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!!

Connor is 4 months old!

On the 24th (the day we flew back from the USA) Connor was officially 4 months old! It's been a while since I've had any Connor development updates so this may be a long post! The changes in him over the last month are just unbelievable. I absolutely adore this age. He's got the most amazing personality- he is just the happiest baby, and so much fun to be around. He is still smiling all the time and has now added these big belly laughs (that sound more like what you'd expect from a 4 year old, not a 4 month old). Its the most wonderful feeling when he gives me one of those big gummy grins. He's also found his voice and really likes to test it out. If you sing to him he'll most likely start to sing back (in his baby voice) and he likes to coo and "talk" all the time! It's the funniest thing. I usually sing him a few songs as part of our bedtime routine but sometimes I have to stop because once I start so does he and its become counterproductive in helping him to unwind for bed :)

He loves to play with his toys- he reaches out and grabs toys and passes them back and forth between his hands. When there isn't a toy in his hand he holds his hands. As of yesterday he now rolls from his back to his stomach (he's already been rolling from his tummy to back for quite a while). Yesterday I set him on a blanket while I went to answer the phone and when I came back he had rolled several times across the floor until he landed himself under the coffee table! Imagine my terror after returning to the living room having only been gone a few minutes NOT to find him on his blanket anymore! So I guess the days of him staying where I leave him are coming to an end, even though he isn't crawling yet! He's got full control of his head now and doesn't really like to lay on his back much (I think he gets bored). If he's awake he wants to "stand" on my lap or on the floor (with my support). This can get old quick as you may imagine. His latest trick is touching his toes and he does it ALL the time- pretty much whenever he is on his back. It makes the diaper change process much easier and more entertaining.

Connor is HIGH energy. He's constantly moving and will hardly ever sit still. It makes reading to him very challenging (best achieved if we're both laying on the floor) and you must be on your toes at all times during bath time. That sweet little baby who would just lay in my arms is no more (and no- that does not mean I'm ready for another one!) He's stocky too- while I was hoping for a long and limber runner-type (not that those genes can be found in either of our families) it looks like what I got is a linebacker. He's just SOLID BOY. Our next doctors appt. isn't until next week so I don't have his official stats yet but if I had to guess I'd say he's probably 16-17 pounds- I think that's probably big for a 4 month old!

He's without a doubt a major mommma's boy and I secretly love that. He's happiest when I carry him around facing outward, so that he can be close to me but still see whats going on. This also gets old quick- since he's quite a load to carry these days!

He's still got the most beautiful big blue eyes and his hair is coming in blond with a hint of red (depending on the light). He may have been all me when he was born but he's definitely starting to take on more of Andrew's features (much to his relief :)

My only complaint about the little guy is his night-time sleep (or lack thereof). All I can say is that its a work in progress and I'm optimistic that we're getting there. I feel guilty even complaining about this since I know how lucky I am on every other level with him!

Overall I'm just really enjoying being Connor's Mom. I always knew I wanted to have kids but I'm pleasantly surprised with how much fun I'm having with him and how much I love this little boy of mine. I wish I had a just a little more time for myself and didn't always smell just a little bit like throw up but it is what it is and what can you do?!

And we're back!

