Ren and Hiroko Play on the Floor Together

Well, the bad news is that Ren is now very aware of, and wants to play with, the camera. This is making it nigh impossible to catch her on film, because as soon as it's out, she makes a grab for it, and then becomes upset when she doesn't get it. So updates may slow down for a while.

It's too bad. She's standing on her own now, and I wanted to get at least pictures of that. But it's not going to happen, it seems.

The good news is, this video from before Thanksgiving. It's my favorite ever, I believe.

Ren and Aunt Gina

A thanksgiving video of Ren with Aunt Gina. This video also briefly features grandma Goodfriend, so it should go over well with my massive 1-person viewer base.

Ren Versus Mr. Lion

Who wins? Only you can decide.

This one's kind of blurry.

Thanksgiving shots

Over at my personal blog, I've got a couple cute videos of Hiroko playing Xbox. So no videos here today.

Here are some shots from Thanksgiving (and shortly before) including Ren, though. I thought I'd taken more Thanksgiving shots, but I guess not.

Here's my favorite:

A Longer Video of Ren at the gate

Nobody but my mom saw the last video according to my stats, so maybe it's been too long since I posted and no one is paying attention anymore. Or maybe it's the holiday season. Either way it's too bad for you because there are some great videos coming up next week.

Anyway, as described, a longer video of Ren once again challenging the gate.

Ren Challenges the Baby Gate

I got the videos uploaded. Video coming! That plus pictures means updates every day for a week
or so. That ought to hold you over until we get some fun Christmas shots, I guess.

Here's one that's short but sweet. A warning to all babies who would dare challenge the authority of the Baby Gate.

From Thanksgiving

This is a picture of Ren at my mom's office during the recent Thanksgiving trip. It was sent to me by my mom.

There are lots of new pictures, and even more importantly lots of great new video, but I'm having computer problems at home that are keeping them indefinitely non-uploadable. When I finally get them on youtube, you'll see them. They're great and I wish I could get them to you sooner.

Blanket Game!!

There is no greater game than the blanket game. This lame video, made at the same time I was playing (thus assuring Ren would watch the camera rather than me) does not do it justice. She's not even laughing uncontrollably or thrashing around like she normally does. Normally she's about a million times more excited.

I must say, never in my life have I seen someone enjoy something as much as Ren enjoys the blanket game. The intensity of anticipation she exhibits from the moment I first start to get the blanket ready would be enough. But by the fourth or fifth time I've thrown that thing on her and she's leveraged her arms to get it back off, she's thrashing about and screaming with joy.

Like so many other things we've tried to video, you've really got to see it in person. Or have your own baby.

Carmela Plays with Ren

This video probably won't be too impressive to you if you're not our friend Carmela, but, well, here it is.

Super Ren Crawling Video

One of the tough things about gathering Ren videos is that she tends to shut down whenever the camera comes out. If you're trying to capture an activity, instead you get a video of Ren looking at the camera. I've tried to practice the ninja skill of surreptitious shots.

But this film is the exception. We took this probably about two months ago, when we were still excited about Ren crawling...now it's a constant thing. She's a lot more skilled at it, as well. Here she's using her thighs to push her along and flailing her arms forward. Now she can walk on all fours, fully use her legs, and push herself up.

We have a gate over the doorway in the background now, so the two front rooms belong to Ren.

Anyway, great video, with a cute ending:


This particular one, I could watch over and over.

Ren, Indian Brave

Good news, grandparents! It's new videos week again. I've got about five new ones. There are also a few pictures.

Hiroko has declared this video to be her favorite. Watch for the look on Ren's face at the end, as if she's saying, "Oh, why did you stop?" Answer: because my hand is covered in drool.

Ren is Sick

Hi all,

I know I'm way behind in posting "daily" again, but Friday I was zoned, yesterday I was very busy and today...well...Ren is sick. I'll spare you the gory details but really it'll pass. All three of us are very tired, and Ren is one very miserable baby. But I think it's nothing to worry about.

Aaaaanyway...

