Thursday, 15 November 2012
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Words at 18.75 months
I thought I would do a post listing the words Riku can say now as it will be interesting to compare in a few months time.
His words at 18 months and 3 weeks are:
Papa, car, bye-bye, shoes, juice (I never wanted to give him juice, but some days it is the only way to get vegetables into him...), water, kitty, cracker, uh-oh, doko ("where" in Japanese), where'd it go? (said as if it were a single word, something like wheredigo?) what's that? and are (sounds like ah-ray, an expression of surprise/confusion in Japanese). He has started calling me "Ba-ba" lately which is a bit unfortunate since it means old woman in Japanese, but oh well, it's a step in the right direction!
To be sure a lot of the words are not all that clear- bye bye is more like "ay-ay" at this stage, shoes is "she", cracker is "ku-ka" and water is more like "oo-duh", but we understand him and no doubt his pronunciation will get clearer. There are quite a few things that are ba or ba-ba- ball, bubbles, Anpanman (a cartoon character) and butterfly.
He does lots of animal sounds which are apparently considered to be words by speech development experts so I'll go with that! The menagerie includes: woof woof, meow, moo, roar, cheep cheep, quack quack, plus noises for pandas, elephants, pigs, gorillas and monkeys.
He's definitely not an early talker, but he is within the range of normal, especially for a child in a bilingual household, so I don't think we have anything to be concerned about at this point.
He has a lot of signs now, although some of them he only uses occasionally or on and off. The list includes: want/more, milk, plane, dog, elephant, water, sleep, hat, help, hot, yummy, wash hands, brush teeth, flower, butterfly, banana, cheese. He used to sign shoes and book, but I haven't seen those ones for quite a while. He also made up his own sign for blueberries somehow, but since they have got more expensive in the last month I have stopped buying them and I think he has forgotten about them! There are probably a couple more I can't think of now.
So that's where we are at the moment! I'll leave you with a photo:
He didn't sign "help" this time, but I think the look on his face says it all ;) What a mean mummy taking photos...
His words at 18 months and 3 weeks are:
Papa, car, bye-bye, shoes, juice (I never wanted to give him juice, but some days it is the only way to get vegetables into him...), water, kitty, cracker, uh-oh, doko ("where" in Japanese), where'd it go? (said as if it were a single word, something like wheredigo?) what's that? and are (sounds like ah-ray, an expression of surprise/confusion in Japanese). He has started calling me "Ba-ba" lately which is a bit unfortunate since it means old woman in Japanese, but oh well, it's a step in the right direction!
To be sure a lot of the words are not all that clear- bye bye is more like "ay-ay" at this stage, shoes is "she", cracker is "ku-ka" and water is more like "oo-duh", but we understand him and no doubt his pronunciation will get clearer. There are quite a few things that are ba or ba-ba- ball, bubbles, Anpanman (a cartoon character) and butterfly.
He does lots of animal sounds which are apparently considered to be words by speech development experts so I'll go with that! The menagerie includes: woof woof, meow, moo, roar, cheep cheep, quack quack, plus noises for pandas, elephants, pigs, gorillas and monkeys.
He's definitely not an early talker, but he is within the range of normal, especially for a child in a bilingual household, so I don't think we have anything to be concerned about at this point.
He has a lot of signs now, although some of them he only uses occasionally or on and off. The list includes: want/more, milk, plane, dog, elephant, water, sleep, hat, help, hot, yummy, wash hands, brush teeth, flower, butterfly, banana, cheese. He used to sign shoes and book, but I haven't seen those ones for quite a while. He also made up his own sign for blueberries somehow, but since they have got more expensive in the last month I have stopped buying them and I think he has forgotten about them! There are probably a couple more I can't think of now.
So that's where we are at the moment! I'll leave you with a photo:
He didn't sign "help" this time, but I think the look on his face says it all ;) What a mean mummy taking photos...
Saturday, 27 October 2012
One and a half!
Here he is, my big 18-month old! He finally fits the boots in the size I was advised to buy when he first started walking, which was more than a centimetre longer than his actual foot length- unfortunately that made the shoes so big on him that he couldn't walk properly in them when he was still learning, plus it was getting a bit hot for boots, so we put them away for a while. They are perfect now and the season is perfect for them too :)
I apologise for the lack of blog posts this month, poor Riku has had two days of unexplained fever plus two colds, and the only week he wasn't sick I was working so we haven't had a lot of activities or outings this month unfortunately. He is almost over his most recent cold (which I also caught after managing to avoid the first one) and we have not one but two Halloween parties coming up next week, but I wanted to make those a separate post so here is what has been happening in the last month or so.
