Ren Goodfriend

Random Video

2010-01-19T11:00:00.002-06:00

Hmm, for all the pressure I get to put up new pictures and videos, nobody every looks at them. The stuff I've been posting over the last few weeks has, like, 2 views. No exaggeration. But anyway.

A couple random videos from last fall. The first is a song about color that Ren picked up from day care and sang for weeks.

The second is Ren spontaneously reading to her stuffed animals in bed.

Quick Trip to Kentucky

2010-01-12T12:57:00.002-06:00

Back in I believe September, Ren and I flew down to Kentucky for the weekend so Grandma and Grandpa could get in some Ren time. I took a total of 4 usable pictures while we were down there. Here they are.

Ren and Juliana Farm Videos

2010-01-05T08:49:00.003-06:00

Between Halloween, Christmas, and the birthday party, I've got so much stuff queued up. So for my huge readership of, like, 2 people, here's some video of Ren and Juliana together right before we went to the farm.

To say that these two get along would be...an understatement...

Ren and Juliana at the Farm

2009-12-29T08:51:00.004-06:00

Juliana is Ren's good friend. She's 3 months older than Ren and the daughter of our friends Jennifer and Mike Woods. Ren constantly talks about Juliana, and when she gets to see her next and stuff. It's because of days like this.

So in early October, the three of us drove to the Woods' house in Wisconsin. We met up with Juliana, Jennifer, Mike, and Mike's mom. Then all of us drove out to one of those October farm attractions. This was a truly fantastic day and we all had a great deal of fun. I'm posting the photos today, then video over the next day or so.

Here are the photos.

A couple of my favorites:

Ren with Grapes in Her Mouth

2009-12-28T15:58:00.003-06:00

I find this one really hilarious. Ren thought this up all on her own.

Ren at the Zoo

2009-12-28T15:49:00.003-06:00

Here's a whole bunch of pictures of Ren at Brookfield Zoo. This is a trip with Ren, Hiroko, and a friend of the family.

Also, from around this period, here are a couple cute single shots of Ren:

Here's also a shot of Ren in what was, at the time, her brand new twin-sized bed. No more crib for Big Girl Ren:

Ren and Kai

2009-12-21T15:30:00.002-06:00

Here's a couple cute pics of Ren with her friend Kai.

Ren and the Great Outdoors

2009-12-19T09:07:00.001-06:00

Here's a video of Ren making bubbles, and one of her sliding and attacking the camera.

Foreign Coins

2009-12-17T14:04:00.003-06:00

Hi all,

First of all, I never realized/intended for this to be the ONLY avenue for examining videos/pictures of Ren.

Any time you want you can click through a video to see all the other videos I've made.

Also any time you can click at a still picture and see everything I've ever uploaded to pictures.

Yet there are a lot of people who apparently only ever see this stuff when I specifically feature it here. All right. Accordingly, I'll be posting a backlog of old stuff.

So here's a 6 month old video of Ren playing with a box of coins from all over the world. These were given to her by her aunt Gina, who gets a lot of opportunities for world travel. Ren likes to get them down and play with them quite frequently.

Ren 2 1/2 Birthday

2009-08-20T11:33:00.001-06:00

We're celebrating Ren's half birthdays instead of birthdays, because would you rather celebrate on July 4 with all your relatives, perfect weather, and fireworks, or on January 4, right after everyone's gone home for Christmas and it's like -10 outside?

Anyway, this was the first big birthday celebration. Here's a video.

Costa Rica 2009

2009-08-11T14:46:00.001-06:00

A Flickr set with all our Costa Rica pics.

Costa Rica 2009

Ren vs. Alphabet

2009-08-10T13:58:00.002-06:00

Hi,

A couple videos of Ren singing the alphabet. These are good for just getting an idea of where she is developmentally.

Except that, these are only a couple months old, and she's advanced so much it just seems silly. She's learning new phrases and speaking in complete sentences all the time now. But anyway they're fairly cute.

Ren vs. Baby Chick, and Strawberries.

2009-08-07T10:15:00.002-06:00

I forgot/was too busy to post yesterday, so here's two (unrelated) today.

