kodak moment: the day inigo wished to become a pedicab driver

i've already blogged about inigo's pretend plays here. i thought it will stop when he turned four but i was wrong as the more he's into imagining things lately and he uses different media to make them close to reality. the megabloks still remain as one of his favorite toys and it's quite amusing to see him that after watching a tv program (mostly in playhouse disney channel since it's the only channel i allowed him to watch) he'd immediately rush to their play room and play with his blocks to copy what he saw in tv.

he's also very fascinated with how some things around him operate. one time while we were driving along the streets of makati the pedicab caught his attention and as soon as we got back home the kiddo assembled his own pedicab using his own bicycle and one of our dining chairs. i was doing something upstairs when he called me and showed his own pedicab, complete with roof! hehe.

when i asked what he wished to be when he grow up, inigo quickly answered, "i want to drive a pedicab!" :D

guess what he did to connect his bicycle to the chair?

inigo used my skip rope to tie his bike to the sidecar, este, chair

 

kodak moment : inigo played hopscotch

thanks to special agent oso, inigo was introduced to hopscotch or piko. it was one sunny afternoon when out of the blue, inigo told his daddy that he wanted to try it as he saw how it's being played in playhouse disney channel. jude obliged to his wish and drew the 'course' in the parking area outside our apartment. we picked a small rock to serve as inigo's pato. it was fun watching him hopping and skipping as i never thought the game which i loved to play when i was a kid will be now played by my own. and i was happy as well that my son is interested with outdoor games like hopscotch since most of the kids now are alien to this kind of activities.

now only if he has a playmate to enjoy the game with... :(

inigo picking up his pato

 

uh-oh... missed again!

 

"only one foot inigo... don't step on your pato" - mommy

 

funny move :D

 

"go back now and get your pato" - mommy

on savings and investment

a blog dedicated to these topics is what am working on right now. only a few many know that am economics graduate and i love to discuss about opportunity costs and trade-offs.

but let me share it also here... because now i realized i have to put up my defences...

SAVINGS

yes, jude and i save a lot and in whatever form we save for the kid's college education... we save for our retirement... we save for emergencies.... we save because we have to save:

- because blessings may not always be this good. we have all heard of retrenchment or personal crisis and its the family, especially the kids who always suffer. whenever my friends comment on how savings-conscious we are this is what i always say: jude has a good job right now but we never know until when he will hold this job. it's stewardship that we practice.

- because emergencies may happen any time. unlike in his previous company, me and the little boys are no longer covered by hospital insurance (that's the trade-off...), we have health cards but only for outpatient cases. *knock on wood* in case one of us gets ill, i don't want to stress ourselves more by desperately borrowing money from our relatives and friends.

- because we want to sustain our living until we grow old. this is the reason which i brought up with jude when i told him that we save a percentage of his net pay. i know our kids love us but we love them as well, and part of that loving is giving them wings which we hope not to clip because of their responsibilities for us. soon they will also grow up and marry and the cycle continues. jude and i know very well the overwhelming duties in parenting and i want my kids to just focus and devote more of their resources to their families.

- because we also want to enjoy life... someone told me before that we save to travel and i agree with his point, "kelan pa? kapag matanda na kayo at parusa na maglakad ng isang kilometro?" so we save to pay for the airfare and the other expenses involve in a trip. in exchange for this, we're content with simple gadgets (i never held an ipod, blackberry, wii, etc.).

INVESTMENT

the hamilo coast club membership

oh yes, we're proud members of this premier, exclusive resort in nasugbu, batangas. jude is enjoying a club membership allowance from his company and he's expected to use it for club membership... and that's we did! it's not only a matter of prestige and enjoyment for us, but on top of this we're thinking that this is a good investment vehicle. we can force ourselves to save, let the club share's value go up and we sell it after some years. we're still thinking of what we can do with the proceeds if ever but using it as capitalization for a business, so i can have other option aside from going back to an office job, is a very nice idea.

you may have seen my posts in facebook about hamilo coast as we alredy like to have a little return on investment (ROI) as early as now.

real property

jude and i are on a lookout for another house and lot near makati (because prices of makati properties are really prohibitive for us). we already searched high and low for a property within our budget and i hope God will give us one.

we're leasing now our house in laguna and our plan is to keep it, not only because we love the place and the house, but because it's so hard to sell it.

we seriously considered early this year that we will move back and live in laguna but it's really not feasible. first and formost, jude has an agreeement with his big boss that his house must only be 20-minutes away from the office. so for the meantime we just really had to rent and yes, lease rate in makati is expensive, php 15k exactly for our apartment. some of our friends say it's exorbitant but when i computed to them the everyday gas and toll if ever jude will drive from laguna and back the amount will total to 11k... and yes, the pagod!

but of course we also feel that the rent money is sayang so we thought now of getting another property which will be in our name after 15 years. anyway, jude has another benefit of subsidized interest rate for any housing loan he will get thru the company. this will help us a lot in paying the monthly amortization.

