Has it really been almost four weeks since Shuma and I returned from our visit back home? I don't know how I went so long without posting about it. Whoops, yes I do: I was hindered by a cranky baby with adjustment issues, jet lag and a cold. It took him nearly three weeks to get back to normal, and while he's probably forgotten all about the visit by now, he probably missed Canada more than I did at first.
And no wonder, with a house full of people fawning over him. For those just tuning in, my parents live in Brampton, a suburb or Toronto. It's the same house I grew up in (well, from the age of four) and aside from my parents it contains my brother Greg and his long-term girlfriend Sherry in a basement apartment, along with frequent visitors. My sister Julie came a few weeks after I did, soon followed by her daughter Zoe, so it was kind of like a family reunion.
There were friends visiting as well when I arrived on a long weekend in May (Victoria Day, the de-facto beginning of summer in my parts, I guess kind of like Memorial Day in parts of the US). I naively expected Shuma to delight in having so many people to play with, but I under-estimated the effects of jet lag and stranger anxiety. He had a few charming moments, but for the most part he spent his first several days napping and crying (and seemed to be widest awake just when I was at my sleepiest). And even after he got over the worst of his jet lag he was cranky and wouldn't eat. I guess he's just a sensitive guy who needs time to get used to changes.
There he is above, during an epic nap on his grandfather Baboo (a nickname given to him by his first grandson about sixteen years ago). While I was having a wonderful nap all by myself, poor Baboo couldn't move for a good part of the afternoon and got his shirt soaked with baby sweat for his trouble.
When Shuma was awake, he did tend to cheer up for walks with Baboo and I. We tried to get in at least one a day, an easy feat since we live near a very nice system of parks centred along Etobicoke Creek, which flows by our city on its way to Lake Ontario.
I still get excited to see bunnies- they just weren't around when I was still living at home. This little guy was enjoying the dandelions in a very neat way: he'd bite off a stalk at the base then chomp the stalk all the way up to the puffy end, then eat that too. Too cute.
Not quite the tortoise and the hare, but along with all of the rabbits we came across this snapping turtle, the first time we've seen one in these parts. We actually spent a good deal of time trying to rescue it as it seemed injured and we didn't want to leave it out in the open for it to get run over or bothered or kidnapped. We even went home and coming back with equipment to safely move it to a more sheltered area with, but when it finally had enough of our pestering it just up and walked away, obviously perfectly healthy. Served us right for anthropomorphising.
Shuma fell in love with the baby swings that are at every playground. Swinging was probably his favourite part of the visit, and I'm really sad to be back here in Japan where this type of swing is rare. I've done a bit of research and they can be found here and there, but nowhere near me. If you're interested in checking it out for yourself, they are called omutsu-gata buranko (おむつ型ブランコ, literally diaper-shaped swing). Let me know in the comments if you find these swings anywhere.
So I took a million pictures of Shuma on the swings, of course.
Back at home, Shuma quickly found a few favourite places. The best was the hallway above the kitchen (our house is a split-level), where he could watch the action and play with the bars of the banister.
I had really been looking forward to letting him loose on the lawn, hoping he'd learn to crawl there, and maybe even stand and walk. But they had a month of almost non-stop rain before we arrived, and it was hardly better after we got there. The ground was often too wet to sit on, so when it was warm enough to be out we put him in this kiddie pool.
And it would occasionally warm up enough for us to use the pool as a pool! Unfortunately most of the pictures we took are X-rated. He did have a swimsuit and swimming diapers, but we had him naked as often as possible to help clear up a diaper rash.
Greg's into mountain biking and would take off nearly every day to careen down some hill or other. One weekend he invited us to come along, and we went up to Blue Mountain, a ski resort near Georgian Bay. We took a gondola up the hill and while Greg and Sherry endangered their lives on their bikes, Baboo Shuma and I walked around on top of the hill (Mom, not much of a walker, guarded the car).
This is a small remnant of the first chair lift in Ontario. Both Baboo and I are completely incapable of using a chair lift and always manage to fall as we get off, which has to be one of the most embarrassing things in the world. We've seriously developed major phobias, and won't even try skiing anymore. I actually didn't even know this about Baboo until this trip, and it was kind of a relief finding out: if both of us are the same maybe I can blame my genes? This lift, being out of service, wasn't so scary and we totally conquered it.
After our little hike we drove to the nearby Craigleith Provincial Park for a picnic. The park is on Georgian Bay and has a shore lined with shale, rich with 455 million year-old fossils.
The thing to do is break apart the fragile rocks to find trilobites and other ancient critters, and although we found some good ones I forgot to take pictures (here is a trilobite found there a few years back).
Normally I find myself wishing there was just a bit of sand so we could take a dip (the shale underwater is covered in algae and way too slippery for swimming), but it was freezing this day so I was fine with it. We saw a loon in the water, which was a huge highlight (it turned up as a tiny black smudge in the pictures I attempted).
Shuma had a spontaneous nap while we ate, so a thousand pictures were taken. Not many pictures of the actual bbq and picnic though, as my hands were nearly frozen. A very nice day though.
Back home, Shuma really enjoyed watching the cats. They weren't particularly thrilled with him, but Toki (shown above) started to warm up to him a little, so much so that she could even stand to be in the same room for a few seconds.
More swinging.
Some frolicking on the lawn waiting for the pool to fill.
Drying off after the pool.
And all dressed again. Note that the pictures above, and all other suspiciously good photos in this post, were taken by Sherry or Greg and not me.
Shuma's appetite returned little by little, and he developed an obsession with berries. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries: if it was expensive, out of season, and imported from far south, he approved.
He also approved of the thousands of toys my mom had stocked the house with. She actually fixed up my room really nicely with a beautiful new crib with cute bedding, a fully stocked change table, and the aforementioned toys. I meant to take a picture but by the time I got around to it I'd messed the room up too much. But Shuma was never without a nice place to sleep, a nice place to be changed, and a nice toy.
And some nice tickles.
He even had a bunch of equipment loaned to him from a friend, including this exersaucer.
And after a few weeks, he was back to his happy self.
Here he is with uncle Greg.
Speaking of Greg, this is one of his (many) aquascape aquariums. They are constantly changing so I'm sure this one looks totally different by now, but this particular display was entered in a contest at the time. Shuma loved the aquariums and was happy to look at them until my arms hurt from holding him, and often when he was fussy Sherry would whisk him downstairs to be calmed down by the plants and fishies (although I'm sure Sherry herself was just as effective).
My sister Julie arrived in a rental car from Buffalo, where she'd been dropped off by her fiance. He is a trucker and she travels with him all over the states, which sounds like lots of fun.
Julie brought along her corgi, Cletis Van Damme, and he became Shuma's new best friend. But the cats, just as they'd almost accepted Shuma (Toki had actually allowed Shuma to make eye contact), disappeared into the basement, never to be seen again.
Right on schedule, Shuma learned to pull himself up to standing at nearly nine months old. He was naked the first time, and although the event was heavily photographed and video'd, this is all I can show you.
To be continued. See more pictures here.
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