#517 Junior’s Growth Diary

It has been more than a year since Junior was born.

Full name, Saint Kidan Junior.

Since the birth of my adorable son, my life has changed drastically.

I am woken up at night by crying, and panic ensues when Junior feels the slightest discomfort.

My day mostly revolves around this child. 

However, we also share memorable moments.

“Dear! Dear!”

“What’s up, Platy?”

“Our son is a genius!!!”

“Calm down.”

I came by to see what was going on, and Junior was babbling.

“Mama, Mama!”

“Junior can talk at his age already! How can you not call this a genius?!”  

Platy shows her doting parental side.

But isn’t Junior already a year... and a half old?

I hear it’s natural for children his age to start babbling.

It’s not like his growth is stunted whatsoever, so I think we shouldn’t panic or make a fuss about it.

“Dada!”

“Our son is a genius!!!”

“Calm down, Master,” says Veil.

“Vee-Vee!”

“Wait, is he calling me? Junior is a genius! We can’t let this pass! Let’s throw a party to celebrate!”

And so, there was no one left to make a tsukkomi.

This is what our farm has been like since Junior was born.

* * *

Junior’s growth has been spectacular, but it’s not only his intelligence that has improved.

His motor skills have also improved, learning to stand and walk by himself and go where he wants.

The inside of his house has become his adventure field.

Thanks to him, other people are having a hard time.

“Noooooo! Watch out!”

“Young master, it’s dangewous over there!”

“Pwease stay away from the edge of the desk!”

“Don’t go up the stairs on your own!”

“That’s the way to the kitchen!”

The earth spirits in charge of indoor cleaning keep an eye on Junior’s unpredictable movements.

They may be children themselves, but even so, they are much better judges of danger than my son.

He should be safe as long as they watch over him, but the earth spirits are so tense that they can no longer concentrate on their work.

“This is tiwing...”

“I’m pooped...”

“I’ve never felt this tense before...!”

I had to give them more butter than usual because their workload had gotten heavier.

As you can see, the rate at which Junior manipulates the people around him is not limited to us as parents.

The earth spirits are having a hard time too.

Also, we have a Japanese house, so there’s a porch under the roof’s eaves.

On sunny days, it’s great to bask in the sun here, but when Junior, who is now a bundle of adventurous spirit, comes, everyone goes into emergency mode.

The ones who react are Pochi, napping in the yard, and the Professor, napping on the porch—in short, a dog and a cat.

“That little brat’s here again, meow!”

“Bow-wow!”

Pochi comes from the garden, and the Professor comes from indoors.

They take the utmost care not to let Junior accidentally fall off the porch.

“I will pull him from the inside, so if he goes outside, you have to push him back, meow!”

“Bow-wow-wow!”

This cat-dog joint effort helps Junior avoid the risk of getting into an accident.

I would go and check the scene myself soon after, but thanks to our clever animals, I feel safer.

“Nyaaaaa! This little brat is still here?! I can’t relax like this, meow!”

“Bowowow!”

Although we also cause them mental exhaustion, our animals are surprisingly reassuring parenting allies.

* * *

And then, Junior has begun to eat normally.

He has long since weaned off Platy’s milk, so now, it’s my role to provide him with nourishment!

I’m going to cook even better meals for my son!

Junior is no longer in the weaning stage at just over a year old, but that only broadens the scope of what I should make for him.

I heard from a couple of senior parents, the Demon King and his wives, that babies can eat almost anything when they are over a year and a half old.

If that’s the case, let’s let Junior enjoy a rich diet by making full use of all the ingredients we can get here on the farm!

But then, I received anxious looks from the Demon King and his spouses.

They wondered if it was safe for Junior to become accustomed to the farm’s foodstuffs right away.

Are our ingredients that dangerous?

It’s true that we shouldn’t let children eat whatever they like from a young age, lest they develop a strong preference for their favorite foods.

As a father, I will try to ensure Junior becomes an adult who enjoys all kinds of food!

First, let’s start with children’s two most hated foods: carrots and green peppers!

Let’s see if Junior will eat them.

The first thing that comes to mind is to chop them up and mix them with something children like so they don’t retain their original form. Like carrot cake, for example.

Thusly, I mix carrots into the cake batter and bake it.

I’m not sure if I want Junior to eat this right away, so let’s have someone else taste it first.

“Hey, Veil. You want some cake?”

“Cake? Yeah! Why would I ever say no to that? But what’s the occasion, Master? Is today a special day or something?!”

I offer the carrot cake to Veil the dragon, who happens to be passing by.

Well, don’t doubt it, just eat it.

“Bon appetit! Yummmm! Cake’s the best! But why is this cake red? Oh, well, who cares! Hooray for cake!”

Veil paid more attention to the sweetness of the cake and ended up devouring the whole thing.

Now that she has finished eating, I will reveal the secret to her.

“Actually, there were carrots in that cake!”

“W-What?!”

Veil reverts to her dragon form out of shock.

“You tricked me, Master! You...! You made me eat carrots, you devil!!!”

“You don’t like carrots either?”

Her palate is like a child’s, much like how she looks in human form.

After apologizing for having tricked her, and at the same time, gaining confidence from having completely fooled Veil, I made another carrot cake.

“Junior, today’s snack is a special one. It’s cake!”

When I went to where Junior was, Platy was already giving him a snack.

I wondered what she was feeding him, but it was a carrot—softened and boiled, with no special ingredients or seasoning.

“Look, Junior, it’s your favorite: carrots!” his mother says.

Junior bites into the carrot without hesitation as his mother offers it to him.

“It helps that Junior isn’t a picky eater. As expected of our son!”

That’s right.

Junior is an unusual toddler who has absolutely no dislikes at all.

Even now, as he chomps on a carrot, he has a look that says, “This is a taste I used to hate as a kid.”

Well, he is still a kid, though.

“...”

“Oh, what’s the matter, Dear?”

“Platy, do you want some cake?”

“OMG, cake! Is there some kind of anniversary today, Dear? Anyway, I’ll have it!”

“It has carrots in it.”

“How could you feed me something so blasphemous!!!”

Platy also did not like carrots.

Is it just me, or is Junior the most mature of the three...?

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What is this carrot slander