Meeting Darth Vader at Cranbrook

Cranbrook Science Center was having a super hero day. Matt was originally going to take the boys there while I got some rest at home. As I was looking up hours, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was super hero day AND that Darth Vader would make an appearance. My boys have been obsessed with Star Wars, especially Sean, for over a year now. There was also a bat cave with real bats in the downstairs area.

The video below is of the kids just staring at Darth. haha

Sean took a selfie with Batman

 The bat cave

The kids in awe of Darth

Sean and basketball

Sean has been getting more confident and liking basketball more and more. Matt loves how Sean wants to watch sports on TV. (I love how Sean can watch great movies now like MIB and Jurassic Park!)

Here is a video of Sean dribbling and shooting.

Preschool Graduation

I am so proud of my Sean-bear (what I called him when he was a baby - and sometimes still do!). He has grown so much this past year and his school is mostly to be credited. He had amazing teachers and a wonderful class. He made friends and has learned so much. I feel very confident in his abilities to be a great student in kindergarten and beyond.
We celebrated his preschool graduation and we are now off for the summer! Here is he looking very dapper in his shirt and tie.

Bradley needed to go on stage and have his picture taken. He will be standing there in 2 years, following his brother's footsteps.

Sean's class performed a few end of year songs including, If all the Raindrops, Do you know the Muffin Man, This Little Light of Mine, and Six Little Ducks. Here is an excerpt from the Raindrop song.

Sean's wonderful teachers Mrs. Stinebaugh and Mrs. Geraghty. And their ice cream gifts that Sean and I made for them:

 

2 and 4 are the BEST age

I listen to Blaine and Allison on the radio sometimes while I drive the kids around. And they were talking about how kids say the darndest things, especially around ages 2 and 4. I am a little biased since my kids are 2 and 4, but I couldn't agree more. Sean and Bradley are both so cute, adorable and DO say the funniest things. Just the other day, I was telling Sean how the Starbucks near my parents' house was not there a few years ago. I said, "Aiji (my mom) and Grandpa moved in, and then they built a Starbucks later." And Sean said, "I didn't know Aiji and Grandpa built the Starbucks". He was totally serious. haha LOVE that. I was technically grammatically incorrect, but little kids take everything so literal! These conversations take place many, many times a day.
Bradley is starting to talk and he's in a phase called "word explosion". The crazy month where everything you've ever said to him in the last few years starts coming out of his mouth. He had been listening to me! He says everything and wants to know every word. Bradley points at anything and says "that" meaning what is that. He even says expressions like "oh gosh", which is totally MY thing. haha.
I am loving ages 2 and 4. They want to play and talk to me all the time, and I know this won't last forever.
Here is a cute video of Bradley happily sharing crackers with his friend, Charlie.

Bradley Pre-Walking

We brought this toy up from the basement and Bradley took to it like a champ in about an hour! He is so ready to walk, but I think it may take a month or two until he's completely physically ready. But who knows? I heard that second children are a bit earlier because they're trying to run after their older siblings.

And we're mobile!

Brad turned 8 months on Leap Day! This past month he learned to crawl and started saying mama (besides baba and some other sounds that aren't as important, hehe). Brad crawls best when it's something he is not supposed to have like a laptop wire or anything Sean is playing with at the moment. Sean also has taken a liking to some baby toys so I have to remind him not to take the rattle out of Brad's hands!
These past few weeks we've been sicky poos in our house (including me on my and Matt's 6th anniversary!) so I hope we kick this cold bug soon before our vacation to Mississippi.
I can't believe March is already here. 6 more months and we will get to say bye to our house! I will be sad to leave the house we've had so many memories in, but I will mostly be HAPPY to have more space!

Here's a video of Brad crawling over to Sean. I love how Sean still calls Brad "baby" or "baby Bradley".

Sponge and Weed

Those are the two words I would use to describe Sean and Bradley, respectively. Sean is at the age where he picks up ideas and words at an astonishing rate. We will tell him a new word and he will know and remember it a week later without having practiced. While it took a while for him to learn the numbers from 1-5, in the last week, he has gone through the teens. He knows his abcs, can spell his name with alphabet blocks, and can recite several books by memory. His favorite book to recite is goodnight moon. He has recognized shapes for a while, but can now pick them out in real life. He even knows some of the "gons"- hexagon and pentagon. Wow! It is so fun to see his learning in action! Below is Sean counting to 10. It is hard to get videos now since Sean either slinks away or doesn't perform on command!



Bradley has been my weed. I know that babies grow fast, but having a bigger boy this time around has made it more obvious. He is a week shy of two months and has outgrown all of his 0-3 months and half of the 3 months clothes. I was secretly taking pleasure at how close their birthdays were because the hand me downs would be in season, but I may actually have to buy some more short sleeve onesies in the 3-6 month range. It was fall before Sean was fully in that size. Sean was tall, but Bradley has the chubbiness to fill out his clothes!

Remember This?

Beverly Park

Our new favorite park- Beverly Park! They have 4 baby swings instead of the usual 1 or 2. Here is Sean playing with wood chips.

Giggles

I love Sean's giggles! He is also starting to sport the mohawk look. I need to gel it up and get a mohawk picture before his real hair starts growing in!