This is the last video I've got uploaded, but we've made a couple more since then that I haven't yet transferred. This is a vid of Ren making an amusing tongue noise, endlessly. She picks up and drops habits like this all the time. Very comfortable expressing herself.

Kawaii, ne?

Pepsi Bottle

Ren loves to lie on her back and manipulate larger objects with both feet, both hands, and mouth, at the same time. This is a picture of her playing with an empty Pepsi bottle. Right after I shot this, she lifted it up and banged herself in the head.

It's a good example of the lack of necessity of toys. We get her toys (or they're given to us) and Ren ignores them to play with empty bottles and bags, slick advertisements, pens, spoons, coat hangers, our phones, and remote controls.

Ren Clapping!

This awesome video is the product of what happens when your baby learns she can slam her hands together and make noise.



But the very coolest part for me is not the clapping, but the imitation. If I put Ren in my lap and clap several times in front of her, she will stop what she's doing and start clapping when I finish. Imitation! It's col and encouraging to see. But now that she's learned to mimic me, I feel a little responsible for her behavior. I guess I should stop drinking and swearing in front of her all the time. Ha, I kid of course.

What time is it?

Ren has a toy that depicts the head of a red monkey, and wraps around her wrist. I call it the monkey watch. We like to joke like,

"Hey, what time is it?" "Umm...oh! Monkey!"

Or we order her that she'll have to do things or take baths "when it's monkey."

Just a typical Ren day

Here's a video of a typical Ren day. This was pre-crawl, so we could just leave her on the sofa to play like this. If we did this now, she'd be falling to the floor in about a half second. It's after the time, though, when she learned to play autonomously. You can sort of get an idea of just how independent she is here. Give Ren some toys and she'd rather just be left alone to play.

Her favorite toy for a long while was the flat blue one seen here. It's a matter of toy attrition that we don't know where this one is anymore. But there are new ones.

Videos: Ren in Action

Hi all. I'm still very busy today and tomorrow (plus I have to write about the Cubs at my blog) so I don't have a lot of words for you today.

When Hiroko got back from Japan in mid-summer, she brought a toy cell phone with her. This is certainly something I never had as a kid. It plays music and says "ohayo", "oyasumi", "konnichi wa". Nowadays Ren is a lot more alert and can hit the buttons and open and close it. But back then, she did with it what she does with everything:

The background sound is me laughing.

Here's a brief video of Ren slapping her hand on a table, which she loves to do, especially when not provided with toys. The other hand belongs to our friend Carmela, who was visiting to help me with one of my long Sundays, when I take care of the kid alone all day and into the next morning. She is great.


Okay, that's it. Get back to work.

Teeth!

I'm not going to get a video or pictures posted today because I'm too busy. Tomorrow for sure. Also be sure to check out my blog tomorrow for my evaluation of the Cubs v. Diamondbacks.

The big news is that Ren has two teeth now. It happened so fast and with so little complaint by her that we didn't realize they'd broken the surface until yesterday. She was chewing on my finger, I felt two sharp points, and I checked it out and made the discovery.

Ren in her Jumper

Ren absolutely loves the jumper. If she didn't get exhausted, I think we could leave her in it for hours and she'd never get tired. She plays with every bit of it. It can really be a life saver when we want to eat and she wants to play.

In this video, as usual, she's reacting to the camera by refusing to cooperate. This is the least excited I've ever seen her in the jumper. Usually she's flailing about so much you'd swear she's going to shake the plaster off the walls, or fall through to the basement.

Another thing she likes to do is get a hold of the parrot above her head and hold on for dear life.

Ren Shots

Just some general shots of ren from the backlog. (Hey, look at me, I finally figured out how to interleave photos with text. Also, you can click on these to take you direct to the original.)

Here's one of Ren on the CTA for the first time. Not a great shot, but I wanted to commemorate the adventure. On Sundays Hiroko works and needs the car for the commute, so I'm stuck with mass transit for getting around. I didn't know setting out that the bus won't take open strollers, and that the Blue line wasn't working properly that day, so a 45 minute trip turned into a 2-hour ordeal. I also learned I was going to need an umbrella stroller, because the Baby SUV here was too much.

