Mason Shoma

I’ve been FRAMED!

That is all.

5 months old. Can you believe it? I feels just like yesterday that I was turning 4 months old. I can’t believe how fast time is flying by.

Without a doubt, I have been growing a lot these past 5 months. But I feel like this last month was more developmental growth than size. I think my weight gain is tapering off and leveling out. Instead of packing on the baby fat that is a sign of a healthy well-fed baby, I have been working on all my motor skills. As you know I can now roll over with ease. I am getting a lot more dexterous and can easily grab things that I want. These are all small steps in my developmental growth. I’m even eating some solid foods now. Next thing you know I’ll be crawling, then walking, and then running around the house. I’m not sure if Mommy and Daddy are ready for me to grow up that fast, but they are definitely loving the journey! What an awesome 5 months!

Month by month growth:

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Mommy and Daddy are always finding new ways to entertain me. A lot of the things they do are random, off-the-cuff, one-time, gags that they just do, not really expecting much reaction from me. But the most weird things make me laugh and I get hooked.

Take today for example. They bought toothpaste and Daddy picked them up to put them away, but before he did he slapped them together and did a kind of cheer. It cracked me up. Seeing that reaction, he did it again…and again and again. I kept laughing and laughing. It never got old. Even much later in the day when he finally got around to recording it, I still found it hilarious! I mean, come on, it’s a cheer using toothpaste! That’s comedy gold!

I don’t know why I cross my legs like that. Apparently I do it a lot. I wasn’t even aware that I do it. Maybe it makes me feel secure. I don’t know. It’s not that weird, is it?

In Japan, there are a lot of aisatsu to remember. Aisatsu are kind of like greetings, but overall are just the polite and proper thing to say in different situations. Before we eat, we put our hands together and say “itadakimasu” which is like thanks for the food and the people who made it. When we finish eating, we say “gochisousama deshita” which means thanks for the meal we received. Mommy and Daddy are teaching me these things now that I’m starting to eat solid foods. I like the first one because it means I get food! I’m not a fan of the second one. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful for the meal I received. It’s just that when I say “gochisousama deshita“, it means there is no more food. I do not like it when there is no more food.

My “gochisousama deshita” is usually followed by a lot of cries for more food. I still haven’t seemed to realize that I still get nursed after my solid foods. I think I’ll pick up on it someday.

Just because I’m a baby and haven’t learned how to talk yet, doesn’t mean I don’t have a voice. I actually have a lot to say. Every once in a while I speak up and let everyone know what I’m thinking and I do so eloquently and deliberately. I will not be silenced. I have a voice!

I think I’m getting too big for my play mat. No matter how I’m positioned, it seems that part of me is bumping up again the supports or the toys hanging from it. If I kick my likes, which I like to do, the whole thing shakes. My play mat is fun, but it might not be sturdy enough to last very long.

If I’m going to be able to crawl, I’m going to need to increase my upper body strength. Time for some push-ups! Feel the burn!

I have a new toy. I love my teething ring, but Mommy and Daddy wanted to get me a rattle so that I can practice gripping things using my thumbs. For the most part, I grip only with my fingers and my thumbs are folded in on my palm. This rattle/teether is supposed to help me practice gripping with my evolution-provided opposable thumbs. So far, I haven’t quite worked it out, but I have a feeling that I’ll get used to it and end up loving it.

As you know, babies at my age are known for putting everything within reach straight into their mouth. I am no different. Whatever I can get my hands on, I shove right into my mouth, taking advantage of my new found dexterity. But sometimes I don’t even have to use my hands. Things just line up with my mouth, especially the straps on my baby carriers. Mommy and Daddy have tried to spare the carriers from my chewing and drool by wrapping some towel protectors around the straps. They work for a while, but my drool gets through eventually.

Oh, if you think I look sleepy in the above picture, I am. My baby carriers easily lull me to sleep. This is me a few minutes before I fall asleep.

With the lockdown rescinded and the local COVID-19 case numbers well below 100 people a day, more restaurants are re-opening. After watching Mommy’s friend dance, Mommy and Daddy had lunch in a restaurant, the first time in a very long time! They chose a lunch buffet in the same facility as the Hawaiian festival, so that they could continue to watch the performances while eating lunch. This was my first time in a restaurant and I think I behaved really well. I fell asleep before we got there and stayed asleep for quite a while. Mommy and Daddy took turns getting food while the other watched over me and rocked me in my stroller. Even when I woke up I was very well behaved. I didn’t cry or fuss at all. I just sat in my stroller, watching Mommy and Daddy eat all kinds of different foods. I’ve become fascinated by all kinds of foods and am very aware of what Mommy and Daddy eat. At meal time at home I just watch them eat. I can’t wait until I get to eat all that food!

