I've been a bum and haven't posted updates here, but nearly every day I write down the new words that Baby says. The list is now quite long and seriously —people aren't kidding—he says something new almost every day. Sometimes it's just repeating after me to start, but other times he learns the word (or several in a phrase), stores it in memory, and then pow! —new words come flying out his mouth when you least expected. In the past few days these have included "pick up", "pocket", "amazing" (which I taught to him specifically in response to watching Pythagoras Switch on NHK), "gosh!" and "oh, I know!"
New Words
Earlier today Baby said 'Api' for airplane, and a close approximation of 'wheel.' (We were looking at a picture of a tractor, and he said, 'Small wheel, big wheel!' Awesome! He also has said 'ka' for clown.
While we were out today, we came across a digger being used to pick up gravel from the bed of a dumptruck and drop it where the workers needed it. Baby was fascinated, so I let him watch for a few minutes (maybe 10).
A Headache Called CSS
CSS gives me a headache. WHY?! I always ask. Particularly margins and spacing. I need to do more tuts or something. Or give up.
First Nosebleed
Today after dinner Baby was clearly tired, and was fussing about, but not dramatically. It happened casually: he sortof head-butted my kneecap. Mom picked him up to calm his crying, and that's when I saw his nosebleed. Thankfully it stopped soon, but a shock nonetheless!
Baby versus Dad
I felt frustrated when Baby wouldn't eat much of his dinner (rice porridge with shirasu fish, carrots, and banana). He wanted out of his Bumbo shortly after starting eating, which I obliged him, but then he lost interest in the food. Question: When should kids learn to sit through a meal?
Baby is definitely more confident in "crusing." He sees a fork or a spoon across the table (kotatsu) from him, and shuffles his feet, moving around each corner to reach the object of his desire. I had to take the plate and spoon away, lifting it off the table. We both gave each other knowing smiles.
When Baby was in the bath with Mom, leaving me to a few minutes of quiet, I thought to myself, "When is that kid going to learn to pick up his toys?"
Learning about money
This morning one of the first things Baby did was to take all of the cards and money out of my wallet. He left the cards in a wide circle (baby throwing-distance) around him. He managed to do the same thing again that same evening, although I didn't let him get as far in his pursuit before taking the wallet away.
Outing to Akabane
Yesterday afternoon we took the bus to Akabane (also in northern Tokyo) to shop for a few things, mostly for the house. We went to the Daiso there. For dinner we were trying to decide between sushi and tempura, and went with sushi. Baby lunged for a plate and almost got his first taste of wasabi.
Welcome to Baby in Tokyo!
I'm writing this now because honestly who can sleep with that little guy fussing healthily in the other room? Maybe if we had rooms with real walls, but this is Tokyo, and when finding a larger apartment to rent before Baby was born, some compromises were made on walls to fit our budget.
Another exhausting day, gone. It was well-spent, but involved lots of baby-holding.
