A cat named Pepper exemplified the warmth of the Bayoc household. Seconds after I sat on the comfy living room couch, Pepper snuggled up close, purring quietly all during the conversation.

Nancy Fowler | Beacon staff Birago, 7, Ajani, 9, and Jumi,12, sit on the couch with parent Cbabi and Reine Bayoc at their backs.

Willowy Jurni exhibited typical “tween”-age contradictions: shy yet talkative, composed but with an occasional bout of squirminess, as she kept an eye on her brothers, a tangle of shared grins, sharp elbows and khaki pants on a single chair.

“Me and Birago are puppeteers,” Ajani sat up and announced before running upstairs and back down clutching some of their "Star Wars" characters.

“This one’s an origami Darth Vader, this is an origami Obi Wan Kenobi, this one’s Yoda,” Ajani said.

Did he make them? “Yes -- out of the simple instructions,” Ajani deadpanned.

Other projects require a parent’s help. Even when Bayoc’s painting, he’s often available for cooking and playing.

“We bake stuff, like pizza,” Birago said.

“My mom makes the dough for it. My dad helps us with the sauce and the pepperoni and the cheese,” Ajani added. “And he helps me with my homework.”

“He plays Legos with the boys sometimes,” Jurni said. “And we go to the library and the park.”

Bayoc’s family knows things about him that others might not. No skeletons here, just the stuff you understand from living with someone every day.

Birago went first: “People don’t know that he looked just like me when he was a kid,” he said.

“That he watches a lot of documentaries, like the one about the guy who made Elmo,” Ajani chimed in.

Being dad has been key to Cbabi Bayoc as he has worked through his 365 Days with Dad project.
“That he hates small talk,” Reine Bayoc said. “Going to a party and having to make small talk is about the worst thing in the world.”

But talking about “365 Days” is something he never tires of, she said. The year-long project is a triumph in ways that transcend financial success, according to Reine Bayoc.

“I think he’s so incredible for picking something that’s important to him and making it something that provides for his family,” Reine Bayoc said. “You’re at your best when you doing exactly what you want to do.”

Like her daughter, Reine Bayoc is thankful that the project leaves him time to be an involved parent. And a devoted husband.

“What I like to do with Cbabi is walk through the park when the children are at school,” Reine Bayoc said. “It’s quiet and we can hold hands and act like we’re child-free and work-free for the moment.”

As our visit neared its end, Reine Bayoc called her husband, by his full name, into the living room for pictures: “Cbabi Bayoc, can you come here please?”

And from the kitchen, in an amused tone tinged with love, Bayoc obliged: “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be right there.”