- The love for all things vehicular has intensified, any item of clothing, iPhone app, book or sticker sheet with cars, trains, planes and trucks on it is a firm favourite at the moment. He has a couple of long-sleeved tops with cars and trucks on them and we layer them under short-sleeved shirts on the cooler days. Occasionally he will catch sight of the patterns on his sleeves and squeak "car!" or do his fire siren sound. Cars and trucks now get taken to bed and he gets quite upset when I won't let him take the wooden or battery-operated ones into the bath!
 |
| Testing his skills as a shinkansen driver |
 |
| Using a 7-11 sign as a construction site for his favourite dumptruck |
- He is now this close to really being able to run, it's still more of a fast toddle but he is getting faster all the time and I have to run to catch him at times! Here he is dashing around the balloon area at a kids' play space we were trying out for the first time:
 |
| Trying out the running track at the brand new park not too far from us |
 | ||
| Enjoying autumn leaves with a friend the day before coming down with his second cold of the month
-Language-wise he is not as advanced as some of the kids we know the same age, but he is at about the same level as others and well within the bounds of normal, especially for a child from a bilingual household. This month he has mostly been imitating vehicles, machines and animals. He has added "wa wa" (quack quack) to his repertoire as well as "toot toot" (ships) and "go go" (he says this for frogs for some reason, not quite sure why as I've always said "ribbit ribbit" to him! In the last few days he has been trying very hard to say "shoes", which is coming out as "shissz" at the moment, we're getting there! He understands more and more all the time, and will often hand me the things I ask for- twice this week I have asked him to give me the orange truck when he's been on the other side of the room and he will walk over, pick it up and bring it to me. I'm not sure whether he is understanding the colour word (we have a DVD for teaching babies colours which he has seen a few times) or just "truck", but I'm convinced it's not just a coincidence!
-He continues to be a very picky and light eater which concerns me since he hasn't really put on any weight in the last 6 months and is fairly thin. He has his 18 month check coming up in a couple of weeks so I imagine I will be told then if there's any cause for concern.
|
Look out for the Halloween post to come next week, he has a very cute costume! Here's a couple of photos in advance since we're only a few days away:
 |
| Yum! |
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Train love :)
Since Riku will be one and a half tomorrow I got him a present- an electric train set with a train and a firetruck. He was absolutely over the moon, and spent about ten minutes squeaking "Car! Car!" in excitement (all wheeled conveyances are still cars for Riku, whether it is a pushchair, a bicycle, a train or a...car).
He spent a good hour or two happily putting the trains on the tracks and taking them off again and then carrying them around the room both today and yesterday, and insisted on taking some pieces of track out with us when we went for a walk today.
He got a bit upset when I wouldn't let him take one of the trains in the bath this evening, but since they are battery operated I thought it probably wasn't the best idea!
Riku's interest extends to real trains and we spent about ten minutes standing on the bridge that goes over one of the train lines watching the trains go past- I had to drag him away in the end! His papa is a bit worried that he will turn into one of the geeks you see here standing at the end of the platform taking pictures and getting all excited when a new type of carriage is released, but I told him we probably don't have to worry about that for a while ;)
He spent a good hour or two happily putting the trains on the tracks and taking them off again and then carrying them around the room both today and yesterday, and insisted on taking some pieces of track out with us when we went for a walk today.
He got a bit upset when I wouldn't let him take one of the trains in the bath this evening, but since they are battery operated I thought it probably wasn't the best idea!
Riku's interest extends to real trains and we spent about ten minutes standing on the bridge that goes over one of the train lines watching the trains go past- I had to drag him away in the end! His papa is a bit worried that he will turn into one of the geeks you see here standing at the end of the platform taking pictures and getting all excited when a new type of carriage is released, but I told him we probably don't have to worry about that for a while ;)
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Riku the artiste
This is what our boy managed to create while I was sorting clothes in the next room:
Actually that is only about half of it. Google told me that hairspray is the way to get ballpoint pen off wallpaper, so I went out to but some (the can I had was empty) and then spent about half an hour spraying and rubbing the wall- it got about 90% of the pen off, which was a lot better than I expected! Needless to say pens will be kept out of Mr. Riku's reach from now on!
The hole in the wall in the first picture is from where the previous owners had a phone and we took the cord out- Riku thinks it's fun to poke things in the hole which is gradually making it bigger- time to fix it I think!
Actually that is only about half of it. Google told me that hairspray is the way to get ballpoint pen off wallpaper, so I went out to but some (the can I had was empty) and then spent about half an hour spraying and rubbing the wall- it got about 90% of the pen off, which was a lot better than I expected! Needless to say pens will be kept out of Mr. Riku's reach from now on!
