mama series

It is a bright and beautiful Japanese Morning.  It’s 6 am, I have worked out and am on my 3rd cup of coffee!  Who says that parenthood was hard?!?!?  Granted I am a lazy and useless husband and father who lets Chie do most of the heavy lifting.  It has been 7 weeks since I have welcomed little Sophia Kiko (aka “Fatness” aka “Blacky” aka “Her Royal Fatness” aka “Pig”) into the world.  As a side note, I am not sure if Chie has informed you all about the various nicknames we have given the baby.  As it turns out I only call the baby by her real name when I am showing my displeasure with her….I hope that doesn’t give her some kind of complex about her real name.  But the short reason behind the name “Fatness” should be obvious.  Kiko is one fat pudgy baby.  As for “Blacky” that name comes from the time when I first saw her ultrasound photo.  I was so excited when Chie showed me the picture.  I took the ultrasound snapshot and looked anticipatingly and was confused only to see a large black circle.  Somewhere in the blag circle was a little white dot that was Sophia but I could not see the dot then and cannot see the dot now.  So…in as much as I just saw black circle I said to Chie “So the baby is this black blob…Blacky the blob baby?”  From that point “blacky” just kind of stuck.  And “Pig” hat comes from the pig sounds she makes when she starting to get hungry.

It is strange but the baby is so much different from 7 weeks ago.  Everyday I wake up excited to see her because some change will have happened overnight.  Sometimes the baby gets fatter or rounder.  Sometimes she gets a little bit longer.  Sometimes Sophia wakes up with a big smile on her face and says with her eyes “Daddy look, I grew 1 hair on the top of my head to match the long hair in the back….soon I won’t look like Friar Tuck, aren’t you proud of me?!”  And yes I must admit that I am proud with every new hair she makes grow on her little round bald head.

Reflecting a little bit I thank God that baby’s are not as easily broken as I thought they might be.  I have dropped this poor child on her head, without realizing it let her roll off cushions on to hard surfaces and fed her with bottles that had no holes pricked in the nipple.  She is a strong healthy baby.  If She were not I do not think she would survive me.

I have started to plan out her future a little bit.  I have decided that she will either be a violinist, figure skater or ballet dancer. I want to have her involved in the creative arts.  Chie laughs at me when I say these things but, as some of you may know from reading the blog, I am a pro fighter and we are not known for our ability to create things of beauty.  I want my daughter to be able to do all of the things I cant (which is most things useful).   I would love if she were into the sciences but with Chie and my genes combined I cant image that will happen.  I got straight D’s in the sciences growing up and Chie, even though she is Asian, can barely add!

All in all I am thrilled to be a father.  I am no better at parenting than I am at being a husband, but for some reason the ladies in my life love me and forgive my many foibles.  I can’t wait to see what happens with both lovely ladies in the next few weeks.

Oh, before I forget I must show you a video of my daughter beating me in a staring contest we had.  It turns out that at 7 weeks old she is already better than her father at most things.

I wonder, for those of you with children, do you think the fathers of said baby’s have had similar experiences to me?  Any recommendations for a loving but very uninformed father?

Week 6 of motherhood! There are some new discoveries: I found out the baby really likes to be wrapped tight with a blanket when she naps, it gives her a feeling of being held I guess. When she was first born, the nurse did the same thing at the hospital, but I had totally forgotten about the trick until recently. I wrap her with her favorite pink fluffy blanket when she is obviously tired and wants to go to sleep…This works most of time. She also started to sing and coo a bit, which is a lot of fun to watch! She smiles more too.

Anyway, I’m sad that I have to be out for work all next week! My mom and husband will be watching Sophia Kiko, but I’m already nervous and sad about leaving her all day long. I’m also worried about my breasts, and I hope I get to have some time to pump the excess milk while during the day.

