First picture of the Takeshi's together.

The Kimura men. That's the uncle that endured my early 'baking'.

Last time I saw him.

My auntie's birthday party.

Love this picture...priceless...


So I was on a pretty good clip there for a few posts, updating every week or so. I guess once every three months is good enough now, eh?

Taki will be 6 months old tomorrow. Hard to believe how tiny he looks in the pictures from his birth-day! I have to admit I was never very maternal. I didn't babysit, no younger siblings, no younger cousins until i was 30! But, when I hold Taki and play with him, it is the most wonderful sound in the world to hear him laugh! Good thing he is such a giggle-goose!! And his smile - it just lights up the whole room. Keith watches him while I go to work part time and when I walk in the door it makes my heart surge with joy to see him turn to the sound of my voice and flash his huge, toothless grin! Maybe it's just because he's usually ready for a meal when I get home, but I like to think that he missed me.

As Taki grows and flourishes, his great grandpa, my grandpa Takeshi is weakening. I used to basically live with them. Whenever I wasn't in school, I stayed at their house. My grandpa used to take me around in his big diesel truck around to look at the ranch. Then, usually we'd go bowling with his buddies. To this day I can't figure out why I bowl right handed when both he and I are left handed. This is probably why I rarely score over 100. Grandpa, on the other hand, was amazing. The man had a wicked hook - and whether you believe it or not, he could nudge that ball over just to where it needed to be with a well-timed lean-and-a-stomp!!!!!

His mom, my great-grandma - we called her oba-a-san - is the reason I cook and bake today. I was allowed to get into whatever I wanted in the kitchen and having a sweet tooth, it was usually the sugar and flour to make cookies. Mind you, I didn't know how to read a recipe - and certainly not any I would have found in her kitchen (they were all in Japanese) - but I copied the moves I saw when she or mom or aunt baked....a little flour, a little sugar, butter, baking soda and voila!! My poor uncle usually got benefit (?!?) of my experiments. Sometimes this was a good thing as when I unwittingly stumbled on a mixture that ended up like flat fortune cookies; sometimes the only good it served was the amusement of all, as when I made oatmeal cookies that could have cracked the granite countertop if you dropped them. This was the same time that I actually did try to read a recipe: it called for 'rolled oats'. So I dumped out the Quaker oats on the counter top and rolled them with a rolling pin!!

Tomorrow Taki and I go to see Grandpa. I had hoped that they would have the time to get to know and love each other but I fear that Taki's only memories of Takeshi will be in pictures. I guess I should be grateful that I was able to introduce my son and his namesake to him.