Pictures, Video, and a Pretty Good Week!

What a great week! Justin started the toddler summer camp program and he loves it. I probably love it even more. Too bad it is only 9 to 12 and not full day or sleep over. ;) Every morning when he wakes up, Justin makes sure to tell us that he has energy and is ready to go to school. Too bad he still wakes up around 5:00 AM. We have tried to convince him to sleep later, but he just isn't interested in sleep. Can't be my child.
Justin's "school" begins each morning at the wading pool. It is easy to convince Justin to get ready for the pool every morning. If only everything could be so easy with him.

The playground also reopened this week. Thank goodness! After school, Justin has lunch and a nap before we head back outside. He is enjoying the new equipment. He is still an outdoorsy kind of kid though and spends about as much time in the dirt and the sticks as he does with the playground equipment.

Tiny continues to be my ravenous beast. He loves his solid foods! So different from Justin at this age. He enjoys his foot too. I find green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash on his legs, feet, socks, ear... That baby food sure gets all over.

Tiny loves playing with Justin's toys. I suppose it is only fair since Justin is constantly taking Tiny's toys away or trading them out with Tiny and insisting that the trade is mutually agreeable. It is a good thing that Ryan is such a good natured little guy. He is starting to protest sometimes though. I don't blame him. Not only does Justin take things away from Tiny because they are "for grown-ups, not babies" but he sometimes finds that he NEEDS to play with Tiny's rattle or other baby toy.

This is a very LONG clip, so if you aren't Grandma, you might want to go ahead and just skip it.

My friend, Erin, gave me a little push car that her daughter has outgrown. Ryan loves it, but so does Justin. I am able to give Ryan some time with it while Justin is away at school.

A Long Week with Little to Show

This past week was a long one. Monday morning Tiny had his six month check up. He is now 70 cm long (27.5 inches) and 8.09 kg (17.8 pounds). Tiny isn't as big as I thought. He started out big, but he is lighter than Justin was at this age and I believe (I looked it up, but forgot again) just slightly longer. Guess we just know a lot of small babies, because he seems big! Of course shots come along with the 6 month checkup, but Tiny did pretty well. In fact, Tiny was probably better behaved than Justin. Justin. He is a whole other story.

This week the playground here has been closed as they install new playground equipment. That means no playground time for Justin. We usually spend significant time there. We tried some other locations on Monday and Tuesday, but they weren't too successful. The playground is fenced in so nicely and is a safe place. Justin wants to explore and wander and that is hard for me to do with Tiny in tow. That leads to him disobeying me and that means coming back in. Running away is NOT okay and means we immediately go home if he does not come when he is called. That usually means carrying Tiny in the Baby Ergo (which I love by the way) and holding a kicking and screaming toddler under one arm as I head back home. The variation is pushing the stroller with one kid and carrying a baby or a screaming toddler. Neither choice is a lot of fun. Monday, June 15, 2009 will be Justin's first day of "school" as he begins the toddler summer camp here on the Embassy compound. I made him a calendar to count down the days. I think I have been looking forward to it more than he has!

Tuesday I did have a good moment with Justin. He fell asleep on the couch. He hasn't been sleeping well. He has suddenly developed a fear of being in his room alone. He screams and screams. He wants someone right there with him. It hasn't been pretty. He wakes up several times in the night too. As a result he is overtired and so are we! A good mother would probably get him up to his bed, but I was just thrilled that he was quiet and let him sleep right there!

Wednesday was a busy day. I went (with my two boys) to a friend's house. I hadn't been there before and finding places in Tokyo can be crazy, even with directions. It took me just over an hour to walk to a place that should have taken somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. We ended up calling her from just around the block to get directions from where we were. Yay! Now we know where it is! The walk back was going much better. I knew where I was going. Justin and Tiny were both actually being great. We would get home, have lunch, and maybe I could get them both down at the same time for a nap so I could have one too! Then at Roppongi Crossing, waiting for the light to change, I collapsed. I came to and saw people around me, asking if I was okay. I was totally embarrassed that I had passed out, and was helped up, and started on my way again. I don't think I was out very long and perhaps it even appeared that I had just tripped. I am not sure. I probably didn't take two steps before I passed out again. This time when I came to, someone was holding Tiny and someone else was holding Justin while people were checking on me. I was assured that Tiny was fine and that he had not hit the ground or stroller. Justin wasn't upset, mostly interested. An ambulance arrived and my vitals were taken. The paramedics looked more like workers in a radioactive environment all covered from head to toe with protective gear. Kind of freaky. I was able to convince the paramedics (or whoever they were) that I was okay enough to take a cab to the Embassy doctor rather than get hauled away in an ambulance where I would be admitted for heaven only knows how long. Rob thought it odd when I called him and simply told him I needed to be met at the gate. I didn't think I could get to the health unit on my own.
EKG was fine and there seemed to be nothing really wrong with me. My blood pressure was low, especially in the upright position. My blood sugar was a little low and I had a slight fever. My main problem was the stiffness that was letting me know I did indeed fall. Rob took the rest of the day off (and half of the next day) so I could rest. I was so proud of Justin during the incident. After was another story. Once we got home he became a monster for his poor dad. I am fine, don't worry, Mom!

