Achtung!

We really should be packing for our big move to Rostock, Germany, but since we hate packing, we're so procrastinating it until God knows when. Junji will be spending his one-year sabbatical pursuing his research at the Max Planck Institute and he wants the family to go along. Which will be even nicer if it didn't mean having to pack up our apartment, with two babies in the house!

I met a lovely German woman at the Urayasu International Center yesterday...

"Rostock!?!" she exclaimed. "It's REALLY COLD there!"
"But it's beautiful in spring and summer," she consoled.

Great. It's probably something like up the northest end of Hokkaido. Junji's wish comes true. He has always wanted to see what it's like living in some remote town in Hokkaido.

Ready or not... Rostock, here we come!

Development milestone

Marisa used to prefer just lying on her back and fussed each time I turned her over. Not anymore. She has finally realized that in this position, she is capable of moving a lot more and getting a whole new perspective of the world. Tummy time is starting to get real fun!

Daddy's birthday

"Enough already with the clicking and flashing. We want cake!"
(Picture of daddy and the girls he has "achieved" by age 37.)

On January 23rd, daddy got a year older. Initially Minori couldn't understand why she wasn't the one to blow out the candles but I think eventually she didn't care as long as she could have her cake.

Many happy returns of the day, daddy!

Hirayu onsen

This entry should really be part of our new year report. We made our annual skiing/snowboarding trip to Hirayu with jiiji and baaba again at the turn of the year!

In between coming down the slopes, Minori and I built things that looked like snowmen, or snow robots? Whatever they were, we had fun.





Marisa was quite content to just sleep the day away...


...waking up only when she wanted to eat or take a dip in the onsen (hot spring)!

New year report

Our new year blog entry is SO late and I'm half tempted to skip it all together, but there was just so much excitement at the Kageyama house in Okazaki on Jan 1 this year that it will be selfish not to share it.

With two babies - Marisa and her slightly older cousin Yuno - under the age of 5 months under the same roof, crying was inevitably heard in the house every now and then. (Picture: Uncle Keiju with nieces -- a very pretty Yuno and Marisa who looks like she's about to burst into tears from sleep deprivation and too much attention).


Two preschoolers, Minori and her 3-year-old cousin Mizuki, and 6-year-old Kanata were often seen, or heard rather, laughing or screaming or chasing each other around the house. (Picture: Minori looking like one of the boys).


Here's a picture of Marisa spending some quality time with her Jiiji after the other cousins have returned to their respective homes.


Minori plucked flowers from Jiiji's garden...


...while Marisa awaits patiently.


The family picture... it was impossible to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time!

Marissa to Marisa

Marisa is now spelled with a single "s". When applying for her passport, the officer said her romanized name has to correspond to her Japanese name (which is まりさ, for those who can read Japanese fonts). We've received feedback from family and friends that "Marisa" is actually a lot easier to NOT misspell, so we're not complaining.

So there you have it, folks, we now have Minori and MARISA.

Happy new year!

We start the new year with a new blog to accommodate baby Marisa, the newest addition in our family. Although the previous blog, World of Minori, will continue to exist, from now on we will be posting on this site instead.

Please continue to keep in touch with us here!