Visiting Debbie and family in sunny paradise.

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in Mission Hills

Cousin Esther had a high chair for Ariel.

She can feed herself a little with a spoon.

Having fun with Esther and Raffi.

at the LAX hotel

Schmig catches up on her sleep.

Rare footage of Ariel talking with herself:

leaving Tokyo

It was a clear, sunny, and beautiful day to drive to Narita Airpot on the Yokota shuttle bus. Mt. Fuji was in full view.

In the super-long check-in line. It moved quickly, and was very quiet and orderly. I was grateful!

It was a comfort to have friends Dora and Steffen in line with us.

Having a good time staying with friends in Southern CA. Playmates for Ariel and cats live here!

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life in the "fallout zone"

These are some photos from the few days before we left Japan.

our babies

Doraemon in his special treat position.

just playing

the shoppette is stocked with essentials!

The Fuj

Going for Japanese food at Fuji with Uncle Rubin and Aunt Bunny. I had my first Japanese food with them there 20 years ago.

More and more people are leaving Yokota on the voluntary evacuation. The food, air, and water there are still free of radiation. I have several friends who are choosing to stay, and I keep up with them on Facebook. I will be sad to miss cherry blossom season this year in Japan. Nobody celebrates it like they do. I had planned to see my Japanese friends in Chiba during that time.

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All okay with us in California. Great to see my cousins.
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Safely in California. Tokyo's Narita Airport was very crowded, but the workers were so calm, kind, and helpful.

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We love LA

Things are still fine here, but as a precaution, Ariel decided on a last-minute vacation to California. The flight isn't too long. We can visit relatives there. The cats will stay here in care of my neighbor, Shannon.

Hoping to return home to Japan when things calm down. I'm very busy packing, so no time to talk or answer questions.

map

A friend pointed out this map of US military bases in Japan from the Stars & Stripes (our newspaper.) We are at Yokota, west of Tokyo.

Our babysitter, Mayra, is here today, so I'm getting things done around the house while she plays with Ariel. We talked with Jeff this morning, and he's fine.

Another strong aftershock, but we are fine. The epicenter was nearby in Shizuoka Prefecture.

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life as usual

We're prepared for planned blackouts (just a few hours during the days hopefully.) But none yet. Rescue teams are here, and the Red Cross here at Yokota has been working hard. My neighbor, Amanda, has much more info on what's going on, so here's her blog: The Miners.

We hear from Jeff, although the phones are a bit messed up.

sweet, sweet Ariel

walking the neighborhood at sunset

(people's porches are goldmines of stairs and soccer balls)

at the commissary Sunday

Anna & Noah, Ariel & me, Susie & baby in belly. Susie was being silly because she had her eyes closed in the previous photo.

Noah is smoochable!

we're fine

Just wanted to show you this map. We live a bit west of Tokyo city (the orange area), and north of Yokohama. We are fairly far inland. The affected areas are north in Sendai (the blue) and Fukushima. So we are pretty far away from the nuclear plants and damaged area.

It's life as usual here, sort of. With a lot of standing around talking to neighbors. We're still feeling lots of tremors. Yesterday Ariel & I went to the commissary (grocery store) for the first time since the quake. It's very well stocked. We ran into lots of friends who were also "out" for the first time. We had Kindermusik this morning (only 2 weeks of it left, oh my!) Many normal plans are cancelled. The military people here are working nonstop to try to help with relief efforts, or at least monitor the situation. They are testing radiation levels here, and we are fine and in no imminent danger.

We are conserving power. My car is full of gas, but I don't plan on taking any long drives.

Ariel and the cats are fine. We're enjoying warm spring-like weather today.

Yoshino Baigo

This is from the day before the earthquake (March 10th.) Casie, Ariel & I went to the plum tree park in nearby Ome. The trees bloom in shades of pink & white. It's very magical.

Casie is expecting her own little person in May. The next day, we had a baby shower for her with our culture group. The quake happened soon after the shower, so the Japanese ladies were either stranded at train stations, or stayed with Mitsuko who lives nearby.

