I'll try to make a comeback! Probably with a limited success.

We are good, the baby is now a little boy who can ride a tricycle, eat icecream and is mastering the human language(s).

Yesterday, Oct. 14, little Michi took part in the daycare sports day.  It was a warm and sunny autumn day. Micchan and his little friends marched in order, did the 蛙体操 ("frog dance"), and then took part in the cart pushing competition. He looked like he really enjoyed it, although in the beginning he was a bit scared and nervous. It was really nice. Plus, I got to meet the other moms, and chat and take pictures of the kids. I also talked a bit with Michi's (and mine) favorite teacher. She is a nice and gentle lady, with a big smile and sweet manners. She always writes nice messages in Michi's notebook, and has time to talk to the parents and answer all kinds of questions. Kids love her. And I just wish she was my mother in law. :) 

Then we went to Shimokitazawa to celebrate with hot Caramel Machiato and pumpkin pies. There we met up with my friend Ani. She also happens to be pregnant (baby due next June), and just beginning the morning sickness period. Gave her some books, and today she called and sounded very upset. According to one of the books, the morning sickness is an indication that  everything with the fetus is OK. So she called because she wasn't feeling very sick that day and was worried that something might be wrong.  These are going to be long 9 months. Gambarimasho!

Ever since my little boy was born, I have been asking myself: “What’s going on in this little head of his? What is he thinking about? Why is he smiling now? Does he know who I am?” And although I know I can find the answers to these questions only through the telepathic bond between us (that he can switch on and off using the magical twinkle in his eyes), I discovered a book that offers very good explanations. The book is called: What is Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life. The author, Lisa Elliot, is a neuroscientist with three little children, who was fascinated with the same questions and raised her first baby in a blanket-lined computer box in the laboratory where she was working on her Ph.D. thesis.

Charting the brain’s development from conception through the first five years, the book is a thought-provoking exploration of the questions critical to every prospective parent: How much of a baby’s development is genetically ordained – and how much is determined by environment.

I’m still in the first chapters, the initial stages of development of the baby’s brain, but what I’ve learned so far is really fascinating. I’ve learned that human brain is like a computer that creates its own circuits and designs and installs it own programs. And I’ve learned that the laws of evolution are in force for brain development as well. Now I know why children are more flexible in the way they think, but their mental processes become less flexible and creative as they mature/

Here is how the basics go. The brain is built out of billions of nerve cells called neurons, each of which is shaped as a tree – it has a root system (dendrites) that receives input from other neurons, and a trunk (axon) which can be extremely long and branches out to relay information to the next neurons in its system. In between the dendrites and the axon lies the cell body which contains the nucleus. Within the neuron information is transmitted electrically, and when the impulse reaches the end of the axon, the information must cross a gap (the synapse) to be transmitted to the next neuron in the circuit. The gap is traversed by chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) that are released from the neurons and diffuse across the synapse to connect with special receptors, triggering electrical responses in each receiving neuron.

In the process of development of the brain, billion of neurons and a quadrillion of synapses are produced, but even more amazing than the sheer numbers is the fact that all these neurons and synapses get properly hooked together. For instance, a neuron in the retina of the eye bypasses countless other targets in directing its axon to its correct terminus, the visual area of the thalamus. Somehow, out of seemingly infinite possibilities, each neuron manages to grow both its axon and dendritic branches to precisely the right positions, aligning its output and input connections so that we end up with coherent circuits for vision, language, movement, etc., and not just a hopeless tangle of wires and switches. How is that done? Genes are highly responsible for establishing the brain wiring. They determine the neurotransmitters, and the receptors for various chemical, textural and electrical cues that guide axon growth and synapse formation. But there are not nearly enough genes in the human genome to accurately specify every one of our quadrillion synapses. This is where it gets interesting. During infancy and early childhood the brain produces numerous and highly unselective synapses (about twice as many as it will eventually need), so the initial wiring scheme of the brain is quite complicated, with many overlaps – as if billions of phones were first connected as party lines. By overproducing synapses, the brain forces them to compete and just as in evolution or the free market, competition allows for the selection of the fittest or the most useful synapses. In neural development, usefulness is defined in terms of electrical activity. Synapses that are highly active – that receive more electrical impulses and release greater amounts of neurotransmitter – more effectively stimulate their postsynaptic targets. This heightened electrical activity triggers molecular changes that stabilize the synapse, essentially cementing it in place. Less active synapses, by contrast, do not evoke enough electrical activity to stabilize themselves and so eventually regress. It’s “use it or lose it” right from the start.

