8 Months

Time sure does fly by. JT is now 8 months old. He is taking the leap from a crawler to a walker. For the past week or so, he now pulls himself up and stands while holding on to the sofa, table or anything that he can get his grubby paws on. JT is even managing to walk around objects while holding on. I guess JT just wants to be mobile.

JT - Showing off his two pearly whites. He has a third upper tooth that is coming out as well. He likes to crawl up to Aya and bite her! That's my boy!

Fatherhood - Finale

Okay, I think my week of Fatherhood ranting is over. I like Saori's entry focusing on the 'good' of being a parent.

Don't get me wrong. I think fatherhood has been great so far. Very appreciative that I have such a fun and entertaining boy. I know my entries may seem that I don't like fatherhood very much, but I just wanted to point out certain 'realities'. I think when you don't have kids, women sit around talking and wanting a family. I think the fella's kinda get roped into it by thinking they just get more sex. I just wanted the guys to realize what happens 9 months down the road.

I do think mother bonds faster to a child than the father. The whole breast feeding deal gives you a huge advantage. Eventually, you develop that bond and even a meanie like me can turn into the 'softie' of the family. (Only a softie to JT, I am still mean to others).

I don't have great stories or good days or events like Saori posted in her last update. To me, everyday has been a good day. Yesterday, I was feeding JT dinner when he opened his mouth real wide. I was saying, "Great job, little guy...a nice big mouth for the last bite." Umm, I wish, it was a precursor for his sneeze. Kids, don't close their mouths when they sneeze. When kids sneeze with their mouth full, it is a good idea not to be talking with YOUR mouth open....or else you get bits and pieces of their dinner in your mouth. Yeech.

I guess when I knew I was going to be a parent I wanted to be sure I was ready...or as ready as I could be. For me, that meant making a decision to try to spend time with JT. I don't want to spend every minute with the little guy, but I want to be around enough so I don't miss anything....afterall, I am still planning on just having one.

This is me spying on JT. I told him, not to get anymore books and just sit and play. I left to change my clothes and this is what I see. A blatant disregard for what I said. Grrrr.

Fatherhood - Part 6

I think fatherhood takes years off my life. When it was just Aya and I, I thought we would just grow old and die together. With JT, now I think, will he be successful? Will he be smart? Will he need money.

Today, I gave him a ball to play with. A small, soft ball. Nothing fancy. The boy has hands of stone. He couldn't grab the ball. Couldn't even hold it...and the ball is small and sized for his hands. Forget throwing the ball. The boy drops everything. A chip off the old block....Ayako's block.

To top it off, JT developed this super evil laugh. This is not the laugh of a smart, successful, billionaire

Fatherhood - Part 5

No more free time. I have found that fatherhood really disrupts personal and free time. One, it is usually not quiet with a kid around. I have learned to just turn up the volume on the tv to drown up JT squawking like bird.

I also found out that I don't have the time for tennis, weights, basketball, softball and more importantly video games. I mean I L-O-V-E video game playing. In fact, today I went to get a game at 10:00 am when the store opened. I was so excited to get the game and play. I was even going to leave work early and come home to play. I got home early, no one home, nothing to do....but on the drive home I started thinking....I have free time, no one around to distract me....I should probably be 'responsible' and baby proof the house. So, plugs in the outlets and locks on all the cabinents with household chemicals. By the time I was done, Aya and JT came home, my afternoon shot and I was scrambling to get a birthday present wrapped, shower and change to go to a surprise bday.

Who knew that fatherhood meant being more responsible?? Growing up....I have tried and tried to delay it....but I guess it is time to be an adult.

"Childhood is short...maturity is forever!"

Fatherhood - Part 4

When is 'one' enough? The evolution of questions:

1. Are you dating?
2. When are you getting married?
3. When are you having kids?
4. When are you having your second kid?

Whoa. Lets hit the pause button:



The second one??? What is wrong with the first one? I can see how people say kids grow up so fast. I can't believe JT is closing in on 8 months old. It seems like yesterday when we brought the little dude home. Now he has a top tooth coming in, he crawls very quick, he is trying to stand and he has got a super sinister laugh! I am going to have to sleep with one eye open!

