Can you tell the difference?

This is how Aya takes photographs: (Please note all pictures are taken from the same camera)



This is going to be my boys photo on E: True Hollywood stories.




It is almost like a "celebrity" before and after look. Aya takes the 'before' pictures.

Here are the pictures that I took:

JT at 5 weeks.



Thank goodness for digital cameras. Could you imagine our suprise if this was regular film and we got Aya's pictures back from the photo lab?! Good god. I should have known. In the past, when Aya took pictures of me, it was never centered or I looked 10 times worse than usual. As you can see, the proof is in the pictures!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I had the usual family breakfast at my house Christmas day, followed with dinner in Long Beach at Aya's cousin's house. I realized as host of the Christmas party I was not able to mingle with the guests and take pictures. Thus, I didn't really get any pictures with all the relatives.

I did manage to take a picture of the funniest gift this year. This was a gift from Ron. I am suspecting a "re-gift" as I don't think Ron would have 'bought' rebound just so he could put his face, eric's, dawn's, jeff and my face on the DVD cover! Nice. It was pretty funny. I open gifts with my family so they all got a kick out of it as well.

I hope everyone out there got what they wanted. J.T. was an early Christmas present for Aya and I and we couldn't be happier to spend it with friends and family.

Sexy Money....

Picture of the boy where his first trendy one piece:

This reminds me of a story with a consultant at LMB. We were sitting around talking about how we make good money. I was saying I am dork. I am perm so I am not making any money. You contractors make all the loot. He replied, "I make good money, but not 'sexy' money. Sexy money is when geeks like I us get supermodels!!" =)

Speaking of money, I went to the company's all hands meeting yesterday. The CEO wheeled in a quarter of a million dollars in cash in a wheel barrel. The CEO than proceeded to pass out our bonuses in cash. What, you don't believe me, here is my Christmas bonus. (This isn't my annual bonus, just a christmas gift...and no I didn't get a quarter of a million. That was just the total. I just $700 bucks in $20's.)

Jeff wanted to know...

Jeff came over on the weekend and when Aya asked Jeff and Melanie about having kids, Jeff answered back by saying that I have not given it a ringing endorsement.

Well, here is my stance on it after 3 ½ weeks.

** Disclaimer, my thoughts and opinions below does not diminish the fact that I am grateful for having a healthy and happy baby. My main concern is that he is healthy and okay. Everything else is just gravy. **

When I got married everyone wanted to know if I liked being married. It was nice and I would always answer that marriage isn’t for everyone.

Now that I have a kid, everyone asks how it feels to be a parent. My answer is that being a parent is overrated. My reasons for that are the following:

1. The lack of sleep. If you have no kids now and think you are tired, it is sooo much worse once you have kids. Believe it or not you function quite well on getting 50% less sleep than you are used too. The side effect is that after 3 weeks that novelty of having a baby wears off.

2. You start to argue with your spouse over minor things increases. In my case my irritability shoots through the rough and my bi-polar syndrome returns. Also, all the things that your spouse did to annoy you...it still annoys you. Nothing changes.

3. Being a parent is so much harder than I thought. I didn’t think it would be easy but it is harder than I thought. To top it off, I am pretty good at a lot of the things I do. I stink at being a parent. I might not stink but I am ranked #2 in the parenting behind Aya. AYA out of all people is better than me. Not only a little bit better but she is a lot better than me.

4. Sacrifice. When you get married it is about learning to compromise with someone else. It just isn’t me-me-me. Having kids is all about sacrifice. I knew I would have to give up some things but I didn’t realize how many things!

5. No lounging. I can’t lounge by myself. I can’t come and go as I please. I now have to check to see what Aya is doing and if someone is going to be able to watch the kid before doing it. It is like always checking in with your parole officer...only thing is the parole officer is 3 weeks old!

6. Video games. Sure video games might sound petty but for me that is my alone or me time. For the last 20 years I play video games before I go to sleep. It helps get me into the REM state of mind. Now for the last month, no video games. That is like telling a smoker to quit cold turkey. An alcoholic to quit drinking. It just isn’t easy.

7. Basketball. I am actually going to cut down on playing. Sure I wanted to retire last year but now I am sort of forced to cut back. If I do not get enough sleep the night before I found out that I really SUCK when I play ball.

