Friendship Day

It started like a fairly normal Saturday. Of course we have already packed out, so we have very little left in our house to entertain the boys. Ryan has his beloved Sophie Giraffe, so he was content. Justin is a little harder to keep happy. He is anxious about the move and it comes out in some less than desirable ways. Today was Friendship Day at the US Embassy (Tokyo) Housing Compound. Since we live right on the compound (at least until Friday!), it made sense to check it out. Lots of other people had the same idea and came out on this hot, humid day to celebrate, well, I guess friendship between the US and Japan.

The highlight had to be riding in the little fire engine bumper car type things. Justin actually enjoyed that. He got to go once with Mom and then a second time with Dad. We got there early before there was a line. I don't know how people manage to wait in long lines with a 2 1/2 year old. Justin isn't a big fan of standing still and waiting. Since he didn't have to, all went well.

I was so excited for him to jump in the moon bounce castle. We had to wait until a group of older kids got out, but then he had the chance to try it out all by himself. He didn't want to jump. He just stood there until he decided to sit. There he was, all by himself on the moon bounce doing absolutely nothing. Sigh. We moved on. I thought he would enjoy playing with a water balloon. I guess they do this in the US too. Little round balloons with a bit of water inside them are put on an elastic cord. It is like a mini punching ball. This reminds me of when I was a kid and my family lived in Japan. Of course this doesn't mean that I ever had one of these when I was in Japan. It very well could have been in the US or Europe. The memory makes me smile, so I guess we will just leave it as it is. Justin kept changing his mind as to which one he wanted. I ended up carrying it. He wanted to go home. We went home. Rob went back out to get us some food. After lunch, I decided to run downstairs and grab a soda (free). Justin had a fit and wanted to go too. Okay. We went down and ran into Lucas and his family. Lucas and Eli were having a meltdown, so the family came up to our apartment for awhile. Lucas ended up napping, though Justin did not. :( Eli and Tiny got to play. I got to have some time with Alicia. We went in and out a few times, Justin never really enjoying anything. How can you not enjoy the mist tunnel on a hot day?

Early in the day we encountered Sesame Street characters. Justin was a bit scared. We talked about how they were just pretend and that there were people inside them just like a Halloween costume. Justin wanted to go back out and see them. He told me they were not real and just costumes, but he refused to go near them. Oh well. Lucas did. Tiny and I got a pic with Cookie Monster too.


Later in the evening, Justin seemed to have recovered. He wanted to go to bed at about 5:00 PM, so we were challenged to keep him awake until closer to his real bedtime. He gets up early enough as it is.

Final Countdown

We are in our final few days in Tokyo. In under two weeks our adventure here will be complete. The movers have finished packing us out and I am ready to go now! We still have Internet and cable, so if it weren't for the kids this could be a rather relaxing time for me. Not a lot of responsibilities for me right now. The kids make the difference. Justin, once excited about the move, is now not so thrilled. How dare they put his toys on the truck! He keeps asking where a certain toy is and then letting us know that he does not want it to go on the slow boat to Namibia. A little late for that now. With so little in the house it would seem sensible to find things out of the house to do. Whenever we are out, Justin is anxious to get back home to Harris Tower. When I had someone watch Tiny for a few hours, Justin was frantic. He did not like having his brother gone. He was relieved when I "found" him again. We have gone over and over that mommies come back and that everyone in the Weber family will go on the big airplane together. He gets it somewhat. He can tell people all about what we are doing and is excited about seeing family and friends. The reality of seeing his things disappear is a bit unsettling for him though. Just wait until further reality hits him. 1. There is NOT snow at Grandma and Papa's house right now. There was when we left in February, and he seems to think it should still be there. 2. Our house in Namibia will not look anything like the duplo model he built.

We will miss the produce vendors who come each week. They think Justin is so cute (obviously don't live with him) and shower him with free extras--oranges, bananas, peaches, grapes...

Tiny will miss Eli, his baby buddy and brother of Justin's friend, Lucas. Justin has made a lot of friends here. I hope that he is able to make some new ones when we get settled in Africa. They won't live as close as they do here! We won't have such a great playground to play on either, though we will have a yard and a pool. Ryan is just getting to the point where he gets excited when he sees the swing. He likes to swing with Justin. Note the cicadas making all the background noise in the video!

We finally made it to the Meiji Shrine. It isn't very far, so it was something that got put off for one reason or another. Justin's favorite part was the gravel. Our least favorite part was temperature heat index above 100. Ugh! On our way back home we stopped for lunch--at Wendy's. Justin was happy with his frosty, ketchup, and fries. Tiny was content to chew on a straw. Rob and I were just glad to have a cool place to sit that would accommodate us and our two rather lively children.

Jesus On the Farm?

Today I was folding laundry and trying to entertain Tiny when Justin suddenly shouted for me to look at the wall. I thought that there must be some sort of horrible bug or something. It sounded pretty urgent. I looked, but I didn't see anything.

"Where?" I asked.

"There, Mommy! It's Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Justin.

Sure enough, there on the wall is the Greg Olsen O Jerusalem print that has been on our wall since we have moved here. If there is something that you don't want Justin to see, he will find it no matter how well it is hidden. Have something in plain sight and he is oblivious.

"Yes, Justin. That's right. It is Jesus."

"I think he is on the farm, Mommy."

"Why do you think he is on the farm, Boo Boo Boy?"

"Because maybe he has to feed all His sheep. When I get big I want to go to the farm and help Jesus feed the sheep."

"I think that's a good idea, my sweet, sweet boy."

