My baby became 6 months and his demand for food was increasing. Breast milk was just not enough and as a result he was biting me...thinking maybe that biting may get more milk out of me. ;)
It was time for new tastes and foods. In our home-town, we offer cerelac as baby first foods. I was wondering what to offer as in Japanese stores cerelac was not available. So I opted for rice meal called Okayu.
After some days, a friend of mine told me where we can get cerelac in Japan. Here is a link for people who want to buy it in Japan.
Cerelac in Japan
In other countries, you can also order on Amazon. Here is the link for you.
Surprise visit by my Japanese friend
Last Saturday we had a surprise visit. My Japanese friend with her 5 year old son came over. They had specially come to see Richie. Richie was in the bedroom and almost asleep. Hearing new sounds, he became alert and excited. He started shouting aaa,gaaa, baaa,yeee.. Maybe he wanted to meet his guests. When he saw them, he first studied them and then went to them. Her little son was happy to see Richie and they started playing together.
He had made nice origami animals and gifted them to Richie. Origami is an art of paper folding (折り紙, Japanese 'ori', to fold, and 'kami', paper). And my friend got a melon for us. It was a nice re-union after a long time.
It is an interesting story of how I met my friend. I had joined Japanese classes in our ward-office soon after I came to Japan. After finishing the course we had a farewell party. We wore kimono and danced the traditional Japanese Obon (summer festival) dance. Now at that party, people who were studying English too were present. That is where we exchanged email-ids and started writing to each other.
I used to write whatever little Japanese I knew with English and she did the other way round. She also was the one who inspired me to join Karate. Our friendship has grown stronger over the years and we are the best of friends now.
He had made nice origami animals and gifted them to Richie. Origami is an art of paper folding (折り紙, Japanese 'ori', to fold, and 'kami', paper). And my friend got a melon for us. It was a nice re-union after a long time.
It is an interesting story of how I met my friend. I had joined Japanese classes in our ward-office soon after I came to Japan. After finishing the course we had a farewell party. We wore kimono and danced the traditional Japanese Obon (summer festival) dance. Now at that party, people who were studying English too were present. That is where we exchanged email-ids and started writing to each other.
I used to write whatever little Japanese I knew with English and she did the other way round. She also was the one who inspired me to join Karate. Our friendship has grown stronger over the years and we are the best of friends now.
Saying his first words mum-mum-mum
It feels so good to be in control of my life again. My baby has learnt to play on his own, occasionally, needing assurance that mom is there to take care of him if there is anything he needs. In between his play, he looks at me, smiles and gets back to what he is doing.
Last weekend we took Richie to the shopping mall and he played a lot in the babies section. It took us almost 4 hours by the time we finished our shopping and got home. Richie was so hungry that he started saying "mum-mum-mum". That means “give me food”. I was surprise when I heard it the first time. Were my ears just ringing? But when he repeated it again I was sure. He uttered his first words and that too he said it when he needed it. Earlier,he had said ba-bu,ga,gi,aaa,uu, but it was just blabbering once in a while.
He has this habit of quietly listening when we teach him and then one fine day he exhibits what he has learnt. It was fantastic. He exactly completed 7 months last weekend. I guess he is early for his age and it feels great to see him achieving this new milestone.
Last weekend we took Richie to the shopping mall and he played a lot in the babies section. It took us almost 4 hours by the time we finished our shopping and got home. Richie was so hungry that he started saying "mum-mum-mum". That means “give me food”. I was surprise when I heard it the first time. Were my ears just ringing? But when he repeated it again I was sure. He uttered his first words and that too he said it when he needed it. Earlier,he had said ba-bu,ga,gi,aaa,uu, but it was just blabbering once in a while.
He has this habit of quietly listening when we teach him and then one fine day he exhibits what he has learnt. It was fantastic. He exactly completed 7 months last weekend. I guess he is early for his age and it feels great to see him achieving this new milestone.
Bring out the creativity in your child
I was reading Agatha Christie’s, ‘The moving finger’ novel. I liked these particular formulation from the book. Here is an excerpt: The protagonist says, “It is a theory of mine, that we owe most of our great inventions and most of the achievements of genius to idleness - either enforced or voluntary. The human mind prefers to be spoon-fed with the thoughts of others, but deprived of such nourishment it will, reluctantly, begin to think for itself – and such thinking, remember, is original thinking and may have valuable results.”
How very true!! There are so many cases of people doing that; to name a few:
Sir Isaac Newton discovered the “The Universal Law of Gravitation ” when he was sitting under an apple tree and saw an apple falling.”
Legend says that Archimedes discovered the principle of displacement while stepping into a full bath. He realized that the water that ran over equaled in volume the submerged part of his body. This is also known as the ‘Archimedes' principle’. Legend also says that Archimedes was so excited with his discovery that he hopped out of the bath, and rushed naked into the street yelling triumphantly, "Eureka!" "Eureka!" (Greek word for 'I have found it!).
It is also true for our babies as well. Leaving your baby to play on his/her own, helps them to create new games. At this age, their brains are developing and they are constantly thinking of new ways of entertainment. Let your baby have his/her own quiet moments through the day. You will be surprised at what creative stuff they can come up with, out of nothing.
Who knows, someday they will be the next Newton or Edison!!
How very true!! There are so many cases of people doing that; to name a few:
Sir Isaac Newton discovered the “The Universal Law of Gravitation ” when he was sitting under an apple tree and saw an apple falling.”
Legend says that Archimedes discovered the principle of displacement while stepping into a full bath. He realized that the water that ran over equaled in volume the submerged part of his body. This is also known as the ‘Archimedes' principle’. Legend also says that Archimedes was so excited with his discovery that he hopped out of the bath, and rushed naked into the street yelling triumphantly, "Eureka!" "Eureka!" (Greek word for 'I have found it!).
It is also true for our babies as well. Leaving your baby to play on his/her own, helps them to create new games. At this age, their brains are developing and they are constantly thinking of new ways of entertainment. Let your baby have his/her own quiet moments through the day. You will be surprised at what creative stuff they can come up with, out of nothing.
Who knows, someday they will be the next Newton or Edison!!
Nursing Mom's day off
It is very good for nursing mothers to have some time for recreation and relaxation. Bringing up a child can be sometimes taxing if you do not get time for yourself.
Richie is almost 7 months now. Last weekend, my hubby thought of giving me a nice break and said "I will take care of our baby. You can do whatever your heart feels like doing."
Pursuing my hobby of reading books, I went to the library to get my favourite books. I am a great fan of detective novels. My hubby once remarked, “If you were not an engineer, you would surely be a detective.” Rightly said!! I can spend days reading books, specially detective novels, forgetting about everything.
It was a very wonderful weekend. I felt refreshed and ready for the new week.
Richie is almost 7 months now. Last weekend, my hubby thought of giving me a nice break and said "I will take care of our baby. You can do whatever your heart feels like doing."
Pursuing my hobby of reading books, I went to the library to get my favourite books. I am a great fan of detective novels. My hubby once remarked, “If you were not an engineer, you would surely be a detective.” Rightly said!! I can spend days reading books, specially detective novels, forgetting about everything.
It was a very wonderful weekend. I felt refreshed and ready for the new week.
Baby Entertainment and Exercise
6 months after my baby’s birth, I have started becoming health conscious. I used to hardly take care of myself thinking that there is no time. I guess you too will agree with me. But my hubby believes “where there is a will, there is a way”. That statement made me think again. After making my baby’s feeding and sleep schedule, I started getting little more time for myself and I decided to have an exercise regime. What else can be better than having a healthy and sound body?
So I said to myself, “nothing doing, I am going to have a strict schedule for myself too”. Now having a baby and only you to take care of him does not allow you to go to a gym everyday. And Daycare can be little expensive for few hours. What can be done?
I realized my baby loves music and I love to sing and dance. And above all he loves when I dance. Sheer luck!! Hence I decided to kill 2 birds in one stone. Everyday, when he is awake, I put on the music, exercise and dance. There is one more benefit of this. My baby also tries to imitate me and shakes his hands, legs, starts cooing and enjoys himself.. And did I say only 2 birds? :)He is doing so much… music, singing (moving lips), dancing, exercise…lot of entertainment for him.. and for me.. I am on the way to having a slim body again. I am feeling so happy now.
So I said to myself, “nothing doing, I am going to have a strict schedule for myself too”. Now having a baby and only you to take care of him does not allow you to go to a gym everyday. And Daycare can be little expensive for few hours. What can be done?
I realized my baby loves music and I love to sing and dance. And above all he loves when I dance. Sheer luck!! Hence I decided to kill 2 birds in one stone. Everyday, when he is awake, I put on the music, exercise and dance. There is one more benefit of this. My baby also tries to imitate me and shakes his hands, legs, starts cooing and enjoys himself.. And did I say only 2 birds? :)He is doing so much… music, singing (moving lips), dancing, exercise…lot of entertainment for him.. and for me.. I am on the way to having a slim body again. I am feeling so happy now.
Books for babies – Fun time
These days Richie is having fun reading story books. He loves to hear when I read out to him and he even turns the pages. But what he does most is taste the book to check if it good. ;) Babies at this age have very sensitive taste buds and want to taste everything to find out whether they are good or bad.
