Xander's 3rd birthday

Xander working the candles

Xander attacking the cupcake

He somehow escaped getting shots during his 3 year checkup. I’m sure he was very disappointed about that. So despite the fact that he seems to be eating less than Kayden, he’s actually still a pretty big kid. The measurements were…

• Weight: 38 pounds (90th percentile)
• Height: 41″ (95th percentile)

We all managed to survive year one with Destructor…er…I mean Kayden. We celebrated the occasion last Saturday and unleashed her on her first cupcake. I think Tammy was secretly hoping for a face-first, cupcake everywhere dervish, but unfortunately that didn’t materialize. Amazingly, she was borderline dainty with the thing.

Kayden's 1st birthday

Kayden's first cupcake

Kayden enjoying the cupcake

Kayden really enjoying that cupcake

As our gift to her, she was dragged to the pediatrician, poked, prodded, and generally required multiple strong people to hold her down.

• Weight: 21 pounds, 4.5 ounces (50th percentile)
• Height: 31″ (90-95th percentile)
• Head circumference: 18.5″

It looks like she’s growing on a taller trajectory than the last checkup. My theory is she’s willing her legs to grow longer so she can self-propel herself on Xander’s Pooh train.

Kayden hit the 9 month mark last month and yes, it really has taken me this long to get around to posting the vital stats. Here they are:

• Weight: 19 pounds, 11 ounces (50-75th percentile)
• Height: 28″ (75th percentile)
• Head circumference: 18″

It looks like her growth rate is slowing down a bit, unlike big brother. My back thanks you already.

Kayden is walking full speed now. She’s exploring the house at will and leaving a path of destruction in her wake. Favorites at the moment include attempting to climb on top of things, attacking the toilet paper, and tormenting Xander.

As if her size wasn’t a dead giveaway, Kayden definitely loves to eat. She’s been getting more and more solids as of late and she’s loving every minute of it.

Kayden eats egg

Kayden attacks the apple

In case you were wondering what all the late-night screaming was about last week, Kayden was working on sprouting her first tooth. It’s been a challenge trying to get a photo of it since she’s not a fan of the camera’s flash…so every time we bust out the camera, the smiles go away. Here’s the best I could do to document the little lower chopper.

Kayden's first tooth

The economy is still melting down, we’ve had our first major storm of the season, and Kayden is sitting up and semi-crawling!

Kayden sitting up

She’s now at the 7 month mark and from what we all can recall (it’s a haze though), she’s a lot stronger than Xander was at this point. The point here: don’t mess with Kayden.

I forgot to post her vital stats for the 6 month checkup…my excuse? I was on the other side of the planet. Better late than never so here we go:

• Weight: 18 pounds, 1/2 ounce (75-90th percentile)
• Height: 27.5″ (90th percentile)
• Head circumference: 17.25″ (75th percentile)

Xander is up to his usual tricks, hoarding toys and not letting little sis play with anything. Here he is making short work of a bagel.

Xander vs bagel

View of Pudong from Bar Rouge’s terrace on The Bund.

View of The Bund from Pudong.

The Shanghai World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower peek through buildings in Pudong.

Up at the Cloud 9 bar on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao Tower, there are spectacular views of Pudong and The Bund.

Downstairs and outside, looking back up at the Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center.

The last time I was in Tokyo, I had a completely transcendent experience with tonkatsu. It was so good, I haven’t been able to look at tonkatsu the same way since. This time, it was a mind-blowing experience with tempura. We hit a tempura restaurant in Ginza and ponied up to the bar downstairs. It was us, the chef, and more tempura-able ingredients than you could shake a stick at. Even the special dipping salts and seasonings were amazing. Here I am taking on shrimp on a stick.

I’m not a fan of curry, but I haven’t experience Japanese curry before. It was sweeter and lighter than your typical south Asian variety, and added to tonkatsu, rice, and a scrambled egg…heaven.

Some interesting signs spotted around Tokyo.

I’m not quite sure what precipitated this, but this is an ad campaign found throughout the Tokyo Metro system. I guess one too many people were winding up with wet umbrellas.

Over at the Senso-ji temple, an amusing sign reiterates that pigeons can indeed get food by themselves.

There was noticeably less smoking in Tokyo compared with a few years ago. One of the reasons seems to be this anti-smoking campaign found on sidewalks everywhere. Rather than smoking while walking, there seem to be designated smoking spots on streets.

Before I pass out for the night, here are a few images of Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood by night.

Just up the street from the hotel is the Kabuki-za Theater that, just as it sounds, hosts kabuki performances.

A few minutes north in the heart of Ginza is Chuo-dori (Chuo Street) where all the big-time department stores and brands have storefronts. These two photos were taken from the middle of the shopping madness near the Ginza subway exit. The first one is looking southwest

and this one is looking northeast.