I, proud father of Kimi

[mahler10th]

Superb postings springrite.  Just looked through them.  Posts like this make one humbled and warm to be human.
Your daughter is a real treasure, the mascot of GMG.

[springrite]

I think it's about time that the happy grandmother gets some exposure around here, too!

[springrite]

Since everyone says Kimi looks like me, I will post a photo of me at around age 3. Kimi is 10 months old now, so it is not exactly same-age comparision. But maybe you can see something here:

[karlhenning]

 

[vandermolen]

 

[SonicMan46]

Since everyone says Kimi looks like me, I will post a photo of me at around age 3. Kimi is 10 months old now, so it is not exactly same-age comparision. But maybe you can see something here:

Paul - great pics!     But, now you've given me an idea for a completely 'new' thread - we already have one on 'what do you look like' - now, how about 'what did you look like as a youngster?' -    Dave

[springrite]

10 Days. This will be my longest stay away from Kimi since she came home from the hospital. I miss her already.
On the way to Deyang from the Chengdu airport, a 90 minute drive on the freeway lined with trucks shipping concrete, bricks, building material, is quite something. On the side of the freeway I see newly constructed factories, apartments, bridges, etc. This is a place devastated just 10 months ago. 10 million people displaced. Now most if not all of them have their living space. Jobs are coming back. I can see the hopes in people's faces. I will be training classroom teachers who will be better placed to help the students who have broken families. I will come back frequently in the next five to ten years.

The reason this is in this thread is because I will be meeting a boy next weekend. The boy was born on the day Kimi was supposed to be born. (Kimi was 7 weeks premature). When he was born, his father had already passed away, on the line of duty as a volunteer. You see, the boy's father was one of my students. So this child is not just someone else's child. He means something to me. I have offered to be the child's substitute father. "Uncle Paul" if you will. I will be seeing Kimi's special "brother", for the first time. The mother came to my training in Beijing last year and have now become one of my students as well. I will assist her in taking charge of her late husband's business -- the business of helping people. She has the heart for the job and, based on what I saw at the training, she now has quite a bit of the skills as well. This place may be reconstructed in a couple of years, but the hurt that is in people's heart and mind will last decades. I am glad there are people like her here.

We will have the two kids meet in a year or two.

[Bogey]

Continued hope and prayers for the work you and others do, Paul.  The little fellow is lucky to have you in his life.

[karlhenning]

It is an honor to know you, Paul.

[vandermolen]

Continued hope and prayers for the work you and others do, Paul.  The little fellow is lucky to have you in his life.

Seconded 

[springrite]

Tomorrow I will take care of Kimi all by myself for the whole day, from 7am. I am really looking forward to it. The nanny is taking a vacation. When everyone is available, Kimi always prefers me. So that is a good start. I am familiar with all the duties, having performed all of them with reasonable efficiency. However, doing it all by myself is a bit challenging, considering she can move around quite a bit now. I also need to cook for her since she has moved to some solid food and she likes handmade noodles.

Today, she said her first English word that is not "daddy", or "mine!". I took her out for a walk and she said "doggy" and pointed at a pug that a neighbor is walking! She does understand much of the English I speak to her. But she understands far more Chinese than English, and knows more words in Chinese.

She will be one year old on May 8th!

[karlhenning]

I love this thread!

[springrite]

I know it is not Friday, May 8th in most of the world yet, but it is here in Beijing, early early morning. Today is Kimi's first birthday. We just bought a new Canon 500D camera. For the next three days we will be celebrating Kimi's birthday and take lots of pictures. I will sure put some up here.

But first, who are some of the composers, musicians and other notables who share Kimi's birthday? What are some of the music I should play for her during the birthday bash/weekend?

[Guido]

Look forward to these. Tchaikovsky was May 7th, but couldn't find any May 8th composers.

Recently discovered that Korngold, Xenakis and Albeniz share my birthday!

[Guido]

She does however share a birthday with David Attenborough it turns out, who is probably the greatest living person! 

[bhodges]

But first, who are some of the composers, musicians and other notables who share Kimi's birthday? What are some of the music I should play for her during the birthday bash/weekend?

Here is a site that will help a little bit, "Any Day in History" (although it's not complete, and usually stops with people born in the 1970s):

http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/

Didn't find many composers of note for May 8, but some others showed up:

Oscar Hammerstein (lyricist)
Ezio Pinza (bass)
Roberto Rossellini (director)
Don Rickles (comedian)
Heather Harper (soprano)
Peter Benchley (novelist)
Keith Jarrett (pianist)
Felicity Lott (soprano)

--Bruce

[greg]

Look forward to these. Tchaikovsky was May 7th, but couldn't find any May 8th composers.

Recently discovered that Korngold, Xenakis and Albeniz share my birthday!

why you??? why not me???

[karlhenning]

Happy birthday, Kimichka!

[Herman]

Tomorrow I will take care of Kimi all by myself for the whole day, from 7am. I am really looking forward to it. The nanny is taking a vacation. When everyone is available, Kimi always prefers me. So that is a good start.

You're probably aware this may change at some point. Our daughter's two years old and has currently bouts of "No, daddy! No!" if she can choose between her parents, which took some getting used to. Most of the time however she's as sweet as ever.

Oh, and happy birthday, of course.

[Guido]

why you??? why not me???

No particularly good composer birthdays for your birthday but Ravel and Hindemith died on it!