Hopla

It's still snowing today, but because there is some sun, it feels already less cold. While I'm writing this, Auro is sleeping.
I hope that he can sleep for another hour, because the longer his afternoon nap, the less he cries towards the evening.

Last night, however, we had one of those evenings where Auro was displeased with everything around him. There wasn't a place where he could sit/lie for longer than 2 minutes without crying as if the whole building was on fire. When my arm got tired of carrying him around, I put him in front of my computer and started one of the DVD's I brought back from Belgium. I chose for "Hopla", which is a 3D animation, developed by (as far as I know) a Belgian guy and starring the rabbit 'Hopla' as it's main character. It's made especially for 'very young children'. Anyway, as soon as I put in that DVD, Auro went quiet as a mouse an did not take his eyes of the screen for about half an hour!!! Auro was completely captivated by the colourful Hopla and his friends. See for yourself!!!

Waiting

It's cold today and it has started snowing again. And because there isn't the usual sunshine to warm up the apartment, both Auro and I had to put on something extra to keep warm. We were planning to go out for a walk to the supermarket, but remembering how Auro cried when the cold hit his face last time we went out, I decided against it and to wait for another day or two until the temperature rises a little again.

While we are waiting here in the cold for Remo to come home (next Tuesday!), we have managed to find a daily rythm quite agreeable to, I think, the both of us. I get up around 7 or 7:30, have breakfast and wait for Auro to wake up for his first feeding, which is usually around 8 or 8:30. Five (or sometimes four... or six...) feedings and a full day of playing, crying (yes!) and some occasional napping later, Auro is carried off to his bed by 9 (sometimes later) where he (most of the time) falls asleep until the next morning!
Now, I am aware how lucky I am that Auro lets me sleep during the night and I fully realise that by sharing this information with you I risk to loose this nice agreement I have with my baby son. On the other hand, I also know that most of you are reading this blog to know about Auro, so, please, do me the favour of hoping with me that many more undisturbed nights are waiting for me!

Boat and graduation

Well, now I am back in Japan. My last student left behind at the Osaka University has to graduate. It will happen on the 18th so I had to come here to check on him. But, of course, in Japan there is the lovely boat too. I had the plan to haul her out during this period but unluckily the crane which was supposed to do the work broke down. So no hauling and repainting until the next Summer when I will be back once again. Because of it I had to find something else to do. On a boat there are always hundreds of things which need to be checked/fixed and I had no problems to find a couple. For example the Sika-flex holding the front hatch came off completely so I had to reseal the thing. This time I have used 3M product which I consider better than Sika-flex. Also one of the winches was not working properly so I had to take it apart and fix it. Finally I have also decided to start working on the last part of interiors which are still missing in the boat: the table of the living area. At this moment there is no table but we need one. So I started to work on it: I got the material and I designed the lay out. Then I started to cut and saw. Little by little it is coming and I predict about 5 full days of work to have it done (plus 30% because I never get it right at the first shot). As always hand crafting is a pleasure and OP Dejima Harbour offers a great facility to do any kind of work. At night you can even turn the radio on and work while you are listening to some music. Nice way of making things. Here you can see a detailed photo of the cockpit of the boat: it is made out of teak and it was built inside the workshop of OP Dejima Harbour. Oh, my student is going to give his final presentation. I better running ;)

"prrrr" and "pffff"

Auro discovered a new consonant: the "p"! Actually he discovered it about a week ago, but the last couple of days he has promoted it to his favourite sound. So now, whenever he is happy, he "prr"s and "pff"s until his chin and most of his shirt are completely covered in saliva. His "pff"s are sometimes so well articulated that even my face gets some of his watery spit. I don't mind at all of course, but I hope that he is not just practising his newly acquired skill as an excuse to condone a certain unmentionable local custom here;)

Peace and quiet

According to the lunar calendar, yesterday was the 15th day of the new year. This day marks the official end of the New Year celebrations and provides the final excuse to light up the sky with extensive fireworks. Much to the delight of little Auro, whose eyes were as big as saucers, every window of our apartment offered a view of this spectacle of colourful fireworks last night. The deafening sound of firecrackers all around us just made him more excited!
Today, for the first time since we've been back, it has been a cloudy and grey day. The ground between the apartment buildings has turned red with the leftovers of the numberless strings of firecrackers. The spirits have gone back to wherever they came from and the usual peace and quiet has returned to Changchun (or at least to this part of the city). Believe it or not, but I actually feel a little sad. But not too much, because there will (hopefully) be no more sudden bangs of firecrackers waking Auro up from his (already fragile) naps.

Yellow water

Since not much new has happened since we came back to Changchun, I want to use this opportunity to dwell on some of Auro's more intimate moments of the day: bathing time! In an attempt to help him recognize the difference between day (when he is allowed to be awake and hungry) and night (when he should sleep and not cry for milk), we've worked out a sleeping ritual. Before putting him in bed for the night, for example, I always change him into his pajamas and feed him one last time. Bathing him before changing him into his pajamas is also a part of this evening 'ritual'. We usually bathe him every other day, but for the first 10 days, to help him get over his jetlag, we let him enjoy his bath every evening. And he really enjoys it! As soon as he is in the water he starts smiling and babbling. The fact that the rust in the pipes makes the water a little yellow doesn't bother him in the least!

20 weeks

Yesterday Auro was exactly 20 weeks old, so we decided to weigh him. We don't have the professional tools to weigh babies, but after some improvising with a spring scale from Walmart and an old curtain, we managed somehow. Auro didn't seem to mind at all and was staring up at us quite happily from within his curtain-hammock.

We don't know how accurate the scale is, but it read 6,4 kilos! So even if it is of by 100 or 200 grams, it still means Auro gained some weight since the last time he was weighed (which was on the 16th of January, when he was 17 weeks old... he was 5,9 kg then). Hip hip hooray for Auro and his big belly!!

Men with beards

The last couple of days Auro has been crying and screaming unceasingly. All the books say that 4 months and a half is a difficult period for babies, so I'm trying very hard to comfort and support him through it, but... Yesterday, after he had shown the usual signs of tiredness (rubbing his eyes and yawning), I put him in bed for his late afternoon nap. After one (yes!!) hour of angry crying I gave up and took him out again. He seemed quite happy that I did that, so after a while I tried to feed him. As was the case during many of the feedings over the past days, he drank and cried at the same time. In a desperate attempt to calm him down, I then started singing to him and almost immediately... he stopped crying!!! I could not believe it. Since there is only one song I know the words of, I ended up singing "Al die willen te kaap’ren varen" for more than 30 minutes! I just hope from the bottom of my heart that I will never have to calm him down like that when there are other people around, as I’m quite certain my voice would not have the same effect on them as it (luckily) seems to have on Auro.