Showing posts with label alex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alex. Show all posts
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Wife Post - Alex's Mobile
So Alex has gotten a little attached to his "cell phone" lately. It's a pretend phone but obviously it is rather important to him. So much that when we are now going out to exciting places like a picnic he will call up an imaginary friend and have a conversation with them telling them what is going on and inviting them. He really sounds quite grown up about it and it almost always sounds like he is really talking to someone on the other end. I think it's really cute. Well today he did it a couple times. Once to let the "person" know we were going to Redmond Town Center and the playground, another time when we were getting hot dogs at Wetzels pretzels but I found it really endearing when Zoe fell and scraped her knee, leaving us to head for home. On the way back to the car he told the doctor "we have to go home now Zoe has an owie." He talked some more and hung up telling me the doctor said to give Zoe lots of loves and bandaids. Taking his advicce that's exactly what I did. I am so glad he called the "doctor".
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Alex's Fourth Birthday
It was such a noticable difference - from his first birthday whereby you had to rip a sliver of birthday wrapping to unsuccessfully persuade him to unwrap the present to yesterday, his fourth birthday. Yesterday he would begin to open the present, say, "There's something weird inside..." and then see the present and say, "Wow! That's cool! That's awesome!" He even diplomatically extended that to clothes, even though most boys his age could really care less about the duds. "Wow! Cool pants!" But he made out pretty good, and he was spending some quality time with some of his gifts.
One of his gifts was a portable extension of the kid's learning videogame system, Leapster. We had gotten the system last year, but it was seldom put to use because the interface was actually more complicated and not exactly a cinch to hook up (for everyone else anyway), but the portable one was more of a touch screen, looked better on the smaller screen, and was more logical than a big system. Anyway, he took that in the car on the way to the airport to drop off my Mom, but then on the way to Puyallup, he got sick. Which confirmed for once and for all, he inherited one of my less desirable traits, motion sickness. So, like me, he can be handsome and witty and crazy, but put me on a chair and spin me a couple revolutions and I'm as good as dead.
But we had fun at the Puyallup Fair yesterday, with us eating a whole lotta junk like "pink clouds", or in adult speak, Cotton Candy, and other kinds of junk. We didn't spend as much as we did last year - but that's pretty relative anyway. You can't go to the fair and not have your wallet gouged for the overpriced food and rides. One of the photos on the slideshow shows a fire engine one story off the ground - the kids are running shotgun in that, arms braced and head between their knees. The employees were actually waving to them and talking to them, but they were definitely white knuckling it. We'd like to think of it as a bonding experience, when two siblings experience what is seemingly a life and death situation, they grow closer together.
After that, we went back to Grandma's house and had the bluest cookie monster cake. It was disgustingly blue and doesn't even come off skin well. I suspect it's done some slight pigmentation damage due to the amount of food coloring used. We didn't get to wish him Happy Birthday one last time because they both fall asleep in the car, but I'm sure he had just that.
One of his gifts was a portable extension of the kid's learning videogame system, Leapster. We had gotten the system last year, but it was seldom put to use because the interface was actually more complicated and not exactly a cinch to hook up (for everyone else anyway), but the portable one was more of a touch screen, looked better on the smaller screen, and was more logical than a big system. Anyway, he took that in the car on the way to the airport to drop off my Mom, but then on the way to Puyallup, he got sick. Which confirmed for once and for all, he inherited one of my less desirable traits, motion sickness. So, like me, he can be handsome and witty and crazy, but put me on a chair and spin me a couple revolutions and I'm as good as dead.
But we had fun at the Puyallup Fair yesterday, with us eating a whole lotta junk like "pink clouds", or in adult speak, Cotton Candy, and other kinds of junk. We didn't spend as much as we did last year - but that's pretty relative anyway. You can't go to the fair and not have your wallet gouged for the overpriced food and rides. One of the photos on the slideshow shows a fire engine one story off the ground - the kids are running shotgun in that, arms braced and head between their knees. The employees were actually waving to them and talking to them, but they were definitely white knuckling it. We'd like to think of it as a bonding experience, when two siblings experience what is seemingly a life and death situation, they grow closer together.
After that, we went back to Grandma's house and had the bluest cookie monster cake. It was disgustingly blue and doesn't even come off skin well. I suspect it's done some slight pigmentation damage due to the amount of food coloring used. We didn't get to wish him Happy Birthday one last time because they both fall asleep in the car, but I'm sure he had just that.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Money Buys More Stuff. Now if only Stuff meant Happiness.
This is certainly not news to anyone with common sense, but we tend to fill our lives with material things that we hardly need in order to feel better about ourselves, and I am most certainly not an exception. In fact, I'm in this permanent full acquisition mode whenever there's a little room in the budget. I know that I really should save the money and do something useful with it, but there are just so many times when I make myself believe that if I have something - it will somehow magically make my life so much better.
This weekend was no exception - since I've been working, our budget has doubled, which is a good thing because we are getting the medical bills taken care of finally. I can write full checks to take care of it instead of weird partial ones. And also we can get necessities like jeans for our growing boy and whatnot. But along with that, I got myself a few things this weekend, just to console myself that even though my job is ultimately meaningless and my contributions are nothing unique in nature, I still have cool shit that makes me happy - at least for a little bit.