***

i only wish to put into detail how we go about with our finances as i think there's a need to... but if in the process i was able to inspire you to go for your financial goals, am happy that i was of help. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is our blog...

but basically, this is my blog... this is my journal... my outlet... whatever i write here may give a glimpse of my life, but not the whole picture. i am a happy person and i try to be as happy as much as i can but it doesn't mean that when i only talk about tribulations and celebrations, my life is all rosy. i just don't dwell on my problems too much. i just count my blessings and sometimes gets too excited to blog about it.

my life, our married life has a lot of struggles but we only relied mostly on ourselves to win from them. we also had sleepless nights (lots of it) as i don't really like bothering other people. though i didn't talk about it, it doesn't mean that it should be downplayed. it's probably i earned the monicker 'supermom' among my peers as they how my life was.

i talk about good life but there were trade-offs and sacrifices behind it, jude knows how i master our budget and to insert something means i have to remove something. if you see us enjoying it may also mean we were depriving our family with other things.

i also had to accept that i cannot be of help to everybody. until now i feel sad that my father passed away without having a taste of all of luxuries of life. it hurts but whenever this pain is nagging me i just recall the time when he said that "he's already happy when he sees me and my family happy."

but in all these, i never complained nor had regrets because it's MY CHOICE. i chose that i leave the corporate world and take care of my kids round-the-clock... i chose that we live a simple life to give way for once-in-a-while enjoyment. we set our choices, we set our priorities.

and i am thankful until now that God made it possible as when the time that i was already crying to jude that i can no longer juggle work, house chores and taking care of inigo that time (plus the fact that just i leave him with an almost stranger, a labandera to be exact) jude was given a job with income that could also cover my lost income--just what we prayed for!

this is our life and i had nothing to explain. by next week, jude and i will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and we will renew our vows and look back ito the commitment we made with moral obligation of keeping each other as husband and wife, and extend this goodness to our children. i guess jude and i's accountability is only bounded within...

from thomas the tank to handy manny

i remember when i was a kid and E.T. (the movie which became a hit in early 80's was the "it" thing during those days. my mother bought me an E.T doll which i became so fond of that i forgot that i have other and better-looking dolls. it's must probably because of the movie which i have watched a lot of times which made me love it for some time.

now that am a mother myself i also try to spoil my kids  a little by buying them some items of their favorite characters. i also get amuse at how kids, particularly my eldest kid, change his loyalty as he grows up and gets exposed to more fictional or cartoon characters.

it was only last year that he was soooo into thomas the tank. aside from toy shops, we also frequent the characters section in landmark or SM for other thomas the tank merchandises.

trying out the thomas the tank pajama set and cap which he got as gifts last christmas

but obviiously, it's not only inigo who's fond of this character. on the day that i was discharged from the hospital where i gave birth to theo, a lady approached jude in the lobby while i was in the restroom. the lady is the mom of the kid who we earlier saw and we thought shares the same age with inigo. we found it funny that the kiddo also has the same thomas the tank backpack, cap and watch which inigo was wearing that time, both of them are holding thomas the tank toy train engine too. :)

but what's more funny is the other boy's name is also inigo! hehehe. it's the reason why the mommy approached jude, to ask if our kid's name is indeed "inigo" as he heard us calling our son's name in the lobby.

after thomas, inigo became fond of lightning mcqueen (from the movie cars) though their love story is only short-lived. :) it's only this year that i allowed him to watch the dvd of cars that's why he's quite a 'late-bloomer' on this character.

it's buzz lightyear (from toy story movies) which he has a strong bonding that he brings his toy (the buzz lightyear action figure we gifted to him thru santa) wherever we go. it's like woody for andy, and the only thing lacking is his name imprinted on one of the soles of buzz's shoes. uhm, he actually planned to do it... ;)

aside from buzz lightyear, inigo's other crazes right now are special agent oso and handy manny. he likes the adventures and gadgets oso are having while he likes the job and tools of manny... he even imagined himself as manny when i bought him his own set of tools and put them in his own tool box. his daddy fed his imagination more when he asked the tot to wear his helmet and safety glasses - inigo was thrilled!!!

he didn't remove these even after we jogged that day in the fort and strolled in piazza venezzia afterwards. inigo was obviously tickled pink whenever people are looking at him while we were having dinner and i tell him that they think he;s handy manny... abot tenga ngiti! hihi.

