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!

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!

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!

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!

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?!