I got Cooking Mama for the DS, which is a fun little game that allows me to cook these dishes using my stylus - a fun little activity type game with no storyline whatsoever, but a great way to unwind and it gives me a false sense of accomplishment, cooking these virtual meals that I can only look at. I also got a wireless gamecube controller for the Wii, which allows me to play with my Wii untethered. The Wiimote's got me spoiled.
On the semi-productive spending side, I also invested in an alternative for a PSP. I got the Kinoma Player for my Palm Tungsten E2, which has been gathering dust because I haven't had new businesses, and I've avoided it because the flash drive or something in it whines at a very high pitch. It actually bothers me on some days. Anyway, with the Kinoma Player and the iSquint that I use to compress youtube videos, I spent most of this morning figuring out the magic compression stats to fit podcasts on my Tungsten, so that I can watch video on the go. It's not the ideal quality, since the stupid Tungsten's only running 200 mhz, but it'll do. It might just quell my need for a PSP. Might.
Oh, and hilarity in the fact that I actually bought a belt without trying it on. So it looks like I'll have to lose some weight after all because I'm already on the last notch and it's pretty darn tight.
---
I was just thinking the other night that I'm glad that I changed the format from baby journals to just me talking about whatever, because I'm realizing that not a lot of people actually read this blog. And since I'm not really doing this for anyone else but myself, that's okay with me. I'd hate to really watch what I write and have no one care what I write about in the first place. Of course, it's not like I'm about to disclose my plans for world domination either.
---
Zoe's picking up potty training pretty diligently, she even went so far as to take off her own shorts and sit on the potty without prompting, which is like eons above Alex. Alex is immensely stubborn about it, and a lot of times he still needs to be asked if he needs to go. Zoe's sounding off when she needs to, so she's basically done in a week what it took the boy months to master.
Speaking of which, Alex has been a little difficult as of late, having an attitude and being way too crazy to be normal. He's responding to our requests at his own pace, and he's bullying Zoe in subtle manners that he thinks we don't pick up. Not that Zoe doesn't have her behavioral issues - she's as stubborn as a mule in cement, but at least she's not constantly a handful. Alex is just very difficult to stay home with, go out with, and sometimes even talk to. I was just mentioning to my wife that we've got to be stricter and firmer with him, but at the same time give him equal if not more love to balance that out.
Yesterday he refused to leave the playground and my wife said, "Ok, bye, Alex!" and started to walk away. Alex yelled out, "You can't leave me! You love me!" Which was pretty funny, though I'm not sure what the other parents must have thought.
---
Yesterday we were at Best Buy, and I've always wanted to try Guitar Hero, but at this second attempt, I know that I either have to forget about ever playing the damn game, or just buy it and play it at home. Reason being, it's a different kind of gameplay with a learning curve, since you're using the guitar to play the game. I thought it was as simple as pressing the buttons as the buttons line up, but evidently not. So I end up looking like a monkey's red ass when I press the buttons and nothing happens. And I suck badly in public while the kids in the back of me waiting for their turn laugh and point at the back of my head.
---
This weekend was no exception - since I've been working, our budget has doubled, which is a good thing because we are getting the medical bills taken care of finally. I can write full checks to take care of it instead of weird partial ones. And also we can get necessities like jeans for our growing boy and whatnot. But along with that, I got myself a few things this weekend, just to console myself that even though my job is ultimately meaningless and my contributions are nothing unique in nature, I still have cool shit that makes me happy - at least for a little bit.
I got Cooking Mama for the DS, which is a fun little game that allows me to cook these dishes using my stylus - a fun little activity type game with no storyline whatsoever, but a great way to unwind and it gives me a false sense of accomplishment, cooking these virtual meals that I can only look at. I also got a wireless gamecube controller for the Wii, which allows me to play with my Wii untethered. The Wiimote's got me spoiled.
On the semi-productive spending side, I also invested in an alternative for a PSP. I got the Kinoma Player for my Palm Tungsten E2, which has been gathering dust because I haven't had new businesses, and I've avoided it because the flash drive or something in it whines at a very high pitch. It actually bothers me on some days. Anyway, with the Kinoma Player and the iSquint that I use to compress youtube videos, I spent most of this morning figuring out the magic compression stats to fit podcasts on my Tungsten, so that I can watch video on the go. It's not the ideal quality, since the stupid Tungsten's only running 200 mhz, but it'll do. It might just quell my need for a PSP. Might.
Oh, and hilarity in the fact that I actually bought a belt without trying it on. So it looks like I'll have to lose some weight after all because I'm already on the last notch and it's pretty darn tight.
---
I was just thinking the other night that I'm glad that I changed the format from baby journals to just me talking about whatever, because I'm realizing that not a lot of people actually read this blog. And since I'm not really doing this for anyone else but myself, that's okay with me. I'd hate to really watch what I write and have no one care what I write about in the first place. Of course, it's not like I'm about to disclose my plans for world domination either.