Ren with her favorite beverage. No wait...that's my favorite beverage. Hmm, can I get in trouble with child services for this one? You can't leave this kid alone for two seconds. I keep telling her, "No, no, not until you're eight."

Two shots of Ren's favorite activity, sucking on things. When your parents forget to give you a toy to cover with slobber, what are you going to do? Fortunately, nature has a solution: toes.

Hiroko had a dream one night that Ren's toes were unscrewable, and fell off, and she had to go around the house finding them and screwing them back in. The second shot is particularly cute, no?

And finally, just a shot I like of Ren in her jumper. Are we excited? YES! We are excited!!

(Self) Feeding Time

I posted this picture a while back in a set, but wanted to call attention to it.

Besides being cute, it highlights Ren's sense of independence. She wants to play on her own, she wants to go to sleep on her own (usually), and she even wants to feed herself. Given the chance, she'll wrest the bottle away from us and hold on.

When this older picture was taken, we were really surprised, but now it's the norm for Ren to take over. In fact, in the middle of the night I've fallen asleep while she's fed herself.

More Laughter

Yesterday's video does have a brief laugh, but then she cries at the end...ah, life is bittersweet, is it not? Here's a much better video taken a few days later, where we get better laughing on.

Ren's laugh has really changed since then and sounds a lot more like adult laughter and less like a squeal now. I play a game with her where I lay her on the floor facing me on the sofa, and throw a blanket on her, which she then has to get off. She loves this and goes absolutely crazy. Lately she's even able to anticipate when the game is beginning as soon as I put her on the floor. I'll have to get Hiroko to film us doing it sometime.



Full disclosure: Pepsi paid me $500 for the product placement. Score!!

Ren's Very First Laugh

Hi all. It's really been many months since I posted anything. We were moving, then I left the camera somewhere for a while. It's really unfair because I know there are people out there who don't get to see Ren in person and want footage of what Hiroko and I witness every day.

Well, I've finally got around to uploading everything I've got. Now I'll be sharing pictures and video every day for at least a week. So tune in!

This first is really a treat. Months ago Ren started to laugh. It was almost impossible to catch on film, but eventually after several tries, we finally got it. This video is so old she's much smaller, and we're even still at the condo. Share and enjoy!



More tomorrow.

Some More Pictures

I'm just going to blow the dust off the blog for a moment and post a new set of pictures. Share and enjoy.

I'm doing this without too much commentary just to get the record out there. But what you'll see in here includes:

1. Various pictures of Ren about the house.
2. Pictures of what Mr. Lion did while Hiroko was out of town, and Mr. Lion and I were alone in the house. He was a little naughty and partied a lot, as you see.
3. Pictures of the day I took Ren to work when there was a company picnic.
   

A couple short Ren vids

I have this awesome video of Ren laughing that's on the camera. Maybe I'll transfer it over thie weekend.

In the meantime, here's the first video I have of Ren smiling.


Also, here's a vid of her very favorite activity, sucking on her fist. She regularly get her whole outfit wet doing this.

Lots of mental firsts for Ren

Hiya,

Last weekend was very active for Ren! There were so many first I'm not sure I can remember them all.

• She laughed for the first time. I can induce it when I grab her and smile and laugh and tickle. Sometimes she'll make a big guffaw, and she makes lots of big smiles now. It remains nearly impossible to get anything on film though. As soon as the camera starts rolling, she watches it and forgets everything else.
• She's noticed there's sometimes a couple white blobs in her field of vision, which she can shake around. When her fists wander into her view, she'll drop whatever she's doing to stare at them for a moment.
• She has officially reached out to bop at a toy.
• She is aware of smaller things in her field of view. Specifically, she is now aware of Mr. Lion. He is extremely please by this development.

She continues to be for the most part an easy and fun baby. We are pleased.