Thursday I was supposed to go to IKEA with a friend, but I cancelled. Friday was probably the highlight of my week. Justin has developed a love of cooking. I have to sneak into the kitchen if I don't want his help. His help means it takes me a lot more time and that there will be a lot more mess. Quality sometimes suffers as well. Not that I am a great cook or anything, but I do have higher standards than Justin as this picture shows.

On Friday, Bimala came over and spent four hours cleaning our house. She worked her buns off for all four hours. Things looked sooooooooooo much better. I think she is a miracle worker. She is going to come once a week. It was great to spend time with my boys and not worry about trying to get things done around the house. Tiny doesn't crawl yet, but that day will come before I know it and even with Justin out of the house three hours a day, I think I will be busy.
Saturday Justin and Rob went out to try to burn off some of Justin's energy while Tiny and I got our produce for the week. In the evening, I took Justin over to Daly Hall to watch a movie on a big screen. He hasn't ever been to a theater before and I thought this would be a good introduction. It was The Tale of Despereaux (or whatever the title of the cartoon is). He lasted almost 45 minutes. He got to cuddle with Mommy and eat popcorn. He wasn't interested in the movie, but who can beat 1:1 time with Mommy and food?

So, while I am not thrilled about this past week, I guess I can't really complain. My poor cousin's family is sick with the swine flu. She has seven kids, two (twins) not much older than Tiny. One of her kids (I don't think much older than Justin) is in the hospital. All I had was a little tumble. Neither of my kids got hurt. Justin doesn't seem traumatized, just interested in my boo boos. I fell in Japan, a very safe country where people came to my aid rather than walk on by, or worse yet, do harm to me or my children. Rob was able to take time off work to help out, Justin will be heading off to school, and someone else is cleaning my house. I think I have it pretty good. That might not be my attitude when (not if) the boy(s) wake me up in the night. :)

Patience Is a Virtue

Lately Justin has been trying my patience. I don't know what it is with him. I know that he has had a cold for the past couple of weeks, but I am starting not to be so sympathetic about that anymore. He can be SO obnoxious. I find myself sometimes hoping that he has a horrible ear infection or is in a great deal of pain because that would explain WHY he has been so hard to deal with. I don't want it to be a long lasting phase. I don't want my child to be a brat. I am trying to have patience and to make sure I spend quality time with him to minimize the jealousy he feels towards Tiny. He can be such a psycho Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde. Charming and sweet one minute, spawn of the devil monster the next. It drives me crazy! I never know what Justin I will see!

Today he had a meltdown when we had to come inside. I have a rule that if he runs away from me, we have to come in. I can't chase after him very well when I have Tiny and it is basic safety that I trust he will come when I call him and not run off in the opposite direction. He thought he was being funny until I dragged him home kicking and screaming. I have discovered that when I start to video him, Justin calms down a bit. Guess he doesn't like to have a record of his misbehavior. Of course he doesn't cooperate doing cute things for me either...

After we had time to settle down from that incident, I asked him if he would like to make cookies with me. We had a pretty good time. Luckily, they weren't the best cookies ever because we could never duplicate the recipe exactly. The recipe called for 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar, I fill up a 1 cup measuring cup almost full and Justin gets most of it in the bowl. We needed two eggs, Justin got about 1 1/4 into the bowl so we added another. The whole process was kind of like that. He had a fun time though. He loves helping in the kitchen. I don't mind if I have the time. It can take me longer to reheat leftovers than to make the original meal when I have my helper.

Yesterday Tiny sat independently. He may have done it before, but this time it was long enough that I can say it officially. Before I never knew if he needed to be more upright, sit for a longer time period, catch himself and sit back up if he started leaning... Poor Ryan doesn't get a lot of time to practice though. So often I am protecting him from his overzealous brother. Justin wants to wrestle and play rough with Ryan, and Ryan would like nothing better. Justin does not get that Tiny isn't physically able to do that. When Tiny hits or kicks Justin, Justin gets mad at him and retaliates. Seems intentional to him I guess.