His favourite are “The very hungry caterpillar”, “Goodnight moon”, “Five little monkeys jumping on the wall”, “My first 100 words” and “Spot the Dog - series”. Here are some books you can buy for your little ones and see the lovely smile on their face.They will surely enjoy them.
There is nothing like listening to stories before going to bed. The rhythmic sound soothes them and makes them fall asleep. It also helps to create a love for books, which will help them in the long run. I remember our grandmother telling us stories when we were small and I used to love it, even if, she was repeating the same story everyday. ;) It brings nostalgic moments back to me.
His favourite are “The very hungry caterpillar”, “Goodnight moon”, “Five little monkeys jumping on the wall”, “My first 100 words” and “Spot the Dog - series”. Here are some books you can buy for your little ones and see the lovely smile on their face.They will surely enjoy them.
There is nothing like listening to stories before going to bed. The rhythmic sound soothes them and makes them fall asleep. It also helps to create a love for books, which will help them in the long run. I remember our grandmother telling us stories when we were small and I used to love it, even if, she was repeating the same story everyday. ;) It brings nostalgic moments back to me.
Richie’s trip to the shopping mall
Today mom took me to the mall for shopping. In that mall, there are lots of things, right from food shopping, kids and baby clothes, toys and accessories, men’s clothes and accessories, women’s clothes, home accessories and electrical appliances, pet foods and clothes and the list goes on.. It also has a health and beauty spa, hair cutting saloon, eye testing clinic, pain relief massage parlour, and even English lessons for kids and adults. You name it and it is there. Mom and Dad can spend hours at the mall shopping and I enjoy sitting in my pram and having a tour of it. That is how I know about all of it. ;)
Now the best place in the mall is the games section where kids and adults play together. I love watching them as I cannot play much there. Here are some pictures for you. Mom says she will take me there when I become 1 year old. There is also an area adjacent to it with lots of toys, for babies to play. That is the area I like the most at the moment. Mom showed me this area many a times, but today I actually got to play. I felt a bit scared at first, finding myself amidst other babies and people. Later I got down and started playing without bothering about others. I had lot of fun trying out new musical toys, drums, alphabet blocks, cranes, books etc. It was very exciting. I am waiting to go there again.
6 month old baby feeding and sleep schedule
After all these days of on-demand feeding, I realized that Richie is still not getting enough. He was always hungry. I wondered, “what is going wrong? am I not feeding him properly?” I realized that though I was feeding him, it was all haphazard. He used to be not hungry enough and then refuse food. I used to think he had his feed and next within an hour he was hungry again.
My friend advised me to make a schedule. She said, once he is on a schedule, he will wake up for his feed at the stipulated time. Yes, it will seem difficult initially, but will be very beneficial to both of you in the long run. Some days in the schedule, and I am a happy mom. I even get time to blog as I am no longer worried whether he is getting enough. When it is time to eat, I feed him and he too is happy.
I am posting Richie’s schedule here. I thought, it might help someone who, like me is craving for time to do something for themselves. This schedule is just a guideline and you can change it to suit your baby.
8am – Wake up, drink breast milk/formula
8.30 - Play and Sleep (about 2 hours)
11am – Breast milk/Juice/Water and Play/Learn/Exercise
1pm – Lunch of rice and vegetable
1 – Sleep for 2-3 hours
3.30pm - Drink breast milk/Formula
4-6pm - Play, go for a walk in the park, drink water/juice
6.30pm – Light Snacks sweet potatoe, apple/banana puree, fruits yoghurt etc
7pm – Oil Massage and Bath
8pm – Catnap for 30 mins if the bath was too tiring;)
8.30pm – Dinner of rice porridge with fish/vegetables
11pm – Breast milk/formula
11.30pm – Sleep (+wakes up once or twice for feeds)
My friend advised me to make a schedule. She said, once he is on a schedule, he will wake up for his feed at the stipulated time. Yes, it will seem difficult initially, but will be very beneficial to both of you in the long run. Some days in the schedule, and I am a happy mom. I even get time to blog as I am no longer worried whether he is getting enough. When it is time to eat, I feed him and he too is happy.
I am posting Richie’s schedule here. I thought, it might help someone who, like me is craving for time to do something for themselves. This schedule is just a guideline and you can change it to suit your baby.
