My Own Little Private Blog: Mobile dreams

I have read in my baby books about how to choose a good mobile. I couldn't find any I liked in Japan though. They were all expensive and/or not very good. The cute ones weren't very interesting when viewed from below, which is the whole point of a mobile. My friend Matt said he found a good black & white (babies like high contrasts) mobile on Ebay. I did a quick search on Ebay and found a bunch of great ones. I ended up getting a Tiny Love - Symphony in Motion mobile. It plays 3 tunes by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. And it was only $15. Can't beat that. Jotaro really seems to like it too. Got to be better than watching my ugly mug all day.

Jotaro's new Symphony in Motion mobile.

We also had a slight scare with Jotaro's ears. One day Yukiko found some discharge coming from one of his ears. We took him to a local ENT doctor and he said, pretty quickly, that the ear was infected. We weren't all that impressed with him though, he seemed pretty cold and his waiting room was a little dark and dirty. He gave us a prescription for some medicine for Jotaro, although neither the doctor nor the pharmacist was exactly sure on how much we should give to a baby?! I couldn't believe this. The doctor also told us that we should bring Jo to the clinic every day for his ear to be checked.

Yukiko spoon feeds some medicine to Jo.

According to all of our children's books, and the internet sites we looked at, an ear infection is supposed to have the following symptons: a fever, runny nose and/or excessive crying. Jo didn't have any of these symptons.
So we went to our local children's doctor, whom we really trust, a few days later. She recommended another ENT to us. This doctor said that Jotaro didn't have an ear infection and that it was just wax in his ear. When Yukiko told him the name of the first ENT doctor we went to, the new doctor said that the 1st guy has a reputation for not telling his patients when they are fully healed up, as he gets more money this way. So it looks like Jotaro is okay and we can stop giving him the medicine. I was really worried though because my brother's little boy, John, has had problems with his ears for a long time and even had surgery.

Yukiko and her friends have a tradition of throwing each other late birthday parties. This year was no different and at the end of May a group of her friends came by to celebrate. This was also my chance to finally try out the complete, inflatable play set I had bought earlier. I had picked up a pump at Costco and it was ready to go.

Kazu

Kaori, Kazu & Yukiko

Hiroko & Miku, Yukiko, Emi & Hiroki, Takami and Kaori.

Takami & Hiroki, Hiroko & Miku

The birthday cake!

Our little family

Hiroki & Miku

Hiroki & Miku, yet again. Are they a couple or what?

One of Yukiko's friends gave us a 'Wee Block'. It looks like a small jock strap and covers a boy's nether regions while you change his diaper. I thought this was hilarious.

Jotaro always manages to turn himself sideways in his bed.

And, like his father, he likes to stick one foot out from the covers. That-a-boy!

Doesn't he look like a mobile phone in a carry case?

At the beginning of the month we went to Yukiko's parents' house. Construction finished a short time ago and they just finished moving in. Wow is it great. It's a little smaller than their old place but it really doesn't seem that way. It's also much closer to our apartment so it will be really easy to stop by and see them.

The front of their new house.

The really spacious dining room.

The new living room - complete with new widescreen TV.

The coolest part of the new house, for me, is that they transported these stones, plants, and decorations from their old garden to their new one. These things had been in their old family garden for generations. What a great idea.