Our new baby

So many new things this year! The latest is probably the coolest. Tyler was born on Sunday, July 23rd at 2.38 pm. He weighed 3420 grams and was 51 cm tall. It was a natural birth with NO PAIN RELIEF but it all went very smoothly and rather quickly. And it wasn't TOO painful.

He's a happy baby, feeding well and sleeping a lot. His name in Japanese means Calm and Good. He's both of those so far.

39 weeks

Noah's Kindergarten

Hi everyone. I don't have a photo to share of my HUGE tummy but I wanted to let you know I am still here - no sign of baby yet! I have a week to go until the due date which is July 27th.

Noah finished up at kindergarten yesterday. He had a great first term. He's made lots of friends, learnt a lot of songs and really enjoyed the variety of activities - dancing, Montessori activities, P.E and making origami. He's done very well experimenting with new food and is a master of chopsticks as well. He's had no trouble with the Japanese so we are thrilled to say he's comfortably bilingual. He's come along in leaps and bounds in terms of his vocabulary and his interest in the written word. In fact at age four and a half he's reading and writing the first set of Japanese characters and is reading pretty well using the phonetic alphabet in English. He has a ferocious appetite for reading and writing. We are very proud of him.

I have almost finished preparing the baby's room. What was planned to be our guest room has been taken over by the Miffy cot, a changing table, thousands of onesies in the wardrobe and a boppy cushion. It's a lovely sunny, airy room so I think baby will love it. I'll let you know as soon as he moves in.

Our new area

Our new area is fantastic. We love living in Izumisano. We're only a few minutes from the beach, just across the sea from the airport (but not in the flight path), right around the corner from various shopping malls, supermarkets and restaurants. Noah's kindergarten is less than a ten minute drive and his primary school is on our road. It's really convenient. The best thing about being here is the weather. It's summer now and while it's hot we are getting cool breezes from the sea. We are managing a lot of the time with no airconditioning. That's a big plus!

Summer Fun

Now that we have more space we have invested in a giant paddling pool. It's actually two round pools connected by a slide - all inflatable. A bit like this one pictured but without all the bells and whistles. Ours is basically blue. All three of us can fit in comfortably. It's so great.
Noah had a pool party a few weeks ago. All four kids had a fantastic time splashing about in the water.

Dyson

I got a new vacuum cleaner the other day.
It's a Dyson DC08. It's fantastic on the maroon carpet and should really help with Tak's allergies.

Cars

Noah has been to his very first movie! This afternoon I picked him up from kindy at 12.00pm (it was a half day). He wolfed down his marmite sandwiches en route and we arrived at the MyCal Cinemas just in time for the 12.30pm session. He was a real wriggle bum so we had one toilet break and changed seats once. Overall I think the movie plot was beyond him but he enjoyed it all the same. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon, a real treat for him, before the arrival of his brother in a couple of weeks. Our days of just mummy and Noah are numbered!

My car

I have a new car! I got it when we moved to our new house since I have to drive Noah to kindergarten each day. It's a Nissan March, cute isn't it! It's really economical. I only have to fill the tank once a month. I mainly just drive to kindy each day and then call into the supermarket on the way home so I am not driving that much.
Today Noah and I went to the local beach after kindy. We could have biked but it's so humid and hot! Plus it's getting harder to ride the bike now that I am in my last month of pregnancy.
Yesterday Cat and I took the car out for a little interlude at the Rinku Outlet Mall. We went to two shops and were gone for about an hour but it was great to get out without the children for a change.

The Kitchen

Here's Tak in the kitchen one Sunday night. Cooking up a storm - probably okonomiyaki or maybe om-rice. Those are his specialties.
The kitchen is great to work in with the large island in the centre. It's bright and light. There's a row of lights above the island as well as a central light and the lights along the back wall. I can keep an eye on Noah while I'm washing the dishes (although there is a dishwasher on the other side). The stove and hob are on the back wall. There are plenty of prep areas, two people can work quite comfortably in there. I love it! Looks pretty modern doesn't it? Love my stainless steel rangehood!