Bigs

Another day with the Jakers. Although the majority of these daily posts seem to say, "I picked up Jake, we went home, we ate, he slept." The details of that mundane routine are what I never want to take for granted. For example, when I pick him up in the afternoon, he comes running across the room gigging and smiling, saying "APPA!!" He's so excited to see me and he hugs me every time. It is a truly unbelievable feeling. I will never, ever forget it.

So today was a little different. Omma's sick so I took her to the doctor's and to a stomach x-ray test. Even though she was sick, she made us dinner. (Thanks omma!) A positive side of it is that we picked up Jakey a little early. Nice evening at home. Nana came over for a short spell after dins.

Things I say to Jake a lot these days:

-Bigs (what I call him)

-Boozoos (another thing I call him)

-Bigboy? (asking him if he's behaving)

-Wazoo! (an exclamation that I make when I pick him up, he's big)

-Sleeps? (self explanatory)

-Jimmies (get your pajamas)

Hmm. I hope he's literate when he starts school! Kidding, the rest of what I say makes sense...kind of.

Song of the Day: Taken By Trees: Sweet Child O' Mine

iDon't Know

Back to the regular Monday schedule. Picked up Jake, brought him to omma's,* then we went home. Stopped at Frog House for some chow (sundubu, kimchi-chigye, and chok-bal) and partook upon hitting the jip.

Even though Jakers is still sick, he's in great spirits these days. He's having a grand old time running and laughing. In the past month or so he's been taking my glasses off my face, folding them, and putting them in my shirt (through my collar). He then searches for them in my shirt. Honestly this has been bothering me b/c I immediately can't see a thing. It's one of those moments where I realized there is no reason to lose my cool, but I always felt annoyed. Tonight I decided to play and I acted like he was tickling me while he was looking for the glasses. He loved it and giggled uncontrollably. Problem solved.

Song of the Day: Bran Van 3000: Problems

*I've been using "mom" instead of "omma" for posts thus far. Jake, however, uses "omma" (and calls me "appa") so I've decided to switch. Note taken.

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

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

Smooth Mondays

Still posting a day late. CAN'T WAIT for the work to be done at the house.

Jake was better--much better--yesterday in terms of his mood and how he felt health-wise. He seemed in better spirits and generally happy. I took him for a smoothie after I picked him up. Slept well and (almost) through the night. Babysitter said he was better too. He's still testing us in terms of his limits. We're being consistent (or at least trying to) with him though. Last night he wanted to play in the dishwasher and I sternly said "No!" It made him cry. Not my intention, but that's what happened. We've also noticed that he's gravitating towards mom much more now. The making of a mama's boy?





Song of the Day: The Sugarcubes: Mama

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

Got to Admit It's Getting

Weird posting the day after the day's events, but the internet is still down at the house and my imbalance is still high. Supposed to finish by the end of next week. REALLY hope they do. Can't wait to get my living space back.

Another tough-ish day with the Jakers. He had a fever in the AM, then it kind of subsided in the afternoon. Didn't give him any medicine in the evening and he slept well. Woke up with no fever. The babysitter today said though that he's crying a lot and won't eat. Man Jakers, if your're reading this, you should know that me and omma are endlessly concerned about your well-being. Seems like everyday we worry about something, but that's not your fault. We just care about you very much .

Song of the Day: Supergrass: Going Out

Even More Discombobulated

Couldn't write at home last night b/c the electrician disconnected the net. Just as well, it was really late by the time I figured that out. Matt came over for pizza and talk story. Stayed til about 10.

Brought the Jakers to the dox in the AM. The night before (Tuesday night) he woke up several times with a high fever. The tylenol didn't seem to be working. I seriously considered taking him to the emergency room b/c the fever hit 104.7. I decided to head down to Safeway to get advil at 2:00 am. When I got back he was sleeping and did so til 6. Had a fever when he woke. Gave him some tylenol and of course at the dox he didn't have a fever, which makes me think the doc was like, "Quit worrying, he doesn't even have a fever." It was bad though and we were justifiably worried. In the end I think he knew that.

