The visit hasn’t been without some frustrations though – unfortunately Kaito and Taka don’t speak fluent Japanese yet (Kaito is getting there, but still has trouble expressing anything other than basic statements) so communication between grandparents and grandkids is difficult when Tomoko is not around to translate. I wonder if she realized she would become a full-time translator any time her family was around when she married me? In any case, it’s a bit sad knowing that the boys can’t really talk to their grandparents, so we’ll be putting more effort into their Japanese language education. Kaito has been going to “Himawari” (sunflower) Japanese school in Oakville once a week and he’ll keep that up next year. Taka will start there in September too. Hopefully all the boys will have a chance to do a student exchange to Japan once they’re older.

We’ll miss all the help we’ve been getting, but I think the boys will miss their grandparents even more.

On Thursday, Hiro turned one month old! He’s doing fine and growing well. At birth he was slightly jaundiced, but that has passed and he’s now a perfectly healthy baby. I feel like we’re very lucky to have three healthy children; I don’t take it for granted for a second. He’s feeding well (100% breast fed) and sleeping relatively regularly, although he still wakes up every three hours or so to Tomoko isn’t getting a good night’s sleep. I’m hoping with March Break coming this week Kaito and Taka will sleep in a little to give her a little extra break. Hiro cries less than our older boys did at that age, but he really likes to be held. I hope we can wean him off falling asleep in Mom or Grandma’s arms because once Tomoko’s parents leave we won’t have time to hold him every time it’s nap time.

Tomoko and I both have commented how it’s nice to be able to enjoy this baby time – even though we’re so busy with Hiro’s older brothers we’re a lot more relaxed this time and have been enjoying his time as a baby. Now that he’s more than a month old I’m hoping to start taking him out of the house and hopefully there will be a Great-Grandma visit in the near future.

So without further ado, here are some more recent pictures

Nona and Hiro

Hiro with the beautiful blanket from Cicely

Lookin' over Mom's shoulder

Chillin' in the bassinet

I tried to pose with Hiro, but he cries for me every time the camera comes out!

Tomoko with her Midwife Tracy

This is a battery charger that you can plug into your computer (or laptop etc.) to charge AA batteries while on the go. It comes with software you can install on your Microsoft Windows computer to presumably monitor the battery charge or control the charger. Unfortunately the software does something else too – it allows a remote user to connect to your computer on port tcp/7777 and effectively take control of it. (The original CERT vulnerability report can be found here.) This type of vulnerability is considered a trojan horse or backdoor, and is very dangerous. If you purchased this product and installed the software, you should uninstall it right away. I’m sure this was not done maliciously, but rather was a mistake or oversight on the part of the developers who created the software.

This is a great example of why Open Source software is so important – when programs like this are developed and released through the open source community, their source code is examined by other developers and security specialists. Mistakes like this rarely makes it into the wild; and when they do they are almost always discovered by the community (not hackers) and rectified quickly. No software is bug free – but when software is developed by a large and collaborative community the result is almost certain to be higher quality and more  importantly, safer for your computer.

Posting from my BlackBerry so I won’t write much (and the photos may not be nicely formatted) but by popular demand here are some new pictures. Sorry for the delay between posts, I’ve been watching Olympics instead of blogging!

Having experienced both hospital and home birth, as the labour assistant, I much preferred the home birth. The midwives bring a tonne of equipment with them (they can perform all the procedures of a level-one hospital) and as soon as Tracy set up I almost felt like we were in a hospital room. When Tomoko needed anything, from an extra blanked to a snack (ok, the snack was for me), it was all at hand. Also, since Tomoko was labouring at night, we didn’t have to worry about the boys; they were sleeping soundly and slept right through the whole thing.

Tomoko was awesome again, and delivered the baby after only about three hours of labour. In case you didn’t catch it above I’ll say it again – the boys, who were sleeping in bedrooms two doors down, did not wake up! I didn’t have much to do other than runing up and down the stairs getting ice packs and Tylenol, and providing support and encouragement at the bedside. After Hiro was born I performed my traditional duties of calling the sex, marking the time of birth, and cutting the umbilical cord.

Mike Cuts Hiroto's Umbilical Cord

After the Weigh-In, Holding Hands

One of the best things about home birth is there is no “coming home”… In the morning, Kaito and Taka got to meet their new brother right away, and even got to visit with him a little.

Kaito and Taka Chillin' with Hiro

Tomoko is recovering really well, and was up and about right away the next day. She even came downstairs to play with her “big boys” on Friday afternoon. Here she is with Hiroto on the couch.

Tomoko and Hiroto

Finally, a last bit of coolness: Hiro didn’t open his eyes right away like Kaito and Taka did. He opened his eyes for the first time last night while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies with Tomoko and I. I guess with the lights low and the interesting colours coming from the TV he decided the time was right. So here you go, (finally) a picture of Hiro-kun with his eyes open.

Well, one eye open at least!

Don’t worry about the scratches (for those of you who have never had kids) – it’s totally normal for newborns to scratch themselves and they heal *really* fast.

These beautiful flowers arrived yesterday from Great Grandma Phyllis (whom we named Hiroto after) and Great-Great Uncle George. The flowers came with a pull-toy built into the vase, and the carnation petals have a nice blue lining. These are some of the most masculine flowers I’ve ever seen proving that flowers can be for boys too! Thank you Grandma and George!

A couple hours old, sleeping peacefully

At birth he weighed 4,25Kg (that’s 9lbs, 6oz) and measured 55cm (22″) from head to heel. Mom and baby are both doing fine, and are currently resting. Hiro was born at home with the assistance of midwives Tracy and Caitlyn.

When Kaito and Taka woke up they were very excited to learn that they have a new baby brother. Kaito was the first to come into the room, and whem Mommy called him over to see the baby his face lit up and he exlaimed “a baby!”. He then went downstairs to get his brother, and from the top of the stairs I heard him say,

“Taka, I have a big news for you… The baby came out of Mommy’s tummy, and it’s a boy!!!”

I was smiling from ear to ear. Pictures, video, and more updates about Hiroto will be posted here at gillan.ca in the coming days.

Swaddled and feeling safe

Taka and Kaito trying on hats in the dress-up area

Whether you’re a parent taking your kids for a play date at an indoor playground or the owner of the facility, there’s no doubt about it; indoor playgrounds = big money. We visited one of the many indoor playgrounds here in Burlington over the weekend. It was lots of fun for the boys, and they managed to tire themselves (and me) out quite effectively. But it was not cheap – entry costs $12 / child; that’s really expensive playtime! I don’t know who owns the facility, but they can afford to do a full-vehicle wrap on one of the city buses to advertise the place so I think they’re doing pretty well. I would estimate there were 150+ kids running around at any given time (the play structure’s website says the climber can handle 180 children at once) and most families only stay for a few hours because it’s so tiring. So if 500 kids play throughout the day (it’s open 9am to 8pm) that’s something like $5,000 in one day. Anyone want to invest in a new business opportunity in the north end of Burlington?

In any case, the boys had a blast. Here are some pictures.

Racing with Daddy

Taka the Super-Goalie!

Stylin' Dude

We pay the entrance fee because there is not much to do on a Sunday afternoon with young children and it’s worth it to keep them from entertaining themselves by destroying the house. Whatever did our parents do before the advent of these places?