Words with B

Richie loves to say the words starting with B. He points to the ball and says "Ba". He chases the pigeons in the park and says "Baa" meaning bird. When we go out on the cycle, he shouts "Ba,ba,baaaaa" which means Bus.
When I am reading, he goes "Ba", which means book. When going to the nursery, he waves to dada and says Ba,ba. When he sees the yellow fruit which the monkeys eat, he says "Ba" meaning banana. When we ask him, what does the sheep say, and he goes "Baaaa,Baaaa"!!

Saying the letter O,T,P, I

Richie's latest in the series is saying the letters O, T , I and P. Where ever we go, whether it is shopping mall, tourist spot, TV etc, he recognises those letters and shouts out loud. :) He knows Pooh, peas, start with P. When he sees T he starts "grrrooooow , groooowwww" meaning T for tiger. He can also draw O and tries some straight lines to draw T and I.

Richie at 18 months - milestones

Wondering what Richie is upto these days. He is trying to enhance his skills by practicing it more and more everyday. Thatz the thing I like about kids. They never give up. We as adults tend to give up soon, if we feel we cannot do a thing. That is the best lesson I learnt from Richie. "Mama, don't give up, keep trying".
Here is Richie at 18 months.Maybe I am missing a few. Will add it up as I remember them.

• walks well and sometimes runs too　- Started at 15.5 months
• learnt to say No and yes.
• shows strong likes and dislikes
• going to japanese nursery school and learns a lot of new stuff everyday and japanese words.
• points to things in the alphabet chart when called out.
• recognises and says few letters in the alphabet chart.
• makes 2-3 words sentences (which we cannot understand ).
• talks to himself while playing.
• plays on his own.
• dumps an object in imitation, such as throwing garbage away
• does some abstract drawings.
  
• says dada, mama and looks at us while saying.
• tries to imitate the dog sound "waaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaah" and smiles.
• trying to eat with spoon and drink from cup
• laughs spontaneously if we start laughing.
• starts a conversation between 2 animals.
• tries to talk on the phone.
• can match a lot of shapes, triangle, heart, square, star etc.
• plays with push and pull toys
• likes to drive his car – groom, grooooooooom
• loves to shop, puts the things he likes in the basket.
• can build towers out of blocks and makes trains.
• loves to play pee-ka-boo and so-big
• imitates action songs.
• solves puzzles.
  
• loves to listen to story books.
• co-operates while dressing up by putting his hands in the t-shirt.

Wearing his socks and shoes

Wondering whether Richie is already wearing his socks and shoes!! Yes, he does try and I help him a little. He calls shoes "shees". If dada or I are wearing shoes, he will run to get his too. He knows that it is time for an outing when we wear it.

Today being a Saturday, we decided to go to the park. Richie was very excited and dressed up in no time. He does not like to waste any more time at home. "Straight to the park mama", he says. And after reaching the park, you know what kids do. They hardly remember that their parents are around. They are happy playing around.

Candle meditation

From the time Richie was 4-5 months old, we used to lit candles and pray. He used to like it and become happy. Now when we say the word candle, he takes the candle stand and indicates that he wants to light candles. You have to see the look in his eyes when he sees the bright candles. He sits with us, hands folded and all and prays. After the prayers are over, he knows what needs to be done.. Phewwwwwwwww and the candles are blown off.

Playing at the fountain

It is summer time in Japan and the temperatures are soaring. I guess many parts in the world are experiencing hot summer this year. The heat is unbearable, though sometimes, the rain gods do shower their praise.

Richie has started pool in his nursery and we heard from the teacher that he enjoys playing in the water. Now in a nearby park, we have a fountain where children have fun. Richie used to love seeing the fountain when he was small.

Last Saturday we thought of taking Richie to play out there. So decked up in his swimwear, Richie was all set to play. He got his cups and was filling water and bathing himself. He had fun and was not ready to come back, even when we threatened to live him and go. ;)We had a hard time convincing him. Even when we were changing his wet clothes, he ran towards the fountain again, half naked and dada had to chase him. he he he.. kids are like that.

