I’m so happy to have Daddy home! Why does he have to go to work anyway? Wouldn’t he rather stay home with me and Mommy? Wait, let me go ask him:

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Mason: Daddy, why do you have to go to work anyway?  Wouldn’t you rather stay home with me and Mommy?

Daddy: Of course I would rather stay home with you and Mommy.  But I have to go to work to earn money.

M: Why?

D: We need money to pay for things.  Without money we wouldn’t have a place to live or food to eat.

M: So grownups have to work to get things that they need and want?

D: Yes, that’s right, son.

M: …

D: Mason, do you understand why grownups have to work?

M: No, not really.  Why don’t grownups just cry and fuss until they get what they want?  That’s what I do.

D: Believe me son, some grownups do that as well.

M: I see.

Most babies start rolling over at about 4 months. By the looks of it, I may roll over at 4 weeks! Mommy and Daddy will definitely have their hands full chasing me around the house if I do.

4 weeks might be too optimistic, so I’m going to set my goal to roll over at 100 days. I better start doing those core workouts.

I told you that I often flail my hands and feet all over the place, right? Well, it makes for interesting poses if a picture is snapped at just the right time. This is one of those pictures.

Looks like I’m ready for my first rock concert!

You know, to be honest, I don’t remember this picture being taken. I actually don’t even remember the concert. I think I had too much milk to drink that night.

Daddy went back to work today so it was just Mommy and me. We are having a great time together! Mommy is doing a great job taking care of me on her own. Not only is she a really good mother, but I have been perfect angel today. I ate and slept well. I was even relatively calm during my bath. I had a great day!

I have to admit, I miss Daddy. It’s nice when we are all together as a family. I wonder when he will get home.

I just heard from Mommy that Daddy won’t be home for at least another six hours. His current job is from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm. That’s a long day. I’ve been thinking about him and wanting to see him all day. I wonder if he is doing the same?

Daddy: Yes, the entire day!

Daddy’s beard has been growing these four days that he has been home from work and he found out that it makes a very effective and natural comb. He gave me a salaryman (businessman) hairstyle that cracked Mommy up. She laughed so hard I thought she was going to tear open her stitches. Sure, I look like a middle-aged man sporting a preemptive combover, but I think I look quite Dapper.

Even though I’m only 10 days old, I am very strong and quite developed. My neck muscles are very strong and I am showing signs of nearly rolling over. Mommy and Daddy are both happy and worried that I’ll be rolling around the house before they know it. Well, they are just going to have to enjoy my time as a little immobile bundle of joy while it lasts.

I know that you have all been waiting for this big announcement. I have finally decided on a name. After a lot of consideration, deliberation, and trials, I now officially have a name.

My name is Mason Shoma

Here is some background information.

First name: Mason （メイソン）

Mason: Stone Worker, Brick Layer

Middle name: Shoma （正真）

Shoma (正真)
Combination of Mommy’ parents’ names Seigo (正剛) and Machiko (眞千子)
æ­£: right, just, correct
真: true, honest, pure

Mommy and Daddy had several possible names ready for me, but were not ready to name me until they saw me. When I was born they quickly reduced the list down to a few candidates, but then they got stuck. They weren’t sure which names were best for me. It wasn’t until they spent some time with me and I had my input as well, that they were able to finalize my name.

I am very happy with my name and am overjoyed to be able to introduce myself to you all!

Daddy just can’t seem to keep his hands off of me. I think he looks for every opportunity to pick me up and hold me. Today, especially, he has been holding me a lot. I think it is because he has to go to work tomorrow after spending four days home with me. I bet he is going to miss me a lot. I’m going to miss him a lot, too. After all, he is the one that feeds me. Wait! I think I got that mixed up. Mommy feeds me. Daddy has the big arms that cradle me and the pokey stuff on his chin. That’s right. Now I got it. Yes, I’m going to miss him a lot, too.

With a little practice and a few tweaks to procedure, bath time has become slightly more bearable with less tears. There are even moments of calm pleasure. You know what? I think I can see myself enjoying bath time in the future.

When I sleep, I sleep quite well. Mommy and Daddy keep saying how I look like a little angel. I love those nice long deep sleeps that are just so peaceful. You can see it on my face.

