Introductions!

A quiet few minutes here in the house.  Let me tell you, they are few and far between!

So...  The new baby's name is....  Taiga!  I wish I could tell you what the names mean but Leiya is still trying to decide on the baby's Chinese characters, and there are SO MANY to choose from.  As does brother Luka, Taiga-kun will have dual citizenship and so Leiya and Tony want to have the Chinese/Japanese characters chosen before Taiga makes the trip to the Japanese embassy to register.  Leiya has been in consultation with Tetsu about the choice of characters and that should be decided this week.

Just for fun...  Which baby is Luka when he was one day old and which baby is Taiga?  They weighed nearly the same and it is hard to tell their baby pictures apart.  Leiya says 

"Well, everyone thought Tony and I would make different babies each time because we've got Asian, African American, and Caucasian genes all mixed up in us but it looks like we only make the same baby..."  Luka is the baby on the left, Taiga on the right.

Taiga is a good baby, not too fussy but not much for long term sleeping either.  He and Leiya have made a couple of jaunts to a lactation clinic and so far breast-feeding is going better than it did for Luka.  He is not much for sleeping at night though unless someone holds him so most mornings I find Leiya in a recliner holding him.

For the past two weeks, Tony has been basically at home and he has ended up doing most of the cooking for all of us.  I handle breakfast (usually granola and fruit) and washing all dishes.  I've taken over laundry and straightening the house when necessary but probably my main job is keeping Luka entertained.  

I can't tell you how grateful I am that my hip functions as normal people's do.  I could never have handled this stay in Indiana with a bum hip!  I'm up and down the stairs with Luka or laundry, I'm down on the floor playing with blocks with Luka or bouncing on a balance ball taking my turn trying to get Taiga-kun to go to sleep.  I am so happy that I can do all this with only the grunts and groans of a normal aging grandmother.  Yeah!

Taiga-kun's first bath.

Early morning in the living room.

I think I reported that it snowed once since I've been in Indiana...

Leiya and I have made three trips to JoAnne's since I've been here, buying fabric for myself to take back and also buying fabric for two quilts that Leiya asked me to make.  I finished up one this morning!  We had a snag with the other (same pattern).  Leiya had picked out a fabric but when it was all laid out before sewing, she decided she didn't like the main fabric after all so back we went to JoAnne's.  (Coordinating the trip to the lactation clinic 45 minutes away).  I am almost ready to get into the quilting but I don't think I'll be able to finish up while I'm in Indiana.  That first quilt was all handquilted as Leiya's sewing machine is barely functioning.  (Something, probably Luka, has gummed up the innards of the sewing machine and it was a struggle to even sew seams).  I'll be taking a flimsy home and I'll have to mail the finished quilt back to Leiya which is a shame but I have less than two weeks left in Indiana so it can't be helped...

Luka attends pre-school for three hours, three days a week and so that is when I get most of my sewing done...  

He has helped out a couple of times though.

We mostly build things with his magnetic tiles...

Or play in the tire sandbox in the backyard...

We go for walks to a nearby pond...

Arrange meetings with his stuffed animals...

Or read story books...

And Luka is learning important skills in how to be big brother...  A lot of patience and self-control is involved!

The new family of four!

"My name is Taiga.  So nice to make your aquaintance!"