Registered! - Week 2

As of January 7, Theo has been officially registered at the Sakura branch of the Tsukuba City office, thereby making him a bonafide member of the buzzling and multicultural expat community in this part of Japan. The next step is to process his passport at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and to have his visa stamped on it at the Mito branch of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau.

We had also paid for Mommy D's hospital bills at the University of Tsukuba Hospital on January 5, to the tune of approximately 343,000 yen. At first glance, this may sound like a huge sum, but given that Mommy D is enrolled in the National Health Insurance system, we will receive a refund of 300,000 yen by the end of this month.

In other words, for delivery and hospitalization expenses alone, we had spent only roughly 43,000 yen. The laptop computer on which I am typing this blog is much more expensive. This is indeed another blessing. If Theo was born in Tokyo, we could have probably spent twice or even more.

Moreover, Theo's vaccinations, checkups and hospitalization expenses will all be FREE until he is 3 years of age, all courtesy of the government. To top it all, after we complete all of the necessary requirements, we will be receiving a modest amount from the city as "child welfare allowance." This isn't much, but at least, it will probably take care of his almost never-ending diaper expenses. (Because of Theo's periodic and healthy milk guzzling, his output processes follow like clockwork. And as I had written some time back, one needs to be careful when removing his diapers because his little thingy always seems to emit an infrared sensor aimed at your forehead, and when the target (that's you) is locked in, expect a steady stream of fresh urine almost instantaneously, hehe...)

Theo's favorite time seems to be bath time; as you can see, he appears very contended in this photo below, which was taken yesterday, January 8. His age here is 1 week and 6 days, just a day short of 2 weeks. If you had seen his picture two weeks back (see archives), you would immediately notice how much difference two weeks had made. He seems to be like a balloon that never stops expanding, which is normal of babies during their first year of life.



The closest thing to a "baby instruction manual" that I have read is the book by Frank Caplan and Theresa Caplan of the Princeton Center for Infancy and Early Childhood. The book's title is "The First Twelve Months of Life: Your Baby's Growth Month by Month."

As you can surmise from the title, the book's chapters are divided on a month-by-month basis, providing clear and accurate descriptions of the baby's developmental goals and tasks per month. For me, this book (and all of the research behind it) confirms the universality of the human species. Regardless of race or nationality, normal babies develop in almost exactly the same way. For example, Theo's first-week developmental achievements were accurately described in the book, even his spontaneous and fleeting smiles in response to sensory stimulation.

Come to think of it, really, the human race is exactly the same in essence. Essentially, human babies are very much the same. Human adults just make things more complicated.