3 Months and Then 100 Days

October 20th marked 3 months, and October 28th marked 100 days for Maika. 100 days is an important time in a baby's life here in Japan. At this time there is a ceremony call "okuizome". At this ceremony the baby is pretend fed with the hope that he or she will never have to worry about food. As it turns out, there are quite a few ceremonies and traditions in Japan for newborns.
At pretty much the 3 month mark, Maika began to hold her head up herself. We celebrated this by getting her a Bumbo. She really enjoys being upright now, so this helps her do that. Some mornings she even joins us for breakfast at the table. Coffee with sugar is her favorite drink.




Maika showing her other side.

Oh Say Can You See...

Maika is now officially a U.S. citizen. On October 8th, we all made the trek to the U.S. embassy in Tokyo where we turned in the paperwork for Maika's U.S. citizenship. Surprisingly, the process only took 45 minutes and was stress free. Yoko did a great job getting together all the documents and forms required. In about 3 weeks, we will receive Maika's U.S. passport. This is the photo we used for her passport. After our time at the embassy, we went for a walk around the Imperial Palace. This is where the royal family of Japan lives. We wanted to go in, but it is closed on Fridays, so we walked around the site.
We had Sarah visit the 10th and 11th; she is a great aunt and would be a great baby sitter if she was closer.
Things have been quite busy for Erik at work as he been assigned several new classes in the last few weeks. Even though there is the increased work load, he is still able to get home for lunch everyday. It is truly a blessing for all of us to have Erik's work so close to home.

Yoko and Maika near the main gate into the Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Dad and Daughter

Family picture on October 11th

Maika has some very talented family and friends. All of these items are handmade.

Grandma & Grandpapa visited

After months of planning we were blessed to have Erik's parents visit us. They were with us 7 nights in total and had a great time with Maika. One day they got to babysit all by themselves for about an hour and a half and pulled it off like pros. We did a little sightseeing, but our time was mostly spent just hanging out. They were also able to spend several days in Suwa where Sarah lives. Having more people around didn't seem to bother Maika all that much, but since her daytime routine was a bit out of whack, she would wake up once through the night. Now she is back to sleeping a good 9 hours each night for which we thank the Lord.

Grandma made Maika a Raggedy Ann

Grand"papa" with his "Maika Sweetcheeks"

A bath picture for a future boyfriend to see

Sleeping in the sling is very cozy

Lounging around before bed