What's missing from 2015 (January)

Two princesses on New Year's Day　(Belgium)

Trying out a New Year's present

snow on Monte Reale (18/01/2015)

Going on a trip to Japan (21/01/2015)

Auro and Tosca still talk about their day at Kids Plaza (Osaka)

Osaka Castle

Checking on Jan Haring (Sakai, Osaka)

Doutonburi and Shinsaibashi (Osaka)

A day at Eigamura (Kyoto), 2nd best place in Kansai to take kids to!

Meeting my sensei in Nara

Auro and Tosca on the path to enlightenment (Todai-ji, Nara)

Visiting the bar where I worked for nearly 7 years

We used to work together, but now my Canadian friend has her own bar/restaurant in Osaka

Last day in Japan: ride on the panoramic wheel in Umeda (Osaka)

Samurai Auro

 My first summer living in Genoa and I had already spent half of it on the other side of Italy, in the house of my in-laws. The second half of the summer I spent even farther away from my new home. On the 18th of August, Auro and I took the plane and flew to Osaka, Japan. Remo, who had not seen his boat for nearly a year, had left one week before us and was waiting for us at the airport. Auro and I were invited by my (former) boss and stayed in the guesthouse belonging to the institute where I used to work (in Kyoto). Still suffering from 'morning sickness' there were some days that I had to stay in bed while Remo took care of Auro, but luckily there were also many days that we were able to go out and let Auro discover Japanese playgrounds, toy stores and even the zoo. Having to spend hours on trains to get to these places just made him happier. Of course I also had the opportunity to meet my friends/ex-colleagues and got a complete update of the project. Despite the (pregnancy) nausea and tiredness it was well worth the long travel!

The picture below was taken in Eigamura (a theme park where you can visit locations that were used in Japanese historical movies ... you know, the ones with samurai and ninja!). Auro and Remo are posing with some samurai that had just re-enacted a sword fight. A performance that had left Auro gasping in awe ;-)

One

As I'm writing this post, I am sitting on the sofa of our apartment in Changchun. After having spent one month in Japan, we packed our suitcases again and got on the airplane yesterday afternoon. Eight hours later, we were here. Today, while Remo was chasing the cockroaches out, I spent most of the day disinfecting the floors, so Auro can crawl to his heart's content in a clean apartment. To finish this long day, I want to tell you about our last days in Japan.
As most of you know, on the 17th of September, Auro turned one. So, on Thurday afternoon, we celebrated that with presents and a cake. Auro enjoyed unwrapping his presents and even tried (very briefly) to blow out the candle on his cake (and Carlos was just in time to catch that moment!)

Change

In the almost 3 weeks we have been in Japan, Auro has undergone (at least in my eyes) a small transformation. Just as the first 3 weeks in Belgium have been the most difficult among difficult periods so far, the change that came after it has been the most amazing...
In only a couple of weeks Auro has learned how to

*smoothly go from stomach to back and visa versa (until recently, when he rolled over, it was mostly by coincidence)
*push himself up to sitting position (I very often find him sitting in his bed in the morning!)
*crawl forward (first with his belly on the floor like a soldier ducking overflying bullets, but now on hands and knees like a real crawling baby)
*walk around when you hold both of his hands
*pull himself up to standing position (using the sofa, a table or a chair, but preferably me!)
*understand some basic 'commands' (like "give it to mama, let mama have a taste, wave goodbye, clap your hands")
*understand that there is a certain order in actions (when I put the towel on the floor, he goes to sit on it and waits for me to bring him his food ... or... when I put him in the stroller, he looks for the seatbelt and tries to lock it himself ... or ... when I put a towel around his shoulders after a shower, he tries to wrap himself in it like I usually do)
*play by himself for longer than 15 minutes

Quick lunch

After our 'amazing' little visit to the public toilet of Imadegawa station, we left the station to meet an old friend of mine during her lunch break. Carmen, who, by now, probably knows for certain whether she passed her PhD exam, definitely passed the "Am I allowed to hold you, Auro?"-test and successfully carried Auro all the way to the restaurant and back! In return, Auro politely waved goodbye before we left!

Apology

I'm fairly certain that people who have gone to public toilets in Japan before have never given it much thought, so I feel I should mention it here: when you have a baby with you, Japanese public toilets are so benri (便利=handy)! Almost all public toilets have at least one cubicle which has a special seat for babies. I have to admit that, before I had Auro, I very often used this seat to put my bag on and never really appreciated it's real value. With this post, I officially apologize to all the baby seats in Japanese public toilets for not seeing how handy they are! I really wish they had them in Belgium or Italy too (I always had to put Auro on the floor close to me), not to mention Chinese public toilets... And while we are at it, maybe airplane companies should also consider installing them. I don't have to explain to you just how much 'manoeuvring' it requires when you need to go and there is barely enough space on the dirty floor to put your feet.
Anyway... here is Auro in the toilet of Imadegawa station!