My Real Treasures

Treasures

"Sometimes." said Pooh,

"the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

They're short. Good-looking, if I may say so myself. In pre-K, just graduated from pre-K, and entering second grade, respectively. They're my Real Treasures.

I've witnessed all three of them take their first unsteady steps. I've vigilantly held up a throw-up basin by their bed when they got sick. I've occasionally cleaned their butts, Filipino-style, with soap and water in a tabo. I've summoned them with the distinctive Filipino, Psst, with my pointy lips. 

I've snuck in unhealthy treats (Hubba Bubba gumballs, chocolate "ring" cookies, "MMs," sour gummies, and "valilla" ice cream) to their delight and to their Mums' displeasure; arrived early during Christmas and end-of-school programs to get a front-row seat; and clapped shamelessly, as if they were the sole stars, at the end of each performance.

1.

The youngest of my Real Treasures just turned five, celebrating the occasion at Chuck E. Cheese's. Originally, her plan was to host a potion-making party in Grandma's house. Among others, BJ whom she claims has a crush on her, was going to be invited. BJ is her Dad's new, black Lab who chews on people's hands inappropriately because he thinks he's a puppy. 

She takes forever to shop at Claire's Boutique, carefully weighing what item she can afford to buy with the five dollars in her Minnie Mouse purse that she just earned from doing house chores. 

Sounding very much like the TV cartoon character Peppa Pig, she articulates the word Mummie with a proper sounding lilting English accent. A self-proclaimed "expert on Easton mall," she quickly spots Chuy's and Melt, her favorite "restnants." She claims to be Katy Perry's number one fan and is an enthusiastic ComFest follower, well-taught in its jazz and rock music. She will not pass up the chance to splash about in a fountain or mud puddle. Certainly a summer favorite are the wave pool and Slippery Seals body slide at the Zoombezi water park. Try it. It's lovely! she enjoins us, with so much feeling, pronouncing her vowels fully and rounded out. 

She knows she is her Mum's Dream Come True.

2.

The long-tressed five-year-old absolutely adores all kinds of furry stuffed animals, although the now-scruffy purple Bunny remains as her favorite. I can see her propped up on her pillow, a bevy of My Little Ponies - Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Princess Celestia - all around her, taking up most of the space on her princess-themed bed. In the mall with Santa, she floated royally in her red Elena of Avalor ballgown and tiara, her upturned face affirming that Santa was, and always will be, love and magic and hope and happiness.

She's fearless. During visits to the pediatrician, she volunteers to be the first to get the scheduled shot. Not sure that she'd be doing a sleepover in the condo with us, she mutters, Did I pack for nothing? - without looking up and continuing to nonchalantly play on her computer learning station. She loves make believe - growling like a cheetah trying to escape out of a cage of stacked-up pillows, or taking the role of a makeup artist fastidiously brushing and putting makeup on Doggie or Dino for a fashion show. 

She wants to be a vet, practicing her skills on her stuffed animals in a Pet Clinic that her Mum had set up. Her older brother and I roll up my eyes whenever she hoards all the Slap Jack cards before doling the deck out so she can get the upperhand in slapping the Jack. Heaven forbid that someone else should beat her to it or her face will darken with the grudging remark, No fair. Game over. 

Her Mum tells her she is God's Promise, An Angel from Heaven.

3.

The seven-year-old is the first grandchild in our nuclear family - an early Christmas gift that has blessed us all to no end. He has always loved cars and would point to each vehicle passing by, saying emphatically, Cah! - one of his first words. Now he can identify, correctly and without hesitation, the makes and models of every vehicle that passes by. He tells us, with an impish smile coming to his lips, that he will buy a Porsche when he grows up. 

He now reads "chapter" books and has taken a liking to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Earlier on, he was observed performing a made-up classical piece on the keyboard, replete with the dynamism and expressiveness of a maestro the likes of Mozart whom he also admires. Piano lessons which he recently started taking should lead him onto the masters' path.

Give him a Lego construction set, and his dexterity comes to life - creatively putting together disparate shapes into his own unique design. Not surprisingly, he has of late taken an interest in robotics. For a class at a STEM summer camp, he built Flying Bird and later, Giant, out of Legos, both of which he programmed on the computer. Recently a prize winner in a school poster contest, he has shown proficiency in the visual arts as well. 

Equally adept in sports, he has proven himself to be a swift and passionate Dirty Dawg flag football player on the field, and then turns around to surprise the family when he performed keiki hula footwork and hand motions during the school's Mayday celebration.

He knows he is a Miracle From Heaven.

*****

By the wonder of their creation, by their smallness, and their amiability, my Real Treasures have made me realize that the greatest moments in life are the simplest, and that the world with all its little things inspires the most delight.