First, Ren loves to play with her food. We try to discourage it, of course, to some degree. But playing with food is better than getting bored and having a fit or bothering us while we're trying to eat. So sometimes we indulge. Here's an example.

As with virtually all stuff like this, we didn't invent this, this is all Ren.

Here's a video of Ren at the zoo. For a long time, Ren was very terrified of animals, particularly cats and dogs. She's finally getting over it. Here's a picture of Ren touching a baby chick...and surviving...

Gun and Wrap, respectively

2009-08-05T13:28:00.002-06:00

Here's two more videos if Ren playing with various bubble-related things. In both cases, she takes it to the next level by making a game of it. Yep, my daughter all right.

Ren and Bubble Gun

2009-08-04T19:58:00.002-06:00

Some time ago Grandma gave Ren a bubble gun. Here's a couple videos of Ren using it.

Flight of the Bumble Ren

2009-08-03T10:06:00.002-06:00

Hi all.

I'm going to be posting videos every day (or almost) for a long while. I've got a long backlog of vids I uploaded but never posted to get through, then I'll start on all the videos from our late July trip to Costa Rica (more on that later).

So, this one is really old. We've got a DVD that's got a segment where insects run/fly around to the tune of "Flight of the Bumblebee". This is how Ren reacts. Note that we didn't train her to do this or anything. Quite the contrary; I'm running around with Ren because every time the song comes on she pulls me off the couch and makes me run with her.

Ren says Cheese

2009-05-21T15:20:00.002-06:00

Our friend Ron taught Ren to say "cheese" when she sees a camera. This video is just Ren being cute on the couch.

Ren vs. Chopsticks

2009-05-14T10:21:00.000-06:00

These noodles, by the way, are delicious.

Ren in winter

2009-05-12T07:42:00.002-06:00

These next two videos will give you an idea of how far behind I am in posting videos. These two are from Ren playing outdoors in winter time. Thank goodness this snow is gone now.

This first one is just Ren at play. She's awfully excited about snow. More than me.

This one demonstrates that Ren knows what to say when one sees Santa:

2009-05-07T12:22:00.000-06:00

I got a package with lots of big strips of bubble wrap. Here's the result:

Recent Photos of Ren

2009-04-14T10:34:00.004-06:00

Today is photo day. I'm sharing all the pictures we've taken with Ren since around Christmas. Here is the set of pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

This is Ren licking a spoon as I make cookies:

Ren puts herself in a box:

Family self-photo:

Ren grabs a blanket and decides to take a nap:

Ren and a good friend:

Baby Ren vs. Hammer Heads

2009-04-13T12:45:00.005-06:00

I've got about ten new videos and numerous new pictures to post over the next couple weeks. These are going back to the start of the year.

First off, you may recall that Ren loves the popcap game "Chuzzle". We also found she liked "Hammer Heads". These videos show the great value of having a tablet PC...because it's great for babies to manipulate. She obviously really loves playing the game and enjoys the music.

Lots of popcap games play ideally on a tablet. I don't think a two year old could do this with a mouse, but I know she'll do it for hours with a pen. Tragically the tablet has died. But these games are great for kids.

It's not in the video, but this game always says "Ready? Go!" at the start of a new level. Even months later Ren is still saying this every time she's about to try something.

I'm going to send this blog entry to the manufacturer, actually. I'm sure they'll like seeing their consumer enjoy their product...even if it's not the typical target demographic. :)

Winter Ren '08

2009-02-10T08:54:00.003-06:00

Here is a new set of pictures of Ren. This covers a day I took her to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair (the giant chess set and the Oscar Meyer Wiener mobile) and a day Hiroko took Ren for a walk outside. Ren really likes snow, particularly stomping in it.

This is the last set until I download the camera again. Enjoy.

Halloween '08 Stills

2009-02-05T11:28:00.003-06:00

Stillshots of Ren at Halloween 2008. This includes both the big Berwyn bash at Proska Park, plus actual trick or treating. Here are some favorites. She does look especially cute in this set, I must say:

Old Photos of Ren

2009-02-02T13:51:00.002-06:00

Hi. Hiroko's always reminding me that we have lots of still photos of Ren that I always forget to share. Folks domestically might know how to surf my Flickr site and find them, but the certainly don't in Japan. Worse, a lot fo the time I forget to mark them public anwyay. So this week is picture week.

