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happy 2011 (year of the rabbit)

Best wishes to all of you!!

2010 was a year that went by fast, and as a result we didn’t get a chance to keep you all as posted on developments as we wanted.

The biggest update is that (you probably spotted it in the photo....) we are expecting baby number 2 at the end of January 2011! Thankfully it’s been a smooth pregnancy again, let’s hope the birth will be as well.

Here goes a write up of the year, in overview:
• In January we went to Australia to celebrate Mayra’s 1st birthday there. We had a lovely time together with family and friends, enjoying the warmth of Ozzie summer. Mayra started walking!

• In April-May we went to the Netherlands to enjoy an early holiday and go see the blooming flowers. Manuel’s family joined us there from Australia, so we had a big family reunion. It was great, the weather was great, we biked a lot, saw many things, ate lots of cheese (Mayra looooooves it too), and recharged on seeing family and friends. And as a bonus it turned out we came back pregnant!

• June was when we bought a car, and it arrived on Brechtje’s birthday! It’s very luxurious to have one, and a nice one it is too (Honda Stream), able to stuff many things in the back, or alternatively seat 7 people. Japan is great to purchase second hand items because they are still like new. I (Brechtje) have never owned a car before, so I feel very “grown up” now, haha!

• During July-August-September we reaped the benefits of our improved lifestyle by taking some trips to the beach, which allowed us to get through the hot summer months. We also looked into moving to a bigger apartment, but eventually decided it wasn’t worth the investment and the hassle, since we plan to leave Japan in 2011.

• In October Brechtje & Mayra made another trip to the Netherlands. No holiday or social visit this time but a busy 3 weeks of completing the big task of sorting though 24 years of belongings and furniture, from my life in the Netherlands before I unexpectedly moved to Japan. It was a full-on job (especially at 27 weeks pregnant), but I realized it would be easier to do now, then in 2011 with two kids…. Results were pretty good: I managed to decrease my belongings with about 75%. The rest is in storage for now. While I was at work with the many boxes, Mayra got a chance to bond with her oma and opa, which was wonderful as well. They took several fun trips to the local kinderboerderij (pet farm).

• December was the month for many rehearsals and performing in 3 concerts (Brechtje).
Also, the introduction of the Dutch sinterklaas celebrations to Mayra. We went to see him and his zwarte pieten arrive by boat in the bay in Yokohama, and participated in the festivities afterwards. All made a lasting impression: Mayra is still asking me to sing her the songs! She prefers seeing and hearing about Sinterklaas over Santa Claus (HA, that’s my girl!).

Mid-December my (Brechtje’s) parents arrived from the Netherlands. For Christmas we took a 3-day trip to Mashiko with them, a real nice pottery town. Our last bigger outing before the baby will be born . We stayed at the Forest Inn, a real nice eco-friendly hotel there bordering the woods. Got a chance to see Jupiter through the hotel’s telescope as well.
New year’s eve we celebrated together with my brother & his fiancee, and friends.
Mum and dad will stay until mid-March, so when the baby is born and we’re back home from the birth center, mum will be there to help. She did that as well when Mayra is born, and how wonderful it is that she can be there again.

Mayra Dilan said goodbye to being a baby in 2010 and swiftly turned into a toddler. At about 1.5 years we completely stopped breastfeeding (this coincided with me being pregnant).
She changed daycare centers and though it was a bit difficult for her at the beginning, she now loves going there, on average twice a week.
By the end of the year Mayra weighs 11.8 kg; wears size 86; has 8 teeth plus 4 molars; her curly hair (that has never been cut yet) reaches to over her shoulders when wet, and most noticeably: she speaks in 3 languages! Makes 4-word sentences in Dutch, followed closely by Japanese, and her Spanish is picking up rapidly as well. Manuel and I don’t speak English to Mayra directly but I get the impression she understands much more than we might think, just from listening to us when we speak to each other.
It’s absolutely amazing to see Mayra develop and grow every day, and to realize what she can do, understand and say at the age of not even 2. She is a bright one, picks up on things quickly and (especially with talking) seems to be ahead of her age group.
Mayra seems to have jump-started her “terrible two’s” as well. The little lady certainly has a mind of her own and knows very well what she wants or doesn’t want! This is especially applicable to food, her wardrobe and wearing diapers (or not). She often insists to wear normal underwear, which is fine (even though it can get messy), but is not yet doable when we are not at home. Mayra has a great interest in toilets and flushing them and did start potty training, but the latter comes and goes in waves and is a casual work in progress. We are not pushing her either. It’ll come when she’s ready. 3 weeks ago she did her very first actual pee on the potty though!
Anyway, it’s very good that Mayra has her opinion about things, but simply has to learn to obey as well. Thankfully things seem to have settled a bit --at least for now-- and she is ready to become a big sister. Mayra loves babies and her very caring nature certainly comes out whenever a baby is around. She is also incredibly sweet for me and my big round belly! All out of her own initiative she goes and gets my slippers or shoes, helps me get up, lifts up my (heavy!) bag to give it to me when going out, helps rub oil on my belly, etc. All very touching.

Mayra’s interests of the past couple of months:
Favorite game: ”matte, matte” (kind of a ‘catch me if you can’), and playing ‘tent’.
Favorite color: blue
Favorite books: ”Nu-Nu-Nu” – a great illustration book by Japanese artist Gomi Taro, about a friendly ghost that says “boo” (’nu‘ in Japanese). Recently also much into ’Dikkie Dik‘ en ’Jip & Janneke‘.
Passion: music and dancing. She keeps on surprising me that she silently listens to a song several times, and then starts singing the whole thing a couple of days later, with full lyrics and all! Most recent one is ’head, shoulders knees and toes‘ (in English).
Favorite character: anpanman
Favorite food: fruit, rice, bread, cheese (any kind!), raisins. Ah, and chocolate as a special treat…
Loves watching (on the street): any kind of construction machine at work, but especially the ones that dig dirt.
Loves watching (on youtube): Sesamstraat; sign language; Pingu; Pocoyo
Loves watching (on TV): inaai inaai baa; pytagoras switchy; eigo de asobo (though at home we don’t have a TV and therefore she doesn’t get to watch these shows often.)

Manuel is still working as an IT engineer at Shinsei Bank. He had a couple of very busy months towards the end of the year due to the bank head office moving locations. Nothing exciting to report about his job unfortunately. Lets just say that things will chance in the future.
On Sunday mornings he enjoys his bike rides, and on Saturdays he and Mayra have some special daddy-daughter time when he takes her to her swim class (now that my belly got to big for me to take her during the week).

Brechtje is now with maternity leave but has been working 2 days a week (continuing freelance art direction/graphic design). It was not a very busy year work-wise. Partly because the economy still hasn’t picked up. Partly because I didn’t do a lot of networking and acquisition, since 2 days/week fill up surprisingly quickly.
In the second half of the year I went back to singing with the British Embassy Choir again, which was great. I even had a little solo in the Christmas family concert!

2011
The new year will be a year of change: very exciting, very full and presumably also very hectic. Starting with Mayra Dilan turning two on January 14, and becoming a big sister soon after. If our bub times it well, it is even possible that Manuel might receive a verrrry special present on his birthday (the 29th)! We’ll see…. Then, Brechtje’s brother Elvin (also living in Tokyo) will be getting married, after which –at some point this summer– we plan to do our big move to Australia. It’s been 10~11 years for us to have been in Tokyo, and it’s finally time to look up space, nature, and be a bit closer to more family. Ah and did we mention having more space?

Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for baby news!

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