wasn't a lot of snow, but it was enough for a good time in the park this morning.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
happy new year
I held my steak in one hand tonight, biting off one piece at a time, while holding Esme, who gently whimpered the whole meal because it was past her bedtime. Kellan, spent the last half of the meal repeating the same few lines over and over ("I cleaned my bowl. I cleaned my bowl. I cleaned my bowl.") Jolon had to be reminded 5 times to get back in his chair, and each time he had a ready excuse (Esme dropped her toy, I want a bigger spoon, Kellan dropped his bread, I have to pee, and I need a cloth). Hoikuen has been out all week and we're all on holiday. Wonderful.....sort of. The days are long, it's too cold to get outside for very long, and patience is wearing thin around the Wells-Watson house. Someone is always whining, crying, complaining, arguing, wanting-needing something, right now. We're tired of the poo poo jokes, the "I did it by accident" slamming of doors, the laughing too loudly, the dropping of spoons on the wooden floor, the "Jolon did hit me"s, the refusals to wear hats, mittens, vests and subsequent "I'm cold, I want to go home"s 10 minutes after we've left the house. Against natural instincts but so as not to go crazy, we've been laying down the law, getting stricter about everything from speaking too much Japanese at home, to talking with your mouth full, to singing at the table. We're on the verge of banning of singing all together I think, which sounds pitiful, but if you've ever heard these two try to recreate the kagura music they hear at festivals, you'd understand. Yet as we expected, laying down the law is just about as exhausting as putting up with all of the annoying things in the first place. Perhaps once they've gotten used to the new rules, things will get better, but by that time they'll be back on the regular hoikuen schedule. Always in the back of our heads and especially once they are all asleep for the night, is the knowledge that they are great kids and these are not problems, just annoyances, which will change and be replaced before we know it. But I am tired. The nice things today though were cooking a beautiful steak for Jan and seeing him enjoy it even though we didn't get a chance to talk during dinner. Playing hide and seek with Jolon. He is still young enough to hardly be able to stand waiting for me to find him, and he loves springing up on me. Seeing him laugh today in the park completely made my day. Kellan got so cold this afternoon (it was snowing) that he started crying and could hardly stop. Jan had Esme and so I got the chance to pick up my almost 3 year old boy and carry him home. I haven't carried him in awhile because I always have Esme, plus he's getting awfully heavy. I really enjoyed it. And although it's been taking me nearly an hour to get Esme to sleep these days, every night she falls asleep sucking her thumb and stroking my hair. I love her pulling on my hair. The boys didn't really do it, and it's such a sweet thing for a baby to do. Happy New Year.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
beautiful
Today while I was at home with Esme getting ready for a Christmas party, Jan took the boys out for a walk down the river. As they were coming home, he told them that I was going to be putting on a black and white and dress for the party and when they saw me in it they should tell me I looked beautiful. On the ride up in the elevator they asked questions about the party and just before they opened the door, Jolon looked up at Jan and in all seriousness said, "but what should we say if she doesn't look beautiful?"