Okay then, picture time!
Here's what mom looks like when dad comes home:


Ren's #1 favorite pastime, the fist suck:


Why use that bland old formula when there's White Castle vanilla shake?:


And of course, in honor of opening day, Ren showing off her true colors:


That's right, I say get 'em started on the trail to misery early!

Another video

Heya,

I've gotten busy/lazy, so I'm just going to quickie-post this (late) with little comment. I did get a bunch more short videos, including a vid of a good, big smile, which I'll post sometime soon.

Two new pictures.

Nothing special, just a couple pictures I wanted to share. Cute, no? Tomorrow, another video.

Some Updates

In the three weeks since I last posted, Ren has developed a lot. She regularly smiles and notices everything around her now, and she "speaks up", making a lot of noises that aren't crying. She turns her head a lot to look at things she finds interesting, and even holds her head up for short stretches. She's still not really making shaped sounds. She's going to bed a little earlier at night and staying asleep (sometime between 9-10:30), only getting up once during the night. There's an hour every night when she's pretty upset right before bedtime, but generally she's very easy and a joy.

She's gotten very used to bath time. Last night we bathed her and she never made a sound the entire time.

I have a couple videos to post and a couple pictures this week. I've taken lots of videos, trying to demonstrate her noises, or fist sucking, or smiles, but it's frustratingly hard to do. Most of her activity is while she is in our arms, and other times it's like she senses the camera and decides to stop.

Here is a great video of Ren with the hiccups. It also features her kicking constantly. She'll be riding a bicycle soon, for sure!

Another Video of Ren with Mobile

This video is at an angle. I don't have any software to fix this. I think I'm recording about three videos for every one that's useable, but that's not the primary task of a digital camera, after all.

Just to let you know in advance, nothing happens in this video (unless you count a lot of flailing of arms and sticking out of the tongue). but she sure is cute, anyway.

A big first: Ren now will track large objects. In particular, my head. This is somehow greatly pleasing and amusing to me. I like to move my head to the left and watch her drift over to track me, then back to the right, and so forth. This entertains me for about an hour. But as I've said in other posts, we don't have cable.

Baby Bath Time

This is probably the best of the recent short vids I've made. I hope all y'all family enjoy.

Various Ren Pictures

Pictures of Ren are in high demand, so here are ten more. Included in this set are:

• A picture of Ren grasping and holding onto a rattle.
• Three pictures in the bath.
• Two mommy-cam pictures of Ren staring up (or sleeping) from a chest carrier.
• Three pictures of Ren waving and kicking all around on her changing table. I was trying to demonstrate how she's beginning to get very active. She wouldn't cooperate to capture a good video. These pictures include this one, BABY FU!!:

Also, I know I promised video...I'm working on it.

Ren in Bed with the Mobile

I promised a video. Here it is. This is a 30-second short of Ren in bed watching the mobile. It's quite underlit, I'm afraid. I hope you enjoy it.

A Whole Lotta Baby Pics

I promised pictures, so here are pictures. A whole lot of pictures. Included in this set:

• Baby Bath Time
• Some fun at Panera Bread, where we had to escape during an Open House
• A Buddhist study session we went to, where we brought the baby (thus rather distracting everyone from the study!)

Tomorrow: film!

Catching up, and some fun firsts

Okay, I haven't posted in a long time. People get busy, you know. Read my personal blog if you want to get an idea of what's going on.

I promise that in the next week I'll be posting lots of pictures, plus a new short (30 seconds) film!

In the meantime, a couple firsts.

For the first time, Ren is reacting negatively to noise. Previous to this, she's reacted positively, such as becoming soothed when hearing us sing to her or chant. Now when I cough or sneeze near her, she can wake up and start crying. I think the first example of this was at a Superbowl party. She cried when Hester returned the opening kickoff. Tragically, the rest of us cried for the remainder of the game.

Also for the first time she is noticing our existence. Both of us have observed her quieting down when one of us comes into her view. She won't turn her head or keep her attention on us yet.

