Noah turned one on March 17, and we all sat down and celebrated over a Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake. Noah too. He loves ice cream!



He got some presents too. From his Japanese grandparents, he got some nice Ralph Lauren clothes. And from Grandma in the US, he got a Leap Frog train!



Finally from Mommy and Daddy, he got a learning playset, also made by Leap Frog. You can probably tell we are big fans of this company! And though this was Noah's new toy, we had a hard time keeping Anri and Sara away from it. Here is a photo of the girls hogging the thing while Noah waits his turn. He didn't have to wait long.




More photos will be posted soon.

Noah became one month old on the 17th, and on the 20th we took him to a Shinto Shrine for o-miya-mairi, a Japanese custom whenever there is an addition to the family.

The ritual done in the shrine is short, involving a Shinto priest pounding a drum and reciting a number of chants to alert the Shinto gods about presence of the new baby. While we have done this twice before with Anri and Sara, this was the first time with a baby boy, and Noah was wrapped in a child-size silk kimono for the occasion (girls in Japan get more lavish attention later on in their development). The kimono was a gift from Tomomi's parents, as is common with these things, and it is specifically designed and sized to drape the boy when he is an infant, while at the same time allow him to wear it when he is five for his Shichi-go-san.

Aside from this, the only other thing that happens when a baby reaches one month is the ordinary one-month check-up. Both Noah and Tomomi are fine.

After five days in the maternity clinic, Tomomi and Noah finally came home today.



Noah was awake for a short time before we headed out, but was asleep again by the time we got him downstairs and into the car. The entire on-duty nurse staff at the clinic saw us off at the front door. Tomomi remarked that her holiday was over, having spent five days in this clinic -- a place that more resembles an upscale hotel than a hospital.

More photos, including those taken today are now up. You can view them here. And a video of Noah is here.

Our first son, Noah Zane Grey, was born today, arriving two weeks before the due date and weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces. He was born at 7:10 pm Japan time at the Shimizu Clinic (link in Japanese only) in Nagano. Both Tomomi and Noah are doing fine.



The whole event began at around 2:30 am on the 17th, when Tomomi began feeling labor pains. We went to the clinic right away, but the doctor said it would be a long time before delivery. Although we could have chosen to have Tomomi stay at the clinic during all that time, the doctor said she could just as well wait out the time at home, so that's what she did.

Until about 4pm, that is. By then, the contractions had grown in intensity so Tomomi's aunt drove her back to the clinic. I was in lessons at the time, and had another 40 minutes of a lesson to go when she called, saying she had just arrived at the clinic. This was 5:15pm.

At 5:30, I got out of my lesson and cancelled the rest of them for the evening. I busted out of the place and headed right for the clinic. I was almost too late, too. When I got there, I found Tomomi in the delivery room all strapped up and ready to push. Finally, at 7:10pm, Noah was born.

Noah is writtenwith each character for each syllable of the name. The name Noah was chosen because it is a Biblical name but can also be written easily in Japanese. The characters in this name, in order, mean "hope" and "us".

Tomomi will be in the clinic for the next five nights. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will visit the clinic and get my first chance to hold my son in my arms. Looking forward to it.

Photos are being uploaded daily. To see them, click here.

UPDATE: Video of Noah is now up. You can see a clip of him here!

UPDATE: I have moved the somewhat icky birth photos to a new album here.