun again when we hit the peds ;(

Why do these things always happen on weekends/holidays when the regular docs are not open???

update for 1001 things in 101 days

Ok, so I now realise that writing a list of 101 things to do while I was pregnant and looking after only one kid was kinda silly ;) Not much progress all round, unfortunately, but hoping that I will be able to pick up my game in 2011 :)

And IF anyone is interested in a blow-by-blow account of my snail-like progress, I am randomly updating with details here. (more of a reference point for me)

So here goes:

KIDS AND FAMILY

1 . Make a baby album for K for the first 2 years of her life.
2 . Make a baby album for L for the first 2 years of their life.
3 . Update facebook photos of K once a month. (0/33)
4 . Take the k to the park at least once a week for 50 weeks (this is for her playtime, separate to just walking R) (0/50)
5 . Update facebook photos of L once a month.
6 . Take K out on a special date (one-on-one time) once a month after L born
7 . Go to an Aquarium
8 . Go to the zoo near playgroup
9 . Go to Zoorasia again
10 . Take K to a "carnival" (Dora the explorer reference there) or circus
11 . Ride on a ferris wheel with K



EXTRAVAGANCE

12 . Drink the bottle of French Champagne J brought back from France (perhaps to celebrate 5th marriage anniversary?)
13 . Drink the wine (Tempranillo) we brought back from Argentina
14 . Eat Peking duck at "8"
15 . Eat out at Bistro du Moulin, @ Kichijoji without the kid(s)
16 . Eat 焼肉　at "北京" again
17 . Get J to take me to 焼き鳥



JAPAN/TRAVEL

18 . Visit friends in Oita
19 . Visit 2 prefectures I haven't been to before. (0/2) (Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Toyama, Fukui, Mie, Shiga, Wakayama, Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa or Ehime)
20 . Visit 5 shrines or temples I haven't been to before (esp in Kamakura). (0/5)
21 . Go ski/snowboarding at least once (assuming not pregnant during ski season)
22 . Travel to an overseas country (other than Australia) at least once (would love to go to Taiwan, or perhaps to California and tour the wineries (this is real a dream item! I know that chances are it won't come true, but I can always hope…) )

SOCIAL

23 . Host playdate/morning tea at home at least 12 times (2/12)
24 . Have J's 幼馴染 over at least once a year (0/3)
25 . Have J's friends(manatee) over at least once a year (0/3)
26 . Have J's parents over at least once every 4 months



HEALTH/FITNESS/HOBBIES

27 . Get back to pre-pregnancy weight (almost there -- 1~2kg to go)
28 . Be able to fit into my Helly Hansen bamboo pants again
29 . Follow a daily face firming ritual every day for 2 months in succession (0/2)
30 . Get a professional massage at least once.
31 . Get a professional pedicure at least once.
32 . Drink at least 1L of water every day for a month
33 . Drink at least 1.5L of water every day for a month
34 . Drink 2L of water every day for a month
35 . Swim once a week for 12weeks (1/12)
36 . Swim 1.5km in 30mins
37 . Run twice a week, for 12weeks (0/12)
38 . Run 3km ten times (0/10)
39 . Run 5km 5 times (0/5)
40 . Run 10km 2 times (0/2)
41 . Go cycling with J and kids (in bike seats)
42 . Go hiking (maybe Takao-san or around Kamakura) with kids
43 . Go to a tea ceremony (e.g. at a 祭り) 13/2/2010 at 地区センター
44 . Get regular dental checks, at least once a year (0/3)



DETOX

45 . Have a computer free day at least once a week for 12 weeks (0/12)
46 . Spend a week with no internet (skype an exception)
47 . Spend a week with no TV
48 . Go for a week without buying any chocolate/chips/junk food/dessert
49 . Go for 2 weeks in a row without buying any chocolate/chips/junk food/dessert(0/2)
50 . Go for a month without buying any chocolate/chips/junk food/dessert.




USING MY BRAIN

51 . Study Japanese for at least 30 minutes once a month (0/33)
52 . Read a novel in Japanese
53 . Sit JLPT or JETRO test
54 . Read 5 novels in English (2/5)



DURING PREGNANCY

55 . Do yoga dvd once a week (starting now)

MONEY AND SAVINGS

56 . Start Mon-Sun week budget and refresh self each Monday for 12 weeks in a row (0/12)
57 . Once completed above, continue with 家計簿 every month.
58 . Make a bank book in each child's name.
59 . Use this bank book to make an education fund, depositing at least 5,000 yen per child per month (adjust as budget allows).
60 . Save 10万円 in 500yen coins
61 . Go three whole months (not necessarily in succession) without buying any single clothing item for any member of the family (0/3)
62 . Get our weekly shopping (groceries only) down to 6000 yen (hahaha! Can only try I guess…)
63 . Be able to put away 5000yen a month to pay back money for the car.
64 . Be able to put at least 5000 yen away per month for a travel fund

EVENTS

65. Do 七五三 for K (2010, 2012)
66 . Get a professional family photo done
67 . Take a family Christmas photo (1/2)



AROUND THE HOUSE

68 . Start a herb garden.
69 . Grow a nice, grassy lawn
70 . Get rid of anything we don't use and is still unpacked after 6 months (by July 2010)
71 . Go through all clothes and donate to charity or recycle anything we don't need.


