LongCountdown.com - Nick Ramsay's Blog.

Rikuto Playing with his Pooh

November 9th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 1 Comment »


Rikuto on His Belly

November 5th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 7 Comments »


Rikuto Meets His Great Grandmother

October 30th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 3 Comments »


Rikuto On His Front

October 27th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 5 Comments »


Does Rikuto Have His Dad’s Nose?

October 22nd, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 2 Comments »


Rikuto Wins Staring Contest

October 21st, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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. [...]

Posted in Family | 3 Comments »


Reading to Rikuto #1

October 18th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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. [...]

Posted in Family | 7 Comments »


Rikuto Gets Vocal

September 30th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 2 Comments »


Rikuto - Is That My Hand?

September 24th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 2 Comments »


Baby in Progress - Meet Rikuto!

July 23rd, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 16 Comments »


Baby in Progress - Rikuto at 35 weeks

June 29th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 2 Comments »


Baby in Progress - Rikuto at 34 weeks

June 24th, 2007 by Nick Ramsay

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 [...]

Posted in Family | 1 Comment »