Sanrio Puroland

A little girl's dream come true: Sanrio Puroland, home of Hello Kitty, her friends, and all things sickeningly kawaii (cute)

Singing Sofie

Next to dancing, Sofie's other favorite past time is singing. Lately it's mostly been jibberish (a mix of words that sound half Japanese and half Chinese...) set to familiar tunes, but here she is belting out a few old favorites:

Sasha - Week 4

Sasha has happily eaten her way through the month she has been home and now weighs 3110 grams (3.1 kg = 6.9 lbs) and is 49.3 cm (19.4 in)

Sof's Favorite Shirt...

Sofie proudly "reads" her shirt to anyone who wants to listen...

Sasha - Week 3

So we're settling into a nice routine here with Sasha now at 3.5 weeks. It's been relatively smooth sailing, but she does continue to assert her own identity and is forever defying our tried-and-true soothing tactics, except for this magic swing that takes up half of Sofie's play area. She finds it quite funny to not latch on properly and prefers to wait until the milk comes to her and then laps it up like a kitten. Sounds cute, but it's a mess, really. We're also nearing the end of the 3 week growth spurt and her face and tummy have chubbed out! We weighed her at home yesterday, and she is 6 lbs 10 oz (3 kg), so a 32% gain since we brought her home. No wonder Mommy's arm is numb from all of those feedings holding up the little plumpster...

As for Sofie, she really loves to stay involved and has quickly caught on to Sasha's routines. She has been feeling very generous lately and loves to share random stuff with Sasha, e.g., random pictures she draws, to puzzle pieces for when Sashas is a "big girl and can play". Yesterday we disovered she had propped up an extra copy of Sasha's passport photo next to her head and declared them "the same". She was also calling Sasha's binky a "peace-ifier", which we found innocently ingenious!

Summer Swimming

The summer heat is really getting to us, so Daddy and Sofie took a dip in the local pool while Mommy and Sasha lounged in the shade. The ever-so-resourceful Daddy has discovered thisentire complex, complete with indoor pool and 2 outdoor pools, library, restaurant, fitness center, etc., all available to Meguro-ku residents. It was our first visit to the kiddie pool, which is not only decorated in a typical Japanese "kawai" way, but also immaculately maintained!

Sasha at 2 weeks old!

Updates & Milestones:

- drinks very efficiently but lapses into "milk coma" within minutes
- stays awake for long periods of time and is very alert & curious
- tracks b/w objects and faces very well
- strongly objects to being swaddled - MUST have arms free

Our little Sleeping Beauty

With her new cat, which we've name "Sylvie"
(Sofie named her own cat "Sylvester")

Afternoon reading time - Sofie has lined Sasha's moses basket with these cool graphic images (thank you Lucy!!), and Sasha is extremely content just quietly staring at them...

Since Sasha looks huge in the close-ups images, for perspective, here is her teeny little foot and hand next to Daddy's big ol' thumbs!

Mount FU-ji

It would have been a shame to live in Japan for 2 years and never attempt to summit Mt. Fuji... So while the Fu girls and Aunt Nancy relaxed and slept at home, Su-Ting and Uncle John pulled a grueling all-nighter and hiked up Mt. Fuji to catch the 4:30 AM sunrise...

Stock photo of Fuji before the summer snow melt. Notice the zigzag trail just right of center along the mountain - that's the mind-numbing descent. The ascending trail would be to the right of that.



A diagram of our view at 3200m - if it was daytime. Less than 600m to the summit!

Shivering in the pre-dawn light. With wind chill at 0C, that foil blanket was a life saver!

Sunrise, kinda

Looking back down the trail we had just climbed - almost a mile of vertical elevation from the treeline (our starting point)

At the highest point! 3776m

Big Sister Duties

Sofie loves acting as a soothing big sister and is very gentle with Sasha...

Sasha in "Action"

A first glimpse of Sasha awake and "in action"... She actually spent most of the day awake and observing her surroundings, and Mommy is really hoping that translates to a good night's rest!
(sorry for the sucky camera angles and really loud bubble-noises)

Rock Your Boat!

Sofie had a "water" theme at school last week, and she was excited about the boat she made. That's not all she made - check out her own version of "Row Row Row Your Boat"...

Finally... Fu Family Fotos

Goodbye Palmers...

After a long visit from Aunt Nancy & Uncle John, we very sadly had to say goodbye. It was the best visit and we can't wait to hang out with them again!! Sofie was very confused as to where they were going, and wanted them to come back as soon as they boarded the bus to the airport...

Sofie's Outings

Morning smoothies

Eating chicken with Aunt Nancy

Taiko drumming with Mommy