"UMPHA...UMPHA...UP PLEASE...GO ...GO!

I haven't had the chance to "blog" the last two weeks. Had been busy moving out of my downtown studio. Since the place is just a stones throw from the PETCO STADIUM, the area has been going through an urban renewal. They are going to rebuild the place as a high-rise structure. Can't blame the people who owns the place...they have to conform with the rest and also their is big money to gain. So, practically every day, I have been loading my van and hauling the accumulated stuffs I had there for the last fifteen years. Kai-Kai has been good about it. Whenever I leave the house, all I have to say is that I am going to get gas. He will be content with Umma. It is funny how he has been able to formulate the idea that he has to stay home while I am gone. I think he knows that I am coming back and we can be together again. He knows the gas station. I often get gas when we are driving and I will tell him. "Stay here, Umpha will get gas."

Tisha related to us that one evening, they heard him crying from his monitor. When Tisha came to his room..he said: "monster...grabbing!" It gave Tisha an eerie feeling and he ended sleeping with them that night. One thing that I will not do is encourage him to believe in monsters and such. He knows the word monster but here in the house it is all for fun. We still have some Halloween chocolate with Frankenstein, ghosts etc., and he knows that inside the wrappers is chocolate. I can remember the days when I was just about maybe three and my sister two, we are scared seeing the bearded "bombay" (found out later that they are Sheiks from India.) Those days in the Philippines anybody that comes from India was called "Bombay." The scary part of it is they carry a big bundle on top of their turban which contained bed sheets, blankets and mosquito nets. They peddled them house to house to the locals. Parents who want their children to behave scared to them point of wetting their pants that they will give them to the "Bombay," and they will put them inside the bundle and carry them away. There was also a "crazy " woman in our town, sort of homeless, demented sort, dirty but harmless. All the children were scared of her. I remember my sister wet her pants when she saw her approaching us. You should she my Mom! She shooed away that woman with a broom. Her name is "Kadepa." I am positive that we never scared Tisha and Rodin when they are growing up.

In case of Kai-Kai, I think he was dreaming, got the image from somewhere in the TV. Just wondering, could it be the start of being a "Calvin" syndrome? I have two comic books of Calvin and Hobbs. In one of them was a situation where he and Hobbs concocted the idea that there is a monster under the bed...bedlam and chaos began...Hope not!

He is scribbling again. I found some cards from my junk from the studio and gave them to him. He was happy to get it and right away got some pens and start

doing his "personal" art. We have been doing his toy computer and still are learning the ABC's. Lately, it is getting cold and he always comes with a hooded jacket. It is funny because he used to hate having something on his head. I gave him a black knit cap and right away he put it on. That reminds me, I have to ask Tisha to bring it back with him sometime. I have a red one which I was wearing when I gave him the black one and he immediately named it; "umpha hat." He will not wear it at all but will try to put it on my head.

I guess, I had mentioned that one of his favorite food is shrimp. I found some shrimp-fry (tiny shrimps) that my Mom use to cook for us with pure coconut milk until the cream comes out and stir it until crisp from the coconut oil. That was a nostalgic time...but, I cook them differently. The shrimp-fries are seasoned and coated with corn starch, deep fried in hot oil until crisp. Now, this is one of his favorite..."baby shrimp," that's what he calls them. Since they are not uniformly sized, he will look for different sizes and will call them. "Daddy shrimp" or "Mommy shrimp." Today, I have to go to the Vietnamese market to buy some more because he is done with the first batch I cooked. Of course he eats them with rice too!

Today, and like any other day, we bide our time while waiting for Tisha and Mike to pick him up. A couple of hours was spent outside. After "the end" (he knows the words) of his favorite cartoon, you can be sure that he will ask me to: "up please Umpha," " go...go away," which means that he want to be carried and we are going outside. At times he will gather some of his cars take my hand and indicate that we have to go. I noticed today that he can open the latch on the backdoor to the yard. He is really growing! So far the front door is still safe, but I think he is working on it. A very imaginative mind! He is starting to formulate words and associate them with the things he likes to express. One of the things that I think is funny is when he wants a package to be opened, he will say,"open door." Anything that is dirty or "eecky," he will say, "eeeew." One thing that I can say, he won't mind you if you clean his face, cut his finger nails (Umma usually does it) because there are bugs there or to clean his nose if I told him he got a "booger." Of course he will dig dirt, pick up stones and pebbles, check the empty shells of the snails or just sit on the pavement.

Tomorrow is another day I will hear; " "Umpha...Umpha...go...go!"