It would appear also that Ren has spotted a ghost in our living room. Whenever we're on the living room sofa and she's facing us, she invariably keeps her gaze fixed above our right shoulders, at the corner of the room above the stairs. My theory is that she can see a ghost. Obviously someone was once hanged there, and is trying to get her to pass a message on to us. Too bad she can't speak.

The third first is that I've injured my own baby for the first time. I was sitting on the sofa groping for a bottle when I accidentally jammed my fingers right into her head. Poor Ren screamed and screamed. Clumsy daddy.

Diaper Snake

Two words: Diaper Snake.

Health Update and General Comment

Raising a kid can certainly be an up and down experience. Some days, you're sitting around all day. Other days, it's a celebration when you can squeeze in a shower at 9pm.

Health update: Today Hiroko had a new kidney infection, so we spent the daylight hours in an emergency room. Since she's not pregnant, she got away with a cereal bowl full of meds, instead of a free overnight stay. Our friend Mayumi graciously watched Ren for a few hours to make it possible. Other than the exhaustion factor, it's all going to be OK.

My mom has been asking for more kid pictures, which is a very reasonable request, but
A. It's not like she looks any different than before
B. She's cutest when I'm doing something with her (such as a feeding) which requires both hands.
So tough luck. I did manage a shot of her today while I was in the emergency waiting room. It snowed last night.

Also, a shot of Mr. Lion in diaper bag prison. He makes all our hospital trips.

Medical Bill

The hospital bill arrived for the birth of Ren. Total fee: $13000. Whew...glad I have health care.

Ren has been very fussy lately, and we're going crazy trying to find out why she suffers so much.

Here's a first: today when I was trying to calm her down, I fired up the mobile. Usually she doesn't notice much, but as it spun, she stared at it, transfixed. It was neat to watch her rapt attention. Here's what she sees:

Ren and Mr. Lion

Ren has figured out how to hold onto things. As a demonstration, check out this picture of Ren holding her guardian and older brother, Mr. Lion. Adorable, no?

Gifts

I haven't thought to mention it, but we've recieved a lot more gifts and cards by mail from various people. I thank each and every last one of you. It's cool to get all this correspondence. Feel free to always call, as well.

It's kinda funny now, people calling the house, because it's like spinning a roulette wheel. Sometimes we'll be in a lull and bored and eager to talk to you. Other times, we're juggling another phone, and a baby, and we want you to go away just then. But we sure want to talk to you, so keep calling!

In case you're wondering about this picture, I guess the name "Ren" is ambiguous to a lot of people, because some folks have decided she's a boy. The balloon in this picture is 10 days old and still up, amazingly.

Goodbye Yasuko

Hiroko's mom, Yasuko, went home Saturday, after spending exactly a month with us. She was a wonderful guest who looked forward to every opportunity to take are of Ren , and cooked great meals as well. We will miss her. The visit was a reminder of how important family is. I hope we will get to return the favor, and bring Ren to Japan, as soon as we can.

Exchange Meeting

A tradition in the Soka Gakkai, our Buddhist organization, is that when an experienced member travels overseas, a special meeting is held so they can meet local members. This is called the "exchange meeting". We held this last Saturday, when Yasuko got to meet a lot of prominent local Buddhists.

It was also the first time we'd had more than one or two people over to see Ren. Everyone has been eagerly awaiting a chance to meet her and see how we all are doing. Plus my parents were there! This made it a big and very special meeting for everyone! I was very busy managing the meeting and got only a couple good pictures.

The biggest part of the meeting was Yasuko giving her experience in faith. She talked a lot about how important Hiroko was to her family, and what a miracle it is that she could give birth and carry on the legacy given her childhood problems. I got the impression my marriage to Hiroko was even more important to her family than it was to me. I was glad everyone got to hear the story.

Then we brought out Ren so everyone could see her. Lots of people have had colds so her visit was brief, but I guess this counted as her introduction to our faith community.

