Sae Hae Bok

The Jakers is in an exceptional mood these days. He's giggling a lot and just generally pretty giddy. When we picked him up at the ajumma's, he was fast asleep with fellow babysitee Ji-min (also a cute kid) and did not fuss in the least when he woke. For dinner we went to Kona Brewing Company where Jake downed 6 Kona Longboards. Well, maybe someday. Regardless, he continued his liveliness and giggles all through dinner. On the way home he made "boom" sounds and pointed out the window at all the fireworks being set off around him. He fell asleep easily in the crib (with mom's help) and is sleeping peacefully as I write this through all the fireworks making noise out his bedroom window.

Song of the Day: The Walkmen: New Years Eve

Sleeping Computer

Had a very busy night last night, so I was unable to blog. First, my computer power port decided to stop working, so I had to rely on the battery, which died, as usual, way before it was supposed to. It decided to work this AM. I hope it stays that way.

Second, we decided kind of last minute to put Jake in the crib right away at bedtime. He should have been doing this for months, but me being away for 3 months and sicknesses prevented it. We knew it was going to be hard and it was. He bawled for an hour, but eventually fell asleep. It hurts to hear him cry, but it's for his benefit in the long run (and ours for that matter).

In the AM he went to his first dentist appointment. Hated it, but his teeth are in good shape and now clean. Dad got a little scolded for the plaque, but we now know how to properly brush the little things.

The highlight of his day was receiving his first Red Sox hat from Auntie Rebecca and Uncle David. He's not been a big hat wearer, but he seems to like this one. We'll get him used to it.

Song of the Day: The Standells: Dirty Water

Slow Day

Mom had to be to work early this AM, so me and Jake slept in 'til 7:15. It was nice; non-rushed and we took our time making it to the ajuma's place.

He spent the day there. I picked him up at 3:30 and we took a break in the park waiting for mom to finish work. He slept the whole time. At 4:30 we made our way to mom's office, she was busy so we hung out in the car. Jake loves buttons and knobs. The car has plenty, so he was in heaven.
Song of the Day: Armand van Helden: Koochy (via Gary Numan: Cars)

Drip Drip

Sunday. The best day. Used to be that dad hated Sundays (long story there), but now they are absolutely looked forward to and enjoyed. Jake, of course, has much to do with this.

Started with lunch at Choi's Garden, where we had al tang and the special lunch set, which included grilled fish, yong yang bap and chige. All good and Jake was laughing and having fun the whole time. He was so laid back and ate very well. Lately, I've been having a lot of moments. Moments where I look at him and start to choke up. He really is an unbelievably cute child and I could not be prouder of who he is at this moment in his life. I love him unconditionally.

We followed lunch with a trip to Home Depot. New faucets and a shower head were purchased and Jake kept himself busy with mom's sunglasses and keys.

All in all he had a great day. He laughed, he giggled, he pooped, he ate, he made us smile. All is good.

Song of the Day: The Sundays: Here's Where the Story Ends

Blackout

Fully intended on blogging last night, but it happened that we had no power. Indeed, it was the "Great 18 Hour Post-Christmas Blackout of 2008," leaving all of Oahu w/o power for, well, hours. Honestly, it would have been all about Jake's parents considering it was their 9th anniversary. We spent only the late afternoon and late evening with the Jakester as we were out celebrating the day. Happy Anniversary mom.

Song of the Day: Replacements: Within Your Reach


Today was all Jake. Still no power in the AM so we decided to venture into town. Whole Foods was open (and insanely crowded) so we decided to visit Nana and have some...whole foods. Jake was in a particularly good mood all day. Did get a little tired of me taking pix of him, but he was mostly giggles. Went to Ala Moana AGAIN to do some gift exchange etc. Back at home we had a swim and he was in heaven. Absolutely loves the water. I can't explain the joy of seeing him giggle and laugh in the pool.

Great day and very thankful that we survived the "Great 18 Hour Post-Christmas Blackout of 2008" in one piece.

Song of the Day: Electric Six: Danger! High Voltage!

The 2nd Xmas

Jake's second Christmas. A wonderful day all around. Didn't blog yesterday b/c we all fell asleep at 8pm. None of us woke until 7. It was nice, but I missed writing about his day yesterday. No worries though, today was way more interesting...

Woke at 7 and started unwrapping presents. The big items: a kitchen from Nana, a Bobilo (sp?) toy from Auntie Shellie, and books and puzzles from mom and me. Making pancakes...Sparky enjoyed his xmas...Early afternoon we took a hike up to Makapu'u Lighthouse. Beautiful day, Jake slept the whole way up on my back.

He woke up on the way down. We thought he peed in his pants, but apparently it was my back sweat. Gross, I know. By the end of the hike he was all smiles.

He's definitely not a hat wearer (I'm bummed about this b/c I think he looks great in hats) but we did get him to wear his UH hat for a snap.

Of course he had to get me back.

