One night, at a dinner with friends from the Web 2.0 world, Daniel gleefully referred to a Yahoo engineer’s balding head as apple. Most of us in the room thought it was ridiculously funny so I wondered if the guy was offended one bit or whether he was also amused despite the fact that his smooth, depilated crowning glory was the center of Daniel’s (and everyone’s) hilarity. I thought he was a real sport and very forgiving at that since Daniel literally spent the entire night actively pacing back and forth, stomping his feet on the carpet-covered floor, and ceaselessly pointing at the guy’s head and boomed on top of his lungs: “Apple! Apple! Apple!” What seemed to be just a reference to the head became the person’s new monicker. (I think Apple is a nice nickname for a techie guy.) At the end of the night, the guy was merely reduced to being an apple. We parted ways with Daniel waving his hands saying, “Buhbye Apple.”

My son will grow up a very charismatic man, no doubt about it. At 20-months-old, he already has manifestations of being a politician: he can charm you with his sweet, puerile smile; he renders everyone in awe with his mastery of the alphabet, numbers, and colors; he can melt your heart by squinting his right eye, and he can shake his booty to no end. And once he starts dancing and waving his hands up in the air, the game is over: he steals the whole scene and turns himself into an instant hit. He doesn’t care whether he’s at my Zumba class, at a boutique, or at a park as long as he can wiggle his hips and flip his fingers like doing flamenco dance.

One afternoon at a local park, Daniel got up and started dancing in front of an Indie singer. Then, almost in a snap of his fingers, he got two very tall and bulky men to cheer for him. We just stood there as spectators with occasional glances from our little dancer. He enjoyed all the attention and he liked it when people clap their hands towards the end, to signal that they are pleased or as if to say, wiggle it some more. Needless to day, we do enjoy all the compliments afterwards.

Daniel sweeps me off my feet sometimes especially when he looks at me with astonishing intelligence and begins to utter “Mommy” in his sweetest voice while tucked in my side and cuddled in my arms before bedtime. Actually, he thinks that mommy is a funny word because it rhymes with puppy, a new word that he learned from his newfound Vietnamese friend, Khoi. I have to make sure that I relay a very clear message to him that Mommy is not a member of the canine family or something that resembles a puppy, but someone who sings him lullabies at night, shares warm bubble baths with him, and gives him comforting hugs and kisses when he gets naughty and accidentally bumps his head on God-knows-what hard object. I guess, based on his smile and caresses, he knows that I am Mommy and he gets lots of love when he is with me.

I’ve also taken the initiative to learn to prepare simple but meaningful meals from scratch since we arrived in the Bay Area. (I am vehemently opposed to the bottled, processed, and sugary food—the thought of feeding them to my son makes me feel guilty to no end.) I’ve also bought a set of educational videos for him instead of buying very expensive toys that end up being tossed in the trashcan. While he enjoys his videos and can’t let a day pass without watching them, I make sure that Daniel gets a lot of human interaction from people around him. For a short period of time, he has grown into a smart, healthy, and happy toddler, and his personality is infectious. He can also recite the alphabet, count from one to 10, and can identify colors such as black, green, blue, red, white, purple, and white. He also added some words to his vocabulary such as Angkor Watt, balloon, puppy, mommy, papa, dog, flower, corn, wheat, milk, khaki, and a few more that he’s waiting to unravel to us. He can also spell-out words from a food label, nametags, or from a store’s signage.

I guess, with the help of my husband, I am doing a great job as a parent. Two years ago, I was uncertain if I can fulfill my new role of being a mom to an unborn child but now, I swell with pride to tell others that I have a wonderful 20-month-old. I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am for having Daniel in my life. It’s just different. And, unless you become a parent, you won’t totally understand what I’m trying to say.

When Daniel retires at night, I take a moment to look at my precious one hugging his pillow tight and in deep slumber. Then I give myself a pat on the back for doing a great job raising this adorable boy.