Teo By The Seashore, or "Dude for a Day"

Teo and entourage (of two) went to the beach in dad's old stomping grounds in Santa Monica this past Saturday. This was Teo's first trip to the ocean to see a body of saltwater considerably bigger than the one he grew up in. It was a sunny and beautiful holiday weekend day, and despite a very late start (1pm; Teo - and our level of sleep - dictates the timeframe these days) and slogging our way through the holiday traffic, we made it to the beach, not very far from where I had proposed to Candice a scant two years and 3 months prior. Walking with Candice and Teo and pushing our great Jeep stroller (compliments of Steve and Sherry Tochihara - thanks! we love it!) down the boardwalk made me realize that I had personally come full circle in this aspect of my life. Many a time it was during my countless runs and trips to the beach as a single man that I envisioned doing that exact thing - pushing a stroller with my son or daughter in it, accompanied by my beautiful wife. And here I was doing it just as envisioned. A dream come true.
The Jeep stroller has big inflatable tires on it, so did fairly well being pushed through the sand and up to the oceanfront. We made camp, gently rubbed some sunscreen on the boy and enjoyed the ocean breeze and sun.
We took him down to the water and I put him on my knee for a closeup of the incoming waves. Much like the pictures on our wall and the moving images on the TV, he was mezmerized by the water rushing in and out, with the sea foam contrasted against the water and shadows. Next time I'll have to dunk his little feet in. The water temp wasn't too bad, considering it was only late May. Teo seemed to mostly enjoy himself - and his first beach feeding - as evidenced by the pics. Enjoy!
BTW, Candice weighed him on Tueday and he logged in at an impressive 12lbs.-1oz. 11-ounces gained in one week. Dude!

Teo's First Swing Dance Event

Teo made it to his first swing dance event this past Saturday. When time/life permits, we usually go to the Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association's swing dance on Saturday nights, the place where Candice and I actually first met, though she doesn't remember meeting that first night. She was too busy looking good, in her short little swing dance skirt (bright red) that showed off her terrific legs (what calves!) with matching red Keds and 10,000-watt smile.
I digress. This is TEO'S blog. Anyways, Candice wanted to go dancing Saturday night and that meant bringing the boy. We bought some moldable silicon earplugs that we put into his ears, plopped him in the stroller and made our way into the venue. We got about 10-feet in before the Teo-onslaught began. Folks kept coming up to ogle him and talk to us before we could get into the dance area proper. Of course we were happy to oblige all. They had seen Candice pregnant many times at the dance and now here in the flesh was the fruit of our... flesh.
Teo was awake and flashing those big brown/blu-ish eyes and once we started into the dance hall with the stroller, Teo's entourage grew exponentially. I turned around and there were like 8 people following us.
Despite being held by at least 4 or 5 different people (all his surrogate "aunts" and "uncles"), Teo was very calm and generous with his time. Auntie Rhonda was especially helpful and her watching and holding Teo allowed Candice and I to get a bunch of dances in. Plus we enjoyed watching the Teo phenomenon from afar - people coming up to him and cooing and wanting to touch him. He IS a cutie!
We stayed for the whole dance (til 11:30), but that meant feedings at 10 and 11, so Candice did have to bow out a couple of times. All in all, a great time out doing one of our very favorite things, and getting to share it with our little pride and joy. Plus all of our many good friends got to meet and see the Golden Child. I'm sure Teo bestowed good karma and energy to those deserving.
A special thanks to Gene Hashiguchi, for taking the pictures and sharing them with us, so we could commemorate the occasion and share it with you. Thanks Gene! Teo says "Blagrfgoogooluuowstflurp!"

3 New Posts! Be sure to scroll down.

I know- we've been a bit lax with posting to Teo's blog - but we blame him! He's just way too much fun to leave and do other things.
Please be sure to scroll down after the topmost posting with the video. There's some great new pics and some noteworthy info. Well, that's stretching it, but at least check out the pics.
More to come very soon! (Teo's first swing dance event.)

Playing with Daddy

Behind our living room couch is a set of family photos from Hawaii and our wedding, which Teo LOVES to stare out. We don't know what it is about those photos that he loves, but he will stare at them for quite a while (in baby time). So I had to video Teo playing with his Daddy, a game now that they play with the pictures behind them. Enjoy!

The Moby Wrap!

This is a new product I bought at the Pump Station on my last visit. It's called the "Moby Wrap." I wanted something to carry my baby in when going for a walk. Sometimes it's just too hard to push a stroller and hold the dog's leash as I walk. So this lets me be hands free.


It is 15 feet long and I had to take a class on how to wrap it around my body. The instructor talked about how at the beginning of time, babies were always attached to their mommies so this is a very natural place for them to be. The baby likes it because he is squished up next to me and can hear my heart, which is reminiscent of being in the womb. On sunny days I can cover him COMPLETELY to protect him from the sun. It feels great on my back and can be worn for many hours. I can do laundry and the dishes while holding him.

I'm still trying to get used to all the positions you can arrange your baby. But so far, Teo likes this position the best.

It was $40 something and I got it for $19 with Jeanie's discount. She has been saving me a lot of money! My shopping spree that day at the pump station was over $300, but I left only paying $144!

Three cheers for Jeanie's discount. Hip Hip Hooray!

