I made it!

So,according to the blog,I am still in hospital with my mastitis.Obviously(!)I am not but have just been too lazy or busy(depending on my mood) to update.Many thanks for your concern and I am fine again and all is good in the world.

I was determined to have at least one blog entry for April and have just about made it with one day to spare.This month has been hectic.Yes,so hectic in fact,that I am using italics.I started back at work on April 1st and that meant that Millie started full time daycare.It was as tough as I knew it would be on both of us.More to come at another time when I fancy a pity party;).

Since April 1st,I have already used up 6 days of my 30 day annual paid leave so am hoping that things do not continue like this for the next 11 months.Both girls got ill soon after starting daycare as is always inevitable, but Millie has her sisters' wonderful intuition of only being ill when Kenichi and my in-laws are away/busy/planting rice/in meetings etc etc. so that I am the one who has to take time off.Little tyke.But it always gives us more cuddle time at home and I am never made to feel in the least bit guilty for taking time off which is another reason why I like my job.Annie had a nasty attack of gastroenteritis and lost quite a bit of weight so we are feeding her up and also squashed her thumb under her bicycle resulting in a number of visits to the hospital for dressing changes and x-rays.Millie has just had a few bad colds and coughs and the odd fever to add spice to it all.

Both girls are developing in their own way.Annie is really enjoying daycare.In the UK,she would be starting reception this year.Here in Japan,she has another year and 11 months until she starts 1st Grade(Year 1).She is beginning to read and write English which she seems to prefer at the moment but is also doing well with her Japanese.We are not pushing her at all with either language as we still have so much time until she starts school and follow her daycares' policy of "play now,study later".She loves drawing and spends a lot of time with a pencil or pen in her hand.She also loves dancing at the moment butit is the worst dancing you have ever seen(apart from that of her mother) which is so very amusing.She is going to swimming classes courtesy of daycare and Kenichi takes her once a week as well and she loves it.We are also in the process of finding a local piano teacher for her as all the classes in the big town near us were full before we had time to get her name down.What bad parents we are.Her English and Japanese are great as ever and she speaks Japanese with a broad local dialect.And she retains her Surrey English of course.Splendid!All in all,she is a happy but rather shy four year old but gaining in confidence day by day.She now actually sleeps in her own bed in her own room as well,thanks to my mum buying her fairy and flower duvet covers.Aren't girls are delightfully fickle!And she still has the most amazingly vivid imagination which makes me very happy.



Emilie is now 7 months old and still a very small baby for her age.She is just about 13lbs and not actually on some of the weight charts.Oops!But she is very active and alert and we have been told not to worry at all(but being parents,we do have the odd moment of doing just that.) She is crawling a round a little but hasn't actually realised how she is getting places so we are still relatively safe in leaving her to shuffle back and forth although she seems to be reaching up quite a bit and starting to pull herself up.She is pretty vocal and my goodness,she is a smiler! One of the two Japanese characters which make up her name is for "smile" or "laugh" which is so very apt.She still has a dimple but not sure how long that will last.She is weaning and so far her favourite foods have been bananas and spinach.In the last few days,she has reached that ever so delightful stage(hmm) when she realises that if she blows a raspberry with food in her mouth,she can have lots of fun.I am still breast feeding her exclusively and have an hour at lunch to dash over to daycare to feed her.It is well worth the rush and lack of break time and it gives me a chance to see her during the day.No sign of teeth at the moment and no sign of any new hair growth.Just like her Ji-chan(grandfather).



So that's about it! We work.We play.And try to sleep as much as we can....