the chronicles of ajop

and friends are callin' yoohoo

2008-12-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

We may not have Jack Frost or sleighrides but it's not for lack of enthusiasm. Mock if you will but there are actually two skating rinks within 5 miles of our house. I, of course, wanted to introduce little o to the wonders of what can happen when an exuberance of money meets its match in nostalgia. But Ben noted that there are more dignified ways of breaking the young man's head open. And given our collective skills on the ice, I had to agree.

But dressing your defenseless kid like an elf? That knows no geographic boundries. It's a time honored ritual that I'm sure will continue for as long as footy pajamas and the color red exist. So here's my homage to that great tradition :)

mini me

2008-11-22T23:54:00.000-08:00

if you ever wondered if ben considered himself too cool to play dress up... well, here's your answer.

the yummiest mush ever

2008-11-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

who knew rice cereal could be so delicious? small birds with more beak than head have nothing on our little man. he bobs and lurches and chomps on his soft pastel spoon like nobody's business.

there really wasn't any doubt that he'd be a good eater. i mean, come on, who are his parents? :) we're hoping some non-boob sustenance puts some meat on his bones. (97% in height, 42% in weight)

so far we've been able to somewhat contain the mess but it's only a matter of time before he's wearing more than he consumes. that should be entertaining :)

sittin' pretty

2008-11-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

my mom hasn't been very good about posting my "firsts" but she was on ball today. here's my first successful attempt to sit up by myself.

a new day

2008-11-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

that's right. not even my first cold could stop me from voting with my mom. very exciting day.

apple jack

2008-08-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

There's no shortage but our little dude just got another moniker. A is Apple, J is for Jack. His cousins are to blame for this one. And guess what Emma and Nicole? When you said goodbye Apple Jack could only roll from back to belly but no more. When the mood strikes, he is one rollin' fool-- back to belly, belly to back and back again. Of course it's only to the right but ambiturning's for the birds.

Sleeping at night? For the most part-- yes. Days? Not so much. But we're hopeful that our starfrog (his new favorite sleep position) will get with the program. One fine day. Soon. Before his mother trades him in for a less twitchy model.

100 days

2008-08-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

In a land far away many moons ago, reaching 100 days was a very big deal. In a fragile age it meant you were out of the woods and it was time to bust out the big rice cake. Times are more certain now but who are we to pass up a chance to celebrate our favorite little man?

gone too soon

2008-07-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

We miss you guys. Come back soon.

surftown u.s.a.

2008-07-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

The little guy met some big fans when his eemo and cousins Justin & Davis came into town to ride some waves and see what all the fuss was about. The visit was a solid hit all the way around. The boys had a lot to teach the dude about life, pre-teen agnst, why it's good to be able to hold one's own head up-- all the hot button issues.

Not surprisingly, his eemo was utterly smitten. It's a good thing we've been told the wee one's too young to spoil cuz he was doused in some serious adoration. His grandma Chung also made a repeat appearance.

Needless to say, the little dude's proud parents had a lot to be thankful for (especially when Patty stopped meowing at her captive audience of one.)

ajop... so hot right now

2008-07-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

Blue Steel. Ferrari. Le Tigra. Magnum.

Crazy pills or no, I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.

if facebook was my bag...

2008-07-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

turn ons:

undivided attention (preferably from many cooing ladies)
boobs
peeing in the tub
staring at myself in the mirror
raising my fist in protest
punching myself in face
sucking on / slobbering on my fist
stretching while groaning loudly (i learned this from grandpa paik)
having a bath drawn by my dad
bumpy / noisy car rides
blue steel

turn offs:

sharp noises (someone stop using that damned ice machine)
sleep during daylight hours
having my nails done
bright light
vaccines
mommy and me classes
flaky / dry skin

notable skills / achievements:

rolled over once (witnessed only by grandma chung)
started to smile
can hold up my head like nobody's business

relevant statistics from the 2 month checkup:

98th percentile height
76th percentile head size
74th percentile weight

these boots were made for mc lovin'

2008-07-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

There's starting off on the right foot and then there's struttin' your stuff in unbelievably adorable handknit booties-- straight out of the 2008 swiss miss couture knit collection.

the next generation

2008-07-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Little O, meet Little E.

To all others: consider yourself warned, trouble's coming your way.

family fun

2008-07-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from their globetrotting, Uncle Woody and Aunt Eva stopped by to say hello. The little man actually showed flashes of good behavior, particularly when Woody agreed to model the "big man, little hat" look made popular by the late great Willie Dixon.

To prepare for a successful life in crime and ensure that the FBI won't be able to track him, AJOP has acquired a wealth of aliases. Andrew. Andy. Andrew J. AJ. Lil O. Otis. It worked for Johnny Kelly (or should I say Johnny Dangerously).

It was an exciting few days for the fussy little dude who went on a hike, tried to feel up his aunt and in general put his uncle through a little hard training. Good times.

smooth operator

2008-07-03T21:54:00.001-07:00

Who needs sleep when you have moves like these? No sleep? Check. Extreme fussiness? Check. More time for the lovely ladies? Check and mate.

dance monkey

2008-06-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

These days we live to serve. He is, for the most part, a reasonable (albeit demanding) master. Our days and nights comprise of attending to his wants and his needs. There have only been a handful (that's on one hand, thank you) of meltdowns on my part and he's still got all his fingers and toes.

It seems impossible now that one day he won't need us this much. That one day he'll let me know in no uncertain terms that i'm smothering him and could i just hand over the keys, please. How can he drive when he's only 23 inches long? i may be getting ahead of myself.

For now the key may be... to not overthink things. Tall order. Just smile at his strangely triangular feet with the superlong toes. (clawtoe the second) Just laugh when his father offers to teach him how to pick things up with his feet (a la his aunt gail). He may grow out of it and not need special shoes.

The sleepness nights will be funny someday. The strange distinctive cries will then be a fond memory instead of an unrelenting alarm clock. I already miss some of his unusual expressions. His exagerated sideways bird face when he's hungry (mom, you know the one) is now a thing of the past. (Although ben can do a pretty good imitation.) We have pictures of his zoolander lip purse (which I'd post if ben weren't holding all the new pictures hostage on his computer.)
We both can do pretty good impressions of his seriously displeased and precious-me faces.

Ben's now taken to copying his grunting back to him "to speak his language". Personally I don't think it's wise to sass the master. Being the non-milk-machine servent of the unit, I'm pretty sure he's on thin ice.

On the whole, life is good. A truce has been negotiated with our skateboard punk backyard neighbor to curtail the ramp use to nonhomicidal-inspiring levels. Signing field trip permission slips from the big house may yet not come to pass.

And yes Geraldine, I'm glad I finally got off my butt and did this. Thank you for bugging me about it.