Yesterday morning Evie smiled (with a touch of bribery ...food...) as I put her into her carseat. And off we went into Roppongi Hills (a suburb in the city centre about 15-20min from our place). On most mornings, Evie and I are at home. We play, she naps, I clean, she wakes, we play, we eat, we walk to the bus stop to fetch Josephine. And that's life for Evie and I most mornings. But yesterday she was due to have her allergy tests done and immunistation shots. Poor thing. Smiling in the car seat...turned to a nap in the car (which was good as she skipped the one at home so we could get to the doctor on time). We parked the car, she woke up, we did some grocery shopping at an international shop right across the road. Then we made our way to Dr Che. He's good. I really feel quite relieved to have him as our doctor. It's nice to know there's someone's medical opinion you can really trust. He's thorough, unrushed (but still punctual) and just makes a very good impression. Anyway. Evie has had flu for the last 2 weeks which meant a postponement of allergy testing as the results could be affected. So now we will know in about a week's time whether she has indeed got an allergy to nuts, or not. I really hope (and pray) that these spots and marks on her face that appeared were just a total co-incidence. I hope they were mozzie bites! Wouldn't that be nice. So much easier than having to avoid foods with nuts -or even traces of nuts - in them. Urgh. Please no!
Anyway, the poor thing had to be held down firmly for the blood to be drawn from the tiny vein in her arm. She had a fit and 3 nurses were holding her as firmly as they could while the doctor drew it carefully. Poor thing! As soon as they finished she decided to calm herself down with one of the nurses and snuggled into her neck for a while until finally the nurse had to go and passed her back to me. And then she got 2 more shots. My poor little Evie! She YELLED!!! And she has a pretty decent pair of lungs on her, I swear.
Anyway, when we got home, I put her to bed and she slept a solid 3 hours. That's a chunk of sleep!
Today, Josephine and Victoria both went on their respective Pukies to the bus stop. Again...competition struck. Who was faster? Who was the "winner". Tears resulted from Victoria (who is younger and also hasn't had her Puky as long etc etc). Oh dear! I felt terribly bad for her and Josephine has to now learn how to show love to her friends instead of gloating in her victory.
What a CHALLENGE it is for Josephine and I now since she's started kindergarten. Overnight, she's become so much more independent and doing so many more things ALONE. That part is good and definitely something so positive for her. Sometimes it can get to be a little tug of war as she wants to do things she's not able/ready for (eg carry Evie up some stairs or whatever). Another point of change since kindergarten is: before KG, she's been with me. And she's been #1. I've told her she's the smartest, the best, the cutest, the cleverest, the sweetest girl in the world. She has such confidence. Her bubble is now sometimes getting pricked at times....certain people she wants to play with don't want to play with her. Or what springs to mind is even on her first day at KG...I have to pack her a snack and drink. The drink I put into a bottle with a straw. When it got taken out of her bag, the other kids at the table all pointed, laughed AT her and said "Baby bottle! Baby bottle!" cackling away the little savages. I was so shocked to see that. Fortunately, I think (hope!) that a lot of it went over her head as she had literally just arrived at KG 10 min before and it was her first day. But I had tears in my eyes! Anyhow, to come back to the subject....she's now got to share the first place with 17 other children in her group. She's not always the fastest. She's not always the best. She's mostly the little one. She's been thrown into life's deep end. The other kids are cruel. She's cruel too. It's a bitter world! Life under a magnifying glass. Little people who still need to learn the concept of tact. Anyhow, 99,9% of the time, she's really enjoying herself. She's very stimulated, is learning so many new things that quite frankly (I have to admit) I can't teach her while simultaneously taking care of Evie and doing daily chores that need doing.
Anyhow, that's enough rambling on from me.
Today I went with my lovely neighbour, Britta, to the local shops. She showed me a nice butcher that she has found, a nice little fruit and veg shop, etc. We nipped in and out of tiny shops and really just enjoyed each other's company. She's great and I'm so happy that we're neighbours.
I am really blessed to have met really lovely people: from church and our small group; from our flat; from the school. We are plugged in and are socially enjoying ourselves.
The weather is also very very pleasant at the moment. It's about 24 degrees or so. A slight wind. Perfect. What a difference (a welcome one!) to 3 weeks ago....wouldn't recommend anyone to come here in the summer. Autumn seems really lovely. Lots of very dainty flowers flowering...lovely scents, colours, sights.
Goodnight from Tokyo!
