A special present

When I first moved to the Island, it surprised me at how the lexicon differed so much from where I use to live in San Diego. Hawaiian pidgin, a creole that developed from a mix of languages from a mix of people that moved here, worked here, and made a life here. Being a linguist myself, it was so fascinating to see how this language was used. Words were written down in my language notebook. A few forgotten. A few used everyday. But there are a few that really moved me, once I understood the cultural context. 

One of those words are hanai. In the English, it means adopted. But there is so much that goes into that word. The welcoming of one into their home. The sharing of their food. The sharing of stories. The bringing into a place when once you stood apart from it. You become family.  Like you were born to them. 

When I first moved to the Big Island, it was such a hard cultural shock for me. Living in a small town where everyone knew everyone. Where they know all of the cultural context of every story and joke told. Where pidgin was spoken more than standardized English. Everything was different and I was overwhelmed and missing home and all things familiar. 

And then I found about my Auntie Ipo (her name means sweetheart in Hawaiian). She lived in my town. She wasn't a true born to me auntie. But she was from my past. A good friend of my parents from back when I was a baby. Suddenly I had a person to ground me. A person from my past. With stories about my people. I clung to the familiarity that she brought to me in a new place. She was my comfort. She was my family. She wen hanai me. She not only adopted me. She gave me the gift of hawaiian quilting. From tracing patterns to threading a needle, she taught me what her mother taught her during our afternoon visits. Now, those long hours of doing nothing but sitting and thinking about what I missed and didn't have were now filled with creating. My attention was fully absorbed into a project in which I focused all of my energy and in the end was rewarded with a tangible item that would make my space beautiful.  That would make this place a home. 

For Liam's birthday, she dropped by with a present for him. Something she was working on since May. A blanket of appliquéd fish that are local to the Island. Her present was the first ever present that he opened.  The most precious memory was watching her point to the fish and tell her what they were. Of his little hands running over her work. She has three other grandchildren, and Liam is the first one to be gifted with an appliquéd blanket. My gratitude runs so deep. My love so strong. How do you say thank you to someone that has given so much? A special present for Liam. But I feel like I was oh so blessed by her. By her labor and how freely she gave of her knowledge that gave me a craft.

Oh I hope everyone of you has a mentor. Has a friend. Has a family that makes you feel as I do. My cup runneth over. I hope yours does too.

Turning One

It took him all morning, but in the afternoon he finally discovered it. His little reading area. First the quilt was removed. Then the stuffed monkey crocheted for him by an auntie. Then his hippo puppet. But then, he discovered his little basket of books with some puppet books that we got for him at the zoo waiting. And sat down he did to turn the pages. I sat down with him and read to him with funny voices for the animals and my heart soared as he laughed. We got through four books. Four books with my little boy. Oh how wonderful this moment was!

Ross asked me the question, "why is a reading corner so important?" I thought on that question long and hard. And my answer was that I wanted to send the message to him that reading is important. Important enough to have a space of its own. And there were so many blogs and books that moved me in that direction. Like this post by Meg of Mama Liberated  and this book  which has a whole chapter on creating learning spaces.

There was so much baking done during nap time! Baking and present wrapping. And yes, a birthday crown.  One that has an elastic in the back so that it will grow with him as we celebrate more and more birthdays together. The pattern was from here if you are interested in making one of your own.

Oh my little boy. Celebrating his one year was just like I hoped it would be. Filled with his favorite people to play with. Filled with people who love him so dearly. Filled with good food and laughter. The celebration centered around him. His favorite foods (with some adult additions). We had watermelon, poi, and seaweed for him. And new to him was Korean chicken. A favorite in Ross' family during celebrations. For the adults, we had poke (marinated raw fish) to go with the poi. And oh how everything went!

There were a few toys added to the toy library to be rotated in. But mostly my favorite thing was watching him have an evening of fun. Everybody was so eager to play with him. Catch and blocks and peekaboo. Yes, oh this little boy had fun. And laughed so loud.

It was such a lovely day. One! Oh my. One whole year old. One full journey around the sun. Oh little one how much you have changed. How much you have changed us. Looking back it was such an amazing year. I can't wait to see what this one will bring.

