Another Week with Kids

I love the way Tiny sleeps. Just give him a blanket (or burp rag, or hat, or towel, or shirt...) and/or cover his head and face and he sleeps pretty well. Certainly better than Justin did or does. I love it when I am near him when he wakes up. He opens his eyes and is immediately happy if he sees me. Even as I type, he is in the same seat as the picture with one blanket over his head and another clutched in his hand. So precious. Now looking at the next picture and seeing Justin out cold you might jump to the conclusion that he is a great sleeper. WRONG! He has been having night terrors and other funky sleep things going on lately that have made it hard for Rob and me to sleep at night. Evidently even though Justin appears refreshed in the morning, it must take something out of him too.

I know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two NOT watch TV, but Ryan disagrees. Look at the way he contorts his body to see the screen. He can roll front to back and back to front now and thinks he is pretty cool. Sometimes his arm gets caught under his body and that ticks him off. He has a set of lungs and knows how to use them. I wish he would use them more often. The other day I caught Justin shoving foil from some candy into Tiny's mouth. Was Tiny screaming? No, he was laughing. He also laughs when Justin sits on him. Hello!?!? Why do you encourage him, Ryan? Ryan thinks that Justin is the best toy ever. I don't know if he is as good as TV though. TV is pretty awesome.
Ryan has also started using his Jumperoo. He likes it better than the swing or the chair. He jumps in it only a little so far. I have to raise it yet again. He is a tall dude and ready for setting three of four. At this rate he will outgrow it by next week!
I continue to be amazed that people have more than two children. My brother and his wife are expecting their fourth. How on earth do they manage? I can't get enough sleep with two of them! I look forward to the day I can smile again instead of clenching my mouth closed to keep from yawning or drooling. I wonder what it is like to NOT have a full laundry hamper. I think there was a time in my life when I didn't have to vacuum at least once a day. Oh well. I have grown rather attached to the little buggers--MOST of the time.

Here is a clip of Tiny making Tiny type noises. I would say that it is pretty boring if you aren't family, but Rob would probably tell me it is boring even if you are family. I am not sure which clip it is. I tried taking several, but the boy just didn't cooperate. I figured it didn't matter which one I uploaded.

Easter

Today was Easter. We had a nice Easter lunch with some friends from church. Justin was in heaven because he knows the kids who were there from his church nursery class. How fun is that? It was nice for me too. A delicious meal without the prep or cleanup. I could get used to that. :)

Justin was excited to look in his Easter basket and enjoyed more candy than he should have. He has been reading books about the Easter bunny with me and has really gotten into it this year. We talked a little about how we think about Jesus at Easter, but didn't go into that much. I figured if it came to Justin choosing between Jesus and the Easter bunny that he wouldn't make the choice I would want him to make. He's two years old. Getting candy from a walking, talking rabbit makes more sense to him than someone dying (not that he knows what that is) and being resurrected. Pretty big concept for adults. Hopefully this year he will get a little bit of the Jesus part at Christmas and be able to carry it over to Easter. For now we will continue to work on Jesus loves Justin and pictures of Jesus with children and other happy pictures.

We dyed eggs this week and he was thrilled to be able to watch the eggs change color. Better yet were the eggs that had his name written on with wax crayon. It was like magic to see the egg come out colored with his name on it! It did make quite the mess. I had the foresight to have us perform the messy task out on the balcony with Justin wearing only a diaper and an art smock. We had the table covered with a trash bag and plenty of wipes and water to keep things under control. Justin and I both ended up with dye on our hands and arms. Ryan was unhappy sitting just inside the doorway, so I moved his chair out with us and he promptly fell asleep. I was a little worried that he would get dye spilled on him and be green or something. Luckily, that didn't happen.

