Hello everybody...! It has been quite a while since I blog and thousands of events and happenings had occured with us. Kai now is a "Big Brother" with arrival of Keani. Another Umpha's peotege'...I am starting on it! He is with me three day a week and not like Kai who was with me five day a week in his early three years. By the way Kai is in first grade now...he Graduated in kindergarten as head of the class...reading third grader's books. Valedictorian...! Umpha was so proud!

BUMPS AND CRASHES

Wednesday was just another day for us with Kai. Every time he came, even when the door is not locked, he will always ring the bell. Umma and I always greet him with a question;"who is there?" and when he shows up..."Oh it is Kai-Kai." We are both corrected about latter. "Just one "Kai," not "Kai-Kai"...I am a big boy now, Kai-Kai is when I was a baby."

He started his morning with one egg cheese omelet, sliced persimmons and chocolate milk. As the day progressed, he was all over the house playing and for quite a while rode his tricycle round and round the house. Only couple of times he will holler, "Umpha help!" that is when he got stuck in some corner and can't maneuver.

He is still the "kiti-kiti" boy. He seems not to be contend in one place and when he is, he had to do some tinkering of whatever on hand. Even when watching TV,she just can't be in one place but his eyes was on the screen. His favorite, "Tom and Jerry" is still number one for him. He really enjoyed them even if they are re-runs and had seen the several times. Another is "Spongebob Square head." He tends to like those of the rated for seven years old. He does not go very much for "Dora" and Diego anymore .

He tends to run from one place to another. He bumped the side of his head in the kitchen counter and got a red ear. The big disaster was while watching TV, he leaned on the board where I have my keyboard and everything just fall down. This gave him a scare, cried and saying "I am sorry" profusely. I think that he got scared that I will get mad at him, He start calling Umma to the rescue. After telling him that it will be all right and I will fix his mess, he stopped crying. My observation, as long as he was told that it is okay, he will stop crying.

Until Tisha came to pick him, we are both playing games in the computer. He likes to start the game. He knows where the "Start" and he choose what phase of the game to be played...but he will let me do the hitting of the balls..."because it is hard." I saved the Yahoo promo of "The Return of Superman." It is a game with camera and you have to photograph Superman while flying the skies of different cities. He enjoys that.

He can read quite a bit now...but get frustrated trying to write his name. "All I can write is I."

I told him that he will learn it just like learning going to the bathroom to pee and poo.

We haven't done any painting lately. I am just waiting for him to get inspired.

When we are going to the car, he noticed Lulu, the little girl across the street. They waved to each other before I can strapped him on his car seat.

CHEAP CAR

"CHEAP CAR" ... HIS FAVORITE

His passion with cars is endless! But, in spite of the many toy cars he possess, the one above is his very favorite. I took the picture sometimes ago so he can see them later in years or in case the car is lost. Lo! and behold! we can not find this car last Tuesday...it is still missing. for some reason he misplaced them while here in the house. He was so upset Tuesday and won't go home till he got his car. Until yesterday we are looking for it ...turning everything upside down to find it. I think it will show up sometimes and I am sure that he will be happy when it appears. I have not seen the car with him last Tuesday...he had a bunch of them on the inside of a skull mask and he just started to look for the "cheap car when he was about to go home.

I guess like Linus of Peanuts cartoon having his blanket for security, Kai has his "cheap car."

Correction:

The "cheap car" is not missing after all. Tisha got it somewhere in her house. What was missing is another red car...Huh...still missing.

PUPPY LOVE AT PRESCHOOL

Tuesdays and Thursday is Kai attend Pre-School.

I am glad that Kai is not a shy kid. Going to school is a treat for him. The very first day he was able to find himself a girlfriend. I have not seen the girls but according to Tisha, she is a cute and pretty. I guess pretty girls won't get passed by with Kai. We found out that she is from Chile...or the parents are from South America. Her name is Emilia. Gosh! I did not get my first "puppy love" until I was in first grade.