inigo unmindful of the inconvenience of wearing his daddy's helmet while walking :P

"us" time

i am happy that jude and i are now going out regularly as a couple ONLY; no preschooler to chase and no infant to carry. we do this two times a month as my 20-year old cousin stays with us every other sunday to get her allowance for school. i always seize this opportunity since we really don't like leaving the kids with our househelp especially at nigh, there must always be a relative around.

we're usually away for two to three hours and  must be back before midnight as experience taught us that theo wakes up around this time and cries incessantly when am not around, making me only guilty over our pleasure date, which should not be the case since jude and i really need a break from them. we don't go far anyway. our rule is our 'dating ground' should only be 15 mins. away from home and this only allows us to watch a movie in the nearest mall along pasong tamo or chill out in a bar which is actually many near our house.

the last date or gimmick we had was two sundays ago and jude brought me to a grill and bar along jupiter st. which is only 5 mins away from our house, if traffic is light and flowing. and should i say that we had a great time! too bad that am strill restricted from drinking booze or liquors (as if i was a tomadera before. hehehe) because i still nurse theo.

this only made me miss my pre-wedding days when jude and i didn't care at all for babies and breastmilk. we enjoyed pretty much our single days since the mountaineering group we belong in is very active in gimmicks and drinking sprees... 'di ba jah and mareng lui? hehehe.

 

our little handyman

look who's daddy's little helper...

yep, it's our four-year old inigo. jude called him one morning and asked him if he wanted to help him clean our trooper (i sometimes ask jude to involve our eldest in his tasks if he could since he often gets bored inside the house which makes me want to shoo him away :D) and of course, the little boy who's always excited to do big boys' jobs was fast to say "yes!"

i decided to take pictures because i found it cute, hihi. but one more reason why i took photos is to have something to show him when he's already big and uhm, lazy, that once upon a time he was his daddy's little helper. :)

but it's just last sunday, when i got back from the flea market, that jude showed me cuter pictures of inigo with our trooper...

inigo is thinking he's handy manny since i bought him some toy-tools from divi and even have his own tool box just like his daddy's.

o 'di ba? as if it's for real! :D

fish be with him

inigo told me one day that he wanted to have a pet fish. i told this to jude as soon as he got home from work. it was more of sharing to him our eldest son's latest fancy rather than pleading since i knew that having a pet in the house spells another responsibility for me... as if two little boys are not enough! but little did i know that it was the daddy who was more excited to have a pet for his boys that's why the following saturday found us in cartimar looking for a small fish bowl ('fish bowl of elmo' was how jude described it to the store owners, haha) and the fishes which we will put inside it.

inigo was so happy. we bought two goldfishes since jude said it's the easiest to maintain. it should only be one but it's me who pushed him to buy two because i felt that even fish needs a company. hehe. we 'christened them inigo fish and theo fish - how orig! hahaha!

well, even theo seemed to love the fishes. just look at his grin...

inigo was very good in taking care and/or feeding the fishes on the first few days. but now... he doesn't even bother to look at them! :-/ sometimes i call his attention and tell him that the fishes are hungry. he tells me in return, "feed them mommy, they might die..." hmpf!

 

kodak moments: the drawing and the wrestling

inigo loves to draw our family. the first ever family picture he had drawn is still in my keeping until now.

but it's just the other day that he drew a picture which made my heart leaped. this was done spontaneously and i knew somehow that it was prompted by his brotherly love...

it's inigo and theo in this picture

i had to get a camera and take photos since it was only drawn in a magnetic board and will be gone in just one swiping.

later that day i again saw him wrestling with his baby brother...

it's only then that i realized the purpose of inigo's drawing. i probably need to have it framed and hanged in all the walls of our house... nice idea, eh?

mossimo grand go-see 2010: my major rant/complaint

i'm sorry that i have to reactivate my multiply site by starting with these grievances. but as a parent i really felt we were cheated and somehow exploited by the organizers of the grand go-see last sunday and i felt i should do something about it. it's our first time to join such casting calls. some of  you may know that am not fond of joining this auditions no matter how some people push me to join one for inigo (humility aside) because we don't have the patience for the whole ordeal of queuing and casting. but i joined this one because i thought it will be convenient for all of us particularly for the little tot.

to give you a background, i saw here in multiply last june the announcement that mossimo is in search for its next print-ad models. as stated in their mechanics, i sent the pictures of inigo thru the my fame and fortune multiply site and waited for their invitation for the go-see. we had one. the process of joining was clearly stated in their invite that's why i decided that we push thru with the audition. but this didn't happen and we arrived and left festival-mall's mini-trade hall totally disappointed.

here's my draft letter, i wish to submit this soon to whatever government agency/ies responsible for such events.

