Beemer

Another fine day. Only downside: omma didn't really spend it with us. She went out with work friends, so Jake and I picked up nana and went for dins. We went to Big City Diner. Jake was in heaven b/c they had pesto pasta. Dude loves pasta these days. Afters we went to Fun Factory (bizarre place: kids, parents and wanna-be gamblers playing the "betting" games for tokens to "buy" toys); Jake had a blast, absolute blast. Finished up with some frozen yogurt (strawberry w/fresh strawberries and blueberries).

Jake is definitely more contemplative these days and it's cute as hell. You can tell his little brain is working overtime to figure stuff out and he REALLY wants to talk. Oftentimes these days he'll put his head on his hand al la the Thinker and look as if he's just contemplating something. It's priceless.

Song of the Day: Jawbreaker: Fine Day

Week...end

Saturday, dinner, Lina, Sunhee, Peter, soju, tired, hoi, Jake, Lina, fun, morning, Ohana Music, nana, botanical garden, picnic, bread, ducks, nap, dinner.Sunday, me, surf, Jake, omma, home, bathers, home, clean, play, Costco, Kate, birthday, Tiki's, dinner...sleep.

Song of the Day: Pigeon John: Hello Everybody

The Bub

Better today with me and omma. Sorry again for last night Jake.

Not better in the weather department. Still unbelievably hot and sticky. Hate it.


Picked up the Jakers and we went home where we did our usual routine of sweep/clean up the house a bit after the kitties. They are hairy, especially Sparky. Jake loves cleaning. Nana made spaghetti (aka "basta") for Jake so we chowed down. Afters we went to Bubbies, Jake's favorite new place. It's official, he knows the difference between food and "food." He can't get enough mochi ice cream.


At dins we were discussing whether Jake was smart or not. We-shockingly-think he is. As soon as we sat him in front of the pasta, he grabbed the fork and started twirling it in the spaghetti. Sujin showed him that once and as far as we know, he hasn't seen it elsewhere on TV or some other place. Nana also sings a song with him, something about "ears hanging low" (to be honest, I'm not a big fan of the song, but Jake loves it). There are hand movements for the song and Jake knows them all. He can do the whole routine without help. The reason why we think this is so incredible is obvious, he's our kid, but he also seems a little different. He seems very engaged, connected, aware. Maybe all other 21 month-olds are, maybe not. Either way he's our special Jakey. For sures.



Song of the Day: Guided By Voices: I am a Scientist

Sleepless In Situ

Jakers had a little trouble hitting the hay this PM. First time in a very long time. Took him about 45 mins to settle and sleep. Could have something to do with the fact that it's 85 and muggy as heck. Trade winds decided to take a long break. Weird, it's been hot/no trades more often than not for the entire month-plus. We're sticky and moody b/c of it...including Jake.

Good day otherwise. Dins with nana and omma. Afters we went for a long walk around the building to escape the heat. Jake was obviously loving it. His smiles and giggles make us happy.

In the picture Jake is stamping the bottom of my foot with a stamp from omma's office. I have no idea why he wanted to do that, but he insisted I take off my shoe/sock so he could stamp it.

On a down note I found out today that I'll be going to Guam for a month in July. We're all going to be bummed. I'm going to miss Jake something fierce.

Song of the Day: Red House Painters: Things Mean A Lot

Laxitatiousness

Just realized it's Jake's "birthday." He's 20 months old, in his 21rst. Crazy. Jake, you're growing up fast, you really are.

Don't know if it's the holiday or that I feel a little sick (stomach feels sour), but I have no energy; no desire to do much of anything. Didn't really affect our day with the Jakers, but did affect my posting last night, which didn't happen. I apologize Jake. Went to the (final) baseball game. I think that had something to do with it. Always seems like I don't post on baseball days. Yesterday Jakers had Ohana Music in the AM. It was just me and him as omma felt kinda sick. Laters we went to meet Odin's new brother, Keagan. Whilst there he played with Odin for quite a while. We had dins together.

