Brian's 7 Month Report

Weight: 7.5 kg

Height: 68 cm

Ah, another month has passed, and my baby is only getting older. His 7^th month has been my favorite one so far! He’s learning and growing so fast, and the things that he can do now are beyond cute! I believe him gaining weight and looking more chubby has something to do with his extreme cuteness. Ha!

In this last month Aiki and Mary’s family moved in, so there was lots of adjusting. We haven’t figured out the meal time situation yet, so it’s been a bit tough having to wait your turn to cook your meals. It often gets a bit late. Because of this (and my laziness), I haven’t delved into preparing baby food for Brian like I hoped.

Early on in the month he got bored of yogurt and bananas, so I stopped feeding him that. Josh often felt sorry for Brian sitting at the table with no food prepared for him, so he’d feed him what he could from his plate, which would end up being rice and bread. (Maybe this is how Brian got so fat so quickly!)

I did try spinach -which he didn’t care too much for, oatmeal –which he loved, avocado –which he hated!, and a little champagne –which he spit out instantly! Ha!

On the 7^th of January (7 month birthday) his first tooth came in! (Bottom front tooth.)

Then on the 7^th of February (8 month birthday) his second tooth came in right next to the first! Awesome timing! It’s so cute to hear the “clink, clink” of his tooth on a toy or glass cup.

On sunny days we’d go outside to play with the other kids. Brian really enjoys watching other kids play. He’ll just sit there amused for the longest time.

When he’s bored of his own toys, we go next door into the girls’ room where there’re shelves of new toys for Brian to play with. He’s generally always happy there playing and watching the girls play. Of course, when the three little Kato girls crowd around him and want to play, kiss, and cuddle with him etc. he gets overwhelmed and panics! Ha! The girls are starting to get used to living right next door to my little baby, and now he doesn’t have too many overwhelming moments.

We visited Isaac and Miyu this month. That was fun and it was nice getting to know both of them and seeing Kaya before they had to leave to Hawaii. They are such a sweet little family, it’s a shame we can’t spend more time with them. We are hoping to go and visit them in Hawaii someday.

Sam and Leika’s house is always a wonderful place to be. Brian is always happy there. Funny thing, this time Taiki was a bit of a bully and when I would look away, he’d be climbing all over Brian and laying on him, etc. Poor little baby. Ha! Brian was a strong boy and handled it fine.

I guess this month I didn’t do too much teaching and ‘pouring in’ to Brian as I had hoped. Life has been pretty up in the air with all these changes going on. However, it’s been really great, nonetheless, and I just love spending time holding him, playing with him, watching him, and talking with him.

Brian is very good with his hands and fingers. He grabs things very well; will let go when he wants to; throws toys and balls pretty far; changes objects from hand to hand, etc. I guess he’s been getting lots of practice with sitting and playing with toys! Ha!

The last week of January I noticed him attempting to crawl by lunging forward onto his hands from a sitting position, but still can’t hold himself up for long, or just doesn’t know what to do from there, so he still falls flat on his tummy which ends his attempt at moving forward. I wonder how long it’ll take for him to get the hang of crawling.

We had some fun outings, aside from the visits to different people’s houses.

Beaches are great fun! Although the weather is freezing, a few minutes outside, running on the sandy beaches playing catch with Dad and Mom is great fun for the whole family!

We also stopped at Toys’R’us, hoping to find some fun exciting toys to buy Brian, but alas, nothing much excited us there and we were a bit disappointed. We did have fun playing sword fighting with the sponge swords and shields in the store. We just LOVE hearing Brian laugh, so we parents will do anything retarded to get him to laugh for us.

Ah, so much joy parenthood brings me. J I must say though, that my love for other kids hasn’t diminished one bit. Of course, I love Brian and because he’s MY son, I’m responsible for his well-being, but, other children still continue to brighten my day and fill it with wonderful good things. J

Brian really gets the concept of games. He’ll touch Josh, and Josh will make a sudden funny sound, and Brian will crack up, and then continue to touch Josh and wait for that funny sound. Simple games like this Brian loves, and Josh is great at coming up with awesome baby games.

I got a pile of Japanese flash cards from Mary. So, I’ve been trying to “flash” those to him on a regular basis, but like I said, I haven’t been too faithful with teaching and educating him in such things this month.

One thing I have been working on is teaching Brian to say “Yes Sir” (salute), “Gomenasai” (rub his heart), “Domo Domo” (nod his head), and “Kudasai” (clap his hands).

He’s been doing very well! I showed him these simple gestures one day while nursing and he just loved it, smiling as I moved his hands. Then, just a few days later while nursing, I noticed him whacking his head. Ha! My first thought was, “Oh dear, he’s gone retarded!” but soon remembered what I taught him. When he scratches my face or body, I’ll tell him to say Gomenasai, helping him with his hand motion, and when he wants to eat or take something, I’ll help him clap his hands.

It seems he’s gotten the idea of “kudasai”, as he claps his hands to come to me or when he wants food. He’s also done it once to watch his videos on my computer. Of course, he doesn’t do it for everything, and is still learning.

One night he woke up at 12:45am and stayed up till 5:00am (I blogged about this) and all the while he practiced his “Yes Sir”, “Kudasai”; throwing; and lunging forward. It was cute…but tiring. Ahem.

Brian’s Favorites: Bath time (huge fav! Can’t get enough of it!), out door play, mirror play, games and play with Mommy and Daddy.

Night times have gone back to normal. Whew! He gets tired around 9:00pm and wakes up around 9 or 10am in the morning. During the night he’ll wake up to feed or just suck for comfort several times in the night, and I just rotate him from side to side. If his diaper is packed he’ll fuss until it’s changed, and he’ll cry through the whole time till I’m done.

I have found that he’s a lot like me when it comes to being tired. Josh said, about me, that he had to learn the hard way. Ha! Brian tries to stay awake, busy as ever, till he’s completely tired. Even when he’s tired he won’t sleep unless there’s nothing better to do. If there’s any fun activity or noise going on, he’ll struggle to stay awake and push me away when I try to nurse him.

Then, when he’s extremely tired he becomes very moody, laughing at stupid things, and then suddenly crying at the same thing he was just laughing about. This is when I know that I have to go to bed with him, so he won’t get distracted. I too get really moody when I’m tired, yet won’t sleep until I’m REALLY too tired. L It’s hard to find the balance, so I understand Brian completely.

So, that ends my most exciting month with Brian! J I’m looking forward to doing better next month as far as feeding him, reading books, and showing flash cards to him.