Christmas in Tokyo

I am having a very good and productive trip to Tokyo. I have done six interviews so far for my research and I will do one more today. I have also been able to meet with some old friends. Our old friend Nagu now has a younger brother--To--and a younger sister--Tana. Here are some photos of their cute family:


Here are a few pictures of me with friends from my previous Japan travels (the second two pictures are taken outside of Kaneki, the sushi place where Kate and I ate once a week when we lived in Tsukuba):





Here is a picture of some guys who are running a full marathon around the Diet (Parliament) building every day to protest the bad treatment of the former members of the Japan Railways Union:


Here is a sign from the 100 yen store in Harajuku (the neighborhood in Tokyo that Gwen Stefani sings songs about):

That is it for now. I will leave you with the sentiment that was broadcast repeatedly, in English and Japanese, in the toy store where I shopped yesterday:

"There are moments in which new things will please you for today, and nurture your dreams for tomorrow"

Firsts

It's been an exciting week of firsts around here.

1. Natalie tried her first "solid" food. I think "solid" is a real misnomer for cereal that's mixed with breastmilk to the point that it is a super water-y slurry, but whatever. As you can see, her reaction was a little, um, mixed. It has grown on her a bit since these pictures/videos. I think once we start giving her other foods, and use those to emulsify the cereal, she might like it even more. I have realized - after several days of using cold milk - that she prefers it mixed with warm milk. Duh. That's all she's ever known; I feel silly for taking a couple of days for that to sink in. What can I say? I'm new at this!

2. Natalie had her first Chanukkah. She was also a little underwhelmed by that, having fallen asleep about ten minutes before we lit the candles. No matter! We lit the candles and enjoyed our traditional meal of home-made pad thai and pumpkin-praline pie.Later, Natalie woke up and was able to enjoy a bit of the evening.3. Natalie went to her first TCU women's basketball game. I was worried that the arena was too noisy and overstimulating for her, but Natalie promptly fell asleep and slept through most of the first half. It was a great game with a photo finish - TCU just squeaked by the evil A&M in the final seconds!Here are some other cute pics of late:

Playing catch-up

Things have been pretty exciting since we arrived back in Texas.

First, we had a snowy morning:Then, it was my birthday! I had a wonderful birthday, complete with strawberry-blackberry buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, a massage, a sushi lunch, and then some cake in the evening with friends. "Some cake" is a bit of an understatement, since what I actually had was a cake made by Mike that was home-made, made-from-scratch chocolate-deliciousness-from-another planet. He used this recipe. And I would so recommend it.I also received lots of lovely gifts from family and friends. Thanks to all of you! Turns out a one-armed birthday isn't so bad, after all!

Last, here are a few pictures that didn't make it into the Thanksgiving post. First, Natalie and Brody, each "enjoying" Thanksgiving dinner.Here's Natalie doing her latest trick of checking out her hands - she just rotates her wrist and turns them in front of her eyes and is transfixed.Here are a few other cute shots:And here's a video of Natalie laughing:

Thanksgiving

We've successfully completed our first plane trip with Natalie (and with the added challenge of three working arms between two adults). Natalie did great!

We were originally supposed to leave last Sunday, but that morning (before leaving for the airport, thankfully), we got a call that our flight had been canceled. They offered us a later flight, with a layover, arriving at 10pm, or the same direct flight we had been on one day later. Although it was suboptimal to lose a day of time with Mike's parents, changing planes and arriving late at night just felt too challenging. So we opted for the latter. Then, while waiting at the gate area on Monday, they called my name. I approached the kiosk with trepidation (after all, luck hadn't exactly been on our side so far). It turns out we had been upgraded to first class! Although I was stressed about potentially having a crying baby in first class, things worked fine since Natalie spent nearly the whole flight sleeping (except when she woke up upon descent to have a poopsplosion, a performance that she repeated on the return flight).

Anyway, once we finally got to Michigan, we had a wonderful time. The weather was crisp, but not too cold, and, of course, the people were warm and welcoming!Natalie got to meet her great-grandfather and Renee:And, of course, bubbe and gramps were happy for some Natalie time:As was Auntie Jenny:Natalie got her first Hanukkah presents:And she met her (second? once removed? something like that?) cousin, Brody:Natalie and her great-uncle Frank:Here we are on Thanksgiving:And here's an up-close shot (mostly so you can appreciate Natalie's cute dress!)Here are a few other good shots:And here's a video of Natalie repeating some sounds that gramps was making:

And here's the entire Thanksgiving album: (also available by clicking here)

p.s. For those who asked about my arm, I'm doing better. I saw the orthopedist on Monday, and he said that, while the arm was definitely broken, there wasn't much point in casting it, due to the location and relatively minor nature of the break. So the arm is just in a sling, and I'm gradually using it a bit more. However, Mike is still doing the bulk of everything around here!