Highlights of a Mom's Week

(in no particular order)

--Justin dumped a bunch of water out of the bathtub. That meant his bath was OVER! As I was dressing him, I asked him how the floor got wet. He said, "I have an idea--water!" Duh. I should have known that. I was right there. :)

--"I want to hold it!" said Justin, when he wanted to hold Ryan.

--"Tiny Baby too loud!" screamed Justin, after he smacked his brother with a toy and woke him up.

--"I love you, Mommy," says Justin with a big hug. That pretty much says it all.

--Smiles and coos from Ryan. He melts my heart when he watches me so intently. He likes me best of all. Of course he is used to me from hearing my vomiting for nine months AND I am his food supply so I don't know that it is such an accomplishment to be his favorite. Everyday he grows and it amazes me to watch him change.

--Justin's fever breaking after a sick cranky morning that meant I was not going to have a happy birthday. It's terrible to admit, but if he is sick but not too miserable (thank you motrin!) he lies around and is easier than he usually is.

--"Oh no, two missing!" Justin's response after learning to count to 3 with Kai-Lan on the Nick show Ni hao Kai-Lan. He decided to count his fingers in Chinese, but ran out of knowledge before he ran out of fingers.

--And a thought that has been running through my mind: Dora the Explorer's parents really need to supervise her more closely.

Are Two Monkeys Different Than One?

Justin plays a game called the animal game with my dad. Basically, one of them names an animal and then the other one names another animal. They take turns going back and forth naming different animals. Justin could not play this game at all until a month or two ago. Now he is pretty good, though not surprisingly, he is not as good as my dad. (If he were better than my dad it would be time to put my dad into a home.) Today he wanted to play the animal game but my dad was at work. Grandma said she would play with him. Justin wasn't sure about that. How was he to know that Grandma knew how to play the game that took him so long to learn? At one point in the game Justin said monkey. Grandma said an animal and then it was Justin's turn again. He was unable to think of a new animal so he came up with TWO MONKEYS. Surely that counts, right?

A Trip to the "Zoo"

Today it was too cold to go outside and Justin really needed to get out of the house. The wonderful Grandma Pat was willing to babysit Ryan so I could take Justin somewhere--anywhere! First I dragged him to TJ Maxx. Poor kid. They were having 15% off all purchases so I had him look through the clearance clothes with me. I ended up finding him quite a few cute things at very good prices. That made me happy. Then we went to Petco. Justin was thrilled to see ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, rats, snakes, turtles, spiders, lizards, iguanas, birds, fish, frogs, someone with a dog, and probably a few other things I no longer remember. Less crowded than a zoo and much better climate control, not that there is a zoo near where my parents live anyway. We then went to IHOP for pancakes. As we pulled into the parking lot, Justin became concerned. He had told me that he loved pancakes, but then told me that Grandma and Papa love pancakes too. He got upset that they weren't there. I think something like "Grandma, Papa love pancakes. Oh no, not here!" were his exact words. I convinced him that it was okay and we went in. When we were being seated the man asked how we were and Justin replied, "I want pancakes please!" We were told that we were in the right place. Justin and I had a good time and he ate so much. I was impressed. It was a nice afternoon out with my big boy. I truly enjoyed it and felt so grateful that my mom gave me this opportunity for some 1:1 time with my little boy who is learning to share his mom most of the time.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Bags Full

Some people might think that Justin is very polite. True, he does say please, thank you, you're welcome, and I'm sorry. Often these are even unprompted. My favorite, however, is when he says, "yes sir!"

I did not teach him to say this. He says it to men, women, children, stuffed animals, and probably to many other things. If you listen closely you will probably hear the rest of what he has to say. He continues with "three bags full. One... master. One...dame. One...boy...down the lane."

Sometimes Justin can be quite rude. He will tell me (or other people) to go away as he puts up his hand in a 'talk to the hand' fashion. If he wants to sit where I am he will tell me to move and specify a location that gives him plenty of space--sometimes even into another room! I better monitor his nursery rhymes or he might try to put me in a pumpkin shell. I might want to consider moving into a shoe if he gets too out of control. Being whipped and sent to bed without eating his favorite foods would be quite a threat.

