Sumahi and my Sketchbook

Kao ga'yumungga Si Sumahi? Hunggan, gof hohoben ha' i hagga-hu, lao kao esta ha tungo' hafa ya-na para u cho'gue gi lina'la'-na?

Sumahi Attacks!

Gaige yu' ta'lo giya Guahan! Ya sen magof yu'! Lao adahi ha' hamyo, sa' esta mamagi i Bihusaurus!

Iyo-na Cuteness

Ti guailayipalabras siha. Esta nahong iyo-na cuteness i hagga-hu (achokka' tumatanges gui').

Nene's First Japanese Autumn Festival: Pikachus, Unichi-kun, and Even Yellow Ranger?!

On December 1st, there was the 28th Annual Japanese Autumn Festival on Guam. It's one of the most locally attended annual events (other than the carnival since there are gambling stands) on Guam. Yes, unfortunately, it seems to be more attractive to the locals than the Guam Micronesian Islands Fair. The Autumn Festival features performances from different Japanese dance groups, the Matsuri, in which people carries a mikoshi (a portable Shinto shrine) and walk around Ypao Beach Park (traditionally, it should be carried from shrine to shrine), it is believed that whoever carries it would have good luck for the entire year. There are also raffle drawings (this year there are 3 Wii that were given out as prizes, other prices includes tickets to Japan), food vendors, and games such as snatching goldfish, etc. One thing you would see in the Autumn Festival is kids and teenagers wearing mask and carrying a fan. One of my main objective was to get Sumahi a mask for her first Autumn Festival.

It was very crowded, you could hardly get from one place to another without bumping into people. I saw a guy from the Sapporo Beer stand passing out Pikachu fan, we went and got one. As always, the place was filled with people wearing masks, there were all sort, from Winnie the Pooh, to Donald Duck, and.... EVEN PIKACHU!!! I had my mother take care of Sumahi while I went searching for the Pikachu mask in the mid of the huge crowd.

Sumahi's daddy is crazy about Pikachu. It is a mutual understanding that while Sumahi is the cutest thing in the world, Pikachu comes next, and when the two comes together, the cuteness is too much for a normal human body to handle. Since then, whenever I see Pikachu things that are affordable I would buy them, it had pretty much became a habit.

After bumping into a whole bunch of people, and squeezing into different toy stalls, I finally find the one that sell mask. However, when I got there, there are only three types left: Thomas the Engine, Yellow Ranger, and a little blonde girl mask, they are out of Pikachu... : ( I don't like Thomas the Engine, and I don't want Sumahi to have blonde hair... so I picked Yellow Ranger... well... at least it is yellow too...

I also saw a 2008 pokemon calendar, I wanted to get it, but I had already spent all my coupons on the mask (which was 6 coupons). Therefore, I lined up to purchase a booklet of coupons (which was $10), and went back to the toy stall, but the calendar was gone! So I brought some toys for Sumahi, one was an Unichi-kun (Mr. Poop) from the anime "Dr. Slump" (See that pink soft ice cream like object on top of Sumahi's head at the picture below) another was a star necklace which has different color light that blinks.

Unfortunately, while I remembered to bring my camera that night, I left the memory card at home, so I was unable to take pictures at Ypao. But here are some pictures that I took with the stuff that we got that night.











4 more days 'til Daddy comes back!

Nene's New Friend - Calep Gabriel

Yesterday, Sumahi and I went to visit my friend Christina, whom just gave birth to a baby boy on November 18th, 2007. Her baby's name is Calep Gabriel (ahmm... I forgot her fiance's last name), he was 8 lb 10 oz and 21 inches at birth.

Sumahi fully displayed herself as a bihusauras while she was there. She grabbed on to Calep's mittens, socks, and chewed on Calep's foot. Ai adai!

Seeing Calep once again reminded me of how small Sumahi was when she was born, and of the first few tormenting weeks when I had to learn how to take care of a newborn all on my own. Even though it was only a few months ago, it seems as if a decade had past since then. And I remember what a beautiful newborn she was, no conehead, no pimples, no smashed-in nose, she was just... perfect.