The hole in the wall in the first picture is from where the previous owners had a phone and we took the cord out- Riku thinks it's fun to poke things in the hole which is gradually making it bigger- time to fix it I think!
Friday, 28 September 2012
17 months- it's all about cars, water, sand and stickers...
What he's been up to lately:
As soon as he caught sight of the train set and Matchbox-type car section at this playcentre all he wanted to do was get back there- wasn't really interested in the ball pool at all this time, just tolerated it while I took photos! We spent an hour in this area and he still wasn't ready to leave.
In the last few weeks he has developed quite an interest in cars and other vehicles, so it's not surprising that one of his new words this month is "car"- usually repeated several times at a high pitch while pointing in excitement :) He also mimics sirens whenever he hears them or sees a firetruck, and does the sign for plane and the sound effects if he sees a plane or helicopter (or a picture of one). Funny because I haven't really steered him towards typical boy toys over others, he's developed this preference by himself.
This was a much bigger ball pool than the one in the picture in the last post, with slides leading into it- wish they had had this kind of thing in NZ when I was little!
Another of his favourite things right now is stickers- especially stickers of cars and dogs, although anything will do! When he sticks one on himself (or me, or the floor, or the furniture) he often says "tik!" which I'm pretty sure is "stick"- some of his words are a bit indistinct at the moment but he is getting more and more communicative all the time.
He loves to hold our hands these days, whether we are out walking or at home. I don't get to sit down for long these days as usually within a minute or two I will have a little hand pulling me towards his toy box, the book shelf or the kitchen. Here he is walking along the road in Chigasaki where his Japanese grandmother lives- doesn't he look like a big boy?
This water play area has been one of our favourite places this summer:
The water flows out of a small fountain into a pool, down a mini waterfall/rapids into this stream and under two bridges before getting pumped back up to the fountain. Riku has a fantastic time here throwing leaves into the stream, filling up a bottle and pouring the water back out again and splashing Mummy :) It closes for the year tomorrow but I'm looking forward to taking him back there next summer.
These days he is really starting to recognise different animals and something that I find very interesting is he now usually recognises cartoons of animals as well- I don't think Hello Kitty looks a lot like a cat really for example, but when he sees Hello Kitty warning people not to get their fingers jammed on the signs on the train doors he points and says "Yaow"which is his version of meow at the moment. Dogs are "foo foo", cows say "oooooo" apparently, and most other animals say "grrrr" according to Riku. He also has favourite characters on the preschoolers' educational programmes these days and likes to dance along to some of the songs. He also waves bye bye (or "yai yai" in Riku's case) to the characters when they say goodbye. He has a very fancy chair which he loves to sit in these days to watch TV or just relax- the chair was also a big hit with some little visitors today, so much so that there was someone on it (or two people on it) at pretty much all times while they were visiting!
Next month is the big one and a half!
As soon as he caught sight of the train set and Matchbox-type car section at this playcentre all he wanted to do was get back there- wasn't really interested in the ball pool at all this time, just tolerated it while I took photos! We spent an hour in this area and he still wasn't ready to leave.
In the last few weeks he has developed quite an interest in cars and other vehicles, so it's not surprising that one of his new words this month is "car"- usually repeated several times at a high pitch while pointing in excitement :) He also mimics sirens whenever he hears them or sees a firetruck, and does the sign for plane and the sound effects if he sees a plane or helicopter (or a picture of one). Funny because I haven't really steered him towards typical boy toys over others, he's developed this preference by himself.
This was a much bigger ball pool than the one in the picture in the last post, with slides leading into it- wish they had had this kind of thing in NZ when I was little!
Another of his favourite things right now is stickers- especially stickers of cars and dogs, although anything will do! When he sticks one on himself (or me, or the floor, or the furniture) he often says "tik!" which I'm pretty sure is "stick"- some of his words are a bit indistinct at the moment but he is getting more and more communicative all the time.
He loves to hold our hands these days, whether we are out walking or at home. I don't get to sit down for long these days as usually within a minute or two I will have a little hand pulling me towards his toy box, the book shelf or the kitchen. Here he is walking along the road in Chigasaki where his Japanese grandmother lives- doesn't he look like a big boy?
This water play area has been one of our favourite places this summer:
The water flows out of a small fountain into a pool, down a mini waterfall/rapids into this stream and under two bridges before getting pumped back up to the fountain. Riku has a fantastic time here throwing leaves into the stream, filling up a bottle and pouring the water back out again and splashing Mummy :) It closes for the year tomorrow but I'm looking forward to taking him back there next summer.
