How does it feel to be a daddy?

Okay, I got a few minutes so I thought I would do a quick non-picture update. So the popular question is, "How does it feel to be a daddy?" Lemmie summarize in ONE word:

TIRED

Yes, before we had JT people would say rest up now. Well you can't store up sleep like store credit. Why is it so tiring? It is tiring for the following reasons:

1. You do not sleep at the hospital. Granted we had a great private room but it just isn't so comfortable. It isn't home.

2. You are more concerned for your wife and kid that you stay up and watch them while they sleep.

3. I am no longer a day time napper. I haven't been since I got married. Thus, napping is very difficult for me. By the time I nap and start falling asleep the kid wakes up again.

4. You can't hit a 'snooze' button. When the baby cries you gotta go now. Not 5 minutes. Not 10 minutes but now. So you learn to change diapers with one eye one and the other eye still glued shut from sleeping.

5. We wake the kid every 2-3 hours to feed. After feeding is diaper changing. Well, I can't breastfeed so I take th diaper duty. So, either I wake up at feeding time and stay in bed or I wake up 20 minutes later to change doodie.

Hence TIRED.

Also, you married people with no kids. Don't let people fool you to think this is some great club. (Saori loves to say it is a great club). It is not so great. (Sao, is there a way out of the club?? I also didn't see an exchange counter in labor and delivery). I think people want you in the club so they can see you suffer like they did at one point. All tired with bloodshot eyes.

I wonder if people have short term memories? After having a kid for 3 days, I wonder how people forget about the lack of sleep? Why would you want to do this again while already looking after a kid?? I don't get it??!!

I should have paid attention more in class. "No glove...no love" and "No means No"

Of course the kid is a cute kid....it is just harder than I realized. I do not regret having the kid at all. Just wanted people to hear the OTHER side of the story. It is not all sugar and spice. I haven't had the euphoric moment of this kid is so great or I am so happy. It is more constant worrying about keeping him healthy and okay.

J.T Yoshioka

Okay so all the pictures are out of order but this is a photo entry. More to come later.

A picture with JT's eyes actually open.

Most pictures have JT with his doo-rag on so here is his full set of hair...in a quasi mohawk.

My cousin Tom and his family, Harrison, Angela, Lucy and Maggie.

Aunty Paul and Uncle Alan.

Our OB, Dr. Nishio and Aya. You can't tell in the picture but our doctor is a giant. Really nice. So glad we had a good doctor.

Aya's father and mother.

Aunty Jenny.

Aunty Mel, Uncle Kogan and Uncle Jeff the racist

Mom and Brentt

Aya right after delivery....like 1 minute. I was so impressed. Aya came through with flying colors. Normally Aya is all sorry and pathetic and gets tired just walking around the block so I was quite nervous about how she would do in delivery. No problems at all. I was so proud of Aya. She did great!

I love this picture. My dad and mom. Notice me in the back. How great am I???

Aya, just before the epideral. That is my food and not Aya's. It is hard work sitting there watching the Texas v Texas A&M game on a 42 inch plasma tv. =)

I will write more later. Trying to take advantage of this quiet time when Aya and JT are resting.

Baby Yoshioka

Just a quick entry to let you know about the latest addition to the family:

Jack Tadasu Yoshioka

Born: November 25, 2005 @ 1:30 pm

Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz

Length: 19.5 inches


Both mom and baby are doing a-ok. Aya passed with flying colors. Pictures later when I bring my camera home.

At Home Conversations....but you are black???

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. I leave you with a recent Aya and Miles at home conversation:

Aya: Do you think black babies are black at birth?
Miles: Huh?
Miles: You mean black-black people or light skinned black.
Aya: Black-Black.
Aya: I bet there kids are more caramel color at birth
Miles: What? You are joking.
Aya: No really. I heard there kids are not black at birth
Miles: They are not white and then turn black. They aren’t Arabian horses.
Aya: No. They are light skinned at birth.


Well, just so happens I work with a black guy so I asked him if he was as black as he was at birth. He wasn’t ‘as-black’ but he wasn’t caramel or light skinned either. He might have been a shade lighter as he has seen sunlight since the time of his birth. For all intents and purposes he was the same color.

So you all think I am black?? Well I think Aya is blacker than me. We were wondering if the baby would be mellow. I said yup, mello like me. So I sang:

Miles: They call me, ‘Meelllloooowww Yelllllowww”.
Aya: I am mellow like carameelllllloo.

See, so I at least go with yellow power while Aya chooses the darker color. (I hope Jeff doesn’t push Aya around at the hospital since he is racist towards blacks lately).

More birthday...

Every year my mom will ask me what I want for my birthday dinner. The last few years I thought of this citrus pie from the pie kitchen. I used to love this pie but the bakery closed at least 10-15 years ago.

