James is Six

James's birthday party was at the beach. It was a beautiful day for it, sunny but not too hot. His birthday was actually last week, which he celebrated with his classmates in school. [See it here.]

James wouldn't know the difference, but it was an islanders' fare. Meats were giving off a savory aroma off the grill, the picnic table was laden with red rice, fried rice, cucumber salad, hotdogs, two cakes, potato salad, pasta salad, jabchae, and a healthy helping of organic guacamole (or so the container said) to throw off the impending heart attack that lurked behind the other foods.

A telltale sign for sure that this was an islanders' gathering were the ukuleles and reggae music wafting from the iPod station sitting on the log. Even while the little kids and the adults sang Happy Birthday, the two tweeners strummed away and sang of love and sea shells under the mango tree. (Actually, I have no idea what the song lyrics were, I just thought the girls played their uke's very well!)

James is rather quiet. He keeps to himself so much so that you wouldn't know it if his hand were in the cookie jar right in front of you. Case in point, his cake. While everyone else was chatting away, snacking on chips and sipping sodas, James decided to have first dibs on his birthday cake.

He picked up one decoration at a time, looked to see if anyone noticed, and proceeded to lick the icing off the bottoms. This went on for about five minutes before anyone realized that they hadn't heard a peep from James.

Caught red handed, but because James could do no wrong on his special day, Uncle Abmel let James open one present (a bubble gun), everyone with a camera suddenly became the paparazzi trying to capture the proof of his mischief, and his mom, Ain, simply wiped the icing off his face with a smile. 

James loves candy. What kid  -  or adult, for that matter!  -  does not like candy, for goodness sakes! Just be sure to brush your teeth, little man. Or you'll get six cavities! 

James enjoys a good wrestling, especially with the bigger kids. I'm sure it feels "invincible" to get beat, but not feel the pain of it. He doesn't even cry "Uncle!", he's so sure of his safety. The big kid eventually pushes him along to find another kid to play with.

And so Jamesie Cat makes his way to yours truly. Oh, but he's so gentle. He just wants to to be cradled, and I pretend he's a wee-little baby, and sing him a lullaby. And he just wants to kiss my lips. But that's where I draw the line! Are you kidding me?! Kids are germ factories! (At least James covers his mouth with the crook of his arm when he coughs though.)

Last week, at James's birthday party in school, his teacher asked him if he sees me a lot.

"Um," he answered slowly, thinking about the answer. "Sometimes."

Hearing that made my heart crack a little. I felt that I ought to be more present in his life. I immediately started formulated plans to go swimming with him this summer, to go to the beach, maybe even do a 1k kids dash, or just hang out and eat carrot sticks and ranch dip in the backyard.

Then one of James's classmates asked him "Is that your brother?," pointing at Mattie.

"That's Kuya Matt-Matt, my brother!" James squealed.

"Do you see him a lot?" the kid continued.

"Just sometimes," James answered definitively.

They live in the same house.

That made me feel so much better!