Tessho and Tesshin left on Tuesday, March 18 to go up north so his parents could spend some time with them. They've been gone for 6 days (who's counting?) and while it's been great not having to fight for the blanket, it's kinda sad coming home to an empty house every day. His high chair is empty, his crib is empty, his jars of baby food are left uneaten - so lonely. There aren't too many moms that would let their child go for such a long period of time without them being there so the guilt does settle in once in a while. But he is with Tessho and I'm comforted in knowing that his grandparents are giving him a lot of love and attention. Before he left, Tesshin was on the verge of crawling. He would get up on all fours, rock back and forth but then lunge forward (like a catepillar) versus putting his hands forward and crawling. He has great leg muscle strength but those darns arms just wouldn't move.
"I'm up.....I'm going....you can't catch me"
"No really...I'm going this time. "
"Whew, this is hard work. I'm gonna take a rest"
Alas, news came to me on Friday that he officially started crawling. It was around morning time and Tessho took a video clip with his cell phone. He probably sent it over 10 times but my work computer didn't have the capabilities of playing the video so I had to wait til I got home from work. I was dying to get home.
I asked Tessho, "Was it just one step? Did he go fast or slow? Was it just once or is he doing it all of the time?" I know he was bugged because the video would be able to answer all of my questions. As soon as I opened the clip and watched my baby crawl, tears streamed down my face. I was full of emotions. First, I was the proudest mama. Her little baby finally accomplished crawling. Next, sadness since I missed this milestone. I thought, "I'm never letting him out of my sight again!". It's hard to describe the next emotion I felt but I realized that he's growing up and he's going to be able to experience the world in a whole new perspective now which is great. He's already really curious about the things around him. This way he'll be able to explore a lot more. I hear he's on the move everytime they put him down.
So that leads me to baby proofing the living room yesterday. Okay moms and dads of little ones, start early! I bought a power strip cover but it didn't help since my power strip was way too long for it. I removed all of the books, put away Tessho's XBox games (he doesn't know it yet) and replaced it Tesshin friendly toys. I can't wait for him to get home. This time off away from Daddy and Baby has been cool but at the same time I've done so much that it doesn't feel like I have relaxed any. A mother's work is never done.
I guess while Tessho was up north, the cherry blossoms bloomed. I still dream of the day I can go to Japan during cherry blossom season. Although I lived there for a year I happened to miss it because I traveled to Kyoto when the cherry blossoms bloomed in Tokyo and when I returned to Tokyo, the cherry blossoms bloomed in Kyoto. Whew, talk about a tongue twister. Anyway, here are some pics of Tesshin enjoying his first cherry blossom season. The one on the right is Tesshin with Tessho's dad.
These last three days were torture but I got through it. My boys are finally home. I met them at Long Beach Airport and it was the greatest feeling seeing Tessho and Tesshin walk out of the terminal. Tesshin looked so different. He looked bigger and his face matured a little bit. (He probably hasn't changed any but I'm his momma so I can say what I want) I quickly took him out of his stroller and gave him a big hug. He just buried his face into my chest and after about 10 seconds, he slowly lifted his face off my chest and peeked up at me. I smiled and he immediately buried his face into my chest again. This exchange went on about 5-6 times, and then I got a big smile from him. It was so cute. We got home at around 10pm and Tesshin was wide awake so I watched him crawl around on the floor, munch on his toes and other little things I missed watching him do. It's definitely nice to have my boys back.
Tesshin turned 8 months old yesterday. I can't believe how time has totally flown by. He'll be a year old in 4 months. A year ago this month, we found out that we were having a boy. At that time, it was hard to imagine life with a baby, now I can't imagine our life without him. I can't wait for them to come home. 3 more days!!!!! Hurry up Saturday!
