nick.org

Less than 3 years ago, I was the proud owner of a fully populated entertainment center/bookshelf. This is not one of those small pieces of furniture, mind you, but at least 10 feet in length and 8 feet tall.

I love information - I'm essentially an information pack rat, although as you'll see, that is changing. I've kept most of my books from college - especially my math and computer science books. I really (read never) have time to read them, but just seeing them on the shelves takes me back to a time where I was younger, smarter, and more in control. =)

First came Eriko. I gave up 25% of the bookshelf as soon as her stuff began to arrive from Nagoya. There was some creative maneuvering and I ended up with more shelf space, by far.

Then came Jerry. At first, the impact was minor. A shelf for his toys. Then two. Then a shelf for his books. Then two. Then another shelf for his toys. Then another for his books.

I put quite a few of my books in storage - all the "duplicate" (or redundant) materials, or the ones of least interest to me - but I still kept quite a few CS, math, and economics books - not to mention my collection of Dr. Dobb's
magazines (which were doubling as a barrier to accessing the power cords.)

As of last Sunday, I was down to slightly less than 50% of the total space - but looking around the room, at the proliferation of toys and books, I finally bent to the forces of family.

I boxed up all my magazines (Dr. Dobbs and the Economist) and literature books, moved all of my CS books to work (where they probably won't be read either, but I wasn't using those bookshelves), and consolidated my math, economics, and Japanese language books onto a single shelf.

Jerry turned two today. Eriko and I are both amazed at how quickly the time has passed and how much he has grown. I'll post some pictures as soon as I upload them.

• The happy family.


• The cake eater!

Here I am in the bathroom on my blackberry. I've just finished writing seven emails, some of which were long, most of which may cause consternation - but all of which had me so excited that I couldn't sleep.

I didn't realize how invigorating the ownership of the development group would be. I think this goes along with my "decision" about my next move - I find it very difficult to focus on today if I don't know about tomorrow. I've got focus - I don't need to worry about when I'm going to learn Japanese or how I will figure out what to research - I know when I'll tackle those problems and several years to develop my approach.

In addition, since I no longer am responsible for our offshore group I can have a regular schedule - I'm not there yet (duh, up at 2 AM) but I can imagine doing this for several years - I can even imagine fitting a workout routine into the mix. With regularity comes the ability to have a late work night on occasion (and a day off too.) With the Xmas vacation coming up, I can spend the next 3 weeks driving hard towards getting the organization moving how I need it to be.

Eriko is in high spirits, which means that Jerry is in high spirits - Jerry is sleeping better (and we're more patient/stubborn about bouncing or feeding, which forces him to compromise and cope) and he's such a great communicator and playmate that he is a joy to be around. He forces me to engage, so I don't have to worry about doing enough with him per-se, I just need to make sure we're together as much as possible. Eriko is just amazing - she's accepting (and taking to) her duty as mother and caretaker of the house - Jerry at day-care 9 hrs a week gives her just the right amount of space, she's removed herself from the politics of chorus, has a solid network of friends, and is excited about teaching music (her dream when we met.)

This isn't a perfect or rosy future - I have huge challenges ahead and I'm going to need to be diligent on all fronts, but I'm surprised by just how excited I am. If only I could find a way to sleep...

This is an update from http://www.nick.org/2007/08/jerrys_language.php.
These are all words that Jerry is using regulary - is pronunciation isn't perfect, of course. =)

"i want"
car
truck
cheese
wheel
daddy
mama
bus
feet
boy
toy
mixer
fire truck
backhoe
phone call
popcorn
ambulance
big
small
go
nose
"up high"
down
orange juice
video
おしまい
だっこ
もっと
ない
おもい
みず
とり
どうぞ
かく
がいこつ
まる
ひこき
大きい
バビーカー
いたい
あし
みみ
かお
ぼし
め
て

Jerry appears to be learning a new word every other day now. Wow!

I took the last week off from Isilon to spend it with my family. My brother-in-law and sister were in town for the week with their three boys, Andrey, Matthew, and Nathan. Katrina came in for two days, mom & dad were here for the week, and Zack took a few days off work. It was a great week of reunion and fun.