5 more days 'til Daddy comes back!

Nene's First Thanksgiving

It was nene's first Thanksgiving, I got up early in the morning and went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving Dinner. My family had planned to eat out, but I wanted to bring nene to visit her family from Daddy's side, so I needed to make something to bring over.

I decided to make a vegetarian quiche. I got the recipe online, so I printed it out and headed out to Oka Payless with Sumahi. Sumahi was very enthusiastic about helping me, and kept taking the recipe away from me while I was shopping. Finally, we got home, and I was able to put her to bed while I work on the crust and pre-mixing the fillings. I wanted to get everything ready for I had to show a property at around 2pm, and I needed to get to Grandpa's house at 4:30pm and follow them over to Auntie Eleanor's house.

Even though I got home early after the showing, I was still running late when I left the house, for the quiche took way longer then expected to cook. I left the house at 4:29pm and rushed over to Grandpa's. When I was almost there, I got a call from Kuri, and said that I don't need to rush for they were running late. We stayed there until everyone was ready, then we headed over to Auntie Eleanor's. We weren't able to stay there for too long, for we still needed to have dinner with my family. Sumahi did get to see everyone though, and spent a little time playing with her cousins. Although my stay there was short, it was a nice and wonderful little gathering, and I'm very glad that Sumahi get to see everyone.

I had Sumahi tried the turkey with turkey gravy baby food... and she didn't like it at all, she preferred the real thing. (We teared small pieces of turkey for her for it was soft enough for her to eat) I guess she is sick and tired of being treated like a baby.

I called Daddy a few times so that he could say Happy Thanksgiving to her, but he didn't pick up the phone. I was about to give up and thought that nene would have her first Thanksgiving without hearing Happy Thanksgiving from her daddy, but he called just right before he went to bed, and so... it was a good Thanksgiving.

12 more days 'til Daddy comes back!

I Pilan

For those of you who don't know, "Sumahi" is the Chamorro word for, "the waxing of the moon."

The other day someone asked me, after I told them what it means, if I had named her that because I wanted her to work for NASA and fly space shuttles.

I said no. She is named that because it is one of the few words in any language whose beauty can match up to my precious nene.

No Chicken for Nene?

When Sumahi turned 6 months old, after a month of eating baby cereal, I added baby food in the jar in the list of foods she eats. So far, we had tried carrots, sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, sweet potatoes and corns, chicken with mixed vegetables. She ate every flavor except chicken with mixed vegetables, which she just refused to eat. And I thought to myself, "Oh my God! Nene is a vegetarian!" Well, turns out that she just doesn't like chicken, she was just fine when we fed her beef and vegetables today. Now she turned 7 months old, I also brought her baby finger food. I also got her a jar of turkey and turkey gravy, so that she wouldn't feel left out for Thanksgiving when everyone is having turkey.

17 more days 'til Daddy comes back!

A Bump in the Head

I apologize for not posting for a while for I was having trouble logging in.

(I was going to post some pictures of her, but I'm having problems with that too...)


For more than a month now, Sumahi had mastered the art of turning over. Which also means that she is no longer an idle eggplant that just sits in the middle of the bed. She is now an eggplant that rows around. Now that she tries to move around and explore her surrounding, it adds to my amusement and, of course, also adds to my worries.



Two nights ago, I was playing with Sumahi on the bed. I got thirsty so I got up to get a drink, so I stepped out while nene was lying down in the middle of the bed. As I was just finishing my water, I heard a loud "THUD" then nene crying. I said "uh oh " and ran into the room, and nene was lying on the ground. I checked her head, her neck, her back, and her limps, nothing seems broken, only a red mark on her forehead, which is probably what landed on the floor first. Luckily, it was only a bump in the head, though it give me a heck of a scare, and a big lesson to learn.

