"THERE'S WALDO, I FOUND HIM!"

The last two days have just been routine for the three of us here in the house. As usual, they go to the park and the best thing about it is that Kai has been socializing with the other kids there. Today according to Umma, he even took a piggy-back ride with a girl. This is a good sign. I would rather he be an extrovert than an introverted guy.

It must have been really chilly this morning. He wanted to go out into the backyard, but asked me for his jacket...He said, "It's cold!" I put his jacket and after I zipped it, he put on the hood. So, here we go again poking crevices, turning the flower pots and stones to look for spiders and snails. We did not find any spider at all. As far as snails, there are no live ones. I think he does not have the concept about the difference between a live one and a dead one. Every time we come across an empty shell, he will place it next to my foot so I can step on it. He will inspect the crushed shell meticulously, I guess to see that there is nothing moving anymore.

I asked Mike to take some pictures of his paintings for a press release. I have not framed them yet for the his show. They are rolled up and when Kai saw me, it immediately got his attention. He knew very well what I had. "Painting Umpha!"

I sensed that he would like to paint... so I told him...tomorrow we will paint. "Okay." He is getting very good in understanding things I tell him...especially the word "tomorrow." He did not pursue but just went back to watching his favorite "Tom and Jerry." We haven't painted for quite a while. I have a bit of his oeuvres for the show. Usually we paint at the side of the house where he can make a mess without any worry that Umma will complain. It could be messy because I always have a basin of water to clean his brushes and his hands. He does not want to work with paint on his hands.The water when used with the gouache gives a very nice texture and at the same time gives it a different "washed" look...the colors are not too opaque. I am going to spread some brown paper in the living room so we can paint tomorrow. Maybe he will have some masterpieces that I can include in his show.

In spite that I said it was a bit chilly... he grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the garage. When I opened the door, he saw that the light was not on. He asked me to carry him, "Up Umpha." We are still next to the door, but he started to bend himself toward the open hutch. I realized that he was looking for the light switch. I would never think that he knew that the switch was there, it is not visible because it is inside the shelves, behind some plates. He was trying to reach it. This is the first time for him to do this. This is another one of his observations. He must have been observing me that whenever I go to the garage, I put my hand inside the shelf to switch on the light. So we went to the garage and I said, "Now, what are we going to do here?" He said; "get i-kim!" At least this was after lunch...and I guess, he wanted some desserts. So both of us had some "i-kim" (ice cream).

We have a "Find Waldo" book that he really likes. We've had that book for a while and today when I asked him to find Waldo, he had his little finger running slowly all over the people in the book and yes! He was able to find him! He remembers how I used to do it...because I can't always remember where Waldo is all the time. I will run my finger on the page and that is what he did today. He was so delighted in his accomplishment and gleefully would announce "there I found him!"