The highlight was having lots of time to spend with Jerry. Jerry has bonded strongly with me and I found myself being pulled in one direction or another - he is really beginning to assert himself and exercise his power over me. As expected, this leads to a natural clash of wills. I've had some great examples of that:

The comb: I didn't want Jerry to put a comb in his mouth. He indicated he wanted to play with the comb, so I handed it to him - it immediately went in the mouth. I took it out, told him not to put it in his mouth, and gave it back. Boom! In the mouth. This repeated 2 or 3 times until I finally put the comb in my back pocket. Jerry was upset but after I had him calmed down I brought out the comb again. He indicated that it wasn't supposed to go in his mouth and held it tightly the rest of the evening - without it going in his mouth.

The mixer: We went to Fred Meyer on Sunday and Jerry got 3 new matchbox cars! One of them happened to be a cement mixer. I didn't realize that the mixer apparatus easily comes off and is just right for a young boy's mouth. Jerry demonstrated this to me very quickly. Of course, I didn't want the mixer in Jerry's mouth. This scenario has continued to play itself out over several days - Jerry typically shows me when the mixer is in his mouth; I promptly go to remove the mixer but he often does it for me.

He has had a cold the last few days and woke up with a fever on Tuesday morning. Tuesday night I spent holding him and laying with him, so I was _very_ tired - which means I couldn't play with him much at all last night (which makes me feel sad, just thinking about it.)

This darn thing called "work" keeps me from spending time with my son!

I spent four hours on Thursday with Jerry at his new pre-school, Nadeshiko Kids, which is run out of the home of our former mid-wife. Jerry consistently put toys in his mouth - which resulted in the toys being gently removed and washed. Sachiko recommend that we consider giving Jerry a pacifier so that he can fulfill his need to chew and learn that the toys themselves are not appropriate for chewing on.

We've never pushed a pacifier with Jerry before so coming home from work and seeing him run around with one was quite a shock. It is interesting that he is quickly learning that the pacifier is a substitute for chewing on the toys - it isn't something he needs in general. I do worry whether it will be habit-forming - but since he loves to talk and can't talk well with it in his mouth, I think the chances are low.

On Tuesday, I was watching a Mariner's game and Jerry happened to come sit on my
lap. He watched a bit before something caught his eye. He stared for a bit longer and
then it dawned on him - "poi!" he said. (Poi is Japanese for throw.)

Jerry had realized that the pitcher was throwing the ball to the catcher. We spent the next 10 minutes watching the game - with Jerry and I both noting when "poi" happened. Then Jerry hopped up, ran over to where my baseball mitt and ball were (on the shelf) and pointed at it - "boh boh" (ball).

Eriko handed him the baseball and soon he was making dents in the floor. It was such an exciting moment, for a multitude of reasons - to see his face and body language as he made the connection between what he did and what the players were doing, to have him understand exactly how to follow along, and for it all to be around baseball... it was very cool.

Today we spent about 30 minutes (total, morning + afternoon) throwing the baseball. Jerry has this mischevious streak in which he throws objects where you aren't and laughs, but that has been very rare with the baseball. Perhaps it is because I end up looking dissappointed and say "ball" instead of laughing along with him - and hearing me say "steeeeeerike" is so much more fun. ;P

Here's a great video of Jerry throwing an orange ball:http://photos.kirsch.org/albums/jerry16/MOV03776.mpg.

Conversations with Jerry are becoming more and more rich.

verbal words:

da da - dako (carry me)
ba - bus
oppai/pai - oppai (breast milk)
bo - poi (throw)
da - daddy (me!)
bo bo - baru (ball)
bo bo - boshi (hat)
bu - book
bon - zubon (pants)
itai - itai (ouch)
uh oh - uh oh
babi - baby
tsee - cheese
gepu/upu - gepu (burp)
ba ba - blanket
pa pa - pan (bread)
nen ne - neru (sleep)

signs:

gorilla (hands hitting chest/stomach)
plane (hand above head)
hat (hand taps head)
bird (hand makes mouth gesture)
eat (mouth makes eating gesture)
banana (finger rubs palm)
cat (hand on cheek, head tilted)

sound effects:

brum brum - car noise
beep beep - two cars touching (like hello)

Jerry also trys to copy animal sounds from his blue animal spin & say toy. Eriko says he is good at ducks - I like the horse imitation. =)

Jerry demonstrated the first use of his new sign language word - "more", which he does by bringing his hands together (after making a cone with each hand.)

