time will come that i will already forget all about these so please let me post them while i still can...
“i’m so hungry, mommy! my tummy’s hurting… let’s eat donuts?” - upon seeing the mister donut outlet in front of our building. take note, we just had our breakfast before we went down.
it was two saturdays ago when we dipped again in the pool but this time we were with the family of dylan, jude’s bestfriend. after serving as iñigo’s lifeguard for one hour or so, i asked one of the girls of dylan, hannah, to replace me while i swim in the bigger pool for a few minutes. but it didn’t take long and i went back to the kiddie pool as i saw iñigo, without his floaters on, swimming alone (and enjoying his new learned skill!) while hannah who took fun of teaching him how to swim was a feet away—horrors! i immediately grabbed his torso as soon as i reached him but to my dismay iñigo shoved me and cried, “go to other side (of the pool), mommy!” the little boy wanted me to get back to my own business as i interfere with his’! i told this story to jude who wasn’t in the pool area that time and both of us laughed about it. but i took this incident seriously and marked it as a sign that my son is now starting to build his own world. *sniffs*
i should be happy and mighty proud that at his age iñigo can already and would insist to do most of the things on his own. we’d often hear him now saying, “iñigo/me only!” whenever there’s a task to be done, and he’s also quick to remind us whenever we get in his way as he’d say, “no! (on) my own!” he really feels he’s a big boy now and thinks that all things are possible without my or his daddy’s help. and because of this milestone that i now feel am becoming irrelevant for my son. if not for the hugs he asks before he goes to sleep at night i would already tender my resignation to jude as the mom of his son. hahaha.
but i still wonder why iñigo never fails to ask me for “help, please?” when it’s time to keep his toys away. hehe.
iñigo in one of his fish-feeding moments in greenbelt. he feels it's his task to feed the fish everyday =)
i made a little experimentaton lately because i made up this conclusion that iñigo became aggresive and hyperactive now that he had longer tv (more of dvd shows actually) hours. but it wasn't late when i realized the other change in his tv viewing habit--he watches toy story 2 more frequently for the past weeks, everyday actually as he's fond of the characters in the movie. and true enough, after he watched the movie one morning and i observed him to be violent as he kicked me, pulled my hair, attempted to ride my back, etc. i asked him why he was doing it and he answered, "like the donkey in toy story"... bingo! the dvd is now in the trash can.
i now have second thoughts if i will still let watch iñigo the other hollywood-made animated movies which we also have dvds of like chicken little, ratatouille, madagascar 2, and cars (i collect them! haha). though they are marketed for children there are some scenes in these movies which i think my son is not yet ready to see.
now iñigo is back to his old favorites like maisy mouse, pooh, and backyardigans. these are also my favorites for him because i observed that he imitates the characters here and pretends that he's like or among them. but still, i limit his dvd-watching to 2-3 dvd shows a day and that's only less than 2 hours of viewing time, enough time for me to tidy up the house or cook our lunch. hehe.
***
as for tv programs, iñigo isn't much a viewer of these since even me or jude is not fond of watching tv nowadays, except for news or our favorite reality shows. but even with little exposure, iñigo already made up a collection of his favorite commercials, such as...
camella homes - bulilit... bulilit... sanay sa masikip... iñigo fell in love with this commercial, or should i say jingle, the first time he heard it. he puts a smile on his face everytime it's being played or i sing it personally for him. he also tries to sing the song sometimes. but there's nothing more amusing when he tries to copy that boy in the commercial--making small steps sideways as if he's sandwiched between two walls. =D
LBC - spell remittance? =) oh boy... should i be happy with this commercial or not? i didn't know that iñigo likes this commercial only after i turned off the tv while this commercial was being played and iñigo cried to me and said, "watch remittance, mommy." i didnt' get it at first and out of nothing to say i uttered, "what... what do you know about remiitance?"
but iñigo has an answer... "capital L-B-C."
it was a terrific show last wednesday night as the thirteen hopefuls were showcasing their singing talents. but i didn't expect that there's another one inside our house who dreams of being the american idol. iñigo was only dancing in the first upbeat songs but when one of the contenders sang the michael jackson song "beat it" iñigo not only danced but looked for an improvised mic and sang his heart out to his own version of the song, which is "bilet". =D too bad i can't share the video right now but i can say it's really hilarious.
i'll just share the pix taken that night. the whole stage, este floor was for him.