Dinner was roast beast and assorted foodstuffs from friends and aunties and uncles. I made a grilled fish. Passed the time with a Sam Adams Fizzywig Ale. After dins Nana took him for a walk and he was all Zs within minutes.

Merry Christmas Bibs. I love you.

Song of the Day: The Yule Log

The Touch

I just noticed Jake is wearing the same thing he wore yesterday. Actually, his babysitter told me this (in Korean) and I think I thought she said something else. No worries. I'm glad he's a beatles fan. (Wait a sec, IS it the same?)

As with yesterday's love of the camera over the great outdoors, Jake continued his affection for all things mechanical today. We went to mom's office to pick her up and Jake spent the entire time walking around turning things on, making the room cooler with the air con remote, talking on the phone. I have no idea if this is signaling some future in engineering or some such thing, but our plan has always been to encourage his interests. We therefore got him some tools so he can fix all the stuff around the house that needs attention. Thanks Jake.

Song of the Day: The Toasters: Manipulator

Park Ca-ma-ra

Took the Jakers to the park down the street around 5 for a little jaunt before dins. As of his almost-16-month-"birthday" Jake is far more interested in playing with stuff that has buttons than running in the park. He played with my camera for the first half. He's talented. How else did he get these shots of himself.

Ate much better today, but he's still in fussy mode. Nana thinks he needs to go to the doc for a checkup, we think he's just changing. Either way, we're keeping an eye on him.

Song of the Day: Josh Joplin: Camera One

Hamburger Helpless

A very nice Sunday.

Started with a trip to Ala Moana (just now realized how much time we spend at that place) where we bought Nana’s xmas gift, binoculars for the whale watching season. This of course made us hungry so we headed to Kua Aina for a burger, Jake’s first.

Jake doesn’t like hamburgers. Nor does he like Diet Coke. This, is of course great news. He took a sip of the Diet Coke and this was his reaction.

The burger didn’t go over well either. He repeatedly spit out the meat, winced at the ketchup, and only wanted to eat the avocado and tomatoes. He did, however, like the fries. I personally don’t b/c they are basically potato sticks (a la the canned variety).

Topped it off with a runabaout in the park.

Song of the Day: The Descendents: I Like Food

Non-stop Jake

Mom had to work all day so it was Jakers, me, and Nana from morning until late afternoon.

//We started at Toys R Us, where we bought all Jaker's xmas gifts. He slept the whole time, which was perfect. He got a bunch of books and puzzles and...I'll wait until xmas to reveal the rest.

//Afters we got some delish fish at Nico's. Jake got his own plate (see above). As per usual for the past couple of days, he wasn't hungry. This has been worrying us a bit b/c he's usually so voracious. After eating we ran around Ala Moana, where we brought the fish for a picnic. I looked at Jake's mouth b/c he's had some pretty bad breath lately. There was blood on his tongue. We did some investigating and it appears that he has two new teeth coming in. This explains the eating (lack there of), restlessness, and breath. Although it would have made things easy to give him some whisky, we instead took him home for a nice nap.

//When mom got home we headed down to the marina to watch the boat parade. Jake wasn't into it and to be honest, neither was I. I was a bit surprised at how adult the boat themes were considering everyone watching seemed to be under age 16. Bizarre. We left early for Outback Steakhouse. Jake was absolutely not in the mood. Spilled a giant glass of water, which was a blast.

//I predicted he wouldn't sleep til 11 since he was so wired and had such a late nap. He made it until 10, so I lost the bet with mom. Not sure what it is I have to do, but I'm sure she'll think of something good.

Song of the Day: Fishbone: Everyday Sunshine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNkCtQo3Z0c

Partay

Mom's xmas work party tonight. Everyone is tired and the Jaker is already asleep. He had a great time and looked greeeaaaaat. See left...

Song of the Day: Joe Jackson: Steppin' Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbj0w8iOeM

The Lemon Sign

Jake knows sign language. Well, at least the basic signs used by toddlers. I don't think this is anything that peculiar for someone his age, but I'm pretty impressed regardless. Sujin is of course responsible for the vast majority of his signs. I'm teaching him "gentle" at the moment, but Sujin taught him "done/finished" (among many others), which is crossing your arms across one another...

He also knows "more," which is index finger pointing to palm of other hand...

Then of course there is "that is freaking sour," which is a severe wince of the face. (A note, he grabbed the lemon off the table and kept shoving it in his mouth. He wasn't our guinea pig.)
Song of the Day: The Lemonheads: Into Your Arms (MTV World Premier Video from 1993! Whoa, I remember this.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjkz20-Cd7w

Costcoholic

Not too much action today. Went with Nana to look at some apartments, dinner at Yummy's BBQ (he had the bibimbab), and another trip to Costco with Mom for more work stuff. Fell asleep on the way home.

Dude loves Costco. I hope he doesn't take to wearing tucked-in flannels and white sneakers whence he gets a little older.