These days he is really starting to recognise different animals and something that I find very interesting is he now usually recognises cartoons of animals as well- I don't think Hello Kitty looks a lot like a cat really for example, but when he sees Hello Kitty warning people not to get their fingers jammed on the signs on the train doors he points and says "Yaow"which is his version of meow at the moment. Dogs are "foo foo", cows say "oooooo" apparently, and most other animals say "grrrr" according to Riku. He also has favourite characters on the preschoolers' educational programmes these days and likes to dance along to some of the songs. He also waves bye bye (or "yai yai" in Riku's case) to the characters when they say goodbye. He has a very fancy chair which he loves to sit in these days to watch TV or just relax- the chair was also a big hit with some little visitors today, so much so that there was someone on it (or two people on it) at pretty much all times while they were visiting!
Next month is the big one and a half!
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Sliding
Sliding in the park on the other side of the station- he's still getting the hang of it, but having fun!
I'm working on the 17-month post, lots of photos and new things to report!
I'm working on the 17-month post, lots of photos and new things to report!
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
The ball pool revisited
On the left- Riku in the ball pool on 20 September 2011, on the right, in the same ball pool today, 364 days later (I think this year is a leap year, right?) :) Such a big boy now!
17 month report to follow!
17 month report to follow!
Friday, 7 September 2012
Bathroom art
Here is Mister Riku with his latest work, in red, blue and green bath crayon. He has since embellished it with a bit more red.
He doesn't really have such dark circles under his eyes, I think it's just a lighting thing :)
Friday, 31 August 2012
One year ago today...
...Riku had just started sitting up by himself, although still tripod-style (i.e. with his hands on the floor in front of him as you can see in the picture). I think it was also probably a lot cooler than it was today (looks like I'm wearing ankle-length leggings in the photo above- no way I would have wanted to wear those recently)- the mid-30s temps don't seem like they are going to end this year!
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
One year and four months
I thought he was a big boy when he turned one, but the difference between 12 months and 16 months is quite amazing!
New things this month:
He can do the gesture for "ssshh", whether he is copying me doing it or just hears "ssshh" he puts his finger up to his nose.
He likes to go around in circles, but then of course falls over several times before the dizziness wears off. It would be fine if we had more space, but I'm always worried he is going to bash his head on the furniture, we don't need any more bumps and bruises!
He has started trying to jump, but can't really get any air yet. His Neenie gave him a book with animals singing "If you're happy and you know it...", and when we get to "stomp your feet" he stands up and tries to jump- it's so cute to watch!
He loves stickers and can peel them off, stick them on and peel them off again by himself- just two months ago he wasn't really interested at all, so this is an interesting development.
He can open doors easily- quite often it's the toilet door when I'm in there...
If he wants my attention or wants me to go somewhere with him he will now take my hand or the hem of my skirt/shorts and pull me- just for the sake of it sometimes I think. Basically it's now hard for me to sit down on the sofa for any length of time at all, so I am having to get more and more creative in finding activities for him. Looking forward to starting things like playdough and finger painting, but I think he's still a little bit young- soon though!
He is getting faster, not running yet, but if he wants to he can be gone in a flash, which I can see putting me in some embarrassing situations- yesterday I was getting changed after a yoga class and he kept running out of the door which was only covered by a curtain into the reception area- I was halfway into my trousers at one point when he took off and I briefly considered running out as I was, then thought better of it as I didn't know who would be out there or walking past! Managed to get myself decent and go and get him back again- it made me start considering buying a harness though!
He still hates brushing his teeth, but since a friend's baby is starting to show signs of tooth decay I am making sure I brush his teeth properly once a day. With most babies it would have been his top molars we saw next, but again Riku prefers to be different and his next tooth to break through was a bottom left molar, which I just found yesterday! Looks like the next one will be his left canine, followed by his top left molar. Don't know what the right side is doing, but he's going to have a lopsided smile for a while if it doesn't catch up soon (^-^;)
He has got picky about food again, possibly because of the teeth- things he ate happily a month ago (baby food packs) he now won't even consider, so I'm finding it difficult to get vegetables into him- I've partially solved the problem by hiding vegies in smoothies which he loves, and giving him spinach and tomato flavoured pasta- will need to find other things so there's more variety though! Luckily he loves his cereal as it's fortified toddler cereal that we buy from a US site.
I have just ordered him his first trike- it's one with a rail so littlies can't fall off the seat, plus a handle for parents to push and a shopping basket at the back- should be a fun alternative to the pushchair for short trips to the shops or the park, can't wait for it to arrive! I at first thought of getting a trike as a Christmas present, but since we will be away all of December and then it will be cold when we get back I thought it would be better to get it earlier so we can take advantage of the nice autumn weather which is hopefully not too far off. I hear that half birthdays (just 6 months and 18 months I think) are gaining in popularity these days, so we can think of it as an early one and a half birthday present :)
 |
| 16-month-olds get important calls too |
 |
| Mum, can't you see I'm on the phone? |
New things this month:
He can do the gesture for "ssshh", whether he is copying me doing it or just hears "ssshh" he puts his finger up to his nose.