Baking my first cake

Richie makes a lot of fuss when it comes to eating food. So I am always on the lookout for new recipes or learning to prepare some new food stuff. Recently, I have started making Japanese style miso soup and vegetables.

My latest experiment was to bake a homemade cake. The cakes which we buy are sometimes too sweet and Richie tastes little and says a BIG NO. It was Sunday and a good day for starting new stuff. I had all the ingredients ready and off I went to the internet to search for a recipe for a sponge cake. Having found one, which suits my needs I got the mixture ready. Richie was eager to see what Mama was doing and I explained to him just like the TV shows. :) He was waiting for the cake to be done.
In the evening, I took some heart shape cutters and cut off lovely heart shaped cake pieces for him which he ate with relish.

Lazying in bed

Today is a Sunday. And what do we usually do on a Sunday? Get up late? or go for mass? or just do nothing.

For the past one and half year, the moment I was awake in the morning, I used to get out of bed quickly and used to start my daily chores. The first thing being getting the milk ready for baby (as he would cry/scream loudly) as he would wake my husband up who loves to enjoy his lovely weekend sleep after having late nights. In all, for a mom, no weekends, no Sundays.

But today was different. I woke up and saw my little boy was awake too. My hubby was up too... hubby wakes up before me these days. Richie was in a good mood, thrilled that mom was around. I hugged him and we played in bed, with me feeling lazy to move even an inch. Richie too did not scream to have his morning milk. He was happy just having mom for company. I certainly felt relaxed and rejuvenated after a good relaxing time.

Moon moon shine away

Yesterday when we were coming back home from the nursery, Richie noticed the moon. It was shining brightly and we could see it all along the way. I jokingly said to Richie, "Richie, look, the moon is following us". He was happy having the moon for company.

We reached home and I was cooking. Richie came to me to see what was cooking. He inspects my cooking many a times to know what is in store for him.;) Now the balcony is adjacent to the kitchen door and you can see the highway below. Richie loves to stand at the door and see the vehicles passing by and the traffic signal changing. When he looked out he said "Moon". When I saw in his direction, yes indeed, the moon was smiling back at him. Richie indicated with his hand that he wants to go out. We went in the balcony and Richie was thrilled to see that the moon visits our home too. Seeing the moon, I was inspired too and I made my own song to make the day memorable for Richie. Here is the song,

Moon moon shine away,
in the sky so dark and grey.
We are children of today(new generation),
Moon moon shine away.

Interaction with teachers - Richie at the Nursery

Richie has adapted to the nursery well and has loads of fun. He also loves his teacher which we can see when he interacts with them.

There is this incident which happened some days back and is still fresh in my mind.I picked up Richie from the nursery and was putting him in his stroller. He was not ready to sit in the stroller and was crying loudly. Usually he is well behaved and has no problems whatsoever.　Just then his class teacher was also leaving for home. We said hello and she asked me any problems. When she understood, she said to Richie in Japanese, "Richie-kun suwatte.." meaning, "Richie sit down". Without another thought Richie sat in the stroller. Her words were like magic.

The teacher was also going in the same direction so we walked together. When it was time to bid bye-bye, Richie started crying again. I literally had to drag him home that day. He came home, ate and slept. I realised Richie was too tired that day. He could throw tantrums with mom but not when his teachers were around. He did not want to spoil his reputation. :)

New friends - Richie at the Nursery

When Richie reaches his classroom, all his friends gather round him and they shout "yeh,yeh" loudly, moving their hands in the air. All his classmates are Japanese, with the exception of him, but where does it bother the kids? They are happy to have a friend. He adores them and they too in turn do the same.

Sensei (means teacher in Japanese) says that they play together, but it seems sometimes Richie shouts at them if he likes some toys and someone tries to take it away. Possessive, isn't he?

First Day First Show - Richie at the nursery

I am creating a category called "Richie's nursery adventures". Here we will be posting what all Richie does at the nursery. I guess, one day when he grows up, he will read these posts and feel good that he had been doing so many things when he was small.