We also went to Nandemo (community center) this week for their mini sports club. Justin had a blast. He got kind of bored listening to some of the directions since they were in Japanese. The people running the activity had a lot of fun things, but they moved through a lot of them too quickly. The childen would have enjoyed doing some things over and over instead of once or twice. Oh well. If they have the time to plan a billion things instead of just a few, more power to them. Towards the end we had to make a less than graceful exit. Justin was not listening to me. It is important that he listens since I have Ryan with us (in our new Ergo baby carrier which is the best). If he doesn't listen, we are done. So I ended up carrying Ryan in the carrier and a screaming, tantruming Justin through the gym, down the hall, and to the stroller. Justin didn't even get his shoes and socks back on. I hope he gets it. I carried him home from the playroom once and ever since he has been so good about listening to me. We'll see. The gym is pretty fun. It has a lot of tempting things like a slide, trampoline, balls, bikes (and trikes and unicycles), balance beams... All that and space to run. So hard to listen to boring Mommy. (You may note that he has had a haircut in these pictures. Yay!)

Please Can We Get Out?

We have such good time at Nandemo, but eventually we do want to go back home.

I Love the Slide!

Justin has refused to go down the green playground slides for some time now. In the dry, winter weather he got a zap thanks to static electricity and decided to shy away from the risk. Well this week he decided to give it another go. Not too suprisingly, he loves it. He tells me that he loves it with the kind of attitude that sounds like he has known all along he would, but that I was the one holding him back. My silly little Justin.

Here he is on the playground with his friend, Ellington. When he first met Ellington he thought his name was Oxygen. That makes no sense. Everyone knows that Oxygen is a girl's name. :) Now he often says it as if it is three separate words. It is so cute. Ellington is such a good natured little boy. He is a bit younger than Justin and Justin sometimes gets overexcited and knocks him over or runs too fast when they are playing scream and chase. Ellington just keeps smiling. (Note how Justin is in DESPERATE need of a haircut!
The cherry blossoms are out and absolutely beautiful. Gentle breezes blow some of them down like soft, fluffy snowflakes. It is pretty and not cold like snow. I was standing out on the playground with Justin and Ryan. We were the only three people there. Ryan was asleep and Justin was actually being quiet. As the blossoms floated up, down, and around in the slight breeze I felt like I was in some sort of artistic foreign movie scene. I didn't see any cameras or hear any music or sound effects, so I am pretty sure it was just a rare, beautiful, quiet moment in my life.

The Glass Is Half ?

Okay, so finish the sentence. Are you a glass half full or half empty type person? I would finish the sentence so it reads

The glass is halfway across the room and Justin needs it with NEW water RIGHT NOW!

I do know that the laundry basket is not half full or half empty. It is constantly FULL. How is that possible? I can't do laundry fast enough some days. When my mom was here she did a million loads for me. Moms are the best. I love my mom. I'm not always so sure how I feel about being a mom though. The sick leave, vacation days, and work hours aren't very good. Maybe we should form a union. Wouldn't that be something?

This week has had its ups and downs. Occasionally I feel like I may actually even have my act together. Five minutes later, Justin will have me wanting to throw him across the room. He can be so stubborn and obnoxious. He acts like he is two years old. I wonder if he will outgrow that phase when he is three. I suppose I can't fault him for acting like a two year old when he is one. He can be such a sweet boy too. I love him so much. He and Tiny can just get going at the same time and often do.

Tiny now rolls from stomach to back intentionally. He thinks he is pretty cool. He is working on blowing raspberries and his constant spit bubbles are a source of entertainment for Justin. I love the times that Ryan and Justin are by each other, blowing bubbles and laughing. They look so cute together laughing and drooling.

Ryan slept all night in his crib this week too. He woke up for a 1:30 AM feeding, but otherwise was on his own. It was hard for me to sleep because I wondered when he would wake up. He has been sleeping in bed with me and Rob. Last night he was sleeping on his own, but when he woke up in the night to be fed I brought him in bed to nurse him and fell asleep before putting him back in bed. Oh well. I figure whatever works so I can get sleep. Tiny insists on having something on his face while he sleeps and I have finally given in. I worry about it, but I am sure that I am not the first mother to let her infant cover his face up.