My little roly poly

Sean rolled over to the left from his tummy! Previously, he was just rolling over to the right. He is getting to be a pro at tummy time and lifts his head all the time. I got him on video when he was first starting to roll over a few weeks ago. Now we're on the floor for TT so he can completely roll over.



I can tell he is going to be right handed because his milestones always start on that side. We are working on naps now...

Three Weeks

I can tell Sean is gaining weight because every day I hold him he feels a bit heavier. We had a few nights where Sean only woke up once, but I think it was just a fluke! He has a ravenous appetite and LOVES being held above anything else. We went to Target the other day and several people gushed at how cute he was. I had to agree! Here he is with his favorite distraction- his bassinet mobile.

One Week

I can't believe Sean is one week old. I feel like we were just in the hospital! Sean had his pediatrician appt yesterday and the doctor said he was doing great.

Here is a picture of my little angel sleeping



Sean trying to find his pacifier.

Japan- Kyoto Part 3 of 4

Wow I can't believe it's already December 11th. Time is flying this week and it helps that I've been back on Eastern Time for several days.

Well on to Kyoto. After the bullet train we arrived in Kyoto. The first day of Kyoto was my favorite day of the trip. Tokyo has only been the capital of Japan for 100 or so years, while Kyoto was the capital for almost 1000 years before that. Therefore, the historical sights were more impressive here.
After we arrived and ate lunch, we were on a bus to Nara, a city right outside of Kyoto. There we visited the Deer Park, Todaiji Temple, and Kasuga Shrine. Deer are sacred animals and a long time ago, people were tortured for killing a deer, even accidentally. There is no penalty now for accidentally killing a deer, but it's still a protected species, and they are EVERYWHERE. These deer are not afraid to come up to people and beg for food.
Here is a video Matt took of me feeding crackers to a deer:


The Todaiji Temple is located in the Deer Park and houses the world's largest bronze Buddha. It was quite impressive. At the Kasuga Shrine (a Shinto Shrine), we were able to pray to the Gods the Japanese way. The way to do this is to bow 3 times, clap three times, pray, and then bow again. I prayed for something so I hope the Japanese Gods were listening and it comes true!

My favorite hotel on the trip was the Hotel Monterey in Kyoto. To sum it up, it was a classy, gothic, boutique hotel. Very unique.

The next day we had a full day of sightseeing. We saw the Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle, Heian Shrine, Kiyomizu Temple and Sanjusangendo Hall. The Golden Pavilion was THE picture spot on the tour. It is a beautiful building, and the gardens are very picturesque. Nijo Castle was pretty neat as well. It used to house shoguns, who were pretty high up in rank. The floors are called "nightingale floors" because they were built in such a way to provide an alarm system. When we stepped on the floors they squeaked like birds. Plotting a coup was very common to overthrow a shogun so this was their way of making sure they were ready if an attack occurred!

Japan- Mt Fuji/Hakone Part 2 of 4

I slept through the night last night for the first time since coming back from Japan. I have more energy and feel wonderful. I hope this feeling lasts forever!

After Tokyo, we took an hour bus ride to the Mt Fuji area. The day started off sunny, and as we moved up higher in the mountains the weather became increasingly dreary. We stopped at the info center on the way up, which is at the base of the mountain. We then headed up toward the 5th station, the highest station vehicles can trek. Right before we pulled into the station, fog from nowhere blanketed the sky and the summit was blocked from our view! This picture isn't a snowstorm, it's all fog!

We then took a cruise on Lake Ashi to see views of the mountain range. The fog hadn't cleared completely, but we were able to see the bigger picture being a little farther away, but not the summit. Matt and I were really glad we had seen Mt Fuji from Tokyo after not being able to see it from close up. Finally, our group went up a smaller mountain in a cable car. I did this with my family in Switzerland and it was a different experience solely based on the weather. In Lucerne, we went up Mt Pilatus on a sunny, spring day where we saw green, hilly mountains and beautiful birds, butterfiles, etc. In Japan, the fog had really set in and all we saw were the pulleys pulling us up! To the right is our view looking down! We really can't complain about the weather. We had excellent weather every other day and this was one day where there wasn't a lot of walking so we managed to stay dry and warm!

We stayed overnight at an onsen (hot springs) hotel. There are natural hot springs everywhere around Mt Fuji and the only place in the world where you can find snow monkeys in the wild! Apparently, they are the northernmost species of primates. We didn't go on the inland tour to see them, but I hear they are a sight to see and Japan's national animal!

The next morning we took a shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. The bullet train reaches speeds up to 180 mph! It didn't feel that fast while we were riding it, but as we were on the platform before boarding, a shinkansen passed by and it was here and gone before we knew it- it literally took my breath away. Here is a video of a shinkansen passing us. It took me 2 tries to start the video on time because they come up so fast!

Coming in Summer 2009

After seeing the International and Teaser trailer, I think this is the one we will be seeing in American theaters. It looks good! Because of that silly Broadway play Equus, the movie was pushed back so we have to wait until the summer to see it.



I'm leaving soon to help Stephanie find a wedding dress! It is very rainy today, I wonder if the Michigan game is going to be delayed?