Whew! Back to Tokyo! It's been too long since I've posted anything- and now I have soooo much material to post! It might take me a few days to catch up- definitely check back because I'll be much better about posting now that we're home. Things to cover are meeting the family, our trip to Sea Island GA, Connor's 4 month birthday, the cherry blossoms (from the days just before we left Tokyo), and all of the other fun things we did while we were home in the USA. We were literally running around like chickens with our heads cut off while we were in MD- not much computer time. More about that later. The bottom line- we had a blast while we were home and it was so much fun to introduce Connor to all of our family and friends. There were so many people we didn't get to see while we were home because we just ran out of time. Next time for sure! Anyway, our flight back to Tokyo was another good one. Connor is such a travel trooper- which is why I've posted this picture of him. He's such a tough guy (note that this is Mr. T on his t-shirt!) Connor is just 4 months old and has already flown more times than I had when I graduated from college! Door to door from my Mom's house to our apt. in Tokyo was 25 hours of total travel time (we had to connect in NYC). During which there were only MINUTES of crying by Connor. Granted these were some of the longest, most excruciating minutes of my life (Connor's cries can quickly escalate to that of a rabid banshee) but they were only minutes nonetheless. He cried while waiting for his bottle on the flight to Tokyo. Funny story looking back but not so funny at the time. I noticed that he was starting to give some hunger cues so I got out his bottle and asked one of the flight attendants to please heat it up. 5 minutes later she still hadn't brought it back to me so I went looking for her. She told me she didn't think it was hot enough yet but I said I'd take it anyway. Well this thing was BOILING by that point. I was SO pissed. Connor is now whimpering, so Andrew takes it into one of the plane bathrooms to run it under some cold water (we've decided the flight attendant is a moron and don't want to give her this task). After a few minutes Andrew still isn't done and Connor is now screaming. I knock on the bathroom door marked "Occupied" and tell Andrew to please hurry up. Fast forward another 2 LONG minutes. Connor is basically dying now (as am I) so I start kicking and banging on the bathroom door (yes I had lost my mind by this point but it was "sleepy time" on the plane and we had basically just woken up every single passenger- what on EARTH could be taking Andrew so long??!). Literally I would have knocked down the door for that bottle had I been strong enough. After a minute of continuous banging on the door, the door flies open and a man (not Andrew) comes out with his pants completely down, thinking there's an emergency! Apparently, Andrew had gone in the OTHER bathroom, and hadn't bothered to lock the door so it still said "Vacant." Well wasn't I mortified. Luckily the man happened to be English speaking, so I was able to explain myself. Wouldn't that have been a predicament if I hadn't been able to apologize! Of course this man was sitting right across the aisle from me so every time he passed I kept my head down in embarrassment. Other than that snafu, the flight was quite uneventful. We had our own bulkhead row (the flight was only half full) and there was a bassinet that folded down into a makeshift crib where Connor slept. We had to do much more entertaining for the little guy until it was time to go to sleep but once he fell asleep he slept well. This is our 3rd day back in Tokyo and I think all of us are doing remarkably well with the jet lag (nights 1 and 2 were hairy but last night was good). Mission accomplished!

The Eichs have landed!

Hello! So its been a while since I've posted so just thought I'd fill you in on what us Eichs have been up to in the old US of A. First of all, our trip back was utterly awesome. We took a night flight home and since Connor has a very predictable night-time schedule, it couldn't have been easier for us. Our flight took off around 6:00pm and he was asleep for the night by 7:30, just in time for Andrew and I to have dinner on the plane. Connor still generally wakes twice in the night- so I just woke him up to feed him before he had a chance to do it himself. So of the nearly 12 hour flight to Chicago- there were only seconds of tears. Score! And although we were supposed to have to hold Connor on our lap during the flight, it wasn't a full flight so we managed to get three seats with an open seat between us where Connor sat in his car seat for the duration of the flight. Fingers crossed that we have this kind of luck on the flight back to Tokyo, we aren't taking a night flight again (it isn't available) so I'm not quite as optimistic as I was about this past flight. We dealt with a canceled connecting flight to Cleveland (due to snow) and stayed overnight in an airport hotel before finally arriving in Cleveland the next day (a blessing in disguise because we got a chance to see Andrew's sister and husband who live in Chicago while we were stuck there!).

In Cleveland Connor had a chance to meet his Granddad, Aunt and Uncle and two cousins, one that was born just days after him! He was also reunited with his Nana. As you can see, we still didn't have a camera to capture all of these wonderful moments, which I am still slightly bitter about. I am happy to report that we have one now- we broke down and bought a new one- I just couldn't take it anymore! And if you were wondering- we got basically the same one we had before- which I am quite happy with.

After our nice long weekend in Cleveland we moved on to NYC. GLORIA! GLORIA! I can't express how happy I've been to be here these last few days. It's (almost) like we never left. And to share it all with Connor has been so much fun. Connor and I have pretty much strolled the streets morning til night every day. I have major blisters! I got to meet up with friends Annie, John, Tracey and Dana multiple times which was so fun. And for the first time in as long as I can remember Andrew did not do any work over the weekend (hope his boss isn't reading this!) so we had some great family time too. We've basically eaten our way through the city (not good for the post-pregnancy diet but not much I can do about that now). We've covered just about all our favorite Mexican spots- Dos Caminos, Mama Mexico, Mustangs, and of course Chipotle (more than once I'm afraid). Not to mention my fair share of Tasti-Delight and this new-to-me phenomenon called PinkBerry? Yum!

Tomorrow morning I'll be packing Connor and I up to head down to Maryland (via rental car). I'm a little nervous for the trip-- being that I haven't driven a car in 8+ months and I'll be traveling with my most precious cargo. Not to mention that I'll be battling the over-caffeinated road raged New Yorkers to get out of the city. But I'll be fine. I'll be stopping in NJ on my way to introduce Connor to his Great-Grandpa- can't wait for that! Andrew will stay here in the city for another week to work.

Will post some pictures from the new camera in the next few days. Thanks for reading!