Two Kids Almost TOO Many!

So far Ryan has been an easier baby than Justin was. I will keep my fingers crossed that he keeps it up. Of course some of it may be me. My mom agrees that Justin was harder and we can't figure out why it took two of us to care for Baby Justin and we were STILL constantly worn out and sleep deprived. Now Ryan gets held a lot, I admit. (Though Justin was held constantly or he screamed.) I am afraid Ryan will start screaming when he isn't being held. The problems with putting him down are (1) Justin is likely to hurt him intentionally or accidently. His "help" is often anything but helpful! (2) If I put Ryan down and he cries when Justin is asleep or otherwise entertaining himself it gets Justin all worked up. I do NOT want Justin getting up for the day at 3:00 AM because he hears his brother. WE will see how and if things change when we get to Japan. I am bitter that the boys will have to share a room. That is not at all ideal. Justin is an interesting sleeper. Sigh.

Ryan sleeps with me at night. I don't know if that is good or bad. I know everyone has opinions. Do you know what? I don't care! I cared when Justin was little and Justin ended up with me a lot but I felt guilty about it. Yes, at some point I want Ryan in a crib and that will likely be a pain, but for now this is working well for us. He sleeps longer at a time with me (and thus I get more sleep) and he doesn't cry so Justin doesn't wake up. I am trying to enjoy my tiny baby. He is growing up so fast and there will be no more babies for me. Pregnancy is the worst!

Justin is a jealous one and needs to take the few toys Ryan has away from him. Justin constantly insists on "tummy time" with Ryan's toys. He wants to help and tries so hard to be gentle. He will touch him so nicely with one hand while leaning on Ryan with his other hand. Yeah, 30 pounds is too much to rest on your brother. At least Ryan is a sturdy baby at over 11 pounds already. He will be 6 weeks old on Wednesday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Congratulations to all of you who manage more than two. Two take up my time! I had a 20 minute stand off with Justin today while Ryan had to cry on his own. I told Justin to put back the (three) boots he had thrown from the laundry room into the kitchen. He refused. He would agree to complete the task at the end of 2 minute time outs, and then would laugh and not do it. FINALLY he did it. He kicked each boot into the laundry room so it was just barely in the room. He did it though. He is as stubborn as his mom. It is going to be a long year in the terrible twos and probably a long 16 more years.

A Title For My Brother (and other stuff)

My brother noted that I didn't have titles for this blog. Look what I did just for him!

We had over seven feet of snow in December. Ugh! Great time to be in Coeur d'Alene when they are breaking records. There were also periods of record cold. I am just glad that in early December when Ryan was born that we weren't snowed in. I saw a TV show in November that showed how a woman in labor had to be rushed by SNOWMOBILE to an ambulance because of snow issues. I think I would rather give birth at home than go by snowmobile while having contractions. I want to know why they didn't send the EMS to her.

Rob left today to go back to Japan. His five weeks here seems like only a few days. Justin is already missing Daddy. He will tell us that Daddy went on an airplane to Japan. Whatever that means to a 2 year old. He says Japan in such a cute little way. Once we get Ryan's passport and visa we will be heading back home to Japan and be together as a family again.

Ryan is basically a month old. (Rob would say that it is not January 3rd yet so Ryan is still not a month old.) He has changed so much. He doesn't sleep well on his own, but he is so much easier than Justin was as a newborn. My mom and I can't figure out why the two of us had trouble managing newborn Justin. I just remember that it wasn't fun and that neither of us ever got to rest.

Ryan is just over 11 pounds now and in the 90th percentile for weight and 95th for length (or vice versa). He has to be protected from his "helpful" older brother. Justin tries to be gentle, but doesn't really get it. Ryan gets held a lot for protection, though he is so cute that he would probably get held a lot anyway. I am still in awe of how wonderful it is NOT to be pregnant. I feel better and can actually do things.

Still haven't gotten out Christmas cards this year. Perhaps a letter for New Year's? We shall see. Whether I get it out or not, I would like to wish my family and friends a happy new year.

Check out new pics on flickr. There is a link on the side of the blog text.