Marcus Dunleavy also played spanish guitar after the meeting. He's one of a number of local Buddhist artists I'm lucky enough to know. By coincidence, he played a version of "Over the Rainbow", the same song I used to play for Ren when she was in her mom's belly. Marcus is second to the left in the above picture.

I wrote a little more about my parents visit here at my blog for myself.

A couple more pictures:

Whither Ren?

Okay, I know, I haven't posted in ten days. Y'all are probably breaking your mice clicking "refresh" soyou can see more Ren pics. I can't even claim that I haven't posted because we've been busy with the baby. Ren has been a great and easy baby, sleeping a lot (even at night) and often quite quiet even when she isn't sleeping.

Plus she's super-cute. Even more now that she's developed a couple weeks into a full human instead of a just-outta-the-womb baby.

The only real news I have to report is that she had some big gas problems. They kept her up a lot at night, and she'd scream and scream from the pain. We changed our brand of formula and it's made a big difference.

I think a lot about looking forward to doing things with Ren this summer.

Ren's First Moments with Hiroko

When I posted an hour after the birth, I mentioned a video, which I'm finally posting. It's my first use of youtube. This video is the first minute between mom and daughter, seconds after Ren was first handed to Hiroko. Check it out below:



But that won't work for some of you. You can head over to the direct video URL by clicking this link.

Ren/Mr. Lion pics

Okay, you decide. Is this a picture of:

• A baby moth-human hybrid, in pupae stage
• Baby Hannibal Lecter
• Baburrito
• My daughter, swaddled and ready to sleep

I went back and cleaned up all the photos I've posted earlier. Lots got deleted because they were blurry and/or duplicates. Also,
Here are a few more pictures.

You might have seen a few of these if you saw Mr. Lion's recent post on my personal blog. These pictures include a few more pictures of the hospital, some pictures of Ren playing with Mr. Lion, and Ren's arrival home. She went right to the nursery, and to the crib given to us by my mom and dad.

I don't have a lot to report. Ren has been a very easy baby. She is as well, as I have noted earlier, the cutest baby in the history of man. So she's got that going for her.

Yesterday we composed a letter to the president of the Soka Gakkai, our Buddhist organization, telling him all about the baby. It also thanked him for the middle name. This saturday we'll have a meeting at our house where a bunch of our Buddhist friends will get a chance to meet Ren and usher her into the community. My parents will also drive into town (for the 3 day weekend) and meet her for the first time as well!!

Some More Pics

I didn't try to filter these at all, just dumped everything on the camera. These pics are not nearly as good as yesterday's. But if you're dying for more shots, Here they are.

I'm a Daddy

I see trees of green
Red roses too I see 'em bloom
For me and for you And I think to myself
What a wonderful world.

This is the first song that came on the radio, how about that?

Ren Akiko Goodfriend, born 1pm today, 7lb3oz. Everything smooth and easy. More later.

You can call tonight but I might not answer...I'll try to answer tomorrow. You can _ask_ about visiting tomorrow afternoon.

Here Are The Pictures!!
Movie to follow at a later date.

Baby Julianna Visits

Yesterday, our friend Jennifer came by with her new baby daughter, Julianna. Julianna was born 10 weeks ago and this is the first time we have seen her. Jennifer's sister Lisa, also a friend of our family, was there. The visit was great and it was cool for me to see a baby trying out our nursery.

Hiroko and Yasuko have continued to have fun working to perfect the nursery. On Saturday the three of us went to Babies 'R Us to do some shopping, and Ren's room looks great.

I created this photo set which includes pictures of Julianna's visit, and some shots of the nursery. Hiroko really wanted these up so everyone could see. She's done a great job decorating our house. My favorite picture is this one of Yasuko admiring the mobile. Hiroko also took this photo showing a baby's eye view of the mobile.

With Ren not yet here, Yasuko hasn't had a lot to do around the house. She did break out some colored pencils I bought a while back and drew a picture of the flowers on our kitchen table, which I purchased below. She's since been to an art store to purchase some oil pastels and paper, so there may be more to come. Here's a picture of the original flowers, for comparison.