Weekend Recap: The Highs and The Lows

So this was our last weekend in Tokyo before our big trip home. I can't believe that we leave THIS week! We had a great weekend- but it definitely had its highs and lows. Here's a recap:

Saturday: HIGHS: It was Andrew's birthday! Happy Birthday Andrew! There couldn't be a better husband or Dad out there (ok I'm biased but still). Connor and I are so lucky! The weather was gorgeous and we took a field trip to Omoto Sando where we had a great birthday lunch as Fujimama's (one of my favorite weekend brunch locales). Big time LOW: We lost our camera. Hopefully just "misplaced it temporarily"). We think it might have been left behind at the restaurant. Andrew thinks this is my doing in an evil ploy to get a new camera but this is not true! I feel naked without my camera and Connor has already had 5-6 camera worthy moments that have been missed.

Sunday: HIGHS: Happy Easter! We got everyone showered and dressed and out the door and to church on time. Then we came home and had a video chat with Andrew's folks who were visiting his sister Kelly and her husband Massi in Chicago (they brought their laptop so we could do the video chat thing). And we got the fantastic news that Kelly is pregnant (due in Sept)! That will be 3 new grand kids inside of a year for the Eichs if you're counting. Then we headed to the Tokyo American Club to meet the Easter Bunny and for the Easter brunch and champagne buffet (which was AWESOME). We were joined by Melanie, Christine and Trish along with their families (so there were 4 babies under 5 months old). Remarkably- all the babies were on their best behavior during lunch! LOWS: Andrew had to go into the office after our meal- big time bummer! It's just so busy for him this time of year. Second Low: Still no camera to capture Connor in his Sunday best (which included a plaid button down shirt and sweater vest) or any of the other great Easter moments. Luckily Melanie snapped some pictures of Connor and the other babies, which I've posted (thank you Melanie). Another low was waking up Sunday morning to find that Connor had scratched, no make that SLASHED his face with his nails BIG TIME. I'm talking a big cut from his ear to his mouth. We have a sneaking suspicion its because he knew we were going to be dressing him up to have his picture taken. Anyone who asked we told that Connor cut himself shaving that morning. It's healing up nicely, but I do have him wearing his "Rock Star" onesie that Jackie got for him. I think it goes well with his new nickname "Slash" and makes him look tough. Wish I could take a picture...

My son the 3 year old

Last night Connor sat sulking in his bouncy seat while I made dinner. He was upset that he didn't have my full attention. How did I react to his crabiness? I took a picture of course! Andrew and I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Connor looks more like a 3 year old in this picture than an (almost) 3 month old! He's such a little man already. Thankfully we still have plenty of time before he's really a 3 year old but it does go to show you that they really do grow up so fast!

Still the Ladies Man

I received several comments about how cute Connor and his little friend Sloan were together. We went back to Faith's house yesterday and I'm happy to report that Sloan is still "in" to Connor. Whew!

The Ladies Man

Andrew and I joke that Connor is quite the "Ladies Man." He is seriously, such a flirt right now. If a woman (young or old!) comes up to him he just grins ear to ear. It's the cutest thing. I really hope he doesn't grow out of this phase anytime soon! Yesterday we went on a walk with my friend Faith (who just happens to be from the Baltimore/Annapolis area- what a small world!!) and her daughter Sloan (who's just a month older than Connor). Afterwards we went back to Faith's so I could change Connor- who had decided to have a "blowout" while we were at Starbucks (he really knows how to time these things). Once Connor was clean again, we put the kids on the floor to take a picture of them laying next to each other. And little Sloan just loved to reach out and grab onto Connor! Which of course made him smile! Such a Ladies Man. How precious is Sloan too.

Side note: Connor normally prefers not to wear his PJ's in front of his little lady friends but it was St. Patrick's Day and this was the only clean green ensemble we had!

United States of Awesomeness

So we're going to be heading home in 9 days and I simply CANNOT wait. We're going to be making stops in Cleveland, NYC, and Maryland. It will have been eight months since we've been home- yes EIGHT months. I'm craving all things American right now- we've even given the USA the nickname "United States of Awesomeness."