ORGANISING

72 . Organise the playroom so it's easy to clean and keep (relatively!) tidy.
73 . Do something about the 押し入れ in our bedroom.
74 . Follow weekly cleaning schedule for 4 weeks in a row (0/4)
75 . Follow weekly cleaning schedule for 3 months (0/3)



COOKING

76 . Learn to make 10 recipes by heart (1/10)
77 . Cook fish for dinner 2 times a week for 12 weeks (1/12)
78 . Attempt to make 漬物
79 . Make a pie crust that I am happy with!
80 . Make at least 15 recipes out of oven recipe book



BEING HANDY (I AM SO NOT HANDY, LOL!!)

81 . Sew ties in doona covers (so doonas don't slip about) (0/4)
82 . Take up pants that are too long
83 . Take up curtains / fix curtain with hole in it
84 . Learn how to sew something simple.
85 . Remake a piece of my clothing into something K can wear

PERSONAL

86 . Write a list of things I am grateful for once a month (0/33 ok, so cant count how many months that is already, but I am doing this every month)87 . Get a psychic reading
88 . Apply for permanent residency (putting docs in this Friday, wish me luck!!)
89 . Write a letter to Aunty E, Uncle M, and Uncle G at least 2 times a year
90 . Go to the hairdressers at least once a year
OTHER


91 . Finish South America traveblog
92 . Start making 年賀状 snd Christmas cards at the beginning of December every year (1/3).
93 . File all received 年賀状 by the end of January every year, updating addresses on computer list (0/3)
94 . Start writing Xmas cards at the beginning of December every year (0/3)
95 . Make a blog list of all the countries I have been to, and dates of travel (referring to passports and photos)
96 . Make a blog list of all mountains I have climbed in Japan
97 . Make a blog list of the places in Japan I have visited (use photos as reference)
98 . Import all photos from old computer to current computer, AND save on disks
99 . Save all digital photos on facebook or Picasa or similar on-line photo storage site
100 . Update how the list is going on my blog at least 6 times (1/6 )
101 . Donate 500 yen to charity for every unfinished task at the end of this challenge.

Happy New Year

New Year's Day 9pm : K wakes up in a sweat, eyes wide open, crying. She had gone to sleep with PILs as we were staying with them over the new year, but MIL had called out to say that K felt hot...too right - she was running a 39deg fever.

AAAArrrrrggggghhhhhh. Happy New Year.
And so it began.

K complained of a sore back of the neck, so I started to freak out that she had meningitis, but a bit of Internet searching (Dr Sears is my new best friend) and we decided it probably wasnt that, so we rode out the feverish night (with no meds cause didnt think to take bum bullets with us, bad mummy) with K seeing "obake" (ghosts) for about an hour as she wouldnt close her eyes to sleep. Lucky they were all friendly ghosts - she was describing them all to me. She was also doing a hysteric type of laugh. J thinks she was taken over by some spirit. Hmm. Anyway, she finally got to sleep and woke up the next morning unscathed and pretty much back to normal. Wonder what it was?? Perhaps she was just overtired from a BIG day of bike riding and a 3km walk in the afternoon?? who knows...

Jan 2nd. L starts to run a low fever, about 37.5. I figure it is teething related as he now has the white hard bit on his bottom gum. PM. L's fever peaks at around 39deg during the night. Of course, NO BUM BULLETS so poor boy has to suffer thru. I hook him up to booby-on-tap all night, as he doesnt sleep for more than 30mins. Want to keep his fluids up.

Jan 3rd. L wakes up still feverish, but after a morning nap, he is back to 37.5deg, so we figure he is all ok. Fever spikes again in evening, so come back home and take him to nighttime emergency centre, where they say he has adenovirus, which is basically a cold with sore throat caused by a virus, so no meds necessary. Characteristically, his fever will go up and down for about 5 days (ugh!) and may get a bit of diarhea. Still sleeping BAD, and now even snoring in his sleep as obviously finding it hard to breath right at night.

Jan 4. repeat of previous day.

Jan 5. morning same. By this stage I am about 5 days into sleep deprivation hell (lol) which is proven when I speak to mum on skype and she says my eyes look all glazed over ;(

By the afternoon L has returned to his usual genki self (the change amazing!!) but still a restless night sleeping

Jan 6th: FINALLY the regular peds are open for business after the new years break -- doc says he is over the worst of it, checks his chest but says it is ok, and the snoring is just part of it, nothing more sinister. Phew. Hopefully he will be back to normal by tomorrow.

I am SO over all this sickness. It has just been one thing after another since november - granted, only colds and tummy bugs etc, thankfully nothing more major for the kids(touch wood) but still, I have spent the last few months planning and cancelling catch-ups, morning teas, playdates..... I feel like I am starring in my own tv show, "The Canceler". Add to that my very long and recurring battle with plugged ducts (think we are over that finally) and cracked nipple (70% healed?? ) It seems everytime I am on the verge of being healed, L gets sick and goes into overdrive on the comfort nursing. :(

I had really hoped we could start the new year on a good note healthwise.

Right, L is still asleep after our morning peds visit(prob catching up on lack of sleep from last night) so I am gonna make myself a cuppa and sit back for a bit longer and bludge rejuvenate while K watches Tamagotchi.