Richie's first day at nursery started on the 1st February 2010 when I joined back work. It was a small private nursery, but we paying more than double the fees and that too without food. We could not get the regular government nurseries as they were all full to the capacity. The government nurseries in Japan have good facilities, but new admissions start only in April. It meant that we had to wait for 2 more months. It seemed like a long time.

Richie was very tired on the first day of his nursery. Away from mama, among new people, he cried bitterly. He didn't have his food properly. And being my first day away from him, I couldn't bear to see him separated from me.

But all is well that ends well. When I came back, Richie came to me crying expressing "Mama, where were you for such a long time?". We hugged and came home and had a lot of loving time together.

I love painting

We have bought Richie some "magic" coloring books. They are special in a way that when you use a paintbrush dipped in water, the color shows automatically i.e it already has built-in colors. Some days back, we thought it is time that we can introduce Richie to new ways of drawing/painting. He already scribbles using his crayons. We first demonstrated how to dip the brush in water and paint on the book. Seeing the colors, Richie got excited and wanted to do it himself. We gave him the paintbrush and he set out to show his creativity. In no time, he was painting the horse, cow, dog, cat and trying to imitate their sounds.

Saying prayers before meal

We usually have our dinner together with Richie sitting in his high chair. Sometimes, Richie feels too hungry so we feed earlier. We have cultivated a habit of saying our prayers before and after meals. Richie has observed us and he too folds his hands when we start the prayers (mind you, without we telling him).

The other day, he had finished his food and was watching TV. We started our prayers and guess what Richie did. He left the TV and came to us and folded his hands and went back after the prayers were over.

Celebrating Richie's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Richie's 1st birthday with pomp. We had a lot of activities for him:
-Party Celebration at home
-Photo session at Alice studio
-Shinagawa Aquarium trip
- Richie enjoyed the dolphin and seal show. Also the walk under the ocean floor with big fishes going above you.
-bought a special gold plated coin marking the date of his first birthday.

Using the tissue with style

Some days back, we had gone shopping in the mall and got a bit late. It was dinner time so we thought of eating at one of the restaurants in the food court. We ordered "unagi no kaba-yaki" (steaming rice with grilled eel+sweet sauce on top of it). Unagi(eel) is a delicacy eaten in Japan specially in summers to survive the hot and humid summers. It is said to be highly nutritious with vitamin A, B1, B2, D and E. Japanese people have special foods based for different seasons. Like Sanma fish (Pacific saury) represents autumn in Japanese cuisine. Sanma is most commonly served salted and grilled. Will give some more information about Japan in the next post.

Now our dear Richie eats Japanese food at the nursery everyday. He has started liking it, so we all enjoy eating out together whenever we can. When the food was brought, Richie was already sitting on his baby chair ready to eat. We started feeding him with the chopsticks. While eating, Richie realized his lips were feeling a bit sticky. What should he do.... He dexterously took the tissue from the table and put it to his lips and wiped in style and kept it back on the table without crumpling it. Hmmm.. Isn't that a bit too much for a 16 month year old?

Good habits die hard

Kids start learning and imitating whatever they see. They will minutely observe you and then start doing it themselves. We might not even realize that we have been doing it. One fine day, you suddenly notice yourself and say, yeah we saw our girl doing it, are we imitating her?

Here is an incident of what Richie did when he was 15.5 months old. While we were having lunch one day, Richie started coughing. What we saw was wonderful!! While coughing he held his hand to his mouth. We were quite amazed. When he looked at us, he smiled. We had not taught him that explicitly. But he had seen us doing it. Guess, good habits really die hard.. We can see it in our children and we may see it for generations to come.

Richie and Dada's Day

It was Richie and dada's day. It was a Sunday. I had a project release, hence I had to be office. Richie hasn't stayed much without me at home for a long interval of time. I had come back home in 2 hours or so even when I used to run errands. Hence I was a bit concerned how the things will be.

But to tell you the truth, both the guys had a gala time. Dad told me that they had a man-to-man talk, with Richie sitting on the table and dad on his chair with their eyes meeting each other. They also played a lot with flash-cards with dada hiding them and Richie retrieving them when dada called out the name.