The thing I'm most looking forward to is seeing our family and friends and introducing them to Connor. He's in this fun, personable stage right now where he just loves to meet new people. So its a great time to be coming home with him. These are a few of the things other things I can't wait for:

1. Chipotle
2. Target
3. Driving a car (on the right side of the road)
4. Maryland crabcakes
5. Shopping where I have a chance of fitting into the clothes and shoes
6. Watching TV (real time), listening to the radio and reading the newspaper
7. Mexican food (any and all will do!)
8. Those gloriously wide-aisled grocery stores where I know what everything is
9. Calling someone and having them know what time it is where I am
10. Being able to make adjustments to things I order in restaurants (they don't do that here). Things I can't wait to say: "No mayo," "Dressing on the side," "Skim milk," "Please cook the bacon," "What is that?," "No seriously-- I don't want the soda that comes free with my meal" (my Tokyo friends will understand most what I mean here and why I'm so looking forward to this!)

That said- I know as soon as I get back there will be so many things I'll miss about Toyko and my life here (which I'll save for a later post). We have a pretty good thing going over here at the moment. That's the biggest problem with bouncing back and forth between these two completely different places -- the grass is always greener on the other side of the world!

Photo shoot with Melanie

Last week Melanie was nice enough to come over with her new incredibly awesome camera (hint hint Andrew, hehe) to take some pictures of Connor and I. I have about a million pictures of Andrew and Connor but almost none of he and I (as I'm always the one with the camera in my hand). We weren't so successful in getting a good shot where both Connor and I were smiling at the same time (Connor was a bit camera-shy) - but she did capture some really awesome ones of Connor by himself. Thank you sooooo much Melanie!

Made in Japan

We got this adorable onesie as a baby shower gift from Ashley (thank you Ashley!!). He's finally big enough to fit into it. I just think its the funniest thing (as did Connor).

Guys Day Out

We've had a great Saturday so far. We video-chatted with one of Andrew's best friends from college (Dr. Mike) and then with Andrew's parents. What would we do without this high tech stuff? Then Andrew took Connor for a "guys' trip" to Akihabara (Tokyo's Electric town) along with two of his other buddies to look at guy stuff like speakers and whatnot. I welcomed a couple hours of alone time in the apartment!! Here's a picture I had to take of Connor all ready for his field trip with his Dad- and yes, his baseball hap has a chin strap!! The boys are back from their trip now and apparently Connor had a great time. Andrew says the Japanese ladies got a real kick out of seeing the two of them out and about (probably not a sight you see too often here in Japan!)

Connor and his buddies

I'm sure I've mentioned before just how many of my friends here have babies. What's most fun, is that we were friends before we were pregnant, were pretty much all pregnant at the same time, and now have babies unbelievably close to each other in age. They've been a great support system to me over the last year! Of course- we think its super fun to get all the babies together. I think its just now getting to the point where Connor is aware of his little buddies. Up until now he pretty much just chilled on a blanket beside one of his little friends but was seemingly oblivious that there was anyone else there. Now he really looks at the other babies. He's really intrigued by his reflection in the mirror, perhaps this has something to do with it. Some of the older babies are already reaching out and touching each other, Connor isn't there quite yet. It's been so fun to watch these sweet little ones grow up together!

Happy Baby!

Connor is smiling and laughing ALL the time now. It's really the greatest thing. And when he does- its these full body smiles that absolutely melt my heart. He was fun to play with and talk to before but its so different now that he's really responding to us. He gets cuter every day! We cannot cannot cannot wait to introduce him to everyone when we come home in April! PS- his shirt in the top picture says "I Do All My Own Stunts"- its one of my favorites (thank you Annie, Tracey, Shann and CC) and so appropriate!

Another few new pictures.

The mother of all playdates!

When I was pregnant I joined a group called the Tokyo Pregnancy Group- mostly comprised of foreign women who were pregnant here in Tokyo. It was a great way to meet other soon to be moms. This past Wednesday Melanie organized a "reunion" of sorts- inviting all the women who had babies in November or December over for a "play date" in her building. 23 women and their babies came! It was really neat to see everyone post-pregnancy and to meet all the new babies. Apparently Connor wasn't all that impressed- he pretty much snoozed the whole time we were there!