---
Zoe's picking up potty training pretty diligently, she even went so far as to take off her own shorts and sit on the potty without prompting, which is like eons above Alex. Alex is immensely stubborn about it, and a lot of times he still needs to be asked if he needs to go. Zoe's sounding off when she needs to, so she's basically done in a week what it took the boy months to master.
Speaking of which, Alex has been a little difficult as of late, having an attitude and being way too crazy to be normal. He's responding to our requests at his own pace, and he's bullying Zoe in subtle manners that he thinks we don't pick up. Not that Zoe doesn't have her behavioral issues - she's as stubborn as a mule in cement, but at least she's not constantly a handful. Alex is just very difficult to stay home with, go out with, and sometimes even talk to. I was just mentioning to my wife that we've got to be stricter and firmer with him, but at the same time give him equal if not more love to balance that out.
Yesterday he refused to leave the playground and my wife said, "Ok, bye, Alex!" and started to walk away. Alex yelled out, "You can't leave me! You love me!" Which was pretty funny, though I'm not sure what the other parents must have thought.
---
Yesterday we were at Best Buy, and I've always wanted to try Guitar Hero, but at this second attempt, I know that I either have to forget about ever playing the damn game, or just buy it and play it at home. Reason being, it's a different kind of gameplay with a learning curve, since you're using the guitar to play the game. I thought it was as simple as pressing the buttons as the buttons line up, but evidently not. So I end up looking like a monkey's red ass when I press the buttons and nothing happens. And I suck badly in public while the kids in the back of me waiting for their turn laugh and point at the back of my head.
---
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
Ah, Innocence.
"See Dad?"
"What?"
"See Dad?" Alex repeated, pointing to his shorts.
"What, did you poop?"
"No."
"What?"
"My penis is moving up and down."
And I'm fighting not to laugh my ass off.
"What?"
"See Dad?" Alex repeated, pointing to his shorts.
"What, did you poop?"
"No."
"What?"
"My penis is moving up and down."
And I'm fighting not to laugh my ass off.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
One for the Kids
Ever since I abandoned the baby-centric confines of American Babies, I've been posting more frequently because I can get back to bitching irreponsibly about everything without seeming like I'm stealing thunder from the kids. However, it's been a while since I've talked about the kids directly, and not in a pedestrian sort of way. So here it is. To prove that they're still around.
It's hard to talk about Alex first without talking about his face. He looks like he's been in a couple of barfights that he's won, judging from the smile that always finds it place on his face. He's got scratches and scabs from his own doing, and he always looks a bit blotchy. Yesterday we went to the playground and it wasn't exactly summer weather. Lingering around 40s or so, and he had just a long sleeve shirt and a jacket on. After a few minutes, I looked at him, looked at the other kids in the playground, and my boy is the only tyke that's drenched in sweat. You could tell from the way his hair's all matted down. I don't suppose Hawaii would be a good idea for this internal combustable boy.
Communicating with Alex is still a bit of a challenge. Even though he does know a lot of words and is observant, he is either slurring his words or mispronouncing them so he's only understandable half the time, or he's just too distract and crazy to express himself. I get a little frustrated at that sometimes, because the only way to actively get his attention is to play with him. I guess that's normal for most boys his age, but it would be nice to be able to talk a little bit. When he talks though, he does have a bit of humor behind it. Most of the times it's unintentional. The other night when my wife called, he ended the call by saying, "Dokie Dokie, Bye Bye, Mommy."
He's got the big brother thing streak in him, a trait that causes him to pick on his little sister frequently, but he occasionally throws her off by being a really nice big brother as well, sharing with her and giving her what she wants, regardless of whether she deserved it in the first place. He still turns a deaf ear to authority from time to time, toeing that line between what he can get away with. I know it's normal, though it does drive me up the wall when he's cheerful about his defiance.
Like me, he's got a healthy dose of anal retentiveness, and he'd always want something verified or done if he's got his mind set on it. The big thing now is that he wants his hug and kiss before bed. No more than once, but definitely a hug and kiss is required. Then, oddly, he'll say, "We hug and kiss already huh, Daddy?" And you'll have to say, "Yeah, we hug and kiss already." If you don't, he'll just repeat it over and over again, with increased anxiety and volume, until you acknowledge it by repetition. I haven't found out exactly what happens if you never reply, but then again, nuclear fallout, controlled or not, is illegal in this neighborhood.
He's really looking forward to the notion of school, I think he likes to socialize, play with video games, guns, and other boys. I'm sure there's nothing he'd love more than to go crazy with other boys.
---
Zoe surprises me sometimes, she's picked up this huge pool of vocabulary and there's nothing she loves more than to talk. Talk. Talk. Sometimes it's fun to talk to her, but sometimes it feels a bit like a strange run-in with an old high school classmate, the real chatty one, and you can wait for her to find someone else to talk to. But all in all, she does pick up a lot of things from us and from the TV.
Lately she's picked up a fear of bugs, whereby she'll run and start bawling like a Muppet. She didn't used to be this way, maybe she just realized that she ain't so big after all. She still likes to be known as a Ballerina, and it sorta bothers me that we can't afford classes for her.
