It amazes me how fast Tyler grows.
He now can crawl and sit up on his own.
Just today he grabbed a hold of the couch while sitting on the floor,
Trying to pull himself to stand up.

It won’t be long now.
He will start walking soon,
And let the race begin.

I always play music in front of him.
He always shakes his hands from excitement,
Whenever he sees me pick up my guitar.
He seems to like it very much.

He stares at my hands and the guitar as I strike the strings.
The other day, I gave him my guitar pick,
and since babies put everything in their mouths,
I try to be on guard, making sure he won’t stick it in his,
To my surprise, he looked at me,
Reached out and tried to strum the strings with the pick.

Babies are smart.

HE Really does have a way of things.
And HE too does have a way of reminding us of what we are,
and ways to teach us to understand it.

What happened yesterday really made me think.
Sometimes I do have hatred in my heart, and
Sometimes I must admit, it would be easier to take things into your own hands.

I get so mad sometimes, that I wish harm to everyone who makes me feel so.
Even death. A painful one.
So painful that the marrows of their soul would anguish in misery.

I am only human, and sometimes I can not control how
these thoughts linger in my heart and mind.

I do pray for guidance, strength and understanding,
And I know that my LORD up on high does hear me.
But I do not hear him back.

So I believe this is what HE did.

As I turn on the TV this morning,
The “Lord Of The Rings, Fellowship Of The Ring” was on The Movie Network.
And everyone who knows me, knows that I am addicted to the LOTR.
It was the scene where The Fellowship is down at Moria and
Gandalf is trying to figure the way out.
Frodo saw Gollum, and told Gandalf that Gollum deserved death.
Then Gandalf said..

‘Deserves it! I daresay he does.
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life.
Can you give it to them?
Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.
For even the very wise cannot see all ends.

What a way to get my attention.
As I hear this, I looked at my son,
Smiling, and seems to be acknowledging the movie.

But if something did happen to him,
I surely do not know how I would remember all this.

You know every Friday,
My Mom baby-sits Tyler and he spends the night at her house.
So while we were on our way,
Of course, since I have Tyler in the car,
I am extra careful and alert while driving.

So we were at a stoplight,
And of course as a driver,
you are very observant of your surroundings.

First, I check on Tyler to see how he’s doing.

I saw a green Pontiac Sunfire behind me,
With an elderly lady of Indian descent with her daughter,
I say this because I see the red mole sign on their forehead.
They are laughing, talking, probably gossiping.

I check on Tyler to see how he’s doing.

I noticed the Wendy’s restaurant on the right side of the busy intersection.
The Price Club store on the left, Right beside Tim Horton’s,
And a sign that says, “Entrance” to the Furniture Warehouse.

I check on Tyler to see how he’s doing.

I also noticed that it is almost our turn to go and the light will turn green soon.
Then I suddenly noticed the Green Pontiac Sunfire coming straight behind me.

BAM!!!!

What the FFAAHH???
We were at a stoplight!! How can she step on the gas?

I stormed out of the Car,
Checked on my son if he’s okay,
He did not cry, and he was fine.

I rushed to the lady’s window, and let out a burst of
4 letter words you would not hear at your Sunday Church.

I am usually sympathetic for some drivers,
But not when my son is on board.
I remember screaming that I have a baby in my car,
And something about “You Stupid idiot.”

She said, (with a strong accent)
“Oh I am very sorry, it was an accident”

Well no shit !!!

Then she was like,
“I am so sorry”¦
Oh, is that your baby?. Oh he is beautiful.”

What the hell was that for?
She freakin’ rammed my car and tells me that my baby is cute.
To lessen my anger?
So I would not call the cops?

Luckily there was no damage,
but I can see a faint mark of her car plates on my bumper.

I still checked on Tyler,
as all the other cars pass us.

I don’t remember being this mad,
Only when I deal with the Canadian Government.

And from all of these,
After much contemplating,
This is what I have learned,

The reason why some people are still alive is because it is illegal to kill them.
Oh and there is no cure for stupidity.

You know sometimes I wonder,
if I am doing a good job as a stay at home dad.

I must admit, this is the hardest job I have ever done in my life.
I got to hand it to all the mothers of this world.
How do you guys manage to do it all?
Unbelievable.

I know I am over the “EGO thing”,
about staying at home and not being able to provide for my family.
I say this because I dare any male out there to try and be a mother for a day.

It’s funny how we have this double standard thing,
that when women go out and work, and do basically any man can do,
they are being cheered.
But when Men stay at home and do what women do at home,
It’s the exact opposite.

It truly is a full time job,
and it’s a job that you can’t quit.

I thought it was just changing diapers,
and bottle feeding when I signed up.
But Nooooooo..
There is so much more.

And it’s quite amazing when the day is over,
And when I say Over, that is “hoping Tyler would not wake up
at 3 in the morning kinda Over”.
When all is done quiet and peaceful,
When you finally have time for yourself,
You have no energy left.
I’m serious.

