hikoki

My brother Brian is staying with us for a bit.  He recently relocated to Utah from Hawaii and will be with us until he gets settled (I know right?  Why couldn't it have been the other way around?  I'd LOVE to relocate to Hawaii).

Ryan Katsuo Smart is named after my brother Brian Katsuo.  This is the first time they have met and for Ryan, it was fascination, admiration and love at first...kick.  Brian started playing soccer with Ryan out in the back yard and since that moment, Ryan LOVES to follow Brian around the house.   The above picture is Ryan wearing Brian's sunglasses.  He just loves to do whatever Brian does.  It's really quite cute.

Among the many things that Brian can do amazingly well is speak Japanese.  He's been speaking a bit of Japanese to Ryan here and there like arigato (thank you) which, let's face it, would be great if any kid would say thank you more.

The word "airplane" in Japanese is hikoki (he cokee) but you hold out the 'co' before the 'kee'.  It's a pretty cool sounding word and since Ryan LOVES airplanes, Brian was trying to teach it to him.  But somehow (somehow?!) Ryan got confused and started calling BRIAN "hikoki".  Sometimes he would say "Hi Koki", sometimes just "koki" but now he's settled back to the regular hikoki.

The above picture is a bit blurry, but I still love it - whether they're playing soccer, ball or just hanging out watching TV, they are two of a kind.

p.s.  still on the wagon - SIXTEEN days Coke Zero free!