And then there are those beautifully comfortable sleeps that bring me to dreamland. I am so content that I thoroughly enjoy those sleeps. You can see that on my face as well.

Us babies do not come with manuals. Sure, there are a lot of books, websites, and people who have a lot of advice on how to take care of babies, and a lot of it is very helpful. But not all of it is always true for every baby.

I heard that there are babies who like being swaddled or like having blankets covering them for feelings of security. I am not one of those babies. I don’t like being wrapped up in blankets or being swaddled. Even when it looks like I’m peacefully asleep I end up actively working my way to kicking off my covers. I don’t think I’m particularly hot, I just don’t like being covered up.

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So, that’s another full day done. As before, I was very busy all day. People think it’s easy to be a baby, but they are wrong. It is no cake walk. Our lives are full of tough life decisions that will alter the flow and outcome of the day. People really shouldn’t take for granted the difficult choices we babies have to make.

I spend the majority of my day asleep. People say that it is a baby’s job to sleep. I’ve been doing my job really well. Previously, my few waking hours were spent crying, eating, peeing or pooping. But recently I have been awake and alert a lot more and taking in the world around me. I just lie there, looking at whatever is in my sightline, usually Mommy and Daddy, and working out how to operate my body. I still flail my arms and legs around aimlessly, but I’m getting a slightly better understanding for them. Apparently they are not just for removing covers from me as I sleep or making cute poses.

Look at my little doggie! He is my first pet! Mommy made him for me when I was still in her tummy. I’m still a little too young to play with him, but I’m sure he’s going to be my bestest playmate!

Mommy and Daddy are making a prediction that the poor doggie’s fur will never look better once I start playing with him because they suspect that I’m going to end up chewing on his ears and stuff. I can’t say they are wrong to think so. We’ll see.

I like hanging out with Daddy. We just talk about stuff, stare at each other, and bring each other a lot of comfort. We don’t really have to do much to enjoy this time together.

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I like my home. Did you know it has a garden view?

It might not be much, but it’s quite nice for being in the middle of a large city of 1.5 million people. We have a bunch of herbs and are waiting for our tomato, potato, and lemon plants to produce. The lettuce and radish plants have already supplied Mommy and Daddy with several salads in the past. It will be a while until I can eat anything from the garden, but it is a nice peaceful place outside where we can get some fresh air without leaving our home.

Oh, do you know what today is? It is my half-sister Katie’s birthday! She is 15 years old today! I haven’t been able to meet her yet, but I really want to see her as soon as possible. I’m sure she has a lot of things to teach me. Like what the first 15 years of life are like.

This is what she looked like when she was 9-days old and this is me

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I asked Daddy about Katie and it seems like she was born at 3316 grams. I was 3926 grams. 3926 – 3316 = 610 grams. So that means that I was 1 pound and 5.5 ounces heavier than her at birth. Wow! It is almost as if I was born as a 1-month-old baby.

I’m following in my big sisters footsteps with this blog. She had her own blog too! You should check it out.

Daddy gave me a bath today. I think he did a pretty good job. There were slightly fewer tears. He had a good teacher (Mommy), he had a good subject (me), and he has bigger hands which makes the whole process a lot easier. He was also quite fast, so that meant the bath water was still warm by the time we finished and it gave me less time to fuss. Take a look at how fast he finished bathing me.

Okay, you may have figured out that I sped up the video. I just didn’t think you would want to sit through and watch a 7 minute video of me just taking a bath. That sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it? But I guess that there are a few of you who would not mind watching 7 minutes of me doing any menial task, (I’m looking at you, Grandma). So, for those of you who are interested, here is the full length version.

It is a very good morning. I had a good sleep, 4 and 5 hours between feeding, so I woke up in a pretty good mood. Even better, Mommy and Daddy woke up well rested. They both woke up to feed me. Daddy made my supplementary formula while Mommy breastfed me. I saw some good teamwork there. I did my part too and was very cooperative.

We had such a good start to our morning that I easily went down for my morning nap. I have a feeling that today is going to be another great day!

What a long day. It’s not easy being a baby. There is so much to do. No matter how tough it is, I am loving the fact that we are doing it as a family. It is so much nicer at home than at the hospital. Today was my first full day at home and it was great. It is a learning experience for all of us. I wonder what tomorrow has in store for us.