Her dramatic flair did peak for a little while - a bump from her brother or a tumble will send her into a open-jawed wail - of course, if you witnessed the incident or know how quickly she snaps out of it if the right stimulus came along, you'd know that she's just testing how much drama she's allowed to dish out without being called on it. That little girl's learning emotion manipulation already. She serves ham daily and mugs for the camera.
---
It's weird to have them both this close and to see them develop into their own personalities. Both Alex and Zoe have somehow picked up things that neither my wife and I do very much, that aggressive boyness that Alex has and the girliness that Zoe has. But it's nice in its own way to see them find their voices and beliefs, yet frightening to know that it's way beyond our control.
It's hard to talk about Alex first without talking about his face. He looks like he's been in a couple of barfights that he's won, judging from the smile that always finds it place on his face. He's got scratches and scabs from his own doing, and he always looks a bit blotchy. Yesterday we went to the playground and it wasn't exactly summer weather. Lingering around 40s or so, and he had just a long sleeve shirt and a jacket on. After a few minutes, I looked at him, looked at the other kids in the playground, and my boy is the only tyke that's drenched in sweat. You could tell from the way his hair's all matted down. I don't suppose Hawaii would be a good idea for this internal combustable boy.
Communicating with Alex is still a bit of a challenge. Even though he does know a lot of words and is observant, he is either slurring his words or mispronouncing them so he's only understandable half the time, or he's just too distract and crazy to express himself. I get a little frustrated at that sometimes, because the only way to actively get his attention is to play with him. I guess that's normal for most boys his age, but it would be nice to be able to talk a little bit. When he talks though, he does have a bit of humor behind it. Most of the times it's unintentional. The other night when my wife called, he ended the call by saying, "Dokie Dokie, Bye Bye, Mommy."
He's got the big brother thing streak in him, a trait that causes him to pick on his little sister frequently, but he occasionally throws her off by being a really nice big brother as well, sharing with her and giving her what she wants, regardless of whether she deserved it in the first place. He still turns a deaf ear to authority from time to time, toeing that line between what he can get away with. I know it's normal, though it does drive me up the wall when he's cheerful about his defiance.
Like me, he's got a healthy dose of anal retentiveness, and he'd always want something verified or done if he's got his mind set on it. The big thing now is that he wants his hug and kiss before bed. No more than once, but definitely a hug and kiss is required. Then, oddly, he'll say, "We hug and kiss already huh, Daddy?" And you'll have to say, "Yeah, we hug and kiss already." If you don't, he'll just repeat it over and over again, with increased anxiety and volume, until you acknowledge it by repetition. I haven't found out exactly what happens if you never reply, but then again, nuclear fallout, controlled or not, is illegal in this neighborhood.
He's really looking forward to the notion of school, I think he likes to socialize, play with video games, guns, and other boys. I'm sure there's nothing he'd love more than to go crazy with other boys.
---
Zoe surprises me sometimes, she's picked up this huge pool of vocabulary and there's nothing she loves more than to talk. Talk. Talk. Sometimes it's fun to talk to her, but sometimes it feels a bit like a strange run-in with an old high school classmate, the real chatty one, and you can wait for her to find someone else to talk to. But all in all, she does pick up a lot of things from us and from the TV.
Lately she's picked up a fear of bugs, whereby she'll run and start bawling like a Muppet. She didn't used to be this way, maybe she just realized that she ain't so big after all. She still likes to be known as a Ballerina, and it sorta bothers me that we can't afford classes for her.
Her dramatic flair did peak for a little while - a bump from her brother or a tumble will send her into a open-jawed wail - of course, if you witnessed the incident or know how quickly she snaps out of it if the right stimulus came along, you'd know that she's just testing how much drama she's allowed to dish out without being called on it. That little girl's learning emotion manipulation already. She serves ham daily and mugs for the camera.
---
It's weird to have them both this close and to see them develop into their own personalities. Both Alex and Zoe have somehow picked up things that neither my wife and I do very much, that aggressive boyness that Alex has and the girliness that Zoe has. But it's nice in its own way to see them find their voices and beliefs, yet frightening to know that it's way beyond our control.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Ouch.
I should be in bed now, but since my teeth has decided to act up again, I'm just staying up, waiting for the Tylenol to kick it. I wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyway, with the pain. Yes, this pain was as bad as the pain that brought me into the dentist's office in the first place, before all that wisdom teeth got yanked.
Incidentally, I got an explanation of the benefits from that procedure today, and somehow when they said 90 percent coverage, in layman math, it's more like 50 percent. Which means I might have a thousand plus balance I have to pay. I'll be talking to them soon.
----
We've been watching "The Riches" on FX, and it's different. The main reason why I'm watching it is because of Eddie Izzard, whom I think is one of the best comedians out there because his comedy is not the usual stereotype baiting crap that floats around. He doesn't have to necessarily demean the other sex or another race to get a cheap laugh. He has an absurdist type of humor, which I think is something I enjoy, being a Stephen Chow fan on top of that. Anyway, I can't help but watch the show and think, hee hee, that's Izzard trying to be American. From Louisiana. Minnie Driver's pretty good, other than the fact that she's always looked a bit... acute to me. I dunno, her face is both very obtuse and acute, like a contradictary face that's easy and hard to look at.
