Weight: 7.5 kg
Height: 68 cm
Ah, another month has passed, and my baby is only getting older. His 7th 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 7th of January (7 month birthday) his first tooth came in! (Bottom front tooth.)
Then on the 7th 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
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:
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.
I can't make this anymore organized or clearer or interesting, sadly. It took too long to type up and now it's old news. I'm posting it anyway for those who are interested. I'll try to make his 7 month report shorter.
And, for those who aren't interested in reading this, I'll post photos in the next post. :)
Brian Takeshi Tanaka’s
5 & 6 Month Report
-January 7, 2012
5 months:
Weight: 6.5 kg
Height: 63.5 cm
6 months:
Weight: 7 kg
Height: 67 cm
Feeding/Nursing:
We started feeding Brian at 5 months. He showed signs of wanting to eat since 4 months, but I wanted to hold off till he was at least 5 or 6 months old.
Signs that showed me he was ready: He showed great interest in food by staring at the food we ate. He would feel left out at meal times and had to sit with us. He would try to grab our food, plates, and spoons/forks. He always notices when someone stuck something in their mouth to eat, even if it was a little snack.
The first food I properly prepared for him was graded pear. Next day was yogurt with mashed bananas. He loved them both!
In these two months he’s had:
Mostly yogurt and bananas
Corn soup (one of his favorites)
Chicken soup
Taste of ice-cream
Strawberries and yogurt (too sour)
Honey and yogurt (Note: Later I read that honey isn’t good for babies, so won’t feed him honey until he is older.)
Mashed potato
Tofu
Boiled carrots (which he didn’t like plain so I had mix it in with his yogurt and banana, which he then had no problem eating.)
Three strange dry, red splotches appear on his chin the day after he first ate tofu. It still appears off and on. I don’t know if tofu was the culprit, but in any case, next time I attempt to feed him tofu, I’ll keep an eye open.
As far as nursing goes, he’s very picky with which breast is given to him, and 95% of the time he wants the left side. There are times when I give him the right side, and he nurses for a short while, and then arches his back telling me he doesn’t want to be nursed. Then when I stand him up on my lap to “investigate the problem further”, he leans forward and nuzzles up against my left breast to nurse. Naughty naughty!
Physical Skills:
At 5 months we started propping him up in a sitting position surrounded with pillows. Now, he can sit on his own, but will fall forward onto his tummy when trying to get a toy in front of him.
One evening while Brian was watching Josh and I throw his favorite Mexican colored ball back and forth, he decided to give it a try and now he loves throwing balls, toys, and other things he can hold in his hand. (There are definite pros and cons to a child learning this. Ha!)
Education:
Josh watches a lot of children’s video clips with Brian and he loves it. He’ll sit and watch something for a good 30 minutes or more. He is really serious about his video time. His favorites are Baby Einstein-Mozart (we need to get more), and a few cute Christian animation clips and songs.
Brian enjoys playing with his toys. He now plays with his toys on his own for a good while. As long as I’m in the room he’ll be content to play on his own. If I leave he’ll make sure that I come back soon, or he’ll whimper and cry, telling me that he needs me. He’s such a sweetheart.
He really enjoys flash cards and books. He smiles and smiles when I make animal noises to go along with the picture card. When we go for walks and we spot different animals, he seems to recognize them when I make the noise and finds it very amusing. He smiles and breaths in deeply taking it all in.
Behavior:
I can definitely see that Gemini Brian has two sides to him. He’s got a serious, ‘I need my space’ side and a foolish, attention seeking side. When he’s serious he wants to play with his toys on his own, studies each toy carefully, and doesn’t find interruptions amusing. It’s not too often that he gets in his serious mood, but when he is…it’s very interesting to watch. For the most part, he’s very fun and happy. He smiles a lot and is friendly to most people.
He is such a big boy and it’s so interesting to watch him try to communicate with me using his body. He’s a real good communicator and has many fun face expressions.
He loves his daddy, and is always ready to laugh at the fun things Josh does. They are such a great pair!
Travel:
This month we went to see his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins from November 20th to December 8th, while Josh was away in Nigata at driving school. That was loads of fun for both of us. He loved being carried around by his aunts and uncles and getting all that attention. My dad called him a Little Angel. Apparently, Brian is the first grandchild that likes my dad from the start. Ha! He said all the others were scared of him at first.
While we were away, Brian had strange sleeping problems. He’d wake up screaming and crying for God knows what! He wouldn’t nurse; he’d even push me away. Two nights when he did his whole screaming thing, he finally fell asleep but wouldn’t let me lie down, so I had to sit up on a couch the whole night. He did have a cold so it could have been his stuffy nose that was bothering him, but he had stuffy noses before and wouldn’t scream like that. So, I really don’t know, but it didn’t last for long. Thank God!
Other tidbits:
December 10th we took down the crib because we weren’t using it. It was a hassle to wait untill he was completely asleep in order to put him down. Then wake up soon after to repeat the cycle, because he wouldn’t sleep long if he was sleeping alone.
There are nights when I wish he would sleep in his own crib, but most of the time it doesn’t bother me. He’s still small and cuddly. Some nights when I’m really tired, Josh takes Brian so I can sleep early, but as tired as I am, I realized, I’ve gotten so used to sleeping with him in my arms, so if he’s not there, something’s missing and I can’t go to sleep.
His favorites this month: Looking at fish and cats. Looking at the manger scene, Christmas tree, and Christmas lights. Listening to animal sounds.
He talks a whole lot more, and even sings to music. It’s so cute. I love it.
Crystal gave Brian water toys for Christmas. I once filled up a small container with water, and threw those toys in. He loved splashing, and tried grabbing the toys out of the water. After this water play, Brian has made a change and now he can’t wait to get into his bath tub, and even has a hard time getting out.
He had his first fever recently, but he seemed completely fine. He just slept a lot more than usual.
See how Boobins is helping by filling up the middle with the little pieces? So cute.
Josh and I also played a part in setting up the big huge Christmas tree in the main dining room. Several other young people helped us out. I guess you could say we were the managers of the project (putting up massive tree, decorating it, and setting up and decorating the whole dining room for shows and parties). We had a memorable, fun evening doing all this. Usually it takes quite a while to set up this tree, put up the lights, and then decorate the whole thing evenly. But, this year...for lack of a professional decorator, it was put up extra fast, with extra hands and creativity. :) It turned out beautiful. Sadly, I didn't take better photos. I just took this one at one of our Christmas events. (PS. Just so you know, the paper Christmas tree with all those plastic balls is NOT what I'm talking about...that was just a game. Ha!)
In the morning, Boobins had loads of fun with his new bath toys. He lied there checking each one out carefully.
Then the afternoon came and I started wrapping presents and writing Christmas notes for everyone here. :) There's something about giving presents to people. I love it! I enjoy watching people's faces light up and become encouraged with the simpliest gifts. It's not about the present itself, it's usually the thought that counts. :) So... this year Josh and I gave presents to 39 people, plus my family-6. WHEW!!! I feel good!!! :) You should have seen me in my room in the middle of the floor wrapping presents, while Brian sat next to me ripping up paper, grabbing ribbons, playing with presents, and all the rest. So, some of our wrapping was a bit wrinkled, and some toys broken (JK), but it was fun!
And...family photos.
