Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

  Keila turned 11 months on Thursday! Unfortunately, our internet service was turned off that day due to moving, so we're a bit late in posting.
  Here's what's been going on with her in the past month:
 1. She's talking a LOT more lately. Definitely saying 'Mama' on the rare occasions that I'm not around, and she'll also call for 'Dada' when he leaves the room. However, she tends to call any and all animals 'Daaaa' or 'Dadadadadaada', so we're working on that one. I'm sure it's more than a bit confusing when Daddy tells her the cat is called 'neko' and I tell her that the cat is called 'kitty' or 'kitty cat'.
 2. Keila's fangs are now fully in, so she's definitely ready for Halloween! However, her upper middle teeth just broke through as of yesterday, so she might not get to be baby Dracula on the 31st after all. In addition to those 2 new ones, another upper tooth came in some time earlier, but I didn't notice it for a bit because it's off to the left side of her top canine. Meaning, she's now got 9 teeth in all, and she knows how to bite!
 3. In terms of sleep: she nows goes down for naps on her own on most days! This is a MAJOR accomplishment, even though I hear it's the norm for most babies. Night-time wakings are still pretty much a given, although she is sleeping for longer periods at least. Maybe one day she'll begin sleeping through the night again....maybe...
 4. We're still scooting all over the place and terrorizing the cats; no walking yet however. Standing has become quite routine, especially at night when I'm trying to get her to lie down and go to sleep. There's nothing quite like the sight of baby Keila in her sleep sack, wailing and shaking the bars of her crib!
 5. I've fallen behind on introducing many new foods since we've been so busy with moving preparations. Once we're in England I plan to get right back on forcing organic veggies into this kid. Cheese is still a huge favorite, as are crackers. We have been attempting more textured foods, but so far they're simply spit back out and then flung at the wall.
 6. New favorite activities include: feeding Mom or Dad whenever she gets full herself; pulling up Mom's shirt in order to pinch her stomach (OWW); and Keila will also clap her hands on cue now! She's realized that we get really excited whenever she does this however, so she'll then keep clapping and clapping...and clapping. Give her some cymbals, and she'll rival the Energizer Bunny!
 7. Separation anxiety will still rear its ugly head off and on, but for the most part fear of strangers is a thing of the past. Now if we can just train her to let anyone besides Mom put her to bed at night, life would be even better!
 8. Finally, Keila is still around 9.5 kilos, so she's at least maintained her weight since last month. I think she's in about the 60% percentile currently, so she'll see how she does come November and the 1 year mark.