December 2014

Great news:  I remember more specifics from December than I did November.  This may have to do with the fact that I took more pictures.  Here's what we were up to:

We joined Karen and Jerry for a fun night out.  We had some dinner and margaritas at El Torito in Yokohama and then continued on to Tokyo to the Shiodome to see an illumination show.  We expected it to be physically bigger, but it was still a nice show to music. 

Bryan's command Christmas party was early in the month at the military hotel in Tokyo.  We always like hitting up the bakery by the station for some goodies and then enjoying them in the park nearby.  It's beautiful year-round, but perhaps this visit was my favorite visit.

We thought we'd be super-festive this year.  And by festive, I mean wearing light-up accessories and a Christmas tree skirt adorned with bows and garland. 

Santa Claus was at brunch the next morning.  Emily was not impressed at all.  She didn't scream though, so I still count it as a win.

Emily now loves the Jumparoo, but she was pretty hesitant at first.  This was her first time in it and I think she found it all a bit overwhelming! 

Christmas!!!  Emily received some sweet new books, pjs, clothes, Japanese Barbie and more.  She's a lucky gal, already.  We had a super low key day and then had Karen and Jerry over for dinner. 

I'm a sucker for baby clothing with hats.  And then when the hats have ears, oh my!  Just take my money!  Love my little snow leopard!  She got a lot of use out of this since we carry her in the Ergo when we're out and about.

I can't look at this picture without busting out laughing, even though I'm writing this nearly 4 months after I made it.  Make a onesie dress, they said!  It'll be easy they said!!  ("They" being those perfect little diy-blogger mommies.)  Ha!  It was not easy and it turned out to be a pencil skirt.  Too bad pencil skirts are not in fashion for infants.  Sewing fail!  I have since made one successful onesie dress.  It's cute.  But after that I somehow broke my machine and since I can't just pack it up and take it to JoAnn's, I haven't made any more progress.

Remember how I said I adore hats with ears??  Our friend, Muy, made Emily this adorable hat to celebrate the Year of the Lamb!!  She wore it a ton and we got lots of compliments. 

Wooo!  4 months!!  Here's what I wrote on Facebook for the occasion:  Emily is 4 months old this week! She is showing more of her personality every day. So far, she's an independent little flirty gal. She's jibber-jabbering away, still an awesome sleeper, and is working really hard to sit up (if I lay her down on the floor by me, she'll try to sit up and it looks like she's doing crunches.) Her favorite toy is the little jungle gym where the toys hang down above her. She is constantly making new friends when we are out and about. Love her to pieces!!

See Emi's party face??  We certainly celebrated New Year's differently this year, now that we are parents.  We went out for dinner (right around 5:00, because that's what you do when your daughter goes to bed at 7) at Vina Walk, the shopping area 2 stations down from us.  We ended up at a buffet that had lots of good Japanese food-all kinds of veggies and salads, some tofu, karage (fried chicken), broiled fish, and of course anin dofu (almond jelly) for dessert.  We came home and put Emi to bed and realized we still had over 4 hours until the ball dropped.  We decided to use our time wisely and put away our Christmas decorations and even re-arrange the furniture a bit.  Wooo!!  Do we know how to ring in the new year, or what?!?