As good as everything has been....it has been equally hard. To have two...where will I find the time? I just think today with two working parents it is so hard to have two. I remember just trying hard to make our marriage work. Now you throw ONE kid into the mix and my whole life is upside down. Add TWO kids to the mix and I will NEVER get to retire.

I am thinking the only way to have more than one child is to have one hard working spouse bringing in the dough and one ever harder working person watching and raising the kids.

Right now, I hardly have free time to do anything....so if you are bored and want all your free time taken up....than fatherhood is the ticket!!

Fatherhood - Part 3

I have come clean. Before we had kids I didn't like hanging out with friends who had kids. I mean it was okay but different. Since I didn't have kids, I was somewhat irked by distraction of having kids around. It wasn't that I didn't like my friends kids...I actually did...but I sure was glad to go home without having any kids. I also had to remind myself to think twice about going out again on the next invite...and to try to hang around more couples without kids.

Fast forward. Now I am one of those couples with kids. Has it changed? Yes. Do I prefer to hang out with other couples with kids? Yes and no. Now, it is hard to hang out with couples with no kids for the simple reason that JT doesn't sleep well (See Fatherhood - Part 2). If JT slept better, I would consider going out later but for now we try to keep JT on a pretty strict schedule.

What does the mean? It means, dinner at 5:00 or 6:00. No couple without kids wants to eat that early. Heck the only people to eat that early are the blue haird people. The only friends that wants to eat that early are couples with kids. They are either on a similiar schedule or they just get tired of antsy kids who can't sit still so you learn to eat quick and leave. Thus, part of fatherhood means a shrinking or growing circle of friends....it all depends on how you look at it.

Either way, hanging out with friends isn't the same now. It is basically sitting around chatting about how the kids are developing and growing up into little people. BBBOOORRRIIINNNGG!

Fatherhood - Part 2

Part 2 on my saga into fatherhood:


I wrote about lack of sleep before but since this is 'fatherhood' week, I thought I would write about it again. I used to be a very sound and heavy sleeper. I slept through someone knocking off side mirrors from all the cars in the neighborhood. I slept through earthquakes. I slept through a jackhammer going through the neighbor's window. I can say that I was a sound sleeper.

Once I got married, I became a light sleeper. I guess my protective mode kicked in. After JT was born, I not only became a light sleeper but I have super baby hearing as well. Now I can hear JT roll over in his crib….even when I am in another room.

With all that being said, let me go into lack of sleep. So you want to have kids? You want to know what it is like? Think about it this way. What time do you go to sleep now? Say it is midnight. That means more than likely you will wake up at 3:00 am AND 6:00 am. That translates to 1 three hour block of sleep and maybe 1 two hour block of sleep. 5 hours…that isn't so bad. Okay, now imagine, that is a good night.

A bad night is you are up every hour from midnight. It takes you 30 minutes to put the baby to sleep so you have 30 minutes of sleep, assuming you fall asleep in the blink of an eye. Say this is a bad night.

Lets just take an average…you get 3 good hours of sleep a night. Without a kid you were maybe getting 7-8 hours of sleep. Thus, now you get 50% less sleep, you still have your job to do….and here is the real kicker….this happens SATURDAY and SUNDAY!! I kid you not. The weekend.

For some reason, I can do the 3 hours a night on a weekday but come the weekend…after 35 years my body recognizes the weekends as LOUNGE days. I am so freakin tired on the weekends. Who wants to wake up at 6 am on Saturday?? You then find out that you are up and out the door waiting for restaurants to open for breakfast! I will share something for all of you as well. You want to know the other losers up that early?? Other people with kids…and people with dogs. Losers.

Granted, if you have a baby that sleeps through the night…you pretty much won the lotto. If you are like the majority then the lack of sleep sucks!

Fatherhood - Part 1

Lately a few married folks have been asking me what I thought about fatherhood. I think I scared a few of them off, but I thought I should share my stories with anyone else thinking about starting a family. We will start off easy today.


