Hello out there!

Hello! Is anyone still there? It's me, Amy. I know my attendance record has been pretty bad for the last little while, and you might have assumed I'd just given up for good, but here I am. Sorry for the past few years, and I'll try to post a little more often. At least so friends and family can see pictures of Shuma.

He's 2 years and 7 months old now, and pretty average all around. I weaned him just after his second birthday and am going to start toilet training when it warms up a bit (following the Japanese method of letting him run around naked for a few days). He still doesn't nap regularly but continues to sleep well as night. He eats fairly well and is not very picky, but his likes and dislikes change often enough to make feeding him a challenge. He's a bit behind in his talking and still doesn't make sentences, but his speech really improved after our visit to Canada this winter. Naturally his English is much stronger than his Japanese, but he understands what his dad says just fine. He is still far more interested in toys and objects than other kids, and above everything else he loves animals (or "ammos" as he calls them). And backhoes. Oh yeah, trains too. I guess it's an even tie between vehicles and animals. Please don't give me a knowing look and say "Boys will be boys!"

So here are some recent pictures.

Comments

[Sylke]

Hello there, nice to see a post from you pop up in my blog reader again! Your boy looks great, obviously thriving! A lot of what you are writing reminds me of what happened at ours house, we also weaned shortly after the second birthday and potty training consisted (partly) of running around naked in the back garden so that little man would understand what was going on. :) But we did that at three years of age. As for the language, don't worry about it, it will happen! We speak German at home and English in the outside world, but by the age of three my son was confident enough to go to preschool and was able to make himself understood. I helped him along a little by doing three months of English language play time at home before he went there. It worked out brilliantly.
I was wondering what you meant by this comment "He is still far more interested in toys and objects than other kids". What are the other kids interested in if not toys and objects? :) Do you mean role play activities? My son never got into that kind of play until much later, objects/toys were his way to go, the little people that came with some toys were not interesting at all. After a (long!) transitional periods with Transformers (vehicle that turns robot which equals person), funnily enough this has now completely gone the opposite way for the last year or so (he's just turned seven) and some little Lego guys are his main toy.

[kat]

nice to see your post, glad you all are doing fine :)

[Amy]

Thanks Kat!

Sylke, thanks for the comment. I don't really want to rush Shuma into potty training, and if he's not into it I'll stop and try again later. But it's recommended to start toilet training in the warm months here, since they run around naked during training (and central heating is non-existant). I can't imagine waiting until he is 3 1/2! Also, very few pools allow swim diapers in my area so I'd really like him out of diapers by swimming season.

I'm not too worried about his language development, just a little sad because I know it's mostly our "fault". I'm not much of a talker and Hideaki is rarely home, so Shuma doesn't get much conversation. As for my comment, I just meant he's not interested in playing with other kids yet. He will sometimes, especially if he's encouraged or if he's one-on-one with a kid of similar age, but mostly he'd rather play with toys (or me). Again, not a huge worry but some of his peers are already making friends.

He is starting to do role-play type stuff though! Very cute to watch, especially with his little Totoro finger puppets.

[Sylke]

Thank you, Amy - obviously I completely misunderstood your sentence! Yes, the friendship thing can take a while too, it really depends on how your child is wired and maybe also what kind of example you are giving (are you outgoing and talking to other people easily or maybe more of a reserved person with strangers). As I said before, nothing to worry about, things will happen at their own time! Never compare too much! :)

[Sara]

Very happy to hear from you and see the adorable Shuma again! Don't worry about parallel play still being Shuma's thing even if you see other toddlers playing together. The average age for starting to play together is between 2 and 3, so that gives you 5 more months for average. And many children do continue preferring parallel play even after they turn 3. It's easy to worry if your child isn't in line with the others you mostly see, but do give it time before you stress over it.

[joeinvegas]

Looks like he likes trees too!

[Sophelia]

Children raised bilingually are almost always slower to begin talking than mono-lingual children. It isn't a bad thing or a delay or something to feel sad about ;)

[Eido Inoue]

Yes, there are people still reading. You are in our readers. FYI.