"bilet... bilet!"
iñigo doing his dance steps
"was i good or great?"
going back to the show, who do you think will win in this season? adam lambert is fast becoming a favorite not only of the judges but also of the viewers. he's good and definitely a cutie, but i think he's a gay... oops, just my POV =)
as for me, i go for lil rounds or the sixteen year old latina. i wish them good luck.
iñigo now leads us during prayer time. he already knows our prayer (we made it short and standard for him) since late last year but it’s only lately that he’s zealous about praying. he would even pause and pray when he becomes aware of an image of papa jesus in front of him.
let me share with you his prayer before going to bed…
"papa jesus, tenk you for the bessings. bess us always: daddy, mommy, and nyigo. keep us heathy and smart… and safe."
this would be followed with a round of thanksgiving which usually about what happened or he received within the day.
"thank you for the kids (his playmates)…
thank you for kuya aaron (a playmate)…
thank you for chicharon…
thank you for thomas the tank engine...
thank you for the dinosaurs…"
and he never forgets about our jobs…
"thank you for daddy job,
and mommy job,
and iñigo job."
yes, all of us have jobs! =D
that's the prayer before bedtime. prayer before mealtime is another story. he used to be a silent follower to us before but his face is this serious and we can't help but laugh… while praying... =)
but now he also leads us in our prayer ever since i made it short and sweet.
"tenk you lord for the food."
but when he's in the mood to pray, or probably talk, expect that everything i serve on the table will be mentioned from the rice to the viand including the “tapis”… that’s patis. hehe.
mickey mouse lives in hong kong
iñigo asked me one day, “mommy, go to hong kong… like?”. i was surprised to hear that from iñigo. i never thought he already knows there’s a place on earth named hong kong. but he probably got it from me as i always show him the pictures of our hong kong trip and the brochure on hong kong travel which we got from the airport.
“why do you want to go to hong kong?” i became more interested.
“go to disneyland! see mickey mouse!", he quipped.
aba, asensado na… he only talked about going to enchanted kingdom but suddenly his itinerary becomes farther and more expensive.
“but we need to have a lot of money iñigo to go to disneyland… do you have a lot of money?”. i was challenging him to come up with a good answer. but iñigo ran to our room and took the coins i left inside the drawer.
“mommy! look… iñigo have money! yehey!” showing me two one-peso coins.
“but iñigo it’s only two pesos. you need more of these… lots of money.”
i received a nod for an answer. i thought he already dismissed the idea of going to hong kong as he never bothered to reply. but after a while iñigo exclaimed, “i got it!” and ran to his room where his coin bank, filled with one peso coins, is placed. he was so happy when he showed it to me, “mommy, iñigo have lots of money!”. hahaha. so that’s what he was thinking all along. poor little boy… and he thought going to hong kong is just that easy.
now when asked where mickey mouse and friends live iñigo would give a quick answer...
“hong kong!”
the cow jumping over the moon
there was a reported lunar eclipse last monday night so all of us—jude, iñigo and me--were all in the porch to wait for the eclipse to happen. but iñigo, remembering the line from his favorite book “goodnight moon”, mumbled about the cow jumping over the moon. but he was not contented. he quickly ran inside the house and picked up one of the blocks scattered on the floor. he joined us again outside and to our surprise, tossed the block upward which made it to land in our front lawn. jude quickly chided him for the misconduct, “why did you throw your toy?”
but the little boy had an answer, “daddy, cow jump over the moon.”
oh, i see. it’s the cow-shaped block which he threw outside as his intention was to make it go over the moon. i never thought of that! haha.
the feeling was like being paid back a hundred times for those sacrifices i made for him when it's iñigo's turn to comfort me when my left foot got sprained after a 6-liter container of distilled water hit it after i opened our car's door. it was awfully painful and jude had to carry me up to our sofa (extra challenge for him) while the little boy rushed behind us.