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Fatherhood - Part 1 - Shi-ko shivers:

Aya noticed that at random times during the day JT kind of shakes and shivers. The shake and shiver doesn't last very long but it is noticeable. I saw it a few times and I didn't think anything of it. Aya asked me about it on Sunday.

Aya: Do you think JT shakes and shivers when he goes to the bathroom.
Miles: Yup
Aya: I think so too.
Miles: Yeah dude, he is taking a squirt.
Aya: You think? Why?
Miles: Because when he takes a dump his face gets red and his eyes water.
Miles: When he shakes and shivers he has the shi-ko shivers.
Aya: What is the shi-ko shivers??
Miles: It is when you take a piss your body kind of shivers when you are done.
Aya: Really?
Miles: Yeah, you never watched guys take a piss?
Aya: No. Why is called shi-ko shivers??
Miles: Hmm, I dunno. I just know that is what it is called and what happens.
Miles: Welcome to the world of men!

JT - Friends and Family

We started off the weekend by visiting Neil, Teri and Lindsey. Sorry, my camera wasn't working too great and I didn't get a chance to take a picture with Teri.

Lindsey was so well behaved and mild mannered. Unlike JT who was squaking and shrieking like a bird during lunch.

Aya's family was visiting so we spent some time in Fullerton. Her is Aya's Aunt Yoshi.

Aya, JT and Uncle SuSu (Aya's brother):

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A little side story, since Aya's brother is in the wife beater t-shirt. Aya and JT went to Mommy and me class on Saturday. JT crawled over to a little girl who is just a few weeks older than JT. They were staring at each other and being a little playful. JT got a closer....a little closer....YOWEE...he reached out and grabbed the girls hair and made her cry!! That's my boy!! Dominating mommy me class and making girls cry. I love it!!

Not ours....mine

Man, where has the week gone? A quick week...not many updates because every time I want to use MY computer someone else is on it. I have mentioned to Aya that we buy another computer but she says, "No." Yet whenever I want to use the computer she has been on it. Now if you were paying bills or doing research or work...fine. Nope, she is just playing yahoo games or something stupid.

So for those of you that wanted a meaningful update...or picture of JT, you can blame Aya for being a PC hog this week.

Misc Photos

Hmm, nothing new to say, so just a few pictures of JT.

JT smiling because World Cup is FINALLY over!! It boogles my mind how many people watch and enjoy soccer. I really had no idea how big soccer really is...not that I care...I tried to watch some games but it is just boring.

JT...the crocodile rider!

What is in a name?

My co-worker, Sascha went to Germany for World Cup a few weeks ago. Before Sascha left we got onto the topic of some favorite 'snack' treats that he could bring back for us. Sascha then asked us if we ever had, "Negerkuss". (Yes, I am sure you can pronounce the 'Neger' part correctly).

After Sascha explained that it was like a chocolate covered pastry, we all said, "Like a, Ho-Ho?? I guess Ho-Ho is a lot better brand name than Negerkuss. Apparently Negerkuss isn't politically correct in Germany anymore and now it is called DICKMAN's. Yeah, that isn't better either...but we were all like bring us back some Dick-man!

Well, true to his word, Sascha brought us back some Dickmans.


Not only do they have SUPER dickmans but they have MINI dickmans too.

This picture always makes me laugh....

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend. Everytime I see this picture I just bust up laughing. This is a picture of Jessica on Father's Day. Why does it make me laugh...try reading Jessica's shirt.

Daddy's Gay!!! HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA. No, Daddy (meaning Roger and not me) isn't really gay. The shirt says, "Daddy's Girl" but looks like Daddy's Gay. HAHAHA. I am killing myself!!!

Aunty Jenny

Aunty Jenny came over for dinner after her rough trip to Cancun.

7 Months...

JT is now just over 7 months old. JT seems to be learning so much more and getting stronger every day. JT is now crawling quite fast. We have to put up barricades everywhere and baby proof the house. Today, JT grabbed onto one of my 15 lb weights. I figured it was safe, but he manged to grab and pull it towards him!

Here is JT doing his play girl pose:

Jeff wanted to see video of JT crawling faster. Here is JT crawling into home plate....SAFE!