2007 - THE NEW BEGINNING

This will be the first "blog" since April of 2006. The nine months that have elapsed have brought many surprises from Kai. He is really a "big boy" now and not a "baby" anymore. The quotations words are from him as he describes himself nowadays. Of course he will be four years old in the next couple of months. I look at him and I see a lot of changes, especially how he carries himself. There are several surprises under his sleeves for me to ponder...he can associate things; say words that I don't expect coming from a three years old boy. He caught me one day by saying "I don't think so!" when I was teasing him. He is still learning, but he knows a lot that he can now refute whatever you have said wrong. When asked what is his name, he no longer say Kai-Kai but will say his complete name...Kai Michael Van Patten. He is not very compulsive in washing his hands all the time. He does it after each visit to the potty chair even after not touching his "birdie." Tisha taught him to sing "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" every time he washes his hands. He know that after the song is finished he is done with the washing. He also sings "Jingle Bells."

He comes to Umpha's house every Wednesday. As a routine, and if the weather is not bad, he and Umma go to the park. He socializes and plays with the kids there. He is good in sharing whatever toys he brings with him. It makes his adopted "other grandpa and grandma" (Stewart and Joyce, one of our neighbors who takes a walk everyday there), happy to see him and they are always looking forward to seeing him. As soon as he sees them he will holler to them and he will say I need a hug and a kiss. He still takes the old stroller and gets pushed by Umma around the block to see and check out the places in the neighborhood that interest him. There was once some ducks in one of the houses that they passed by and he liked to see them. One day, the ducks were gone and he was very disappointed. He has this very retentive mind that he knows the street very well because he knows where to turn when he was asked. I am sure that he will miss the Christmas decoration in the neighborhood like he missed the the Halloween decorations. "Come back Halloween" that was his lament after that holiday. Sometimes, Umma will bring him to the house across the street to play with Lulu and Genny. We at times do some painting. He will get the paint and will start to open them...or will get hold of his felt-tip pens and he will ask for papers. I am not pushing him to paint very much lately, I thought we will wait till springtime when the weather is nice so we can paint outside or in the garage. I have some fairly big Masonite board that I salvaged from the Museum of Man, already primed with different colors. I am thinking that I will show him how to use a roller to go with his big brushes. By the time he is almost five years old, I am sure that he will have a big portfolio to be shown at the Gallery 21 in Spanish Village.

Tisha conditioned him for the custom of "trick or treating" at Halloween. The three of them were regaled in the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. It was a real treat for him because his candy bag was full after several houses in the neighborhood and needed help to carry it.

Just for fun and I am sure he will appreciate it, I bought some lobster for him for Christmas dinner at our house.

"That is the biggest ham I ever see!" that was his reaction when he saw the ham we had. I guess he was anxious to open his "treasures" (that is the term he uses whenever we give him something). After the Christmas Eve dinner, presents are opened with great anticipation from Kai. It was a delight to see his reactions with each and every package he opened. Can you imagine that a three year old boy would react with "WOW!" ? He is very adept in ripping up the wrappers to see what he got inside. One of the presents we bought for him was a synthesizer piano...Tisha caught his little "tushy" swinging with the music in her digital camera...Boy! he sure can move his butt! He might become a good dancer in the future. The funny thing about the Christmas presents was after he was done and inspected his "loots," he proceeded to the front door and announced, "we have to go to other houses." We all concluded that he thinks it is like Halloween and will get more presents if we visit other houses. After, Tisha told him that it is only during the Halloween that he can do that and he will get other present from relatives later. I am sure that this gives him a bit of confusion but he was able to not pursue the matter and went back to his "loots." They spent Christmas day with the Van Pattens and other relative in Mike's sisters' house. Among his "loots" are two pirate ships.