Yeah.
So, Eddie himself has commented in his standup that he does two accents - James Mason and Sean Connery. In this he's doing Eddie with the British toned down. It's not here or there, but he's still fun to look at. And why the other "travellers" in camp look more like cast members of "My Name is Earl" and why Eddie Izzard looks like a real estate agent is beyond me. But the series itself is interesting, the concept is interesting, and I'm watching it because it's Eddie.
----
Zoe has a flair for threatrics, something that was recessive in our genes that somehow surfaced despite a lack of influence from her mother, her older sisters, or any TV show we watch. Admittedly, a lot of shows we watch are either catered more to boys or the asexual persuasion, but Zoe's just got that Princess breed in her.
Tonight at dinner, my wife was talking to me, and Zoe tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to look at Zoe, Zoe had this flirty little smirk on her face, and she did this dainty little wave with her fingers, shrugged her shoulders and crinkled her nose. If she wasn't my child, I'd swear she was some showbiz acting kid trying to get a spot of Barney. Them showkids on Barney make me physically angry. I actually don't mind Barney, but man, those kids with their over acting...
But she did that and I just burst into laughter. It was cute, but I think I laughed because it was so brilliantly cheesy and innocent at the same time.
----
We're trying to figure out Alex today. He's been not listening, acting a little too independent, and perhaps a little sensitive as well. He can be defiant when we ask him something, but once we raise our voice, sometimes he just falls apart, even if we're not really that angry, but just want to be heard. He plays beyond acceptable boundaries sometimes, being a little rough with us or Zoe, or just play fighting with us and shoving things at our faces - it's all normal boy behavior, I suppose, but it's a little aggressive even for me. I really want to instill some compassion into him and get him to control the aggression a little...
And just trying to give him due attention because he is really a sweet boy. I actually like it during bedtime because he's really cuddly then. He'll demand a hug, a kiss, and he'll say, "Goodnight, Daddy."
We were watching a video of him tonight from two years ago, and you could pluck the sighs out of the air. They sure do grow fast.
Incidentally, I got an explanation of the benefits from that procedure today, and somehow when they said 90 percent coverage, in layman math, it's more like 50 percent. Which means I might have a thousand plus balance I have to pay. I'll be talking to them soon.
----
We've been watching "The Riches" on FX, and it's different. The main reason why I'm watching it is because of Eddie Izzard, whom I think is one of the best comedians out there because his comedy is not the usual stereotype baiting crap that floats around. He doesn't have to necessarily demean the other sex or another race to get a cheap laugh. He has an absurdist type of humor, which I think is something I enjoy, being a Stephen Chow fan on top of that. Anyway, I can't help but watch the show and think, hee hee, that's Izzard trying to be American. From Louisiana. Minnie Driver's pretty good, other than the fact that she's always looked a bit... acute to me. I dunno, her face is both very obtuse and acute, like a contradictary face that's easy and hard to look at.
Yeah.
So, Eddie himself has commented in his standup that he does two accents - James Mason and Sean Connery. In this he's doing Eddie with the British toned down. It's not here or there, but he's still fun to look at. And why the other "travellers" in camp look more like cast members of "My Name is Earl" and why Eddie Izzard looks like a real estate agent is beyond me. But the series itself is interesting, the concept is interesting, and I'm watching it because it's Eddie.
----
Zoe has a flair for threatrics, something that was recessive in our genes that somehow surfaced despite a lack of influence from her mother, her older sisters, or any TV show we watch. Admittedly, a lot of shows we watch are either catered more to boys or the asexual persuasion, but Zoe's just got that Princess breed in her.
Tonight at dinner, my wife was talking to me, and Zoe tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to look at Zoe, Zoe had this flirty little smirk on her face, and she did this dainty little wave with her fingers, shrugged her shoulders and crinkled her nose. If she wasn't my child, I'd swear she was some showbiz acting kid trying to get a spot of Barney. Them showkids on Barney make me physically angry. I actually don't mind Barney, but man, those kids with their over acting...
But she did that and I just burst into laughter. It was cute, but I think I laughed because it was so brilliantly cheesy and innocent at the same time.
----
We're trying to figure out Alex today. He's been not listening, acting a little too independent, and perhaps a little sensitive as well. He can be defiant when we ask him something, but once we raise our voice, sometimes he just falls apart, even if we're not really that angry, but just want to be heard. He plays beyond acceptable boundaries sometimes, being a little rough with us or Zoe, or just play fighting with us and shoving things at our faces - it's all normal boy behavior, I suppose, but it's a little aggressive even for me. I really want to instill some compassion into him and get him to control the aggression a little...
And just trying to give him due attention because he is really a sweet boy. I actually like it during bedtime because he's really cuddly then. He'll demand a hug, a kiss, and he'll say, "Goodnight, Daddy."
We were watching a video of him tonight from two years ago, and you could pluck the sighs out of the air. They sure do grow fast.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Babel, Wake Up Call Part 2.
So I was writing about how Zoe woke me up, and I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world...