He likes to go around in circles, but then of course falls over several times before the dizziness wears off. It would be fine if we had more space, but I'm always worried he is going to bash his head on the furniture, we don't need any more bumps and bruises!
He has started trying to jump, but can't really get any air yet. His Neenie gave him a book with animals singing "If you're happy and you know it...", and when we get to "stomp your feet" he stands up and tries to jump- it's so cute to watch!
He loves stickers and can peel them off, stick them on and peel them off again by himself- just two months ago he wasn't really interested at all, so this is an interesting development.
He can open doors easily- quite often it's the toilet door when I'm in there...
If he wants my attention or wants me to go somewhere with him he will now take my hand or the hem of my skirt/shorts and pull me- just for the sake of it sometimes I think. Basically it's now hard for me to sit down on the sofa for any length of time at all, so I am having to get more and more creative in finding activities for him. Looking forward to starting things like playdough and finger painting, but I think he's still a little bit young- soon though!
He is getting faster, not running yet, but if he wants to he can be gone in a flash, which I can see putting me in some embarrassing situations- yesterday I was getting changed after a yoga class and he kept running out of the door which was only covered by a curtain into the reception area- I was halfway into my trousers at one point when he took off and I briefly considered running out as I was, then thought better of it as I didn't know who would be out there or walking past! Managed to get myself decent and go and get him back again- it made me start considering buying a harness though!
He still hates brushing his teeth, but since a friend's baby is starting to show signs of tooth decay I am making sure I brush his teeth properly once a day. With most babies it would have been his top molars we saw next, but again Riku prefers to be different and his next tooth to break through was a bottom left molar, which I just found yesterday! Looks like the next one will be his left canine, followed by his top left molar. Don't know what the right side is doing, but he's going to have a lopsided smile for a while if it doesn't catch up soon (^-^;)
He has got picky about food again, possibly because of the teeth- things he ate happily a month ago (baby food packs) he now won't even consider, so I'm finding it difficult to get vegetables into him- I've partially solved the problem by hiding vegies in smoothies which he loves, and giving him spinach and tomato flavoured pasta- will need to find other things so there's more variety though! Luckily he loves his cereal as it's fortified toddler cereal that we buy from a US site.
 |
| Yum, smoothie with organic cocoa! |
 |
| Not sure what this face is for, but I thought it was funny :) |
I have just ordered him his first trike- it's one with a rail so littlies can't fall off the seat, plus a handle for parents to push and a shopping basket at the back- should be a fun alternative to the pushchair for short trips to the shops or the park, can't wait for it to arrive! I at first thought of getting a trike as a Christmas present, but since we will be away all of December and then it will be cold when we get back I thought it would be better to get it earlier so we can take advantage of the nice autumn weather which is hopefully not too far off. I hear that half birthdays (just 6 months and 18 months I think) are gaining in popularity these days, so we can think of it as an early one and a half birthday present :)
 |
| His bike arrived! He loves it and so does mummy :) |
 |
| This has already been on FB but I'll put it here too- cool trikes need sound effects! |
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
This week in Riku-land
Not a particularly busy week this week, we have been taking it easy mostly because it has been very hot and humid this week. Up until now August had been hot as usual, but the humidity is new and makes it a lot more uncomfortable to be out and about, especially since the rain and humidity tends to bring swarms of mosquitoes! Anyway, we're halfway through August now so only a few more muggy weeks to go most likely.
Here are some photos from yesterday- we went to a toy museum in central Tokyo yesterday which had lots of hands-on exhibits for kids to play with. Because this week is the main summer holiday week here though it was absolutely packed- looking forward to visiting some time when it's a bit quieter!
You can see in the photo that Riku has quite a bruise on his forehead- on Sunday we were at a water play area and right when we were about to leave he slipped and hit his head on a rock. It looked quite painful, but he didn't cry for very long, I was surprised how brave he was!
He enjoyed this ball pool, really- I spent a lot of time chasing after the wooden balls and putting them back in again...
Sir Riku Bowlhead, just out of his bath but not quite ready for bed :)
Stand by for a 16-month post coming soon- so many new things this month!
Here are some photos from yesterday- we went to a toy museum in central Tokyo yesterday which had lots of hands-on exhibits for kids to play with. Because this week is the main summer holiday week here though it was absolutely packed- looking forward to visiting some time when it's a bit quieter!
