4 (and a half) Months!

I can't believe Jacet is already 4 1/2 months! He is growing like a weed! I swear he grows a little bit every night.

First photo booth experience!

He had his 4 month check-up today. Here in Japan (or maybe just Saku?) the check-ups are scheduled by the city office. Basically every baby born during a certain time frame and living in a certain area of the city gets their check-up the same day. So there were about 12 of us altogether in the "born 4/1-4/15" time frame. They had different areas set up and we were basically just rotated around. First was the height and weight area, then we moved on to the development area, third was the "Dr" check, after that was tooth care, and then last was learning a little about starting baby food. We also received information on a class to learn how to prepare baby food, a class on how to play with baby to help with development, and information about a place that lets you hang out with other mamas and their babies, which is I guess good for making some mommy friends.

So here are Jacet's stats!

Height: 62.4cm (~24 1/2 in)
Weight: 6.62kg (~14 1/2 lbs)
Milestones: rolling over from back to tummy AND tummy to back
                     real laughs (occasionally)
                     grabbing (and chewing) EVERYTHING (including mommy's hair!)
                     reaching for toys out of his reach

Loves Daddy!

Here in Japan it's recommended to start baby food around 5 months if they show signs. Apparently Jacet is showing signs, which include lots of drooling, staring at mommy and daddy while they're eating, grabbing plates, etc. I read that in America a lot of people start with oatmeal or rice cereal, or some people skip that and go straight to veggies. In Japan they start with watery rice called okayu, which is what they're going to teach me how to make at that baby food class. I'm looking forward to the many photo opportunities or messy faces!

Other News:
        We went to the northern island called Hokkaido to visit Tomo's parents for a few days. It's very much like Vermont. A lot of land and cows and farms etc. That island is famous for it's seafood and dairy products. While we were there, there was a big fireworks festival. Tomo's cousin does photography as a hobby and took some really nice pictures of us. I got to wear a yukata (summer and less formal version of a kimono) for the first time! Jacet really liked the fireworks and would stop fussing every time they went off!

 family photo at the fireworks

watching the fireworks

        We applied to a model agency for fun just to see if Jacet would pass...well...he passed! He passed the preliminary online application and then we had to go to Tokyo for a camera/video camera test audition. The results came in today that he passed that too! Which means that if we decide to enroll him, we just have to pay the fee and he'll get to be in the agency. Of course it's not guaranteed that he'll get any jobs though. They also have free dance lessons for the older kids and free monthly photo shoots for the kids who aren't old enough to dance, aka babies. So Jacet would get those photos every month which I would really like! The problem is that Tokyo is far and expensive to travel to every month, so we still need to think about whether we want to do this or not. It's exciting news though!

camera test audition photo