Well, last night after having this dream whereby all my teeth were loose and barely hanging on, I woke up to intense pain and realized that my gums were really hurting up a storm. So I took some Tylenol and went back to bed. At around ten, Zoe came up and climbed up onto the bed next to me, and starting jumping around. I was awake, but just really out of it. Then I heard her open the Nintendo DS, turn on Sudoku (my wife plays it. It confuses me too much.) and frantically tapping the screen as if she was trying to bring it to life. When I turned to tell her to be more gentle, she sneezed on my face, showering me with her love.
Ah, to be a Dad.
----
I spent most of today just hanging out with the fam, going to Walmart and Ranch 99, which is an Asian supermarket that's close to Kent. During the trip, I was telling my wife about my former employer and her current one, who had in the past really come out against Walmart's unfair treatment of its employees, trying to take away their medical, forcing them to work without overtime pay, and so forth. Well, our Union is now fighting with the company because the company is trying to do just that. Take away premium pay for holidays and graveyard shifts, chip away a bunch of other benefits that they've been critical of Walmart doing. In the end, it's always the employee that loses.
----
Yesterday, feeling a disconnection between myself and Alex, I spent a few hours just having some father son time with him. We hit the Sweet Factory and he got to have 2 gummi boneheads (skulls, but my kids call them boneheads.), a gummi snake, and gummi fish. We went to Borders and looked at a book about bugs, a pop-up monster book, and then we went to a strip club for his first lapdance. Well, no, but I was trying awful hard to connect with the boy.
My penny analysis was that because I am an introverted individual as he is, we don't usually reach out to communicate with each other. Zoe reaches out to me and I respond, but Alex keeps to himself a lot of times, and when he does reach out, it comes out as playing or physical activity, which I don't do as much as I should. I love my boy, and I really like to talk to him, but he's not quite as vocal as I'd like him to be. He does a lot of yapping and smiling, which is sweet, but sometimes I do wish he'd just say something to me instead of yelping for attention. My wife actually feels the same about Zoe, a sense of disconnect. So, it's going to be something that we'll try to do more often, to pair up and spend more time with the children we don't usually pair up with.
----
Okay, so we finally watched Babel tonight, and man - the tone of it, the storytelling - if I could even induce half of the tone of Babel into my script, I'd be elated. It has the same kind of structure, the span is a little more restricted, but more or less the same non-linear/everything is connected sort of way.
At the end I took a stab at the ending, which remains vague and has incited a lot speculation about what it was about. If you have seen the movie and would like to read about my take on it, click here.
I thought it was wonderfully written, and just great acting all around. After seeing this and United 93, and my bias toward the Departed, I wished the race would've turned out differently.
----
Been thinking about making a photobook from Lulu.com. They have pretty good prices, but I can't seem to think of a theme for the photobook. I'm leaning toward, "Things that make me smile."
And then try not to overpower it with photos of the kids.
Well, last night after having this dream whereby all my teeth were loose and barely hanging on, I woke up to intense pain and realized that my gums were really hurting up a storm. So I took some Tylenol and went back to bed. At around ten, Zoe came up and climbed up onto the bed next to me, and starting jumping around. I was awake, but just really out of it. Then I heard her open the Nintendo DS, turn on Sudoku (my wife plays it. It confuses me too much.) and frantically tapping the screen as if she was trying to bring it to life. When I turned to tell her to be more gentle, she sneezed on my face, showering me with her love.
Ah, to be a Dad.
----
I spent most of today just hanging out with the fam, going to Walmart and Ranch 99, which is an Asian supermarket that's close to Kent. During the trip, I was telling my wife about my former employer and her current one, who had in the past really come out against Walmart's unfair treatment of its employees, trying to take away their medical, forcing them to work without overtime pay, and so forth. Well, our Union is now fighting with the company because the company is trying to do just that. Take away premium pay for holidays and graveyard shifts, chip away a bunch of other benefits that they've been critical of Walmart doing. In the end, it's always the employee that loses.
----
Yesterday, feeling a disconnection between myself and Alex, I spent a few hours just having some father son time with him. We hit the Sweet Factory and he got to have 2 gummi boneheads (skulls, but my kids call them boneheads.), a gummi snake, and gummi fish. We went to Borders and looked at a book about bugs, a pop-up monster book, and then we went to a strip club for his first lapdance. Well, no, but I was trying awful hard to connect with the boy.
My penny analysis was that because I am an introverted individual as he is, we don't usually reach out to communicate with each other. Zoe reaches out to me and I respond, but Alex keeps to himself a lot of times, and when he does reach out, it comes out as playing or physical activity, which I don't do as much as I should. I love my boy, and I really like to talk to him, but he's not quite as vocal as I'd like him to be. He does a lot of yapping and smiling, which is sweet, but sometimes I do wish he'd just say something to me instead of yelping for attention. My wife actually feels the same about Zoe, a sense of disconnect. So, it's going to be something that we'll try to do more often, to pair up and spend more time with the children we don't usually pair up with.
----
Okay, so we finally watched Babel tonight, and man - the tone of it, the storytelling - if I could even induce half of the tone of Babel into my script, I'd be elated. It has the same kind of structure, the span is a little more restricted, but more or less the same non-linear/everything is connected sort of way.
