Hiroko's Hitokoto

CORN BREAD Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Found an awfully easy recipe of corn bread using rice cooker. Came out pretty good.

はっ、ぶー Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda She's into making noise with her tongue and lower lip, with splash of drool.

おいしい！ Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda It's been 18 days since she started eating. I can see her front lower tooth peeking from gum. Have to start dental care.

ゆし豆腐 Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Tried Yushi Dofu (fluffy tofu from Okinawa) I bought yesterday at Mitsukoshi for Tonchan's baby food this evening. The guy who was selling it, the owner of Hiroshi-ya Tofu, said it would be good for baby, and his kids used to eat them. She liked it, and ate about 3 spoon fulls of it! He also mentioned that it's said in Okinawa that a baby with thin hair was the sign of healthy baby, looking at Tonchan's head. Great.

一回転 Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda ... turned to come back to the same position.

よーい Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Head first....

ジーマーミとうふ Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Went to Nihombashi Mitsukoshi to check out Okinawa fair. Bought JEE MAA MI DOFU (peanut tofu of the photo here) at Hiroshiya Tofu, and RAFUTEE (stewed pork) at Wa Meat. Yum yum! I took subway to get to Mitsukoshi, a station staff helped me carry the stroller when I was going down the stairs. I didn't expect any help from anybody but cold looks from business people on the subway, so it was surprising. Also, the other day, I asked for a restroom that has a baby bed that I can use to change diaper, they offered me their cot in their office. That was unexpectedly surprising. It's not too bad.

PRETZEL Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda She's interested in pretzels than toys.

Checked out Gymboree again. It's a 45 min class which has singing songs (obviously for moms to sing for babies), activities like clime up the slope, playing on a slide, playing with balls, etc., with mom's assistance of supporting/holding the babies. Lots of work for moms.... In conclusion, it's better to wait for her start crawl, so that she can participate the activities.

ぶらぶら Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda She was up from rise of the sun, 4:20 this Sunday morning, ready for the day with her father. Although her attempt to slap and kick him to wake up failed, her mother was with her to play with. After breakfast and morning nap, her father finally woke up. After lunch of rice porridge and breast milk, she went to Roppongi Hills with parents to celebrate the first father's day walk.

Lost pass holder a couple weeks ago, and I left messages at bus company and the shopping mall that I've been to. I gave up on it as I didn't hear back from them at all, but today, I got a call from Bic Camera. They said they received a call from police looking for my contact details, as I had their membership card in the pass holder with my name on it, but due to Personal Information Protection Law, they called me to contact the police, instead of giving my phone number to them. Great service! Called the police's lost and found immediately and went to pick it up. I found out that they got it from the shopping mall that I left a message. Nothing was missing. Great thing about Japan is the odds are high that lost items will be found, intact. We left a camera about a month ago at a shopping mall, and it was reported to their lost and found on the same day. Nothing was missing.

When we came back from walk, a woman asked me where Aiiku hospital was. "It's on the other side of the hill." She gave me a face, and asked me another question. "Where is Arisgawa park?" "It's on the other side of the hill." This park is located right next to the Aiiku hospital, therefore, my answer was the same as the first one, although I could have answered it was next to the hospital. She again gave me a face, and asked me another question. "Where does this lead to?" Well, farther from the hospital and the park, I thought. "It leads you to Mita." "I just followed the street!!" Uh, hoping you would find the hospital eventually? She started telling me this, very irritated, and repeated the same questions she just asked, again, as if she couldn't believe she was wrong, and my answers were right. Uh-oh. I shouldn't be involved in this. I just shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't change geography. She just left...

Went to hospital for the 2nd DPT (diphtheria pertussis tetanus) vaccination. She was scared by held very tight and cried, but soon stopped right after the shot was done. Good girl!

Had 6 month birthday party with the other 7 families. Catered Italian food at Piola , which were delicious as usual. Mothers busy chatting, dads were happy drinking from noon. It was a good break for us all.　Some photos here .

LUNCH Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Had lunch at Dorobushi in Hiroo, on the way to Kotto Dori.

Checked out Gymboree 's baby sign class this afternoon. Will check out Gymboree class in a couple weeks too.

有楽町MUJI Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Muji in Yurakucho is great for family with babies. It has a feeding room and diaper change room, next to the baby goods area where you can let your kids play with Muji toys and goods. At the cafe there, they helped me using baby chair for Tonchan, and brought drink for me at the table. Very helpful.

初めてのお粥 Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Day 1 of baby food today. She ate about 3 spoons full of rice porridge this morning and afternoon. She's becoming closer to a human. One more thing she is capable that I found today: peeling off the diaper tapes. Please don't do that even though you can...

Saw her slow triple roll over, smiling about a meter away from where she was about 3 min ago. She's gaining mobility....

デビュー Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Cooked pork shabu-shabu for dinner, and put it on the KAIRAGI dish. Stylish!

Tonchan is turning 6 months old in 10 days, and we're planning a half birthday party with the other family friends of the babies. We decided to have Italian catered to our home so that people can eat good food and share their stories. While we're planning, gift sharing idea came up, and I opposed, knowing people would hate me being a nail sticking out in a group. At my elementary school, it was a very small school, we had only 32 in 1 class of our grade. Every month the class had a small birthday party, and we were supposed to bring a small present worth about 100 yen, about 1$ or so, so that we can exchange it at the party. In the class, there was a boy who wasn't financially endowed as his father passed away when he was little and his mother had health issues. The presents didn't have names written but you could take a guess easily who got whose, especially such a small class. He was always picked on giving not very favored presents. Kids are cruel. They use every lit...

バイバイ Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda She started moving her fingers a lot better last few days. Turns her both wrists at the same time, turns her palm backwards and forwards, and can move just like "bye bye", although she doesn't mean to.

ちゃこれーと Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Anna brought green tea chocolate from Nakamura Tokichi ( 中村藤吉本店 ) in Kyoto. It's very rich in green tea flavor.

梅華皮 Originally uploaded by piroko_kuroda Renfield's father got this awesome dish from Kyoto, made by a craftsman, Mr. Kato ( 加藤　清和 ). KAIRAGI is the pattern of glaze this dish, which you can't control how it would come up until you take it out from the kiln.