Rainy Day Sunday - Random Recent Videos

Since it is still raining, (this is the third post), might as well put in some videos we have taken recently.

Enjoy...

Buddy (or Ba Di Di as Mom calls him)

My Puppet Sage

I'm Hungry!

Dad and Sage Having a Chat

A very relaxing Num Num Num vid

Sage Waking Up
(Mom loves the stretchy face near the end)

Rainy Day Sunday - Smiley Face Randoms

Here are some random smiley shots we that brighten up our days!

Rainy Day Sunday - Funny Face Randoms

We were planning to take Sage out to our big park up on the hill - Metropolitan Park - but it started to rain and it looks like it will last awhile. So, since he is still sleeping, might as well add some recent random shots for you.

These are some ones we thought were funny...

Bathtime Fun Face (and hair)

Bathtime Fun again

Mini Old Man Face

Day Dreaming Face

Fat, Kissable Cheek Face

Happy Bubbles Face

Relaxing with Dad Face

Aaargh! Me Happy Pirate Face! Aaargh!

The Yodle-lay-Ye-Oo Face (with help)

The Dumb Face

The Really Dumb Face

The Smiley Face

1000th Shot

Ok, We admit that we have been absorbed recently and are totally biased and illogical (although Jo would be hard pressed to admit that).

We have just taken our 1000th digital picture recently and Sage is just 2 months old.

Sure, we can not really maintain this rate, but just thinking about it makes us laugh since we would need to buy many external hard drives just to hold his pics by his first birthday - or even later. But that is fine!

We are having fun and enjoying it and loving every minute.

And we have not taken a bad picture of Sage yet!

Here is the 1000th picture:


And here's to 1000 more!

Talking Sage

We are thrilled that Sage can now talk!

Job Interview (for the cutest baby in the world)

These days, job hunting is hard. You have to have a good resume, good grooming skills and a great attitude if you want any chance at all of landing that job.

To help on his future prospects, Sage and I prep for his future job interview for the cutest baby in the world.

"Ok, Sage, the first thing is good grooming skills. You want to make a good first impression and even tho you ARE the cutest baby in the world, you have to convince those other idiots behind the desk that you are as well. So first impressions are mucho importante (and a third language is too, be we will get to that in time...). So, did you comb your hair?"

"Check."

"Ok, great. Now, let's look at your wardrobe. You gotta look chic, classy and cool. You got something in mind?"

"Right here, Daddy-O. My Auntie Jen always picks out the cool ones for me."

"Nice. But lay off the Daddy-O bit. Ok, your hair looks good, cheeks are kissable and your shirt is spot on. Now, onto your resume. They are gunna ask you about your experience...."

"But Dad, I have no experience! I am just 55 days old! All I have done is eat, poop, sleep and look cute."

"Don't worry 'bout that. That last part is the kicker anyway. Plus, everyone lies on their resume, so I will put in that you also speak 45 languages, can write with all 4 apendages, and have already started your own business. They never check these things anyway....

Ok, the next step is to listen intently to the drivel that they will talk about. Just listen politely and focus on their nose. You don't even need to really care about what they are talking about; just nod every now and then."

"Like this?"

"Great. That's it. Now...."

"Ohhhhh Booooringggg"

"Whoa! Hey! No blatent yawning tho! Those interviewers are idiots and are boring you to death asking inane questions, but you can't let them think they are boring you to death. At least you gotta cover your mouth a bit, ok?"

"Ok, much better."

"Dad, can I ask some insightful and relevant questions during this process or should I just shut up and look cute?"

"Good question, son. I was just getting to that part. You will indeed need to ask some questions related to the job like what is required for this (cush) job, what are the bennies, and how much is the salary, in addition to any stock options. You got that?"

"Yeah, what is a stock option?"

"Another good question. Ask Mom.

Now, the main part of this interview is to do what you are best at: to look cute. Let's practice."

"How's this?"

"Sage, I love you, but you're gunna hafta do better than that. There are indeed some cuties here waiting to land this job and we just gotta turn on the Cute Machine now. Ok? Try again."

"Better?"

"Much. But it may look too happy and silly. Remember, we want chic, classy and cool, right?

"Oh, right. How about this?"

"Nice. I think you got this one cinched."

"Heck yeah, Daddy-O. I'll be making more than you in no time!"

The Slinger

As far as Things For Sage went, we were surprisingly quite nonchalant about the whole affair (we is a code word for Jo, since I was not so relaxed).

At first right when we found out Jo was pregnant, I wanted to rush out and basically buy Toys R Us straight out, but was reminded that 1) newbs don't understand anything (ain't that true) and can not really 'play' until much later, and 2) our finances could handle a few things, but not a whole store worth of junk....I mean toys. So we relaxed a bit.

A few months went by in the pregnancy (let's say the 5th month, as I can not really recall) and I again felt the urge to buy 'something' - hell anything - since at that point we had bought nothing, other than medical bills in the hospital for Jo's lung issue. Jo once again basically said "Calm down, things will work out."

I am a trusting person, but by the 8th month I started to go into mental convulsions of "Holy crap, we are gunna be parents and have nothing for him yet!" But to be honest, things at this point did begin to trickle in. Now Asia is a place where relations and relatives are of utmost importance as well as not needing to pay for things (for the full price, which makes many Asians quite frugal). Add those 2 things together and you get a crapload of hand-me-downs: clothes, clothes, clothes, toys, cribs, high chairs, etc.... It was at this time that these things started to come in.

Yet, we had still not technically 'bought' anything for Sage. I was determined to remedy this when we went to a baby store and looked around (Jo was price watching, as usual; I was asking: 'How about this, can we get this?' 'No, not yet' was the reply....and my face usually dropped.)

