http://www.ito3.name/ en Copyright 2010 Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:45:33 +0900 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2010/02/an_update_on_dad_sapporo_ice_f.html http://www.ito3.name/2010/02/an_update_on_dad_sapporo_ice_f.html Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:45:33 +0900 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! ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2010/01/tomosan_and_tomokun_etc.html http://www.ito3.name/2010/01/tomosan_and_tomokun_etc.html Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:28:05 +0900 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) http://www.ito3.name/2010/01/stats.html http://www.ito3.name/2010/01/stats.html Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:02:52 +0900 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! ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2010/01/home_from_america.html http://www.ito3.name/2010/01/home_from_america.html Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:15:55 +0900 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! ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2009/11/15_months.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/11/15_months.html Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:39:47 +0900 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! ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2009/11/dads_visit.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/11/dads_visit.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:10:21 +0900 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! ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/more_tomoki_pictures.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/more_tomoki_pictures.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:51:21 +0900 ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/life_with_tomokun.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/life_with_tomokun.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:41:39 +0900 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! http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/announcing.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/announcing.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:15:15 +0900 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! http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/update_1.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/update_1.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:48:33 +0900 Baby-kun seems to be enjoying keeping us waiting! I hesitate to know how many details to share, so I apologize if it is TMI, but it seems that the blog is the easiest way to keep interested people updated. They started pitocin this morning and gradually increased it, but my contractions actually lessened since the removal of the seaweed. They even raised it farther than the standard Japanese maximum, but I could only feel a little contraction as I paced the halls--back and forth, back and forth. The worst discomfort was from my empty stomach growling--it is used to being fed every 4 hours for the last 9 months! There were contractions on the monitor, but not strong enough to do anything, I guess. By the end of the day I had actually shrunk down to 4 cm and the baby is even higher in my pelvis. The doc came in and said that tomorrow morning they will break my water, give the pitocin another try, and if no progress by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, it is a c section. They have been very patient here at the clinic and willing to give the natural childbirth the "college try" for which we are thankful. Also, I can't complain as some women are in real labor for several days, and I sure haven't had much discomfort at all. Baby-kun continues to be very active and is healthy, but Sunday he will be 42 weeks and the risks start going up then. Personally I wonder if he is just too big to descend into my pelvis, but I guess we'll find out what happens tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers! We are actually doing ok with the waiting. http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/well_sorry_folks_the_hurray_pa.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/well_sorry_folks_the_hurray_pa.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:58:17 +0900 Well the seaweed worked much better than the doctor or we had anticipated and I am currently dilated 5 cm! They are going to start pitocin this am, so we are hoping that labor will continue to progress. I had contractions last night, but did get a little rest. Thanks for your prayers! http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/hurray_for_seaweedand_prayers.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/hurray_for_seaweedand_prayers.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:33:51 +0900 Well, the seaweed dilated me only 1 cm more (from 1cm to 2cm) and Baby-kun is not very low and things aren't very "ripe", so they didn't even try the pitocin induction today. They will retry the seaweed tonight again and see how things are tomorrow morning. If things don't ripen up tomorrow then it looks like we will be having a c-section--not sure when. While we would obviously prefer natural delivery, we trust that God knows best and will lead us in the best way. Meanwhile, we are being treated like royalty here--I just got back from the beauty salon! They washed my hair even though I said I could do it myself! I haven't had a hair wash like that since probably Jr. High and Bonnie K.'s hair salon. It felt great! Thankfully also, the doc made an exception and is going to let us out of the clinic for a while--hoping to take a walk--a long walk!! Thanks for your prayers! http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/not_ready_yet.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/not_ready_yet.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:22:51 +0900 I had said that I would be induced Wednesday, but just wanted to give a little clarification--sorry if this is too much info for the guys! I am admitted today (Wednesday) around 2:30 and guess what they use to dilate me? Seaweed! Sometimes that causes labor, but if it doesn't they will start pitocin IV on Thursday morning. So, Baby-kun will probably be born either Thursday or Friday. They take a relatively conservative approach to the whole induction process. I am so grateful for the American friend I met who was induced with both of her babies at this same clinic. I feel like I know a bit what to expect and that helps a lot! Thanks for all the prayers--I feel unworthy, but very thankful! We'll try to update the blog as soon as possible! http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/time_is_up_babykun.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/time_is_up_babykun.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:59:42 +0900 ]]> http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/only_in_shioda_a_few_house_pic.html http://www.ito3.name/2009/10/only_in_shioda_a_few_house_pic.html Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:10:26 +0900