Riku gi Lamlam-na

I pilan yanggen sumåhi
Guaha minagof gi sumahi-ña
Eståba poble yu’ na taotao
Lao på’go riku gi lamlam-ña

Poem for Sumahi

Sumåhi
My nene
I haga-hu

After months of worrying, waiting, money saving and relationship negotiating
After days of walking, nipple circling, consoling, papaya eating and labor inducing
After hours of pushing, breathing, hand squeezing, and yelling for medication and centimeter checks
After minutes of bleeding, emerging, screaming, slapping, wrapping, measuring and weighing…
A baby is held before me

Small and cute in a way which can only be felt with a tear wetting the corner of your eye
Her eyes squeezed shut, and only opening in gasps and screams, coordinating in rhythm with her grabbing, barely bending fingers
Eyes, mouth, and hands moving in newborn unison to drink in the world around her

The nurse holding her carries a question as well
“What is her name?”

My mind scans quickly the list of names I had given the mother for her to pick from
It was an interesting collection of Chamorro verbs, nouns, adjectives and states of being, which could make fantastic or terribly awkward and stigmatizing Chamorro children names
Such as
Matatnga: Brave, valiant, fearless
Tokcha’: To stab or to spear
Chichirika: A bright red bird with a beautiful fan shape tail which is known to help children lose themselves in the jungle

Jessica, i nananpatgon-hu, my blessed beloved baby’s mama, chose two names, one for a boy, the other for a girl
As the “her” echoes delicately from the nurse’s lips and settles softly on the yawning mouth of my baby girl, the chosen name slowly begins the long crawl to the front of my mind

Sumåhi…

More than 500 years ago, men would have gathered their nets, lines and canoes at the ocean’s edge, and women their fosiños and seeds at the jungle’s edge
They would have spoken this word to capture the movements of the moon, the patterns of fish and the tendencies of the soil and earth for planting and harvesting their crops.

More than 300 years ago, a man stands atop a cliff overlooking a hastily built and nervously defended Spanish fort
Before him stand hundreds of similarly uncertain Chamorro warriors
This man pierces the night sky with his spear, its tip revealing to all the ever brightening moon, and he would use to word to remind all of the auspiciousness of this night and it being right for an attack

More than 100 years ago, a young man stands on one side of a river, his would-be beloved on the other, momentarily alone, washing the clothes of her family
Beneath a silent lemmai tree he plays his guitar quickly, his fingers looping around the language of the moon, of dreams, of love
He sings this word hoping to enchant his beloved, convince her to become his beloved, especially before her brothers return

As I hold my baby for the first time, the word “sumåhi” emerges from the exhausted fragments of my labor weary mind with all the force of a ghost which refuses to be forgotten
It crawls around my mental corners and contours and in between the molecules of my very blood, bringing with it the traces of a thousand voices which have spoken it, passionately embraced it, or indifferently recited it

The word rides a wave which bristles and breaks, reforming itself forward with the lifeblood of those who have reflected through it, relied upon it, spoken of love or loss with it, called others to work or battle with it, and made sense of nature, earth, the world

This multitude pushes downward my eyebrows and furrows my brow, transforming my face into an awkward image of reflected cuteness
It activates my arms, pulling my baby closer to my face
Her cute, newly there, barely breathing reminds me na sen dikike gui’
Kulang umomlat i patgon gi unu na kannai-hu

The nurse’s eyes remain rounded out, expectantly waiting for my girl’s name
Completely unaware of the typhoon powered history lesson which makes my hands tremble, but also assures me I will not let my baby fall

The name finally arrives at my lips, the cost of its landfall, a fresh tear appearing at the corner of my eye
“Her name is Sumåhi” I say at last, while my lips slowly form a kiss for her forehead

Pikachu Princess

WARNING: The combination of Sumahi and so many stuffed animal Pikachus in this photo may be too cute for the normal human body!

ADAHI: I yinalaka’ Si Sumåhi yan todu i manstuffed na gå’ga’ gi este na litråtu, siña piligrosu nu i salud-mu!

