“I see she has a new rag doll too,” I said, unfastening her from her harness and picking both her and the doll up.
“Yes. No yarn hair or strings, it’s safety rated for her age,” Mom said. “It reminded me of Holly Hobby with its patchwork dress and bonnet.”
“Only in purple and pink,” Aunt Lucy added. “They have another one in yellow and green, which we’ll get her later. We didn’t want to overwhelm her with too much all at once.”
“Oh, also the ladies at church rounded up a whole bunch of vintage Fisher Price toys, along with some new ones their grandkids have outgrown. There are Weebles and a Hickory Dickory Clock toy you can later use to teach her time, and a whole bunch more we’ll keep back for when she’s a little older, but the Rocking Saucer and Jumperoo in your dad’s car I thought you’d like to take with you up to the ship, as well as the chime ball and the Sesame Street baby gym and tummy time play mat.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I’ll load it up and make sure it gets to your quarters,” our pilot said with a grin.
Kittinir and Carl took the car seat on board and followed the instructions to fit it to the shuttle seat, then I placed her in it and strapped her in.
“She suddenly looks even smaller sitting in that.”
“Well, it is made to fit up to age five rearwards and up to age twelve forwards. Let’s use the baby headrest. There. That’s better. Now her head is supported better, and it won’t flop sideways if she falls asleep.”
The pilot finished loading the rest of the things they’d brought.
“Have fun, sweetheart,” Mom said, kissing me on the cheek. “Take lots of pictures so we can show everyone how much fun you’re all having and how adorable my new grandbaby is.”
“I will, Mom,” I laughed.
“I’m sure he sent you an email already or whatever, but the doc gave her a clean bill of health. He confirmed the lack of any heart abnormalities, said the lower muscle tone is pretty par for the course and something to be worked on as she grows, but not to worry a whole lot about it. She ran a little fever and was grumpy an hour after her shots, but slept like a log and woke up hungry and back to her happy little self.” Dad let out a little sniff. “She’s the purest soul I’ve ever met, including you as a baby. She’s going to be one of the biggest blessings we’ve ever been privileged to enjoy.”
“Make sure when you get back to the ship, to see about baby swimming classes. When you boys come down with her to the Keys, I want to let her enjoy my pool and be safe around it. There’s a gate and a cover, but while we’re all barbecuing and enjoying a swim, she should get to as well and not just be confined full time to a floaty seat thingmajig.”
“Understood,” I smiled at my father-in-law. “I think it’s a good idea for general safety concerns.”
He gave me a nod, looking satisfied that I was taking him seriously.
“How was Floof with her?” I asked, as we’d arranged for Winchell to put her in her carrier and bring her to the shuttle this morning, as he’d cat sat for us the night after the wedding.
“He was fine. Gave her a sniff and then climbed into the pack and play with her. Curled right up against her, started purring, and they went to sleep together.” Aunt Lucy held up her phone. “Look, I took a photo. I’ll email it to you along with the others I took.”
“Thanks, Aunt Lucy.“
“Aww, they are so cute together. I bet they become best friends,” Carl said, melting at the sight.
“I think your pilot is waiting on you,” Dad said, and after another quick round of good-byes, we were off.
35
KITTINIR
Disney with a baby was indeed fun, though not the fun I had initially expected, before becoming a father. We ended up taking turns going on some of the rides and others we skipped entirely, deciding to ride them on future visits as Alice Mae grew. The best part wasn’t the rides though, but the huge smiles she had from all of the attention showered on her from the characters and several of the guests.
Tokyo was a great city to walk and travel by train, and we ended up eating out at so many different places I nearly lost track of where we’d gone. Bakeries, noodle bars, cafes, mom and pop fast food outlets serving fried chicken, burgers, pizza, and more. Not to mention the barbecue places and the 7-11’s with their bento offerings. We bought several large shopping bags full of snacks to take back with us, even though I was pretty certain we could order them shipped up or replicated under license.
The onsen visit was a pleasant respite, the grandmotherly proprietor cooing over and insisting we leave Alice Mae with her while we enjoyed the hot spring. The highlight of that trip, however, was the monkeys who came to soak, staring at us as if we were interlopers they decided to let stay and enjoy the waters with them.
Osaka was a seafood lover’s paradise and the neon signs reminded me of a few merchant cities on some of the heavily populated planets I’d been to over the years. They made for great night photos, of which we took several. The okonomiyaki was an interesting food experience we all enjoyed and Alec spent part of the evening afterwards looking up simple but authentic recipes so he could attempt to make them from scratch at home.
Our final day we were happy but tired and ready to go home. After checking out from our hotel, we decided to hit the Hello Kitty store to pick up a few toys and things for Alice Mae, returning to our rented van with far too many plushies, as well as crib sheets, a throw, a set of curtains to hang where a ‘window’ would be created in her room, a rug, baby dresses and head bands, a changing mat, and framed pictures. Then we were off to Ikea where we had some of their famous meatballs. The store was some kind of maze which impressed me with how captive it kept its customers while luring them with smaller goods tantalizing available to simply place within one’s cart and the larger furniture on display that could be picked up in the warehouse area by the exit, right before the checkouts. The free measuring tapes and tiny pencils and paper to write down the product numbers to make planning and purchasing easier was especially clever.
The baby section had everything we needed to create a beautiful, safe, fun space for our daughter. One ‘room’ was set up with a white crib and matching dresser with a changing table top.
“The white will look great with all the pink and white Hello Kitty stuff we just got,” Alec declared.
