Toddling

Recently Riku has started to walk with his push cart- it took him quite a long time to start doing this, he would stand and hold on to the handle but as soon as it moved he would sit down. He finally took a step with it about 3 weeks ago though and now he loves it- just a pity we don't have a bit more space for him to use it in!

Here is a video T took this morning: Riku toddling

He is getting more and more confident with this, so maybe walking by himself isn't too far away? Not that I am in any real hurry for him to have even more mobility than he does already, he causes plenty of mayhem just crawling and cruising around the furniture!

One year of Riku

This month Riku turned one! It has been an amazing experience to see him growing and developing day to day, month to month. There have been lots of challenges and frustrations, but lots more rewarding experiences.

Playing with one of his birthday toys

Here's a summary of Riku at one year:

- He loves "reading" books. At least twice a day he will pull most of the books off his bookshelf and go through the pages one by one. He is a lot more interested in the pictures than the story at this point, and if you are reading to him he will usually turn the page by himself before you have finished the text on that page!

- He isn't walking unsupported yet, but he likes to walk around holding onto our fingers and has also started pushing around his little cart- for a long time he would sit down as soon as the cart moved, so this is quite a step forward, literally! He has also started dancing, and if you sing to him or tell him to dance he shakes his head and steps from side to side- so cute :)

- he can open and close drawers and sliding doors, switch the A/C and TV on and off using the remote and get lids off various containers (often with his teeth), so we have had to do a lot of baby-proofing! His newest thing is climbing our very steep wooden stairs, so baby gates are in the near future as well.

- he has never been as interested in solid food as a lot of babies are and is a bit picky but we had made a lot of progress in the last few weeks and he was eating a wider range of things, as well as finally consenting to eat from a spoon after flat out refusing for several months! We've taken a few steps backwards with food recently though as he had an illness called roseola last week which causes a high fever (Riku's reached 39.6) for about 3 days and then a rash in babies (no-one gets this illness after age 2 apparently). For a week he had virtually no appetite other than for me to breastfeed him- so glad we have continued with this! He is eating again now, but has got a bit pickier again and isn't really eating dinner. Otherwise he has completely recovered from the illness, which isn't a serious one, although he was miserable while he had the temperature.

- I have now reached a whole year without a good night's sleep :-/ Riku slept best between the age of 4 weeks to 5 months- often he would only wake up once, around 1am, and then sleep until 7. On a bad night he would wake up twice, but he always went straight back to sleep after being fed and changed. All that disappeared at 5 months, when he started waking up hourly on some nights, and at least 4 times on a good night. Thankfully (other than when he was sick last week) we don't have hourly wake-ups any more, but on average he wakes up 3 times a night- usually around 10.30, 2 and 5. For a while he would wake up at 5 and think it was play time, but fortunately he is going back to sleep more reliably at that time these days, even though it is fully light by 5 in Tokyo at this time of year. Friends with babies the same age are in the same situation and it's not unusual at all for a one year old to still be waking up several times at night. One day he will sleep though the night, hopefully sooner rather than later!

- He can play his xylophone, his papa's drum, and can now also blow his little trumpet toys- he is so proud of himself for doing this and often gives himself a round of applause when he's finished.

- He has all kinds of toys but some of his favourite things are coathangers and metal spoons- if he sees me hang something on a coathanger he has to have one to hold as well, and if I stir a drink with a spoon I have to get one out for him. He also loves to pull all the cards out of our wallets and if given the chance will then stash them under the rug!

- He is the most outgoing, sociable little boy and will smile, wave and play impromptu hide and seek with people in supermarkets and on the train, and charms pretty much everyone :)

The birthday cake

Birthday picnic

It's a Japanese tradition to have one-year-olds carry 2kg of mochi (rice cake), which is meant to ensure they grow up strong and healthy. Here his grandma is loading him up.

About to set off

He did it!

Bubbles and cherry blossoms

And now he does yoga!

We love you lots, little guy, looking forward to the second year of Riku!

Birthday week fun- at the zoo

On Tuesday we went to the zoo/amusement park in Kichijoji with R-chan and her mummy and had a great time. Riku and R went for a drive together- luckily there were two steering wheels so there was no fighting over who was going to drive ;)

Backing into parking spaces is tricky, especially when you're only one year old!

Birthday presents and shoes

Riku got another birthday present this week- a Trunki from his NZ GG and Nana Barbara! His legs are still a bit short for it but I think we'll get a lot of use out of it in the next few years.

I have found out recently that assisted walking or "cruising" is an important milestone, but because I wasn't really watching for it I can't really say exactly when Riku started doing it! I'm pretty sure he has been doing some form of it for quite a while, probably since around 9 months. At the moment though he only likes to walk around fixed objects, he doesn't particularly like his push cart which a lot of babies use to walk around at this stage- as soon as it moves he will sit down.

He is definitely doing a lot more cruising now than he was even a month ago- he only crawls when he has to cross open ground in the living room and kitchen and will walk around or between the furniture as much as he can. Even though he's not walking it is a good idea these days to take a pair of shoes for him when we go out so that he can stand on the ground when we sit down somewhere. We had another mini picnic at a nearby park on Thursday and Riku walked all around the brick platform I was sitting on- he looks so grown up in his shoes!

Riku in the park

Yesterday was a beautiful warmish day so we went to a park in Shinjuku well known for its cherry blossoms to see if any were out yet. Most of the trees were still in the bud stage apart from some early-flowering varieties, but we had a mini picnic and Riku had lots of fun playing with the grass and crawling as fast as he could round in circles!

Isn't he a big boy now? :)