The after glow

Oh this first celebration was a wonderful day. Liam was surrounded by love. So much love. I'm sitting here, long after my little boy is asleep, going through the pictures and really trying to soak everything in. How fast celebrations like this go.  I hope that it made an impression on him. I know that it did on me. The importance of family. The importance of sharing special occasions together. Of marking milestones with thought and love.

Tomorrow I will work on a post that really captures how wonderful his first year celebration was. But for now, I'd just love to keep these precious memories close. And this little big boy of mine closer.

Good night everybody.

One Year Changes

How is it possible, that a small change like a hair cut, can make a baby into a little boy? Oh my heart. Yesterday Liam had his first year hair cut. I will spear you the mama sentimentality. I could talk about how he was bald for the first three months of his life. Or that he use to have these little wisps of hair that grew on the sides of his head and we use to call them 'wings'. Or that when I look at him I still can't believe he was that little baby that we brought home from the hospital right before a tropical storm hit the island. No. Instead I will show you the first picture that I snapped of his little reading nook.

Oh this little corner. I set it up for him late into the night. And it is waiting patiently for him as he sleeps. Waiting for him to wake up and discover this new space. A space just for him. A place to read - or more likely throw the pillows around, try to take the frame off of the wall, and move his chair around like a push toy. But in my mind it is a place for him to look through his books. For us to read together. For us to impress upon him the wonders that reading can do. The worlds that it can open up.  Oh how much I want for you my sweet sweet boy.

Thank you everybody for sharing this journey with us. I hear him now, his little waking sounds. It's time for him to discover. To find. And I am waiting with my camera. To document this memory of him turning one.

Aloha and Happy Monday friends!

Five Things Friday: To Remember

I recently found a new blog, Amy over at Love Made My Home, and she does a Five Things Friday link up. Being a list person myself, I totally fell in love with this concept, and thought I'd join along. If you'd like to join along, here is the information about the link up.  I hope to see you there!

Now, five things. Usually I have a bazillion things running around in my head. But for this first Five Things Friday, I was a bit stumped. I've been thinking, sleeping, dreaming, eating, Liam's birthday preparations for months now. So I hope you're not tired of me talking about it, or sharing about it in this space. But I'd like to share five things I'd like to remember about the process of preparing to celebrate his first year. About how important hand making so many of the things used to celebrate this little boy has been to me.

1. Inspiring Words

I have been reading Amanda Soule's book, The Creative Family, since I was pregnant with Liam. So much about her approach to creativity, gratitude, and family tradition resonated with me. It inspired me to really take the thought and care to nurture the creativity in myself, and to watch it spill over into my family. And oh how much it has. A lot of the things I have done in preparing Liam's birthday have come from this book. If you haven't read it, I most certainly recommend it.

2. The Pace Of Preparing

Looking back at the blog archives, I started birthday projects for Liam back in April of this year. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to make a little space for him. A reading space. So all of his projects revolved around abcs. And I had this perfect little book, that had 30 embroidered squares of a letter and a corresponding motif. I knew that it would be perfect. So, knowing how I move at a glacier speed, I wanted to give myself plenty of time in order to finish his projects. And it has been amazing how those projects have been coming along. I can't believe that I have finished everything on my list that I have wanted to do! There was so much embroidery and hand stitching done. It has been wonderful to sit and stitch and reflect on how he is growing. On how our family is changing.

3. Handmade Gifts

My love of handmade gifts comes from my dad. Every birthday and father's day, whenever we asked him what he wanted, he would always say something handmade. It wasn't until I got older, and I began to see how much time and effort went into handmades that I came to really appreciate it. That I fell in love with not just the product, but the message that handmade items conveyed. Love. Sacrifice. Labor. And Joy. Not just for the recipient, but for the giver as well. This is what I want this little stack of handmade gifts to mean to Liam. He may not understand it now, but I hope when he is older, and he sees these tokens of his first birthday, that he will understand. And he will know. Just how loved and celebrated he was.

4. Reusable Decorations

Inspired by family traditions, I wanted to make a set of decorations that we could reuse for every celebration within our family. That they would hopefully become a part of the way that we celebrate. That these items would mean something special. That it would help mark the day as special. That sometimes less is more when the items carry thought and care.

5.  About Him

Lastly, I wanted everything about his birthday to celebrate him. A small family dinner with some of his favorite cousins and auntie and uncles.  A dinner of his favorite foods. A few presents to open. And a sharing of our favorite memories during his first trip around the sun while we serve his first ever birthday cake. 