When Tisha told me to asked Kai about her and I did, Kai gave me a coy smile and told me that he like her and she likes him. In school they are always together and Kai share his lunch with her.

I think this is funny....

When asked what they do in school; "Eat and play"

Later when asked what he learned in shool; "Everthing!" (emphasis)

The other day Tisha was telling us that Kai and his classmates went on a field trip to a Pizza house. They were shown the process of making the pizza, and the was treated with individual (small) pizza. But the best thing that happened there was Kai gave Emilia a kiss. Huh....an early starter? Also noted that he ate quite a bit of the pizza...he such a picky eater that Umma and I have to cajole him during our lunch time. Before it will take some time for him to chew his food, as late of last Wednesday, we noticed that there was a change. I made him some julienned hot dog and called it "spaghetti hot dog," some fried shoestring potatoes and cut -up persimmons which he was reluctant to eat but when he did, he liked it and ate half of the fruit. He finished what he had on his plate downed with chocolate milk.

ACTING OUT...POSES

Hollywood here we come...!

Just for fun...I thought it would be nice to see how Kai would respond to me coaching him to pose in different situations. He really did very well...I think. The camera has been part of his life since his birth. He is not camera shy. He likes to peek at the viewer of the camera after ever shot. So, one day, as if we had nothing to amuse ourselves, I asked him to pose for me. You be the judge of the results....

"I am a handsome boy"






"I am cold"

"I am tired and sleepy"

"Mmm...That is delicious"

"I am thinking..."

"I have an idea!"

"Ay dios ko*! I am scared!"

"You stink!" "baho-baho"**

"I am mad!"

* "ay dios ko" is the equivalent of "Oh my God."

**"baho-baho" literally means "stink in tagalog.

He learned these words when he was almost three years old by hearing me saying them...

4th of JULY CHURCH FAIR

The 4th of July was celebrated two days in advance for Kai. We brought him to a church fair...with hot dog, hamburgers and ice cream. What he enjoyed most was the games for kids especially when he found out that they were giving away "small" treats (treasures). He was able to collect quite a few of them.

He was suppose to throw the rings a bit further away...but he was allowed to do it his way and he really was able to hit the target. I like most of his stances when throwing the rings and I am glad that I was able to capture that in the picture.

"Are you kidding...? I can hammer that nail down to the board." Of course with the help of that good old lady and was given a treat too!

Kai has always been a car buff...he has grown up with too many toy cars and he has one special one that he calls "my little red cheap car." Posing here was really a big treat for him. His comment, "Neat car!"

ANYWAY...

Today was all fun and games for us...Umma went to Simi Valley last weekend to visit her brother. I did not go and stayed with Nalie.

She called me Saturday that she is going to bring home a couple of parakeets. When she came back Sunday evening, she had three parakeets, a male and two females, This was the big surprise for Kai-Kai. This boy loves animals and this includes birds. I was thinking of getting him some ducklings but with the on going bird virus, I decided to be on the safe side.

Anyway, he was so excited about the birds and he took ownership of them right away..."they are mine!" We painted too today...he surprised me when he brought a container of paint and told me...Umpha. this is red. I told him that I have to see...the Crayola Tempera containers are yellow opaque plastic and the colors are written on the bottoms. He showed me the word "red"...there, Umpha, it is red. Not much of a production but I thought I'd just let him play with colors. This was after we were outside. Umma started picking some snails and he played with them...putting them in a row and let them, as he put it, "march in the parade." Before that we are all watching "Dora" then "Diego." He was with Umma lying and he was all over her, trying to put his legs on her neck...wrestling. Umma asked him if he does the same with his Mommie..."no she will get mad."

I decided to take some pictures while we were outside in the backyard. Here are the results..

"ANYWAY"

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of being selfish, and having ulterior motives,

Be kind anyway.

