Ten months, ten onesies.

Each time I write a 'onesie' post, I want to say how fast the time is going. In fact, I probably do. So, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I can't believe that Kio is already ten months old!

As I'm with Kio everyday it is more difficult to see how he changes physically. It's not until someone, who hasn't seen him in a while, comments on how much he's grown that I realize that he is sprouting like a little weed. It also reminds me that I should probably go through his clothes and sort through the stuff that doesn't fit anymore. 

Seriously, the rate that he goes through clothes is ridiculous.

The changes that that are far easier for me to notice, and never cease to amaze me, are in the things that he can do. I don't just mean things like rolling and sitting, which were of course amazing milestones to witness, but the skills like thinking and reasoning are what blow my mind every time.
 

Oji-chan (grandpa) and Oba-chan (grandma) Hirano recently bought Kio his first car - the kid totally thumped my 37 year wait! In fact, he didn't even have to wait for Christmas. Lucky boy.

It comes equipped with all the bells and whistles that a ten month old could ever want: a keyboard, a dancing bear hood ornament, a musical horn, a key that revs the engine and best of all a radio that plays all the great kiddy hits.

Unfortunately, it does NOT come equipped with earplugs.

Shin is pretty sure that his parents are getting revenge for his rather rocky teenage years. Too bad that he's soundly asleep for the majority of the time Kio spends rockin' out in his groove mobile. 

In all honesty it doesn't irritate me that much...that much.

When Kio first got behind the wheel he wasn't really sure what to do. He loved all the sounds but I ended up pushing the buttons for him. Which of course didn't last very long and he spent his time just rockin' on his own.

The second time he hopped in the driver's seat there was no stopping him, he knew straight off which button to go to for all his favourite tunes. And has since played them over, and over, and over again.

Trying not to dwell on the noise factor, it was amazing to see how quickly he had watched what I did and then was able to do it by himself. He loves things with buttons and is always inspecting how they work. The TV remote control is one of his favourites. We have also been reading books from the 'That's not my...' series. Each page has a new texture for him to touch and he's right there with his little finger rubbing and scratching away.

Discovering stuff is the best!

For those of you that check-in on the Hiranos with any regularity, you may have noticed that we've been on a bit of a hiatus. Of course the Christmas season has been keeping us busy but before that there was also Mommy Thumb to deal with.

On December 11th, Kio's ten month birthday and also 2013.12.11 (I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm such a sucker for stuff like that) I had my Mommy Thumb operation.

I had originally planned to write a separate blog post about the whole procedure, I even got as far as penning a bit of it, but it ended up being rather graphic. I figured that if I was giving myself the creeps after actually going through the procedure, people weren't going to want to read about it. So in a quick summary - being awake while having an operation, no matter how small, is extremely nasty yet totally fascinating.

It also ended up being quite painful.

There was at least a week where typing was definitely out of the question, and after that my thumb was all stiff. It has now been twenty days and I'm happy to report that my thumb is back to normal, no pain when picking up Kio whatsoever!

Anyway, excuses made and belated Christmas and New Year posts to follow soon.

Kio's ten month onesie was made by grandma Hirano and it is his first double digit shirt!

I've tried to take pictures of Kio wearing his special onesie on the date of his birthday, this time it wasn't possible (see above excuse). However, it was only a few days later that he wriggled into his ten month shirt.

And wriggle he did!

I took countless pictures of him. Trying to get him to face forward, with the full picture on the shirt showing AND smile, all while trying not to use my left hand became a bit much. In the end I settled for this.

It doesn't show up as much as I thought it would, but he managed to scratch his eyelid in the process and I've just realized that he's probably due for another haircut.

What a nutter!

 

Christmas is in the Air!

I have always loved Christmas! I love the decorations, the food, the shopping hysteria and although I could do without Mariah squealing in my ear, I don't even mind the music. But most of all, I love spending time with family.

On November 22nd, I had my thirteen year 'Japaniversary'. During that time I have only been back to Canada once for Christmas. In many cases I've had to work, but mostly it is the crazy price of travel at this time of year that has kept me away. As such, I have become accustomed to a rather scaled down version of Christmas celebrations.

I always put up my Charlie Brown Christmas tree and make a turkey dinner for friends who are also far from home. Shin and I exchange presents and the Christmas spirit is certainly in the air but...

...it's just not the same without your family.

Now that I have my own little family, Kio's first Christmas is something that I have been looking forward to.

On one condition, it doesn't start until December!

In my world there needs to be some downtime between Halloween and Christmas. It drives me crazy that shops are blaring Christmas music first thing in the morning on November 1st (in some cases even before that).

Now that December has arrived we're totally ready to embrace the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, it has been very busy in the Hirano household and we weren't able to do anything together as a family until last night.

It is my hope that when Kio is all grown up, he will think back on Christmas and not focus on the presents, but remember the good times that we had together as a family. As such, Shin and I are trying to do all of our Christmas activities together.

This is a difficult thing when you live on different 24 hour clocks.

As last night was the first time we were all in the apartment together we cranked the Christmas tunes and got good ole' Charlie out of his box.

Assembling Charlie.

While Daddy and Kio were busy putting the tree together, I got the ornaments out - Kio was immediately enthralled.

We decided that for this year we would keep the tree out of Kio's reach, so we put it up on a small table in our living room. We all had a hand in decorating, Kio couldn't get enough of the shiny baubles and flashing lights.

He clearly enjoys the Christmas tree MUCH more than the blow-up Jack-o-lantern from Halloween.

With Charlie all decked out in his glory we finished off the evening by writing Christmas cards. Kio insisted on signing them himself.

He also 'signed' his face, my arm and his highchair.

Yea for Christmas!