When I cam back from office, Richie came running to the door and gave me a big warm hug and lots of kisses. Then we had a nice chat and played together. Actually he was not ready to leave me and sat hugging me. Definitely he missed me, but he did not trouble dada by crying and asking for me. Dada said he behaved well and was a happy boy. He listened to whatever dad was telling him. I am so proud of my little boy.
I love you my boy!!

Drinking from the cup

Richie started drinking milk from the cup since May 2010. He was 15.5 months old then. If he sees us drinking water or juice from the glass, he immediately points and indicates that he too wants the same.

As kids always do, initially he used to spill all over (even with a bib) and there was extra trouble of changing and washing his clothes. Actually I guess they love to mess things a lil. Must be thinking, Mama should be given trouble sometimes.. ;)Now guess what he does.... Even if we try to help him, he drives us away. He has become jouzu (japanese word for skilled) now and can manage easily.

Chasing Birdie

For Richie, weekends means park-time. Since we are both working now and Richie is in nursery, we make it a point to go to the park over weekends. He eagerly waits to go out with us. Specially, if dada starts dressing up, he gets excited and tries to put his shoes on. He will also keep an eye on dada to see whether he is still there or left without him. One day, while he was watching TV after dressing up (to go to the park),he suddenly realised dada is not around. He went searching for dada and when he found him, he heaved a sigh of relief haaaaaaaa.. literally he did that.. and we could not help laughing.

Now that he has started walking, he is having more fun running around. His favorite past-time is chasing birdies around, specially the pigeons who search for food on the ground and fly away when someone approaches them.

He also loves to sit on the Panda and go on the slide in the form of an elephant. Slide is exciting as the elephant takes him in and lets him out through his long nose. These days he sits on the swing too independently and tries to swing on his own by moving forward and backward.

Shopping at 7-Eleven for obento.

It was a weekend. We had taken Richie for his HIB vaccination to the clinic. On our way back, we thought of dropping at the 7-eleven convenience store. In Japan you will find a lot of convenience stores like Am-pm, 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Sankus, 3F etc at every nook and corner of the place. They are really convenient when you need to fetch yourself a sandwich or an ice-cream and you don't have much time at hand. In short the convenience stores are really convenient.

At the store, Richie noticed me shopping and thought of giving me a helping hand. Maybe he wanted to buy something for himself. ;) He picked up a big box of Obento(lunch box, a lil heavy for him). I told him to put it in the basket and he did so. Then he went on a lookout for more. He found something nice and at his arms reach. We checked out and it was noodles which he likes a lot,so we got it for him. Yes, he is already showing his preference for things. Then he also took cup of instant Miso soup(his favorite) and dropped it in his shopping basket. As he had observed us doing, you got to take the basket to the counter to bill the items. He lifted the basket with all his might and was trotting to the counter balancing himself.. At one point he lost balance and fell head over heels. The basket was on top of him. But luckily no harm was done and he was back to his normal self after expressing himself with sobs. Yes, actually children need to be distracted and they forget all about the bad incident which had happened. What happened next was interesting. He didn't stop at that. He ushered us to help him and then paid the bill too by taking money from dada.

Trip to Aqua City - Odaiba, Japan

It was a while since we last went out for a short trip. Last one was for Richie's birthday. So without thinking twice, we all set out to aqua city in Odaiba-Tokyo. Aqua City is a gourment and shopping mall. There are also some lovely attractions close to it. The main attractions are:
- Odaiba Kaihin Koen (Odaiba Seaside Park)- a small, but beautiful man-made beach.
- the miniature version of the Statue of Liberty.
- the Rainbow Bridge.
They specially look beautiful in the evening when it is lighted up.


In aqua city, there is also a kid's shopping place called ToysRus. They keep various toys for kids to try out. Richie was excited seeing the new place and all the toys. He could not stop himself from having a feel of them. Richie noticed some kids pushing the push-cars and walking. As Richie is practicing walking himself, he also wanted one for himself. The moment he got one, there was no stopping him. He dashed along the walls, but soon learnt to take the reverse. He was happily cruising around with me or his dada keeping a check on him.

