Ollin and Kai.com

Ollin and Kai just returned from the beautiful town of Seattle, where they got the opportunity to meet their first cousin, Cecilia.  The kids all hit it off very well and had a great time around town.  (So did the parents).  Here’s the photographic proof:

In addition to meeting Cecilia, there were quite a few milestones reached on this month -

• Kai’s first time on a plane (we gave him an A+ for behavior)
• Kai’s first meeting of his aunt and uncle.
• Most importantly, this month marked the first time where both Ollin and Kai slept through the (same) night!

Also, let us know how you like the new slideshow!

Unfortunately, the above statement is not true for Ollin (he’s just getting started in pre-school).  But regardless, the batch of photos below are photographic evidence of the start of the great season.  The kids are both really enjoying the weather and the opportunity to be outdoors.

Did I mention this is very likely the cutest batch of photos EVAR?  And be on the lookout for some guest appearances by Ryan, Julia, Robbie, and few more of Ollin and Kai’s friends.

Kai’s development seems to be coming along quite quickly now.  Over the past two weeks, he’s found his hands are tasty, reached out and grabbed objects, and more importantly, SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT.  This is great for Mom and Dad, but we do wish Ollin would follow Kai’s example.  You can track some of these important developments on the “Vitals” page.

Ollin has also grown a bit.  Recently, he started a pre-pre-school and is spending some time in the classroom.  He seems to enjoy the experience, except for during storytime, when he refuses to stay seated and prefers to wander around the classroom looking for trouble.  But, all in all, it seems to be going well.  Next stop, student loans.

Photographic evidence of all these great things coming soon . . .

Yes!  And here is photographic evidence of Ollin and Kai getting along quite well.

 Thankfully, I think that Ollin realizes that Kai poses no real threat to him (perhaps just in overall cuteness factor) at this stage, because he has treated his new brother quite well.  He has been very warm and caring, often offering comfort when Kai is crying.  For his part, Kai seems to have accepted the tyranny of his curious brother.

Ollin continues to find creative ways to communicate other than talking.  For instance, by dragging along a kid’s picture book and pointing to photos of things he wants handed to him.  Or by bringing objects to us that he wants us to “use” (e.g. car keys means he wants to go somewhere, shoes means he wants to go outside).  And yes, he often blurts out phrases in any of three different languages.  (Agua, juice, Wiggles being some of the favorites).

Kai continues the pack on the pounds like Tootie after the second season of Facts of Life.  At some point, we suspect it will taper off, but he’s already more cheeky than Simon Cowell after one of Paula Abdul’s unintelligible rants.  He has also begun to coo and is spending a lot of time studying our faces.  And we welcome the fact that his smiles are more frequent than diaper changes (which top out at about 10 a day now).  Let’s hope that trend continues.

Congratulations to cousins David and Naomi, who gave birth to Ezra the day before Mother’s Day!  Technically, Ezra is a 3rd cousin to Ollin and Kai, but I think it’s close enough we can declare Kai’s “reign” over.  Regardless, I think Kai will be happy to hear there is someone that he can pick on.

It’s been a few weeks, and the two boys continue to get along well. 

At least, that’s Ollin’s perspective.  Check out this batch of photos which includes Ollin trying to play nice as Kai tries desperately to escape.

Yes, I’ve finally answered the most basic questions folks ask about Kai.  (This does not include the questions about his parents, like “Are you sleeping much lately?”)  The answers to those questions can be found on the updated Vitals page.  Be sure to scroll down to catch Kai’s stats. 

And yes, I am projecting him as a small forward (same as his dad).  That means we’ve got to work on that outside shot and some basic ball-handling, right away!

It’s been about a week, and I think we are getting a pretty good idea as to what Kai is going to look like.  As proof, I submit to you a few photos as Kai turns a week old.

And yes, along with some interesting photos of the extended family and the ordeal it is to get the family on the road these days, there are some Ollin sightings in here as well!

Hey, this is a family website!  I am talking about the origin of the name Kai, not the baby himself.  So here it goes . . .

How do you spell Kai’s full name?

This one is not as obvious as you think.  Assuming that the question seeks an answer in English - First, we had to leave out some special characters that typically show up in names of their origin.  This includes an apostrophe, a dash, and an accent.  Correctly represented (again, in English), the name should be written: K’ai Wu-Hyun Alvarez.

What does Kai mean?

In Yucatec Mayan, K’ai means (v.) “to sing” or (n.) “music”.

What language does it come from?

Yucatec, one of the only forms of Mayan still spoken today. 

How do you pronounce “Kai”?

We are pronuncing it just like it’s spelled (Ka-E for those still wondering), but in Mayan, it’s pronounced “K’A-E” (the same pronunciation with a very hard stress on the K sound).

How do you write “Kai” in (Yucatec) Mayan?

Mayan’s wrote using glyphs that were partly pictograms, partly phonetic (similar to Chinese Han-zi).  In my research, I was unable to find a single (pictogram) glyph for “K’ai”, so I went with a combined phonetic glyph, that is pictured below:

Please pardon my awful sketching.  We’ll do something nicer later. 

Next Up: The Origin of the Name “Wu-Hyun”

Any of you seen the famous dance clip from the Fresh Prince TV show from the 90s?  I guess Ollin has, too!  (Requires Quicktime to view, and it behaves much better if you RIGHT-CLICK and save the file somewhere on your PC).

Note: He only stops because he notices a strawberry stain on his sweatshirt.  Believe me, he usually keeps going.  But I thought for the sake of brevity (and bandwidth) we’d just put this one up.