Three more days until this little baby, who is fastly turning into a little boy right before my eyes turns one. I am planning on spending those three days filled with kisses and hugs and tickles. Cause the time we have is so short. And it moves so quickly. I want to savor each and every moment of every day with him. And to count my blessings. Because there are so many. And my cup is so full. 

Heres to five things to remember. 

Happy Friday everybody. 

A Handmade Birthday!

Oh that bottom picture makes my heart so happy! This year all my sister wanted was placemats for her birthday. So placemats she got! Five patchwork placemats - the same layout design but with different fabrics. It was nice making these because I was able to incorporate fabric into each mat from different projects I had made for them. Noah's had some of the Japanese fabric that I used when I made his snack bag. 

My sister had posted these pictures on Facebook to share with friends and family yesterday and on one of the pictures she said something that made my heart so happy!

• Karisma Pagat Love the action shot!

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  Zemirah Lee Noahs saying... "hey!! This is like my snack bag!" (He saw the same fabric in his placemat)

My niece also got some of the little red fabric that I used in her quilt and my sister got a bit of posy that I used for her quilt. It's so wonderful to be able to use a small scrap that can remind a loved one of another handmade item you had made them!

I didn't know if I was going to finish on time to send it back with my parents to San Diego but I did! And oh what a wonderful feeling that was! I am horrible when it comes to mailing things - a goal that I am making for myself this year to be better at sending cards and packages and such.

Handmades for birthdays are starting to become a tradition. A tradition that brings so much joy and love. On both ends. Along with a handmade item, another tradition that is starting to blossom is a card filled with long messages. Messages carrying reasons why that person is loved - memories from the past year that was a blessing - hope for the next year to come.

I am constantly reminded that we only have so many birthdays and anniversaries in a given lifetime. Oh how important it is to me to mark each one with love and gratitude for those that have such a hold on my heart.

The Way We Love

Hello all! My parents were here for a glorious two weeks - thus this space has been so quiet as of late.  The to do lists were cast aside. Appointments rearranged. And experiences - oh experiences were happening! It was a wet two weeks! The rain kept coming and coming! But that didn't seem to stop amazing memories from being made. Liam decided that he would wait until his Grandma and Papa were here to start crawling. Not only did he start crawling during their visit, but he started sitting up and pulling up on furniture. He wanted them to be here for all of his first movements into mobility.

And oh how they enjoyed him! And oh how I enjoyed witnessing them bond with each other!

With the weather keeping us indoors as much as possible, it left so much time for playing with Liam - and creating. Mostly in the kitchen. Oh how we love to cook together and for each other. My dad cooked all of my childhood favorites - filipino dishes that remind me of home: adobo, bifsteak, sinigang.  My mom taught me how to cook new favorite dishes like posole and indian curried lentils! Mom had her birthday here and we were able to celebrate with our usual family dinner, dessert, and small gifts to open. Oh how I have missed celebrating in this way. Growing up - it was the togetherness that made birthdays so special. The special dinner, the homemade desert, a few presents to open... the hand made cards with long messages to be put away in their special place. I want so much to pass this tradition on to Liam. To share in the specialness of bringing family together to celebrate another year.

In the quiet of the house - I've been thinking about their visit and how I have been so grateful - and how I feel so loved even though they are miles away. While they were here, they took care of us so wonderfully. Through cooking and cleaning together, doing laundry together. Making toys for Liam. Teaching him things. Baking together. There are so many remnants of their visit to make us feel warm and loved. The fridge is stocked with not only groceries, but meals for the next few days. The freezer has freezer meals. And my cookie jar... oh it is full and ready to be enjoyed.

It was such a sweet and amazing visit. My heart swells at how loved I feel - I only hope that I have made them feel as loved in return.

Are you curious about the patchwork above? Well - my sister had requested placemats for her birthday present... and I was trying so hard to finish them so that mom and dad could take them back. Well - finish them I did... in the wee hours of their last evening - the last binding was hand stitched down. Dad had packed them away before I could even think about taking a picture. I made her promise to take one for me though. They turned out pretty cute and I would oh so much like to share it with you.

Happy Aloha Friday everybody!