Well, that I what I always ask for on my birthday…A citrus pie. In fact, I was in Gardena on Saturday with Aya and I told her THAT is where the pie place used to be. I didn’t think much about it and then wa-la! After dinner my mom had made a citrus pie along with my favorite pumpkin pie! Pie-boobies!!

My mom got the pie to look like the original but sadly it didn’t taste like the original, but an “A” for effort.

Also you know what sucked? They gave me a xmas stocking for a present. Normally that would be acceptable if it had my name on it. Nooo, this one was a musical stocking and not for me…but for their grandson. I was also informed that this would be the last year of bday presents for me and that next year their grandson will be the receiver of all gifts. What kind of deal is that??

Me holding my “not yet born” son’s gifts on MY bday:

Edit: Hmm, maybe my parents are good at this grand parenting thing. I thought that reindeer was the lamest thing but they gave one to Sydney as well. Christie called tonight and said that is Sydney's favorite present! Kid approved!

Birthdays and middle aged...

Another year come and gone. Aya is doing well but she is in pre-labor so we didn't want to venture far from home. Needless to say it put the doldrums on my birthday. I also got a glimpse of my future weekend life.

As a single or married guy you pretty much can do whatever you want on the weekend. Sleep in. Go out to eat. You get to come and go as you please. It is nice. Soooo nice. This weekend I went to Sydney's 3rd birthday. Sydney is such a cutie pa-tootie so I will always go her bday (even though I gave up box seats to the Clipper game). Well in the past I have always declined kids bday parties because:

a. I do not have kids.
b. They are kinda wack.
c. Kids parties interfere with lounging time.

It was interesting to see at the party today how many people actually have kids and go to these parties! I mean parents and kids everywhere. It was not a pretty sight. I was thinking there are A LOT of kids here. They are all running around and yelling. Fella's you want birth control? Just go to a kids party and you won't be wanting kids. I dunno it was a bit overwhelming. I think I need to 'ease' into the kid party mode. It was all a bit unsettling.

The unnerving part is that I stayed for almost 2 hours and that was about the tops for the day. I was worn out after that. I was thinking, I haven't seen any football games, I haven't played any video games, is this truly what my life is going to become??

As soon as I thought about what I missed I realized the highlight of the day was pushing Sydney on the swing and how happy she was on the swing with her friends. I decided no party for my kid at 1 years old...it is just too much work.


Oh, I totally forgot, here is a pic of Aya and I at Sydneys party today. Aya is 39 weeks now. We thought the baby might come on my bday. At first I disliked sharing my bday but then I thought how great would that be? A chip right off the old block. I also realized that from now on MY NAME can also go on my sons cake! How great is that??! It is fabulous.

Traffic

Okay, what is the deal with traffic and day light savings? I leave work at the same time and ever since day light savings, traffic has totally increased. Do people leave work earlier? Do they drive slower? What is the dealio?

I know I probably should complain about traffic since I only live 6 miles from work. Think about this. On a day with no traffic it takes me 8 minutes from the parking garage to home. Since May, I have done that ONE time. My average commute is 20 minutes. Since daylight savings 30 minutes. Wednesday night it took me 45 minutes to get home! 45 minutes to go 6 miles. Even if you take side streets or short cuts it still takes the same amount of time.

Being short....

Being short has never really been a problem for me. I wake up and think it sucks to be short. I guess growing up and being around white people most of the time I was always the shortest one so I just got used to it.

Well, I finally found out that being short is pretty good. One, in the Porsche I was comfy-cozy because the Porsche was built for people under 6 ft. My co-worker has the Lotus Esprit and the Lotus Elise. Man, anyone taller than me would hate being in that car. The Elise is probably the closest thing to being a race car. So fun, but not very practical. It is hard to get in and out of the car and it would suck on long distances. The Esprit is just classic....but not roomy at all.

Looks like being short has its advantages when it comes to exotic cars!

Baby Boy

So what is the deal? You tell people you have a boy and then they kinda laugh and joke, I hope he isn't like Aya and can't play sports. You sorta expect jokes like that. What is the deal when people go I hope he isn't 'gay'. Whats up with that?

I mean I tend to say some stupid stuff but I don't ever go up to friends and say I hope you have a gay kid. I mean, why would I want a gay kid??

I think having a baby is starting to sink in a little bit. I am realizing now how easy my life is right now and having this kid is going to make life hard. Now I am thinking why on earth did I want to make my life harder? I mean easy is all relative. It isn't a super easy life I have but it sure is comfortable. Now it won't be comfortable for at least 18 more years.

I was thinking Aya would have the kid this week but maybe not now. Doesn't seem like she has moved any farther along in terms of dilation. Aya's mom think women tend to give birth more near a full moon. The next full moon is Wednesday.

