January 28, 2009

Lunar Cycle No. 5

Yep, another entry in the perpetually tardy celebration of Young Old adding another monthly notch to his life-belt.

Young Old has had an amazing month. The previous four months had found him blindly stumbling through life like the developmentally immature guppy he was. Now he's got purpose coursing through his itty bitty veins. He's determined to put those toes in his mouth at all costs. He's reaching out for a lasting friendship with Frisco the Cat. He's striving to perfect his owl hoots, monster growls, and, what Alex from A Clockwork Orange would call, "a malanky bit of the old lip music." He's hoping to get his way, at all times, through the liberal use of temper tantrums, angry foot stomps, and squeals of protest. He's determined to feed himself, often snatching the bottle from out our hands so that he can handle his own belly-fill duties. He's well on his way to satisfying his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by scratching his nails across every inch of wall, fabric, and wood in the entire house. It's his goal in life to independently stand, sit, and crawl, but has so far been thwarted in this without the aid of his Slave Giants. He's been hatching a plan to sleep longer stretches at night, with nary a nap in the daytime (which, through rigorous self-imposed training, he has managed to whittle down to a mere handful, each lasting no more than thirty minutes at a stretch). Feeling that he was shitting entirely too often in his younger days, he has now decided to rectify (or is that rectumfy?) the situation by holding onto his bottom contents for days at a time, then releasing it all in one fell swoop (and into three successive poop containers) much to the horrified surprise of his caretakers.

Mainly, though, his driving desire at this point is to giggle, and to make those around him respond in kind.

To which he's been exceeding his own expectations by leaps and bounds.

We love you, kiddo. Keep up the good work.

Young Old at five months:

January 27, 2009

Lessons of Life and Death

Recently, a family member of mine gifted Young Old this fantastical "nature scene" quilt:

It's filled with castles, Princes on ponyback, and cuddly little critters such as this one:

So you can imagine Young Old's dismay when a giant hand reached down from the heavens and decapitated his favorite pond-sipping fawn:

Young Old has had no small amount of fun repeatedly killing these peaceful forest creatures, so the blanket has since then been stowed away to best allow his murderous tendencies a chance at subsiding. [Seriously, what the fuck were the makers of this quilt thinking? -Ed.]

Anyway, thanks! Cool gift.

January 23, 2009

Young Old, The Movie IX

Mind you, this was like three weeks ago. He's now fronting a Latin jazz band, manning the marimba.

January 21, 2009

Cali Crew Comes to Town

Still trying to catch up on my backlog of photos from the holidays. These were taken when my family from California came up for a few weeks after Christmas. It was good seeing you all, much love. Dan, send me those pictures!

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Auntie Cat with my drooling baby boy.

Everyone took turns fattening up Young Old (don't tell him, but we're having a baby foie gras party in the spring).

The puzzle was a bit too advanced for Young Old, who quickly succumbed to frustration. Seen here with his Uncles Briguy and Danpa.

Bononna helping Young Old prepare for his Doctorate in Seussology.

Three generations of successively less greasy Italian heritage. Chilling with Grandpops and Uncle Danpa on the chilly streets of Portland.

Love this picture. Uncle Danpa and Young Old dodging consumerism at the Lloyd Center Mall the day after Christmas while the rest of us bought shit we didn't really need.

January 20, 2009

January 16, 2009

Showing Love for the Cards

Here are a few of our favorite cards that we received while Young Old was still womb-bound. I've been meaning to post these for a few months, but, you know how that goes.

As always, click on the photos to see the bigger picture.

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From Auntie Brin:

Also from Auntie Brin:

From our friends Kate and Becky (i.e. Kecky):

January 15, 2009

I'm Tired So You Get Pictures Vol. 18

A baby buffet of goodness for your viewing pleasure.

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My little guppy really loves me, thank goodness.
Zzzzz...mmmmmm...titty...titty...yum...yum...zzzzzzzz.

Watchutalkinbout, Willis?

Young Old opening presents on Christmas day.

We decided to gift Young Old a copy of The Snowman. That shit kills me every time when the boy goes outside to play with his new friend, only to find a thawed puddle of icy water. Not sure what the moral is, but I agree with it.

Thanks, Grandma A...I love my puzzle!

Young Old and I stayed up all night Christmas eve, fingers firmly crossed, hoping we'd land one of these beautiful boxes of electronic gaming delight. Our dreams came true; unfortunately, I don't have any time to play it.

But Young Old sure as hell does.

We call this his Happy Coma.

January 13, 2009

His First Snow

For the majority of December and the first week of the New Year, we Portlandites were subjected to the biggest snowstorm in six decades. Since settling in the area, it hadn't snowed more than an inch or two, if at all. But then Jack Frost did lay his chilly gaze upon our fair city, pelting us with snow storm after ice barrage after slushy hail deluge, accumulating several feet over the course of two weeks.

What an awesome first winter experience for the Young One, making me much more happy about our move north from California, where a winter is pretty much the same as a spring...or a fall...or a summer. The seasons are much more, well, interesting.

Young Old couldn't get enough of the icy warm feeling of snowflakes melting upon his skin, and had a great time bundling up in his animal pelts and strapping on his snowshoes for a bit of winter wonderland exploration.

A few images of what has locally become known as "The Snowpocalypse."

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The obligatory family snow portrait. Doesn't Young Old look like a Mongol warrior? How about Baby Khan?

Mama K, always the serious one during pictures, while Young Old and I, as usual, are totally fucking around.

We spent hours scraping and sweeping and shoveling. That afternoon, we got another foot of snow, effectively killing our car for the next two weeks. Good thing the buses were running...oh wait, they were only coming by four times a day, abiding by nary a schedule, and ignoring potential riders standing at bus stops? Thanks, Trimet! Needless to say, we watched a lot of films and played a lot of board games.

Mama K keeping the Youngling warm.

Aunt T built Young Old his first snowman. His Uncle Danpa later built Young Old his second snowman (not pictured due to the attached snow penis), deciding to teach him about "anatomical correctness." Thanks, brother, I was hoping to wait a few years before broaching that subject, but it seems you've saved me the effort. Guess who won't be babysitting. Wait a second...

Their Canadian heritage works wonders against the effects of frostbite.

January 9, 2009

Wake Up Photo Shoot

Some days (the ones that don't begin at 6:57am), I feel like I'm the luckiest human alive, getting to wake up to this sight:




Please excuse the faux-Japanese voice...no offense is intended; I am obsessed with the samurai-period films of Akira Kurosawa, and was holding a two month-old Young Old during a screening of Yojimbo, during which he smiled the entire time whenever a line of dialogue was spoken. From that day on, whenever Young Old's a bit grouchy, I just break out the Samurai Speak, and he lights up with face-splitting smiles...

January 4, 2009

Back in the Game


Sorry, folkers...lots of people in town, little time for updates. Things should be calm for a few days, at least, so hope to get this shit back on track.

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R.I.P. yin yang dish, you will be missed.

Young Old's first wave. He loves hanging out at eye level while we're cooking up dinner; unfortunately, I don't see this lasting too much longer as lately he's beginning to show signs of discovering that whole scooting thing (wheeeeeeeeee! splat.)

This outfit always reminds me of the younger brother's winter suit in A Christmas Story.

Quality time with Papa Old, warming up upon waking up.

Young Old loves perusing my Safari Hunt Trophy Book.

Pre-puke cuteness.