8am – Wake up, drink breast milk/formula
8.30 - Play and Sleep (about 2 hours)
11am – Breast milk/Juice/Water and Play/Learn/Exercise
1pm – Lunch of rice and vegetable
1 – Sleep for 2-3 hours
3.30pm - Drink breast milk/Formula
4-6pm - Play, go for a walk in the park, drink water/juice
6.30pm – Light Snacks sweet potatoe, apple/banana puree, fruits yoghurt etc
7pm – Oil Massage and Bath
8pm – Catnap for 30 mins if the bath was too tiring;)
8.30pm – Dinner of rice porridge with fish/vegetables
11pm – Breast milk/formula
11.30pm – Sleep (+wakes up once or twice for feeds)
Saw baby's first 2 teeth - 6 Months 15 Days
My baby is 6 months and 15 days to be precise. The other day when Richie was laughing, I saw two little pearls shining at me. Oh wow, he was showing off his new possession...2 white teeth were making their way through the gums of the lower jaw. He seemed excited.
Babies typically sprout their first white caps between the age of 4 to 7 months. But teething can start as early as 3 months or late as 12 months, so there is no need to worry.
Here comes the real test for me. Now that the teeth are scratching, I get more bites when I am breastfeeding him.. Ouuuuccccch..
Babies typically sprout their first white caps between the age of 4 to 7 months. But teething can start as early as 3 months or late as 12 months, so there is no need to worry.
Here comes the real test for me. Now that the teeth are scratching, I get more bites when I am breastfeeding him.. Ouuuuccccch..
Pregnancy and childbirth in Japan - What to expect
Pregnancy and child birth is said to be a life-changing experience for a women. Doing it in one’s own country is difficult enough and in a foreign land (for me here in Japan) where you do not even understand the language much, makes it much more difficult.
I decided to take up the challenge as I and my hubby are working here and wanted to be together during the delivery. Here are some guidelines of what to expect if you are having your baby here in Japan.
Once my pregnancy was confirmed, the doctor told us that we must register our pregnancy at the city office or nearest health center.The city office gave us a Maternal and Child health handbook (boshi techo), in which we will have to record the course of my pregnancy and the birth, prenatal classes record, as well as our baby's development and immunization records. This is a very important document and will serve as proof wherever baby development and benefits thereof are concerned. Along with the "boshi techo" is a packet containing local information, prenatal classes and immunization schedules. Also included are 10-12 coupons which will give you discount for health check-ups during the course of your pregnancy.
A prenatal visit to the doctor costs between 3,500 and 10,000 yen. Since we had the coupons it came out cheaper. We had ultra sound as a routine and was included in the fee. We also had HIV, blood sugar test, as well as Pap smear test. We had to bear the extra cost for these tests which was between 6,000 – 20,000 yen. Whoops, that seemed like a big expense for us. But for our baby, anything was fine.
The average cost for a normal delivery and a 5-7 day stay in the hospital with food included is between 350,000-850,000 yen, depending on whether you have taken a private or a shared room.
The city office gives around 350,000 to 380,000 yen as assistance for childbirth expenses as of January 2009. You need to apply for this aid at the city office with the boshi-techo and/or child-birth certificate, which may differ based on your locality. You will have to inquire at your city office for the exact procedure. You can decide to get the childbirth expenses amount in your account or directly pay at the hospital.
All the best for your pregnancy!!
more in the next blog...
I decided to take up the challenge as I and my hubby are working here and wanted to be together during the delivery. Here are some guidelines of what to expect if you are having your baby here in Japan.
Once my pregnancy was confirmed, the doctor told us that we must register our pregnancy at the city office or nearest health center.The city office gave us a Maternal and Child health handbook (boshi techo), in which we will have to record the course of my pregnancy and the birth, prenatal classes record, as well as our baby's development and immunization records. This is a very important document and will serve as proof wherever baby development and benefits thereof are concerned. Along with the "boshi techo" is a packet containing local information, prenatal classes and immunization schedules. Also included are 10-12 coupons which will give you discount for health check-ups during the course of your pregnancy.
A prenatal visit to the doctor costs between 3,500 and 10,000 yen. Since we had the coupons it came out cheaper. We had ultra sound as a routine and was included in the fee. We also had HIV, blood sugar test, as well as Pap smear test. We had to bear the extra cost for these tests which was between 6,000 – 20,000 yen. Whoops, that seemed like a big expense for us. But for our baby, anything was fine.
The average cost for a normal delivery and a 5-7 day stay in the hospital with food included is between 350,000-850,000 yen, depending on whether you have taken a private or a shared room.
The city office gives around 350,000 to 380,000 yen as assistance for childbirth expenses as of January 2009. You need to apply for this aid at the city office with the boshi-techo and/or child-birth certificate, which may differ based on your locality. You will have to inquire at your city office for the exact procedure. You can decide to get the childbirth expenses amount in your account or directly pay at the hospital.
All the best for your pregnancy!!
more in the next blog...
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