I update this site at the end of the day, (when I can)
because I have no one to talk to, Tracy works at night.
I might explode if I don’t.

Also, now that Tyler can crawl,
He is so mobile, he will not stay in one place.
So I have to be on extra alert mode.
His teeth are also coming out,
so he is just not having a good time.

I also read some parenting articles from “American Baby” Magazine,
and sometimes the more I read it,
the more I feel scared of not doing a good job.

Plus there are so many things that they want you to do
to your baby that I am afraid that I will not be able to do them all.
And if I didn’t, I fear something would go wrong with my child.

They even have suggestions on how to decipher your child’s cries.
So, there I was, using my ear for tone and music,
listening to Tyler’s diverse sounds.
And I still end up going with my gut instinct.
(Thankfully, I am usually right.)
It’s just frustrating sometimes when
you can’t figure out whats wrong with them.

A good friend of mine, Tammy V., once told me,
“Remember always that Tyler can not speak yet,
and his only way to tell you something is to cry”

That helped me a lot. (thanks Tam)

Thank you also to My Mom, and Tracy’s Mom,
for all the help and advice we get.
It’s just great knowing that I can call any of you anytime.

Thanks to my son, Tyler Austin,
for teaching me about myself.
you are all worth it son.
I love you very much.

And thanks to Tracy,
for telling me that I am doing a good job,
and for driving an hour and a half,
to and from work, just for the betterment of our future.

Thanks to the Lord up on high,
for the strength and patience,

And I also would like to thank the Academy for this little drama speech.
Thank you!!!

*Raises trophy* as crowd cheers.
*Fade to black — on to commercial*

I just got the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD.

And I just realized something….

My dog looks like Dobby.

Freaky huh?

It has been more than a month since I took my parental leave.
While Tracy is the one working,
And I get to stay home and take care of Tyler.

Here’s what I have learned.

1.) Diapers can hold gallons of pee.

2.) When changing baby, and he pees,
it is not necessary to freak out and scream.

3.) The baby also needs to be bathed sometimes.

4.) If bathing baby, don’t forget to bring toys.
Bring one for the baby too.

5.) If in bathtub, it is not necessary to turn on the shower
and pretend you’re in a submarine that has just been hit.

6.) When babies get cold, they would most likely pee. Prepare yourself.

7.) Remember lesson number 2.

8.) Eventually, baby has to be fed.

9.) Just because you can eat a meal in 2 minutes,
that does not mean the baby can too.

10.) If Tracy says, “put this in the oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees”,
does not calculate to 30 minutes at 700 degrees.

11.) Order Pizza before wife get’s home.

12.) Once baby is asleep,
the dog will bark at everything that moves outside your house.

13.) If there’s anything you want to do while baby is asleep,
forget it, he will wake up as soon as you think about it.

14.) Once baby is asleep, all the noise in your house turns into
a 5000 watt mega amplifier, with tweeters.

15.) Baby can wake himself up by farting.
I swear it’s not me.

16.) Everything in the world gets synchronized once baby is asleep.
The phone would ring, somebody at the door, you have to sneeze,
or an itch in your throat.

And there’s so much more, I just can’t remember them all.
I’ll post them sometime when I recall them.
All these I learned, and it has only been a month.

I need some sleep.

Today’s forecast,
WINTER STORM!

Well..
at least we had a nice week of summer.

And today’s rant would be
Stereotypes.

You know Tracy works in the US,
and drives an hour and 15 everyday to get there.
Well, since it is snowing like the bombs in Baghdad,
I drove her to work, because that’s just how I am.

Since she gave birth to my son,
It would make me feel better knowing that she made it there safely.

Anyways,
So obviously, she gets to cross the US-Canada border twice everyday.
And what is it with border crossing that makes me so nervous?
I have no drugs, no ammunition or firearms.
I have no plans to cause trouble,
but it really does make me nervous.
Like dry mouth nervous, which makes my speech slurred,
and which makes them doubt me when they ask me questions.

Like:
When they ask me what my citizenship was,
I would say,

“Canadian.”

All good, right?

Then they ask me, What’s my purpose,
then I’d be like,

“Oh just to drive to the hospital where my lovely nurse here works.”

All fine, right?

Then they’d be like,
“Do you have anything to declare?”

(-note to self, “You suck” is not the proper answer.)

Then they’d be like,
“Where were you born?”

Then I say, “Philippines”.

“Philippines huh?
Would you please pull over to the side there sir and meet us inside.”

What the Faaaaa????

What did I do?

They asked Tracy what her citizenship was and she would say American,
End of Story.

But me, noooooo…
They had to check my status,
criminal records,
how long have I been here,
Age,
Who cuts my hair,
Shirt and shoe size,
Number of teeth,
Number of MP3’s downloaded,
Porn sites surfed,
TV program favorites,
Boxers or briefs.

What is up with that??