The playground is closed through the 14th of June because they are going to take out some of the old equipment and put in some new things. It is going to be a loooooooooong ten days. We usually spend quite a bit of time out there every day. The slide and the see saw are going to be replaced with newer, safer ones. The "bus" is going to be replaced with something else. It will be hard to beat the bus for fun. All the kids loved it.
I do love the way my boys laugh together and at each other. I love seeing how Justin goes from being totally clueless about a puzzle to doing it independently. I like trying to figure out his rules for Twister. I love Justin's big hugs and Tiny's smiles and squeals. I am amazed each day at how quickly Ryan is growing. He is my ravenous beast. He loves rice cereal and tolerates green beans, peas, carrots, and squash. He likes bananas and absolutely devours mashed potatoes. I don't remember Justin enjoying solids so much. It is hard to keep food away from Tiny.

Tiny Loves Justin

Trying to catch up with posts. This one will not be very interesting. Sorry. Pictures for Grandma though. :)
Luckily, Tiny loves Justin. Justin often decides he MUST have Tiny's toys. Of course this is most likely because he has no toys of his own, right? Here is Justin taking over one of Tiny's books and telling Tiny it is okay to have his big brother rip the book out of his hot little hands. Tiny likes his infant gym and guess what--so does Justin!
This ball is one of Tiny's absolute favorite toys. Justin has tried to play catch with Tiny. It is hard to be too upset with him when he is honestly trying to play with his brother. He seemed surprised that Tiny didn't catch it. He told Tiny to catch, but it still hit Tiny in the face. Tiny has a pathetic little cry that indicates a fear/hurt/surprise type emotion.

I have a game called Ring Around the Nosey that I bought several years ago on clearance at Toys R Us. The kids in my classrooms over the years have enjoyed it. Justin, Tiny, and I played with it for awhile. Justin cheated (and won) and Tiny doesn't play very well. We had a good time though.


Here is my sweet talking Tiny!

Zoo and Green Beans

Friday we went to the zoo. I thought that since it was a non-holiday weekday it wouldn't be too crowded. Wrong! I think that there were more people at the Tokyo zoo than live in all of Namibia. When we move to Namibia later this year we will see if I was right or not! We managed to get away from a lot of the crowd and see the major animals that we thought Justin would be expecting. He was quite excited to see the rhino, the green anaconda (which he said was "the biggest snake he's ever seen!"), the Galapagos tortoise, and the iguana. All of these animals are featured in youtube videos that he used to watch with Papa.

The zoo also has a petting zoo area. Justin enjoyed the goats and the sheep. He was so excited to see them, that he managed to trip and hurt himself running in to see them. He scraped himself up pretty badly and screamed to let everyone know it. After washing up, we returned to the petting zoo. A zoo employee took Justin by the hand and (in Japanese) consoled him. Justin ate it up.

Saturday was the sidewalk sale here on the Embassy Housing Compound. I had a large roll of stickers that I used as price tags for the items. I was VERY careful to always put the permanent marker up out of Justin's reach. We had an incident with a dry erase marker he found and I am still finding places he got. I knew I didn't want a repeat of that incident with a permanent marker. I didn't, however, keep the roll of stickers out of his reach. Surprise! When I asked him what happened, Justin told me that he made me a present with my circle stickers. How can I be upset about that? Tiny got into the fun too. He enjoyed the strips of waxy paper that were left after I removed the stickers.

Tiny got to try a new food. Evidently green beans are not as exciting as rice cereal. We will see if the next veggie is any better for him. If nothing else, I must admit that he is quite flexible. He has managed to kick the bowl out of my hand a couple of times.

Do you think he likes green beans?

Look! It's Ryan sleeping without something on his face.

Video Clips of Rolling and Not Rolling

Even though Tiny has been rolling for awhile, I still want to catch it on video. I have not had success. He is more interested in me and the camera. When I turn my back, he immediately rolls.


Justin, on the other hand, is all too happy to show off for me. I am sure you are so impressed to see a two year old roll. ;)



I find it more interesting to watch how Justin plays with his toys. These stacking/nesting cups have numbers on them. It is helpful since Justin is about as good at visual spatial things as I am. Poor child! He has fun with them though. Warning: probably boring video if you are not Justin's grandmother, mother, or Justin himself.

Playing Outdoors

Now that spring seems to be here to stay, I have been spending a lot of time outside with the boys. The nearby playground is a favorite spot. Justin has really learned to maneuver the playground equipment well since we have been back in Japan. He owes a lot of that to his dad. I hate seeing him climb because that can mean falls! There have been some, but thus far nothing major. See how brave I am letting him go into the treehouse?
Justin really enjoys having other kids out on the playground with him. He has a lot of fun with Sammy, who is about Justin's age. I hope that in Namibia we are able to find some kids for Justin to socialize with. It is good to see him having so much fun doing such simple things.