The ExerSaucer

There was a storewide sale at KMart today, 10-20% off everything. So my mom and I went happy shopping at KMart for nene's toys. We bought her a musical stacking toy, a toy phone which teaches the ABCs and the 123s, a pushing walker/cart, and an ExerSaucer. The ExerSaucer came unassembled, I had to spend a good hour putting it together. Nene loves it, so no complaints here. As soon as it was assembled, I put her in it, and she started putting everything there in her mouth. I hope that it would keep her occupied while I do my chores.

The Bee Movie

Since today is my last day off of the week, I decided to go do something fun with nene. I took her to the movie, which is a thing that I haven't done since Daddy left. We watched the Bee Movie. It was pretty okay, nene enjoyed it. She was very attentive through out the movie, and didn't fall asleep until towards the end. She watched 85% of the movie, which is the best record ever.

My Neighbor Totoro

I had a few days off this weekend, and so, I spend some of my time watching anime by Studio Ghibli, the studio that created "Princess Mononoke" and "Spirit Away." Now that I am a mother, I felt more obligated to watch "kids movies", and lately, I've been looking for books and movies that nene would later enjoy reading/watching. Studio Ghibli had some excellent selections that I could choose from. Yesterday, I watched "My Neighbor Totoro" for the fourth time, and thought that nene looks like Mei from the anime. With her big head, chubby cheeks, big eyes, small little nose, the light brown hair, her loudness and that energy that she has, I thought that when nene grow a little older that would be how she would look like.

The Day Before All Soul's Day

After working on the end of the fiscal year inventory report for my parents' store for the entire week, I finally got a day off yesterday. It is the day before All Soul's Day, I took nene to visit her great great grandparents graves in order to skip the All Soul's Day Mass traffic.

We started off from Dededo, we went on the backroad and headed toward Mangilao, from there we drove to Talofofo to our first destination-- the great great grandparents graves from the Flores side. Since I needed to stop by Agat to put up a For Sale sign on a property that I'm selling, I drove all the way around the South. We stop by C & J Burgers in Malesso on the way for lunch. (Delicious homemade patties for a low low price!) And after the short stop at Agat, we headed to Nimitz Hill. We visited the grave of Julian's father (Julian is one of nene's Godparents) first, who was buried in the Veteran Cemetery. Then we headed to our final destination--the great great grandparents grave from the Lujan side.

Miget took us there before when he was on island over the Summer, it was a grave made of concrete which deteriorated over the years, there was a plexi-glass plat, which has the great great grandparents names spelled with stickers letters on it.

I didn't think that I would have any problem finding it, since I went back once by myself, cleaning up the grave, and there were pretty clear landmarks, it was pass the first telephone pole, pass all the sorry-looking Jesus statues, and right next to a plumeria tree. I spotted my destination from a far, I saw that the silk flowers that I planted on the grave was removed and layout on top. I stepped closer, and I spotted that the cross was broken off, I felt my heart went cold, "oh no, what happened?!" Then when I finally got there, I realized that it wasn't the right grave. I wondered to myself, "What happened? All the landmarks are right. And why do the flowers I brought for them ended up here on this grave? Did someone stole them?" I ended up walking all over the cemetery to every single graves right next to a plumeria tree, and there were many. It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and the sun was radiating its heat on me like it wishes that I get a heat stroke. I walked all around, stepped over graves after graves, always ended up at the same spot every time. Frustrated, I called Miget, and asked him where the grave is. He told me that it is right infront of all the Jesus statues, next to a plumeria tree. I told him that it is not there! He had work to do so he wished me luck on the grave searching, and we hanged up. I stood infront of the grave which I thought was the One, tired, I glanced over the grave right next to it, to the nice, brand new grave, and I saw the name that I was looking for all over the place. All this time, it was just right infront of me, the plat, new and shiny, the name engraved on it smiling at me under the bright sun. And I mumbled to myself, "but I was looking for the plexi-glass plat..."

The grave I was looking for.

The grave right next to it.

