Surprise visit by my Japanese friend

Last Saturday we had a surprise visit. My Japanese friend with her 5 year old son came over. They had specially come to see Richie. Richie was in the bedroom and almost asleep. Hearing new sounds, he became alert and excited. He started shouting aaa,gaaa, baaa,yeee.. Maybe he wanted to meet his guests. When he saw them, he first studied them and then went to them. Her little son was happy to see Richie and they started playing together.

He had made nice origami animals and gifted them to Richie. Origami is an art of paper folding (折り紙, Japanese 'ori', to fold, and 'kami', paper). And my friend got a melon for us. It was a nice re-union after a long time.

It is an interesting story of how I met my friend. I had joined Japanese classes in our ward-office soon after I came to Japan. After finishing the course we had a farewell party. We wore kimono and danced the traditional Japanese Obon (summer festival) dance. Now at that party, people who were studying English too were present. That is where we exchanged email-ids and started writing to each other.
I used to write whatever little Japanese I knew with English and she did the other way round. She also was the one who inspired me to join Karate. Our friendship has grown stronger over the years and we are the best of friends now.

Cherry Blossom – Eleventh week

Richie just completed 10 weeks. He is growing into a happy and energetic baby.He tried to turn after we gave him an oil massage today. One more step towards mobility. Good progress!! :) His demand for milk is increasing day by day and I am trying my best to eat healthy stuff which will help to produce good milk. I do not want to give too much of formula milk in the first 3 months. Not that there is anything bad, it is just my personal choice.

We had our common friends visiting us this week. They came with their 3.5 years old sweet daughter. They got a educational toy where a 6 month old can match shapes and colors. The little girl entertained Richie by singing nursery rhymes "twinkle twinkle little star " etc. Richie was happy to see a little girl (at least someone close to his age) and was listening intently and moving his hands and legs.

This week was travel time.We went to a faraway park to watch cherry blossom with Richie. It was a breathtaking sight. The trees with fully laden with white flowers and the people sitting under it and having a gala time. Though the place was crowded, Richie did not show any stranger anxiety. This was Richie’s first trip by train . Though he did not understand much, he was etching all what he is seeing and experiencing, deep down in his heart.

I feel so great recording all his FIRST TIME activities. Thatz what parenthood is all about. You get a front row seat to history to witness the first smile, first step, first word,….. the list is endless.. I am filled with emotions when I am writing this.. Our baby makes us feel so proud. And these blogs I am writing here… he is the inspiration for it all.. My love just flows of him.. How he amazes me all the time!! A little wonder in our lives!!