This is a blog about the adventures of Jeff, Jo, Sage and Mocha! (OK, I admit currently this is basically just a blog about Sage, but no one is complaining, so that is fine by us!)
Our motto is "Make it Better!", and indeed we can...
Our little guy is now a cue ball, chrome dome, light bulb, bowling ball, and sexy baldy baby.
WHY?? What the heck is wrong with you people? You are asking, right?
Well, we wanted to go for a mohawk, but his hair was not long enough...
...but the real reasons are less cool: Sage has a little cradle cap (baby dandruff) that we wanted to take care of, as well as Taiwan has a unique tradition of using a baby's first crop of hair to make a calligraphy brush out of, so we thought we would be efficient and kill 2 birds with some hair (or is it 1 stone...) and shave him.
Heck, it is good for a laugh and we are indeed laughing. Plus, his dandruff is ok now and we will be getting a nice calligraphy brush as a momento soon (will of course post that as well when we get it finished).
So I think everyone is happy!
And being biased parents and all, we think Sage is even cuter like this! haha
We recently had a sit down with Sage the other night since he wanted to discuss something with us. I had no idea what he wanted to say, but as all loving parents are apt to do, we listened carefully to his thoughts and proposals.
Ok, good, you both are here.
I have been meaning to talk about something with you.
Sure, Sage. What is it?
Well, first off, let's talk about kissing. Now, it is great and all, but you and Mom kiss me too much! I mean, Mom and you are always kissing me on my cheeks and, frankly, I am sick of it.
Really? We just love you so much that we want to kiss you and your cheeks are so chubby and cute right now!
Yeah, but when Mom kisses me, it is all wet and slimy and when Dad kisses me it is all rough and stickly!
Gross!
Oh, well we never thought of that - we thought you would love to know that we love you so much and .....
....why are you looking like that?
Like this?
Yes. Seeing you like that makes us want to kiss your cheeks even more!
Well, the fact is, I already KNOW you love me so much, so you can lay off the slobbery, sticky, rough and pincoushiny kisses to my cheeks!
I mean there are other places to kiss or other ways to show your affection, you know...
Oh, ok, sure. We can try other ways. Like what?
Well, have you ever shown your love by stocking up on great presents for me?
Actually, we have just bought about 250 books for you and many toys to use when you are older, as well as quite a few clothes!
Mom, pampers do NOT count as clothes, ok?! And books and toys?
Haha, nice try. I will not be able to use them for a long time yet and I am talking about now! Come on, you know all babies live in the NOW....heck, in a few minutes I will forget even having this conversation....
I mean, what's the probability of me actually using and enjoying those books and toys RIGHT NOW?
That's right - 0%!
So, think....could you do anything NOW - other than kissing my cheeks - that can show your affection?
Well, I guess we could throw you up in the air and try to catch you....
Um, you may want to think again; that does not sound too good....
We could tickle you....
See, that works a little, right?
Yeah, I guess so...
Or, heck, if you won't remember this conversation in a few minutes, we can just keep on kissing your adorable cheeks! Come here!
Today is Mid-Autumn Festival here in Taiwan (and Asia) and that only means one thing (to me):
Cooler weather! THANK GOD!
Finally, it has become a bit more bearable with cooler nights and breezy winds, but unfortunately this will only last for about 3 weeks, when afterwards it will become actually quite cool and we possibly may break out the heaters (for Jo).
But Moon Festival is a great time to get together with friends and do a traditional BBQ (the Taiwanese way). You can see previous Moon Festivals here and here. So in preparation to going out to visit some friends and fire up the barby (as our Aussie friends say), we took Sage out on our rooftop to get a taste of the cooler air. He even had a chance to meet Mocha again, since we have decided to up move Mocha to our 8th floor basically due to all the hair that he sheds, not since he is jealous (but he is a little bit...).
Sage is sporting his too-big-for-him hat, but that is ok...
Mocha wants to get a better view of this new intruder....
From Mocha's perspective
Sage is not sure he likes up here or not, but he will get used to it eventually. We are not going too crazy yet with plants, but you can see some Aloe and a lemon tree in the background. Plus I still need to paint the walls to make them look like more a scene...but again that is for cooler weather.
Dad is happy for the weather, not so much seeing Sage (but don't tell him that!)
