Leaving, on a Jet Plane

We'll be in the air in less than twenty-four hours! Assuming, of course, that Typhoon Usagi doesn't speed up and veer east like the last one did - that made the last one miss us; it would make this one hit us. Today I made a trip up to Babies 'R' Us for some baby food and other last-minute items while Mike and Chloe hung out in the hotel room. Here's Chloe, just up from her nap, zoned out on the tube (gakkk), and ever-so-malleable (Mike notes that she really did grab the remote and pull it toward her - she is her daddy's girl!)... ...and I enjoyed Japan for one last time. It was fun to reminisce about what things were like when we first arrived here, and think about how helpless I felt in being so unable to communicate. As poor as my Japanese remains, there's power in being able to tell the cashier that I don't want that point card! I had a good time choosing some new baby food for Chloe, including some teething biscuits. Ooooh, what shall it be??? Fish flavored? Seaweed? Green tea? I went with none of the above - er, below - and think that I selected a pretty plain variety. On my way back to the subway station, I saw a butterfly flitting around and decided to try to get a photo of it. Japan has some beautiful butterflies - I kind of wish I'd tried a little harder to photograph them in the past couple years, but it actually just occurred to me that I ought to try a few weeks ago.

I was suckered into an impulse buy at Babies 'R' Us and bought a bottle of bubbles. It was fun to watch Chloe trying to figure them out. At first she just stared at them, but soon was trying to grab them and bite them. Darn bubbles! They kept disappearing! So weird. The lighting was too low, so it's a bit blurry.