It is easy to see the implications for human development: A young child’s environment directly and permanently influences the structure and eventual formation of his/her brain. Everything a child sees, hears, touches, feels, tastes, thinks, etc., translates into electrical activity in just a subset of his or her synapses, tripping the balance for long-term survival in their favor. On the other hand, synapses that are rarely activated – whether because of languages never heard, music never made, sports never played, seas never seen, love never felt – will wither and die. Lacking adequate electrical activity, they lose the race, and the circuits they were trying to establish – for flawless Bulgarian, perfect volley, a deep reverence for nature, taste for Japanese cuisine, healthy self-esteem – never come to be.

The magnitude of this synaptic sorting is enormous. Children lose on the order of 20 billion synapses per day between early childhood and adolescence. But this is generally a good thing. The elimination of stray synapses and the strengthening of survivors is what makes our mental processes more streamlined and coherent as we mature. On the other hand it explains why we lose the flexibility and creativity in our way of thinking as we mature. Although the brain continues to exhibit certain more subtle forms of plasticity in adulthood, it is never as malleable as in childhood.

Isn’t it amazing?!? I hope that by understanding how the brain works, I can actually help my baby grow a better brain. 

Soon after starting my maternity leave, I was beginning to wonder how many ways there are to clean a house, fold towels and organize CDs and worry whether it was possible to actually suffer a brain damage induced by idleness. Then, as luck would have it, I read a brilliant article that cheered me up a bit. The author claimed that, contrary to the common belief that changing diapers and doing laundry all day every day turns your brain into mush potatoes, parenthood in fact boosts the IQ because it forces parents to become much more organized, responsible, efficient and able to work under pressure. Not to mention that they develop some valuable new skills. (The article was published in the online edition of the New York Times and I sent the link to couple of friends, but cannot find it now.)

Now, after being a parent for a year and four months already, if you ask me if the article was true, I’ll say I don’t know. I haven’t had time to think about my IQ, or worry about my intellectual development or read articles for that matter. Hell, I haven’t had time to cut my hair in 5 months now. Looking at my days, I can’t say whether they are well-organized – I just try to do all the things I ABSOLUTELY MUST do, and in between fit the things I’d BETTER do, or I SHOULD eventually do.

So have a glimpse in what my average day looks like. Keep in mind: I’m not complaining. I’m happy with the way things are, and can’t wish for a fuller life, a more supportive husband or a sweeter little boy.

Anytime between 4:30 and 6 A.M. – first wake-up scream by hungry baby. Warm-up milk, feed baby, put him back to sleep.

6:00 A.M. – wake up officially

6:00 – 6:45 – get ready for work, prepare breakfast, fill in baby’s notebook to handle at day care, check baby’s bag

6:45 – leave house [On any average day my husband takes little Michi to daycare], throw away garbage 

6:55 – 7:15 In train, asleep and trying to keep my mouth closed (as opposed to unattractively gaping as fellow asleep salarymen)

7:30 – 17:30 Work [Will skip description of work, and simply say that it is fun but sometimes stressful, as all jobs go.]

17:40 – 18:10 In train on way to daycare, reading. [Now I’m reading a fascinating book about the development of human brain during the first five years of a child’s life. It’s called “What’s going on inside” and is recommended for future or present parents. May be I will write about it in a separate entry]

18:10 Daycare. The best moment of my day is when I look through the window of the room full of playing kids, and my baby sees me. He then smiles, throws away the toy he’s playing with, and runs towards me with extended arms. Recently he’s been saying “Mama.” J]

18:30 – 19:00 Feed baby.

19:00 – 20:30 Make dinner. Play with baby, read books together. Or play with wooden blocks. [He tries to eat bananas off the picture book, and calls the monkey “Mama.”] At the same time: vacuum and do the laundry.

20:30 – 21:30 Big Michi comes home. We have dinner.

21:30 – 22:00 Baby bath. Prepare milk, feed baby again. Put him in bed, he cries his head off, carry him on my back.

22:00 – 23:30 Wash dishes, clean kitchen, wash floors, prepare baby’s bag for next day, put baby in bed again, iron.

23:30 – 24:00 Take a shower. Write down day's events in baby’s notebook. And go to bed.

Oyasumi nasai