Ryan is sleeping better than Justin is. Justin talks in his sleep and I hear that on the monitor. Justin gets up and does things in his sleep. Justin has vivid dreams and wakes up disoriented. Sigh. He was up at 4:30 the other morning and it made for a loooooooooooong cranky day. Generally he has been pretty good though, going down at 8:00 PM and up at 6:00 AM or so. I shouldn't complain.

Justin's favorite story of the week is There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and he loves reading the different versions of the story we have, watching it over and over (and over) on DVD, and acting it out with the manipulatives I gave him. I wish he would cooperate for pictures and video clips. He does such a nice job retelling the story, but the kid is stubborn around the camera.

Tiny's four month check up is tomorrow. I guess I will find out just how big Tiny Baby is getting.

Another Week Down

This week the weather decided it wasn't going to be spring yet. It wouldn't have been so bad, except the previous week was so nice. That meant more time indoors and more time for Justin to drive me crazy. He is just so jealous of Ryan sometimes. He will do anything for attention, even negative attention. It can be trying. Poor sweet boy, feeling a bit displaced. The thing that really gets me though is when Ryan is actually asleep and I could spend time with Justin one on one if only he didn't do everything in his power to wake Tiny up. Then I have a grumpy baby and an upset toddler. Great. Ryan continues to like to have things over his head (preferably including his face) when he sleeps. Once he wakes up I move the blanket off of his mouth and nose at least. It ticks him off when he wakes up if it isn't still there. He can really scream too. I try to vary which blanket/burp rag/lovey I let him use so he doesn't get too attached to any single item. For now that is working. We will see if it lasts.Tiny is moving more and more, though still not rolling intentionally. He loves his feet. I know most babies do, but in Ryan's case I think it might be because that is the one toy Justin hasn't figured out how to take away from him yet. Amazing how interesting baby toys can become to a two year old when someone else has them. Justin still loves books. He likes to be read to and to read on his own. Evidently he now also likes to read to his "green anaconda." I don't know how long that will last. Many things he once loved are now feared. Even pictures in books can be scary and he will run away before the offending page can be seen. As soon as it is turned, he returns back for the rest of the story.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

I wish I had a better way to keep track of the cute things that Justin and Ryan were doing. I just haven't found a way that works well for me. I am going to make a goal to try to update the blog once a week.

Justin was challenging in church today. When he was removed to the hall he kept asking to go to the bathroom. Since he is in diapers and we aren't working on toilet training it seemed a bit odd for him to request the bathroom. I asked if he wanted his diaper change. Justin HATES getting his diaper changed, so I was surprised when he said that he did. I changed his diaper without any complaint from him. When finished, he said, "Mommy, nursery class!" He had remembered that I try to change his diaper before taking him to nursery, so if he got me to change him it MUST be time for nursery, right? I explained that the nursery was still closed and that Sister Brown, his teacher, was still in sacrament meeting. Ever the problem solver, Justin told me, "go get Sister Brown." Of course. Why hadn't I thought of that?

Tiny is getting bigger and bigger everyday. I haven't seen him roll from back to stomach, but I have left him on his back and returned to find him on his stomach. I don't know how intentional it is. He really likes his side. Ryan is starting to coo and laugh more and more every day. He is amused by Justin (who isn't?) and almost anything that silly Mommy does. I am enjoying him so much. He is happier than Justin was when he was this age. I also have more confidence and am not so stressed about what others will think about how I am parenting. Tiny makes such cute cooing and gurgling sounds. He also has a little whine that lets you know he wants attention.

Justin loves reading and being read to. Of course that doesn't mean that he can stay by you when you are reading to him. There are "scary" parts in books. Did you know that in Are You My Mother? they call a steam shovel a snort? Pretty scary stuff! Justin remembers when the "scary" parts are coming and retreats to a safe distance for those parts. It cracks us up when he will ask for a DVD or a book and then hide behind something for protection.