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Mochi Tsuki Festival
The annual Making mochi (sticky rice cakes) Festival and school fund-raiser was last Saturday at Nakayoshi. Jolon's class made and sold cookies as one of the fund-raising activities. They also got to go around and spend about $3.00 that we'd sent to Ibuki earlier in the week. Jolon got to buy some recycled toys and choose a treat or two: chocolate banana, popcorn, cotton candy, etc. Kellan's class did a small dance performance. Unfortunately just before it started, he fell down or somehow got hurt and so he cried (LOUDLY) throughout the whole thing. He got over it pretty quickly though and enjoyed walking around with his class to each stall. The highlight of the day was the taiko drum and lion-dragon performance. Legend has it that if the dragon bites your head, it will bring you good luck. The point is for the kids to be terrified, but be able to overcome the fear and stick their heads into the mouth of the scary dragon. With some help from the teachers, most kids did it. Despite them wailing, Kellan's teachers mostly picked their kids up individually and stuck the heads into the mouth. I held Esme up and Nobu gave Jolon a boost. Later both boys admitted they were scared but were very proud of themselves for having done it. I got some nice pictures, but my favorite of the day is the one of Nobu kissing Esme.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Procrastination
There are soooo many more things I need to be doing. But the boys had fun decorating them, and it was a lovely way to spend a cold, rainy day. Kellan still has a cold and as the cookies are a gift for the teachers, we tried hard to get them not to lick the icing off their hands. Although it did feel a bit cruel and anti-Christmas spirit to keep saying (yelling), "DON'T LICK THE ICING." Jolon was finally able to overcome the urge to lick his hands and got sorta creative with the icing. Kellan, however, couldn't help himself and after the 5th time having to get down and wash his hands, he was so frustrated he tripped himself running back to the table, and banged his cheek on a table leg....thus the bandage in the second picture.
5 months old
Love the 5 month old poses. These were taken last week, before the nasty cold and chicken pox. I stuffed her into my favorite summer suit one last time. I bought that suit at a flea market years ago, and kept it back for somebody. Very happy that Esme got such good use out of it this summer.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Esme latest
5 months old!
Esme is grabbing lots with both hands, especially my face and hair. She reaches out with those big hands and whatever she catches, be it a nose, earlobe, or fistful of hair, she yanks and twists.
She’s rolling back and forth very fast. She can lie on her belly and push her self up quite high these days. If I prop her up into a sitting position and then bring her arms forward she can balance herself for a few seconds. Really won’t be long till she’s sitting unsupported.
She goes into an exersaucer kind of thing with rollers and can propel herself around our sitting room. It has a tray on it with toys and when Mom was here we said she was “going to work,” because as soon as toys are put on that tray, she snatches them up, puts them in her mouth and then flings them off onto the floor, like she’s being paid to do it or like she can’t rest until all of the toys are off that tray. And this is done with the most earnest expression on her face. I remember when Jolon was a bit older than this and he would wake up and go to work as well, only in his case, his “job,” was hoisting himself up to a standing position in the the bed by holding on to the headrest, dropping back down and then up again. And when there are no more toys, she usually protests, so we are always asking Jolon and Kellan to fill her tray back up.
A typical day is a wake up around 7:00. Hour nap around 9:00 or 10:00, usually on a walk with me. Hour to hour and a half nap about 1:00 or 2:00. And usually a 30 –45 minute nap around 5:00. Then I put her to bed after dinner, around 7:30. Recently it takes me only 15 min. to half an hour to get her down, and quite often this just means holding her in bed and gently rocking her back and forth. I usually nurse her during dinner and give the milk a chance to settle before putting her to sleep. She sucks her thumb to soothe herself and FINALLY I’m enjoying the bedtime routine. It’s gotten a lot shorter, with much less crying. She will quite often wake up 20-45 minutes later but it’s not hard to rock her back to sleep. Having written all of that, she was diagnosed this morning with chicken pox as well as a nasty cold and so for the past 48 hours has been understandably inconsolable.
People often ask me if it’s easier having a girl than a boy. So far, she has been an easier baby, but at this point, I’m convinced it’s partly just her nature and partly because we are doing some things better or at least we know a little more than we did the first time around.
My favourite things about Esme these days
1. her gorgeous smile
2. the way she sucks her thumb
3. the fact that she has a favourite position on me that she likes to be held in (head tucked in close against my left shoulder, thumb in mouth)
4. the way she grabs my hair when she’s snuggling in close or nursing
5. the way she watches the boys so intently
6. the way she wakes up slowly in the mornings
7. her smell
8. how funny she is blowing bubbles
I’m planning to wait until 6 months to give her any food, like I did with the boys. That’s just a month away. Jolon thinks I should give her zucchini first and I’m leaning towards pumpkin. Kellan had squash for his first meal (hated it) and Jolon had Japanese sweet potato first (liked the spoon better, but was very interested).
Esme is grabbing lots with both hands, especially my face and hair. She reaches out with those big hands and whatever she catches, be it a nose, earlobe, or fistful of hair, she yanks and twists.
She’s rolling back and forth very fast. She can lie on her belly and push her self up quite high these days. If I prop her up into a sitting position and then bring her arms forward she can balance herself for a few seconds. Really won’t be long till she’s sitting unsupported.
She goes into an exersaucer kind of thing with rollers and can propel herself around our sitting room. It has a tray on it with toys and when Mom was here we said she was “going to work,” because as soon as toys are put on that tray, she snatches them up, puts them in her mouth and then flings them off onto the floor, like she’s being paid to do it or like she can’t rest until all of the toys are off that tray. And this is done with the most earnest expression on her face. I remember when Jolon was a bit older than this and he would wake up and go to work as well, only in his case, his “job,” was hoisting himself up to a standing position in the the bed by holding on to the headrest, dropping back down and then up again. And when there are no more toys, she usually protests, so we are always asking Jolon and Kellan to fill her tray back up.
A typical day is a wake up around 7:00. Hour nap around 9:00 or 10:00, usually on a walk with me. Hour to hour and a half nap about 1:00 or 2:00. And usually a 30 –45 minute nap around 5:00. Then I put her to bed after dinner, around 7:30. Recently it takes me only 15 min. to half an hour to get her down, and quite often this just means holding her in bed and gently rocking her back and forth. I usually nurse her during dinner and give the milk a chance to settle before putting her to sleep. She sucks her thumb to soothe herself and FINALLY I’m enjoying the bedtime routine. It’s gotten a lot shorter, with much less crying. She will quite often wake up 20-45 minutes later but it’s not hard to rock her back to sleep. Having written all of that, she was diagnosed this morning with chicken pox as well as a nasty cold and so for the past 48 hours has been understandably inconsolable.
People often ask me if it’s easier having a girl than a boy. So far, she has been an easier baby, but at this point, I’m convinced it’s partly just her nature and partly because we are doing some things better or at least we know a little more than we did the first time around.
My favourite things about Esme these days
1. her gorgeous smile
2. the way she sucks her thumb
3. the fact that she has a favourite position on me that she likes to be held in (head tucked in close against my left shoulder, thumb in mouth)
4. the way she grabs my hair when she’s snuggling in close or nursing
5. the way she watches the boys so intently
6. the way she wakes up slowly in the mornings
7. her smell
8. how funny she is blowing bubbles
I’m planning to wait until 6 months to give her any food, like I did with the boys. That’s just a month away. Jolon thinks I should give her zucchini first and I’m leaning towards pumpkin. Kellan had squash for his first meal (hated it) and Jolon had Japanese sweet potato first (liked the spoon better, but was very interested).
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Kellan is scared of....
Kellan is going through a stage of saying he’s scared of everything. I say saying he’s scared because he doesn’t act particularly timid around things (except dogs….for no specific reason that we can remember and much to Jan’s dismay, he’s terrified of dogs), but he does love to announce that things are scary. As Jan was putting him to bed tonight, he told Jan he was scared of ghosts. Jan reminded him that there aren’t any ghosts. He thought about that for a minute, seemed to accept the idea, and then listed a long series of things, which he’s scared of, including Jan, bad men, and police cars.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Kellan latest
Kellan is our talker. His Japanese is really good, way better than most of the kids in his class who are close in age. The way he speaks is as distinctive as a full on Southern drawl, and it’s so funny to me that I’m often fighting to keep from laughing out loud and hurting his feelings. Funny though how whining sounds just as bad in any language, and this boy can whine. The way he says, “yada,” the Japanese word for “I don’t like it,” truly turns my stomach.
Jolon does and has always woken up easily and in a great mood, full of energy. Kellan, on the other hand, wakes up cranky. Jan usually picks him up and sets him on the sofa in the main room a good 15 minutes before we really need him to get moving. He gets things done in the morning pretty well---goes to the toilet by himself, can wash his own face (but I like to scrub it), usually brushes his own teeth, etc. but he does everything at his own pace. We’ve been calling him Fletcher lately because he eats so slowly. He takes his time peeling his tangerine, making sure Jan pours the right kind of milk on his cereal, getting his favorite spoon, etc. He’s also in tune enough with the food that he won’t get down from the table just because Jolon does or because he’d rather be playing. The boy eats until he’s full.
He likes to fasten buttons and often practices on Esme’s shirts and sweaters.
Hasn’t worn a diaper during the day since ????? spring? Hasn’t worn a diaper at night since maybe the summer. Seems to have better bladder control than Jolon these days.
Favorite food: rice and “Advantage,” the English cereal
Favortie color: Blue for sure. He pronounces it “ballon.”
Definitely not throwing as many tantrums as a few months ago. He can get quite upset about things, but will also listen to explanations and can snap himself out of whatever emotion he’s experiencing before full on melt-down. He does whine a lot though. A lot.
Loves to talk about how big he is, how strong he is, and how (kakuwii) cool he is. He swoons when we say he does something, “like Jolon.” Now that he’s old enough to really play with Jolon, he’s begun figuring out that he finally has some power in the relationship. When Jolon is mean to him, he’s figured out that despite being smaller and weaker, he can upset Jolon the most by simply walking away, leaving Jolon to play on his own.
The teachers often use Esme as a way to motivate him to keep walking, eat all of his lunch, share the tricycle with his friends, etc. Apparently it works every time. Even at home, he’ll often say he’s doing things (cleaning up his toys, putting on his shoes, washing his face) “For Esme.”
He’s growing up quickly. Just a couple of days ago, he was recovering from a bad cold and fever and after dinner turned to me and said, “Hold me.” I nearly cried. Up until then, he’d always said, “Hold you,” when he meant, “hold me,” and I’d never corrected him because it sounded so cute.
Jolon does and has always woken up easily and in a great mood, full of energy. Kellan, on the other hand, wakes up cranky. Jan usually picks him up and sets him on the sofa in the main room a good 15 minutes before we really need him to get moving. He gets things done in the morning pretty well---goes to the toilet by himself, can wash his own face (but I like to scrub it), usually brushes his own teeth, etc. but he does everything at his own pace. We’ve been calling him Fletcher lately because he eats so slowly. He takes his time peeling his tangerine, making sure Jan pours the right kind of milk on his cereal, getting his favorite spoon, etc. He’s also in tune enough with the food that he won’t get down from the table just because Jolon does or because he’d rather be playing. The boy eats until he’s full.
He likes to fasten buttons and often practices on Esme’s shirts and sweaters.
Hasn’t worn a diaper during the day since ????? spring? Hasn’t worn a diaper at night since maybe the summer. Seems to have better bladder control than Jolon these days.
Favorite food: rice and “Advantage,” the English cereal
Favortie color: Blue for sure. He pronounces it “ballon.”
Definitely not throwing as many tantrums as a few months ago. He can get quite upset about things, but will also listen to explanations and can snap himself out of whatever emotion he’s experiencing before full on melt-down. He does whine a lot though. A lot.
Loves to talk about how big he is, how strong he is, and how (kakuwii) cool he is. He swoons when we say he does something, “like Jolon.” Now that he’s old enough to really play with Jolon, he’s begun figuring out that he finally has some power in the relationship. When Jolon is mean to him, he’s figured out that despite being smaller and weaker, he can upset Jolon the most by simply walking away, leaving Jolon to play on his own.
The teachers often use Esme as a way to motivate him to keep walking, eat all of his lunch, share the tricycle with his friends, etc. Apparently it works every time. Even at home, he’ll often say he’s doing things (cleaning up his toys, putting on his shoes, washing his face) “For Esme.”
He’s growing up quickly. Just a couple of days ago, he was recovering from a bad cold and fever and after dinner turned to me and said, “Hold me.” I nearly cried. Up until then, he’d always said, “Hold you,” when he meant, “hold me,” and I’d never corrected him because it sounded so cute.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Jolon latest
Jolon latest. December 2, 2009.
Ibuki has mentioned several times lately how Jolon is doing “fuzakeru,” (goofing off/making his friends laugh) a lot at school. He’s also having trouble staying on track doing his “shigoto,” (daily chores). Ibuki being Ibuki, she told me in a very casual, kind, non-judgmental way. Mom has just been here for a few weeks and although I would have thought the extra attention here would have made him less seeking of attention at school and had more of a positive effect, it’s possible that the change in routine caused some anxiety which has played out at school. Most likely though, it’s just normal 5 year old boy stuff. But once she mentioned it, I’ve really noticed how he is harder to deal with then he was a few months ago. So, Jolon latest:
Loves kagura and swords. Loves making sticks and swords and other things out of paper. He is happiest when he is either dancing around the room wearing a kimono or when he has a stack of scrap paper and a roll of tape.
Pees the bed more than Kellan these days. We think it’s the cold weather…too hard to get out of bed. He’s on MAJOR liquid restriction at night but we’re convinced he’s drinking the bath water or something.
Experimenting with lying. When he and Kellan are in a room together and Kellan comes out wailing after being hit, he knows we haven’t seen what happened, and he’s been enjoying making up things that Kellan did to provoke him. (although Kellan is getting better at defending himself both verbally and physically) Jolon has come up with some doozies lately and the other night, Jan started the bedtime story routine by saying, “So, I’m going to tell you the story about the boy who cried wolf,” to which Jolon replied in a bored voice, “Mommy’s already told me that one. I want one about pirates.”
Just like at school, he can be really slow to do things such as get dressed, put his toys away, etc. We struggle to find new ways to get him to put his clothes without telling him 20 times and without yelling at him.
Fights with and gets annoyed with Kellan but enjoys playing with him far more. We went to a party last weekend with mostly Kellan’s friends and several kids were playing under a table. When Kellan tried to join them, one boy said, “You can’t come in, Kellan.” Kellan said he was coming in, but the boy said again, “Kellan hairen,” (Kellan can’t enter). All of a sudden in a very calm, but loud voice, Jolon said, “Kellan haireru!” (Kellan can come in!). Kellan entered with a big smile.
Wakes up EARLY. He’s usually up by around 6:00 or 6:30 and will often go for his morning poo without waking anyone else up. He can happily sit and sing to himself for up to an hour or usually until the next person wakes up and comes in and gets him to move. He still naps at school for about an hour and a half (on weekends he gets to choose if he wants to nap or not and lately he always wants to) and goes to bed about 9:00. I’m seeing to Esme and getting stuff ready for the next day, but Jan usually finishes reading the boys books around 8:00 and puts them in the tatami room together. They take turns annoying each other and coming out for various reasons but these days are falling asleep pretty easily.
He’s got a lot of energy and while I really wouldn’t consider him to be a hyper child, he’s definitely not a calm one. In a fairly small apartment and neighbors below to consider, it gets tiring constantly telling him to calm down.
One of the nice things Ibuki told me about Jolon several months ago in his half year report was that he’s like a big brother to everyone, and that he’s kind to both the boys and girls. I saw what she meant when we went on the overnight camping trip with his class recently. He’s definitely loves playing rough with his boyfriends, but several times I noticed that he was the only boy playing with the girls. I saw him take hold of Rin-chan’s hand to show her something across the room.
Ibuki has mentioned several times lately how Jolon is doing “fuzakeru,” (goofing off/making his friends laugh) a lot at school. He’s also having trouble staying on track doing his “shigoto,” (daily chores). Ibuki being Ibuki, she told me in a very casual, kind, non-judgmental way. Mom has just been here for a few weeks and although I would have thought the extra attention here would have made him less seeking of attention at school and had more of a positive effect, it’s possible that the change in routine caused some anxiety which has played out at school. Most likely though, it’s just normal 5 year old boy stuff. But once she mentioned it, I’ve really noticed how he is harder to deal with then he was a few months ago. So, Jolon latest:
Loves kagura and swords. Loves making sticks and swords and other things out of paper. He is happiest when he is either dancing around the room wearing a kimono or when he has a stack of scrap paper and a roll of tape.
Pees the bed more than Kellan these days. We think it’s the cold weather…too hard to get out of bed. He’s on MAJOR liquid restriction at night but we’re convinced he’s drinking the bath water or something.
Experimenting with lying. When he and Kellan are in a room together and Kellan comes out wailing after being hit, he knows we haven’t seen what happened, and he’s been enjoying making up things that Kellan did to provoke him. (although Kellan is getting better at defending himself both verbally and physically) Jolon has come up with some doozies lately and the other night, Jan started the bedtime story routine by saying, “So, I’m going to tell you the story about the boy who cried wolf,” to which Jolon replied in a bored voice, “Mommy’s already told me that one. I want one about pirates.”
Just like at school, he can be really slow to do things such as get dressed, put his toys away, etc. We struggle to find new ways to get him to put his clothes without telling him 20 times and without yelling at him.
Fights with and gets annoyed with Kellan but enjoys playing with him far more. We went to a party last weekend with mostly Kellan’s friends and several kids were playing under a table. When Kellan tried to join them, one boy said, “You can’t come in, Kellan.” Kellan said he was coming in, but the boy said again, “Kellan hairen,” (Kellan can’t enter). All of a sudden in a very calm, but loud voice, Jolon said, “Kellan haireru!” (Kellan can come in!). Kellan entered with a big smile.
Wakes up EARLY. He’s usually up by around 6:00 or 6:30 and will often go for his morning poo without waking anyone else up. He can happily sit and sing to himself for up to an hour or usually until the next person wakes up and comes in and gets him to move. He still naps at school for about an hour and a half (on weekends he gets to choose if he wants to nap or not and lately he always wants to) and goes to bed about 9:00. I’m seeing to Esme and getting stuff ready for the next day, but Jan usually finishes reading the boys books around 8:00 and puts them in the tatami room together. They take turns annoying each other and coming out for various reasons but these days are falling asleep pretty easily.
He’s got a lot of energy and while I really wouldn’t consider him to be a hyper child, he’s definitely not a calm one. In a fairly small apartment and neighbors below to consider, it gets tiring constantly telling him to calm down.
One of the nice things Ibuki told me about Jolon several months ago in his half year report was that he’s like a big brother to everyone, and that he’s kind to both the boys and girls. I saw what she meant when we went on the overnight camping trip with his class recently. He’s definitely loves playing rough with his boyfriends, but several times I noticed that he was the only boy playing with the girls. I saw him take hold of Rin-chan’s hand to show her something across the room.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Happy Birthday, Jolon
At least 60 people, including kids, showed up for the party. Although I'd asked for no gifts plenty of people showed up with something. Aidan brought a Boston Red Sox baseball cap and it was so cute when he gave it to Jolon. Jolon loves the cap but I think Aidan enjoyed giving it as much or more than Jolon did receiving it. Several people gave him homemade gifts (ninja throwing stars made of paper, wooden airplane, etc.) Suzie and Vince took the boys to the park around 4:00 before the party started at 6:00. At 4:30 I raced over to the restaurant with a stroller full of picture books for the tables, leggos, the cds we made for gifts, and the signs that Erin made. Jan was working until 6:00, and Mom was watching Esme. When things were set up, I ran back to nurse Esme and get dressed while Mom took the first batch of cupcakes over. When she came back I went over with the cake, ready to greet the first guests. Suzie and Vince arrived with the boys about a quarter after 6 and the boys both had slightly solemn faces and huge eyes as they walked in, slowly taking in the scene. Jan came over with Mom and Esme about 6:30 and by that time the party was really going strong. At first some of Jolon's friends came over to give him their presents and the next thing I knew he was with his friend Yura, staring at the movie (The Incredibles) that was playing on the wall in the background. He stayed there for quite a while explaining to Yura what was happening (I'd let him watch the movie that morning while I was finishing the cake). Meanwhile kids were running amok while the adults were scrambling to order food and drinks and catching up. Wild and noisy as it all was, the staff didn't seem to be bothered (they were incredibly busy anyway) and the kids did have a ball, which really was the point. Cake, crown cookies, and wild things cupcakes went down very well. Highlight of course was when the lights were turned off and the whole place sang Happy Birthday, Jolon. Around 8:30 the lights went out for real, some kind of electric problem, and though the party would probably have kept going, it seemed like a good time for people to start heading home. I was so happy that Mom could be there to see Jolon, as well as meet up with some of our friends again. I was a bit worried that she wouldn't like coming to such a big party, but she worked the room and had a great time by the looks of it. She was also a HUGE help with the preparations: talking me through icing color decisions, painting black eyes on marshmallow eyes at 11:00 at night, and strategically placing cashews onto cupcakes instead of napping on Sunday afternoon. Thank you, Grammy. We love you, Jolon. Happy 5th birthday!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Party was............WILD
Monday night and still recovering from the party (horrible headache from way too many screaming kids). Pre-kids the best part of a good party was hashing it out with Jan the next morning over breakfast (who was there, who wasn't talking to who, and what everyone was wearing). We've had fun doing that with the boys today. Only now it's who hit who, who brought the cool gifts, and who melted down.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween costumes
Esme was a rabbit, Kellan a panda, and Jolon was a skunk with horns...a kind of furry monster, monster skunk, horned beast with a big tail, black and white horned ogre...take your pick. We went to the annual party in the park where Kellan peeled his panda suit off before he even got out of the car, and Jolon only wore his for about 10 minutes. Maybe I should have shelled out the money for the Spiderman costumes they really wanted. Auntie Erin and Amara were the most beautiful butterflies. I took just the boys to an organized trick or treating event that evening while Erin watched Esme, and Kellan did keep the panda suit on, and he looked adorable. Jolon was super cute in his suit too, until some bratty 8 year old girl came up behind him and said something about a stinky skunk. I didn't say anything to Jolon, wasn't completely sure he'd heard her. About 5 minutes later he told me that he wanted to take his costume off. When I asked why, he said he just didn't feel like wearing it any longer. I didn't say anything else, just carried that enormous costume around for the next 2 hours. Poor thing. Definitely gonna have to do spiderman or the likes next year.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Spoiled rotten
Hiromi and Toshi took the boys again this weekend and they're spending the night. Jan had an evening in with Esme while I went out for dinner with some of the moms in Jolon's class. Soon after they picked the boys up, Hiromi called and told me to come down to the street and look. Imagine my surprise when Kellan and Toshi rolled around the corner in the new Mercedes convertible. Kellan (and Toshi) could not stop beaming.
roller
Esme rolled over! Here are the stats:
Stomach to back:
Jolon-14 weeks
Kellan-17 weeks
Esme-16 weeks
Back to stomach:
Jolon-19 weeks
Kellan- 16 weeks
Esme: 16 weeks and a couple of days
Stomach to back:
Jolon-14 weeks
Kellan-17 weeks
Esme-16 weeks
Back to stomach:
Jolon-19 weeks
Kellan- 16 weeks
Esme: 16 weeks and a couple of days
Monday, October 19, 2009
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