ZUSSO kids

kaito's hair at 1 year and 6 months, was getting too long and bushy so we went to ZUSSO kids to get his 1st haircut. He was totally excited that he hopped into the seat (shaped like a car), but once the cape was on and he saw the scissors, he was in tears.

Of course I wasn't able to get any shots of him getting the haircut but as you can tell from the photo he looks and feels fresh

I'm glad I took him to get his first haircut at a professional place. The people are used to crying and kids that move around and easily soothe the kids with toys while quickly getting the haircut done!
http://zussokids.1755.net/

KID-O-KID

We went to KID-O-KID.
The reason was cause kaito is obsessed with plarails that I wanted to see if he'd be interested in other stuff and wanted to get him a new toy.

But....

even at KID-O-KID he was glued to the train section...Now that I recall it was the same situation at Pierette too.

Other areas have puzzles, wooden tools to play with like daddy, a ball pool, etc.


Compared to Pierette, KID-O-KID (Tama Plaza) is smaller. Pierette has a sandbox, circuit, a cafe but KID-O-KID is great cause it's in the shopping mall connected to the train station.

Pierette is 600Yen/30 mins (if over 110 mins. the flat rate is 1400 Yen)
http://www.pierette.jp/
KID-O-KID is also 600Yen/30 mins (or a day pass is 1500 Yen)
http://www.bornelund.co.jp/asobi/kidokid.html
Adults are also charged at both places

It's too cold to play outside so places like these are great.

BTW, kaito's new toy

even since we got home, it's been keeping him busy.
FYI, if you want new toys, toys at Bornelund are gonna be on sale from Jan. 22-27

Surgery Doll ERWIN

kaito has a new friend Erwin

But he's not like any other doll cause you can take-out his organs.

It's a doll that will get your kids interested in the human body. kaito keeps taking out and putting away the parts but of course the heart, lungs and other parts aren't in the right position (LOL).

Each organ(heart, intestine, lungs) is a different color and there's a color-coded velcro strip to tell you which parts are connected.

Of course, it's still too early to understand the organs or even say the names but he's just happy to carry him around for now.

You can get it here

http://www.bornelund.co.jp/ec/detail.php?category=5&category2=05006&id=4842

Eneloop

Things have finally settled down for us.

Ever since the holidays, kaito(mommy & daddy too)came down w/ a cold and from the start of 2011, kaito fell from a chair and broke his collarbone.

But luckily he's been occupied with all the new and old(hand-me-down) plarail trains he has now and can pretty much say the names to all of them.

We have so many trains that we've switched our batteries to Eneloop(rechargable batteries).
Another environmentally friendly year!

Takoyaki Maker

We've had a Takoyaki Maker for a while now but totally forgot about it until a few days ago when Sota kept saying "I wanna make takoyaki" (influenced by watching Anpanman cartoon). So today we made takoyaki(octopus fritters).

Sota knows the difference between what's hot and dangerous so we let him help us add the ingredients and turn the fritters.

It was good to see Sota having fun cause til then, I thought that the purchase of the Takoyaki Maker was a mistake...the one we have is a cheap one where the pan can't be removed to wash and it takes up alot of room when you wanna put it away. But the Takoyaki Maker can also be used to make other stuff and since it makes so many at once, it can be frozen which will proabably be good for when Sota starts school and needs to bring lunch.


Here's a site with recipes for the Takoyaki Maker (only in Japanese)→http://www.geocities.jp/oishiicamp/campdeko-suryuu/takoyakimeijinn/takoyakimeijin1.html


Takoyaki Mix and Takoyaki Maker's (cheap ones are for about 1000 Yen) are sold at supermarkets so if you like takoyaki, why not get a Takoyaki maker - it can be a fun party activity.

Rice Krispie Treats

Lately, Sota's been into eating marshmallows which reminded me of my childhood and the rice krispie treats I made/eat with my mom.

The normal Rice Krispies is hard to find in Japan but the chocolate krispies is pretty much in any cereal aisle and you can pretty much find a small(110g) bag of marshmallows for about 100 Yen anywhere.

So, as you probably already know...to make these treats, melt 1tbsp butter and bag of marshmallow together (be careful so it doesn't burn). Once marshmallow is totally melted turn off the heat and pour in 3.5 cups of the krispies and mix together quickly. Press mixture into a buttered pan, let cool and cut!

It's so easy & soo good that I'm definitely gonna make it again.

*The only thing about this recipe is that the melted marshmallow is pretty much glues to the pan so it's hard to wash! (LOL)

Kakizome (New Years Calligraphy)

The Japanese New Years has many traditions and this year, for the first time Sota tried kakizome (a traditional New Years calligraphy).

But obviously Sota can't write yet, and using real ink would become a huge mess so we used the special paper that can be written on with water. (It dries in a few minutes so you can use it as many times as you want).

http://mizukakigoo.com/

(Japanese site only)

You use a brush to write so it feels like the real thing and the watermarks looks like real calligraphy. Of course this is great for kids to draw/write with (mess-free) but it's great for anyone who wants to practice Shuji.

Happy 2011!!