Baby Fat

A shot taken while taking a rest on the stairs during our early evening walk.

I often forget how small A is. At 10 pounds and 22 inches (shy of 2 feet), she is probably the size of my nursing boobs put together. I see her up close all day long, either talking to her or holding her, instead of right next to a grown human being in comparison. Looking at her in my arms like this, I am amazed at her littleness.

Speaking of sizes, I can't seem to lose that last 7 pounds of my pregnancy fat for the life of me. It's all in the belly and the thighs, I swallowed my tears as all my summer pants and shorts have missed their prime season without ever being clad this year. Boo hoo.

Until next time,

Sak

Purrrr for Purple

Do freshly-cut flowers usually die before they see the 5th day light? It's either I'm horrible at keeping the flowers alive, or our entrance is not the perfect candidate location in the house to have them displayed, 'cause it seems whatever goes into the vase comes out dead third or fourth day in.

Maybe I should get one of those vegetation vitalizer liquid thing-y at the florist the next time. Perhaps they are sold right by the flowers for a good reason after all.

The lovely orchid looked better in my bright yellow Pottle than my usual white and simple vase.

The entrance is pretty but the kitchen is short of a kettle. T had to boil water for his cup noodles in a regular pot, and didn't like it.

Until next time,

Sak

Autumn Is Near

The summer heat subsided a little bit the other day when it rained. And for the first time in a long time, a warm cup of coffee seemed in order.
My also-nursing sister in law, who loves coffee, had given me a present of her favorite tested-and-approved decaf coffee beans.

Hmm. I sense a hint of autumn. Love it.

Until next time,

Sak

Man At Work

Passed out on the couch in the Sunday afternoon while watching Princess Toyotomi on bluray. Seeing my exhaustion, T offered to make Sunday dinner all by himself. Refused that I come along to the super market, too.

My personal favorite was this lovely salad with cucumbers and carrots cut up in all sorts of sizes.

Love you, T!

Until next time,

Sak

Calla Lilies For September

The sunflowers that I arranged the other day (and blogged about, too, on Aug 31st) died after, like, two days and a half. Guess the flowers were on sale for a reason.

I recently discovered that the duo of white and purple makes me happy for no apparent reason. Autumn is near, and I wanted to go for the chic-and-subtle.

Love calla lilies. I used them for my wedding bouquet.

Until next time,

Sak

Bread, Breakfast And A Baby

Was totally hooked on freshly-baked bread that I had every morning for breakfast while I was at parents'. Mom baked a loaf every morning with a bread baking machine, and even T, not a big bread eater, tried it when he was staying over, loved it, and thought it was nice to wake up to that warm softness.

So, we were at an electronics shop for printer ink the other day, ended up in the kitchen appliances corner, checked out the baking machines and decided to use a piece of T's summer bonus to buy one.

I ran the first trial last Sunday for breakfast, and here's the aftermath.

The bread could use more "moisture AND fluffiness". T's words. Moist and fluffy? Two adjectives that normally don't go together. But I saw his point. Will work on it, buddy.

Bye the way, it was the first time since A was born that T and I were able to have breakfast together. She has grown less needy of our attention when she is awake. She is able to lay on her back by herself happily enough not to cry her guts out when we leave out of her sight. Mommy's proud.

Until next time,

Sak

15 Mins of Hillary A Day

During pregnancy going to the city library became my religious. Walking between shelves of books and skimming through pages of whatever that would catch my eye was a great pastime. And coming home with a bunch of books to read felt pretty great, too. And to think that it's all free of money! Libraries are so underrated these days, I tell you.

Since A's arrival, however, it's virtually impossible to find the time to sit and read a book to finish. Either she starts crying for attention or to be fed, or I have unfinished work - and I always do! - around the house that I must attend to while my hands are free of a baby. Or, if I do have, say, a half hour to spare, I'd rather do something that's brainless like browsing Internet or writing a new post for my blog as I am doing right now.

Yet, it's been a while since the last time I actually finished a book. I walk A in a stroller every day now, so I decided to start going to the library with her like I used to before. She likes the outside better (floor's too smooth and the atmosphere's too dim-lit and quiet in the public building) so I had to hurry through the shelves to find what to bring home, but got something that I had been meaning to read for a long time... and a magazine that I can skim through while holding A.

I think I can manage to spare 15 minutes a day for it. The presidential election might have been done by the time I finish reading this. We'll see.

Until next time,

Sak

Summer Remains

Haven't put any flowers around the apartment but wanted to for the longest time. Saw the sunflowers at the store that made me think "hey, it's still viable to have a sense of summer," though it's near the end. I haven't done anything summer-y this year except for sweating like a pig as I nursed A, so it was liberating to find the bright yellow petals.

Surrounded in accumulating baby diapers and clothes in this never-ending feeding and changing life, I found it easy to get caught up in what goes on inside the house and to sort of isolate myself from the rest of the world, if I don't make a point in going out whether I like it or not. So, since we made A's stroller debut last Sunday, I go out every day running small errands, like buying a carton of milk or going to the post office, in hope of not becoming a maroon. And it's pretty gratifying when strangers seem nicer to interact with when  you are with a baby.

I have had rather harsh opinions in the past about the way Japanese people interact with each other, especially with strangers, but now that I am a mother of an infant, they don't seem as bad. It seems people look at me, a nursing mother of a two-month-old, in a way that's more readily welcoming and forgiving than, say, when I was single and striding the outside world in pin-heels. Like, another stoller-pushing mother would smile at me. An old ladies would approach me and tell me how cute my baby is. And I have met a disgruntled-faced old man open and hold an ATM booth door for me, and a cashier at a market carry my basket. Both in the same day. These people know kindness goes a long way for a mother with a baby out on the street. And this very idea makes it easier for me to go out again the next day, knowing that there are people out there that "understand".

Until next time,

Sak

Back Home

Came back to Aichi on Sunday. The heat is not so bad as I got myself preprared for, as long as I stay in.

The whole being-a-mom thing has been not so bad as I got myself prepared for, either. Little A is growing. Changing every day. Becoming more and more precious. But sometimes, I see her sleeping, I find myself screaming in my head, "Holy crap, I'm a mother of that child!" The whole notion hasn't quite sunken in yet. I go with the motion of feeding and changing and putting her to bed and all, but I still don't know how my being has changed from what I used to be to a mother, if at all. Me?! A mother!?

For the first couple of weeks, she was  virtually immobile. So it's quite entertaining to see how she has started kicking air for no apparent reason when she is happy enough. Possibly inspired by the swimmers on TV in the Olympics? 

Until next time,

Sak

And So It Begins...

...Motherhood, that is.

The Japanadian gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on June 26th.

Can hardly believe that I am a mother, and by all means I am far from being ready for what's to come. But more than that, I can hardly conceive of how much I already love this little precious. She's so ridiculously adorable, I am sure my maternal instinct will catch on in time.

The blog shall and will continue once I get back home to Aichi the end of this month. Thanks, dear readers, for following!

until next time,

Sak