5 Months!

This past Saturday Connor turned 5 months old. Two MAJOR developments have taken place this month. The most recent- he's begun to crawl! It's really more of a scoot at this point- but the kid's got some serious speed. It's fun to see him set his sights on a target (and there's always a target) and be able to go for it. But this also means that I hardly have a chance to sit down before he goes to bed at night. Sometimes I have to put him in his crib just to be able to go to the bathroom (we don't have a playpen and we haven't really "baby-proofed" the place yet). He hasn't mastered sitting yet, but I think the key there is that he would have to sit still for more than a couple of seconds in order to be able to sit. And he's NOT good at that. He's all action- all the time. He gets this from his father. He still really likes to stand (supported by me) and really isn't a fan of being on his back at all anymore. He's really playing with his toys now and his current favorite game is to crawl to a tower of cups I've stacked up and knock the heck out of them.

I've started to introduce rice cereal this week and so far its not going so well. I think much of this has to do with his distaste for sitting still as I mentioned before. He's just all over the place- even when I have him strapped into something. I've compared bathing him to bathing a wet eel and nursing him to nursing a wild alligator. I think trying to feed him is much like feeding a baby monkey. I don't think any of it actually goes in his mouth. Hopefully it will get easier the more I try.

The other MAJOR development (and my personal favorite) is that he's now sleeping through the night. The norm is 12 hours straight, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. It's been a full month of this awesomeness called sleep so I think its safe to say out loud and not fear jinxing it. MY CHILD SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT. Boo-yah! I'm like a new person and Andrew and I finally have our adult night-time together back. It's been glorious! I will admit- this didn't "just happen" like everyone said it would. Connor was one of the worst sleepers I knew. We had tried all the tricks- formula in his bottle at night, a late night "dreamfeed," bringing him into our bed, keeping him up late- yada yada- nothing bought us more than 3-4 hours straight. Tops. Things spiraled completely out of control when we went home in April- as jet lag was now entered into the mix. By the time we landed back in Tokyo Connor was up to waking 5 times a night. Andrew and I were miserable. Keep in mind I hadn't had a decent night's sleep since October, being that Connor's marital arts action inside the womb kicked into high gear at night-time. So we had to take action. While home I spent a good hour in the "infant sleep" section of Barnes and Nobles. After much debate, I settled on "The Sleepeasy Solution" by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack. Their plan seemed reasonable and Andrew and I both read the book cover to cover. I CANNOT recommend this book highly enough. We followed their plan, and within a day or two Connor was sleeping through the night (we did have to wean him of his night-time feeds and transfer more feed time to the daytime which took an extra couple of days). I'd give the authors of this book my left leg if they asked. There's also a chapter dedicated to "The Art of the Nap." I'm happy to say Connor is taking three regular naps a day (some longer than others but I'll take what I can get). I'm so happy!! Anyhow- that's my little plug for the book that changed my life.

Back to Connor- overall, he's still an incredibly happy, interactive baby, and continues to love to ham it up for everyone around him. He especially likes to flash his killer grin for the ladies. If I thought he was fun at 4 months old, 5 months is even better (even with the whole crawling thing). I really look forward to when he wakes up in the morning-- I just love to be around the little guy!!

The face that greets me each morning.

The happy, rested parents.

Just hanging with Dad.

Wise guy.

Connor's Library

I had to share this picture that I took of Connor's library. I don't think I bought any of these books myself, these were all gifts from Connor's friends and family. I can't thank you enough- he's built up quite the collection! He's got several more scattered all over the house. I know how many children there are in the world that don't have ANY books to call their own- so I know how unbelievably lucky (and blessed) Connor is to have so many. I tell him this every day! We love this new shelf we just got to hold them too- we found it at the Costco here!

The Escape Artist

Connor's new thing is that he refuses to stay where you put him down for longer than a few seconds. This makes strapping him into his stroller very difficult. He'll only stay in his bouncy seat for a matter of seconds before scooching down and ejecting himself. The swing had to be taken down (what a sad day!!) because even when strapped in he looked like he was only minutes away from escaping. He'll even try to eject himself when reading to him (once he's decided he's had enough). We call it "ejecting" because he does it with such force, when you least expect it- causing you to have to keep a good grip on him at all times.




I look cute today so I'll let you take this picture of me.


But as soon as you're done I'm so outta here.


But now I'm stuck. Mom??

Shoes

As you probably know, its customary to remove your shoes when indoors here in Japan. In fact, its a rule here in the apartment building we live in! I got a kick out of our shoes here in the entry way of our apt. and had to take a picture!

My Sweet Ashley arrives!

