Walking with Yugo

(From the warm January 2006 archives)


For those of you unfamiliar with the experience, walking with Yugo is like...
walking...
with a bear...
in a honey suit.
(The bear is wearing the suit.)
(He is also a nice, cute, sweet bear.)

-All pictures from Fort Tryon park and its vicinity

Mardi Wha?!

In honor of this year's Mardi Gras, Yugo saved some precious beads from being wasted on lascivious revelers and intoxicated bystanders. Ignatius Riley would surely be proud.

The Last Bottle of Formula Milk

Yugo passed another milestone last week: the smooth transition to whole cow's milk.
Those of you who've been there know what I'm talking about.
High five!
Yeah.

Yugo reveals the complexity of his personality

Sailor suit, metal wristbands and cheese.

The Blizzard of 2006...

When Yugo was born, the Gates graced Central Park. This year, 27" of snow fell on the day of his birthday party. Verily, 'twould seem the ancient Fates themselves have marked this boy for grand Design.
For those brave souls who ventured through the storm last Sunday, we thank you.


We would also like to extend a special thanks to Yugo's Grandpa and Grandma who travelled all the way here to see their grandson only to face a 12-hour return trip to Virginia.

YUGO IS NOW ONE

In case you did not see the banners, the skywriting, the documentary, the TV-special, the parade , the telegraph, the semaphore display or the elaborate crop design, please be informed that Yugo Z. Yamamoto now has one year of life under his ever-expanding belt.
Happy Birthday and Tanjyoubi Omedetou, Yugo!

Santa Stunned Speechless

After nearly thirty days of wish-hearing, milk-drinking and name-remembering, Santa was getting ready to strap on his reindeer and hit the skies when a young boy appeared on the threshold of Santa's Winter Town of Christmas Holiday Town Celebration Place. Santa had never seen him before, and the young boy had yet to meet Santa, but when left on Santa's lap, the young boy stunned the audience of stressed parents and doting families to silence with a display of sang froid that put Santa in his place (which, fortunately, was on his throne in Richmond,VA.) Yugo loves the spotlight. Watch out America!

For safety's sake, Yugo then told his wishes to the new sensation of X-mas: Nasa Claus.
And he played with a dreidel.

So it does look a lot like X-mas (especially in January)

Hello everyone! Yugo is growing step by step to his first year birthday celebration!
One step along the way was Christmas, the first Christmas, complete with Early Christian rituals dripping with North European pagan rituals and chocolate. (Rest assured, Yugo ate no chocolate this year.) (And yes, visiting a tempermental, sensitive, telepathic train engine named Thomas was one of the rituals practiced by many long-bearded folks, at least by the second Christmas...)

Yugo's First Steps- On December 11, 2005

Click here to watch 'Yugo-First-Steps-Dec11-2005'

Wooly, wet, white stuff

Reading with Ba-chan

Sure Yugo, you can look in Aunt Edith's purse... Hey wait a second!

Song and dance men...

Watch out, Rockettes!

Hey, where's the turkey?

Another in the long list of first's, Yugo's First Thanksgiving introduced him to the simple pleasures of bone-gnawing and tryptophan. All of the excitement surrounding the dinner was so intense, that Yugo was only one of a number of family members to fall directly to sleep at the dinner table. (It was the first year they were unable to drag themselves from the dining room before succumbing to turkey-lethargy, with comic results!)

But everyone was soon up and active and before long wiping the sweet potatoes from their cheeks for a stroll in the autumn air. Yugo determined that being stuck in a pile of leaves is not always the most pleasant.

He decided he preferred digging in the sand

rolling down hils

and sitting in front of a roaring fire.

All in all, a lovely and successful Thanksgiving, thanks to all.

Has it really been 10 months already?

It's hard to belive ten months can go by so fast. Everyone says it. But now suddenly there's a little boy to chase around and fill with new, solid foods. I guess all of the running around should keep him hungry, fit and questioning the fundamental laws of existence. With Thanksgiving past and Christmas around the bend, the race is on to see whether Yugo will first speak in Japanese or English (or Yugoese/Yugolish), or walk the walk before he talks the talk. Go Yugo Go!

In the days when idols filled the silver screen...

Mama & Yugo 2

The subway is always a great place to sleep in an atomic stroller.

Mama & Yugo

Today was a nice fall day in New York City, all the leaves were yellow and red and the sky was blue (sorry, California Dreamers). So Mama and Papa took me to Union Square and the Green Market. So many colors today. [Ojiisan will also be happy that we checked in on his favorite spot in Manhttan, the Strand Bookstore. Don't worry, Ojiichan, it's still there.]

Halloween Revelation: a New Shogun for Japan?

The Children's Halloween festival at the World Financial Center in Battery Park saw the first signs of what could become a wave of political change in the United States and the Japanese Islands: Yugo Yamamoto, future shogun.

Cuter, of course, than Tokugawa Ieyasu, more culturally refined and less oppressive. He is assisted by his two henchwomen:

(somewhat disgruntled) Snow White
and Sleeping Beauty.

Watch out! Here he comes!

Climbing 162nd Street

Some people claim Everest, Annapurna and K2 are an exhilarating challenge to the limits of human endurance. I would add to this esteemed list the jungle gym at 162nd street and Riverside drive in the Big Apple.
With my Baby Sherpa (tm) Papa-san, we scouted the perilous steps that lead to a sheer drop of hundreds of centimeters. The wind was brisk, so I held firmly to a local leaf to judge its direction.
We started fast, climbing step by step up the blue and red edifice cast down by the gods of Parks and Recreation.
After grueling minutes of climbing, we reached the top. My sherpa was so pleased, he began to levitate. I place the levitating sherpa beneath me and...
SWOOOSH... down the mountain.

Back in the saddle again

Hey everyone, you don't know how long it took me to climb into this chair. But now that I'm here, get ready for some new Yugo.

What better to do on a rainy Saturday than build a tunnel? Yugo explores the depths of the cardboard jungle without fear, brushing away the previous adventurers who fell victim to its pitfalls and traps.

Hearing songs and watching videos can give you a sense of what a farm looks like. But do you really know a farm until you get a real-live horse to nibble apples from your hand or find out how a barn smells? Yugo went to the mountains to find out.

In fact the more precise term would be "orchard" not "farm." Yugo showed more reticence towards damaging the apple trees than he does towards the delicate house plants in his apartment. But he did eat part of a fresh-picked apple. 

Even Mama got in on the fun. You can see her contemplating the dappled sunlight of the Applewood orchard and winery after her 6 wine tastings. And Yugo contemplating the kids climbing the trees. Soon, Yugo, soon. 

You can do anything, but stay off of my blue suede shoes... when I have shoes... and my socks are blue so don't step on them either... and I could use a little help here... a little help, somebody... Yeah!