***

_______

_______

This is to raise my concerns regarding the Mossimo Baby Grand Go-See which happened last 4^th of July 2010 in Mini-Trade Hall, Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. I received an invitation (attached) from one of the organizers of the event, My Fame and Fortune agency, more than a week earlier for the go-see for my son, Inigo Bustamante. It was mentioned in the invitation that we only need to register between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm and be back by 1:30 pm and wait for our designated number to be called for the casting. We arrived at the venue past 11:00 am and I was surprised and dismayed to learn that more than 1,000 kids aged one to four years old were invited for the one-day go-see. But I since I still had faith on the process mentioned in the invite I continued on with the registration and my son was number 434.  We took one of the limited seats provided inside the venue and waited for the casting to begin. Please take note that I was also with my nine-month old son who I decided to bring along since he’s still breastfed, and my cousin who I tagged along to help me with my kids.

 Twenty-minutes had passed when I became curious on what was going on the other side of the hall so I decided to check what we were missing. I realized that the photo shoot for the kids have had already started in one of the corners of the hall but to my shock there was a long queue which the invitees had to brave so they can get their chance for the photo shoot. It was now more appalling for me since; 1. the long queue was not mentioned in the invitation, and 2. we were not also informed by the people in the registration that we had to line up for the photo shoot. I spoke to a lady, the only one who was manning the photo shoot , and she told me that it only takes several seconds for each kid to get his/her picture taken so I can expect that the line will move fast. But we queued for almost three hours. It was almost 3:00 p.m. when we approached the improvised studio which the organizers set up in the other end of the hall. Some of the kids I saw who were standing in line along with their parents were already cranky and crying; some already fell asleep on the arms of their parents. I felt that both parents and kids were exploited in that event.

 After my son’s turn for the shoot, we were left clueless again on what to do next. There were not enough personnel to man the event and most, if not all, of the invitees were left to fend for themselves like getting the print-out of the picture and giving it to the judges.  It is only when I asked one of the guards that I learned that we have to wait again for our turn to hand my son’s picture to the judges and be screened; and this process of waiting and screening will take another hour or so. I can see the crowd camping outside the room where the judges are seeing the kids from where we stood. The place was in utter disorder and no one was controlling the crowd to think that were some small kids. At this point I decided that we leave the  place as I  can no longer let my kids (including my baby who was waiting outside the hall with my cousin) to wait longer and suffer. We left home not only disappointed that we didn’t meet our goal for that day but more than this, we felt we were cheated because the whole process of auditioning or casting was not what they stated in the invitation. We acted based on the information given to us.  It was our first time to join a go-see or a casting call and the reason why I let my son join is because I thought the whole process will be convenient for him.

Hence; I am writing to your office to inform you of what I consider as exploitation.  I also want to raise these other issues, in particular:

• With the expected number of kids joining the go-see, not to mention the parents or guardians who will be accompanying them, the organizers should have allotted more than one day for the event to fairly accommodate all the invitees. Also, the venue was obviously small for the expected crowd. The density of the people was heavier than what have should been allowed that in case a commotion happened, stampede is likely to follow. Worse, there were not enough seats provided for the parents and the kids. Some were already sitting on the hallway of the mall.

• The event was undermanned to properly organize, inform, and secure the public. I don’t have enough attached pictures to prove this but I can attest how a lot of people—adults and kids alike were clustered in some of the areas as they wait for their turn since the announcements were not clearly audible.

 

I hope this letter will merit appropriate actions from your end. I have no intentions of joining again the casting call but I think it's my responsibility as a parent to report such misconduct and/or poor event management especially when there are small kids involved . Should you inquire further on my complaint, you may reach me at this number __________ or email address _________.  Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

MARIE GRACE BUSTAMANTE

Concerned Parent

***

below is the only picture i was able to capture during the actual photo shoot of inigo. my son, i think it's the same with the other kids, was only given maximum of 10 seconds in front of the camera and one shot from the photographer and... that's it!  i was glad that inigo cooperated and posed and smiled. had he been like the other kids who after waiting for two hours or more for their breaks were already fussy or weren't uncooperative at all i think i would have cried. hehe.

sayang ang smile noh? :)

giving the best of both worlds? / homeschool and progressive school for inigo

i really wanted to homeschool inigo. i have shared enough reasons here why homeschooling is our choice for his early education. but never did i realize that it is really a big and daunting take especially now that i have another kid to take care of. it really takes commitment and discipline and sadly i wasn't blessed with these.

then there's the nagging issue of socialization. critics of homeschooling opined that parents who homeschool their kids deprive them of their chance to socialize with their peers and the life's lessons that go with regular schooling. honestly i succumbed to this and it was a huge factor why jude and i decided to send inigo to a preschool last school year. fortunately, a regular school worked well for him and we saw the big change in the kiddo's socialization skill.

so when the start of school year 2010-2011 was drawing near it was automatic for us to decide to enroll inigo again to another preschool, a progressive preschool to be exact, because i know, even if i wanted to homeschool inigo full-time and rely on our spur-of-the-moment learning activities, i can't. it's our child's development which is at stake.

finding a preschool is another difficult task for us. (geez... i realized nothing is really easy if it involves our kids... and if money is also taken into consideration, hehe). we wanted to stick with his old preschool in legaspi village, which is also a progressive one. but they increased their tuition for this school year and what's already high and expensive becomes more prohibitve for us. the tuition for 2-3x a week schedule is now at whopping php 50-70k for one school year. they have a right though to collect such big amount from the parents because facilities-wise the school is way above standard. but the tuition is really beyond our budget so we had no choice but to transfer inigo.

finally after many phone calls and inquiries and several visits to different schools we enrolled inigo in kids playlab preschool, which is located 3 blocks away from our current address. it's a progressive school, something i really wanted since i knew that their personalized and student-centered, no-rush-for-the-kid approach doesn't clash with my homeschooling principles. it's also important for me that at my kid's age i don't want him to be labeled and ranked among his classmates because it (whether it's favorable or not) might affect his disposition early in life. inigo by the way is attending 2x a week. in between these days i supplement his learning by discussing to him what has just been taught in their school or  any topic which he's interested to learn. i wanted him to realize that learning  may also be done beyond the four corners of their classroom. we call this moments as 'learning time' and i love it when inigo asks me if he can learn. it's like music to my ears. :)

stolen shot by jude of me (in my so drabby outfit, hehe) and inigo during one of our homeschooling sessions

inigo is now into reading. he can now read some words in his dr. seuss' green eggs and ham and hop and pop books. i thought i can defer reading to him until he's five or six years old but after learning the sounds of the letters he enthused to read. he's very good in numbers. more than rote counting one to 100, i taught him to also identify and write the numbers. the chart had been useful though inigo gets bored with charts so the tv channels, elevators, calendars were more helpful.

but it's science which inigo is very interested and eager to learn. he can name most animals and their youngs. he can discuss the solar system and name the planets according to their location from the sun. he can say something about the eruption of volcanoes and what it spew out.

i really have no idea if inigo knows less or more compared to other kids his age since i already stopped having a benchmark or a standard which he should meet. am just happy that he continuously learn and with enthusiasm.

it's enough for me now.

theo at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 months :)

it was five months ago since i posted an update here in multiply about baby theo - jude and I's little bundle of joy who's making our lives now happily crazy as we often find ourselves shrieking at one moment and laughing at his antics or naughty smiles afterwhich.

from a squirming infant which he was theo is now near toddler stage and mind you, he's already quite terrible. hihi.

 theo at 6th month:  sniffle for the first time

blame it on the scorching heat last summer and the dusts which polluted our air when we moved into this apartment whil the other units were being renovated; the little boys and i all had upper respiratory problems (it's only now i learned that this means the infection is only viral) during and after holy week. if kuya inigo and i had coughs, poor little theo had cold and runny nose which made him quite miserable for more than a week. it was only after a consultation with their pediatrician and  taking  the  prescribed medicine that he got better. it wasn't really about the cold that i was really concerned of since i knew it was only viral  and will go away eventually, but it was the breastfeeding strike that he did for two days! he had a hard time sucking because of his clogged nostrils and the only way he could suck, but only for a brief moment, is to cradle-carry him before i give him his milk-source. because of this my milk supply also dwindled and the more i  became worried because i knew that it's breastmilk or any fluid that can help him recover from his malady. it was really a test of faith but eventually things went back to normalcy and my baby bilog was well again, :)

 

theo at 7th month:  his first taste of solid food

i followed our pediatrician's advice to introduce solid foods only after theo turned six months. it's also the recommendation of baby experts worldwide especially if allergies run in the family's health history, which is really the case in our family.

am also extra careful with what my boys eat during their infancy; no processed foods and all natural, as much as possible. so for his first meals, theo had fresh fruits, veggies, and root crops. among his favorites are sweet potato, papaya, and banana. when i say 'favorites' it means he eats them with gusto, with mouth wide-opened and eyes sparkling with delight whenever i feed him. while there are foods which are just 'okay' for him; he eats but he's not very fond of like broccoli, chayote, squash, and carrot.  he also has his own share of 'hate foods' like apple, avocado, and oats. the harder i shove a spoonful of these to his mouth the tighter he purses his lips. :D

 

okay... okay... i drafted this blog two months ago and things have changed now. theo now likes almost everything that i put in his bowl even my combo meals of rice cereal and broccoli, rice cereal and malunggay leaves, oatmeal and avocado, mango and applesauce, etc.

 

 

 

it's also at 7th month (theo was 6 months and 2 weeks to be exact) when he first crawled. i saw him one night on our bed pushing his body forward using his knees with his bottom stuck out on air, something i find so funny!

 

theo at 8th month:  great moves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

since theo already knew how to maneuver his body, it was already easy for him to shift from one position to another, including sitting position. he also became comfortable with his crawling that he can now roam around our room using his arms and legs. this was even made possible when jude decided to put our mattress flat on the floor to avoid more--as theo already had--falls.

 

theo at 9th month:  those two front teeth...

 

it really took its sweet time before it erupted. his kuya inigo had his first tooth when he was seven months and one week old so i guessed that theo will have his first pearl around that age too. but theo turned seven... eight... and nine months and there's still no sign of teething except for excessive drooling and fussiness at night which i was no longer sure if it's indeed related to teething or just normal behaviour for babies. but it was our last visit to his pediatrician (3rd saturday of june) when we felt his lower gums were swollen and two teeth were ready to come out. finally our long wait is over and it only took a few more days when two teeth sprouted!  we were so happy for theo. gone now are his toothless smiles. :)

 

 

 

theo at 10th month:  he's all naughty and nice

 

he's now practicing to stand up with the help of anything he can hold onto - a skill which he discovered since the past month. but theo lately is making our hands full with his spirited personality. we sometimes see him being tossed by his big brother and he doesn't seem to mind as he knows how to fight back with his now fully-sprouted two front teeth. yep... we sometimes see him biting inigo when he gets pissed off. :D

 

 

but it's also those teeth i admit which make theo sooo adorable every time he giggles now or smiles...

 

 

 

other developments

- theo's weight gain wasn't as significant as before. he was weighing 8.4 kilos (from 7.9 kilos last february) during the time we brought him for his baby-wellness check-up last march. but it went down to 8.1 lbs after he had a cold and declared a nursing strike. though he regained the pounds he shed off but it took a while. theo was weighing 8.8 lbs when we went back again to his pediatrician last june. i wasn't happy about it but the doctor assured me that he's still on the heavy side since 9 kilos is already the average weight for one-year olds and theo was only turning nine months then.

 

- he's not afraid of the water! theo loves the pool and the sea. his first swim... err, dip in the pool happened last summer and lo and behold, he enjoyed the experience! :)

 

- his hair has now grown... do i need to say more? :D

 

 

 

what's new with us?

...quite a few but big and important.

fireworks display from another building on the eve of our lipat-bahay. the whole block is celebrating for our departure. hehe.

first, we have a new residence. we moved out last march 27th from the condo building which we rented for over a year. i thought we're already experts when it comes to lipat-bahay since the flat was already our fourth house within our four years of marriage (can you believe it?) but still, it was stressful. probably because aside from the things that need to be packed and unpacked, there are two kids which we also have to attend to. we also didn't hire any professional lipat-bahay service since we're just going to move to an apartment which is only a few kilometers away and we thought that our ever-dependable isuzu trooper can carry all of them, but not at the same time though. i just want to thank jude's bestfriend--dylan--who helped jude for two saturdays in transfering all our things (including the ref!) to our new abode.

i must also thank my family as they were also a big help to us during those times. my mother visited us on the first saturday of our transfer to help me in taking care of theo. after her, it's my ate who helped us in cleaning the two-storey apartment. actually, she almost did the entire job! :D

i really hope that our next transfer will be the last one since it's never fun but all stress. our current now as i've said is a two-storey apartment, the first unit in a row of four along chino roces ave. we're renting it again and as early as now we can already say that we won't renew the contract next year. we had bigger plans than that. the reason why we move to an apartment is mainly because we wanted a bigger space for the kids and also to have a garage or parking space which is very accessible for us. aside from that we also had a lot issues with condo living and that includes the exorbitant monthly water bill.

though i sometimes miss our old residence, especially my almost everyday troop to greenbelt/landmark/glorietta (hehe), am also beginning to like now our new house. it can  accommodate all our things including those that are still in our house in laguna, the kids can enjoy another room as their designated play area, i can also employ a stay-in househelp if i wanted to, and it's also  very near a major supermarket so grocery-shopping now is never a problem. in fact, i can even ask one of the male baggers to lug the grocery bags for me up to our house in exchange for a few bucks. :D

***

another one that's new with us is our househelp.--yey, finally! i was really adamant to have a helper as soon as we transfer since a bigger space means a bigger house to clean, right? our new househelp just started this week (that's why am now blogging) and so far so good .she was referred to me by one of the crew of the salon near our house and since she lives a few blocks away i agreed that she goes home every night as long as her tasks are finished. i actually like this set-up better so we can still have a little privacy.

i hope she's really good (in all aspects) AND she stays with us long. but i really don't expect it would be that long like more than a year since she has two small kids left in the province. but for now i will enjoy these moments that am not obliged to cook every meal time, press all our clothes, clean every nook of our house, and at the same time taking care of my little boys who really matter to me the most.

theo at 5 months

theo or "baby bilog", as i fondly call him nowadays, turned five months last march 4th. he's still the happy and bubbly baby that we all love but i have observed that he's becoming clingy lately. though not as clingy as his kuya iñigo was but theo is now  demanding for our attention and wants to be carried always. ugh! he reacts whenever i put him down in his crib and it takes a while for him to be pacified. but it doesn't take long and he demands to be carried again.

he also prefers me laying down beside him during his slumber time. worse, he wants me to put one of my arms around him when he's sleeping instead of him lying down on his tummy. hello backpains!

but i realized that theo is just telling us that he, too, has emotional needs which we need to fill. he now cries when we disappear from his sight without any warning, especially if that happens in the middle of our bonding activities. he likes to be carried always as he likes to see us moving inside the house. so the daddy now wears him (yeah, i admit, he's better than me when it comes to babywearing) and it's amusing to see theo quiet inside the sling; his eyes busy with whatever his daddy is doing. this tells us that the baby just wants to get involved in our daily ritual... amazing isn't it? :)

party boy theo attending the first birthday party of his cousin zandy in pixie forest, festival mall, alabang; with him in this picture is lola babes (jude's aunt).

development and milestones

- his weight gain for the past four weeks tapered as he only gained additional 600 grams. but i think theo who's 4 1/2 months during the time he was weighed is still very heavy at 7.8 kilos. he's still exclusively breastfed until now and when i say "exclusive" it means he takes no other milk or liquid, including water and vitamins. breastfeeding not only gives us a healthy baby but saves us thousands of pesos as well.

- he can see farther now, up to three meters i think. i realized this when jude was carrying him from the door of our bedroom while i was in the kitchen cooking lunch... our eyes met and he gave me a big smile and gestured that he wanted me to get him from his daddy. he also now pays attention to colorful objects, aside from those with red-black-white patterns. and most of all, theo loves to look at the mirror and is fascinated with his own image. :)

- one of the milestones he achieved lately is using of his hand to reach out. now he knows what else he can do with his hand aside from putting it inside his mouth. :) theo has entered the age of discoveries as i sometimes see him gazing at his fingers, toes or any object that he can grab within his reach with so much fascination, only to shove it inside his mouth, probably to also know how it tastes like. hehehe.

- he now turns and rolls faster than he did a month ago. he's also trying to do some push ups but with his heavy load, he could only lift his body an inch. hahaha.

..less than a month from now and theo can already eat solid foods. he is already showing interests to eat but i think he has to wait for many more months before he could get a share of his cake, a monthly treat for his month-birthday but it's he--the celebrator--who cannot eat. hehehe.

the report that made us parents very proud

i received a six-page report from iñigo's teacher last friday. it's a progress report, the first and the last for iñigo for the school year since he just joined in her class november of last year. i was anxious to see it because i really had no idea what's going on inside the classroom since the day i decided to stop lurking outside and immediately leave the school premises as soon as i dropped him off.

the first two pages of the report are in narrative form and it reads (excerpts only)...

"...academically you (the report is addressed to iñigo) excel in reading readiness and math readiness skills. you know the names of the letters of the alphabet as well as their letter sounds. what you do not know, you absorb very quickly during class discussions. you have mastered identifying numbers 1 to 12. we have already begun to learn how to tell time by the hour. it is remarkable you grasp our daily concepts so easily. that's amazing, iñigo! this skill will surely benefit you when you move on to a big school.

i have noticed you have opened your doors to making friends with your classmates. 

...i am amused with your quiet conversations with swiss, marco, and andy while waiting for your name to be called.

the last trimester, i have watched you grow more independent, more involved with school activities. it also seems as though as you have grown happier about coming to school. your enthusiasm in the classroom is quite contagious which help others become more enthusiastic too. i love the way you smile when you get excited about everything be it worksheets, art projects, or playground time. it is also great that you have eagerness to learn..."

iñigo strutting his stuff during their circle time

the remaining pages discussed what they--all the three teachers--have observed and haven't  observed on our son based on the checklist they have provided, so typically it's all about iñigo's strengths and weaknesses and if he has already achieved the milestones for a three-year old.

all in all, the report made jude and i very proud about our eldest son's achievements in school. everything that the head teacher wrote about iñigo were all positive. this prompted me to schedule a one-on-one consultation last monday with teacher celes, the head teacher, as i was thinking she may probably missed out or deliberately removed the not-so-good things to say about my son and since i still have plans of homeschooling iñigo i want to probe further on the areas which need improvement. and lo and behold... there's almost none! :D teacher celes and i only had a brief discussion as she had nothing else to say about iñigo but praises. she started by saying that we have a very smart boy and he picks up (the lessons and instructions) very fast. i thought my ears were clapping that time! hahaha. she was also surprised that iñigo didn't have a hard time adjusting in school despite the fact that he only comes to class 2 to 3 times a week. it even made me prouder upon hearing that teacher celes had nothing against iñigo's behavior in school as my son listens (i couldn't believe this! hehe) and he knows how to share--two of the typical concerns she has with the other kids.

...and yes, she loves my son's eagerness and enthusiasm in the activities they are doing especially when they are off to the playground and iñigo will shout with one arm up "let's go now, classmates!" i can't believe she's talking about my son as he was really timid before especially when he's swarmed with bigger kids. iñigo has definitely came out from his shell and is a big boy now. though his teacher said that there's still a trace of that little boy in him as he's not confident sometimes of trying new things but with just a little encouragement from the teachers, he abides and iñigo is usually left euphoric with his new accomplishments like the first time he wrote his name and it was really a big deal for him as he told each of his classmates and teachers that he was able to write his own name--awesome! hahaha.

teacher celes also mentioned that he needs more concentration but she was quick to explain that it's probably because the tot is just overwhelmed with the many things he can do in school as he only comes a few days a week.

after ten minutes of discussion (i also brought up the fears iñigo has lately) teacher celes concluded the consultation by saying that iñigo is almost ready for big school.

and lastly, am sure it's not part of the progress report but teacher celes probably couldn't resist not to say that iñigo is very pogi... :) i almost laughed when she added that "i have a one-year old niece but she's still too young... probably when they are older..." nyek! hehehe.

their moving up day (sort of graduation day) is scheduled next week and i can't wait to see iñigo with his classmates doing a dance number. the whole family will surely be there to cheer for kuya iñigo. :)

 

 

 

 

chiquito, megabloks and inigo's pretend plays (a very late post)

i will fail as a mom if i don't post this... :)

***

having a three-year old in the house can be quite amusing. it's because i sometimes find myself in the company of anyone or anything that iñigo has wished to be. his imagination really runs wild these days and i let him give in and turn our small abode into a fantasyland.

in just a span of one hour iñigo can be an elephant, a train engine, a trailer truck, and a  fastfood crew. and how can i forget the time when he imagined himself as a refrigerator and he asked for his sweater as he was feeling cold... :D

iñigo pretending to be a rocket with the help of theo's bolster pillow

inigo as a sports commentator

now meet chiquito...

i can't recall where we got this toy... it's like an action figure which iñigo is now fond of playing with especially with his megabloks - a gift from his ninang leah for his 3rd birthday. it's jude who 'christened' it with the name chiquito since it's face shares a resemblance with the late comedy actor (circa 70's). :) since then inigo made it as part of his daily tasks to make sure chiquito is not neglected and also entertained.

chiquito spending some time in front of a TV

inigo always makes sure that chiquito has a space to sit on...

the OC mom in me sometimes gets annoyed with his mess everytime he does pretend plays; the bolster pillows snatched from his baby brother's crib, the dining chairs removed where they were and arranged as a train engine and coaches, the cups and bins scattered on the floor to be part of his castle... am always tempted to put them away and tidy up inigo's mess but it's probably the loving mom in me which reminds me that it's all part of childhood and those mess are what's making my son smart and happy. :)

kodak moment: iñigo and theo bonding together

i left the boys on the bed for a quick trip to the restroom and this is what i found when i came back to the room... something which made me grab my celfone for its camera...

...babaw but i think every parent will really be overjoyed upon seeing her kids bonding together and it made me wish that i can do magic and freeze time so i don't have to be concerned with sibling rivalry, jealousy, fight over the same toy... or girl? 'wag naman po... hehe.

the joys which parenthood can bring... :)