Tomomi went to the doctor again this week and came back with a 3D color ultrasound image of Baby #3. Though not the best image, you can see the baby's face, in profile, in the center, facing right.



Watching the video of the ultrasound is very interesting. This time, Tomomi's doctor, named Shimizu, has a much more sophisticated ultrasound machine, and even the b/w images are clearer than we have ever seen. Baby #3 moves around a lot. It makes us wonder what the baby will be like after birth.

Yesterday was the annual Halloween Party in Kamiyamada, and this year, Anri had a new costume!


She dressed up as Kiki the witch from the Miyazaki animated film Kiki's Delivery Service. Lots of people recognized her outfit, since this film is very popular. Anri's broom was a bit too heavy for her to carry around, but that's what Daddies are for. She and the other kids went all over the town getting candy and other treats from the various hotels and businesses that agreed to play along. Nobody here knows what trick-or-treating is, so it had to be explained to everybody and a large number of places agreed to participate.

More photos of this day, including Daddy's costume are viewable here.

Anri celebrated her first Shichi-go-san, a holiday meaning "7-5-3" that honors girls age 3 and 7 and boys age 5. It is a big milestone for kids in Japan, and the day typically involves getting dressed up, visiting a shrine to ask for prosperity, and taking lots of photos.



Anri's day started at 8am at Shizuko's salon, where she had her hair done up in the traditional style, complete with ornaments. Then it was off to Zozan Shrine in Matsushiro, a district of Nagano City. The purpose of the shrine visit -- more for the sake ot tradition than belief -- is to ask for good health and prosperity in her life. After a few photos and much admiration from others at the shrine, we headed off to the photographer's studio for pictures.

Anri was a good girl throughout the photo shoot, and stood smiling most of the time. We are very excited to see how the photos turned out, but we'll have to wait a week or so until they are ready.

In the meantime, there are some photos already viewable from our own camera and from Tomomi's cousin Megumi's camera. To view these photos, click here.