8. The kid likes Aya more than me. For the first 3 weeks no problem. Me and the kid were a-ok. This week, JT discovered his mommy and only his mommy can quiet him down. Great, the kid is wearing out his welcome mat with "the King" now!

9. Day and Night. Why can’t he learn “I” sleep in the night?? How hard can it be to understand nighttime equals sleep time?

10. BORING. Sure the first thing I do when I get home is see the kid. If he is up and smiling it is great. After that (1 minute later) he is pretty boring. He doesn’t do anything. He can’t talk. Can’t throw a ball. Basically he lounges. I suppose the perks are he makes goofy faces and he spazes out when I sneeze or fart on him. The other highlight is watching him hit himself in the face. Not the brightest little guy. I guess he can’t really control his arms so he flails them around….well sometimes he hits his face. Pretty funny stuff.

11. More planning. Gone are the days of just deciding to go on trip. Gone are just getting up and going to the beach. Doubt, because you do not know if your kid is a good traveler. Crap, because you have to carry more stuff for the kid like extra clothes, diapers, strollers and assorted baby stuff…which is all a scam.

12. Responsibility. It is almost like a burden to have someone so dependent on you. I never realized what it would be like to have someone totally depend on you for food, shelter and clothing. College. Geez, I have to save for his college. I will be in my 50's when the boy goes to college.

So after all that is it worth it to have a kid? Like I said in my disclaimer, I am very thankful to have a healthy and happy kid. Is it worth it? From a guys point of view….at 3 weeks….I dunno. I hear it gets better….not sure about that one but I will let you know. All I can say is that having kids is not all sugar and spice and everything nice like people make it out to be.

I can say that I enjoy being married. I am glad Aya and I had time to just enjoy time together. Being married with children is proving to be tougher than expected.

Christmas Cards

For those of you who aren’t on my xmas card list too bad for you. Here was our 2005 Christmas card:



Does it bother any of you out there on the amount of Christmas cards that you receive in regards to how many you send? I personally don’t care but Aya always questions, if we send out 100 cards how come we only get like 30 cards in return?

I think my Uncle feels the same way. If he sends a card and he doesn’t receive one in return then you are off the list next year.

I honestly don’t know what I would do if we got 100 cards in return. I would run out of space where I hang my xmas cards. I figure it is all in the xmas spirit. It doesn’t matter how many we get in return as long as I send my cards out to spread a little joy….because who doesn’t like seeing a picture of me?!

Petty with a captial "P"

Feast your eyes on this picture. Yes, it is like a picture of Bigfoot or the Lochness Monster...it is a true life actual picture of Dawn cooking!!


Dawn came over last Friday to make clam liguini for Aya and I. Naturally I was un-appreciative because I inquired if mom told her to come over because I didn't think Dawn would do it on her own. Nevertheless, Aya and I were appreciative and the liguini was actually good. I like clams, but I am not a fan of white or cream sauces.

---

As a single guy I was quick tempered and grouchy. As a married guy I was mildly tempered and grouchy. As a married guy with a kid, I am still mildly tempered, grouchy, sleepy and now I am more irritable. I wouldn't say terret syndrome-like but closer to bi-polar and very petty. The littlest of things gets me upset. Luckily for me or us, Aya is very mild mannered and puts up with my ranting and yelling.

I promised I would try to be on my best behavior for at least 3 months but the "being tired" factor pushes us into a lot of mini arguments. Saori and Jenni this club stinks. Where can I cancel my membership?

Thats my boy...

I was about to do an update when I realized I was just going to write about J.T. again. Have I turned into one of those parents who only talks about their kid? Now instead of posting pictures of hotties, I have pictures of my kid? How wrong is that? I still have my own life…don’t I?

Well, I wanted to get the little booger off on the right track, so now there is some competition for the reading material in the house:



Okay, so what is the deal with people scheduling meetings at lunch time? Isn’t it common sense NOT to book meetings at 12:00 on a Friday no less! How lame is that? How lame am I for not blocking my calendar. I hate when people rely on your Outlook calendar for book meetings. Of course I am free at 12:00 because that is lunch time!!

Well, now I wised up so until 2007, I am busy from 11:30 – 1:00 and on Fridays I am busy from 3:30. Now no more works meetings and no more late Friday afternoon meetings. Two can play at this game.