jude immediately made a cold compress for my foot while iñigo was there on my side and assured me that, "ich okay, mommy." he'd touch the cold compress once in a while as if he was checking that it's still in its proper place and then he remembered something, "iñigo get doctor's set..." and ran to his room to get the toy. jude and i both laughed but we just let him do his own thing. he just wanted to take care of mommy, that's all.
mommy's little doctor
***
we were outside the house this afternoon to play and at one moment i saw iñigo picking up the flower of the cogon (am not really sure on this huh) near our house. but to my surprise, he went to me and said, "iñigo give flower to mommy."
my heart melted like a butter under the sun. i just hope he really knew what giving of flowers means... hehe.
better than daddy's roses =D
time-out is our best armor right now in terms of disciplining iñigo. unlike before, he'd take it now more seriously and just hearing the threat, "i'll put you on a time-out again..." is enough for him to behave. although it usually works, there are still times when the kiddo is extra "naughty" and extra "assertive", which warrant me to put him on his time-out chair for a minute.
i already have a collection of anecdotes which happened during or after his time-out session at this start of the year and i'd say it's like a telenovela--all my emotions were stirred. haha.
scene 1
i forgot the reason behind his time-out but i know i was using the computer when this happened.
mommy: sit down on you chair... and don't play with your toys huh, you're for a time-out
iñigo: (sobbing) opo, mommy.
i left him in his room and went back to the computer and got myself too absorbed by the emails i was reading. i heard faint sounds from the other room but i ignored them thinking it must be iñigo again singing or just in his "talk and talk" mood.
but the kiddo... hinde na siguro nakatiis... walked out his room and approached me.
iñigo: mommy, finished na time-out?
the mommy simply forgot about him and his time-out session! bwahahaha.
i then remembered what i was hearing minutes before he walked into our room; he was like crying this: "mommy! time-out is finished!" over and over again. my poor son... to think that 10 minutes have already passed... hehe.
scene 2
i already put him on a time-out as he kept on playing with the food on his bwol despite my several warnings. he obliged and afterwhich asked him to finish his meal. but the kiddo was really makulit, he again started to pick and throw away the cookies from his bowl.
my patience was starting to wear out. but i managed to just tell with him, but with firm voice, "iñigo, stop that huh... i already told you many times not to play with your food as it's not good."
but the son went down from the dining chair and walked towards his room.
"okay, time-out again!", iñigo said with a casual voice.
no sweat for mommy! but wait... i was not asking him to have a time-out. he probably thought it's better to have a quiet moment in his time-out chair for a minute than to be nagged by mommy.
but, oh well, that did him good. =)
scene 3
this one is a drama scene. i didn't imagine my two-year-old son confronting me as early at his age. but i realized he probably got the idea from our small talks after the time-outs... i'd usually ask him, "let's have a talk, iñigo... why did mommy put you on a time-out?", and he'd usually give me the correct answer.
again, i couldn't exactly remember why i had to put him on a time-out. i recall he was insisting to do something alone, without mommy's help. but i opted not. i felt guilty with my decision to give him a time-out, i know my son was just trying to be independent... but then it already happened and i just had to learn my lesson.
iñigo: no time-out, mommy! (the kiddo was crying. he also probably felt that he didn't deserve the time-out)
mommy: no, sit down on your chair... mommy will just tell you if your time-out is already finished.
fast forward...
mommy: okay, finished na ang time-out.
i decided to welcome him at the door of his room which i don't usually do. but i was still a few steps away when iñigo walked out crying...
iñigo: mommy, talk!
mommy: (puzzled, but was trying to suppress her laughter because of the little boy's facial expression). what?
iñigo: talk to iñigo! (he was in confrontational mood. gee... you should have seen his face--pang-famas!)
but i couldn't speak. i was already laughing. i was covering my mouth with my right hand to suppress my laughter but when i was already sure that i couldn't, i backed off and went to another room.
my son was just asking for us to talk about what happened, that's all... mahirap ba yun? hehe.
the infamous chair in the house--iñigo's time-out chair
the kiddo would sometimes confuse us and make us believe that he's a grown-up trapped in a two-year-old's body.
go ahead mommy but i'll stay here and watch...
i'd better finish this fast before daddy looks for his burger...
(yup, sinalisihan ang tatay! =D)
"mommy, iñigo pol (fall) in line"
(okay, good, while i shop in the grocery. hehe)
"iñigo wear sandals and go to store"
(but with mommy of course)
and our favorite picture for the week... jude was saying he'll show this off to his officemates...
"shake-shake-shake!"
he's already peeing all by himself since the start of this year. he knows the drill... the drill taught by mommy (not the daddy), can you believe it? it's just simple... he'll pull down his bottom and put out his tweet-tweet, aims the target, and as he finishes he must shake first the tweet-tweet before pulling up his bottom so as not to wet it. so now, whenever i hear him say, "shake-shake-shake!" i know the son had been a good boy again and peed without asking mommy to assist him--wonderful!
i just hope this is also the case for the other one... but i know we'll get there... soon. =)
iñigo is a "talker". he loves to talk and he talks a lot. there are only two instances when he is quiet, it's either he's asleep or he's in serious business with his play. for the rest of the day, he's talking. he was like a sports commentator as he'd keep us updated with whatever he's doing; and/or seeing around the house (even outside), or on the tv or dvd show he's watching. we are grateful though that he articulates even those smallest details he is into as even if we are busy with chores, we know what he is happening to our son. and of course, we are happy that our son's language skill is above average for his age. we are also glad that we can already converse with him sans the guessing game, making our life easier.
but there's one problem which we observe that comes along with his fast-developing language skills: he parrots every word he hears from us. i found myself stunned from time to time as i was like hearing myself thru him... "naku naman!"... "oh my god!"... "kasi naman"... "my goodness!" those are just some of my expressions. =P
one time he was calling his daddy to show something. he started with "daddy...", followed by "daddy... daddy!". but jude apparently did not hear him so he called him for the last time, "love! loooove! (with the tone as exactly as mine-demanding. hehe). it was a funny moment, but then it also made me pause and think, "shucks.. ganun nga ba ako tumawag kay jude?". nyahahaha.
but it was yesterday afternoon when jude and i promised to each other that we will guard ours word more carefully. iñigo was playing with his toys when one of these slipped from his hand.
"AWW, SHIT! the twactor (tractor) fall down.", he said.
both jude and i were in the sala where the kiddo was playing. our eyes met and both of us felt that one was accusing the other... yes, we're both guilty! hehe. but i was quick to pass on the blame,"uy, ikaw din yun, huh!". haha.
then another toy fell down from the sofa...
"OH, SHUCKS! the car fall down."
i nearly laughed. that's definitely me.
young minds are indeed like a sponge, so we now take the responsibility of filtering everything it will absorb.
may god help us. =)
iñigo striked again!
i was putting on my clothes this morning when he snatched away my bag of kikay accessories from the cabinet. since i was in a hurry to dress up i let him tinker with my things for some minutes of peace and quiet. look what he did to himself which prompted me to get my camera...
isn't he pretty... este, cute?
i showed this picture to jude this evening but i couldn't tell if his smile was genuine or a smirk.
like mommy, like son. hahaha.
iñigo is now used on the word "time-out"... don't ask why. =P i am even surprised sometimes on how cooperative he can be to the extent that he'll get his time-out chair (there's a designated chair for this) from his room as soon as he heard the word, put it on where it should be and sit without any complain. the funny thing is he'll smile to me first as if he's way to tell me that he obliged, before he'll fuss or whine... ay time-out pala s'ya. hehe.
there are even moments when he'd volunteer himself for a time-out as soon as he realized that "mommy... mad" and declare for himself a "tam-out". 'yan ang bata... may kusa... =D
it was two or three nights ago when i put him on a time-out again. this time it's me who took the chair from his room and had him sit in one of the corners of our sala. i saw his attempt to stand up and wander around the house but i was quick to remind him that he's for a time-out and he should only sit down until the time i tell him it's over. since i was a busy with some chores, i left him with jude who was also busy reading a magazine. not a minute passed when i looked back to where he was and lo and behold, iñigo was walking around the house with the chair on his butt (hawak-hawak ng mokmok!). i tried not to laugh and give him a scolding for his naughtiness but i can't help it as jude was already laughing hard, i gave in and laughed to my heart's content.
naisahan na naman... =D
***
this was only narrated to me by our former househelp, manang fe:
iñigo: manan, mommy celofon kirirrrring (manang, mommy's celfone rings)
manang fe: ano yun?
iñigo: celofone kirirrrring-kirirrring
manang fe: (slow, kulang kasi sa vitamins) ano kamo? anong kiriring?
iñigo: celofone kirirrring... det it... hawo, dido pay (celfone rings... get it and say 'hello, iñigo is playing')
ayus, memoryado na ang dialogue. =D
***
it's like an afternoon soap for us whenever i bid goodbye to the little tot.
me: mommy has to go...
iñigo: (in tears) no like!
me: you go to sleep now and when you wake up you'll already see mommy in the house.
iñigo: no like seep (don't like to sleep)!
me: okay, what do you want (last resort, bribery! haha)? mommy will bring it home.
iñigo: fish faish (french fries), aysh keam (ice cream)... hamberjer (hamburger)... babye mommy!
...and he's all smiles in that last statement!
yun lang pala katapat ko. =(
***
oh, there are many more stories i wish to tell here but it's either i have limited time to type them down here or i have limited storage space in my memory (i blame it on the epidural i had. hehe.)
but there's one thing that never skips me--the everyday realization that our son is growing up fast.
read this:
he now knows how to turn on and operate most of our electronic appliances inside the house (and he never forgets to plug them first, que horror!) such as electric fan, dvd, tv, computer, and component;
and he knows to turn them off when they are not in use... i'm happy here, mabuti na lang hinde sa tatay nagmana =P;
he knows the way going to the mall and he will tell us if we're going to the opposite or wrong direction... "daddy, mall there!" (can you fool a certified mall rat? NEVER!);
he knows when to complain when it's "tafic! (traffic)";
he chooses the clothes and shoes he'll wear whenever we're going out and daddy or mommy has to abide (talk about being adamant... err, stubborn);
he's very good in sweet-talking and cajoling now like when he wants to go outside the house, he'd tell me, "mommy, like coke? buy coke... tawa (tara)!" o 'di ba? marunong mambola! hehe.
aside from mcdonald and jollibee, he has another two favorite places on earth--chooking (chowking) and timezone! all these inside his most favorite place--MALL.
and if i'm going to sum up in one sentence most of these truths about my son right now... walang duda, he's becoming more like mommy everyday. =D
look at the pictures below. jude and i were surprised to see him using the chopsticks for the noodles as we never taught him how, he just observed us and figured it out all by himself. and i was also amazed that his fine motor skills is already well-developed at his age.
move over spoon and fork as chinese-wannabe iñigo is now into chopsticks! =D
the weather was perfect this afternoon so i thought of playing ball with iñigo outside our house. for over a week now, the little boy was bugging me to allow him to go "outshide" and play but i refused and just told him that we stay home as it's either "hot" outside or "yaining (raining)". poor kid, eh?
but this afternoon was different. as i went to the porch and observed that the sun was hiding behind the clouds, and there's no sign of rain either, i immediately called iñigo and asked him to wear his sandals as we will play outside. oh, the kid was jumping with joy upon hearing this! =D
and so we played football--kicking and throwing his soft rubber ball at a manageable distance. but after a while i realized that he's no longer in our game and instead was busy looking at something behind his ride-on-car.
me: why iñigo?
iñigo: saike, mommy! saike!
me: (cluess on what he's saying) what?
iñigo: saike! saike!
me: (slow ako, it took time for me to remember that iñigo calls snake "saike") OMG! snake... where??!" and i ran fast to iñigo hoping that i could snatch him away before the snake could bite him.
me: where's the snake?
iñigo: ayooon, saike!
me: (bewildered and relieved at the same time) iñigo! that's a caterpillar, not a snake!!!
mabuti na lang bata pa ako (bata pa ako promise! =D) and is still far from having heart attacks.
oh well, kids are really something, isn't it? hehe.
i can't resist not to post this...
the hubby and the wifey are in a lovey-dovey position when the little boy who’s playing in one corner of the room saw them and instantly jumped up on the bed and pulled his body to get in between them. he quickly hugged the mommy and apparently she was trying to cover her body with his own as if he was trying to assert something to his daddy:
lesson of the story: never underestimate the understanding of a 16-month old. wait until he dozed off before maglambuchingan. hahaha.