I am being brave and allowing Justin more and more freedom on the playground. It is hard not to be overprotective. He trips over his own shadow and has many boo boos that he feels are serious. One of these days he will have a serious boo boo. For now Ryan spends his time at the playground napping. It works out well. Ryan gets in a good nap without interruptions from Justin and Justin gets some energy out.

I wonder why I chose WASHABLE ink for Justin. Oh my! I try to let him experiment with different art materials. He can make such a mess though.

I love this picture of Tiny in the tub. It makes me laugh. I swear I didn't photoshop his head on another body. That's what it looks like though, doesn't it! He wasn't cooperating for pictures at all. I kept trying to keep him somewhat covered up and he wanted nothing to do with the washcloth on his body. Why be in the tub if you can't be completely naked and free? Tiny really loves the tub. Even better is being in the tub with Mommy (the real tub, not the little blue one) so he can enjoy the deep water. That is a rare occurence though because Justin would be so jealous if he found out.

I noted on Tiny's blue tub that it has several specific warnings. You know the obvious like don't leave your baby unattended, but one I wasn't expecting. It says not to use the infant tub in an adult sink or bathtub. Where exactly am I supposed to use it then? I hope the tub police don't come get me.

Justin was SUPER cute in the tub. He was singing along and did a Justin original. Then he went on to do his version of "Dem Bones" which included his penis being connected to his be-bo and his thigh. Rob says that must be some penis! Justin sure thinks so. He ran off naked

It's Been Awhile

It has been awhile since I have written. It has been nice to be back home in Tokyo, but taken awhile to get back into the groove of things and come up with a routine. With two small boys the routine isn't always set as well as I would like either. My boys do keep me busy. I am not sure how people deal with multiple small children. I do not do well.

Justin continues to make me smile and laugh while testing my patience at the same time. He has tried kicking me out of the house in the morning by commanding, "Mommy go work, Daddy sit on floor play!" Little does he know that there are days Mommy would like to leave and go to work (or go anywhere). Now that my mom has gone home and isn't here to help with the boys I don't even get to go to the bathroom by myself very often. Can't leave my boys alone together or who knows what would happen. Justin has a love/hate relationship with Ryan. When he is jealous he gets a bit rough intentionally. Other times he just loves him to death with too tight hugs, overly enthusiastic tickles and pats, or by sharing toys--especially stuffed animals on the face. He seems to enjoy waking the sleeping baby and then complaining about the crying. Sigh! Tiny, bless his heart, is pretty good natured. Now that he is more alert and smiles, coos, kicks, and reaches for things, Justin is more interested in him. That is good and bad. Tiny is definitely more interested in Justin. Whether he just likes watching his brother's antics or watches in dread and fear is anyone's guess. He has such cute smiles and laughs. He has expressive eyes too. Even Rob has noticed and mentioned it a few times. There are times when Ryan looks and me and we just connect with each other.

Justin has a doll named Bobby. I tried catching him being gentle and loving with Bobby, but as soon as the camera came out, Justin started beating the poor thing. Guess he doesn't want me to think I can expect him to be sweet with Ryan.

Ryan loves having a blanket on his head. If he had his way it would cover his face completely. I think he is going to be a sleeper who needs a blanket. The SIDS police will probably come and take me away. I don't mean to make light of SIDS and feel for people who have lost a child to SIDS, but I am getting really tired of hearing all the contributers. Pacifiers reduce the risk. Being premature increases the risk. Blankets increase the risk. Sleeping on stomach increases the risk. Increased altitude increases the risk. Co-sleeping increases the risk. The list goes on and on. I wonder how they know this. Is it antedotal? Could it be that babies with blankets or those who sleep on their stomach actually sleep without being held and therefore are more at risk? If a baby is constantly held by an awake and alert individual, wouldn't that be the best way to prevent it? There are just too many rules for me! I know, sleeping in the swing is bad too.

