A little taste of home

On Thursday night we met the Sweeney Family at the Hard Rock Cafe in Osaka.  Brian's team was in Osaka playing the Orix Buffaloes, the other team besides the Tigers that are based in Osaka.  It was so great to be able to see the Sweeney's and catch up.  Scott and Brian played together in the Mariners' organization for many years.  Scott even lived with Brian, Connie (pregnant with baby #2), and their 4 year old daughter when they both played in Tacoma.  So it makes it even more strange that they are both playing in Japan this year.  Unfortunately, the team Brian plays for is not very close to us, so this will be the only time we will get to see them this season. 

The Hard Rock Cafe was great too.  It was nice to get a little taste of home with some American food.  I had a Cobb salad with Ranch dressing!!!  Which may seem pretty normal, but you have to special order ranch dressing over here, it's not sold in the grocery stores, so I was pretty excited to get it :)  

  The Atchison & Sweeney girls

Water time!

The weather has been pretty warm and humid the last couple of days, so we have taken Callie out to the fountains that run all along our section of Rokko Island.  There is a great little spot where we can sit on a low step and Callie can dangle and splash her feet in the water.  She really loves it, and yesterday she wanted to jump in the water the whole time!  Every time we would sit her back on the step she would try and wiggle back into the water so she could jump.  She was also trying to reach forward and touch the water with her hands.  We haven't put her all the way in the water yet, the swimsuit I bought before we left for Japan is too small, and now I can't find anything that is a small enough size for her here in Japan.  I guess we will just have to go back to Baby Gap and find her a swimsuit there :)

so cute :)

jumping with Daddy

trying to wiggle back in :)

in the fountains with Mommy

Longest night ever!!

So, last night Callie really showed us her fighting spirit.  She fought really hard to stay awake all night!  At about 9pm she went to bed, like normal, but at about 10:30pm she woke up and was still hungry.  We fed her, but she didn't fall right back asleep, like we expected, she decided she wanted to stay awake and play.  So, for the next four hours we tried to put her back to bed!!  Scott even walked her around the Island in her stroller at midnight.  We think her teeth are really bothering her, again!!  She was constantly chewing on her bib or burp cloth all night.  

She finally fell asleep at 2:30am and we woke her up around 9:30am.  We would have loved to let her sleep, but didn't want her to stay up late again tonight.  Surprisingly she seems to function quite well on only seven hours sleep at night.  Scott and I, on the other hand, do not :)

Baseball

Last night Scott pitched for the fourth time since being hurt.  He did very well, throwing five innings, only giving up one run and he got the win.  His arm has been feeling great and his elbow doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.  Callie and I went to the game with the Ford family and we had a blast.  Lew Ford is another American on the team, they actually live in Lewisville, TX about 30 minutes from our home.  He is married and has two boys, nine & seven.  It started to rain in the sixth inning so we went up to the Family Room and Callie had so much fun watching the boys play.  I think she might have her first crush :)  

Scott has today and tomorrow off, so we are thinking of things to keep busy.  The Sweeney family will be in town, so hopefully we will be able to hang out with them.  We haven't seen Connie and the girls for two years.  It will be a nice Mariners/Rainiers reunion :)

On Sunday we took Callie out and tried to get some good pictures with her grandparents before they left Japan.  There is a really pretty place with flowers that is within a short walk from the apartments.  Callie was not really digging the picture session, as you can see in the picture below.  She had the most fun once we put her back in the stroller and she could play with her new steering wheel!  Patch (Scott's dad) figured she just had to have a steering wheel for the stroller.  Callie loves it!  She can honk at people, put on her turn signal and it even talks to her in Japanese :)

Callie is not happy!

LOVE the new sterring wheel!!

Callie has been really reaching for everything lately.  She wants to touch everything that you are holding, or anything that is on a table, or pretty much anything you don't want her to have.  Bath time is a great example of her new reaching skills.  We bathe her in a tub in the kitchen sink and she loves trying to get the soap dispenser, the sink stopper, anything she can get her hands on.  The tub is a little slippery, so a couple of times she has reached too far and her bottom has slipped, making her get a face full of water.  It doesn't stop her though, she just giggles, and as soon as you sit her back up straight, she starts reaching all over again!

