Evan asked me to play wrestling trivia game with him.
Whoever comes up with the most number of names of WWE wrestlers' finisher moves wins.
"Tombstone Piledriver. That's from the Undertaker. Your turn, dad." he said.
"Flying armpit. That's mine." I said.
"That's a bomb." He said.
"I know." I told him. Overheard two kids 'swordfighting' an imaginary enemy.
"Eat this slashing sword, God!"
"God? We're fighting God now?"
"That's short for Godzilla."
"Oh."
"I do not want to practice my kick 10,000 times because I might get so used to it that even while were having dinner I would still be kicking non stop and our dinner table will come crashing down. Maybe just 500. Okay, dad?"
- Evan, 6 six years old, pondering on a Bruce Lee quote on our way home from school.
I said okay.
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.Bruce Lee What's nice about kids is that it's okay to forget to zip up after they pee and walk around with unzipped pants all the way from school to their home without worry and self-condemnation.
They just zip it back up and learn from it.
What is it with five year olds? They can't enough of stickers and anything that has a glue on it. In kiddie parties, stickers are the bestsellers. They put stickers everywhere. On skateboards, mirrors, walls, cars, shirts.
The world is their sticker canvas. So is their dad's "vast" foreheads. :)
1.) "Do you know how zombies can still see even if they don't have the black round thingy in their eyes and they're just all white?"
How?
"It's because that black round spot is facing their brain and their brains tell them where to go."
2.) "Do you know why zombies eat brains?"
Why?
"Because they want to become smart."
3.) 'Do you know why zombies only eat grown up's brains and not kids'?"
Why?
"Because kids do not know a lot of things yet, grown ups do. They want to become smart that's why they only eat grown up's brains."
Okay. 
Morning Getaway with a Warrior
A few kilometers drive from home was our morning getaway last weekend. We have been doing this since Evan was big enough to ride along with me, like three months old. Once in while, we'll sneak out while mom is still having her much deserved weekend morning sleep. Now he's five, I no longer worry about pulling over to change his diaper or feed him with his milk bottle. We don't do that anymore.
Talking is our thing now. Have you ever listened to Walter Cronkite when he was still alive? That's the kind of talk that we do nowadays. Nonstop. I think that word is too subtle. The only time Mr. Cronkite was ever speechless was during the broadcast of men's first moon landing. I think Evan would have been "speech-full" had he been in Walter's shoes. I mean, there's just no way you could make him stop talking especially when he's comfortably sitting on his car seat. He's a brilliant storyteller. A persuasive one too.
He talked me into driving to one of his favorite places as we waited for the sunshine :)
He's our weekend little warrior :)
Can't get enough of Thor's animated movie The Tales of Asgard
Don't mess with a warrior with a full stomach 
I'd still do a catsup-eating contest battle with you when you grow up. If you want to. That would be awesome.
I know you'll like it. I grew up eating catsup. :)
We better get going, dad. That catsup is tangy.
Let's wrap it up with you buying me my favorite buddy monster with a heart :)
Two sessions to go and our little man is up for his yellow belt exam and demonstration. For over a month now, he's been training with Master Ernesto Talag the art of Aikido. Evan has been relentless in his training and uses his dad as a dummy for practice at home. He'd wake up early in the morning and he would twist my wrist while I am still sleeping. It's a daily survival. Just always remember to yell "ouch! ". That perks me up and lets me see the daily challenges and adventures ahead as a walk in the park. If you make it through a daily morning aikido attack, you could make it - anywhere, anytime. He's our little Steven Seagal. I thought Mr. Steven is not for real until Anderson Silva and Llyoto Machida recognized him as instrumental in perfecting the front kick that knocked out their opponents. I grew up watching Mr. Steven's movies. I think he invented the ponytail too. Goodluck Evan Steven.  Driving with Evan in Makati, he saw an ad and got excited and shouted "Hey dad, let's go there and watch!"
The ad poster ---> "Lady Oil Wrestling, come and watch everyday."
Haha.
Last weekend, we played host to awesome grandparents. 1. The coolest grandparents from Chicago 2. The only living daughter of the first Philippine President. 3. A Swedish grandma who travels around the world and loves Stieg Larssen too. :) Grandparents are grand. That's why they call them that. 