At the end I took a stab at the ending, which remains vague and has incited a lot speculation about what it was about. If you have seen the movie and would like to read about my take on it, click here.
I thought it was wonderfully written, and just great acting all around. After seeing this and United 93, and my bias toward the Departed, I wished the race would've turned out differently.
----
Been thinking about making a photobook from Lulu.com. They have pretty good prices, but I can't seem to think of a theme for the photobook. I'm leaning toward, "Things that make me smile."
And then try not to overpower it with photos of the kids.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Today was going relatively well, but after putting Alex to bed tonight, I got so grouchy. This thing used to happen once in a while, but when it happens, it really gets to me.
Zoe can be stubborn but for the most part, if you tell her to knock it off, she will. Alex however, takes it very personally and seriously, and he doesn't really calm down when he gets worked up. In fact, he can be pretty inconsolable at times. But this is the deal. I put Alex down in bed and he says, "like this." And kicks his blanket. I don't know what he's talking about, so I ask him. He'll just repeat, "like this." I try different things with his blanket, and none of it works. He just keeps repeating it. I ask him to show me. He doesn't. I ask him to use different words. He repeats the same words. I tell him I don't know what he wants, and kiss him goodnight, and he'll start crying as if I told him I was leaving him to wolves. So I try to figure it out again, and ask him, guess, and explain to him that I don't understand. But he giggles, repeats, and refuses to back down or compromise to that singular task that he has committed to in his mind, unless I do it for him. Now, I'm probably being a bit impatient, and he's probably being stubborn, but my god it drives me crazy. I know if I just leave the room, he'll get worked up and cry so hard that he seems like he's hyperventilating.
Anyway, it turned out that he just wanted the blanket tucked under his legs, which I tried to do twice before. Somehow the third time was special or something.
I'm bummed because we did have such a good day all day - after their naps we were going to go for a walk, but being outside for more than a minute proved to us that it was too damn cold to be walking anywhere, so we decided to go to the toy store instead. My aunt had given them both 5 bucks for Chinese New Year in the mail, so we were going to go spend it. We got this velcro ball/target thing and toy plastic soldiers, which really brought out the boy in Alex. I took one of the plastic dinosaurs so that the soldiers had someone to fight, and Alex had his aggressive boy voice, that was deeper and throaty, and they battled the dinosaur, played by Zoe. Zoe, being disinterested in anything destructive, decided to spin the dinosaur on his belly, after she found out that it spins pretty fast. Anyway, got some of it on tape, might share it later.
All day today I've been trying to get this old wedding done, a wedding that I had the date and location screwed up on. So basically, a mistake on what equates to 10 seconds at the beginning meant that she was unhappy and I had to redo the whole DVD for her. But since I've thrown out the project and it didn't sync right when I tried to relink it, I had to spend a lot of freaking time working on something I've already done once before. So most of today was working on that.
The other highlight of the day was when my wife called her ex to talk about JL. Since she moved back to Bellingham last Nov. under the stipulation that she was moving back to see her father, and that she was going to excel in school in her hometown, she's gotten slightly worse. She aced two classes: Walking and Choir. C in one, D in the other, and two fat F's to round it off. On top of that, something that she never attempted when she was under our wing, was a handful of tardy and hooky days.
Anyway, that's not that uncommon, unfortunately. Her bad grades aren't because she's stupid - she's smart but she chooses to be lazy, and chooses to spend time with her boyfriend. Anyway, she skipped the day after Valentine's Day and tried to tell my wife that "she didn't feel like going to school that day" and that "it was complicated." It was the day after Valentines. We're not stupid. Doesn't take a freaking genius to figure that one out. My wife summed it up by saying, "I'm not your Dad."
Brett is a guy who would walk in on you with a knife in someone, and you could say, "Oh, he walked into me while I was cleaning my knife," and depending on whether he chooses to care or not, he'll either accept that as truth and have a sandwich, or he'll turn your motivation for murder into why his ex-wife's divorce had turned his life and the lives of his children into total disasters. He's really figure out how to survive in Earth's atmosphere without a space suit.
Which is actually something he did this afternoon. My wife was talking to him about JL and how she doesn't listen, thinks she's wiser than everyone, and my wife, being kind and not blurting out things like, "Really? You mean we weren't the ones that were messing up?" or "Maybe you should take time to listen to her or take her to a movie," which was the sage advice he offered us when we were having problems with her. My wife was being polite and basically sharing as to how she's manipulating a lot of truth (i.e. lying her ass off) and trying to relate to him, when he pulled a fresh one out of his stretched-out butthole and vomitted out this nugget, "Well, you know the divorce really affected her."
Yeah, the divorce made her skip school to sleep with her boyfriend. That has so much to do with it. My wife excused herself and then we spend the next hour raving about why stupidity should actually hurt the offender, and why freak accidents always seem to miss the freaks.
----
Oh, and to the wanker who's trying to access my account, get a freaking life loser. At least try to access the account of someone who's more interesting than I am.
