Hello from Sunny California

Dear all,

Thank you for all of your prayers. Isaac did so well on the flight! First it was the 1.5 hour bus ride from Tokyo to Narita Airport and Isaac fell asleep the entire trip! He did well during both the take off and the descent. I tried to give him juice but I guess he didn't like the taste of the apple juice they serve on the plane as he didn't want to drink much of it but he did eat the crackers I gave him.

He played for a while on the plane and then slept for 5 hours in his own seat! Which let me sleep as well. Our flight back to Tokyo won't be as easy as the flight leaves in the afternoon instead of in the evening but at least that will be on the way home. The first day he didn't eat very well but he is slowly starting to eat better. He hasn't been drinking milk though. For some reason, he doesn't like me feeding him his bottle and this always happens on Sundays when Remy takes it off. At least he will let me dream feed him in the middle of the night so I get one bottle in once a day. I am pretty sure he is losing weight though since I think Remy is constantly trying to feed him. I am just happy when he will eat his main meals with me! He is so picky with his food though - he won't eat something if he doesn't like the taste (like airplane food - he rejected that right away)! But I took him to Marie Callendar's yesterday to meet some friends and he loved the creamy sauce from the Chicken Pot Pie and kept eating it! Too bad they don't have Marie Callendar's in Japan!

Anyway, we fly off to DC early tomorrow morning so we will need more prayers for the flight. I was really sleep deprived until today because jet lag kept hitting Isaac and I at different times. I would be so sleepy when he is awake and wants to play and then by the time I get him to go to sleep, I am too wired to go to sleep myself. But I finally got enough sleep last night as Isaac slept from midnight to 8:30 am this morning and only woke up once for milk.

Its been really nice spending so much time with Isaac. I am not able to do much other than that but I guess that's what my vacations will be like nowadays!

God bless,

Sonia

We are off!

We are leaving for the US today. Please pray for Isaac and us that we can all do well with all the traveling we are doing!

I will try to update when I can after arriving in the US.

Here are some pictures from last Sunday when I tried to put Isaac in a little blow up pool on our deck and he didn't like it very much. (I think the water was a little too cold for him since I didn't let it warm up under the sun.)

Sonia

Another Year Gone By...

I turned another year older today. I won't tell you how old but let's just say I am no spring chicken. It was a quiet day as Jong is away. Now with the blog, I was able to go back to last year to confirm that my suspicion that Jong was also away for my birthday last year. So I think he is in a lot of trouble. What do you think?

Remy and I took Isaac to a trial Gymboree class this morning but our little (or big) chicken cried through the entire session and wouldn't let go of Remy/me (alternating between the two of us). I think he was overwhelmed by the noise level there and not used to so many people and kids. Plus some other kids kept wailing really loud and that probably upset him too because he hasn't heard that kind of wailing since he left the growing care unit at Toho. I think we will probably go back and join after our US trip because I think Isaac should try to get used to other kids and people.

Anyway, the main point of this post is to have a record that Jong is away on my birthday again in case I need to check next year. Mwahahahaha.

Well, that and even though its a quiet birthday, I don't mind because this year is so much better than last year when I spent it (and our entire summer) at the hospital.

But since I am here already, let me post some pictures.

Isaac's adjusted 1 year old birthday cake (very yummy berry short cake from the pastry shop at Grand Hyatt - I highly recommend it!):
Isaac's cake eating pictures:
Oops wrong limb:
Isaac didn't get himself as messy as normal kids do so I had to put some cream on his nose.
This one was from lunch today. Isaac was eating mac & cheese and I guess he wanted some on his forehead too. :)
Take care,

Sonia

Soliciting Advice

Sorry I haven't had time to post pictures lately. Its just been really crazy workwise. I promise I will try to post some pictures soon as Isaac is just so cute these days. :-)

Anyway, I am posting this to solicit advice and tips from everyone for:

1. Traveling more than 10 hours with a not yet walking but crawling non stop moving monkey, um, I mean little boy (who has chronic lung disease so Benadryl may not be an option); and

2. How to help him adjust for the following time changes:
-14 hours backwards from Tokyo to CA;
-3 hours forward from CA to DC/PA;
-3 hours backwards from PA to CA; and
-14 hours forward from CA to Tokyo.

I am not so concerned about the last leg as he can take more time in recovering once we are back in Tokyo but we have a packed schedule in the US so any tips to make the time change more manageable would be really appreciated!

Thanks!

Sonia

Happy 1st (Adjusted) Birthday Isaac!!!!

Today is Isaac's 1st Birthday based on his adjusted age. We are planning to let him smash a cake tonight since he wasn't allowed to eat cake on his real birthday back in April. :-) I will post pictures later.

Isaac is doing better but still coughing a bit and has some phelgm. I am praying and hoping that everything will completely clear up by the time we get on the plane so the trip will not be too hard for him. We have a scheduled check up tomorrow so we can find out how his ear infection is going.

I will post again later!

p.s. April - thanks for remembering his birthday! :-)

Sonia