What you spend years building someone may try to destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

If you find happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

You see in the final analysis, it is between you and God:

It was never between you and them...Anyway.

REGULAR UNDERWEAR

Kai was so proud showing his underwear when they arrived this morning. When I came to the living room, the first thing he did was to show me his underwear. He had been wearing the pull-ups after he graduated from diapers and it was only lately that Tisha started him with the regular "carsonsillo." I think he's got that "free" feeling between his legs and he keeps his hands most of time touching himself...feeling his butt like being assured that it is there. Boy was he very proud about it...and as a matter of fact, when they arrived at the park this morning, he went to the middle of a group of children and pulled his pants down to show everybody. Umma told him that he is not suppose to do that...well, he is learning.

I wrapped some shrimp with wanton wrappers like the Thai Shrimp recipe I had, also cut a few strips of the wrapper, made a slit in the middle and run one end inside the slit to make a ribbon like "crisp." He was all set to do some cooking when they came back. That was his lunch with some rice (he asked for it) and watermelon strips. Every time I try to make his lunch an experience and with fun. This way he can learn to eat almost everything without a fuss. When we were in the yard, I put a piece of loquat in his mouth and told him that it is sweet ... he ate it and even had a seconds.

We did some collage today...as it will turn out to be dyphtic, a two section art piece when it will hung. He did a demo for Mike and Tisha and even gave his dad a brush and wanted him to join him gluing the tissue paper.

After lunch he got his baseball cap and pulled my hand to go with him to the backyard. With Kai, you are not sure what he intends to do. He wants to do some fishing. I changed the water in the bucket and he played there for awhile. He went inside and when he came back, he got my pruning saw...and would like to cut some wood...of course he can not cut them but was happy that he made some marks. Since the weather is a bit warmer, I let him help me water the plants and he filled the fish pond with water.

Tisha and Mike came together to pick him. Tisha, made him sign his name on the card for Umma.

Today, I must have heard "UMPHA" a hundred times and he even called his dad Umpha when he was giving him a brush.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH CHEESE

I planned to blog yesterday but Umma wanted to see a horror movie. When we came back I don't have the urge to blog so I just played some games on the computer.

Kai did not hesitate to end his morning at the park because Umma told him that he will have to help Umpha to cook his lunch. He brought me some flowers that he picked in the curb with Umma. He appreciates even a dandelion. He loves most if the dandelions have started to seed and the fuzzy top can be blown away.

He was excited to start cooking. He climbed the highchair next to the stove all set for his culinary adventure.I let him cracked the egg and showed him how to scramble. I let him put it in the pan and gave him a spatula to stir. I was not intending to add some cheese but he asked for it..."I love cheese!" "Yummy." Earlier, I made his French fries and a couple of bacon rashers. The ruse helped ...he ate the whole thing! He wanted some punch to go with it. He saw some crispy anchovies in a bowl..."Oh small fishes" He ate some of that too. Later for dessert he had some tiny wafer sandwiches with chocolate cream and some yogurt ice cream.

I tuned in the TV for Tom and Jerry..."It is Tom and Jerry" "YUPPIE!" He loves that cartoon! Of course he was all over the place like on a scavenger hunt and found a packet of Swiss chard seeds. He knows what it is! He asked me to go outside in the backyard so he can "plant some seeds." I let him put the seeds in a container pot. It is amazing that he knows that it had to be watered. He got one of the spray plastic bottle with water and started to spray the soil. At his very early age, he has seen me with my plants, and I have given him a small shovel for digging...and I think the instinct made him want to do some planting. He even commented about some "plants are growing now" thinking that they were the ones he planted last week. I am glad that he is really showing interest in the plants, the bugs, the worms and the snails.

We spent most of the afternoon outside and when Tisha came, he was with his fishing pole, trying to catch some floating plastic fishes with magnet from a bucket of water. Earlier, he went to bathroom to pee. I help him put up his and while we were back in the yard, he called me..."Umpha you forgot to zip my pants."