You can see in the photo that Riku has quite a bruise on his forehead- on Sunday we were at a water play area and right when we were about to leave he slipped and hit his head on a rock. It looked quite painful, but he didn't cry for very long, I was surprised how brave he was!
He enjoyed this ball pool, really- I spent a lot of time chasing after the wooden balls and putting them back in again...
Sir Riku Bowlhead, just out of his bath but not quite ready for bed :)
Stand by for a 16-month post coming soon- so many new things this month!
Friday, 3 August 2012
In the park
Even though it has been very hot the last two weeks (usually over 30 degrees by 9am and peaking at about 35 degrees in Tokyo) we have been going to parks some days as we have found that as long as we are in the shade (and the mosquitoes aren't too bad!) it is quite bearable to be outside, and now that Riku is walking he usually needs the chance to run around at least once a day.
This Monday we went to Hibiya Park in central Tokyo. It's a very old and mostly formal park (no sitting on the grass etc), there is one section which has a playground for kids. The visit didn't start off too well with Riku falling sideways off a bench when he was trying to get my drink bottle- neither of us were looking where he was putting his feet and he accidentally stepped off and fell on his side, slightly grazing his forehead and shoulder- you can see where he bumped the left side of his head in the pictures :( He was a bit upset for a few minutes, but recovered when he saw there were swings and slides (and pandas!) to play on.
Here are pictures at the pandas- doesn't he look grown up? The wet patch on his front is not from sweat, it's from where he was spitting his water out- something he does from time to time. Sometimes if I don't catch him he will spit most of a cup of water down his front and end up absolutely soaked. I didn't change his T-shirt this time as I thought it would help him stay cooler :)
The pandas don't move, but he thought they were fun to sit on anyway. He also had a go on the slide and in fact managed to climb several steps up the ladder while I was checking the train schedule on my phone- I only took my eyes off him for a few seconds but he is quick these days, gave me quite a fright!
Only a week until he is 16 months old now- where does the time go?!
This Monday we went to Hibiya Park in central Tokyo. It's a very old and mostly formal park (no sitting on the grass etc), there is one section which has a playground for kids. The visit didn't start off too well with Riku falling sideways off a bench when he was trying to get my drink bottle- neither of us were looking where he was putting his feet and he accidentally stepped off and fell on his side, slightly grazing his forehead and shoulder- you can see where he bumped the left side of his head in the pictures :( He was a bit upset for a few minutes, but recovered when he saw there were swings and slides (and pandas!) to play on.
Here are pictures at the pandas- doesn't he look grown up? The wet patch on his front is not from sweat, it's from where he was spitting his water out- something he does from time to time. Sometimes if I don't catch him he will spit most of a cup of water down his front and end up absolutely soaked. I didn't change his T-shirt this time as I thought it would help him stay cooler :)
The pandas don't move, but he thought they were fun to sit on anyway. He also had a go on the slide and in fact managed to climb several steps up the ladder while I was checking the train schedule on my phone- I only took my eyes off him for a few seconds but he is quick these days, gave me quite a fright!
Only a week until he is 16 months old now- where does the time go?!
Monday, 23 July 2012
Riku at 15 months
Things he can do now:
Get on to and off his little car and push himself around with his feet
Go down slides by himself
Things he likes:
Playing in paddling pools/water play areas
Walking around on the road outside our house (for those who haven't been here, we live at the end of a dead end street, there is no through traffic or traffic at all really!)
Looking out his bedroom window (he climbs on a low table to see out, currently there is no danger of him falling out as he doesn't know how to open the insect screens)
Blueberries
Eating three proper meals a day- he loves his breakfast cereals and will now usually happily sit in his chair and eat all three meals
Things he is not so interested in these days:
Coat hangers- he was quite obsessed with them for a while, but doesn't really ask me for them any more
Our cell phones
TV- he was never that into TV but now he doesn't give it more than a minute or so of attention before heading off to do something else
Baths- for the last few days he has refused to sit down in the bath and tries to climb out after a minute or two, surprising because he used to love baths. Maybe it's because of the heat?
Hats- before we went to NZ he was finally leaving his hats on when I put them on, but since we got back he is back to throwing hats off as soon as I put them on.
Words:
Ayah/Ay-ay, usually accompanied by waving- not sure if this is hello or bye bye, at the moment it's an all-purpose greeting!
Papa
Mama (I haven't heard this and been sure it means me, but T says Riku says it when I am away and he sees pictures of me)
Udd- this is a Riku original, and means either "thank you", "give me that" or "here you go"- not sure where he got it from, but since it's verbal communication it's all good, right? (^-^;)
Yay- said while clapping or putting both hands up in the air, this is his latest word and it is so cute to hear him say it because it's perfect, he's like a real little person when he says it!
