Yokohama

 Our first trip to Yokohama! This is Dane standing in front of a really cool piece of art, not sure what it is called! It took us about an 1hr to 1hr30mn to get Yokohama. We left by ourselves and were able to figure out the trains, we feel very confident now that we could get anywhere we need to go. It was a really fun experience reading the train schedules and figuring out which lines to be on, it is actually much easier than we thought. Once we arrived in Yokohama, we exited out of queens east gate and were in a mall, where we met Lena, Chris and Gabe. I had some phad thai for lunch and Dane had curry. Beau had some milk! ;) We looked around in the mall and surprisingly the Japanese culture is completely enamored with Hawaii. They have Hawaiian stuff everywhere. Another cool thing about this mall was that it had a complete men and women's nursing/changing room! It had 3 or 4 big changing tables, a big circle seat in the middle and two close door nursing/changing rooms for people who needed a more private atmosphere, they also had sinks, instructions for making bottles of milk and all sort of things for moms and dads.I thought this was really neat, and wish we had such nice accommodations at home! After experiencing some of queens east mall we went out into the city, it was beautiful outside, however super windy!! Me and Lena are becoming pro ergo nursers!

 This is an old Japanese dry dock in the city square! You can go down into the dry dock, as Dane shows you below.

 This is the Yokohama ferris wheel, I brought my giant lense today thinking that I wouldn't need my small lens, to my surprise, my giant lens really zooms! I had to be super far away to just get this picture! Ha!

 Here is the water! Right outside the city square.

 Me and Lena in the mall getting some Gelato! I had pistachio and milk flavor! She had fudge and chocolate strawberry! So good!

 Red brick warehouse!! Awesome mall!

 Beau's not too happy!

 Giant arch. Couldn't get it all ins since the lens is too big.

 World porters, another mall we went too. Lots of malls in Yokohama.

 That is Landmark Tower in the background! Really windy!!

 Me and the Voths walking down the street in Yokohama,back to the trains!

In the subway, there were some really old huge safe door hanging on the wall that we thought were pretty neat!

Back home to Sakura after a long day of walking and sight seeing! Having a great time in Japan!

Beau and Gabe

This is Beau's best buddy Gabe! Only 1 day apart. Having a play date at our friends apartment just 3 floors down from us! It is really great to have Lena and Chris here! We have all been able to hang out quite a bit, and have had a lot of fun! Really awesome knowing another family in the same boat! Will post more pictures as we do more outings together!

Baby Legs

 Beau's power stance!

 Mom, please don't take pictures of me while I'm working out! ;)

 He turns himself in any direction to face you by pulling his front around with his arms. Doing good!

 Oh those baby legs are too cute!

 Got the sweet foam pads at the 100 Yen store!! Beau digs them.

Beau tried some chocolate ice cream. Verdict, he liked it! We told him there are some people in the world who don't like chocolate ice cream, this is his response to that!

Things you might see on a walk to the train station

 Good morning Baby Beau! Hope you are ready for a trip to Yokosuka!

 I took this picture just in case you Washintonians forgot what a blue sky and mountains look like!

 This is about how wide the back streets are, YES this is a two way street! Ha, its crazy! However, cars are much smaller here, people are much smaller and well everything is just smaller here! Really beginning to realize just how big everything in America really is, you would never see a monster size diesel rumbling through the streets here, just wouldn't fit!

 This is a big garden in the middle of a bunch of houses in the city. Pretty neat to see. I almost think the surrounding houses may all share this. Japanese people really like to garden. The landscaping (when people have room for it) is always very nice. No wild lawns or weeds here!

 Dane! He's not something you would generally see on your way to the train station, but I thought I'd take a picture anyways! ;)

 These are big tall mirrors that you would see at the corners of very tight two way roads. Drivers look at these before going up a stretch of street to make sure nobody else is coming... otherwise there might be an issue!

 Some sort of underground walking tunnel.... we have not explored this, but we will ,and we'll let you know what it is.

 These are really cool. They are big car lifts so people can all fit their car in their driveway without having to ask other people to move all the time!! Very organized! Dane likes!! :) The only way it could be better is with a few homemade labels!

 Traditional looking Japanese house. We think these  people are very wealthy to have this style of house and landscaping. It is all very expensive looking.

So these are all some things on our way to the train station that we love to look at! Finding new things every day!

Roast and some Yen Jan 17th

 Made a roast today, the pan just barely fits in the oven but it turned out great!! Just a little taste of home! ;)

 This is what Yen looks like. That is about 57$.  I just gage it at about 50 for for 5000 yen. 105 Yen is about 1$.  There is a 100 Yen store behind our apartment, it is just like the dollar store and I plan to get some little play mats and bins for Beaus toys. All of the Yen here is in pristine condition. You will not run into a folded up gross Yen, like some of the dollar bills back home. It is almost like play money though. We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is our money, just in a different form!

 This is the change, the 100's are about 1$, and there are even 500's, and they are worth about 5$. You do not want to lose your change because it is worth a lot more than our change back home!

 Daddy and Beau after some roast beef! Yum! Love my guys!

Beau loves his bee! ;) Tummy time!

Elimination Communication

What an adorable baby booty!

So today I decided to start "potty training" Beau. Really it isn't potty training, it is untraining him to pee and poop in his diaper. I am a little sad that I waited until now to start! The first time I did  it, I held Beau over the sink and after a few minutes of patiently waiting he pee'd! However, I accidentally made a squeal and scared him so he finished peeing on the floor where he is now doing lots of naked time! That is ok for our first try though. Just learning to be in tune with his cues! America is really the only country that allows their children the opportunity to stay in diapers until they are 3 years old. Most babies that are EC'd are potty trained around 1 yr old and some even sooner! The Asian cultures are very into this method of natural potty training. Hoping to remain fully diligent with this and to come home with an almost potty trained baby! Im all about a diaper free baby! ;)

This is a picture of Beau taking his first pee outside of his diaper! (at least the first pee outside of his diaper on purpose ;)

Tokyo Auto Show and the great equalizer

In Tokyo! Beau is on Danes back taking a nap! Thankfully we were with Clardon and some of his co-workers because there is no way we would have found this place. The train stations are hard to figure out. I'm sure with some practice they will get easier though. It took quite a while to get here. Stopped at a little bakery and got some really good breakfast treats! Beau did really great and Japanese women were just in love with him! He is the great equalizer!

 Beau is taking a little nap and mom is taking a little break! A ton of walking!!

 Top view of one of the 3 show rooms. Lots of people, lots of cars.

 Food stand in the back. There were noodles and rice and some other things. We ended up getting some noodles that were really good and some fried balls of something that had octopus legs in them (hard to swallow). We did find some french fries with a few pieces of chicken on top, that was a little more like home. Dane spotted what we thought was a hot dog wrapped in bacon but it was actually this soft teriyaki wrap, around white rice on a stick. It was actually very good and we thought it was probably our favorite thing there. Portions are much smaller here... probably the biggest culture shock is the amount of food you get and the selection.

Guess who! ;)