Here's a set of pictures of Ren from all last summer. Yes, it's been that long since I posted stillshots. Here's a few specific ones I like:

In the back of the last one, you can see me lounging in a t-shirt in the shade. Boy, I miss summer.

Ren on Halloween Night

2009-01-30T08:17:00.003-06:00

More of Tiger Ren. We went up and down my block, visiting about ten houses. I kept striking up conversations with everyone, so I think it took us about 3 hours just to go this short distance. I video'ed Ren's very first trick or treat here, with my neighbor Kathy. I don't know if she was waiting specifically for us, but she sure was glad to see us.

It was a fun night. Ren at first of course had no idea what was going on, then figured out she was supposed to get stuff, then eventually figured out that it was candy. She kept trying to eat it through the wrapper.

Amusingly, in the second video she's caught on to the idea in reverse, and kept trying to give the lady her candy.

Ren at Berwyn Halloween Party

2009-01-23T15:46:00.001-06:00

Hi. I haven't exactly been diligent in keeping up the videos and pics, have I? We have a huge backlog because I always forget to post. Lazy am I.

These two are from a huge Berwyn Halloween party. The Parks District converts Berwyn's largest park to a haunted forest, plus there's food, live music, pumpkins, hayrides, etc. Ren's costume is a tiger we got at a secondhand store. She loves it. Once when we were gone and a babysitter had Ren, she got it from her stored clothes and cried and cried until the babysitter put her in it.

Ren also loves dancing, as these two videos show...

Ren With Alphabet Toy

2008-12-22T09:48:00.001-06:00

This is baby Ren around, oh, October or so, with an alphabet toy. You can get an idea of her language development here.

Ren Watches a Juggler

2008-12-12T09:43:00.002-06:00

A whole bunch of new videos are coming. This one is from late November, when I took Ren to my office for a couple of hours. This video is of my buddy Dan, showing off his juggling skills for an appreciative baby. Dan knitted the balls himself.

Dan, now you're famous.

Ren knows her Japanese colors

2008-12-01T15:31:00.001-06:00

So...this video isn't going to make a lot of sense if you don't speak Japanese.

What's amazing to me is this is only a couple months old. Nowadays Ren's learning more than a word a day and starting to string them together. Two or three weeks ago I could have listed all the words she knows, but now she keeps surprising me.

Running in Circles

2008-11-12T09:11:00.001-06:00

Continuing with the musical theme, here are two videos of Ren running in circles. Which is more interesting than it sounds. Specifically, Ren builds herself a little obstacle course (occasionally using me as an obstacle) and then runs around it. Check it out.

Ren and Music

2008-11-10T09:03:00.003-06:00

Ren loves her music. She has lots of toys that play different songs on cue. She knows which key plays which song, and can play the same song on different toys at once, or hear a song on TV and find it on one of her toys.

She loves music with a heavy beat the most, and I've seen her rock out to Zeppelin, for instance.

Here's a couple great vids of Ren playing to music with mommy.

Ren vs. Garden Hose

2008-10-24T13:42:00.003-06:00

A video of a happy baby with a garden hose. It's much too cold outside to do this, now.

Water Crayons

2008-10-06T10:34:00.001-06:00

The last set of videos from my most recent uploads are two videos of Ren playing with water crayons in the back yard. Don't get excited; neither of these videos is very good. But we have them.

These videos make me miss summer.

Ren Gets Hit With Water

2008-10-03T13:49:00.001-06:00

As described. This was at a summer party we were at. Of all my recently done videos, this is my favorite.

Ren Plays With Crayons

2008-09-30T12:50:00.003-06:00

Hi,

There are some new videos coming. We've taken some nice ones in the last few days that make me laugh out loud.