We are noticing an explosion in the range of sounds and tones he uses in the last couple of weeks as well as his ability to imitate words we say. It looks like learning to walk was taking up most of his attention for the last couple of months and now he has mastered that he can progress with the talking- it will be interesting to see what we will hear next!
So that's a short round up of Riku at 15 months- it's just so fascinating to see him grow and develop, sometimes frustrating since the naughtiness increases along with newfound skills, but very gratifying as well. Love you little guy! xx
Get on to and off his little car and push himself around with his feet
Go down slides by himself
Drink from a normal cup or mug, which leads to...
Wipe up water if he has spilled it (he makes an attempt anyway!)
Carry a cup of water and put it down carefully (usually)
Climb onto the table from the sofa (not liking this one!)
Open doors of the non-sliding kind
Stick Lego pieces together as well as pulling them apart- he is still pretty hit and miss with this and gets frustrated if he can't get a piece to stick, but he's getting better all the time!
Hold a pen or crayon and make squiggles on the paper- before now he couldn't apply enough pressure. I would have expected him to hold a pen in a fist, but he uses a proper pen grip- it is amazing (and a bit scary) to think how much they are observing and absorbing!
 |
Things he likes:
Playing in paddling pools/water play areas
Walking around on the road outside our house (for those who haven't been here, we live at the end of a dead end street, there is no through traffic or traffic at all really!)
Looking out his bedroom window (he climbs on a low table to see out, currently there is no danger of him falling out as he doesn't know how to open the insect screens)
Blueberries
Eating three proper meals a day- he loves his breakfast cereals and will now usually happily sit in his chair and eat all three meals
 |
| Piece of cake to climb this! |
 |
| Enjoying the view |
Things he is not so interested in these days:
Coat hangers- he was quite obsessed with them for a while, but doesn't really ask me for them any more
Our cell phones
TV- he was never that into TV but now he doesn't give it more than a minute or so of attention before heading off to do something else
Baths- for the last few days he has refused to sit down in the bath and tries to climb out after a minute or two, surprising because he used to love baths. Maybe it's because of the heat?
Hats- before we went to NZ he was finally leaving his hats on when I put them on, but since we got back he is back to throwing hats off as soon as I put them on.
 |
| Broom broom! |
 |
| Why? Because it's there. |
Ayah/Ay-ay, usually accompanied by waving- not sure if this is hello or bye bye, at the moment it's an all-purpose greeting!
Papa
Mama (I haven't heard this and been sure it means me, but T says Riku says it when I am away and he sees pictures of me)
Udd- this is a Riku original, and means either "thank you", "give me that" or "here you go"- not sure where he got it from, but since it's verbal communication it's all good, right? (^-^;)
Yay- said while clapping or putting both hands up in the air, this is his latest word and it is so cute to hear him say it because it's perfect, he's like a real little person when he says it!
We are noticing an explosion in the range of sounds and tones he uses in the last couple of weeks as well as his ability to imitate words we say. It looks like learning to walk was taking up most of his attention for the last couple of months and now he has mastered that he can progress with the talking- it will be interesting to see what we will hear next!
So that's a short round up of Riku at 15 months- it's just so fascinating to see him grow and develop, sometimes frustrating since the naughtiness increases along with newfound skills, but very gratifying as well. Love you little guy! xx
Monday, 16 July 2012
The jimbei, one year later
We dressed Riku in his jimbei (Japanese summer outfit) today to go to an anti-nuclear rally in Yoyogi park, and I realised that it is almost exactly a year to the day that his Japanese grandma gave it to him and he first tried it on. Here's a photo of him in it one year ago and in the park today:
He fits it much better now!
Thursday, 28 June 2012
14 months part 2 and photo bomb!
More achievements and milestones to document:
Riku now sleeps through the night- even though he wakes up at around 4.45 (yawn!) we don't hear a peep out of him between putting him down for bed and then, so I think that qualifies as sleeping through! It is quite a relief after so many months of very broken sleep. Now I am just waiting for the days to get shorter again as I am convinced that he will sleep longer when it's darker in the morning- I live in hope anyway!
-He recognises people in photos- I was working in the kitchen today and Riku was pulling on the strip of photos we have attached to the side of the kitchen cabinet, when suddenly I heard him say "Pa pa!"- I checked and he was looking at a picture of T and me, and he pointed at T when I asked him "Where's Papa?" Same reaction when I showed him the photo of T in his bedroom. He has been saying "Pa pa" when he hears T come up or down the stairs for a while now, but that's the first time I've seen him obviously recognise someone in a photo. Now we need to work on "Mama"- I haven't really heard that yet other than as part of a string of babble...He is taking even more of an interest in clothes now and has a favourite bib, one with a Buzzy Bee on it from NZ. Most bibs he will just rip off/shriek until I take it off for him, but if he finds the Buzzy Bee one in the clean washing for example he brings it to me and is really pleased when I put it on for him. He also likes his gumboots at the moment and often brings them to me to put on for him.