Just the boys

Two weeks ago I attempted to do some xmas shopping and I was just pathetic. I didn’t even get half the items that I went out to get. I either wasn’t in the mood or I just suck at shopping. Most likely a little of both…Ba-hum-bug!

I told Aya that she has to go out to malls to finish up our xmas shopping so Aya started pumping and luckily JT has started to take the bottle. Now I can at least help out with some feedings. Saturday it was just me and JT at home while Aya went shopping.

I know my limits. I know what I am good at and what I am not good at. Let me tell you, I am not good at being at home with the boy. Aya is actually really good at it. I thought she would coddle the boy and hold him a lot but Aya is more like, ‘eh, he is fine. Let him cry.’ Surprisingly I am more like, ‘Are you sure he is okay? I think he is sick.’

For the most part the boy still just eats, poops and sleeps. It doesn’t really seem that difficult. I wish it was as easy as it sounds. JT gets a little fussy, likes to be held…thus making it hard to do stuff with one hand. We ended up watching the Duke v Texas, UCLA v Nevada games….you know...guy stuff and he had me tuckered out by the end of the day. He doesn't really watch the t.v. but I have to hold him or walk with him while I watch the tv.

I still want to be a stay at home dad but now I am thinking it just isn’t as easy I thought it was going to be.

The whole story...

Don’t be fooled by Jenny’s *EDITED* posting. Here is the FULL and COMPLETE email thread:
Notice important two things to notice:

The first email is me inviting Jenny out to happy hour out of the kindness of my heart.
The last email has Jenny agreeing with my fall back plan…basically her acknowledging my greatness.


-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:15 PM
To: Miles
Subject: RE: HH

Wow. You’ve really thought this one through. Good fall back plan.

Turd…

I’ve updated my site again.

-----Original Message-----
From: Miles
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:14 PM
To: Jenny
Subject: RE: HH

nope. because when he does something lame, i can say, yup...you are your mothers son!! =) i am genius i tell you. GENIUS!

-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:12 PM
To: Miles
Subject: RE: HH

No, I’m framing it because one day, your child will give you hell and do something really, really stupid. And then I’ll just say, “it’s all the greatest person’s fault”

From: Miles Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:05 PMTo: Jenny Subject: RE: HH

why frame it? is this news to you? i am pretty sure i have been telling you that i am the greatest person you know.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:02 PM
To: Miles
Subject: RE: HH

I think I’m going to frame this…

From: Miles Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:58 PMTo: Jenny Subject: RE: HH

i am numero uno A-1 best dad ever!! what can i say?! i really am that great!

-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:55 PM
To: Miles Subject: RE: HH

You must be sleep deprived, mr cranky…

I’m actually surprised you’re anal self is able to sleep through JT’s late night feedings

-----Original Message-----
From: Miles
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:52 PM
To: Jenny
Subject: RE: HH


um. hello you un-educated nimrod. can you read? i said to say, howdy. i didn't say ' hi y'all'.

i ask for a simple requese and you can't even follow instructions. ;->

okay, i changed my mind. say, howdy......dood-ie!


-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:51 PM
To: Miles
Subject: RE: HH

Or how about, Hi, Y’ALL

-----Original Message-----
From: Miles
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:49 PM
To: Jenny
Subject: RE: HH

tell beth i said howdy! =)


-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:44 PM
To: Miles
Subject: RE: HH

Ugh…I wish…I’ll try but I’ve got to go to the airport to buy my ticket to dallas tomorrow. I’ve got a voucher & a flight credit I need to apply…


-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:40 PM
To: Jenny
Subject: HH

jen-

we are going to cabo cantina on wilshire & westgate tonight for happy hour. we should be there by 6.

Two words...

Carlynn stopped by tonight to see JT. JT got his first glimpse at someone willing to take us out to dinner. Once Texas beats USC (or covers the spread) then Carlynn will be coming by again to take us out to dinner!! Hook'em horns!!



Tonight was full of adventure. I took care of JT while Aya did some errands. I was able to feed JT from the bottle for the first time. That was the good news. The bad news was that I did not put on JT's diaper correctly. Incorrect diaper equals sagging low-rider diaper which equals poop that shoots out the back. Just what I needed more laundry.