Sammy's dad was out on the playground the other day and took some pictures. I think this one really captures my Justin. The poor little kid always looks a little bit neglected. I swear he doesn't stay clean and groomed for more than five seconds! Sometimes I take advantage of this and don't put forth much effort. The other day when I told Justin that I needed him to come over so I could comb his hair, he told me that he didn't need to be handsome because he wasn't going to church, he was going to the play park! True indeed, but it would be nice if he didn't look like he was in charge of his own grooming.

Tiny is still a pretty mellow guy. Once he starts crawling I don't know if he will be as content to just sit in the stroller. He loves watching Justin. I admit, Justin is entertaining!

Justin is intrigued by the big kid swings. I should point out that I do NOT push him high, or really very much at all. He is not ready for that and I don't want him to land on his head. He likes to swing with me or in the baby swings though. He can never get as high as he would like.

Tiny still likes things on his head when he sleeps. Don't cover up those arms and legs too much or he gets upset though. What a strange little kid. People look at me like I am a bit weird when I throw a burp rag or lovey over his face when he is screaming. It often means he is tired and needs his face covered. Sometimes he instantly stops crying.

One day when Tiny was asleep, I decided to help Justin with a "big boy" puzzle. Good, quiet activity, right? Not when he gets excited about getting pieces to fit. Needless to say, his enthusiastic cheering woke up the baby. :(

So What Does That Mean?

I bought these postcards for my sister last February. I thought they were very typical of Japanese things written in English (and French). I know the words individually, but I am not sure what meaning is intended. I finally got around to putting them through my scanner (a Fujitsu ScanSnap 9510 which I just love!) so I could put them up on my blog. Since my sister is one of the few people who reads my blog, guess they won't be such a novelty when they arrive in her mailbox. Oh well. She can eagerly anticipate getting mail from me. :) Guess I should send it soon...

Tiny continues to enjoy baby rice cereal. He is my ravenous beast. Now when I put him in the high chair, he starts whining. It used to be a great place to sit him where I could keep an eye on him. Now he expects he will be fed when he is there. When he sees the spoon moving towards his mouth he goes insane! His mouth goes wide open and he squeals while frantically moving his arms and legs. He probably burns off more calories when he eats that he is taking in.

Justin has a cold or allergies or something that is causing him to have what I call pulsating boogies. Yum! He is also drooling since he can't breathe through his mouth. Lovely. My whole house feels what I guess can be described as tacky. It isn't exactly greasy or slimy or sticky, but definitely gross. Guess I should stop typing and start cleaning. :)

Why doesn't Justin sleep?

Sigh. I just finished reading my sister's latest blog entry. I shouldn't do that before I write. It discourages me. It would be fun to be creative and witty with my entries, but I find myself struggling to even put together somewhat coherent sentences. I want to record some of my thoughts and the events of the week because I know otherwise I will forget them all too soon. I am going with the theory that something is better than nothing.

This week I decided to sort through my floppy disks. I mean, do I really need behavior tracking sheets I created for students over ten years ago? What about scoring software for a test that is now obsolete? So many things I found I just didn't need, especially not on floppy. Well, silly me was going to get rid of them. What was I thinking?!? Justin has decided they are the best toy ever. I mean, you can stack them, line them up, act out five monkeys jumping on the bed with them, build them into a birthday cake... The list just goes on and on and on. I think that I should think of a marketing angle and sell the things as the newest and greatest toy.

Justin has also been enjoying the wooden blocks that his grandparents sent him. He builds a lot of towers and animal playgrounds. He was particularly proud of this structure. I am not sure why, but for some reason this one is cool in his mind and he wanted a picture of it.

He has really been getting worn out this week. We have been playing out on the playground for a couple of hours each morning and then coming home for a snack. Justin will then ask to watch something on TV and totally crash within minutes. It isn't his normal nap time, but I won't argue with him sleeping. I will take peace and quiet whenever I can get it. If only Tiny would sleep at the same time so I could have a little nap myself. Not sure that I can complain about Tiny though. Right now I am up with Justin. It is almost 4:40 on Monday morning. Justin has been up since 2:00 AM. He appears to have insomnia. I didn't know toddlers got insomnia. Surprise!

Ryan turned five months old today. Yesterday I thought he turned five months. Evidently I don't know what day it is half the time. I had decided to start solids at five months. I think I started Justin at four months and he wasn't that into it. Tiny was ravenous! I had to make more! I tried nursing him when he still seemed hungry and he refused. He wanted that great flavor of rice cereal. He sure can track that spoon and get his mouth open and ready.

We received a huge box of hand me down clothes from my sister-in-law this week. Justin was quite excited. He loved piling them on the floor and making a cozy nest for himself. He also expressed that he liked to roll around in them. I don't mind too much when he does things like that until he takes clean, folded clothes and does it.

All in all they are good kids. They are so cute together. My favorite sound is the two of them laughing together. I try to remember that when my eyes get heavy and I have trouble focusing.