Today we had french toast for breaky (thanks omma), then did something that Jake enjoyed immensely: bought a new vacuum cleaner. He loved spending time in the VC area of Sears...loved it. Our old model was there and he kept saying "Appa!" whilst pointing at the vacuum. He was laughing too. Loved it.

Afters we ate lunch and went home for a whole family nap. Swam after the nap. He was on cloud nine for sures.

Interesting fact about Jake these days: Every time we drive by a bus, a Chevron station, the playground Jake and I sometimes play at before picking up omma (in Kahala/Kaimuki), or the smoothie place on Monserrat, Jake points and says "APPA!!" as in, "Appa, there' a place we go together a lot!" or, "You taught me what that is, a bus!" It's amazing to me and blows my mind that he knows/recognizes these things/places. Crazy.

Song of the Day: Cold War Kids: Hang Me Up to Dry

Non-event Event

Wednesday, May 20, 2009. What happened in Jake's life today? Well, he woke up, played a little with omma and appa, went to the babysitters. I don't know exactly what happened there,but I'm guessing he played with Lina, Ji-min, and Ben, ate, and slept. I picked him up at about 4 and the babysitter told me every time the phone rang he said "appa, appa!" That made me feel great. We went to get a Minty Fresh smoothie and picked up omma. Went home, omma made mandu-guk. Jakers played a little more and slept promptly at 8.

Song of the Day: Tears for Fears: Mad World

Duck Sauce

Tired this eve, but I'll give it a go...

The upside: Took Jake down the street to feed the ducks with nana. He had a blast. I brought him there last year and he didn't get it. He was definitely interacting with the ducks and birds this time. He didn't want to leave.

The down: Omma worked very late and by 5:30 Jake wanted to see her. When this happens he goes to the door, picks up his shoes and cries the saddest cry in the world. I tried to explain that there was nowhere to go, that omma was on her way home. He was inconsolable. He cried until she came home, about 30 minutes. I felt sorry for him...and me.

Song of the Day: Beck: Nobody's Fault But My Own

The Sundays

Early rise, omma sleep, Jake eat. Shopping. Lunch, Hooters??!! Me, baseball, omma and Jake, Odin and Leah. Home, nana, dinner. Sleep. Good.

Song of the Day: David Kilgour: Rolling

Turtle Horse

No post yesterday. I went to the baseball game. Jake and omma went for dinner with nana. He was asleep by the time I got home:(

Fun day today. Me and omma went horseback riding at Turtle Bay while Jake and nana took a walk. Afters we had lunch at the pool. It was an amazingly beautiful day. We decided to go to Kewala Bay for a swim. Jake loved it. Shave ice on the way home at Aoki's. Jake slept the whole way.

All good.

Song of the Day: Bran Van 3000" Gimme Sheldon

One One

The Jakers was a bit of a fuss ball today (not the mini soccer kind). Picked him up and brought him to the playground with nana. He had fun, we had fun. Then we went to get omma, who was still working. As I've said before, it's the worst place for Jake b/c it's all dangerous stuff and he wants to play with it all. It's me following him around saying "no" and "don't touch." It's tough. We went to the phone store afters, followed by dins. At both places he wanted to fuss and play. He threw his spoon and nana's hand cleaner after we told him not to. Here's the kicker, we thin he knows we're saying no, but he's ignoring us. It's tough sometimes, today was one of those days.

Song of the Day: Run DMC: It's Tricky

Bummmmmmmmer

Majorly bummed. I wrote a long post about the weekend yesterday before heading out for dinner. I spent the whole day with Jake b/comma hung out with her friends for mother's day.Oh well, I can say this, it was great to be with him all day and I'll cherish these alone times. We bonded for sures!

I'll tell the rest of the weekend in pictures:

Saturday:

Sunday with me...

Song of the Day: MGMT: Kids

Pre-Birth

Whew. Juts got back from omma's birthday outing at Bucca di Beppo's. The company (Leah, Odin, Leah's dad, Matt, Kate, Cyndy, Eric, Sunhee and Lina) was great, but overall it was rough. One of those dinners that just was weird from the beginning. The waiter wasn't around, he didn't organize the birthday song, and Jake was not having the sitting down stuff. Can't blame him, sometimes he'll just be bored sitting there. I took him out several times. Once I just spoke to him like he was older, like he should understand why he has to sit nicely. It was interesting, I gave my talk, he listened and answered "yes" to every one of my questions. I asked if he was ready to sit and eat. He said yes, and he did. He ate, very well, and then wanted to get up again. Overall it was more the restaurant's fault than his.

