I don’t know if you all remember that crazy post, from a long time ago, but I was thinking that I haven’t really showed you all the Kanji For Kai (or Sea in English). Here it is:

There are two parts to this character. The left side consists of the radical water [ ] and the right side consists of the character for mother []. As is common in most Japanese characters, the left side of this kanji defines the meaning (having to do with water) and the right side gives us the pronunciation: Kai or Umi.

We loved this name so much because it was easy to pronounce in both languages, and summed up a lot of the things we wanted in Kai’s name. It has a short pronunciation, is not all that common of a name (even in Japan) and connects Kai to Japan in more ways than simply being a Japanese name.

The Japanese sea (Ni-Hon Kai) looks like this:

This is the Japanese Sea (“Ni-Hon Kai”), but if you want to get crazy and break it down ol’ school style, it comes out something like this:

• “Ni” means Sun (but let’s do a play on words and make it “SON”).

• “Hon” means origin (so now we got, “The Son’s Origin”).

• Put “Ni” and “Hon” together and we get “Nihon”, which is the word for “Japan.”

Any Questions?

This is why you hear Japan called, “The land of the rising sun,” because that is what it’s name literally means.

He’s  a genius, what can I say?! 

Kai has taken three huge steps recently, as he begins the second half of his first year.

To get things moving on track, he finally cut his first tooth this week. When he gives a big smile, you can see the top of his bottom front teeth popping out. This is great and all, but everyone knows how much it can hurt to have a tooth come up out of your gums: hence the constant crying and irregular sleep schedule. Ma-dukes advice was to keep the teething toys cold in the fridge, that way he can get some pain relief while he chews away at them. Thanks for the tip Mom. Now if there only was a cure for the massive energy level which keeps his body in full swing all day, we might be able to bypass all the broken things in our very near future.

This brings me to the second item on the list: Kai is about ready to get mobile, and there is no turning back. As of late, there has been a lot of rocking back and forth on all fours. He is trying to crack the crawling code, but still hasn’t quite got it yet. Usually he will get up on his hands and knees and shake around. Other times I have seen him hop off his back legs and move forward while in the crawl position. He just can’t figure out that he needs to move his arms along with his feet. Wow, and let me tell you, those feet are ready for marathon competitions. He will try to crawl so hard sometimes that he pushes his butt way up into the air, and buries his face in the ground. It is only a matter of days probably, and you all will be seeing some video of this guy on the move.

Finally, BIG NEWS, Kai has said his first word (well kinda, pretty sure he doesn’t understands it, but it has been said nonetheless). “Dada,” that magical word has somehow been spoken by Kai; actually it’s more like “dadadadadadadadadadadad” for a couple of minutes. This may sound like mindless child blabbing to you, but for Kai this is the first formation of a phonetic sound. Before this it has been screams, laughs and sobs, nothing that sounds like a word, or even a letter. He finally is starting to repeat some of the sounds he has constantly been hearing. If it’s English, Japanese, or Mandarin, that is up for the judges to decide. I am leaning towards Japanese, that way when he starts talking, he can teach me to speak as well. I could use the free lessons.

The summer dates have been nailed down, bought on paper and carved in stone. Mark your calendars for the arrival of Kai (and Aya and I, definitely second to the man) as we make land fall on July 15th via JFK. Our vacation will be extended this year (can you hear me yelling “Whooooooo” just like an Oakland whistle tip?) and we will be staying a full 4 weeks till August 11th. This give us plenty of time to do….well a whole lot of laying around and lounging with you all back home.

I can’t tell you how happy I am that this flight has been booked, FINALLY! It was hanging over my head for awhile now; and I thought it was never going to get done, but I sat down Monday night and hammered it out. I do hope you all will be around during those dates. Anyone for Saltspings? Also since I will be arriving and departing via JFK I should be able to visit with some peeps who live in that area. It’s times like these when the Beatles song Back in the U.S.S.R. runs through my head on a loop, just anticipating the trip home and not worrying much about anything else.

P.S. Today Kai is a half a year old! Kan you believe it’s here already??