Stop Following Me! (week 265)

It is hard to be the most important person in another person's life. The pressure of being 4 years old--putting on clothing, eating everything on your plate, washing your hands--is hard enough without someone following you around and watching everything that you do. For an older sibling, the pressure of having a little brother is pretty minimal in the first two years of life. However, it is clear that Christopher has not only developed the speed to keep-up with me, but also the interest in everything that I am doing...all the time.

On one hand, this can be a good thing. I can give him the other Nintendo Wii controller and can use him for batting practice, or competition in a dance contest. It is nice to have someone that I can beat almost exclusively at anything that we play. It is good to have someone to share a laugh for Shaun the Sheep, or to play chase at a wedding when there are only adult things going on. On the other hand, a 2 year old brother always wants what you have. If I have a stuffed puppy, he wants it. If I am setting-up a basketball court in the backyard, he is constantly taking it apart for his own purposes. Sharing is not something that I had to do before Christopher came along. Now that he is interested in some of the same things that I am, it is almost impossible to do anything without a conflict. Daddy says that I now know a little bit about what it is like for him since I came around, but clearly I am a much more pleasant play partner than Christopher is.

This was also a big week for us as Wakana Smyth (和佳奈　スミス) was born at 19:35 (JST) on January 10, 2012. She was 6 pounds, 4 ounces and is healthy. Devin and Mio live in Japan and just got married last year. It is nice to have a friend in Japan that we can go visit when she gets a little older. I heard that she already likes to play Futsal which is kind of like soccer. Hopefully, we can add her to our team with Chris, Wakana, Anna, and me. One more player (Anna's sibling is on the way), and we will have a Futsal team!

Other than fighting over my new stuffed penguin, we have been playing lots of Playdoh, riding bikes and fighting over a scooter, and generally doing what little boys do. Chris is developing a ton of new words each week. Mostly, he is repeating the words that you say to him, but instead of saying no to everything as he has over the past three months, he is actually saying 'yeah' to the things that he wants. While it is hard to be the most important person in his life, and frustrating that someone wants to wear the exact same hats and shirts as I am; it is also nice to have someone who is funny and is fun to play with. I hold out great hope for him.

Oops, he just walked down the hallway with his pants around his ankles and his diaper in his hand...someone come quick!