I think this is quite noteworthy because it is the first use of an action or feeling rather than just a noun.

Jerry does have signs for plane, gorilla, bird, and hat: plane is where he holds his hand up high over his head; for gorilla he beats his hands on his chest (or more typically, his stomach); for bird he moves his pointer and thumb together (like beak); for hat he hits his head with his hand.

This little guy is growing up so fast. He's such a good natured kid - I really enjoy spending time with him. We went to the park tonight and I found out he was able to cross the wooden bridge by himself - and he went on the big slide for the first time by himself too!

Wow.

We just received our new camera (DSC-W55) to replace our old one that I lost.

I like it - the small and compact nature makes it very easy to carry around and whip out for a timely picture. The previous camera had much better optical zoom, which I will miss - but most of the pictures are of Jerry and they tend to be from close up.

Without further adieu, here are the new pictures of Jerry!

Jerry Youkoh Kirsch, born May 2nd, 2006 at 14:50, is officially 1 year old.

Happy Birthday, Jerry!

I previously stated that Jerry could walk - but now there is proof!

This is getting exciting!

Eriko and I witnessed Jerry take several steps on his own today.

I came home early from work and caught Eriko and Jerry in time before they headed to the QA community center for some time in the playroom. I joined them and it was a lot of fun. Jerry is loads of fun to be around. He is demanding - if I don't pay attention to him he'll come up and bite my leg!

Jerry said his first word - kinda. Almost. Eriko says it doesn't count if he doesn't know what he's saying. In addition, it probably doesn't count if it one can only recognize it as a word because they heard what I said first. Even then, "da" "su" sounds a lot like "dishes" if "dishes" is what you want to hear. =)

We have this picture book of zoo animals that Jerry likes. With each animal, I like to make a sound. For example, a cow goes "moo" (actually, cows aren't in the book, but you get the point). Lately Jerry has been mimicking my lion roar. Today Eriko informed me (and I subsequently observed several times) that if I say "lion", Jerry will "roar".

What a cute boy!

Today, Jerry turned 11 months old. Check out his exciting eleventh month!

I was talking to Eriko via Skype when Jerry promptly pushed himself to a standing position (using a plastic box) and then released his hands!

He stood there for a good 5 seconds before sitting down. Eriko said that he did the same thing the night before.

Wow.

I opened the door to the condo. "Tadaima", I said - as usual. I heard the pitter patter of hands and feet as Jerry crawled towards me. I quickly opened the gate and stepped through, just as he came around the corner.

He crawled up to my legs and then started to pull himself up - clearly indicating that he wanted to be held. I put my bag down, picked him up, and asked him about his day - showering him with kisses - as usual.

And then, all of a sudden, he opened his mouth and gave me a kiss. Woo hoo!

This is the second time. The first time was in January, after I returned (to Nagoya) from Moscow.

Eriko gets kisses every day. =)

New photos of Jerry are up, at http://photos.kirsch.org/jerry09?page=39 and http://photos.kirsch.org/jerry10.

Boy, is he cute.

In the last few days, Jerry has:



1) Started rolling a ball

2) Sat in the high-chair for th first time

3) Started to play peek-a-boo (he's good)

4) Sat in the shopping cart seat

5) Has visibily demonstrated wanting to be picked up





Wow!

Lately, Jerry has been making squealing noises which sound like a pig! It is
very amazing to see how much he is growing. He has turned from a quiet baby who
didn't open his eyes or move into a babbling, banging, moving boy - all in
a period of 6 months!

Jerry now has his own keyboard! It is an SGI-made dual Japanese/American
keyboard. The youngest kernel hacker I know!

Eriko has been doing an amazing job recording Jerry's life up to this point.
She tracks his sleeping and eating habits, along with notes about big items for
the day. It would be a cool task to translate those into English and post them
on Jerry's website.

Jerry has two perfect little teeth protruding from his bottom gums. Wow!

Jerry eats, Jerry sleeps, Jerry poops. Some small but subtle changes -- Jerry isn't falling asleep as rapidly as he did last week. He also appears to have a bit of a rash on his face, which sure makes for a poor sight. Today is his two-week birthday and his mom & dad couldn't be happier.

Jerry is just a wonderful boy. He's sleeping well, he's eating well, and he's very pleasant for mom and dad.

Jerry