Our three and a half month-old son, Rikuto, went for his BCG jab today and cried louder than he ever has. When he got home though, he found one of his favorite toys, the Pooh Carousel, recharged with new batteries. He went crazy trying to grasp the dangling Pooh, and had more luck off-camera, but you can still see how much Rikuto loves his flying Pooh.
If you can’t see the video, watch it here on YouTube.
Maybe it’s just because I’m his dad, but Rikuto is getting more adorable each day. Take a look at these photos of him on his front. He used to cry after just a few seconds on his belly, but now he seems to enjoy it.
After looking at the last picture I posted of Rikuto, my Net Buddy was saying how quickly Rikuto is growing. Very true. Time is flying and it it won’t be long before he’s doing what one-year-old Prince Hisahito is now capable of.
I haven’t managed to snap a picture of Rikuto smiling yet, but I’ll keep trying. He’s got the best smile.
On a rather bizarre note, I came across this article by a guy in Japan called Nick, from England, who married a Japanese girl and had a baby boy in 2007. At first I thought it was something I had written myself, but no, it wasn’t me!
A few days ago, Rikuto met all the women on his mum’s side of the family, including his great grandmother who he saw for the first time. Here are the happy relatives:
I’m starting to agree that Riku looks incredibly like his dad, so I wonder what his relatives think when they see this handsome, European-looking baby? 
At three months old, Rikuto’s neck is getting stronger and stronger. His head still wobbles occasionally, but now I can put him on my chest while I lay back on the sofa, and watch him move his head around like a tortoise.
Since I’m just posting a photo, Rikuto would like to take this opportunity to say a big hello to his granny, grandad, and uncle Mark in the U.K. He hasn’t met them yet, but they are following his progress via this blog, and are undoubtedly his biggest fans!
I was aware of it during my childhood, but as I got older less people mentioned it. Generally, in the U.K, people don’t run around pointing out how big your nose is. “Crikey! Your nose is huge!” is something I hadn’t heard since I was a kid. That was until I came to Japan, a country full of small nosed people who apparently think a big nose makes one more distinguished. Maybe so, but it still doesn’t feel right hearing people tell me how large my nose is… almost everyday!
I actually consider myself lucky because my brother’s nose makes mine look quite ordinary, but I’m not going to embarrass him by posting a photo here. Instead, I’m going to embarrass my son, Rikuto, by posting a picture of his nose. Before I do so, I want to lighten the mood with some of my favorite “big nose” jokes:
So, the big question is, does Rikuto have a nose that will make his father proud? Judge for yourself…
Our son Rikuto, at nearly three months old, is amazing at staring contests. I’m not sure he realizes he has eyelids yet, or perhaps he’s just fascinated by the funny-looking people he says each day, i.e. his mum and I. Either way, this is a great picture of him staring down the barrel of his bottle. I’ve added a caption below, but would love to hear one of your own!
“What’s happening to me?” cries Rikuto as he swells up into a giant blueberry.
A few weeks ago I talked about children’s bedtime stories, and then later said that a baby approaching three months old has very acute hearing and if you read to him everyday, he’ll become familiar with the rhythm and intonation of your language.
This week, I started reading the first Harry Potter book to Rikuto. Of course, he’s not going to understand it, but it’s an opportunity to immerse him in the sound and melody of English. Our first session was great. Rikuto got really excited and kept smiling, making funny noises and kicking his feet. It was definitely a sight I wanted to video and show you so I asked Mami to record our second session the next night. Here’s a video of what happened…
If you can’t see the video, you can watch it here on YouTube.
Rikuto is still a long way off speaking yet, but that doesn’t stop him trying to communicate. In this video, he gets quite vocal on a number of important issues. I don’t know what he’s trying to say, but it’s fun imagining. Maybe he’s giving his thoughts on Japan’s new prime minister, or perhaps he’s surprised at the fall of the U.S dollar! At the end of the video, I’m pretty sure he is impersonating Britney Spears, asking us to forgive him for his latest release!
If you can’t view the video, you can see it here on YouTube.com.
The other day Rikuto turned 2-months old, and I posted about some of the things we can expect from him this month. One of those things is the realization that he has his own hands. With that in mind, and considering how these videos of the baby seem to be pretty popular with my family in England, here’s another one of little Ricky called “Is That My Hand?”
If you can’t view the video, see it here on YouTube.com.
Friends, family, and first-time visitors. After blogging about my wife’s pregnancy for much of the last year, our son, Rikuto, was finally born at 9:25am on Sunday, July 22nd 2007, at the prefectural hospital, Gifuken Sougou Iryou Center.
I rushed Mami to the maternity clinic at 5:30 in the morning, and it wasn’t long before the doctor realized that her unusually high blood pressure and still too-narrow “escape route” would require a trip in an ambulance to the hospital for a cesarean birth.
During the ride however, Rikuto’s means of entry into the big welcoming world opened up and he was born in the usual manner while I waited outside – as per my wife’s orders!
Mami suffered some injuries which are probably too embarrassing to describe here, but she is recovering well and will remain in the hospital with Rikuto for a week.
While Mami is sure Riku looks like me, I tend to think he looks more like his mum, but he’s adorable either way. Enjoy the pictures and subscribe for updates!
If you can’t view the photos, you can see the original pictures at Flickr, here.
Today was the first day I was able to join Mami at the maternity clinic. Usually when she goes, I’m at work, and it has been very difficult to find a time that suits us both. So, with just over four weeks to go until the baby is due, I was quite excited about our little trip today.
The clinic is a very modern looking building with plants everywhere, a comfortable waiting room and soothing music playing in the background, and this is just as well because most of the time we were sitting around waiting. In all, we were there for over an hour and a half, and only spent five minutes with the doctor! Not to mention that it cost us over $70!
Nevertheless, the important thing is the health of little Rikuto and there are no problems whatsoever. Well, that’s not quite true. Mami is a little heavier than she should be at this stage of her pregnancy, and she has been advised to gain no more than 1kg in this final month. Apparently, if you are overweight, pregnancy can be quite painful… although I’m sure it is anyway!
Here is the latest scan of Rikuto, and this time the 4D picture has come out better than the usual ones I post on this blog. Can you see his face? Do you see that highly distinguished nose? He sure takes after his father!
I’m writing this post using Windows Speech Recognition so I don’t have to touch the keyboard to write what I want to say. Isn’t that great? Anyway, today I have a great photo of Rikuto from outside his mother’s tummy.
Mami is now 34 weeks pregnant and looks it! Since she finished working at the hospital, she has been very busy working around the house. She’s been gardening, doing the laundry, cooking, waxing the floors, and getting things ready for the baby.
All this exercise has made Rikuto very lively. You can visibly see him move around in Mami’s tummy as her belly changes shape with each move. Maybe I should take a video so you can see for yourselves!
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