Yesterday, I made a new button down shirt to wear with my suit. I also made a matching pair of pants for Sophia Kiko..I usually think that matching  is lame, but I couldn’t resist..I will allow myself one lame but cutesy matching outfit!

Chie blouse
Pattern: JJ pattern from BurdaStyle (free download!) I’ve used this pattern for a couple of times in the past (here, here and here), and I like the fit of the bodice. One modification I made this time is the collar – I’m not a big fan of stand-up collars, as I think I look like Kim Jong Il. I generally avoid any clothes with high necklines, like turtle necks, since I think they make my round face look even more round than usual. So instead of using the stand-up collar pattern of JJ, I drafted regular collar to replace it. Oh I also omitted the ruffles… I’m not a big fan of ruffles.

The buttons I used were a recent purchase from ZakZak, in Nippori. I love the gold trim around the white pearl button.

I made this blouse for work, but I can totally see myself wearing it with a beige high waisted mini skirt and pumps as normal everyday wear.

Any recommendations on what I should make next for business attire? I am sure I will be needing some more work outfits in the near future.

Sophia Kiko’s Pants
Pattern: Kabocha Pants from Handmade no kokoro (Japanese site), free download!
“Kabocha” means “pumpkin” in Japanese. The name of these pants are pumpkin pants, since the shape resembles a pumpkin:) The pattern is for 7 month olds and up, but I made them for my 1 1/2 month old in as much as my baby seems to be growing so fast. The pants are still too big for Sophia Kiko, and they don’t match with the top at all…sorry:p It was a quick project, from pattern printing  to final stitch took less than an hour. I added some flower motif chemical lace in front.  Any recommendations on what I should make next for SK?

OK…Back to the grind! All for now.

XOXO Chie

The baby is 5 weeks old this week! I had her wear her very first dress last Sunday to go to church. I love this dress, it was a gift from my father-in-law, and if there is an adult version of this dress, I would have totally picked it up! It is so anthropologie-ish. Although, looking at the picture of Sophia Kiko below, she does not seem to like the dress as much as I do…

Last week and this week have been really hectic, as we had family over from the States. We went back to my parents’ house during the weekend, and I was afraid that I would mess up the baby’s schedule, but thankfully the baby was cooperative about her bed time. I’ve been feeling so much better since putting her on a regular schedule and getting almost a full nights sleep.

While I was at my parents’ house, I met up with my high school friends for lunch. One of my friends surprised me with this “diaper cake”! Isn’t it so cute? I still haven’t been able to use the diapers since I don’t want to destroy the pretty cake. This makes a great baby shower gift…next time a friend gets pregnant. I searched some tutorials for diaper cakes online, and I found a couple (here and here in Japanese, here for some inspiration photos in English). What’s so great about this cake is that you can use the diapers! Moms out there sure know that diapers are indispensable, right?! :p

After a few days at my parents’ I came home and was surprised to find a gift from my friend Kaitlyn. The strawberry onesie is made out of organic cotton. It’s a little bit big on her now, bum I’m sure it won’t be for long. In fact, yesterday I had to reorganize Kiko’s drawers since her NB onesies no longer fit. Some of them were only worn once because she grew out of them so fast!

Kaitlyn included a nail polish called “The Mood“, which changes color depending on body temperature. I am wearing the polish now, and it’s pale pink since I’m warm. When I did some dishes with cold water, it turned bright pink. It’s fun! I love taking a little time for myself in the morning  so I can put on nail polish – it’s a small treat for myself:)

Some people asked me if I plan on keeping my hair long or if I will cut it short now that I’m a mother. I find this question kind of strange..my high school friends asked how I can keep the long hair with a baby to take care of, but I don’t think it’s that hard to maintain  long hair with a baby. If the hair gets in the way, all you need to do is to put it up on a bun! What do you think? Did you get a different hair style after becoming a mom?

Back to child raising.  Kiko is fussy and so is Andy so I think I should probably put them both down for a nap.

xoxo Chie