Justin and the concept of time out are getting to know each other pretty well. Justin generally hates time out, but he does like playing time out. He will plop his body on the time out bench and say, "Time out 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes..." He often chooses 18 minutes. Eighteen is still his favorite number for some reason. After giving himself a time out, he laughs. He says, "ha ha ha," just like that by saying it instead of actual laughing. He will call my name repeatedly and make sure to get my attention before he refuses to comply with his own time out. Sometimes I admit I am tempted to enforce them. :)

Ryan is often in Justin's thoughts. The other night when Rob asked Justin if he wanted to say the prayer Justin said that he did. Rob asked Justin who he wanted to help him. Justin paused for a minute and then shouted out, "I want Tiny Baby help!" He was rather pleased that he came up with this. From now on we will be more specific with his options.

Countdown to Japan!

Today is Monday. Since we are leaving early on Thursday morning for Japan, I was relieved that Ryan's passport has FINALLY arrived. Yes, I went in to apply for it on January 7th. Yes, it went through the special issuance office and should have been done more quickly. Right now I don't care that it took way longer than it should have. I am just happy to have it in my possession. Packing is underway, frequent flyer numbers and special meal requests have been added to the reservations, and things are looking pretty good. Now I am just hoping that we can be relatively healthy. Today Justin was coughing so hard that he threw up on me. A nice compliment to the boogers that he put in my hair and the sour milk smell I share with Tiny Baby. Please just let us be healthy for our flight. The main leg of the trip is already a hellish 10 hours and 45 minutes. At least we should be able to survive the trip since my dear mother is coming along to help me with the darlings.

Once we get to Japan the fun will continue. We have another child and lots more stuff to try to cram into our tiny apartment. It is going to be interesting. I have a feeling that there will be rubbermaid containers out on the balcony We do have a couple of storage rooms in our apartment. Unfortunately some genius thought it was a good idea for the doors to swing into the room, greatly reducing the amount of usable space in the small rooms.

Of late I have not been enjoying Justin. Even my mother has called him a vile, slimey creature. He truly is disgusting. He looks like he has been neglected for quite some time. It doesn't take long to go from tidy and neat to smelly and nasty. Talk about a kid only a mother can love. Love is the key word, he certainly is not very likeable.

I have been enjoying Ryan. He is such a cuddly little sleep buddy. Yes, I do hope to get him sleeping on his own once we adjust to the time change in Japan, but I am going to go with the flow. I stressed so much over Justin and didn't enjoy the cuddle period as much as I could have. Now I try to treasure holding this (not so) tiny baby in my arms. Two months old tomorrow. He is not so little. He has grown and changed so much. I haven't taken as many pictures of him as I did of Justin. I guess now I am dividing time between the two of them. I also am holding Ryan a lot to protect him from his brother's love and also his jealousy. Here is Ryan trying to sleep in the swing. Justin kept sharing balls with him and then wanting them back.

Snotty, screaming, even puking, I love my boys. They bring me joy even when they are not bringing happiness.

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.

Justin Turns Two!

Justin had a good birthday. Pizza and chocolate cake for dinner. Yum! He had more presents than he needed. He would have been happy with one. Of course the day after his birthday he figured he should be allowed to open the other presents that he saw. Why wait for Christmas? We forced a lot of presents on him one day and deny him the next. So confusing.

My Sweet Boys!

My boys are sweet. They can be a handful when they both decide to scream at the same time though. It is hard to breastfeed Ryan while giving Justin a time out. Justin seems to know that. Luckily there are plenty of adults around to help out.

Sometimes Justin can be sweet. Here he is singing to his little brother.

Of course he is jealous of things that are for Ryan and not for him. He has just GOT to try out Tiny Baby's little seat.