Song of the Day: Peter Tosh: Get Up, Stand Up

The Long and Winding Weekend

Not only did I not post on Friday, I didn't even take a picture! My apologies Jakey. It was a long day and I didn't get home until late. Jake went with omma and nana to eat dinner while I went to the baseball game. Apparently it didn't go well. He was fussy the whole time. They left early actually. Jake wasn't feeling well and we thought he was getting sick. He woke up Saturday OK, although he does have a cold.

Saturday was long and fun. Ohana Music in the AM. Jake was pretty active this week and behaved well. I love watching him interact with the other kids. There are too many though, they shouldn't have such a large group. Afters we met nana, went to Target and had lunch in Kapolei, where we went to a store for organizing stuff. In the afternoon we went to the AMST picnic for a short time. Omma wanted to meet Sunhee, so I went to the baseball game. Afters I went over to their place. It was 9:00 and Jake was still awake. He was obviously tired, but kept playing. He eventually went into Lina's room and laid in her bed (she was sleeping in the living room). Jake asked me to lay next to him and I sang while he fell asleep. It is and will be one of the greatest memories I have with him. Incredible.

Today was Leah's baby shower. Jake got to play with a lot of friends so he was happy. He was also pretty fussy too though. He threw a couple of tantrums, mostly for not getting what he wanted. Worries me when that happens. Don't like to see him so emotional. Seems like it was just a today thing though. I hope that's the case.

Song of the Weekend: The Verve: Lucky Man

Hyperactivitiveness

At dinner Jake got the giggles and we all had a very long and good laugh. He started by saying "ba ba ba ba..." over and over again (in a loud voice). Nana acted like she was telling him to stop and he cracked up laughing. She said his smile is infectious. It is. He brought joy to all of us...for 20 loud minutes.

This just got him started because he was wild for about an hour til bed, which is, well, par for the course really. He loves to be super active before bed, like he's releasing something. He was particularly wild tonight. It was fun though.

No one, especially mom, seems to like his haircut.

Song of the Day: The Descendents: I Like Food

Bizzy J

Internet was down last night (again), so no post. No worries, yesterday's pic is below.

Busy 2 days. Yesterday nana and I took him shopping and to Whole Foods for some chow. Nana made dinner for all of us.

Today was the typical busy Saturday. Ohana Music first thing, then swim. Jake was up for the music, but he gets tired at swim time. We're not going to sign him up for next session. He's still too young for it. At Ohana Music Jake was kind of shy again, but he warmed up toward the end. He's a good kid. We're really lucky. I can't express enough just how blessed I feel to have him in my life. I love him and I love Sujin. I'm very, very lucky.


In the eve we went to see Jang, Sa-ik at the Korean temple in Palolo with Lina and 'rents. It was fun. but Jake wasn't too interested. He got to play though, so he was happy.

Song of the Day: The Fixx: Red Skies

Reelin in the Eve

Yep, almost lost it today. More mayhem at home today than in the past 2 weeks; and yes, it's been 2 weeks since they started. There was just so much dust and crap everywhere and of course (no fault of his own) Jake was all over everything that was dirty. On the bright side, I put the shower curtain up and took a nice shower. It is nice and I hope the rest of the work makes us feel as good.

Aside from playing in the dust, Jake was in high spirits today. He had fun just playing at home and he really seems to be getting super attached to us. We both love it. We really do. Nana gets love too and Jake obviously can't live without her. We had dinner at different times and cleaned/watched the telly. All's good in Jake World tonight.

Song of the Day: The Descendents: I Don't Want to Grow Up

Press the Stress

I've seriously had it with this work being done on the house. When we got home there was dust all over everything; it was everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. There were other problems too. Don't know yet whether it was worth it to do the renovations.