Evan and I happened to pass by this mall and saw this store still up and running. Twenty years ago, in this establishment, something magical happened. Emi and I had our first date here. :)
Evan and I watched too much cartoons together. Before.  After.  We are grateful that the 7 bitter-medicine-drinking days for Evan is over. It's painful to see him drink something with an awful taste. Emi and I devised an easy drinking scheme. Small sip at a time. Add some water to dilute the suspension med. Despite these, he still grimaced at every sip. "How many more sips do I have to make?" That's Evan's question on his daily doses. We'll see him almost wanting to quit but he was brave and didn't quit and drunk his bitter meds. We comforted him by counting each sip and told him a few more sips and he's done already. But he could only take so much that on the third day he strongly requested that he'll make only 4 sips. That would equate to half the required dosage. We did allow him to make only four sips the following day but added half count in between. One, one and a half, two, two and a half..A briliant idea from megamind.  We were happy, we were able to give him some kind of comfort in drinking his meds. We're well on our way to his fifth day when he told me, "You should stop making the half count because we don't usually use that in school, from now on you should only count whole numbers, dad.". He's too smart for me. Mom took over.  "The second half of midnight is tomorrow." - Evan, 5 years old.
What's more exciting than spending time popping up bubble wraps with your five year old son?
I can see you looking at that dusty old beat up computer. It needs some cleaning up, yes? C'mon. go on, chop chop, I know you've been wanting to do it for ages. Tear it apart. It's now or never.
Whoever said the best things in life are free must be drunk and was telling the truth. Bubble wraps, and painting rocks. Walk in the park and chasing ducks.
I learned that there was something more exciting for Evan than popping up bubble wraps and messing up his bedroom. And it's also free.
When I asked him if he could help me tear apart my pc (to clean it), he dropped everything he was doing and told me "yes, can we do it right now?". He was so excited, he droppped my iphone that he was holding and left it for dead. It's okay, it fell on his soft bed.
This is a story about exciting stuffs and the abuse of the word exciting. You know what else is more exciting? It's when you tell your kid, he can pop out every single key in your computer's keyboard. Just like bubblewraps, every single inflated bubble is a gift from heaven, but this is more exciting.
Evan was the happiest boy in the world when he did it.
He made a scrabble game out of it.
I asked him to help me put back the pieces together. "That's boring, dad."
It's been weeks. :)
While driving yesterday to pick up mommy at the office,
Evan: "Dad, do you know how to get a sicky booger off your finger?"
I sensed he's been busy at the backseat.
"Use a tissue?", I told him
Evan: "Nope. Roll it."  We had fun reading this book, All By Myself by Mercer Mayer. We read it together with Evan and he actually respondedto it.
Book said, "I can brush my teeth"
Evan responded: "I can do that."
Book: "I can wear my shirt."
Evan: "I can do that."
And the list goes on...Evan can do all of it...
Book: "I can clean up my toy mess" Evan: "Uh, you can do that (for me), dad."  For a while now, I've been doing visual effects work for a "big" client - a broadcast network company. It's serious and fun. I'm serious. Remember when you were a kid playing marbles like nothing else mattered but you hitting the opponent's marble with your one eye closed like a sniper looking through his scope? And your tongue was sticking out? That's how serious it is. Sometimes you get unlucky when you have a runny nose and you stick your tongue out at the same time? That's how fun it is. Did I say unlucky or unlicky?
It is serious and fun. Sometimes more fun that I didn't realize I finished one season of each of the two primetime shows that just had their finale recently. One with lots of water, dolphins, exploding sea vessels, burned faces in it. The other had a friendly ghost.
I'm on to the next funny-sometimes-"corny"-but-funny-because-it's-"corny show. Seinfeld may be clever but this one makes me laugh too. It has robots in it. Robots can be funny. Evan might just like it when I tell him I did it.
Here is a sneak peak / snap shot of one of the scenes I did. Enjoy the rest when you watch it.
Mamayang gabi na. :) Kokey este okey ba?
 Evan and Mom had been studying like crazy for the exam week which starts today. I had my little share of studying with Evan. After reviewing his lessons with mom, he pretended to be my teacher and taught me things he learned. Some say it's the best way to learn - teaching.
First off, shapes.
He'd point at the different shapes and asked me to answer the correct name of the shapes. Alright.
"What's this?" pointing at the pentagon, he asked me.
"Pentagon!", I answered.
"Good." he told me.
So it went on. He'd point at each different shape and asked me "What's this?". I got it all correct, "Square!", "Circle!", "Triangle!" etc.
"Good" he'd say.
"Now let's try it on real things", he put up a challenge.
"Okay, let's do it.", I'm all for it.
He pointed at the back of the dining chair that is shaped like a rectangle. "What is that?", he asked.
Wthout sweat, I answered, "Rectangle!".
"Wood.", a bit disappointed, he corrected me. Then went on to study with his mom. "Good morning, Evan!", I greeted Evan when I woke up this morning.
When you greet your four year old son who just got an early morning "lecture" from his mom, there is chance you'll get this too:
"It's a bad morning, dad. Dont tell me good morning when it isn't." LOL! | |