What is this stuff I'm not supposed to have??

actually playing with her bath toys :)

Taking it easy

We've been kind of taking it easy the last couple of days.  Callie was getting pretty worn out from all her adventures :)  Castles, baseball games, shopping . . .

We did manage to make it to Baby Gap the other day and we pretty much bought out the store!  Callie had a great time picking out clothes and the sales girls all loved her :)  She fell asleep on the train ride home and it was so cute.  She was just tuckered out from a big day of shopping!

Oh, and Callie's first tooth has finally broken the surface!!!  There is just a tiny bit showing.  Hopefully it will turn into a full fledged tooth soon and we can all get a break from all the teething :)

tired out from shopping

taking a coffee break at Tully's

Date night!

Scott and I got to go out on our first date last night since January.  We went to the Kobe Grill on the top floor of the Sheraton hotel, which is within walking distance from our apartment.  It is a teppenyaki restaurant, which is where they cook the food in front of you at the table.  It's not quite like the one's back home.  They don't make volcanoes out of onions and they don't flip the shrimp tails at you :)  The view was amazing and the food was really good.  We had shrimp, scallops, and steak.  The shrimp was first and we noticed that they were still moving before the cook put them on the grill!!  It was a little creepy to know that our food was alive right before we ate it, but it was still good.  The Japanese also try not to waste anything.  So after the cook cut up the shrimp he cut off the head and tail and smashed them up and fried them with oil.  So, we had fish head pancake things.  It sounds gross, but it was just kind of crunchy :)  I never thought I would eat a shrimp head, but now I know that I can :)  

the view from our table

Scott and me in our aprons :)

our chef cooking the live shrimp

Osaka Castle

We did our first sightseeing in Japan Saturday.  Scott's parents are here so we decided to visit the Osaka Castle.  It's about a 40 minute trip on three different trains.  It took awhile to get there, but it was worth the trip.  It was a nice day and Callie really seemed to enjoy herself.  She figured out how to sit forward in her stroller and play with the tray in front, and she really had a good time with that.  We also had to put her in the Baby Bjorn because there were lots of stairs to walk up and we didn't want to carry her up in the stroller.  She really loves the Bjorn, so she was getting spoiled all day long :)

  

I'm not really sure the history on the Osaka Castle since we got there 30 minutes before it closed, so there wasn't a lot of time for learning.  We just did a lot of walking around and taking pictures . . .

waiting for the train

holding on for the fast train ride

Callie and me in front of some weird statue.  Callie is loving sitting up in her stroller :)

Looking at the Osaka Castle from the moat 

Samurai Match & Patch ;)

Family picture in front of the Osaka Castle

Callie has been feeling much better lately so I have been taking lots of pictures.  Although, now that she is over the stomach bug we think her teeth are really starting to bother her again.  It's like when she was sick she forgot that her teeth hurt, and now that she is better they hurt all the time.  I never knew someone could have their fingers in their mouth 90% of the time they are awake!  Hopefully she will get a tooth soon so she will have something to show for all her hard work :)

Callie also found her toes and feet the other day!  She's discovered that she can grab her toes and she loves it.  Every time she does it she gets a big smile on her face like she's doing something sneaky :)  I doubt it will be very long before they end up in her mouth, like everything else.

Callie and her new favorite toy; baby wipes 

what are these crazy shoes?

grabbing my toes!

playing with my new ball

  looking so big!

Japan

Here are some pictures of our apartment in Japan.  It's not your typical Japanese style apartment, so it was pretty easy to get used to.  The only thing that's different is that they want you to take your shoes off before walking on the carpet.  Luckily we have a large entry way so there is plenty of room for shoes and strollers :)

entry way

living room

living room

dining room

kitchen

master bedroom

Callie's room

Callie in her crib