Glorious

The crazy Summer of 2002 and its Brazilian beach parties gradually ushered in one heck of a cold fall. Hamamatsu gets pretty windy.

Housing insulation…well…lets just say that it is not a priority. Thin walls, lack of central heat equals a very cold apartment.

With the cold fall, M’s Dad arrived and his visit was a highly anticipated one, both by M and by the school that we worked for. There were no end of eager students practically lining up to entertain him when he arrived. B, on the other hand, had his own ideas about what he would be doing… One day, I believe M woke up to find a note informing him that he (Dad) was heading to the train station (possibly on foot) to take the train up to Tokyo. And that he would call him later…

I peppered M with questions “Where’s he going? What’s he doing?” etc etc…. M replied “…not sure…” and that was the end of that conversation. A few days later he was back, it was the weekend and we all took a drive to see Momiji (or Japanese Maple trees in their gorgeous autumn splendor).

In case you haven’t ever witnessed their absolute glory, here is a picture from that afternoon hike that illustrates it…

Momiji 2002

It was pretty amazing. Can you see me on the side there? So we hiked all around this little mountain, up spider infested slopes and down them… under those fiery leaves and through their lightly less colourful brethren that were scattered on the ground…. We wound around and around the mini-mountainside until we came to the most interesting of bridges. Some type of suspension bridge, one of those that sways when you walk on them. I think they are awesome. M….. not so much. And B well, not at all. In fact he posed all cool and debonair and firmly on the ground, while I confidently strode out there and M followed behind… just slightly less excited than I was…

Jaime on the bridge, 2002

M on the bridge 2002... slightly less excited...

B not on the bridge and pretty happy about that....

It was a pretty full afternoon. Momiji. Glorious. Spider infested temple. Not so much. But that was evened out by amazing bridge experience (for me anyways).

That evening M joined me in my apartment (next to his) for an epic evening of boot-leg Simpsons episodes. We stayed up far too late. There might have been longing glances cast (in a behind the back sort of way…..we weren’t dating yet).

Glorious.

Bonding

I washed my hands at this temple…..

I think it was in Kakegawa (correct me if I am wrong, please…it was 7 years ago)

I took this trip in January of 2002. M and I had known each other…. perhaps about 3 days? In the 8 weeks that I had taught at Alpha Language School, I bonded with one particular class. They turned into my parents…. and I think of them so fondly even now.

They invited me (us) on a bus trip to a castle and a temple. Since I had done nothing in Japan at that point (except drink), this was pretty exciting. We were picked up at about 7 am. Shoved into a teeny car. Driven to some random parking lot, we exited and then lined up for a bus. And met the rest of the class who were coming with us.

It was a pretty luxurious bus. And to my surprise, all of the old ladies on it (pretty much it was M and 50 older women) simutaneously cracked open a beer. I kid you not. We were then offered one…. too early for us both.

So while the bus drank its face off, M and I giggled away and cemented our friendship in the ridiculousness of this journey. The only other man on the bus adventure cast glances back at him longingly… he was trapped in beer and morning pastry hell. Poor guy…

The day was spent on and off that bus.

Interlude: The most ridiculously gourmet meal I had ever had in my life (at that point) as just a random lunch time thing for the whole bus. On a private golf course that was used primarily by sumo wrestlers for a vacation hot spot or something like that. It was fancy. Maybe it was soccer pros that vacationed there…. regardless, it was fancy, delicious and well, super fancy. Oh, and awkward. Really really awkward.

Please, try to imagine 2 fluent english speakers plus 7 non-english speakers. PLUS alcohol. Plus overwhelming Japanese culture. Plus hand gestures.

I was 25. M was 26. They were the same age as our parents. And had been drinking. Awkward!

Regardless of the whole awkwardness thing, it still was the most amazing thing I had ever done.  We were all so unsure of each other it made it ok. I remember walking onto the grounds of the temple and just being astounded. I literally didn’t know how to react to what I was seeing. It was the complete opposite of the Canadian West Coast. Or of any coast at all.

It was the best weekend of my early twenties….

Banana (genius!)

I thought a lot about flying with V before our actual trip. A lot.

I MIGHT have over-thought everything, just a bit. I was really trying to think about things to do with him on the plane, but with a one year old that is a little tricky. Things that would work on older and younger children I didn’t think would work with him.

He doesn’t sit still ever.

And hates being held quietly and rocked like a younger child possibly would. Oh, and screams when falls asleep.

So a lot of thought went into what to take in that diaper bag of mine.

Snacks, toys, bottles and juice. That is pretty much what I had. Oh, and a banana.

The Banana, or  the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, is cultivated primarily for its fruit.