I am sure any baby has a variety of faces that they whip out telling very clearly their current mood and feeling. They could be laughing one second and then crying the next, or just looking dazed and confused.
We have decided to up the ante a bit to get Sage to practice his acting skills, which requires a specific set of exercises and influencing movements to help him succeed in any facet of life later. While it does not mean that Sage will be a successful actor, it does mean that he can at least be the class clown when he goes to school....
First, we have to get into the mood by being face to face with the Practitioner, who for this exercise was Mom. She claps her hand and says a face and then Sage needs to do it. Let's see how it goes....
Ok, you watching? Here we go.....
Stick out your tongue! Good...
Smile! Good!
Look dazed and confused! Good!
Hey! Don't look into the camera! Rule Number ONE!
Ok, blow some bubbles!
Good...More!
Hey, Hey, what did I say about looking into the camera while being so cute??? No, No, No...
Ok, give a cold shoulder.
Good!
Quick! Look scared!
Hmmm.... Try REALLY scared!
....Good! (just don't fall over....)
Ok, laugh naturally.
Nailed it.
Now look philosophical - come on, you are a Sage, right?
Hmmm, that's it.
Ok, now we will do scenes. You ready?
Someone is tickling you - what do you do?
Spot on...
Now, you see an alien war craft landing near you. What do you do?
Ok, well that is accurate, I suppose...
Now you are a master conductor for a philharmonic orchestra on the last night of a star performance. How do you portray this character?
Good.
Now, you just realized something interesting. Show me your 'interested' face...
Ok, not bad.
Ok, now look menacing and accuse someone of a crime.....
Uh, almost....your gotta practice that 'menacing' look a bit more....
Now, someone is giving you lip and they don't realize that you are not only a mob boss, but they are worthless pieces of cake to you. How do you handle this?
Great! I like the 'badda bing, badda boo' look...
Well, I guess we can call it a night. How do you feel, Actor Man?
As a wanna-be interior decorator, I have many ideas when it comes to our apartment's look. If you have followed this blog for awhile, you may remember that we have been through 3 apartments in the last 3 years (3 in one year!), ending up with this current one which we love.
I will speak humbly and say that all of them have looked great (no matter what other non-art types care to voice their opinions on...).
I hate white walls with a passion and have painted rooms in my homes myriad colors from red to black to beige to purple, and many inbetween colors and designs. So I am getting excited that I have another opportunity to paint walls again for Sage's benefit, meaning Winnie the Poohs, clouds, trees and all other cool things that I love and I hope he does to. If Mom likes it that is a bonus, but not that important ( I say now....).
Anyway, I am remodeling rooms again, to the chagrin of Jo. In fact, I love changing the "feng shui' of the place at least 2 times a year, but she hates it. Strange since I am usually the one who does not like change and she the one who loves it. But I digress.
We are changing our computer room into Sage's (and Dad's) playroom, which means consolidating all the book shelves and things together and moving things around so he has enough room to spread out all his toys and books on the floor, making it nearly impossible to walk....
Originally, our computer room was like this, with the shelves on the left, and Jo's desk and massage chair on the right, but we figured we wanted to give him a space on the left so that Mom or I could see him from the kitchen as needed through the doors. So I had to move all the shelves to the right side and so forth....
...and ok, it is not done yet, but it is getting there. Now, on the right is a big bare blue wall (great for a sky painting...) where we will figure out some good designs.
In addition to moving things around for Sage's future play times, we also jumped the gun a little bit and got him a pretty much instant library and second hand toys that we actually picked up for a very cheap price on ebay (course the shipping was more than we wanted..... Plus, Mom got over 100 chinese books for young children (not like board books with big pictures, but for 6-10) which I am starting to read too since I have been lazy in my Chinese reading skills. And even though Mom is going to handle the Chinese part, I want Sage to know that Dad can hold his own too in terms of reading.
So now, Sage is pretty much all set for his initial barrage of toys and books and we are ciked.
I will be updating our remodeling when I have more energy (when it gets cooler)!
Heck, it is good for a laugh and we are indeed laughing. Plus, his dandruff is ok now and we will be getting a nice calligraphy brush as a momento soon (will of course post that as well when we get it finished). 
So I think everyone is happy!
And being biased parents and all, we think Sage is even cuter like this! haha