So he had a fever all day yesterday, same as the two previous days. The advil works much better, but we're still worried b/c it just won't go away.

On top of all this is the house being a mess. I can't believe how much this makes my inner balance all out of whack.

Song of the Day: Starsailor: Fever

Hot Town

I never really look back on these posts. As per usual with most things I write, when I do, find all kine typos and stuff. Oh well, it's not really the point, as long as I'm getting my point across.

Quiet Friday. Picked up Jake, took him down to Diamond Head look out to tell him about the surfers. By the time we got him home, it was almost dinner time. I BBQ-d steaks and potato/portabello mushroom/onion foil wraps and we feasted. Mom and nana watched the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest whilst I cleaned. Jake was a little fussy as it's hot and he seems a little more sick today than yesterday. The kiddies at the babysitters are all sick.

Song of the Day: The Specials: Too Hot

Coin Dox

Jake went to see the doctor today. He's had a wet cough for quite a while so we wanted to get it checked out. As soon as the doctor entered the room, he said, "I hope it's not another coin." This was precisely our fear. The first coin (at 5 months) was the most painful time of our short lives together. He had to be anesthetized; in order to do so, they searched with a needle for his vein while we were out of the room. It was hell. When we saw him he looked absolutely exhausted. The next day when we took off the band-aid we saw that they poked him at least 5 times. We cried so much. It was no surprise then that, ironically, all in the room today were hoping that he was really sick. Needless to say, he ordered am x-ray, so it was off to the hospital.

The first time Jake had an x-ray, he had to use the baby x-ray holding device, what I called a torture device. Today they gave us the choice to hold him while they did the x-ray. The technician said, "So you're going to pass on the torture device?" Yep, everyone thinks that contraption is torture for the kiddies. Holding him worked so much better.

It came back good in the sense that there were no foreign bodies, but the doc said he most likely has a bad cold. He prescribed anti-biotics and were were off. Mom is sick too, taking drowsiness-inducing medicine, so she slept early. Jake was very calm all day, but when he got home, he was pretty nuts. Even until 5 mins before bed he was laughing and playing with me. When I put him down at 8 though, he slept really, really well. He knows the routine now.

Song of the Day: X-Ray Spex: Germ Free Adolescents

Manic Monday

Even though it was Monday, we still had a good day. Jake's still a little sick and, worryingly, still fussy. He's being a classic baby in the sense that he sees something, wants it, doesn't get it...cries like hell. A bit better today, but still wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

I thought he'd be tired when I picked him up and the sitter actually said he didn't sleep. This usually means he hits the Zs as soon as he hits the seat. Instead he stayed awake, so I took him to the park for a little jaunt. We had fun save the "I want to play in the water fountain and will protest vociferously if you deny me" moment. Picked up mom, home, dinner, and then we decided to take a walk. Three stages on his walk: 1)He actually walked, a lot; 2) He wanted to be carried, a lot; 3) He protested, but got in his stroller and was asleep with in 10 mins. He's sleeping now. He's woken up at 3:30/4:00 since the sickness. I so hope that's not the deal tonight.

Song of the Day: Ted Leo/Pharmacists: Where Have all the Rudeboys Gone?

Home Body

Non-eventful day due to Jake's sickness. Did venture out this AM to get some supplies for the new kitchen cleaning. Jake helped out a little, but mostly he wandered around the house. Still fussy, but not as bad as yesterday. His fascination with vacuum cleaners continues (pic from Wal-Mart).

He was bummed though b/c we were supposed to go to Val's for RockBand Battle of the Bands. He would have loved to have gone, but we just couldn't. He needs to get better. Hopefully by next week he'll be A-OK.

Sparky was little help with the cleaning. Chose instead to sleep in the new cupboards.

