Touch-A-Truck

今日はＮＹで活躍する色んな車を体験することができ優悟は興奮状 態。特に消防車。もちろん他の子供達にとってもヒーローの消防車。優悟は何度も乗りたく、自分の番が終わるとまた列の後ろに並んで次の番まで待つ。本当に 乗りたかったみたくちゃんと我慢強く待っていた。結局３回ものせてもらった。満足満足！！！
優悟の友達の空志（こうし）君。二人は１週間違いの同い年。まだ知り合ってまもないのに、会った瞬間からとても仲良し。
これは救急車。救急車のサイレンを鳴らさせてもらったり、マイクにも挑戦。マイクを口に近づけられて、優悟が発した言葉が”はろ～はろ～もしもし～～～”でした。

最後はトラクター。ニューヨーカーですが、これが一番彼に似合っている。カントリーボーイ優悟！

Yugo and Ringo Dance on Kid's Day

Happy Merry-Go-Round!

白馬（？）にまたがり勇ましい優悟はワンダーランドの王子様。
『走れ走れ・回れ回れ僕が風になるまで。』

Yugo is the most popular idol among Pooh, Toto, Tigger, Elmo, George, etc

”もっともっと”と迫られ、ファンクラブとの交流会、仕方がない、瞳ぱっちりアイドルポーズといこか・・・

お兄さん！食べっぷりがいいね！

一心不乱に石焼ピピンバ・キムチを食べている優悟の姿はあっぱれ！君の舌は確かだ。頼もしい頼もしい！

時を駆ける優悟－２歳になりました

瞬く間に優悟は２歳になりました。公園で遊ぶ姿が板につき、貫禄がついてきました。

Family in Long Island City

Most people avoid the cold weather. We go outside at every occasion, and to the river no less! At least we all fit into this shot by Uncle Ben.

Holiday Yugo

Go, go Yugo!

Wow, it's been so long since Yugo's first TV appearance. But don't worry, he's stayed very busy in our unseasonably warm New York weather. Halloween has come and gone and Yugo still does not eat many sweets besides cookies, but it's hard to be sweeter than this:

Foxy Yugo

So Yugo was on TV and how! We showed up at the CMoM for the morning broadcast of Good Day New York on Fox 5 to promote liberal messages of inclusive diversity and global corporate transparency but instead Yugo was a star for a few minutes. You can see one clip here.
But his big scene is not on the website, so here are some pictures:

Yugo from yesterday and today

Even if the papers publish nothing, here is Yugo at the CMoM exhibit putting screws in holes and in his new class, his first class, cleaning up the art table with the teacher.

Look for Yugo in the News

Hi all, if you're still watching and checking, and we hope you are, look for Yugo in the local news or newspapers. He participated in a recent media event for the Children's Museum of Manhattan's opening of the PlayWorks exhibit. He also began to take a class at the CMOM with some other rambunctious young toddlers. Stay tuned for updates.

Of course every time the CBS 2 news camera came into the room, Yugo left, but he might be caught in the background, running away from his fifteen minutes of fame. (Smart move, Yugo. It may be best to save them for later, when you rule the world... for 15 minutes.)

Yugo has been invited back for Monday morning to appear on the "Good Day New York" of Fox 5. So if you are awake from 6:30 to 8:30 on Monday morning (I'm sorry) you might see us. You might see us sleeping in the corner.

[For all the computer literate out there, you can check the Google "News" link for Children's Museum of Manhattan, or PlayWorks. So far, only the Christian Science Monitor has published an article, with no Yugo in sight.]

Grandparents in New York, June 2006

Train arrive, sixteen coaches long... Well that long black train, took my baby and gone...

A Virginia MPP (mega-pic post)

Yugo Love. We all need some.

Yugo slides on baking plastic.
Cool water + cool swim trunks = Yugo rules the wading pool!
Yugo hangs prominently.

On the canal boat cruise near the James River in Richmond, Virginia.
This picture taken seconds before Yugo drenches his mama with a bucket of water.
Who isn't tempted to step in those flowers?
Brave Yugo. Through the sprinkler.
Yugo hopes for rain with his rain stick.

'Nuff said.

A Yuglossary

Yugo understands a lot of things said in English and Japanese, mostly about being ready to eat. He can also make questions himself (eg. " Cookie?") For a current understanding of Yugo's language, see the constantly expanding universe of words he uses below:

Touch - The first word he used repeatedly and understandably.

Cuck, Cucku - 1. Truck, sometimes bus, sometimes car, but mostly reserved for all trucks
2. "Cucku" can also mean trash. When the question "cucku?" gets a positive response, it means Yugo can throw away whatever he is holding (NB - make sure he is not holding your jewelry or your glasses before saying yes...)

Ch-ch - Train, as in Choo-choo, wooh, wooh.

Fsssh - Fish, any fish, including non-fish like whales and dolphins, often used at aquariums and at the beach.

Boru, Bol - Ball, also balloon with a slight difference in intonation

Cookie - Cookie. He picked that word up fast. And uses it often.

Apple - Apple, or in fact any other type of fruit, including bananas. Apple may be a generic term.

Ower - Flower

Push - Used for buttons, light switches.

Zis - "This" Used when Yugo points to something he wants. He also uses the question "Zis is?" to find out what something is and, usually, whether he can put it into his mouth.

Yosh - Japanese expression (meaning "good"?) Yugo uses when climbing stairs or chairs, especially when he has reached a final, precarious position.

Sankyou - Thank you.

Jiji and Baba - Grandpa and Grandma. Yugo sometimes gets these right.

Some tricky ones to interpret:

Papa - "Papa" often means Papa and designates Yugo's dad, but sometimes Yugo points to his mom when saying papa, or uses it when playing peekaboo

Mama - "Mama" usually means mom, but is also used when pointing to Papa, or to Yugo's nose or to someone else's nose.

Yugo, the writer, the return

Wow, two months since Yugo's strong, rising trajectory was last charted on these pages. The energy and activity off his young existence is only one explanation, another is that now Yugo has taken charge of much of the writing of his life. This is clearly evidenced from is growing vocabulary, his one-nap-a-day, his counting and his running through the playground with water balloons and sticks. But wait, there's more!