The square room

I thought I would start by doing a post for each room and explaining how we're using them so far. Today's room is the square room! The square room is the only room with a flat surface. This means that with a baby, it's the room that gets the most use. We use it as our bedroom at night, and as a nursery during the day.

Here's the room as you look in:



The door is strangely the only Japanese thing about the whole apartment...



During the day we fold our futons up so that we have more floor space:



And at night we roll them out to sleep on. They cover almost the entire floor space!



We have a baby-sized futon that I was planning to put Elliott in at night, but at the moment he sleeps on my futon at night. With no crib and space at a premium, we are "attachment parenting" by default!



I hope to use the baby-sized futon for naps during the day, because for now he ends up looking like this:



There is next to no storage in our Reversible Destiny Loft and no free-standing furniture, but in the square room there is a rod hanging from the ceiling that we use to hang clothes on:



Unlike in Canada, there's no space for a change table for the baby, so during the day we keep a waterproof pad laid out for easy nappy changes. At night it's a free-for-all. We're lucky there haven't been any accidents so far!



The carpet you see in the above photo is a "hot carpet", which means when it's turned on the whole floor is toasty warm. This is good, considering there isn't central heating in our loft! We've been keeping the carpet turned on at night to keep us warm.

So there you have it! The square room!

Everyday activities (1)

We are slowly setting up house in our Reversible Destiny Loft. We're so new to our life here that it's hard not to compare things to life in Toronto. It's very cold without central heating... I miss putting Elliott down in just a receiving blanket, and having easy access to his nappy when we only had to dress him in one layer! Elliott wears three layers in the loft, and I am testing out swaddling him in a thick blanket for naps:



Our apartment in Toronto was about as big as our loft in Tokyo, but unlike Toronto we don't have space for the usual baby paraphernalia here. Instead of a change table I keep a waterproof pad set up in our bedroom here, with supplies on hand. Poor Elliott really hates it when I dab him with frozen Vaseline with my frozen fingers! Such wailing!! I wonder if I will ever see him giggle and play as he used to when I changed his nappy at home...



We ventured out with Elliott this afternoon. We went in our usual manner, with Elliott tucked up in his stroller. Even a short walk to get lunch at McDonald's and to the supermarket for supplies made me realise that our Canadian-sized stroller will not work in Tokyo-sized spaces! We took up too much room at our table in McDonald's, and although the air-filled tires on our stroller are great for pushing through snow-filled streets in Toronto they are not great for pushing through narrow aisles in the supermarket in Tokyo. I noticed a lot of babies in carriers rather than in strollers while we were out, and I think I will try the same from now on.

Travelling

We started our day at 5am on Monday. All went very smoothly, and Elliott slept the whole way in the taxi to the airport. He woke up for a quick feed at Starbucks (I'm pretty sure he knows what Starbucks smells like!) and then we went through customs to the waiting area. Customs was a little irritating, as everyone knows. I was asked to take Elliott out of the carseat even though he was napping. Evil glares at the customs officer made no difference to the situation!

Once we got to our gate, we discovered that our flight had been delayed an hour. Never mind, I thought, this is Air Canada. There were sure to be delays. Soon after that, we were told the flight would be delayed another three hours. Screw you Air Canada, I thought. Don't you know I'm travelling with a baby?!

The wait passed somewhat uneventfully, aside from the fact that both mummy and baby needed multiple changes of clothing. Then it was time to board! Grant stood in awe as I politely pushed past all the people who thought that "Those boarding with small children" meant they didn't need a child in arms to start lining up! When we got on the plane there was more polite persuading as I managed to ask several people to move seats so that I could have access to a bassinet for Elliott. Considering we had discount tickets I was way overstepping my mark, but I dreaded the thought of not having a place to put the baby down for 13 hours so I wanted my bassinet, dammit!

The bassinet was interesting. Here's a photo of the width of it:



And of Elliott sleeping in it:



Elliott slept for most of the flight. He seemed to have a sixth sense about when the meal cart was coming, and conveniently fell asleep in the bassinet just before our food arrived every time. He's such a kind baby! I had time to finish a two hour movie during the 13 hour flight, and it was such a refreshing feeling to have seen one of the latest Hollywood movies! Elliott watched a bit of TV at one point too. It wasn't his favourite TV show Jeopardy, but apparently it was still fun!



Then we were in Tokyo! I needed to change and feed Elliott before we left the airport to drive to the Reversible Destiny Lofts, so I went in search of a place to do that. I found a family-sized bathroom in the ladies toilets, and wonder of wonders there was an adult-sized bed as the change table! According to the wonderful friend who came to pick us up from the airport that is not the norm, but I was so glad of a comfortable spot to nurse Elliott after such a long flight. Even if it was in a toilet!



Elliott slept the whole car ride to the Reversible Destiny Lofts, and also gave us a chance to rest most of the night before popping awake right at his usual Jeopardy time!

Google Maps

One of the great things about living in the internet age is that you need never be lost thanks to Google Maps. This time next week I will have met a group of English-speaking mums who meet every month in Shibuya, Tokyo. I know exactly where they meet thanks to Street View! It made me think that my dear readers might like to take a virtual walk around my new neighbourhood. So if you are familiar with Google Maps, copy and paste 〒181-0015 東京都三鷹市大沢2-2-8 into the address box and enjoy!

Thoughts before leaving Canada...

It's hard to say if Shusaku Arakawa considered babies when he designed his Reversible Destiny Lofts. Perhaps not, because as my husband says "How far can you reverse a baby's destiny anyway?!"

Arakawa's philosphy is that by keeping yourself constantly on edge, you can trick your body into remaining youthful and therefore stay alive forever. His motto is "We have decided not to die"... or should I say was. He passed way in 2010... In keeping with his philosophy he designed the Reversible Destiny Lofts in Tokyo, Japan.

Reversible Destiny Lofts look quite tricky to live in, even as an adult. The floor in the main living space is bumpy and the texture of sandpaper, making me wonder how a baby could learn to crawl while living there. The bathroom only has a clear shower column, making me wonder how bathing an infant could be done safely. There is no space for the type of furniture we use in Canada, so I wonder if breastfeeding on the floor will go smoothly. One room is perfectly spherical, which makes me imagine my child as a life-sized hamster scrambling to get out. Personal belongings are strung from hooks in the ceiling rather than kept in shelves, tempting me to attach my baby to one in a Jolly Jumper!

I have spent a lot of time speculating on how I will raise my baby for three months in a work of art. In a little under two weeks, I get to find out!