Grandma's blog entry...

... and email to uncle James in Melbourne:

"We were out the whole afternoon... buying a sewing-machine and some fabric and sewing materials so that (we) can do some sewing for Minori's stuffs required by the nursery Minori is going to, starting next week. It seems the mothers are expected to sew these stuffs (futon covers bedsheets etc) because the measurements specified are not those in the market.

"Minori is making great progress in her development insofar as I can see. She could call Por-Por as soon as I coaxed her to do so when I first arrived and she kept practising the sounds throughout her waking hours. Then on 22 March, exactly 10 months old, she stood up from sitting position without support, though at first not so steadily, but she was very determined and kept practising it until it is like second nature. She even tried to walk a step or two when she is confident we are closeby to hold her if she falls. Besides motor skills, Minori is also honing her linguistic skills. She keeps babbling away and whenever I try to teach her some sounds she is game to imitate, sometimes quite close, other times hilariously funny. There are other aspects of development too like following simple cues like 'Bye-bye', or 'Come'. It is actually very fascinating to watch a baby grow as they grow very fast at this early stage and so you can see changes almost every day."