Sage's First Month - His Man Yue

Sage is excited today!

Sage is 1 month old!

In Taiwan, this is a big day, called: Man Yue (which means The Full Month). Basically a long time ago, if babies survived past the first month, they had a much higher chance to survive overall, so this was good news. Today, it is just a chance to say Happy 1 Month Day!

And, as a present, Sage got his National Health Care ID Card today!

Sage is raising his arm to complete the process of becoming part of Taiwan's Health Care network (he had to complete a written test as well - which he aced)

Here is Sage's Chinese name! Chi Hong Yi,

Since Jo's last name is Chi (which means 'pond') we wanted him to have a real "Chinese" name (not his Dad's). Hong means 'deep, wild water' and Yi means 'friendship and/or justice.'

Course Jo wants me to point out that just like in English, names don't really carry their meanings so clearly and we did not pick the name just for the meaning. Actually, since Jo's brother-in-law is a fortune teller, he offered to divine some good names for Sage (which is a custom here - you can not just pick a name you think is ok without first consulting a fortune teller - which we tried to do) and he gave us 8 names to choose from. We both agreed on this one after quickly looking at some of the others, so that was fairly easy. I am not Chinese, but even I can pick out bad sounding names and we both like this one.

So Let's wish Sage a Happy First Month!

'Come on Dad, you are embarrassing me!'

Isn't Sleep Supposed to be Easy?

Since I was born in Pig Year (1971), sleep comes easy to me. I wish I could say the same for Mommy, who seems to treat sleeping as a necessary evil (or at least it is hard for her to go to sleep usually). And now - for some reason - Sage seems to think that he is a big boy and can stay up all day without a nap; perhaps he just wants to hang out like the other adults.

But this has one drawback - the adults in his life now are exhausted and need sleep even more than he does it seems! So recently, Jo and I have been trying to master the arts of Making-Sage-Go-To-Sleep-After-Eating, and Napping-At-All-Hours-Of-The-Day.

We have tried a variety of ways as seen in the pictures below.

(1)

First, of course, is the patented Daddy-Burp-n-Throw (C) , inwhich the father figure tries to burp the baby and then if that does not produce the expected 'upper-flatulance' then you take the baby by the foot and swing him around a bit - you know, to loosen him up a bit more. Do this as many times as you have room for in your cluttered room.

Here, we are getting ready for the throw position....

Here, after the 'throw' Sage feels much more relaxed.


(2)


Next, we have another patented Cute-Baby-Cute-Chest-Tickle (C) which is simple enough. You pick up the unsleeping babe and hold them on Daddy's hairy chest, until they finally give in and capitulate. However, this capitulation does - admitedly - bring cries, to which you pop in a pacifier or other soft object that looks a lot like a pacifier...(if Mom is available).


(3)

Another often used remedy for sleeplessness is the (again) patented Massage-da-Tummy-Til-U-Hear-A-Noise (C) technique. Seen above, Sage is already in the right position and now we just have to apply some force....

...usually in a clockwise motion, with the occasional 'pat pat pat, bada bum, bada bada bum' drum rolling on his tummy, to you know, ease the pain.

Hell, yeah - another satisfied customer......but will it SLEEP?
Who knows?

(4)

Well, to answer that question, we must go to The Number 4.

Don't look like that - YOU KNOW YOU BROUGHT IT ON YOURSELF!

Yes, we are gunna stop playing around now - it is the patented "Oh, Look, I'm A Nice Hypnotized Sleeping Baby" method (C).

This works only as a last resort due to the extreme levels of concentration and energy expended.

You take said unsleeping baby.....

Look deep into it's eyes - but first try to ignore that initial cuteness - it is all a trick the baby will try to pull on you to go easy on it....

and continue to stare at it until it finally goes to sleep. It seems easy enough, but the baby has a huge latent arsenal of high tech weapons at their disposal. You are instructed to ignore them at all costs and keep to the mission, soldier!

Do not fall for any of the following ruses:

The "I'm Ready To Hurl, If You Don't Give Me More Milk" Look

The "Alright, I'll Play Nice......Suckah" Look

The "What Kind Of Parents ARE You That Would Do That" Look

To the most dreaded: "This Is A Yawn, But Could Just As Easily Be A Blood Curdling Scream" Look

So now I know, after (what seems like) years of trial and error, how to deal with a baby that does not want to sleep.