It was already 3pm in the afternoon, and Richie was well past his sleeping time, so we thought we should leave. But Richie was not ready to listen. He wanted more of it. We literally had to drag him out by distracting him.

You can view more information about aqua city here.

Richie matching shapes on Anpanman ball

Richie is 16 months old now. He has become very active and interactive too. He has an Anpanman (Japanese cartoon) ball having various shapes cut out on it. It has dual purpose. He can play it like a ball by rolling it or match the shapes with different colors.He started to match the shapes one-by-one. Some seemed pretty easy like circle,ellipse, but some others were a little difficult at first. Though we taught him a few first, he managed matching the rest himself with ease.

First step to independence

For people who worry that their child is a slow walker, do not panic. Every child grows differently. Richie started sitting down on his own at 8.5 months old. He started cruising holding onto furniture when he was 10.5 months old somewhere in November 2009.

Now we were waiting for his next major milestone. When will he walk on his own? Most babies start walking by their first birthday (and some start walking as late as 18 months). Will he, or will he not start walking by his first birthday? We were anxiously waiting... Whatever anxiousness we had, was not going to effect Richie. He was happy crawling and cruising holding onto furniture. Came January, and Richie celebrated his first birthday. But he was happy finding his way out by crawling.

He joined nursery in February and took time to adjust to his new environment. He fell sick for a month or so with fever making frequent visits and a bout of rota-virus took a toll on him. He kind of lost his strength.

But he bounced back by eating ravenously as the medicines were making him hungry.He joined another nursery in April which had more children. Seeing the older children, he started imitating them and learning from them. He started showing signs of walking. He would want to hold our hands and show him around. He would stand and balance himself and try to take 1 step but fall down. But he would keep trying.

His practice bore fruits soon and today he took his first step. His first step towards independence. He did not stop there. He went ichi,ni,san,shi,go,roku,nana (in japanese which means one,two,three,four,five,six,seven). Yes, I was waiting for this day and it happened right in front of my eyes.

Pointing to body parts - 16 months

Sometimes kids experience a growth spurt and suddenly they will be doing so many new things all at one time. But it is not that they learnt it at one shot. When they see or are taught, they observe and learn and silently practice and once they are ready, they show it to the world.

Richie used to watch these videos in which kids point to different body parts. He would sit and admire them. After some days we noticed him doing it himself when the command was said, "Touch your head, show your tongue". We also starting playing with him pointing to his favourite pooh. He used to enjoy the play. When we say "where is dada's head?" He goes to dada and touches his head. Now he can point to almost all the body parts taught to him. He is 16 months old and loves to explore new things.

Standing without support and admiring himself- 15 months old

Today Richie stood from the sitting position without holding onto support. He touched the ground and stood on his feet. Seeing his achievement, he started smiling and clapping for himself. He he he. Isn't that cute? He loves to admire and reward himself on his accomplishments.

He then squatted and retrieved a toy from the ground and stood again. He was practicing it over and over again. And like I said earlier, it is difficult to put him to sleep when he is trying to achieve a new milestone. That is the height of practice.

It is time for new vocabulary

Richie is gaining his strength back after some tough days. He was down with gastrointestinal problems and high fever for 5 days continuously. But I am happy he is trying his best to be back to his normal health. He feels hungry most of the time and demands for food by crying loudly.
Nowadays, he goes "koati-koati, bu-bu for aeroplanes, ba-ba for sheep, hey dada (calling out to dada),pa-pa, wa-wa for water" etc.

Dancing his heart out

Richie loves music and he shows liking for pop,jazz,country and Japanese songs too. I have also seen his taste varying over the months gone by. The songs which he did not like some months back becomes dear to him. So there is no hard and fast rule. The more we expose him to music the more choice he has.
Richie also loves to dance his heart out. Earlier (when Richie was 9 months old), he used to sit and bounce up and down while listening to music. Nowadays he has changed his style. He sways sideways and also moves his feet. He also waves his hands and takes them above his head and down. The best part is, he dances to the rhythm and only for certain parts of the song which he likes. Current favorites are "Backyardigans music, Disney's 'hot dog, hot dog diggety dog',Que sera, Kenny Rogers songs to name a few.

