ANGRY

Feeling kind of bothered at the moment. No, not at Jake. I DVR'd the US Men's Soccer Match and found out that they decided to move it to another ESPN when it was supposed to air. Really disappointing. Tried to email a complaint, but their contact form is defective. Figures.

Good day otherwise. Ate dins with nana, although she didn't actually eat (ate earlier). Jake was in a pretty fussy mood all day. As soon as he woke he cried and followed by crying about everything that didn't go his way, which he felt was pretty much...yep, everything.
These pictures are courtesy of nana taken on Saturday. Nice pix.

Song of the Day: The Stranglers: Golden Brown

Only the Truth, Sir

If I'm going to be honest with this blog, then I should write how I've been feeling the past couple of days. This is for Jake's benefit after all, and when he reads this, I'm sure he'll appreciate how I feel and the fact that I wrote it. This kind of post is rare, but probably much more interesting for the reader. Wait, Jake's the only reader. (I did, by the way, tell omma about this site, but she hasn't looked at it yet. You can ask her why.)

I've been losing my patience easily the last couple of days. I have a short temper with Jake. I'm expecting him to listen to everything I say and I expect him to react to what I ask of him. I KNOW, this has much more to do with me than him, he is only 2 after all, but I do think that he has some ability at this point to know basic rights and wrongs; I can see it in his eyes. I so realize it's a process and that it's going to take years of patience with him. I guess this is a test for me. I'm his father and I need to be patient and understanding. Actually, I think I am, I'm just going through a rough patch at the moment. There you go...all fixed.

I'll never give up on you Jakey.

BTW, Picked up Jake, home, dinner w/nana, TV, sleep.

Song of the Day: The Thermals: Now We Can See

Cowardly

This AM we went through our usual routine and left a little late at 6:40-ish. When we opened the door there was a type-written note taped to it from "Your friendly neighbor" about a child who is "making noise at 6:30 AM." Apparently the "child" is waking them up. I was pissed on so many levels. Too many to recount here, but the biggest being that the person(s) who wrote it were not brave enough to knock on our door and talk to us. I would gladly listen to anyone's complaints about noise, but the note on the door just makes me want to rebel. I don't want to spend too much time bothering with this, but it did ruin my day when it really shouldn't have. Jake is TWO and cannot control when he laughs, cries, smiles, or pouts! Enough said.

I took the Jakers to the park after picking him up. It was fun. He's a real good, sweet kid. He really is, which makes the whole note thing that much more bothersome. Actually, it's omma's bday week and the general mood is pretty bummed b/c she's sick. Life treats you to all kinds of up and downs and sometimes they come in spurts, affecting your whole life in every way. That's happening now and it happens to be going on with all of us at once.

Sigh.

Song of the Day: The Cure: Disintegration

The Challenge

What should have been a fantastic day was a bit tough. It was all me, but I had a stressful day with the Jakers. It wasn't that there was anything out of the ordinary, he was his usual self until about 5 when he reached his maximum tiredness due to lack of sleep.

The day started out well; we went to Ohana Music, he was great. He did this amazing thing, he grabbed some other father's shoes and took them over to him. We were all shocked. Only THAT GUY and Jake knew they were his shoes. It was totally amazing. Rather than sharing in the class though, he was taking stuff from other kids. Not maliciously, but he was.

We were to meet Jen and Brian for brunch at 10:30. Long story short, we actually ate at about 12:15. It was really difficult with Jake. He was in no mood to hang out and wait. He definitely wanted to wander. It was challenging.

He should have slept a lot after all that action, but he only did for about 20 mins in the car on the way home. He woke when we got home and think this was a very bad thing. I realize now he really needs his sleep. Odin came over to swim and they had a blast as usual, but at one point Odin wanted to use Jake's shopping cart, but Jake was in no mood to share. We kinda forced him to and he wailed. He was extremely cranky, but it wasn't his fault. The challenge continued.

We finished by eating dinner at Brant and Erica's. It was nice except Jake was in the mood to, well, not stay still again. He needed rest and we basically made him to play all day. By the time we got home we were all ready for a rest.

Today was one of the more challenging days as a parent for me.

Song of the Day: The New Pornographers: Challengers

Environmentally Speaking

Bad day/good day. Ate dinner with Bill and Mrs.Chapman at Macaroni Grill, but things were weird from the beginning. The table was screwed up so we had to wait. Jake was way energetic and fussy all night. Things just steamrolled from there as they do when the environment is right. After dinner nana had to go home, we wanted to stay, she was worried about fining her way home, etc. etc. To top it off, me and mom got in an argument about the environment/global warming/climate change. Regardless of the details, I hate when we do that because we do it in front of Jakey and I don't want him to have to hear it.

Sorry Jakey. We love you.

Song of the Day: Elton John: Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

On the Pot

Although Jake is a little early to potty train, it's clear at this point that he's got the idea down. He points to his okole and then gets his training toilet. Sure, he puts the removable tray on his head and laughs, but he knows he supposed to pee in it too. It'll all come together soon.

Tired and the house is in disarray at the moment due to kitchen renovations. Nana told me I was in a bad mood, didn't think I was, but maybe I'm the fussy one today not Jake. Bad day of teaching too. Better turn in.



Song of the Day: The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset

Tough Day

We all had a pretty tough one today. When I picked up Jake the babysitter told me he hadn't slept. It was 4pm, so that meant he was going to sleep until 5:30 once I put him in the car. He did. When he woke, he immediately started crying. This was a theme for the day as he did the same this AM when he woke. Basically, he has a VERY short temper these days and bawls dramatically if he doesn't get what he wants. It's frustrating and scary, but we know he's growing and testing his own limits as well as ours. We read up on tantrums and how to deal. He's still too young to have strict limits, but he does need them.

Song of the Day: Rolling Stones: You Can't Always Get What You Want (Ironically, I saw the 1981 tour from which this vid is taken. I was 10years old and saw them in Koln, Germany.)