"THE LAST TWO WEEKS GONE"

After New Years, the computer seemed to have a mind of it's own and decided to shut down. It was Tisha and Mike to the rescue. They found out that my hard drive was the problem. It seems that it had been collecting moisture from where it was positioned...near the window. Now, it is under the table just below my knee behind a curtain. At the least they were able to save the things I have, except the
"20 odd pages journal" that I had mentioned previously. I tried to find it last night but to no avail the file is gone. Who knows it might be somewhere hidden and I am hoping to locate it. I am still trying to get myself acquainted to the lay-out of the system.

"I'll fix it..."

Kai has been fixing things that have been broken lately!

I have no idea how it started, but anytime or anything that you tell him that it is broken, he will immediately tell you..."I'll fix it!" I will make faces and tell him my face is broken...he will run his little hands on my face and will say , "Umpha. it's fixed!" This gave me an idea...Once in a while he will be on what I call a "snitch," and will cry if he does not get his way. As soon as he starts to cry, I will tell him that his face will be broken...!!! He will touch his face gently, run it all over his chin and the tantrum will abruptly stop...because he will fix his face. Now, he does not have any those moments of "snitches."

Today while we are outside, he noticed Joe across the street fixing his car. He asked me... "Umpha, what happen?" I told him that Joe's car is broken..."I'll fix!"

So we crossed the street and watched Joe tapping a screw driver on the water pump. He tapped something too and lo and behold Joe's car is fixed. He remembered that Joe has a rabbit and a German shepherd, so we went to the back yard to visit them. He played ball with the dog and fed the rabbit with some grass

I provided him. I have to cajole him going home or else we are going to be there for a while.

"Gifts from Newark"

There was a package by the front door from Umma's sister. I have an inkling that it must be something for Kai. It does not have Kai's name on the package, instead the address was "care of Corazon Morales." I called Kai to open it, since he had too much practice during Christmas. It did not take him long to rip the wrapping. When he saw what was inside...his first word was..."WOW!" It was a electric car...his favorite toy. The other one in the package was M & M dispenser; a blue M & M on a motorcycle, complete with a red helmet. I just couldn't believe that he was able to figure out how the chocolate will come out. He was able to discern that by pushing the leg it will give him the chocolate. Now we got to have a supply of "MM." One thing I can say about him...he does not pig-out, a couple will satisfy him and then he goes to another activity.

Christmas is still on his mind. He still ask what happened to the tree and where is Santa. I told him that the tree went to the garbage truck and Umma told him that Santa and the Snowman went home to North Pole because Christmas is finished. I think it will take time for him to grasp the idea.

"Squid"

Kai will eat anything that is familiar to him. I introduced him to shrimps and when I did I told him "we are going to cook shrimp and after we are going to eat them." I had him seated on the counter and he watched Umpha cook the shrimps. He loves them! This is the same with crabs...I bought some live dungeons crab one day...Introduced him to the wriggling crabs in my hand and told him the same thing with the shrimps. He watched the crabs in boiling water and he noticed that they are turning red...very good observation! To this date, he has so far graduated to eating Alaskan King crabs. I was not so sure what will be his reaction with the squids. He knows squids from pictures in his books and can identify them as such. It turns out that he outdid his Mommie. Tisha won't eat them. I have a way of cooking squid that they will not turn rubbery. The secret is when the squid turn opaque while cooking, remove from heat, they are done and ready to eat. When cut into small pieces, Kai loves them.

"Camaya"

Some kids grew up with just a handful of pictures or none at all when they were young. I grew up with one of those rectangular cameras that when you open it there is some kind of black accordion that holds the lens. I was blessed by having a Dad that likes to take pictures of me when I was growing up. I am glad that my Mom was able to save some of them before our house was burned during the liberation of Manila (World War II). With Kai, he got his share of fame very early. His picture was taken even when he was still in his Mommie's tummy. The day he was born, he had his pictures taken within a minute of his arrival to this world. I have no idea how many pictures Tisha & Mike have in their collection, but I can boast that I have more than a thousand in mine. Kai knows what a camera is and

what it can do. Whenever I take a picture of him, he would like to see it...Thanks to digital invention! I found a toy camera in my studio while cleaning and I gave it to him. As soon as I gave it to him, he started inspecting how it work. Oh yes! He was able to find the shutter. One day while he was with Umma at the park, he took pictures of Gerry the maintenance man of the park and of the older couple who have known him since he was three months old. He calls them "other Umpha and other Umma" which delights the couple.

"Learning Tagalog"

Lately in the news, Bush has advocated for the American people to follow suit among the Europeans who speak at least two foreign languages. As a Filipino, it was easy for me to grasp any languages. I grew up in a Spanish speaking household by my father's side. I never mastered the Spanish language because I fee indifferent to my aunts who I think are snooty. In those days, colonial mentality still predominantly existed. Spanish language was considered the language of people who are on the top of the totem pole and who look down at the masses. I hated that even when equal opportunity was not in existence yet. Mind you I was very young then. My Dad communicated with my Grandfather in Spanish. My Mom who has more Chinese blood in her vein, speaks Tagalog and English when appropriate. Our household practically spoke "taglish" (Tagalog-Spanish) We always have reading materials; daily newspaper in English. I might have an accent or at times lose my "p's" and "f's," maybe my "v's," but, what the heck! I can speak a few languages other than that I was born with and could be understood by the foreign listeners. I know some Chinese words from my maternal grandmother. Japanese was taught in school during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. I learned Italian while living in Italy during my stint in the Navy. There are times here in the house with Kai, Umma and I speak Tagalog. Kai is very receptive...like a sponge. Like a parrot, he repeats what he hears.

One day, while playing with the water in the bucket, he wet his pants and both of his shirt sleeves. I made an exclamation remark in Tagalog..."ay dios ko!"

look what have you done! He caught the "ay dios ko." and has been using it as one of his version of "oh my gosh." He learned the "oh my gosh" from the TV series of Dora. I think the "hey man" came from the same show. In retrospect, I hope that he will learn other languages when he grows up.