Sadly that was not the end of my night. My night can be summed up in two words. Projectile Vomit. Yup. The little kid was fussy so I was carrying him for 20 minutes. I checked the diaper. He was fed. I burped him. So why was he fussy? Well, he must have ate to much and was full.

As I carried him in my arms I looked down to see vomit shoot from his nose and mouth. Normally is dribbles out the side or down his nose and mouth. Nope, tonight was different. I just saw white stuff fly out.

Where did it go I wondered? JT doesn't have any vomit on him. I saw stuff come out. I see some residue on his nose and mouth. Umm, why is my shirt wet? Yup. JT shot out vomit about 12-14 inches.

Let me fill you in on some little known facts that I didn't know about vommited breast milk:

It is actually sticking.
There are little chunks of it.
It isn't solid like cheesecake but it sorta looks like cheesecake left out too long.
It sorta smells.

I was evaulting the 12 day score card and it looks something like this:

Miles = projectile barfed on, spit up on and peed on.
Aya = zero.

The Porsche never treated me this bad. How come JT couldn't barf of Carlynn? Now that would have been funny!

The Mondays....

I am back to work and nothing really exciting to report. I found out that with my lack of sleep, I stink at basketball. I feel great when I get there, but I just can’t do anything once I start playing. I am also a bit more forgetful as well. First it was Aya stealing my life force and now it is this kid finishing me off!

Actually going back to work has allowed me to sleep more. I no longer take the night shift or any other shift for that matter. I can sleep through the night without being disturbed. It isn’t completely guilt free because when I wake up and see Aya all super tired from being up all night.

So the number question I get at work is how do I like being a daddy? Well the honest truth is that it is okay. I like going home to check out and hold the kid. I like the fact that Aya and I were married for 6 years before we had kids. Dating sort of counts but I am glad that we lived together to know each others quirks and what they can or can’t do. With a kid you really have to rely on your spouse to help and do things. I can’t imagine how single parents do it.

Having a kid doesn’t mean everything is rosy either. If your spouse didn’t clean before the kid then odds are they aren’t cleaning up much now either. I think the lack of sleep just makes everything a little bit harder. In any case, I think we are adjusting to this new life of parenting. It is kind of like being married. I wouldn’t recommend it and I can tell you having kids isn’t for everyone. I personally liked being married. Ask me in 6 months if I like being married with children.

One week...

Aya and I survived our first week of being parents. Phew. The first few days were the hardest but last night JT slept for a 4 hour stretch. Fluke? Maybe. We shall see what kind of sleep we can get tonight.

Everyone likes pictures, so here are some pics of weekend vistors:

Oba-chan and JT

Nicole, Ruth and JT

Grandma Chaunch and JT

Cousin Nicole (yes she really is related) and JT

Who needs barber Shirley when Miles is so great? Look daddy gave JT his first haircut. If you don't look good then I don't look good.

Uncle Neil (the mean one)

I can't even make this stuff up!

I guess I have turned into 'one of those' people that take pictures of their kid and post it. Here is a picture of Aya and JT outside today:


So Aya and I went to St. Johns hospital yesterday to visit the Lactation Nurse and then we had a peditrican appointment to check on JTs jaundice.

We pull up to the valet at St. Johns. There is no parking so everyone valets. I get out of the car, Aya is in the back seat with JT and she gets out of the car. We both walk around the car to get JT out of the car as well. Aya is unbuckling JT, I get the valet card from one of the valets and then another valet hops into the car. As Aya is getting JT out, the valet hits the gas BEFORE JT is out of the car and BEFORE the rear door is closed. After yelling at the valet he stops, but not after the valet drives over Aya's foot. Luckily Aya was able to grab and pull JT out before the car drove off.

Needless to say their was quite a comotion going on. I immediately called for the manager and then security to file a report. They wanted Aya to go to emergency to get looked at but we refused because we had other appointments for JT that were more important. (like I said Aya was okay) Seriously, I can't even make up drama like this.

What a dramatic way to start our first visit to the peditrician. To top that off, JT's jaundice got worse and now we have to go back to get it checked out again. Of course, it is never easy. First we stop at the peditrician for them to just eye-ball the kid and then they ship us off to the lab to get blood work. No problem for an adult, but it sucks to shelp a kid around and wait. Such is the life and the future.

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.