The Stevenson Ohana

We had such a fun surprise this weekend finding out the gender!! I had my 20 week appointment on Tuesday, but Riley couldn't make the appointment so we decided to have them write it down and find out together this weekend. We went out to ice cream when we found out we were having a boy with Luke, and decided to keep the tradition going with each kid!

This time, we gave the envelope to the workers at the icecream store and told them to decorate our cone according to the gender and bring it out. . . after some language confusion and then pure excitement from them they took the card and went back and decorated our cone. We totally were expecting it to be a baby girl. . . but then they came out and we found out we were having another little BOY! I didn't expect to tear up with joy! We are so so excited and so so surprised! It was so nice, then they didn't charge us for the icecream at all! We can't wait for Luke to have a lil playmate. Such a 'sweet' surprise, literally :)

This past weekend was a BIG win for awesome restaurants in Tokyo. We went to this cute train themed restaurant 'Niagara Curry' that brought dishes out on a train that circled the restaurant and had such a fun environment. Perfect for kids, and food was great. Riley thought it was like a 'disney land' experience with the staff dressed up and ticket process and announcements. It had a little kid toy area to the side that Luke loved as well.

We also found the BEST mexican restaurant in Tokyo. We thought we figured it out and love 'la jolla', but were proven wrong this weekend when we went to 'Fonda de la Madrugada' that made the top of our list. The ambience, food, service, and music really was so so fun. Luke ended up dancing by the table and really hit the spot.

Just wanted to take a few minutes and document our sweet two year old boy. He is a firecracker and just brings so much joy to me each day. I keep reminding myself how precious this 'one-on-one time' is together before the baby comes and life gets more hectic. It has made me more mindful and playtime that much more precious. These days are seriously gold though-- every morning he wakes up, looks at the light streaming through the window and yells "It's sunny! Time to get up!" He is such an early riser, always up with the sun and plays hard until sun down.

He gave up naps the month after he turned two, which almost broke my heart because I felt like that was wayyy too early and that was 'my time' but we have adjusted fast and he falls asleep at 6:30-7pm until 6:30-7am so honestly can't complain too much.

Luke still loves his cars and airplanes. He loves playing "I spy" on our walks and has mastered his alphabet this past month. He recognizes all the letters, but has his 'own version' of singing the song and can't seem to get that down yet. He know his colors, numbers to 10, shapes and lots of japanese and 'harry potter spells' that Riley has taught him. Every day I am texting Riley quotes from Luke that crack me up-- he constantly surprises me with the things he picks up on and says. I genuinely love spending my days with Luke and our conversations.

We are currently in the throes of learning right from wrong, gentle from rough, quiet from loud. It can be exhausting for both of us. Discipline and knowing how to teach and parent is intimidating at times and such a learning curve. I'm feeling grateful for the challenge and opportunity to practice patience, unconditional love, and forgiveness (most often, forgiving myself for overreacting or losing my temper).

Some daily rituals include the park, painting, "dance parties," playing "cars" always on our bed, reading, dishes (which always includes lots of bubbles and a car to clean), smoothie making, and puzzles. He loves soccer with dad and wrestling; we recently got him a balance bike "the red bullet" he enjoys. He still loves to cuddle and is a total mama's boy these days and I'm perfectly OK with that.