Before this video, Ariel was talking a lot. But she stopped when the camera started:

calm

We're still all fine here. We became Yokota International Airport last night as planes into Tokyo landed here instead of Narita. Still some tremors this morning, but it's a beautiful day, so we're heading out in the jog stroller.

Doraemon is very brave. Ralph is a bit spooked. Ariel didn't act scared during the major shaking, but I held her tightly!

Phone service is spotty here. I can't access my voicemail, and it's tedious to check anyway, so don't bother leaving a voice message.

We're fine

We felt the earthquake, but we're fine. Trying to stay outside a lot in case of aftershocks.

relaxing (or studying?)

the lemon puzzle piece

She's quite studious lately: likes to sit at a table and work on things like this fruits puzzle.

She likes to rub the ridges on the back of the xylophone.

She loves to look at & kiss photos of dearly departed Ted (our old cat.)

"Let me show you."

fruits & veggies



a good living room nap (the universe blanket is on a futon mat on the floor)

tickle monster

The tickle monster came over.

The A Report

We've been busy with routine things since returning from Singapore. We both had little colds, so had to skip Kindermusik this week. Ariel knows Kindermusik day, though, and has been entertaining me with her "moves" ever since. She dances in a circle to music, taps things together, drums on old formula and oatmeal canisters, claps, splashes, and moves to her own rhythm.

Jeff & I celebrated our 14th anniversary yesterday. Ariel & I took Doraemon to the vet for comfort care, and later pulled out my guitar. I'm out of practice, but amazingly she danced to my John Denver renditions. We did get to talk with Jeff on the phone, which is always a pleasure.

On with the A Report:

• 23 lbs, 31.5 inches (10.4 kg, 80 cm) - right in the middle on the Southeast Asian Girl growth chart
• cut her first molar on March 5th. So she now has her front 8 teeth + 1 molar.
• She can scribble with a crayon, put things in a box, make lots of different sounds that sounds like real talking.
• She really loves books. We have book baskets all over the house. Lately she uses my finger to point to pictures and words. Her favorites have cats & other animals, textures, buttons that make sounds, flaps, realistic pictures, Sesame Street characters, Curious George, Sandra Boynton animals, Skippyjon Jones (a Siamese cat.) Her favorites change, and it's hard to predict what will next interest her. We can always use duplicate books.
• Favorite clothes: anything soft, cottony, tagless, and footy pajamas. I put diaper cream on the back of her neck so tags & labels don't scratch her. Other than that, she doesn't have sensitive skin.
• Dislikes: ceiling fans and large rotating fans (discovered on our travels)
• Likes: cats (of course!), water (bath & swimming pool), pushing a cart, balls, leaves/sticks/pine cones, wooden puzzles, Dora, Elmo, Grover, writing on a chalkboard.
• Nicknames: Schmig, Smink, The Schmiggler, Schminklemuffin, Little Ralph

Referral Day

One year ago today, we got the call that we have a daughter. Then two hours later, our agency emailed us this photo. We were in love!

Merlion Park

On a whim, we went to the waterfront to see the Merlion statue. It was covered up (being worked on.) But we were delighted by the sunset and light show at Marina Sands, the 3 buildings with "island" on top.

Ariel likes to feel the shiny bars and interact with the sunset crowd.

Marina Sands is new since our last Singapore visit.

Wow!

on the town

at the Images of Singapore museum

at Haw Par Villa, a free park full of legendary Chinese structures & statues

It had great leaves

and seed pods.

(she is not easily scared by crazy face statues)

We burned off energy at The Verge mall in Little India before I carried her through the lively streets. We loved the Indian ambience, music, and spicy smells. Even got some "take away" curries & rice from Ananda Bhavan, my favorite vegetarian place there.

Bebo City

This mall complex is Vivo City, but Jeff & I call it Bebo City (Bebo is a nickname for the cats that means "brothers.")in the spinning chairs

local school kids meet Ariel at Bebo

Singapore Laksa at the food court: noodles and seafood in a spicy coconut broth. These "Kopitiam" food courts are all over Singapore, and they are great. Kopitiam means "coffee shop."


A little tear because Baby could not walk all around during Mama's lunch. We walked afterward. I didn't bring a stroller on the trip, so she did plenty of walking & playing.