Half a year old

It's difficult to believe just how quickly the last six months have passed. We were looking through some old photos of Alex a couple of nights ago and it's incredible to compare his size at birth with his long frame now. He has also lost hair and does a pretty good Dr Evil (or is that Mini-Me?) impression.

Just as incredible is how many adventures he has already had over the last six months. Viewing world-class art exhibitions, two weeks zipping around Japan on high speed trains, carried to the top of a castle, around a ferris wheel, and watched monkeys play in the wild. He's gone on long drives south to Canberra and further a few times now and even attended a Star Wars exhibition.

Last Sunday he squealed with delight as we wandered around Ikea when, for the first time, he was faced forward in the Baby Bjorn.

I don't know what he thought of all of those adventures, but I do know that music brings him a lot of pleasure. If Alex hears John Williams' themes to Star Wars, Superman or Indiana Jones he listens intently. He's started to "sing" along when listening to music or bashing away at the electronic keyboard, he sings to his mobiles above his cot.

We read him books, but one of his favourites we cannot read (yet). A book about the Ampanman train in Shikoku might be written in Japanese, but it has a series of buttons that play various sounds related to the train. Symbols on the page give you sequences of buttons to press and he seems to be able to relate the two.

But what seems to bring him the most pleasure of all is being around his parents. Last night, after returning home from work, I opened the door to see Alex in B's arms. Alex saw me and began smiling and laughing away whenever we looked at each other. Naturally I was laughing just as hard back at him. It is the most wonderful feeling to give love and be loved in return.