Halloween

Nene's first Halloween passed by uneventfully. No, I did not dress her up. No, I did not take her trick-or-treating. And no, she didn't pass out any candy to any kids. When I decided to not do anything for her on Halloween, it was a logical decision. Nene is too young to remember anything, nene is too young to go trick-or-treating, there's no costume that I could find here on Guam that would fit nene unless I order online. But even though I know that it was the right decision, and that it doesn't seem right for us to celebrate any holidays or special occasions without Daddy, I regret making her first Halloween so dull. It is her FIRST Halloween! I should have just dress her up and take pictures of her for my own amusement. I told myself that it's okay, we could just wait for next year, when Daddy comes home, and we could all go trick-or-treating, with Uncle Kuri, with her cousins Dylan, Eliza, and Kin Boy. Maybe we could go in a theme, like we'll all dress as Harry Potter's characters, or Naruto's characters. That would be fun.

Guahu I Tatan Sumahi

Buenas yan hafa adai. Na’ån-hu Si Michael Lujan Bevacqua. Guahu i tatan este na machålek na ga’ga’ Si Sumåhi. Guahu tumakpångi gui’ ni’ todu i kinute na fina’na’an na pon taitai gi este na blog. Kada na hu atan i nene-hu, humuyong ginnen i titanos-hu, un nuebu na fina’na’an.

Gaige yu’ på’go gi san lagu ya umeskuekuela yu’ giya San Diego para iyo-ku Ph.D.

Kada diha sen mahalang yu’ para i hagga-hu.

Duranten i summer, humami para dos meses giya Guahan, ya kumetåta yu’. Mutung i take’ i nene, ya pao’ma’aksom i te’lå-ña, lao chekle’ i mata’-ña. Gof kapas na chekle’ i nene-hu. Kada na hu hohgue gui’, kada na hu nginge’ i fasu-ña, kada na hu atan i litratu-ña siha, masakke’ i hinagong-hu!

Hu diseseha mohon na ya-miyu este na blog.

The Dark Circles Under the Eyes - of Mine and Hers

Lately Sumåhi has been in the "screaming mood", especially at around 5:30-6:00 in the morning. You could imagine my frustration when she refuses to go back to sleep even after eating, and continues with her screaming and babbling. I would look at her with my sleepy eyes, and she would scream and yell, and be giving me the look which said "Why aren't you holding me? Why aren't you playing with me? Get up and play with me now!" And I, knowing that any resistance would be futile, would get up and play with her until it is time for me to get ready for work. Then she would be smiley and happy, and I would shake my head and say "ai adai!"

Sumåhi is a very curious, active, alert baby, which is great, for her pace at learning seems to be pretty fast. However, it is a problem when it comes to her sleeping. It is so difficult to put her to sleep. At one time she would be falling asleep after rocking her for 30 minutes, then she would get distracted by a picture, an object, a sound, and suddenly became all alert again. She would always refuse to go to sleep even when she is sleepy as long as there is something interesting going on. My mother called her a wild baby. Have you ever seen a baby with dark circles? Just look at Sumåhi.

Sumåhi Six Months Old Birthday

Two weeks ago, Sumåhi turned 6 months old. In celebration of her birthday, and for the miracle that she is still alive after being in my care for 6 months, I wrote a poem for her. Though I enjoy poetry reading, I am not much of a poet, so please endure.


For Sumåhi

Yesterday is still near,
Tomorrow is yet far away,
Listen to the silence of the night.
The night breeze kisses the coconut leaves
Leaving me drunk by the soft, sandy beach.

Thirst drives me down to the water
Where I drink the Moon’s reflection.
Now I glaze up into the heavens
As the moon completes her waxing,
Totally lost in love with her true self.

Her lashes,
The silhouette of coconut leaves against the full moon.
Her eyes,
The stars that guide the navigators whose travel in the ocean.
Her smile,
The warmest glow in the dark, frosty night.

In her light,
I found strength.
In her beauty,
I found my only bond with the heavens.
In her love,
My life became complete.

She leads my way
As I lead hers,
We walk towards the heavens
Which embrace us with great warmth.

In them,
I found Home.