Jeff the Racist

Man, I hate when I have stories to write but get so busy that I can't write them down and then I forget! Dammit.

Well, normally I write about myself or Aya but this will be an entry dedicated to Jeff the Racist. Once again, Jeff gets a technical foul at Basketball for arguing with a black guy. That is twice in one month. Had I known Jeff was a racist I might have choosen not to his bestest man ever.

I can now add to his title of Jeff the Racist or Jeff the Play Quitter because once again I had to teach Jeff colors this weekend. Jeff and I were at a stoplight and it was RED. For some reason Jeff decides to go through the red. I tell Jeff it is red. He goes okay and still goes....then realizes, RED means STOP. The next light is green and what happens? Jeff stops. Hello. Green means go.

Jeff to recap, Red means stop and green means go.

Losing

Outside of company softball where you can not pick and choose who plays, I have never really lost that much. I have not won everytime either, but I would say I win 65% – 70% of the time.

I never liked the LA Clippers but I do remember when Ron Harper got traded he said, "Leaving the Clippers is like a get out of jail card. " At the time I thought it was pretty funny but then I thought why would it feel like jail. One, he gets to play bball. Two, he gets paid for it.

Well, for the past 2 years I have been on a losing team. I would say in the last two years we are about 12-68. Playing for a losing team is tough because it is hard to get ‘motivated’ since the odds dictate we will probably lose. On the other hand, when you win, it feels great to win because you know how hard you had to play to get that win. (Actually, out of our 12 wins, 6 of them really shouldn't count because the teams really suck).

After 2 years of losing I now realize why Ron Harper felt it was like jail. Losing breeds a losing attitude. Since you are a player and not an owner you don’t get a say in your teammates. You don’t get to say who plays, who doesn’t play, who we add, who we drop, etc. You just have to go with the program. Luckily, I have no ‘contract’ so I am free to come and go. Looks like it is time for this bird to fly!

Asian Drivers

I guess it is true, asian women are poor drivers. Friday afternoon Aya was coming home from work and she rear ended a pickup truck. Yes, Aya and the baby are fine. The people she hit haven't called us with any damages yet.

Aya and I went to get an estimate for the damage on Saturday. Just under $3,000. Yikes.

It doesn't look bad but the hood and grill need to be replaced. The brackets that hold the headlight all need to be replaced. Basically the whole front end was pushed back slightly so even though it doesn't look like a lot of damage, part, paint and labor wise it adds up. Well that was the weekend.

Baby Update - Week 36

Whoa! So our OBGYN is switching practices and we decided to follow her because we like her. She basically transferred buildings so not a big change for us. Now we are assured that she will deliver our baby. In addition, her new office is PPO only.

Let me tell you PPO only is a HUGE difference when compared to HMO and PPO. For one the office is bigger and not busy. Two, the doctor is much more relaxed as she sees 1 patient every 1/2 hour instead of 7 per hour. Third, the nurses are so much friendlier. We got free stuff at our last visit and we don't have to wait to be seen. PPO is definately the way to go.

Oh! I almost forgot the baby update. So, the baby has dropped again and is even lower than last week. Aya is 70% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. What does that mean? Nothing. The baby can go until the 11/26 due date or the baby can come any minute now. I guess we are officially on baby alert now.

If you want to be called after Aya gives birth and I will put you on the list.

Think a gallon of gas is expensive?

Think a gallon of gas is expensive? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective:

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ....... $10.32 per gallon

Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ...........$9.52 per gallon

Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon

Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 .......... $10.00 per gallon

Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ........... $33.60 per gallon

Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 .... $178.13 per gallon

Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 ... $123.20 per gallon

Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ........ $25.42 per gallon

Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 $84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER...

Evian water 9 oz $1.49..........$21.19 per gallon?! $21.19 for WATER - and the buyers don't even know the source.

(Evian spelled backwards is Naive.) So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, or God forbid, Pepto Bismol or Nyquil.

Stereotypes

There are a million stereotypes out there, but the one I have seen lately is about black people. Normally when you see a black guy step out on the basketball court you automatically think this guy is probably pretty good. Well what happens when they totally suck?

I go to this park by my work and a few black guys are out there shooting and they are some of the worse basketball players ever. I mean they can't shoot, they can't catch, they just plain stink. Why is that we think all black guys are good at ball? Are other black people ashamed when they see there 'brothers' who suck?

Last week at the gym Jeff and I played against this black dude. He talks all game and he stinks. He is so bad we let him shoot and drive to the bucket because 9 out of 10 times the rim will block his shot. He looks atheletic. Just the second he starts playing he sucks.

Typical Jeff too. Picks on the crappy black guy in a gym full of asians and starts a little fight with the guy. The guy ends up leaving the gym since he is the lone black dude.

I dunno...I just think it is hilarious to see a black guy who can't play ball. Oh and the ones that suck, always think they are soooo good too.