Song of the Day: The Shins: Saint Simon

Nowhere Man

Ear infection. That was the verdict by the doc today. Explains all the fussiness and short-tempered-ness. Ironically he was a little less fussy today. We went for dinner with Matt at Gyo-kaku where he was OK until late in the dinner. He wants to wander around-I don't blame him-but that means we have to as well. The place is kind of hip, which I didn't expect, so Jake was a bit out of place. Someday Jake, someday.
Song of the Day: Husker Du: These Important Years

Listen

Another day of fussiness, but it's most definitely due to his being sick. He's extremely irritable and short-tempered. 2 of the 4 toddlers at the babysitters have ear infections. We're taking him tomorrow to get looked at. His ears don't seem to be bothering him, but something mos def is. We'll see.

I think also the fact that our house is in complete disarray has been discombobulating for the Jakers as well. Hell, it has been for all of us. Stress level goes up when things aren't where they're supposed to be. They finally kind of finished today, but a few odds and ends need to be wrapped up. Hopefully this weekend we can get it all sorted out.

Dinner was sushi. The pic is mom and Jake on the way to the car. In spite of his mood, he still had a bboppo for omma.

Song of the Day: fIREHOSE: Hear Me

Fuss Ball

I've never really written about Jake's bedtime routine (or have I?). Since he moved into his crib a couple months back, we have been staying in the room until he falls asleep. The routine usually entails mom and I bringing him in where we read a book or plays a little. We tried for weeks to get him to brush his teeth, but he resists vehemently. When we say it's time to go in the crib he gets more books and wants to play more. We eventually get him in and then we lay on the floor next to him until he falls asleep. Sometimes this takes 10 mins, sometimes 40 mins, like tonight. We know we have to get to the point where he will just sleep or go to sleep on his own when we lay him down, but for now it's a bit of an ordeal. Such is life with the Jakers.

Big event of the day: came home to our new kitchen. Other than that Jake was fussy the whole day, big time, just like he was last month. We think he may have a cold that's bugging him.

Song of the Day: Kitchens of Distinction: Drive That Fast

Korean-American Idol

Non-eventful day. Jake is a little sick so he's not feeling good mood-wise. Had trouble sleeping and has a runny nose.

Tired tonight too.

Song of the Day: The Jesus and Mary Cain: Sometimes Always

Daily Jake, Day One

This is a blog about Jake, for Jake. Since before he was born I've been writing occasional notes to him about his life, my life, his mom's life. My hope is that sometime down the road I can give him all of the things I've written for/to him so that he'll have a better understanding of who he is and where he comes from.

I got the idea to start this blog while sitting in my miserably cold little research carrel at the library writing chapter 2 of my dissertation. I originally planned on doing an interactive blog on music memory and nostalgia, which I still may do, but at the moment this seems more fun.

The plan is to take a photo or video of Jake (or to steal one from his aunties, uncles, and other friends) once a day and write a short blurb of a major event in his day. The majority of the pics will be taken with my phone, which will explain the low quality. I did this for a year once on a calendar in, I think, 1990 (sans the pics). I learned a lot about myself and I hope Jake does too. Who knows, maybe he can take this over some day. Hopefully the pictures will tell a story too. I can't help but think of Harvey Keitel's Auggie Wren character in Wayne Wang's Smoke taking a picture of the smoke shop corner for years. There is power in memory, whether it be joy, sadness, or melancholy. I hope Jake experiences it all through his photographs.

A caveat: Although the plan is once a day, it'll most likely be 5-6 times a week. It's his fault. He keeps us busy.

As I write this Jake is sleeping on the bed next to me. These days he sleeps in the afternoon, around 3:00, for about 2 hours. Today's pic is Jake catching Zs on the bed. He's wheezing because he has a cold. Major runny nose. Weird how kids his age can catch something so quick. Yesterday he was fine.

Song of the day: Day One...In Your Life

http://ilike.com/artist/Day+One/album/Ordinary+Man