Okay, okay,
I don’t blame them for double checking because their country is at war,
like it was my fault.

Well, I usually go by the border quite easily and painlessly,
but today, I had to go inside for more questioning.

Tracy was irritated, but not me.
I am used to this.
Coming from a third world country has it’s little inconveniences.

You know what else,
If ever we were greeted by a young person,
about our age, at the border,
everything is cool.
I think they understand diversity better.

But today it was an old man who, from the start, looked at me funny,
while asking me questions.

Okay maybe it was my slurred speech, but that’s not the point.

He’s pretty old,
I mean, like,
– I was at the Korean and Vietnam war kinda old.
So maybe he was like,

“Asian huh?
I don’t trust these people to sit the right way on a toilet seat.”

Plus, Tracy and I are a couple, which probably drove him nuts.
We should have brought Tyler.
That would have brought out the best in him.

So he told me to park by the side and meet them inside.
Tsk tsk tsk, poor old man.
Must have been abducted and abused by an Asian army guy.

Okay okay,
kidding aside.
It’s quite sad isn’t it?
How everything in this world revolve around on how you look?

Now I see what Michael Jackson was thinking.

-UPDATE-
I just talked to my Mother on the phone, and told her this story,
She said,
Maybe because they think you’re an Asian with the SARS virus.

Phew. Now that totally puts a different perspective don’t it?
They are not being prejudiced.
They are just being careful.

So now the moral of the story would be,

If you see an Asian person.
They have SARS.

We just had our first Doctor’s appointment yesterday.
Everything is going well.
Baby is healthy as can be.

Just one thing I learned so far,
Being a parent for 5 days.

Sleep deprivation is not cool.

But just one look at his face, and his mother’s,
It’s all worth it.

I have been working as a Network Instructor for more than 2 years now.
And for those of you who work in the Hi-Tech field, you know how fast this business grows.
You know you have to have the latest skills.
You have to know the latest softwares and applications.
You have to have the latest tweak on your system,
the latest patch, the newest programs.
You know you always have to know more.

Just because I teach this, does not make me better than anybody else.
It does not make me superior to all the students.

Yesterday, a student of mine came up to me and asked me for help.
It was about a topic that I am not very fond of myself.
So we talked about it and we tried to go step by step.
He figured it out, and showed me other ways of solving it too.
By the end of our conversation, I think I learned more from him than him from me.

To me, the real knowledge in this business is how you figure things out.
Not taking advantage of anyone around you, or not taking advantage of the system.
And when you do know the answers, and when you know you have more knowledge.
Keep it cool. No tooting of horns necessary.

You never know, you may learn something from them too.

If two people share answers, they may be both wrong.
But if two people share ideas, then they will be both right.

I have no idea what I just said.

I just found out that this month is “National Shut The Hell Up Month.”
You know this has not come in a better time.
The world is becoming a very noisy place.

Just outside our apartment,
they just demolished some old building and working on a new site construction.
Not only does it look like Nicaragua out there,
but it also sounds like continuous ballistic missiles landing at Kandahar.

Anyways, during National Shut the Hell Up Month,
please observe the following:

1. Stop mowing the lawn so often. That neighbor with his butt hole sewn shut will always have a nicer yard than yours anyway.
2. Never “rev” your engine. Don’t squeal your tires. Doing either of these things indicates to others that, without question, you are a dumb bunghole.
3. The odds are most people think your music sucks ass. Turn it down. Nobody is impressed with your car-fi woofer(Except your closest friends who’s names are likely to be Tommy, Jamal or Zack. In which case your “system” rocks)
4. Don’t complain. Change your situation or shut the hell up.
5. In most cases, the person most interested in what you have to say is you, so why bother talking at all.
6. Only 16% of dirty jokes and innuendo are actually funny. Save yourself some on-going embarrassment and just say something nice.
7. Muzzle your dog (or grind him up for meat and invite a member of our organization to dinner.)
8. Don’t shout at your dog with the same ineffective admonishments time after time, doing so means there are two stupid creatures making unnecessary noises.
9. Refrain from nervous whistling and humming unless you’re trying to snatch someone’s wallet or a Hostess snack cake.
10. If you live above someone, don’t move furniture in the middle of the night unless it’s an extreme decorating emergency.
11. Pick up your Lord boards when walking down a tiled hall you over burdened hippie.
12. Don’t tap on the counter, table, desk, railing or other surface unless you absolutely can’t help it.
13. Car alarms? Don’t bother. Our concern for noise pollution is greater than our concern for the property of the self-righteous.
14. Turn down the volume on your television. It’s Ok, the show will continue.
15. Throw away your fireworks. The first fire cracker sounds pretty much like the next one which sounds like the last one. There is no need to keep experimenting.
16. Unplug your power tools or use them to violently remove your limbs
17. Sink your personal watercraft.
18. Sit quietly.
19. Control your debased desires for audible stimuli. Fight the feeling,
AND SHUT THE HELL UP!