Bananas are grown in at least 107 countries. In  popular culture and commerce, “banana” usually refers to soft, sweet “dessert” bananas. The bananas from a group of cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called plantains. Bananas may also be cut and dried and eaten as a type of chip. Dried bananas are also ground into banana flour.

Although the wild species have fruits with numerous large, hard seeds, virtually all culinary bananas have seedless. Bananas are classified either as dessert bananas (meaning they are yellow and fully ripe when eaten) or as green cooking bananas.

V loves them, which was why I brought one. And spur of the moment, I decided to give the whole thing to him, skin and all to eat.

Holy burst of motherhood genius!!

That banana kept him occupied for about 25 minutes. I peeled the the skin back and let him hold the whole fruit, the skin draping down over those plump little fingers.

He was enchanted.

That little mouth didn’t know exactly what to do with it though. He tried to bite it with those 8 little teeth, but didn’t have much of an effect on the banana. He tried again, and managed to get some of the fruit in his mouth. With each bite he grew braver and braver, finally managing to take a whole mouthful of the fruit in one bite.

Banana was everywhere. How nice that I decided to save this moment for his first airplane ride, eh? It was on the airplane phone, the window, me, the seat in front of us, me again, him, all over him and his seatbelt and also my hands. I actually had a collection of banana pieces in my hand, the ones he didn’t feel like keeping in his mouth and spat out. Now normally I would just drop them on the floor and shout “Chewie!!! What’s this!!!” and our dog would come running and eat it.

That doesn’t quite fly on an airplane (harhar). So I just collected those little soggy bits in the palm of my hand and waited patiently for M to finish his diet soda so I could deposit them.

So word to the mothers out there. Bananas are genius for domestic flights!

Don’t, however, try and take one through customs entering the USA without declaring it, or you will be subjected to the excitement that we were (bag searches, flagged for the ‘short’ customs lineup (aka longest line ever with super strict scanning people) and having your bag swabbed for bomb residue). If you do bring any fruit through from Canada to the USA, make sure that it has the sticker on it. Apparently Canada imports from some countries that the USA doesn’t, and this is a huge issue.

Apart from that whole kerfuffle, I am a wellspring of motherhood genius! Banana! Genius!

Flirt

Traveling with anyone gives you a great sense of how you relate to them…

When M and I traveled together for the first time, I knew immediately we were destined for marriage…

(ha! Just kidding!! I think I was all annoyed at him for something. So nothing has really changed since then. However, we travel really well together)

When Mum and I went to Kyoto for a wee trip (and actually the whole time she stayed with me in Japan, it was the same deal. We had no problems that we couldn’t resolve) We travel well together too.

We had never traveled seriously with Little Man before and, as we were soon to discover, traveling with children is interesting.

Our flight to Vancouver was a 2-parter, Orlando to Chicago/Chicago to Vancouver.

Part One: Disaster

Involving screaming, screaming, screaming. Break. (Involving eating). Screaming, screaming, screaming. Deplane.

It. Was. AWFUL.

Part Two: Tsunami

Waves and waves of screaming/quiet, screaming/quiet. AWFUL. This went on for 3 hours.

In the Customs lineup, someone from our flight leaned over the railing in front of us and said “He didn’t really sleep that much, did he?”. Um, no. No he didn’t. Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed at all.

In between the bouts of screaming and sleep were these rather interesting moments, where V was assessing the cabin. He likes to make eyecontact with everyone and when he does he breaks out into the hugest, most flirtatious smile you have ever seen. Those big brown eyes of his are so engaging…

So full of charm, in fact, that one Flight Attendant declared that we might be related as V apparently looked just like her brother, and she doted on him the entire flight. Her co-worker declared him to be “The Cutest Baby I have Ever Seen” (and, she also said, ‘I have seen a lot’). Of course M and I soaked this all up… (and might have preened a little as well).

And it went on and on… People…. well, women really, peering around corners and stating that he was gorgeous. That he was flirting with them. And just giggling inanely and waving like idiots….

And this is when I got the first inkling that I might have given birth to a future heart-throb…..

Right now it is adorable. Charming. Makes my heart burst… 15 years from now? It will probably make my heart break.

Mother knows best

Sunday morning M, V and I headed off into the beautiful sunshine for an outdoor excursion. Where were we going? I wasn’t that sure… all I knew is that it was an hour away. In the middle of loading everything up into M’s car, his father called and asked if we wanted to borrow theirs for the trip.

Their car is a sweet ride, all new leather interior with Sirius satellite radio and so of course the answer was yes. We headed over to their house, switched cars, re-loaded everything up and off we went. About 5 minutes after we left, M turned to me and said “Did you remember the stroller?” to which I replied “Of course!” in a confident manner. I WAS confident. I remember putting it in the trunk. No worries!