But then I saw a sling - that - YES! - was on sale - and we both agreed to get it since I already made it clear that I would love to hold sage as much as possible and be The Slinger.

So we got it right before he popped out and were ready. Heck, it is just a piece of cloth that you wrap around you r body and stuff a kid in. How hard can it be to work? Mothers and parents have used this for eons, so this was gunna be a cinch.

Here are my attempts at using it (as well as Jo's).

The "Necklace Method" did not seem too comfortable for Dad (altho Sage looked content).

The Hipster Man Purse Method seemed to lack something as well....

The (fashionable) Wrap Around Sashbelt / Sarong Method didn't feel quite right but maybe....

Now, the Baby-As-A-Load-Of-Fruit Method indeed has potential. We will have to work on this one as Sage gets his neck and back muscles up and running....

Jo seemed to get upset that I was using her child as a test for weird Daddiness, so she grabbed the sling from me and tried to show me how it should be. Here, (after watching a video on how to officially use it) she attempts to do her (lame) method.

Ok, she and babe seem happy, but you'll have to admit my ways are a bit more interesting (sans comfort, tho). I am still The Slinger tho, so I guess I will have to learn all the ways of the sling.

So while this was the first of Things For Sage, it has not been the last and Jo and I expect to spend much (much much much) more by the time we are in an old age home.....

Sage and His Four Arrows

Based on Taoist belief, the time you were born can be calculated and then processed to extrapolate out a future scenario. Of course, this is similar to western horoscopes.

Since Jo's brother in law is a fortune teller (that is his profession), it was a natural course of events to ordain Sage's "Ba Zi" or 'Eight Numbers' and then do a future reading to see what is fate could be ('could' is used strongly since professional fortune tellers rarely use the term 'would' denoting eventuality).

Anyway, when he did the reading, he explained to Jo a few things based on Sage's birthdate and time and other situations (including the parent's info). The main thing that intruiged us was the fact that Sage is very "Wu" or "Martial."

In Chinese thought, many things are separated into 2 realms: masculine/feminine, yin/yang, east/west, likes mountains/likes oceans, etc...which simplifies matters too much (I feel), but is a common thing. In this situation, someone is either "Wen" (similar to Learned or Bookish), or "Wu" (similar to martial - as in Martial Arts).

He explained to us that Sage could be very proficient with arms or his body, using weapons and tools with ease. Therefore, he reminded us carefully to educate him well, for if he does stray from the 'good' path, he could become very proficient with his body or arms in destructive ways. Now Jo and I will hopefully do our best to teach him to be kind, respectful and considerate, as well as truthful, honest and intelligent, so we shall see what happens.

He did mention that if Sage is brought up well, he could use his talents for many good things, like being a policeman, soldier, surgeon, or anyone that uses potentially harmful tools for the good of mankind. He did mention that since I am quite "Wen" it should balance out things well enough so that Sage's talents could be dual in nature (I can not be very Wu, even if I tried....).

That said, he also noted that there were 4 'arrows' in Sage's 'Ba Zi' that needed to be taken care of, since each arrow represents 2 negative things (or sharp harmful points in his life) that might or could happen in his life. I do not know how he determined this, but like most things, I just go along and nod my head (this is kind of the same thing I nod my head to when fundamentalist Christians start going off on Heaven and such, but that is another post).

Anyway, Jo, Sage and I made a date to go down to see Jo's sister and family last weekend with the main intention of taking care of Sage's 4 arrows. Of course there is a ceremony for these things and Jo's brother in law did his thing and talked Jo through what she had to do (my job was to take care of Sage and stay cool through this 90 min ordeal).

Here, they are getting ready to start the (informal) ceremony. He has the 4 strips of paper, each to combat one of each of the 4 arrows, which he has written specialized Taoist incantations, has some incense sticks (which he will use later), has some stylized paper money in which to burn later, and a tray of rice, which is unique for the divination properties that will also happen later.
Jo and I are listening to him explain what he will be doing and then....

...he starts his incantations and writes on the 4 pieces of paper. Since this is now in Taiwanese, I am totally lost, but since I am just along for the ride, am enjoying it.

Now, Jo has to pray in front of our offerings (which he had already prepared before we got there).

Included is now the 4 'arrows' that represent Sage's arrows made by the brother in law with those pieces of paper as the heads and the incense sticks as the body. They will be burnt momentarily, along with....

...a heck of a lot of ritual money (that whole bag). This is one of those things that I cringe at, since it is not helping the environment at all, but it is just one of those things that you can not argue with tradition. Anyway, the ritual money is supposed to appease the gods who are supposed to help Sage in this case (even in the afterlife, money helps quiet squeaky wheels...)

Here is a quick vid of part of the ceremony I took while holding Sage (he was curious too).

Finally, the ceremony was complete and Jo was asked to come back into the office to check to see if things went as planned. There, he asked her to put one of Sage's clothes, along with 2 new sheets of styized paper (used as talismans) on the rice tray. The rice tray is interesting since it is used as a medium for communicating to the gods.

Basically, after the ceremony, now Jo was asked to lift up the shirt and look at the rice below and - now, I did not see this and am taking her word for it - she said she saw what looked like 4 clear arrows that were broken in half. Basically, she saw 4 indentations in the rice that looked like broken arrows, indicating that the ceremony was a success.

I don't think too much about this nor what is going on, but I know Jo to be logical and sensible and even she said that there was no 'trick' involved and since she did not know what she was doing, it would be quite a coincedence to 'mistakenly' imprint 4 lines that looked like arrows into the rice.

But that is the lure of superstition and religion, I suppose and I am not one to argue with the peace of mind of the other relatives (Jo and I really don't care) now that this ceremony is complete. The main point, in my eyes, is that we had a chance to go down to show Sage to other relatives and say hi.

Getting his 4 arrows taken care of is just a bonus!