Prior to a video, I thought I'd mention that Ren is developing in really satisfactory ways. I can say without equivocation that she is the happiest person I know. She's constantly in a great mood, and seems to really be able to self-manage staying there. She's really a delight to spend an evening with because it's her driving the action, and coming up with new fun stuff to do. The first floor of the house is like a big playground for keeping both herself and us amused. Some stuff from the last few days:

She's learning some food words and using them to make requests. Prior to this if a food item came into her field of view (say, someone opened the fridge), she'd point, and sometimes she'd pull us to the kitchen. But now she'll just tell me she wants "apple" or "water".
Hiroko was lying on the floor, and Ren found a blanket, dragged it on top of her, and tucked her in.
Ren laid out a napkin on the floor, put one of her puppet-dolls on top of it, went and found a diaper, and "changed" the doll. Wish we'd got her on camera doing this, but we couldn't get her to repeat it.
When she wakes in the morning, she'll sing portions of various songs she knows. She's starting to sequence groups of them together, in particular making progress on "The Alphabet Song".
A couple of nights ago, she spontaneously hit me in the head with a block. I sternly told her no, and she reacted by beating herself a couple times with the block to demonstrate that it didn't hurt. When I told her no to that, she quickly tucked the block away and started playing some music. I could see an adult reacting to being told not to do in just about the same fashion.
It's probably true of other babies (again, I have no frame of reference) but I'm always startled by how perceptive she is. She knows the moods of everyone in the house and her behavior changes with our moods (even we aren't that perceptive about our moods). She knows when I'm trying to distract her. She has no problem with me roving the house (often when it's just the two of us, we leave each other alone) but if I go into the basement, she becomes instantly upset, even if she didn't see or hear me go...I don't know how she knows.

Since we're talking about behavior, I'll comment on the behavior in these videos. As I'm sure some of you have heard my say, Ren loves to arrange things. She categorizes food when we give her different types. She moves objects (always one by one) between two points, and then back again. I once watched her arrange a big stack of magazines into a complex geometric pattern on the floor.

These two vids are from when I took her to this year's Printers Row Book Fair. They had this kids' area, and I sat Ren down and showed her these crayons. She had absolutely zero interest in coloring (no matter how much I demonstrated it), but was only interested in gathering and arranging the crayons. These videos don't really show the intensity of the behavior we've seen other times, but here they are.

By the way, the band in the background was an alt-rock band specializing in kids' songs (think They Might Be Giants) and they were awesome.

Three Generations of Taguchi

2008-09-26T07:24:00.001-06:00

In mid-May, I went to Florida for the weekend. At the same time, Hiroko's mom came to visit. I barely got to see her while she was here, but I did take this awesome film of Three Generations of Taguchi playing with a door. Share and enjoy.

Baby Ren in swing

2008-09-04T09:20:00.002-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted after promises. Busy.

Here are a couple older pictures of Ren in a swing. Neither is very good...have to push swing and film at the same time. Right after I took these, we got caught in a heavy downpour.

Ren Dances with her Piano

2008-08-26T13:39:00.001-06:00

Here's one my mom requested I post long ago. Ren loves to dance with her piano. This is not a one time thing; she's done this dozens of times. The piano plays 2 dozen songs, but it has to be this song or she gets upset.

Cute.

I'm back

2008-08-25T14:13:00.001-06:00

Hi, Okay. I'm back and ready to post up a whole slew of pictures and films throughout the next couple weeks. I finally got around to getting everything off the camera, so now you get to enjoy. Today's set is an unexciting slew of pictures that I don't know when/where they were taken. Here's the set.

Green Ball Redux

2008-05-09T07:27:00.002-06:00

Victorious Ren enjoys her ball.

Hey, I just thought I'd mention that this was just some abandoned ball at the playground, and did not belong to those two kids. So it's not like Ren was taking it from them.

Ren vs. Little Green Ball

2008-05-08T12:18:00.004-06:00

Well, here it is. This is, in my opinion, the best video I have yet made. It has a story and a happy ending, and everything. Real pathos, here. The weird background sound is me laughing.

Anyway, I thought I'd mention some other words. Ren says "baba" when she wants a banana. She also loves to say "bye bye" at every opportunity. Pretty much any time anyone walks away from her, these days.

What? I'm working.