Zoe can be stubborn but for the most part, if you tell her to knock it off, she will. Alex however, takes it very personally and seriously, and he doesn't really calm down when he gets worked up. In fact, he can be pretty inconsolable at times. But this is the deal. I put Alex down in bed and he says, "like this." And kicks his blanket. I don't know what he's talking about, so I ask him. He'll just repeat, "like this." I try different things with his blanket, and none of it works. He just keeps repeating it. I ask him to show me. He doesn't. I ask him to use different words. He repeats the same words. I tell him I don't know what he wants, and kiss him goodnight, and he'll start crying as if I told him I was leaving him to wolves. So I try to figure it out again, and ask him, guess, and explain to him that I don't understand. But he giggles, repeats, and refuses to back down or compromise to that singular task that he has committed to in his mind, unless I do it for him. Now, I'm probably being a bit impatient, and he's probably being stubborn, but my god it drives me crazy. I know if I just leave the room, he'll get worked up and cry so hard that he seems like he's hyperventilating.
Anyway, it turned out that he just wanted the blanket tucked under his legs, which I tried to do twice before. Somehow the third time was special or something.
I'm bummed because we did have such a good day all day - after their naps we were going to go for a walk, but being outside for more than a minute proved to us that it was too damn cold to be walking anywhere, so we decided to go to the toy store instead. My aunt had given them both 5 bucks for Chinese New Year in the mail, so we were going to go spend it. We got this velcro ball/target thing and toy plastic soldiers, which really brought out the boy in Alex. I took one of the plastic dinosaurs so that the soldiers had someone to fight, and Alex had his aggressive boy voice, that was deeper and throaty, and they battled the dinosaur, played by Zoe. Zoe, being disinterested in anything destructive, decided to spin the dinosaur on his belly, after she found out that it spins pretty fast. Anyway, got some of it on tape, might share it later.
All day today I've been trying to get this old wedding done, a wedding that I had the date and location screwed up on. So basically, a mistake on what equates to 10 seconds at the beginning meant that she was unhappy and I had to redo the whole DVD for her. But since I've thrown out the project and it didn't sync right when I tried to relink it, I had to spend a lot of freaking time working on something I've already done once before. So most of today was working on that.
The other highlight of the day was when my wife called her ex to talk about JL. Since she moved back to Bellingham last Nov. under the stipulation that she was moving back to see her father, and that she was going to excel in school in her hometown, she's gotten slightly worse. She aced two classes: Walking and Choir. C in one, D in the other, and two fat F's to round it off. On top of that, something that she never attempted when she was under our wing, was a handful of tardy and hooky days.
Anyway, that's not that uncommon, unfortunately. Her bad grades aren't because she's stupid - she's smart but she chooses to be lazy, and chooses to spend time with her boyfriend. Anyway, she skipped the day after Valentine's Day and tried to tell my wife that "she didn't feel like going to school that day" and that "it was complicated." It was the day after Valentines. We're not stupid. Doesn't take a freaking genius to figure that one out. My wife summed it up by saying, "I'm not your Dad."
Brett is a guy who would walk in on you with a knife in someone, and you could say, "Oh, he walked into me while I was cleaning my knife," and depending on whether he chooses to care or not, he'll either accept that as truth and have a sandwich, or he'll turn your motivation for murder into why his ex-wife's divorce had turned his life and the lives of his children into total disasters. He's really figure out how to survive in Earth's atmosphere without a space suit.
Which is actually something he did this afternoon. My wife was talking to him about JL and how she doesn't listen, thinks she's wiser than everyone, and my wife, being kind and not blurting out things like, "Really? You mean we weren't the ones that were messing up?" or "Maybe you should take time to listen to her or take her to a movie," which was the sage advice he offered us when we were having problems with her. My wife was being polite and basically sharing as to how she's manipulating a lot of truth (i.e. lying her ass off) and trying to relate to him, when he pulled a fresh one out of his stretched-out butthole and vomitted out this nugget, "Well, you know the divorce really affected her."
Yeah, the divorce made her skip school to sleep with her boyfriend. That has so much to do with it. My wife excused herself and then we spend the next hour raving about why stupidity should actually hurt the offender, and why freak accidents always seem to miss the freaks.
----
Oh, and to the wanker who's trying to access my account, get a freaking life loser. At least try to access the account of someone who's more interesting than I am.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Some Photos
They were both sitting on a cement block that held up the handicapped parking sign, and both mesmerized by the activities.
I love this shot because it's such a wonderment type shot. I think even though we don't see his face, one could imagine what it'd be like.
I wanted to take a photo of Alex smiling pleasantly as he was enjoying the Lion Dance, and I was surprised that he lifted up his hand to kind of acknowledge me. In the other photos, he looks like he's trying to block his face, but he was just giving me a nice little, "Hi Dad" wave.
At the end, it became all worthwhile - we hadn't planned on going up to the dancers, but other parents were doing it but we managed to finagle one last photo op just as they were leaving, and Alex got his wish. He was holding his hand out through most of the Lion Dance because we teach him if he wanted stray cats to come to him, just hold out his hand and wait for them to come to you. So he held his hand out, hoping for contact. So when the Lion bent down and even let Alex put his hand in its mouth, you know the little boy had a pretty neat day...
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