On Monday morning Connor and I picked up Ashley from the bus stop. It's been soooooooooo much fun having her here to visit and I think she's quite taken with Connor. Since this is Ashley's SECOND visit, there's not as much pressure to make sure she sees and does everything, we've done more hanging out and playing with Connor. Ashley is a major sushi fan so we've done as much of that as possible. She's much more adventurous in her sushi eating that I will ever be but I've definitely made huge strides during my time here in Toyko. On Monday we went for a long walk around the Roppongi area and I showed her the new Toyko Midtown development, which was in the process of being built during her last visit. We had conveyor belt sushi for dinner. On Tuesday we went out for an "authentic" sushi lunch. The plan was to visit the Edo Tokyo museum in the afternoon but Connor had a minor meltdown and we decided to abort mission at the last minute. On Wednesday I brought Ashley to our weekly play date so she could meet my Tokyo girlfriends and their adorable babies. I was nervous that all the baby talk would be annoying to her but she had a great time and really liked my friends. Thanks Melanie for having us over!! That afternoon we visited the museum that we never made it to on Tuesday. That night we made a nice dinner at home. It's so fun to have a cooking buddy! Yesterday (Thursday) we ventured to Omoto Sando, Shibuya and Harajuku. We had intended to move on to Shinjuku but Connor decided he'd had enough of the Tokyo sightseeing so we took him home instead. As soon as we got back to the apartment all three of us took MAJOR naps. Last night Andrew came home and stayed with Connor while Ashley and I went out for dinner by ourselves (more sushi). Plans for today are to hit the Imperial Palace and Ginza areas. We have a babysitter coming tonight so that Andrew, Ashley and I can go out to dinner- to be followed by some big time karaoke. Should be fun!! Here's some pictures from our adventures so far, most of them are courtesy of Ashley.

Happy Mother's Day!

So I'm a little late with this post. I had a really wonderful first Mother's Day. The day definitely feels a whole lot different now that I'm a Mom myself! For Christmas Andrew had given me a gift certificate for a massage and the boys hung out at home while I went and used it on Saturday. It was soooo nice. I really appreciated the "me time." On Sunday we went to brunch at a restaurant at the Tokyo American Club. It's one where we used to eat all the time before Connor arrived. The restaurant doesn't allow children (something quite common here in Tokyo which is pretty annoying for us). However they opened their doors to families with children in celebration of Mother's Day which was fun.

Here's a picture of Connor giving me his Mother's Day card, and then eating the card.


Here's a picture of Connor and I at brunch. What a stud!


I want to wish a VERY Happy Mother's Day (though belated) to my Mom, Andrew's Mom, and my Grandma Alice. I love you all so much. I truly never understood the many sacrifices parents made until I became a parent myself! I also wanted to give a shout out to my fellow Mom friends that I adore so much, both at home (Kate, Susan, Kim) and here in Tokyo (Melanie, Trish, Faith and Christine)! Hope your Mother's Day was a great one too!

Connor and his baby buddies

Yesterday Melanie and Faith came over with their little ones, Carter and Sloan, for our weekly baby play date. We were two babies down this week- baby Kate is back in the states and baby Brendan is in Thailand for the week. Connor had just returned from getting his shots so he managed to sleep through the majority of the play date but did make a guest appearance at the very end (in his jammies- he's allowed to stay in his jammies all day on the days he gets his shots so he can be as comfy as possible!). Just wanted to post some pictures that Melanie captured! I especially love the lat one of Connor and Carter attempting to arm wrestle!

A few more Connor pictures...

We had Connor's 4 month appointment today (2 weeks late). The little chunky monkey weighs 16 pounds and is a little over 25 inches- basically the 80th percentile in both. He was a real trooper getting his shots today- he's such a brave little boy! His new favorite things to do this week are rolling all over the place, blowing spit bubbles, and actually sucking on his toes! He's also "creeping" - scooching around in a worm-like movement but not actually crawling. I REALLY hope I have another few months before that milestone!!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was so much fun! Monday and Tuesday were Japanese national holidays so Andrew had off- imagine that! Saturday we made an early morning Costco run (one of Andrew's favorite past times here) and then spent the rest of the day bumming around the apartment- we took turns going to the gym and then lots of playing with Connor. We just got him this jumparoo thingamajig- do you think he likes it??! Here's a picture of a pooped out Andrew too (after putting the thing together!)


Sunday was more babies and brunch (as I've mentioned before - two of my very favorite things in life). Connor and his little buddies got together with us parents at Cicada, one of our favorite restaurants here. This was the first time a couple of the husbands had met each other, and there were tons of laughs (and the babies were so good too!) Thanks Melanie for taking most of the pictures! Jensens- we missed you guys!


Then on Monday (Cinco de Mayo might I add) the gang got together again to surprise Faith for her 30th birthday! We went to one of the only decent Mexican joints here in Tokyo- with the help of Melanie, Faith's husband Russ organized the surprise. Unfortunatley Connor had a bit of a runny nose earlier in the day so we decided that Andrew would stay home with him- he was bummed to miss out on the fun but we still think it was the right move.


Then yesterday (Tuesday) was one of the nicest days I've seen in Tokyo in a while. Blue skies, 70's, yada yada. So we packed up the kid, a blanket, a few toys and some vending machine beers and headed to Yoyogi Park- the closest we can get to Central Park over here. I've always thought that New York City was PRIME people watching but Tokyo really takes it to a whole other level. Just about everyone is making a statement of some sort- and they do it with such confidence! I'd say every 5th person we passed in the park yesterday was picture- worthy for sure (although I didn't take any pictures of them- I really need to start).

So that was it for our jam-packed weekend. I was a little sad when Andrew had to go back to work this morning!! This coming weekend should be another fun one as well- its my first Mother's Day as a Mom :) and then our dear friend Ashley (who's living in London at the moment) arrives for her SECOND visit to Tokyo on Sunday!! We're so excited to see her and for her to meet Connor!!