2008-05-06T10:09:00.002-06:00

Isn't this awesome?

Good news: Ren has her first word. Bad news: it's a made up word. It definitely means something to her, and she uses it consistently. Whenever she wants something, she points at it, looks to one of us, and says "Ish? Ish?" Our guess is that she's saying "this".

Video Week -- Ren vs. Playground

2008-05-05T13:48:00.002-06:00

I finally got loaded up some videos I've been talking about. This week I'll be posting three of Ren playing at a playground about a mile and a half from our house. This was on a super-beautiful summer day in mid-April when the three of us walked over.

I'll spread these out across the week. Here's the first.

Ren Goes on an Adventure

2008-04-18T08:51:00.003-06:00

Continuing the theme from yesterday, here's the front yard. This next video really gives insight into the baby world. If you watch Ren's face, you can sort of see what it's like when absolutely everything is interesting.

And the return trip.

Ren vs. Big Red Ball

2008-04-17T13:59:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone. Last weekend (while I was at the grocery) Hiroko took Ren out to the yard to play,a nd took some videos as well. A couple fo these are pretty good.

This first one is in the backyard. Observant viewers will notice that we bought some patio furniture. Also, Ren is learning to "talk" all the time. Also, you can see Hiroko's shadow.

In this next one, Ren notices the neighbor dog. Not so much to see here.

Finally, more of Ren playing freely in the back yard. You can really see her motor skills and sense of autonomy.

Tomorrow or so, front yard.

Walking Baby

2008-04-11T15:02:00.002-06:00

Ren learned to walk. Lots of mini-films from around that time. Here we go.

Here's the very first walking video, in which Ren also demonstrates her toybox-emptying skills:

We thought a few steps were a big deal back then...now she walks everywhere. Anywhere, here's a few seconds later. Ren sure wants the camera:

Within a few days, as you can see in the following, she's learned to walk and use a cell phone at the same time. This will come on handy in High School:

And here's Ren stumbling about like a drunken sailor, and attacking mommy:

Finally, just a quick movie I did of Ren playing with a plastic top, which I found funny:

Happy Easter 2008

2008-04-11T15:00:00.002-06:00

It's obviously, like, a month late. Hiroko bought a pair of bunny ears around Easter. I would have thought this would just psych a baby out, but Ren loved these, on either us or her. Here are some pictures of her wearing them in this set.

Sickness

2008-02-23T13:08:00.003-06:00

It seemed like longer, but I just looked it up.

Ending and including yesterday, our family has just been sick for 28 days straight. In the heart of a very cold winter, and at a time when I had to work anyway.

All of us got sick multiple times, except for myself...I was well throughout, until I came down with a hellish 12-day chest infection. Now except for a final little sniffle, it's all over.

I know in perspective to the hardship of the world, etc., that it's no big deal. But having a sick kid, especially when one is sick at the same time, just sucks. It's been some of the hardest weeks I've had in years.

Summer is coming. We are all well again.

Some Big Firsts For Ren

2008-02-06T11:32:00.001-06:00

Monday about 5:30 we were all lying about on the floor of the living room, surrounded by pillows and blankets. Ren was standing on her own, looking at me. Suddenly, she started taking steps forward. I called Hiroko's attention, and we watched as Ren walked a couple feet toward my waiting arms. I thought it was cool the three of us could share this first moment. Even Ren appeared astonished. She repeated the trick one time with prompting, and tried again but couldn't seem to get it afterward. I'm sure it won't be much time now.

Yesterday was Ren's first day in day care. Hiroko has a new full-time night shift job, so there are some times when neither of us is available to care for Ren. Ren will be in day care twice a week.

She hasn't had any significant time under others' care, and we were mutually worried about it. But her first day went smoothly according to her caretakers, and I witnessed a couple hours there. Now between the play, socializing, and detachment from us, we are optimistic that day care will be a positive experience for her.

Ren Plays Peekaboo

2008-01-29T08:55:00.001-06:00

This is the last vid for a while, as far as I know. This is one last one from Christmas, of Ren and Grandma playing peekaboo together.

