They took her stroller!

It was early... no, I mean EARLY when I had to roust two sleeping tofu-bunnies out of their crib and criblet to catch our 06:25 flight out of Narita.  We had a long flight ahead of us to get to Singapore to see Daddy.  Only for Daddy!

Maggie's stroller was a comfort to her, though.  We are out of the house so much (usually by Maggie's own preference), that it has become a second home.  She eats, sleeps and observes the world from her red stroller.  It had become so full of ground up snacks and bits of rice and spilled juices, in fact, that while Maggie was at school Arthur and I gave it two scrub-downs and a day in the sun before starting out on our adventure.

So there we were all dreary-eyed at the check-in counter for Jetstar Airways checking our barely-in-weight-limits 25 kg suitcase on the scale (that we had paid for ahead of time), when the impeccably coiffed and made-up attendant asked me "And how about the stroller?" What about the stroller?  It's going with us.  "You cannot take your stroller to the gate.  We have to check it." 

Oh, no way.  Having air-traveled via Haneda where you can't take a personal stroller through the gate, I had foreseen this possibility and chatted online with Jetstar staff the day before on the subject of strollers at Narita.  'Michael' of jetstar.com had said we could take our stroller to the gate.  'Megumi' dutifully nodded her head and stepped into the back.  I'm sure she spoke to no one behind the door, probably just checked her hair and watched a viral video someone shared with her.  She knew the drill, though.  When she came back, she had on her best bowed head and defeated pout.  "So sorry.  Call-center misinformation.  So sorry. So sorry."

I knew the drill, too.  We had already paid for 25 kg of checked luggage, and I had carefully packed all three of us for the next month and a half... (They say all it takes is diapers and love.  Well, that's a whole lotta love.)  Anyway, we weren't about to pay for more.  I feigned horror.  What do you want me to do?  Are you going to give me a stroller to use at the airport?  (They gave me an airport stroller at Haneda.)  You're not going to make me pay for this, too?  "I'm sorry.  It's Narita rule.  No strollers.  So sorry!  No, you don't have to pay."  And all of this carry-on luggage attached to the stroller?  "It's okay." 

Maggie, however, did not know this drill.  Nor did she have to 'feign' upset as I took her out of the stroller and folded it up.  She made quite the scene as poor Megumi tried as peacefully as possible to place the stroller on the scale.  Binky in mouth and bottle in hand, Maggie threw all 25 pounds of her bed-headed, pink stripey pajama clad existence into rescuing her stroller from the clutches of the airline.  Even though she failed to get her stroller back, at least she succeeded in making the airline and airport own up to its cruelty.

Well, we are in Singapore now with Daddy who put us up at the nicest, most family-friendly resort in Singapore.  Maggie seems to have forgotten the stroller incident for now.  Sorry there are no pics, but I accidentally left my iPhone.  We are working hard to rectify this situation, but for now thousands of words will have to do!

田中家の朝 (Morning at the Tanaka House)

 "田中" (Tanaka), the name of the owner of this house we live in, is etched in stone above the mail slot at the top of the steps.  I often wonder what Tanaka-san is up to at 5AM when his house becomes a hive of Tofu-bunny activity.

 Maggie likes to come downstairs and greet her baby brother Arthur FIRST THING.

 Her bottle is a close second, though.  Maggie has also discovered Mommy's little helper.  Lately she uses it to step up and remove all of the CD's from the CD rack.  Good thing we don't bother keeping them in any particular order.

Maggie has a few cartoons she likes to watch in the morning.  They are about as wholesome as it gets.  Her favorite character in the series is Sophia.  She likes to watch the Sophia episodes over and over again.  Good thing they are only a couple of minutes long each!  Sometimes I think the only reason she lets me do her hair is so that it can be in pigtails just like Sophia.  Here's Maggie readying her bag, just like Sophia.  You can click here to see the series online.  You can select your language in the upper right corner.  We watch them in French, of course! 

Maggie discovered the whale on the back of this magazine.  She is thrilled by sea creatures.  The points to it, looks up at me, and tries to imitate "baleine" (whale, in French).  Do my best not to giggle when she says "Blahblah" back at me very emphatically.  She also tries to say Arthur, Nemo (whom we watch some evening, albeit in Spanish), and "biberon" (bottle, in French).

Arthur likes to look out of the sliding glass doors onto the scene in the backyard or look up at me from his Boppy and coo adorably.

 Sunday mornings there is a lot of activity in the kitchen because that's when Daddy makes us pancakes.  Pancakes are quite an evolution.  Thank goodness Maggie is on the scene to help out.

We also have to decide what we are going to wear in the morning.  Maggie has quite the flair for picking out her outfits.  And she loves to accessorize.  Here she is in an increasingly unseasonable ensemble of her choosing.

I wish I could have gotten her to wear those a couple of months ago.  And this is what happens when Daddy picks out our outfit...

 We just love that Daddy!  Maggie just loves to select her own shoes, too.  Here she is pairing boots with a maxi... Move over Miley Cyrus!

Once Arthur is satisfied with the scene outside, he likes to sit up in someone's lap and survey the scene in the living room.

These days, it doesn't take very long before Maggie is done with the Tanaka House for the morning and ready to move on.  Here she is at 7AM trying to open the sliding glass door.  Good thing she hasn't figured out the locking mechanism on this one!

 And here it is, 7:15AM and we are on our way out the gate.  No outfit would be complete without an appropriate handbag.  Maggie has carefully selected hers from the offerings of our yard, evicted whatever arthropods were nesting in it, and carries on as if Coco Chanel had bequeathed it to her.  You go girl!

 Uh oh! Don't forget to shut that gate!

 Let's go!  On y va! Vamos! 行きましょね！

 Since nursery school isn't open until 8AM, we went to the playground.  One day you will be able to Click here to see some footage of the cutest thing ever to happen to a playground, but I'm having trouble with my movie editor, so I'll have to update the post or put it in another post.  I wish I could take more pictures on the playground, but my little mountain goat often requires both of my hands to keep her safe as she climbs to such great heights... And here we are on the yellow brick road to nursery school.

What could be cuter?  Two of them, I guess!