Song(s) of the Day: Sublime: Get Ready and Pawn Shop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4EI5NfsJdo

Antsy Jakesy

Jakester was in a weird mood today. He was antsy and fussy all day. We went to Ala Moana for some shopping/time wasting and he wanted to walk/run into every store and pull stuff off the shelves. He usually likes to be held, but he was all walking today. Me and Mom decided to get some dalkalbi since it's been a while, but it was a tough meal in the sense that Jake didn't want to eat or sit in his chair. Mom was completely exhausted. She's an incredibly patient and awesome Mom. Jake fell asleep on the way home. Not surprisingly, so did Mom.

Song of the Day: Blur: Tender

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7snNE_RBMs

House of Milk

Jake is a milkaholic.

We just put him to bed and, as usual, he downed a couple of sippy cups of organic un-sweetened soy milk before catching Zs. He's funny. He'll tell us he wants to sleep by tilting his head and putting his hand next to his ear and tonight he even walked into the bedroom. He's not a quick sleeper though. He tosses and turns, squirms, sits up, makes noise. This is all of course not good for when he goes back to the crib. He's been in the big bed since I left for Korea. It'll be tough, but we'll get him used to it.

Other than milk in bed, he had a fun time playing in his new house.

Song of the Day: Billy Bragg: Milkman of Human Kindness
http://ilike.com/artist/search?artist_qp=billy+bragg+the+milkman+of+human+kindness

The Sunday Shopper

Slowish Sunday.

Helped Dad around the house by putting up some Christmas decorations. These are sticky window decals that were initially on the window, but I later found them all over the house, thankfully not in his mouth.

After lunch Mom, me, and the Jakers went shopping at Costco and Safeway. Mom needed some stuff for work so Jake and I helped out at Costco. Then we got some salad stuff at Safeway. Jake loves Costco b/c he can "drive" the car/carriage. This time he started acting like he was steering a car as soon as we entered the Safeway parking lot. Crazy smart.

Later Nana bought him a "house." A Little Tykes house that now occupies a large section of his room. He loves it.

Song of the Day: Alice Donut" Consumer Decency

http://ilike.com/artist/search?artist_qp=alice+donut+consumer+decency

Museum Studies

In spite of the heavy rain (again), Jake had a superb day out. He went to the Bishop Museum where he met his pal Odin. They learned about "the biggest shark that ever lived," the Megaladon, and played with some cool lava machines. They topped it off with some running around the great lawn and puddle jumping. Judging from the amount of giggles, we're guessing they liked the puddle jumping best.

Song of the Day: The Beta Band: Dry the Rain

http://ilike.com/artist/search?artist_qp=dry+the+rain

Oh What a Busy Day (It Was...)

Busy day for the Jakers.

Picked up the sleeping tot at 3:00. Again, I was told he'd been sleeping for 2 hours. Yeesh, his sleeping habits have changed in the past couple of days.

Picked up Mom and went to Ala Moana where we got the obligatory "Pic With Santa". In all honesty, everyone working there, including Santa, was pretty dour. Completely disinterested and not full of joy whatsoever. I think Jake sensed this b/c he cried and seemed to hate the whole experience. He would usually be quite curious, but Santa was not making anyone feel like it was the holidays. Pic came out OK though...

As these pix reveal, perusing the vacuum cleaners at Sears was a MUCH more enjoyable experience. He grabbed a detachable brush from the Dyson Roller model and cleaned the whole vacuum section. Seriously.

Song of the day: Sufjan Stevens: That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!
http://ilike.com/artist/Sufjan+Stevens/album/Songs+For+Christmas

I Read, I Eat

"He took a nap at 10 (am) and slept for 3 hours."

This is what ajumma told me when I picked up the Jakester at 3:00 this afternoon. This of course meant he wasn't sleeping in the late afternoon like he usually does. So I put him in the car and, as usual, he pointed and grunted at what he wanted to play with. I haven't cleaned the car in a while, so he had a lot of choices: my gym bag, a baby blanket from his days as an infant, CDs, a book, and other assorted chatskis. He pointed at the book and said "boo!" The book it was. He read it all the way to Kahala Mall where we stopped to say hello to nana. Granted, as the picture demonstrates, the book was upside down, but that just reveals Jake's genius. Upside down? I can still read it.

In the evening he met a bunch of aunties and uncles for dinner at Kona Brewing Company. After a meal of veggie pizza and a broiled fish sandwich, he played and had fun with everyone. He fell asleep 5 minutes after hitting his car seat.

It rained all day today, a Kona low that brought typhoon-esque winds and rain to Oahu.

Song of the day: The Books: Read, Eat, Sleep
http://ilike.com/artist/The+Books/album/Thought+For+Food

The Cleaner

By far the highlight of Jake's day was his date with the vacuum cleaner. These days he's obsessed with the thing. When he comes home the first place he goes is to the closet. He points until someone takes it out. He then proceeds to make whirring noises while mocking like he's cleaning the floor or the table and giggles uncontrollably.

He definitely feels better health-wise today.

Song of the day: The Clean: Twist Pop

http://ilike.com/artist/The+Clean/album/Anthology