(Sorry about the picture angle. I was trying to minimize glare.)

How can Justin manage to be such an angel one minute and such a devil the next? I was surprised to see this picture of Justin in the lamb costume. It isn't that he dislikes costumes, just it means he had to stop moving for five seconds to get it on! We are on week 9 of summer camp. It is our last week. :( Next week the movers come! So much to do still.
Justin is starting to get into the whole moving thing. We are the proud owners of a step 2 playhouse. Some people brought it with them when they moved to Japan and found that they have no room for it. We don't have room for it here either, but we will in Namibia! Justin is anxious to get to Namibia and put the thing together. Rob said that the playhouse will not be leaving Namibia. I guess there will be a lucky school, daycare, or family who inherits it next. At almost 300 pounds it is quite the item! I think the boys will have a blast with it.
I continue to have a regular helper in the kitchen. Prep times take at least twice as long with his assistance. I try to get as much done as I can while he is at school.

Justin has made lots of friends here. He looks forward to seeing them at school or at the playground. It is going to be hard for him to leave them. I don't know that he will have the chance to play with kids as much in Namibia. I guess we will figure all of that out once we get there and settled in a little bit.

We had an earthquake last night (Sunday). It was a 7.1, probably the biggest we have had during our two years here. The funny thing is I didn't even feel it. Well, that isn't exactly true. I felt it, but I thought it was just me until Rob pointed it out. I developed a horrible headache on Saturday evening and turned to benedryl, one of the few things a nursing mother can take, to try to keep it under control. Puking, resting, and keeping doped up on benedryl made me feel much better, but I felt a bit off balance and tipsy all day. I went upstairs to check on Justin (already in bed but not asleep yet) and he told me that his toys were falling down. Can't pull one over on him. Didn't seem to phase him.

The thunder and lightening we had on Friday evening had him a bit uneasy. I decided to make the thunder less scary and more fun. Justin and I donned our rain boots and other rain apparel and headed out into the pouring rain to splash in the puddles. And splash we (mostly he) did! He had a blast. I regretted that I didn't have my camera. I don't know that it would have taken any quality pictures in the dark and rain though. We developed the ritual of giving each other a high five each time we heard the thunder. I came up with the theory that the louder the thunder, the more rain we would get to splash in. Justin loves thunder now.
Tiny is crawling all over the place. I think he would rather be walking though. That will come soon enough. He is now 8 months old. I can't believe how fast my little baby is growing up. Soon he and Justin really will be able to get together and plot against me.

Here He Crawls

Here comes Tiny! Now that he can crawl he won't stay put! I was trying to take pictures to compare with pictures I took of Justin. Tiny didn't want to stay still to pose. He will be eight months old tomorrow. Justin was not quite six months when I took the pictures of him. Guess that is why he stayed put better.

Here is a pic of Justin (at five months, not a current pic).

Welcome August!

It has been a long week, yet it has flown by. I don't know how that happens. I continue to be up a lot in the night, but at least while Justin is in school I get to catch a little nap with Tiny on most days. There are only two weeks left of Justin's summer school and then I don't know what I will do to keep my sanity. Wouldn't you know that the movers are coming the week AFTER school gets out. Sigh.

This week I made it out with a friend to the fabric area of Tokyo. I bought some fabric as part of a Christmas present for my sister. Now assuming that she reads my blog, I realize this spoils the surprise. She won't know what kind of fabrics though. Justin saw them and wanted to know if he could have them. When I told them they were for Aunt Meredith he said that maybe she would make him a blanket with it like she made for Tiny Baby. So, here is the not so subtle hint for my sister. I think he would like to have some of the fabric on a blanket for him. How can she refuse?

Justin seems to be ready for toilet training. Sometimes he asks to sit on the toilet. I didn't think much of it, until he started to pee whenever I agreed and let him sit on the potty. Today I put him on the toilet three times and asked if he could make peeps. He did all three times. I am sure that people wondered when we were cheering for his penis in the bathroom stall at church! He isn't staying dry in between toilet trips, but I think he is ready to work on it if I try to take him on a regular basis. Great. We move in less than five weeks. Not exactly ideal. We will work with diapers (doesn't seem to bother him) and pull ups rather than underwear for now. Maybe when he is ready to poop in the toilet we will move on. Right now he will run away and tell me that he is NOT making poopies. Hmmm... Not at all suspicious to run off and say you aren't making poopies. I don't mind though. It gives me a few minutes of peace and quiet while he takes care of things. Peace and quiet are rare commodities when Justin is around.
Ryan continues to like to eat. Here he is chewing on a carrot. He loves these little teething food bags. Justin never really did. Correction: Justin NOW loves them and thinks he needs them too. Of course he does.
Ryan can now crawl. It has been a week now. Justin is already annoyed. He tries to explain to Tiny why big boy toys are off limits to babies. He likes to tattle on his brother too. Yeah, good plan. I will put Ryan in time out if he doesn't listen. Poor Justin.
Tiny enjoys being able to get to things. He has pulled a few things off of shelves onto himself. Oops. Guess we have to TINY baby kid-proof the house again. He is discovering all sorts of "toys" that have previously been denied him. Take the strap to Justin's booster chair, for example. Why have we been keeping that from him? How awesome is that? And it doubles as a teether. Ryan finds the most interesting things.

I got some goggles for Justin to see if that would make hair washing less of a drama. Short answer is no, it does not. I have not given up hope though. He may be a challenge, but he is a kid you can talk and reason with--usually.

I thought that I had posted this clip of Tiny, but evidently not so here it is.