Summer Roundup

Photo dump warning: I'm going to post all the pictures from this summer that didn't get posts of their own, not because they were no good but because I was too busy, or lazy, or some combination thereof.

The first big event of the summer was moving Shuma's crib from our room, where it had been set up sidecar to our bed, to his own room. Well it's not quite his own room yet, it still has all of our computer equipment, the closet is full of boxes, and it has a balcony where I hang the laundry (and also where Hideaki smokes, though I'm trying to get him to stop using that balcony). He didn't actually sleep there at night for a few more months- we set up a guardrail on the side of our bed and kept him with us at night.

Then came almost two months in Canada, which I've only finished blogging about, and we had quite a hard time adjusting when we came back. Shuma didn't handle the jet lag well, nor did he enjoy the sudden lack of of a big house full of people fussing over him all the time. We had two weeks of a very grumpy boy, and unfortunately they happened to be two very hot weeks where no sane person would go out in the daytime. So we took to going out in the evenings when it was starting to cool down, and on this little hill in the local park there was sometimes even a breeze. We would have camped out here if weren't for the mosquitoes.

The adjustment took away his appetite, but it eventually came back with a vengeance and he fell in love with a series of fruits as they came in and out of season. We spent a fortune on fruit this summer.

He made such a mess when he ate that we gave up on bibs and had him eat in his diaper. If his high chair would have fit in the shower we would have fed him in there, it certainly would have made clean-up easier.

He liked to hang around in the nude even when food wasn't involved. I wonder what he's trying to convey with that strategically placed cone?

Just after getting back from Canada, when Shuma was nine months, he started to crawl. This was his first time, at a jidoukan (play centre- the excact same place he learned to walk), although he'd been on the verge of it for a couple months. He had a funny way of doing it, with only one leg doing the work and the other just kind of dragging along, but it didn't bother him.

We found some relief from the heat one day at Shakujii Koen, although he fell asleep almost as soon as we arrived and it was mostly just me walking around with a sleeping baby on my chest. Oh well, he'll be a better age for it next summer anyway.

While shopping at Lalaport in Shinmisato we came upon a splash pad and let Shuma get wet. The older kids were really interested in Shuma (Japanese kids seem to be way more into babies than Canadian kids), but forgot him once they got talking to Hideaki. Kids like talking to him for some reason, and he always gets involved in these long convoluted kid conversations where it's half really cute and funny and half "Oh my god these annoying brats won't shut up, get me out of here". It's a gift and a curse.

Shuma did a lot of playing in the water this summer. Right across the street we have a splash pool, and we went as often as we could. Here he is after a dip with his friend Hiyori.

And a few minutes later he was asleep. He had been playing for hours and was just beat. If I could get him in the water daily I'd have his napping problem solved.

In the next city from ours, Asaka, is a park called Aobadai Koen which as an even better splash pool. It has five different water zones, all connected (as well as regular playground equipment, including an amazing climbing structure that would never be allowed to exist in North America). It's a bus ride away so I only went twice, but it was so much fun for both of us. I really hope I have a bike with a baby seat by next summer so we can ride here every day.

There was more blueberry picking, I went four times in fact. This time was at a weird farm where the ladies who ran the place kept following us around and picking the berries for us. They probably thought they were being nice but damn was it annoying, it only takes a few minutes to pick enough berries and we try to drag it out as long as we can, cause picking is so fun.

They were tasty though, and made a nice topping for an unbaked cheesecake for Hideaki's birthday.

More half-naked hanging out.

And more trips to the park. Looking back, it kind of seems like we lived at the park, but even still we didn't go as often as I wanted. I think I was effected by a bit of radiation paranoia and held back, which I regret. I mean if I thought there was any danger at all, we wouldn't even be in Japan. But the fear seeps in somehow and there were times we stayed indoors when we should have been outside.

In any case, Shuma is always so much happier when he's out of the house, and happiest of all at the park. I think the very small risk of being exposed to trace amounts of radiation is worth it, but I'll always wonder.

He accidentally took the picture above himself while fooling around with my camera. Not bad!

This is us at our playgroup's family picnic. I was in charge of face painting and Shuma was in charge of looking silly in costumes.

And then the summer was over, way too quickly. It made me really sad to pack away his summer clothes, knowing most of them will be too small when I take them out again next year. I'm learning to appreciate the other seasons more and more as I grow older, but only summer makes me mourn its passing.

Comments

[Rose]

haha, very cute pictures!!
happy to find you back to blooging since I kinda missed your posts during your holiday break^^
It is amazing to see your cute little boy grow.. time pass so fast..

[crella]

Wonderful pictures! I'm enjoying them so much. He's such a love!

[Donna]

That splash park looks amazing! We actually do have a climbing structure like the one in your Flickr picture, it's at the Cleveland Zoo. I honestly was rather surprised that it was meant for kids to climb on, it's pretty tall--I've had to rescue my daughter a few times from the top.

[Robyn K]

I for one like to see the random baby pictures.

You should send the playground pictures to http://playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/ !
They're always interested in multicultural playground designs!

[joeinvegas]

Just think, next Summer he will be climbing up to the top of that rope structure, while you hover below calling form him to come down!