Any other suggestions?

What Sage is Probably Thinking...

Mom has been busy again, trying to get the picture that is the cutest of Sage, but it is fruitless, since ALL of them are damn cute. But in the process there are some pretty funny ones, too....(good black mailing ones for later....).

Mom! You Again?!

Geez, I didn't even brush my teeth this morning!

Hey, I'm yawning here!

Fine! I'll try to ignore you........

Lord! Are you STILL here! Shouldn't you be pumping my milk or something?

WHAT?! You are going to let Dad feed me? Oh No!

Why oh why did I come to this world!?

Well, I guess I will just have to deal with it!

Geez, Mom, I just want to SLEEP!

Mom is turning out to be a photo head and takes many more pictures than Dad (this could be that Dad sometimes takes terrible pictures....).

But come on, Mom, let poor Sage sleep in peace!

Yeah, mom! Ok.....I love you, but come on!

Sage Meets The Relatives (online)

Sage had a busy day today.

He finally met Gramma and Grampa and performed a bit, and was trudged out during sleep to meet his Auntie Jen and Cousin Ethan (altho he was sleeping for that).

Here is Gramma and Grampa's first look at (a moving) Sage. Yup, they seem happy!

And here is Auntie Jen and Cousin Ethan!
(Jen, you are welcome for not keeping the 'bedhead' picture!)

And we must be saving the best for last (hehe), since Sage still has yet to say HI to J.E.B. and Wendy, but that will come soon enough!


So, even though we are half a world away, we are trying our best to make it feel as if we are closer. Thankfully, the modern and easy technology makes this possible and we are happy to make the time for it.

Soon - we hope - we can all meet in person!

Some More Random Sage Shots

Here are some more pics of Sage. At this rate, I assume by his first birthday, we will have thousands of pictures of him and everyone will be sick of him....right?

I dunno, but from our point of view, more is better!



Could it be a smile or gas?



Probably both....



Look OUT! Clod hoppers on the loose!




Here, mom tries to get a giggle....



...and it seems to work....



...but then again, he does have Daddy's stomach (and gas)....



Cleanliness is important (especially in the summer here) and cuteness is vital!



Also, healthy lungs are good...




Hey, are you paying attention? I'm talkin' to YOU!

Who Does He Look Like?

We have been going through the tallies and the counts are in....

So far we believe the following:

Sage's head = Mom's (small) head
Sage's eyes = Mom's (big) eyes
Sage's nose = Dad's (terribly large) honker
Sage's mouth = Dad's (full) mouth
Sage's ears = Dad's (Angelovich??) ears
Sage's cheeks = have no idea....
Sage's hands and feet = Dad's (frog like) appendeges

Sage's farting = EXACTLY like Dad's
Sage's sleeping = VERY CLOSE to Dad's
Sage's peeing in large arcs (when we try to change him) = No comment...

Course, these may change as he grows, so we will continue to keep tabs on things...

With that, tho, here are some pics of his hands and feet. When I first saw his feet (keep in mind I no nothing of babies), I thought - geez, they look big for a little guy!







So now we wait and see what Sage will really look like! We can't wait!

Celebrating a Time When We can Finally Enjoy WIne....

The pregnancy is over, the birth went well and Sage is up to averaging between 3-5 hours between feeding breaks (which is a big step!). So even though mom is breast feeding, we decided to celebrate with a little wine. This was a common occurrence before we even knew of Sage and we thought it ironic that we just bought a case of wine at a great bargain just before we found out we were going to be parents.

At that time, I kindly mentioned to Jo that "I" could drink it - so it would not go to waste, but Jo reminded me that wine gets better as it ages, so I was to be out of luck for 10-11 months as well as Jo.

But no more!

Here are some pictures to celebrate the occasion.


Here's to Sage and drinking wine again!



What? You want some too?



Hmmmmmmm......



Guess he could not take his alcohol.......


Of course we know that Sage will taste a little bit since he is breast feeding, but that was also the point as well! And a little bit of wine for everyone is good for health anyway. We do have to watch what mom eats, for sure!

Yet, this was a good time for a celebration.