The Golden Child Evolves

Hello all you Teo lovers out there. And that means EVERYONE, since Teo brings out love from all who meet him. Who could resist, anyways?
When Candice went to her first breastfeeding support group, she weighed Teo on their DIGITAL scale (unlike our Neanderthal-equipped pediatrician's office where they weighed him with stones and measured him with marks in the dirt) to see if he had gained any weight in the last few weeks. At that time, as posted here, he weighed in at 10lbs. Well, a week and a day later, Candice weighed him again and he came in at a hefty 11lbs 2-oz! That's over a pound in a week. Maybe all you veteran moms and dads out there find that ho-hum and normal, but that was startling to me. I knew he was growing like a champ, having witnessed the number of times he is fed every day, but I didnt expect that number. I suspect he'll have gained at least another pound when she weighs him this Tuesday, provided he fits on the scale anymore. He's already outgrown all of his newborn clothes and is into his 3-month-old wardrobe. Although the new weight gain could just be his GIANT BRAIN, since his head and face have really filled out quite a bit. There are times that I swear I see a change in him literally overnight. Candice warned if I blinked too many times, I'll miss something and he'll be 3-years old before I realize it. Now I know what she meant.
The pics in this post include a recent bath that he had - the second one he's had in his cool little whale-shaped tub, so he no longer has to suffer the indignity of being bathed in the kitchen sink disposal.
Candice also re-introduced him to the bottle again, as he really hasn't drank his mother's super juice from anything other than her "hormonally influenced glands" (Teo says 'Thanks for the mammaries, mom!'). He did drink formula from a bottle at the hospital, and once since he was home, but this was his first with the real juice. No complaints, as you can see by the pic.
And then just a couple of Teo chillaxing in his Boppy. He's our little Bopper - soon to be Big Bopper.
NEXT UP: Teo goes to his first swing dance!

Live Long and Prosper

This week Teo went to his first movie debut.

Tanner got to tag along as well . . . I told him he could skip ONE day of school to stay home and help me with the baby. This seemed like the perfect day.

We went to the mommy and me movie matinee on Monday (nice alliteration). We got there early to have plenty of time to pack, unpack, strap in the carseat, get the stroller ready, make sure we have plenty of diapers . . . all the things you have to do in order to leave the house.

I LOVED it! To my surprise, the majority of mommies were actually daddies. I couldn't believe how many dads there were with their little babies and bottles in tow. I wanted to ask what they all did for a living to be off work at 11:00 on a Monday. I was also impressed by how well everyone kept their babies quiet. I was expecting lots of crying and toddlers running all over, but everyone was very conscientious about keeping the movie ambience.

I changed his diaper twice during the movie and feed him twice as well. He slept for about half of it. But pretty well behaved most of the time. Tanner was a great help pushing the stroller, watching Teo so I could go get popcorn, and just an overall good companion. I'm glad he's ten and not two.

The movie was great too! Mondays, I'm sure, will become one of my favorite days.

A Teo of Two Cities

Burbank and Toluca Lake, to be exact. These are the only two cities that Teo has been to. (Technically, he's also been to Arcadia [Kohl's] and drove through a few others on the way, but for the purposes of my clever play on his name, these are THE ONLY TWO!) Or that he is at least vaguely familiar with. Burbank for the obvious reasons of being born and living here and baseball games and shopping, but he and mom (and dad, once) have been on very scenic walks/stroller rides (he rides) through idyllic Toluca Lake, which is our immediate neighbor to the west, across Pass Ave. No sidewalks, only well-watered and manicured lawns fronting mostly beautiful houses, a neighborhood very much resembling the Truman Show set.
Teo was weighed this past Tuesday and logs in at an impressive 10lbs. already. I'm sure that his brain has also gained another pound as well, since we find that he puts his pacifier in his mouth for himself, which, since we never see him do it in our presence, we assume he does telekinetically. But the throbbing and glowing veins in his semi-transparent skulll are another giveaway.
He has a new bathtub, which he seems to prefer to the SINK DISPOSAL. OK, technically not the disposal, but a kitchen sink? Please. Find me something a tad less trailer-trashy, thank you! (But kudos to Candice for improvising.)
That's it for news on the Teo front for now. In the next blog post, we will upload a few more of the professional pics that we had taken for us. All suitable for framing! But DON'T print them and give them to us as Xmas gifts, Thank You!

Family Pics

As previously mentioned, we had family pictures professionally photographed a couple of weeks ago by the same person that did our maternity shots, as well as our wedding pics. Well, it seems she really outdid herself this time around - or am I saying that because the subject matter (namely Teo) is so close to my own heart I can't see objectively anymore? Maybe, but I think if I were to see these on another person's website, I would say that is one friggin' adorable baby. But then you'll have to judge for yourself.
There were 308 pics total, so after a few edit rounds, we've whittled it down a bit to our favorite 200. Kidding of course, but there are quite a number of great ones. Plus we have pics in a variety of different poses and with varying combinations of each of us with Teo, so have lots to show, lots to send. I may have to put them all up on a separate site so you can go to pick a few and send in your order :)
These here are but a very small sampling of our favorites. Please click on the small images to see the larger ones - Teo's even more spectacular and cuter in close-up.
Enjoy!
BTW, Teo is one month old on Sunday! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños, mijo!