We went to a Hawaiian festival today to see Mommy’s friend dance hula. She did a really good job…at least based on the reactions of Mommy and Daddy. To be honest, I didn’t really watch the dancing. I was more focused on watching Mommy and Daddy watching the hula dancing.

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The older I get, the more things I need. Nowadays when I go holoholo I need some kind of entertainment to play with in my stroller. I love looking at the world go by, but sometimes I need to do something with my hands and mouth. For that, I need a good baby book, both crinkly and chewable.

I still get antenna hair every so often. Now that my hair is longer, I get better reception.

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I’ve grown a lot in the past few months. But no matter how big I get, my favorite place to be is in Mommy or Daddy’s arms. In Daddy’s case, that includes adhered to his chest like a tree frog (no arms required). It has always been one of my comfy places. This was me 3 months ago, and this is me now.

Still a tree frog.

I was very happy to see that I received a couple of packages today. One package was from Grandma and Grandpa, and I’ll talk more about that at a later date, but the other one was from my cousins and Aunty and Uncle! I got a couple of cards, a couple of books, a lovie, and a couple of cool outfits! They were all awesome and very thoughtful gifts and I love them! The cards were really cool! They were made by my cousins who are very artistic and creative.

I was surprised to see that the outfits were labeled as size 18M. I’m still a baby and not so good with numbers yet, but that is a much bigger number than my nearly 5-months age. But I have been wearing much larger sizes like 9M since i was 3-months old, so I tried them on. Talk about a comfy fit! It looks good on me!

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I think I need to have a discussion with they committee or board who decides baby clothes sizes. They may have to adjust their size chart to accommodate Mason-sized babies.

Getting on my tummy is pretty easy for me now, but I still haven’t worked out how to crawl. I can’t quite get up on my hands and knees. The harder I try to move forward, the more I go backward. It is very odd. What is even weirder, is that I have quite good control of my reversing and don’t bump into anything. I managed to reverse my way from my play mat to under the coffee table without bumping into anything.

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I just kind of hung out there under the coffee table for a while, not fussing or showing any discomfort. It was a major surprise when Daddy scooped me up from under the table and then noticed that I had pooped, a lot! So much so that it leaked out the front of my diaper and got all over my belly. It even got on Daddy’s shirt because he carried me before he noticed the smell and realized I had messed my diaper. Clean up was tough as the poo got covered every inch in the front of my diaper.

It was surprising to Mommy and Daddy because they didn’t hear me poo like usual. Recently I have been having some “silent poos” or “ninja poos”. The other surprising thing is that I gave no sign that I had pooed. I didn’t look or act uncomfortable at all. If anything, I looked like I was in a better mood than usual. Probably because I was relieved from having a cleansing bowel movement. Now Mommy and Daddy are going to be suspicious of me whenever I am in a good mood and will be checking my diaper more often.

I think the more I learn to do, the more ways there are for me to get frustrated. I had a crying fit today. It was very sudden. No one knows what happened, including me. It probably was a combination of being tired, hungry and frustrated (the baby crying fit trifecta). I was happily gnawing on my teething ring and then all of a sudden I started crying. It took a while for me to calm down.

I think I have to start nipping these situations in the bud. I need to start showing Mommy and Daddy signs of my condition earlier so they can deal with them. Recently, I tend to push myself without any hints of being sleepy, hungry, or frustrated and then it all comes forward in a unconsolable crying fit.

I told you how easy it is for me to roll over now, right? And how I often do it at inopportune moments like when Mommy and Daddy are trying to change me, right? Well, this is the result of some over aggressive rolling over and grabbing of my changing mat.

I have a pop quiz for you. What do you think this is?

Of course it is skin folds, since the title of this post is quite clear. But what part of my body? I know it is quite difficult. Here it s a hint: it may seem like an unlikely place.

Here is another picture that may make it easier.

Now you know it is near my diaper line. So that narrows down the choices. It has to be my front, side, or belly. Any final guesses? Last chance. Okay, here comes the answer…

The answer is: back skin folds. Did you get it? That was a tough one. Most people don’t have folds on their back. To be fair, I have a lot of skin, so it might be belly folds that just got pushed to the back. I’m not even 5 months old and already I’ve got a six pack! Pretty impressive!