Welcome to ITO NEWS

Several people have asked about Dad's condition. We are thankful to report that since last May he has had 4 scans which show no new brain tumors. The oral drug he has been taking since September has been effective in bringing down the cancer marker and stopping the other tumors from growing. There was a blip up in the cancer marker recently, so the doctor has ordered a brain scan and PET scan before his next appointment in March. The doctor can still find no signs of cancer on physical examination. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Akihiro had a business trip up noth and took some pics of the festival there,

We had the whole immediate Ito family to our house for sukiyaki last Saturday night. A good time was had by all...

We went to visit Akihiro's grandpa, Tomokazu. The kanji for Tomo in Tomoki's name we chose in honor of him. I think you will agree with me though, that Tomoki is a bit easier for the American tongue to say than Tomokazu!

Our good Chinese friend, Li, had brought back some very warm looking clothes that his mother made. I couldn't decide which smile I liked better, so I put both in! His "flicker" smile is getting a bit longer now. He's quite the charmer--even this am at 3 am (groan--this growth spurt or 3 month thing or whatever it is that made night time waking times get more frequent!) But, how can you get angry with a cute grin like that?!!!

We reserved a moving truck for the first Saturday in March!!!! They started hanging wallpaper this week!

I forgot to say that we did Tomoki's 3 month exam last Saturday. He is at the top of the charts for height and slightly above average on weight.

6.6 kg. (14 pounds, 9 ounces)
64 cm (25.2 inches)

Here are a few pictures from before we went to America.

Thanks for all the prayers for our trip home to the States. Tomoki did great! He got kinda tired of being held, so we padded both of our tray tables and then laid him on top and wrapped a blanket around him and the tray table (yes, I know, we restrained our child to the tray table!). He was happy as a clam and kicking all extremities until he fell fast asleep. He didn't cry hardly at all!

Here he meets some of his cousins!

Our family Christmas...

Since we've come home, he's really taken a liking to the lazy boy! He is his father's son, I guess! The day after we came home Akihiro and I came down with some sort of bug--I'll spare the details, but just say it wasn't pleasant. Thankfully Tomoki didn't get it and Akihiro's mom came and took care of us for 2 days. We are finally on the mend and getting adjusted back to this time zone!

Here are some pictures of our house! They say it should be done by Feb 20th....we'll see!

Tomoki is growing big fast! At his one month check up he was 5 cm taller and his head and chest circumference were each 3 cm bigger! No wonder he is growing out of his clothes and we have to keep adjusting his car seat! He is quite strong, but I am afraid he got my poor coordination skills--he punches himself in the face and then cries! (I am hoping that he grows out of this :) ) I put him in a sling today and walked to the little grocery store nearby and then walked home on the river walk. Many of those who had curiously eyed my big belly before were not so shy anymore and came up to see him. He is really "talking" up a storm and of course we think he is terribly advanced :). He sure has figured out that he likes to poop in a brand new diaper anyway! We are planning to come home December 21st through January 6th and are looking forward to seeing many of you then!

We had a supper with all of Akihiro's family. Here is four generations of Itos.

And four generations of Kimuras.

He was pretty popular with the girls

He looked like a little Japanese priest in this little outfit!

This smile melts my heart! Grandma Ito made this cute little vest and also some mittens--he's got his mother's cold hands!

Dad arrived safely here and has been thoroughly charmed by Tomoki! Dad has been a great help too--he changed diapers, washed dishes, rocked Tomoki, and even did a little packing for me! He and Akihiro left Monday for the Phillippines. Akihiro's mom is staying with me while he is gone. Tomoki continues to change every day and is charming us all. He had a busy last two weekends with lots of time in the car and lots of time being held by his many admirers, but it seems that he is a social butterfly and rises to each occasion valiantly! Here's a few pics...

Here he is with Grandma Ito.

He likes to read the newspaper with daddy..

Here's his cute little smile. The picture is about a week old.

I had mentioned I would post pictures of the hos
pital food...it was delicious! It's a good thing I like Japanese food!

Life has been busy with our little fella, but what a joy he is to take care of! Here are some pictures of the last 12 days. A few people have asked about his name and the pronunciation of it. There is technically no accent, but if you are going to accent any part it is the "to". The "to" is like "toe". The kun (like "coon) is the "kid name" that is added to people that are lower than the speaker in authority--especially children.

Just born....

Our first family picture

Here is the nursery at the clinic. He was twice as heavy as the little girls next to him!

"Uncle" Li-san visited the night he was born

Here is the statistics card. On the left is the average for Japanese boys. On the right is for girls. Tomoki is in the middle. First is his weight, then height, then chest, then head.

Here is the doctor who did the c section and his wife who assisted (she is also an OB doctor). They let Akihiro cut the cord and assist with Tomoki's care.

Here's the proud papa and his son on day 2.

We had visitors the third day--here's Vicki Ramseyer--she came with Eiko-san.

Here's my Japanese mom and dad. (the new neighbors)

Here's Akihiro's cousins, Yumi and Saiyaka.

Onoda-san and Hiroko-san from Tokyo church came on day 5

Jana and Charity and Amy came too..

Grandpa Ito--we are pretty sure Tomoki got his cheeks!

The Kinsinger family visited too and I heard they put their pics on their blog, so I will be lazy and not put them on. Also Andrew and the rest of the girls and Jana and the boys visited once we got home. Thanks for visiting!

Uncle Tsuyoshi and Aunt Yuko visited on day 7.

Aunt Kayuko also came on day 7. Even though she delivers babies all the time, she was quite smitten by Tomoki and his big cheeks and super size!!

After being in the hospital a week and a half and one week after delivery, we headed home! They had given us a headband--white for boys and pink for girls. I had sent it home with Akihiro--didn't want my boy to wear a lace headband, but the clinic insisted he wear it for the discharge picture! Poor little guy! The green crocheted dress was made by Akihiro's mom. He looked like a little fat lady by the time we had him all dressed!

Here's his first bath at home. I think he's got plenty of Japanese blood, because he seemed to enjoy it immensely.

10 days old!

I think he looks like the baby pictures of my brother, John here on his 11th day!

Gotta love this face!

He loves his swing from the Bahrs!

12 days old!

Tomoki gave us his first few smiles last night--a bit ornery looking already! Haven't captured any on camera yet, though!

It seems like Tomo-kun has always been with us, but it has only been four days! We are head-over-heels in love with this little guy and are so thankful for this wonderful miracle! Like one person told us, we are finding that the learning curve is steep, but the blessings are abundant. He is a happy boy as long as he is fed and changed. Akihiro and his mom have been a great taking care of him as my c-section incision limits what I can do for him. There are good days and hard days, but we are hanging in there. We will be discharged from the clinic on Sunday the 25th. The staff has been great here. Someday I will post some pictures of the meals here--phenomenal! Am running out of steam tonight, so will only post a few pictures from today and yesterday--later will do some of the first pics for those who didn't get them on email. Many are asking about his name--you don't accent any of the syllables--just slurr it all together is best. To-mo-ki.

Tomoki Charles Ito was born (finally :) ) on October 17th at 3;33PM by c-section at our local clinic in Hachioji, Tokyo.
He was 4302 grams (9lbs7oz!!) and 52.5 cm(20.7inch).

For the English speaking tongues--it is said like Tow Mow Key :)

The first kanji (Chinese character) "tomo" means "wisdom" and the kanji is the same as Akihiro's grandpa, Tomokazu.

The second kanji "ki" is from the kanji for hope--"kibou". This represents the great hope that little Tomoki-kun has been for us through Mom's passing and Dad's cancer and life in general. It also represents the great hope we have for him and his future--that he can serve the Lord with wisdom.

The middle name "Charles" is my dad's name, as most of you know. We are thankful for the Godly example that Dad has been throughout our lifetime and pray that Tomoki can follow this Godly example as well.

For short, we will call him Tomo-kun :)

Thanks for your prayers for us!

Just got back from the doctor and things still aren't ripe and Baby-kun is still riding too high to safely break my water (danger of cord prolapse). After discussing the situation we all felt it was best to just go ahead and schedule the c-section for this afternoon--starting sometime between 2 and 3 PM. We feel a peace about this and are very excited to finally meet our Baby-kun! Akihiro will be in the surgery room with me the whole time, so I am very thankful (and spoiled)! Thanks again for your prayers!