You can ignore the audio, which is my dad and brother discussing the upcoming presidential caucuses.

Ren with Uncle Joe

2008-01-21T10:42:00.000-06:00

Ren's uncle Joe came for Christmas, and they got to meet for the first time. They really took to each other and Joe was an awesome and gentle uncle with her. It was really neat to see them together.

Here's a video I made. The audio is rather spoiled by my dad, who I guess didn't realize I was filming. Other than that, this is really cute.

Ren's first standing video!

2008-01-17T09:25:00.001-06:00

While everyone was in town for Christmas, I was lucky enough to catch Ren on video standing. She'd been doing it for a couple weeks, but because of her intense desire for the camera, I could never get it on film. Here she's distracted enough not to notice, so you all get to see this.

There's a really funny bit when Ren notices me at the end and instantly needs the camera. Uh oh! As Joe said, "Hey, no paparazzi!"

Ren's first words

2008-01-16T16:20:00.000-06:00

Hi all. I'm not going to post a video today, because there's other news, and I'm busy anyway.

The other news is that Ren now says "dada", "mama", and "baby" on cue. She talks constantly and everything else is a stream of nonsense syllables, but if we draw her attention, she'll say these things. It's actually pretty cool.

Also, there are a couple shots from Christmas dinner where you can see Ren, over at this post on my blog.

Ren plays with her new cube.

2008-01-14T09:56:00.000-06:00

Sometime before Christmas, a Buddhist friend of ours spontaneously brought by this gift for Ren. she's seen playing with it just out of the box. This is a really cute video. Do you get the impression Ren likes it? There are also a couple (underlit) stills I took, here and here.

Ren's Gifts From Kathy

2008-01-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

Hi all.

The holidays have come and gone and I've uploaded all the pictures and photos. That means I'll be posting pictures and videos for the next few days, so stay tuned.

One of the coolest gifts we got was from our next door neighbor Kathy. She surprised us with a birthday gift for Ren! Ren got a nice new outfit and a pull toy. I'll be printing pictures from this set for Kathy right away. Thanks!

Ren at the Center

2008-01-03T12:50:00.001-06:00

There will be more updates as soon as I clear the camera. It remains hard to take pictures/video now that Ren is very camera-aware.

Here's a quick picture our friend Jennifer Woods took of Ren with Jennifer's baby, at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Ren and Hiroko Play on the Floor Together

2007-12-26T08:59:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-19T11:30:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-18T15:49:00.001-06:00

Who wins? Only you can decide.

This one's kind of blurry.

Thanksgiving shots

2007-12-17T09:53:00.001-06:00

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

2007-12-14T09:44:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-12T14:13:00.001-06:00

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

2007-11-28T11:34:00.000-06:00

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!!

2007-11-02T10:07:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-01T08:17:00.001-06:00

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

2007-10-30T10:18:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-29T07:53:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-09T15:25:00.001-06:00

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

2007-10-04T10:40:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-10-04T10:35:00.000-06:00

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?

2007-10-03T13:35:00.001-06:00

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

2007-10-03T09:25:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-02T09:25:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-10-01T09:27:00.001-06:00

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

2007-09-28T08:38:00.000-06:00

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

2007-09-28T08:08:00.000-06:00

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

2007-09-27T09:57:00.000-06:00

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

2007-09-27T09:47:00.000-06:00

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

2007-09-26T19:32:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-21T21:06:00.000-06:00

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:

Various pictures of Ren about the house.
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.
Pictures of the day I took Ren to work when there was a company picnic.

A couple short Ren vids

2007-04-05T07:35:00.000-06:00

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

2007-04-02T09:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-03-30T12:27:00.000-06:00

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.

2007-03-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

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

Some Updates

2007-03-26T11:35:00.000-06:00

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

2007-03-01T13:50:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-25T17:45:00.000-06:00

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

Various Ren Pictures

2007-02-25T17:25:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-19T18:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-31T15:15:00.000-06:00

Two words: Diaper Snake.

Health Update and General Comment

2007-01-28T20:55:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-27T16:18:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-24T15:49:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-23T09:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-22T09:26:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-19T14:43:00.000-06:00

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: