dylan at royal claytons: his first english pub

we met up with friends last night at royal claytons, in the nitty-gritty artists lofts district just to the east of downtown's little tokyo for vivian's birthday. the pub, in a brick warehouse setting, is in the toy lofts building---the area is both burgeoning hot spot and former homeless alley while the pub is a glorified pool hall for the downtown set with okay pub grub. dylan had a chance to say hi to his new baby friends klee and eden before he pooped out -- so he couldn't stay to try the menu items--bangers and mash, bubble and squeak, fish and chips. worth another visit? the wait staff even brought out a high chair for dylan, while all his uncles and aunties cooed, bounced, and jostled him about, like we were in a dylan mosh pit. rock on, dylan!

From october 2008

dylan wants the bubble and squeak!

From october 2008

ina, gregory, emily, heseon and pumpkin head.

Royal Claytons
1855 Industrial St
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 622-0512
www.royalclaytonstavern.com

riding the rails

dylan took a train ride last week...

where did dylan visit? where was he headed?

welcome baby zowen!!!

we'd like to say 'how-do' to baby zowen, who's traveled a long nine-month road to arrive in our little world! he is our youngest compatriot and newest democrat, and soon-to-be playmate to dylan. zowen james ajemian was born last sunday to proud parents and friends diana and zeth. di and zeth are going to be great parents and we want to send them lots of love, luck and of course, sleep, as usual. here he is, pictured at a mere five days old, and he already has a cool haircut! wow! welcome to the little cutie, zowen!

From october 2008

photo: 'hey world, look out' says newbie zowen james ajemian, weighing in at 8 pounds, 7 ounces. bienvenue!

palin-trash-talkin' in silver lake

From october 2008

winner of the coolest obama shirt! min's been EXPANDING her political views for obama. picture taken at local in silver lake. dylan sports a very eco-friendly bum genius diaper. take that, you liberal media elite.

we met up with fellow obama-ites min and john in silver lake for a political pow-wow and dinner at a new eatery, local, in silver lake---which means while we put down republican candidates sarah palin and john mccain with food in our mouths, and expounded on the last presidential debate, we chowed down on locally grown vittles--at local, the chicken, pork, greens, cheese on the menu are all locally grown and sourced. who knew that someone could grow a chicken so tasty, with such little bones, so tender and succulent, in the silver lake area? wow! who knew that the pulled pork on john's plate came from a little pig, that grew up right here in urban los angeles? i didn't say local was a vegan place, but their small menu was excellent, i can't recommend it enough. dylan helped us toast each other's company and helped us make friends with the local crowd, and even made a little friend with another baby diner, as is dylan's sunny personality's want. we finished off with a caramelized peach dessert that was the white flag of surrender to yumminess. ha!

From october 2008

min's jersey wins for the coolest obama 08 shirt, hands down.

From october 2008

dylan wants more peaches, not pundits, and no politicos. just peaches, thank you, local.

From october 2008

we'll definitely be back to local!

Local
2943 W. Sunset Blvd., between Parkman Avenue and Hamilton Way, Silver Lake
323-662-4740
BABY FRIENDLY: 2 STARS
GOOD: organic food, good for baby. life-size mannequin in restroom, not good for baby. a bit scary, really.

brunch: casa arigato, south redondo

while we had salmon omelettes at the improbably named casa arigato by the beach in the hollywood riviera (south redondo beach), dylan had baby yogurt. dylan is growing up (sniff, sniff!). i do declare when we play with him, this has to be the cutest time in a baby's life. he is always happy, always up for a show, to play, to smile, to learn--and to eat. here he is, at a little over nine months, climbing on top of the tables.
while casa arigato had extremely friendly servers, this sunny cafe steps from the beach had a small breakfast menu--but tasty, healthy, veggie-based, fresh. they brought out a baby bowl, spoon, and a cup of water with a straw, which was a nice touch. it's nice to go somewhere where they're making dylan feel at home, even helping to pick up the plastic thomas the tank engine bowl that dylan kept throwing onto the floor. we'll be back, casa arigato!

Casa Arigato
215 Avenue I # 101
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 316-8988‎
BABY FRIENDLY: 4 STARS
high chair, nice wait staff, baby bowl, water.

dylan walks the walk: videos

i shot this video of dylan practicing his steps at the playground in hermosa beach last week; here, you can see the little guy slowly teetering, tottering, putting one step forward, then another, and agin, but walking, nonetheless. all this, even before he hit nine months! he even manages to multi-task, the little straight-a-student! he grabs the ball, tries to bounce and chew it, and walk at the same time. i have difficulty doing this as an adult so go figure. just watch the video:

of course, as walking is a new curious thing, and dylan doesn't want to just tumble off into the sand, you can see that dylan uses caution here on a little slope down into the sandbox. it's too cute:

brunch with adam

another new dylan fan club member has joined the club: adam. at la creperie in manhattan beach, dylan's favorite weekend brunch spot, he got to suck on adam's thumb, while everyone wondered who these two men were, with their asian baby?? g*y d*ds? one has to wonder...

dylan's first obama rally: sanjang coffee garden in silver lake

photos: vivian holds up dylan, sporting his obama button; josh gets to meet dylan for the first time; cool obama buttons from campaign volunteer min; greg rallies for a better economy...and a better bowl of ramen (the pickles and jalapenos aren't really helping).

dylan got to host his own impromptu obama-ramen meet up at sanjang coffee house in silverlake/koreatown last weekend. everyone showed up, including vivian, josue, greg, eric, linus, min, john p. and shane. bowls of ramen and patbingsoo were doled out, as were cool obama pins from min, bad sarah palin imitations from me, mccain slams from everyone, and general anti-gop-republican sentiment rallying for change---and more kiwi juice from sanjang. a change is a comin' says dylan, who rode around in his obamamobile wishing to all patrons to 'vote for obama or i pity the fool!' you go, dylan! and don't forget to vote november 4.

yes we can! dylan canvasses for obama

dylan is not only a volunteer for the obama/biden 08 campaign, he's a bona fide ardent fan and would one day be honored to be on this new website, devoted to photos of obama holding babies on the campaign trail. since we're already slated to attend the inauguration parade in january, we hope to get a pic of dylan and obama, if we're lucky! until then, we'll have to tide you over with this pic of dylan in his little car, dubbed the 'obamamobile.' we're all doing our thing. now go out and canvass for voters.

visit:
http://yeswecanholdbabies.wordpress.com/

medusas and me

by the shore, by the seaside, me, seagulls and mom.

getting to feed the birds on my very first trip to the long beach aquarium. lorikeets, according to dad.

swimming behind the looking glass, a school of medusas (jellyfish) tumble, fumble.

summer babes---highlights!

dylan, emily, margot and gregory pose as the new 'nukular' family.

I met a girl crazy for me/Met a boy cute as can be/Summer days driftin' away...

here's a snapshot of dylan's summer two months ago in august, where he and fellow babe margot are hanging out at a local ice cream parlor. or are they being considered for 'adoption' by potential new parents gregory and emily, local scenesters and bloggers over at apartment therapy?

greg and em are still on the wait list, and are welcome to babysit and visit anytime!

i guess living in the south bay is like one endless summer for dyl...

lovely photo courtesy of jenny.

dylan's new friend, klee

klee hyoun kang, about 2 weeks old in this picture

dylan got to visit his new baby friend klee this week--klee (pronounced klay, like artist paul klee) she is oh so sweet and oh so pink! i hear her daddy can hold her in the palm of his hand. the new family is bonding and doing well---even lolly the dog. see here, klee's SMILING---what newborn smiles?? if you knew sara, then it makes sense, as klee seems to be taking after her happy energetic mama. we love klee, welcome to our world!

dylan is walking!

believe it or not, readers, dylan says. i's walkin'!

i have yet to get a video of dylan walking, but a week ago, he took his first steps on his own, without our help, or holding on to anything. this is the usual scenario: he gets on his two feet, steadies himself, then takes a deft step forward, then another, then another, then plops down on his bum. the other day when his grandma and gramps were over, he took eight tiny steps by himself, and the amazing thing? he's not even nine months old. go dylan!!

video to come!