An hour later we arrived at Cyprus Gardens. It used to be one of the earliest theme parks in Florida, M explained to me. A few years ago they closed down all the rides but kept the gardens open. And added on a water park.

As we pulled into the parking lot, parked and got out… M swung around to the back of the car and opened the trunk.

Lo and behold it was empty! No stroller to be found anywhere. Where was it, you ask? Lounging in the trunk of M’s Mitsubishi in Orlando not in Polk County (where we were). Hmmm, my confidence was suddenly gone. Darn, I remember putting it in ‘a’ trunk. Not necessarily the trunk of the car we were in.

Things to remember when traveling with children:

Bring a stroller. Or at least make sure you can rent one wherever you are going. Or your arm might break off (like mine almost did while carrying V around). I know you aren’t retarded so I am sure you already knew this…

Bring hat(s). And be prepared for those hats to be flung off. I kept saying to M that I couldn’t believe we forgot one. And he kept saying “But all he does is throw them off”, which is true. But still wish we had one.

Sunscreen (especially if you live in places like Florida) is key. Even better if it is ‘stick’ form, which works well for little faces.

Water. Food. Food. Food. Water. Food.

Make sure your arms are nicely stretched out and can handle carrying your child that will for sure throw a fit after being in the stroller for 20 minutes or more. My bicep on my right arm is developing nicely. Not so much on my left…

Make sure you have lots of extra diapers. My darling child immediately filled his the minute we entered the gardens. So we immediately entered the washroom….

Which leads me to my  next point… make sure you have a changing pad. Baby changing stations are icky. Oh and a poo-bag. Oh, and most important…. hand sanitizer. (This particular changing station wouldn’t fold out completely, so V was on an angle. But on the plus side he was fascinated by being on an angle and I changed diapers with lightening-like speed!)

And in conclusion, don’t forget anything. And over-pack. And never forget to bring extra food/diapers/food/diapers. And make sure you pack enough snacks to feed a small army.

Sanity

I really like long weekends.

Last weekend I was super jealous of my fellow Canadians and their long weekend. But Ha! I have one now! A lovely long weekend that will be filled with party planning…

V’s first birthday is quickly approaching, as is our upcoming trip to Canada and there are many things to plan. I MIGHT even have to make a list (and we all know how much I love those).

His first birthday is a big deal to me, clearly, since I have been thinking about it for months and mentally theme-planning for ages as well. Finally it’s been narrowed down (I don’t want to reveal any secrets…. but there might be souvenir cd’s) and I am off this weekend with my M-I-L to pick out decorations.

I have been thinking a lot about traveling with a little one.

V has just learned how to do this:

“BAA!!!! BAAAAAAA!!!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

It comes in 3’s and is very loud, and I love imagining us on a plane while he demonstrates his new skill.

He showed it of this evening at Pubes (or Publix…. or however you call it), and charmed every single person he came across so perhaps that means that his screams will be charming during our flight? And everyone will find that adorable?

In my imagination this is what will happen during our flight from Orlando to Vancouver:

1) Board the plane

2) Sit in seats and do up seatbelts

3) V falls instantly asleep as we leave Orlando

4) We land in Vancouver and V wakes up, refreshed and cheerful after a pleasant sleep.

Ideally this is how it will work.

Let’s think about reality though….

1) Board plane

2) Get kicked in stomach by small pointy feet for 30 minutes. Trade with M for 30. He trades back after 10 minutes saying “Jame, I have to go to the bathroom”. He doesn’t return for 45 minutes.

3) V excersizes his lungs repeatedly for half the flight.

4) V fights sleep for the second half (this involves screaming usually)

5) Our seats are showered with Cheerios and sticky half-eaten raisins.

6) V’s juice bottle rolls down the aisle at least 3 times.

7) There are at least 3 poopy diapers (which I will rock-paper-scissors M for. For real.)

8) I find at least 5 raisins and 10 Cherrios down the front of my shirt the first itme I go to the bathroom.

9) I leave the raisins there.

10) M pretends to sleep

11) We watch repeated episodes of ‘Elmo’s World’ and our seatmate requests a new seat (and leaves humming “Lalala lalala…Elmo’s World!!!)

12) We land in Vancouver, bus it to the ferry terminal and walk back and forth across the ferry for… well, for hours…. at least until we dock. I hand V to my mother and fall instantly asleep.

It should be an interesting experience and I am trying to not overthink everything (hahahahahahaha!!!! Oh geez…. I AM hilarious!!).

Things to read if you are traveling…

Here for traveling with little ones

Here for more traveling with the wee ones

For the oldest posting ever about sanity, click here