Picked up Jake and brought him to mom's work. Stress there too as he likes to play with anything that can possibly hurt him. He gravitates toward that stuff. Anyway, it was an hour of trying to stop him from hurting himself.

Afters we had dinner with nana at Outback Steakhouse. Horrible restaurant. Don't feel like explaining. Too tired and too much work to do. Jake went to sleep well. I feel bad b/c I was stressed and scolded him when it was me who had the problem, not him. Sorry boozoos.

Song of the Day: Minor Threat: Screaming at a Wall

Abada

Finally blogging at home (decided to plug in the router regardless of whether they are done or not), but the stress continues. Gmail is painfully slow on my comp for some reason so it took me about 15 minutes to download these pix, should have taken me 2 minutes. Ho hum.

Long weekend, here are the highlights:

Friday:

Jake was asleep by the time we got home from the game. He had fun with nana, but they were both tired.

Saturday:

Ohana Music first thing. Jake was a bit shy, and, much to our chagrin, he had a fever again. He perked up toward the end, but the fever continued. We decided to take him swimming (his fever was slight enough and he seemed up for it) and he liked it. He was a bit down, but he had fun. Afters we had lunch, Shillawon, then went home to clean the dirty, messy, stress-inducing house. We were all exhausted so we napped. Dinner with Myoung-hee and boyfriend for his birthday. Everyone said he was a "great baby because he's so well behaved." He actually was pretty calm the whole time.

Today:
Early AM surf with Matt at Barber's. First time in months. Jake swam, felt good (no fever) and played happily in the sand. Brunch at En Fuego, then we went to the baseball game with Dave and Karen. Jake made friends with the people around us and at one point the guy behind us said, "You have a very well-behaved son, you're lucky." Wow. I guess we are. Dins at home, we were all tired, but b/c Jake had 2 naps, he didn't want to sleep and was pretty wild right before bed. Speaking of tired...I'm exhausted. Out.

Oh, and for some reason, Jake loves to say "abada" whenever he's doing something active. We have no idea what it means.

Song of the Day: The Sugar Hill Gang: Apache

Pork Barrel

Looks like they won't finish by the weekend. Aaaarrgggh.

Picked up the Jakers a bit late yesterday as I was teaching and grading papers. We went strait to mom's work where he got to play with dangerous painting equipment (kidding, though he does fancy an extending painting rod fr some reason) and eat donuts thanks to auntie Mariann, who loves to fill him with food every chance she gets.

Nana made dinner for us so it was a relaxing evening. Jake was a bit manic the whole night, but it was fun. He was obviously in a good mood and wanted to play. With a belly full of nana's roast pork, he fell asleep right away and through the night.

Song of the Day: Manic Street Preachers: A Design for Life

East of Ewa

First time since I started this thing that I didn't blog for two consecutive days. Couldn't help it, the house is still all messed. Did take the pix though and will post them here.

Saturday he felt better for sure. Started his Music Together back up (switched to Saturday), then we did some shopping and such. He was definitely more fussy, perhaps it was the post-sickness mood. We got a new washer and dryer at Sears in the late morning. Admittedly it was perhaps one of the most trying times I've had with him. He wanted to wander and pull stuff off shelves and such. I lost my patience because I realized he has very few limitations. He does what he wants and when he doesn't get it he screams. I decided then that we have to start being more stern with him in terms of not getting everything he wants. I don't know, maybe he's too young, but he's in the beginning stages of being spoiled, and I don't think that's a good way to be. He slept several hours during the day, which at the time was great, but Saturday night was perhaps his worst night ever in terms of sleep. The first time he woke was about 12, then he never really slept for more than 20 minutes after that. It was bad. He had no fever, so we thought maybe it was just that he wasn't tired, perhaps hungry (he didn't eat a big dinner), or just not feeling well.

Sunday was Easter, and his fever was completely gone. Had brunch at Duke's in the AM. He was still fussy though and made Lina cry several times by taking stuff away from her while they were playing at Odin's house. We went there for egg coloring and dinner. It was fun, but his fussiness is worrying us a little.

Song of the Day: Sea Wolf: Middle Distance Runner