Richie played a lot today

Richie seemed all happy today and was playing a lot. He started a new game. The game was about collecting all the multicolored small balls in one place. Then he would take 2 balls in his hands and crawl in "Commando" position i.e on his elbows and meticulously keep them on the chair, so that they don't slip down. He didn't stop till he finished placing all the balls on the chair. Inspite of all the care, some balls would give him a slip. But Richie was quick to get them back, scolding them for their bad behaviour. Thinking that he may be tired, Richie's dada tried to help him. But what do you think Richie did? He didn't accept the balls and threw them at the place from where it came from. Richie's dada exclaimed "He has his his own rules. We better not mess around.".;)

Acquiring new skills -13.5 months old

Richie is walking holding onto furniture. He cruises everywhere and specially checks out things on the dining table. When it is time for dinner (he senses it somehow), he comes near his high chair and indicates that he wants to sit on it. When we tell him, go and get your cushion, he crawls and gets the cushion with dada's help.

Recently he has acquired a new skill. His dada taught him to get down from the bed. He started getting down from the bed all by himself, after a little practice. Climbing was a little difficult, but he mastered it fast.

When we tell him "it is bedtime Richie" and try switching off the lights, he leaves his toys behind and comes running (rather crawling thud,thud thud) and sleeps on his pillow.

Richie feeding mama and dada

Richie is 13.5 months old. These days we are experiencing a lot of give and take. He uses the spoon and feeds dada and me. He feeds us biscuit and bread too with his tiny little hands. While feeding he goes "haap, haaap, haap", which means "open your mouth, open your mouth". If we are not around, he feeds pooh and pooh becomes happy and smiles.;)

Genki Family

The day I joined back office was an eventful day.

I was home for a year taking care of Richie and relaxing. The day finally dawned to join back work. I was happy, but at the same time apprehensive about how Richie will cope up with a whole day at the nursery, will he eat or not? how will the new work and my new office colleagues be etc. etc.

Dada dropped Richie to the nursery. Richie already had few practice sessions of going to the nursery before I joined office. So he kind of knew what it was, but not fully ready for it.

All these days the weather was good, in spite of it being winter, but that day, the temperature suddenly dropped in the afternoon and the weather forecast said that it was going to snow in the evening. Also it started raining and it was chilly and to top it all I had not worn suitable clothes when I left for office in the morning. The result was I caught a cold, and in a day or two my hubby and Richie too.

Whole 2 weeks we 3 suffered from terrible cold. I usually do not visit doctor for cold, but this case was different. Richie was down with fever almost every week. He would get better and after 2-3 days of tiredness at the nursery, he will fall sick again. I decided, nothing doing. I have to do something about it.

I knew how to cure myself. If I am happy (no stress), I know I can get well soon. I started the chant "Genki Family" which means Healthy family. I had heard, when you think positive thoughts, your mind becomes relaxed and relaxed mind helps to recover faster by healing your body.

Days followed and our health started improving. The weather was still cold but we were well equipped for it, mentally and physically.

Genki Family did work wonders for us and here I am hale and hearty, back to writing my blogs.

Time Management of a working mother

1 year of holidays made me a little relaxed as I laid back and enjoyed my time with my baby. Time really flew and it was time to join back work. I was apprehensive and wondering how will I manage home, baby and work.

I made a conscious effort and have made a schedule for myself. My working hours are reduced in order to match Richie's nursery timings. In the mornings, I pack Richie's stuff for the nursery, have breakfast and run for work. My hubby has volunteered to drop Richie to the nursery,so that gives me some breathing space.

In the evenings, I pick him up and set for home. As soon as he is home, he loves to listen to music and play with his toys, while I prepare his favourite dishes. Sometimes he peeks in to see whatz cooking and indicates if he is hungry by saying "mam,mam". We play together, read books, dance and sing songs. Then we have a hot water bath, eat and wind up for the evening.

Life has become a bit hectic after joining work. Nevertheless I am enjoying it too.

Richie and his interest in music

Richie has a very good sense of music. He has his likes and dislikes, which keep changing often. Looks like he's so hungry for music that he wants new stuff all the time, and he keeps us on our toes to find some real good music of his liking.

He has demonstrated to us his ear for music in so many different ways, many of which have already been documented by Riya earlier on this blog:

• Relaxing with music: While still in the womb
• Identifying music that is not sweet: When just a few weeks of age
• Trying to sing on his own: When just about 9 months of age
• Showing appreciation by clapping: When less than 10 months of age

And here's a new one that's on a roll since last November - Richie even realizes when a song is about to come to an end, a few seconds before it actually does, and expresses concern about it by going, "Huh'? Huh!?... Huh'? Huh!?". Now I find that really interesting. It makes me wonder how he can recognize that the song is coming to an end before it actually does. Since Jan this year, while continuing to be simultaneously vocal about his concern, he has also started shaking both his hands too to express the ending of a song.

At first one would think that he has started remembering the songs that we have been playing for him for a long time and therefore knows just when a song is coming to an end. But hey, he's able to judge that even for songs that he is listening for the first time. Now that's amazing, isn't it?

Richie's dad is back!

Hello everyone, it's Richie's dad making an appearance again after having been in hibernation for a couple of months. This time I'm coming with a vengeance, LOL!, and hoping to contribute to our blog more often. After all, I have to make efforts towards getting the title of this blog changed to somehow include 'fatherhood' as well so that all the dads out there know that there's something in here for them too :-) No clue? Check out my first post.

Before I say anything further, I'd like to appreciate the effort that Riya has been putting in to keep this blog alive. Good going, Riya!

Okay! Now there are so many stories to share... Richie gives us so many reasons to be happy about and yet more reasons to keep us always on our toes. I'd be the happiest to be able to post all of those special instances in this blog, and am desperately hoping to be able to make the time to record those special moments.

To begin with, I have a series of posts that I would like to make about Richie and his interest in music. These are instances that I wanted to write about back in December but got swept under the carpet as we got into the preparations for the year-end vacation. Well, I'm back, so keep in touch and keep reading all the interesting things that we have to share about Richie.

Work Life again

After a 1 year hiatus, I am back to work. It is going to be a nice challenge handling home, baby and work. Not that I am the first one to walk the road, but it is a different challenge for every individual. Richie has just started going to nursery school and he is adjusting himself very well, though he cried a couple of times seeing his mama go.. after all mama was in his vicinity all the time for the past 1 year. How could he bear the separation? And as I said earlier it was a reciprocal feeling. I felt like a part of me was taken away from me.

On the other hand, it feels good to be back at work. It is refreshing and gives a new dimension to life. When I come back home, I am all for Richie. We share stories and play a lot. We have so many new adventures to tell each other.It feels great.

Time to wear a helmet

Richie is becoming stronger day by day. He throws his toys around, just for fun. And sometimes when he is angry he hurls them at us. And if this is not enough, Richie has a habit of sleeping on our bed and many a times he turns and his head lands on ours. Booom!! Oooouuccch!! It does hurt. I wonder how much it must be paining Richie. He scratches his head indicating the part of the head which is paining. Seeing all this, my hubby once jokingly said to me "It is time to wear a helmet".

1 Year old milestones - Richie's achievements

Richie completed 1 year a few days back. A very hearty congratulations to you Richie on reaching a major milestone in your life.

Here are some of the things Richie is doing:

• scribbles on his magic board, does some abstract drawings. :)
• walks efficiently holding onto furniture
• blabbers a lot.
• says da-da-da and ma-ma-ma and looks at us while saying.
• understands commands like "Go and get the car, where is the pencil?".
• crawls rapidly like a jumping horse "thud thud thud".
• tries to imitate the cartoon sounds like "waaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaah" and smiles.
• has become dextrous with the pincer grasp, picks up tiny things from the floor and puts them in his mouth.
• can match few shapes .
• eats finger foods and drinks from the sipper cup by himself , helps me to relax a bit ;)
• Standing and balancing himself for few seconds.
• plays with push and pull toys
• likes to drive his car – groom, grooooooooom
• touches things in department stores (when sitting his baby car) and tries to throw them down. ;)
• co-operates while dressing up by putting his hands in the t-shirt.
• tries to feed himself with the spoon
• can build towers out of blocks.
• loves to play pee-ka-boo and so-big
• loves to listen to “the very hungry caterpillar“ and hello kitty adventures.
• laughs spontaneously if we start laughing.
• shows stranger anxiety and affection.
• loves the outdoors.
• loves birds and animals, tries to imitate bow-wow.
• opens books and reads through.
• starts a conversation between 2 animals.
• tries to talk on the phone.
  

Richie joins nursery in Japan

Today was Richie's first day at the nursery. He completed 1 year just a few days back. And there he was, big boy, going to pre-school. I had to pack his bag with the necessary clothes and food items. Since it was the first time, it took a little while to arrange all his items. I was excited and looking forward to his days at the new place. My son was going to pre-school and going to be independent. Which mother won't feel proud? At the same time I was apprehensive thinking about how he will cope up with the separation. Last whole year, I was always there with him and he would be happy. But suddenly he will be among new people and above all people who speak a different language. But for kids, language doesn't matter. I was just hoping he will have a good time.

He was sleeping in the stroller on his way to the nursery. When we reached there he opened his eyes a little. The Sensei took him and asked me to carry on with my chores. It happened so fast that I didn't have much time to react. I felt emptiness inside me. Yeah, more than him, it was I who was sad of the separation. I felt like crying. But I knew I had to be strong. Because I have realised, whatever mood I am in, it effects him, distance doesn't matter. I tried to become cheerful and carry on with my chores.

In the evening, when I went to pick him up, he shouted with joy with tears in his eyes, "Mama, you left me and went. I am angry with you". "My sweetheart", I just hugged him. The Sensei told me he cried a little, and wanted someone to hold him. He din't eat much. My heart went out to him. My baby, I am so sorry. But you know what "You will soon love the new place and will want to go there again and again. You will become a strong individual too".

When we came home, we ate and played a lot. He seemed tired and after a warm bath, he slept away to glory.

Richie to mom's rescue, saves mom from the lion

It was mid-afternoon. Richie and dada were playing in the room. Dada took Richie's animal shape toys and started telling him jungle stories. The Lion says "I am the king of the jungle, the mighty one. I will eat you up". From the stories, Richie has gathered that the lion is strong and dangerous and all animals are afraid of him.

I was in the room arranging Richie's toys a little far from where they sat. Suddenly dada threw the lion on me. I shouted as if the lion is eating me up. Seeing this instead of laughing, Richie was concerned and he left dada and came crawling to me as fast as he could. He came and picked up the lion and hurled it on the floor, not once, but many times. It meant "gonna eat my mama, I will beat you up". All this happened so fast that I and dada were dumbfounded by his reaction.

First of all he understood mama was in danger. He reacted fast and reached near me whatever way possible. He even had the guts to fight the mighty lion and save his dear mama too.:)

Happy Birthday Richie!!

Its time for celebration. Richie has reached a new milestone. He has completed 1 year of his journey.

Congratulations Richie!!

Wish you a very very Happy Birthday!!

May you always have abundance of everything good in your life.

11.5 months old baby - trip to hometown

We had taken Richie to our hometown when he was 12 weeks old. He could not understand much that time but he was happy to get all the attention. Specially his 4 cousins who would sing nursery rhymes and play with you. He was cooing and making cute little sounds. He would talk to the poster of babies on the wall and smile at everyone.

This trip was different. He was aware of the surroundings and would react differently to different people. The first few days, Richie was observing everyone. He would not allow anybody near him and would coming running to me or his dada. He took a little while to adjust himself to the new place. After a week or so, he started playing with his cousins and was happy to be in the company of kids. He started interacting with the elders in the house too. After some days he was so comfortable that he started staying with mom while we were running errands. When we came back home he would shout with joy and come running (crawling fast) to the door.