-Finally we have an eater- occasionally if he is over-tired he will refuse a meal, but mostly he eats like a champ now, he prefers shop-bought baby food to anything I make normally but I can't really blame him for that as I've never been much of a cook! He will also put away 1.5 Weetbix or a fair-sized bowl of baby cereal for breakfast, and loves most fruit including golden kiwifruit, papaya, mandarin slices, cherries (I take the stones out first of course) and blueberries.
-An acquaintance of ours gave him a tiny version of a chair by a well-known Japanese furniture designer just after he was born, and he can now climb on it by himself and sit down- he looks like a little boss, very cute. I don't have a photo of that yet but look out for it in a future blog post!
-He shakes his head for "no" now, not only copying me when I say no, but also when he doesn't want to do something- sometimes accompanied by a string of "nah nah nah nah", so I think it's not long now before we will be hearing "No!" fairly often!
-Some of the people in this area greet us fairly often- the couple next door and the elderly couple across from us, the couple running the fish shop and the 7-11 staff, and "konnichiwa" in Japan is usually accompanied by a slight bow. I noticed about a week ago that whether he is standing on the ground or I'm holding him, if someone says "konnichiwa" to him he will do a little (or sometimes very deep) bow. This morning when he saw Mr. Kobayashi next door Riku bowed even before we greeted each other- it's quite amazing what they are seeing and absorbing even at this age- I am really going to have to watch what I do and say from now on, I have a little mimic on my hands!
Riku now sleeps through the night- even though he wakes up at around 4.45 (yawn!) we don't hear a peep out of him between putting him down for bed and then, so I think that qualifies as sleeping through! It is quite a relief after so many months of very broken sleep. Now I am just waiting for the days to get shorter again as I am convinced that he will sleep longer when it's darker in the morning- I live in hope anyway!
 |
| Riku and his papa checking out their shadows at the station |
-He recognises people in photos- I was working in the kitchen today and Riku was pulling on the strip of photos we have attached to the side of the kitchen cabinet, when suddenly I heard him say "Pa pa!"- I checked and he was looking at a picture of T and me, and he pointed at T when I asked him "Where's Papa?" Same reaction when I showed him the photo of T in his bedroom. He has been saying "Pa pa" when he hears T come up or down the stairs for a while now, but that's the first time I've seen him obviously recognise someone in a photo. Now we need to work on "Mama"- I haven't really heard that yet other than as part of a string of babble...He is taking even more of an interest in clothes now and has a favourite bib, one with a Buzzy Bee on it from NZ. Most bibs he will just rip off/shriek until I take it off for him, but if he finds the Buzzy Bee one in the clean washing for example he brings it to me and is really pleased when I put it on for him. He also likes his gumboots at the moment and often brings them to me to put on for him.
 |
| Rainy day activity |
 |
| Sunny day activity! It was a bit cool, but Riku is not a chicken about cold water like his mum! |
-Finally we have an eater- occasionally if he is over-tired he will refuse a meal, but mostly he eats like a champ now, he prefers shop-bought baby food to anything I make normally but I can't really blame him for that as I've never been much of a cook! He will also put away 1.5 Weetbix or a fair-sized bowl of baby cereal for breakfast, and loves most fruit including golden kiwifruit, papaya, mandarin slices, cherries (I take the stones out first of course) and blueberries.
-An acquaintance of ours gave him a tiny version of a chair by a well-known Japanese furniture designer just after he was born, and he can now climb on it by himself and sit down- he looks like a little boss, very cute. I don't have a photo of that yet but look out for it in a future blog post!
-He shakes his head for "no" now, not only copying me when I say no, but also when he doesn't want to do something- sometimes accompanied by a string of "nah nah nah nah", so I think it's not long now before we will be hearing "No!" fairly often!
 |
| He loves to walk up and down our road, checking the gutter |
 |
| Messing with the neighbours' chain... |
 |
| Our big boy... |
 |
| Who sometimes looks so little still! |
 |
| Mr. Frog is not impressed- Riku isn't either as his right eyebrow had an altercation with the concrete path just before this photo was taken! |
This is getting long so I will finish up now- we are leaving for two weeks in NZ tomorrow and will have a proper photo shoot done so there should be some nice photos to post in the next month or so :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)