almost a terrible-R two

two more weeks to go and our little boy is already two, yey! we're still undecided though if we're going to have a party, or just take a day off from our usual routine and bring iñigo to places he would love to be like paradizoo in tagaytay and enchanted kingdom in sta. rosa (we have three entrance tickets in EK given to us by jude's company). the latter is winning for the daddy while i favor the party since we've already bought the lootbags and prizes for the guest kids... sayang naman. but it's also okay for me to just spend the day hopping from one iñigo-will-surely-enjoy place to another so we can relieve ourselves from additional stress and expenses as we already have tons of these right now. =D

well, i just hope that whatever happens on that day, the little boy will have a great time on his "beeyday". 

but am sure he will. =)

*****

but more than the preparation for his birthday, his daddy and i are bracing ourselves for a more action-filled and exasperating moments with him in the coming months. MORE MULTIVITAMINS, please? what do we expect? the little tot is going to be a certified terrible-R two in two-weeks time! can i say both "yipee!" and "oh no!"? =D

but inspite of his KAKULITAN, KALIKUTAN, and KAPILYUHAN (these words really deserve to be in all caps) iñigo is still one bundle of joy for us as he never fails to surprise and amuse us everyday with his new antics... and even his bloopers. you should see how he dances with the "low" song, his favorite recently; he even made up his own choreography, which made the daddy and the mommy amazed.

iñigo is such a wonderful boy and in almost all aspects he is someone we are proud of and adore so much.

walkie-talkie

along with the big progress in his motor skills is the remarkable improvement on his communication skills, which made me erase my worries that my son has a problem on... uhm... erase, erase. and now we're afraid that we have a mynah bird for a son as there are times that he doesn't get tired of talking. he can speak in phrases now and is even trying on simple sentences, "babye toys! seep... mommy (i'll sleep now with mommy).

his "a-po" (opo) and "aibuu" (i love you) are music to my ears and are sure to make me smile. hihi.

and he'd say "burp!" and laugh off after he belched and "pupu" after he farted. our son is gross, i tell you. =D

it's always that he tells us on what he wants or what he feels, even his lolo jun observed this on him. hence, we never had a hard time communicating with iñigo even at his age. though i hope when he says, "mommy, hurt" he really mean it and not just to make paawa so i would stop being mad at him.

attorney-in-the-making

my son is very good at making palusot. we already noticed this when he was younger--15 months or so. he'd easily get his way out by making valid excuses as he knows what gets our approval and what's not. he'd say "water" when i see him rummaging on what's inside of our refrigerator even if it's not really water but yakult or the sweets that he's after to. but he's quick to say water because he knew that it's a good excuse for him to open our refrigetor and just touch anything inside it. see???

the great imitator

imitating is what toddlers love to do and our son is no exemption on this. with his keen observation, he can do exactly what we're doing just by watching us once. he can put on the charger of the celfone and plug it (horrors!) and put on lipstick or lip balm as how he sees me doing it (jude is more horrified with this. haha)

he'd also surprise his daddy when he tinker the tool box and demonstrate how a screw driver and wrench work. and once in while, our little tot would remind us that we have to save as early as now for his very first car as he is already learning the ropes of driving. he'd go first in locking or unlocking the door, turning on or off the engine and removing the car keys and dig this:  "seatbet, mommy/daddy", reminding us to fasten our seatbelts. sorry po! hehe.

he also loves to explore and that includes getting inside our refrigerator to check how cold it is as he'd usually complain "hot, mommy." 

foodaholic

one thing we like about iñigo is he's not a picky-eater (hmm... well, there are times but very seldom) and is not a hard-to-feed kid. i think it's already given that he loves to eat foods from jollibee and mcdonald but he also has the same enthusiasm to eat when we tell him that chicken, fish, or veggies is in our meals. a lot of people who see him eating alone would remark, "ang sarap kumain." =)

there are even times that he would eat non-stop which made me thinking, "bundat na kaya anak ko?" hahaha.

i really do hope that his appetite won't change.

mommy's boy

and he's indeed my adorable little boy who i love to cuddle and shower with kisses morning till evening, but with some bellowings and chidings in between. hehe. i would complain of him being clingy or too demanding for my attention but the truth is i love the fact that my son's world revolve around his mommy. i am a celebrity in my son's eyes, with all the "mommy" calls he'll make in a day, i doubt if my son would trade me for jollibee or barney... or even for his daddy =D

and yes, he likes to pose in front of the camera and would even ask for "pityur mommy". =D

 

 

 

it's daddy's time to shine

thank you for pitching in for iñigo when i'm not in the mood to do my role as a mom;

thank you for driving us to anywhere we wish no matter how tired or sleepy you were;

thank you for providing for the family even if it means no new running shoes or accessories for your beloved bike;

thank you for the extra patience you've shown us--me and iñigo--when in fact we deserve to be strangled;

thank you for dreaming big for his future and for the times that you were the first to notice how smart we have for a son;

thank you also for your kind words and gentle hands, such things make him a happy kid;

thank you for supporting me all the way in my advocacies and decisions that i think would benefit our son--that includes quitting my regular job;

thank you for always being there for us inspite of the strong urge for a boys night-out or gimmicks;

thank you for the little sacrifice that you can't go hiking or mountaineering for the meantime, you can't go without me anyway; =P

thank you for the spontaneous laughters, even our son appreciates that;

finally, thank you for being a good daddy to our son. sorry if i couldn't claim that you are the best because it means i have to compare you with the other daddies, which i don't have to as no one can take your place in the family. =)

happy father's day from me and iñigo!

 

''we will survive!'

it's our battle cry right now. =D

our househelp cum yaya to iñigo left for good last saturday. i wanted to share with you the whole story on why and how she left but i cannot afford to stay long in front of the computer... naghinhintay pa ang mga tupiin. nyahaha.

but we are on search for her replacement. it's actually three weeks or a month ago when we started but unfortunately, with the good ones flying to $-paying countries, we cannot find someone at par or better (she should be) than the previous maid until now. it's frustrating you know when you ask a friend for a referral and she'd answer you with, "tatlo na kayong nagpapahanap...'' =( to the guys who will be reading this post, i now know the feeling of being busted by the girl you're enamored with. bwahaha! =D

having a househelp is still a necessity for us since, as some of you may know, i still work and i have to devote a few hours every day to attend to it. add to that is the daily regimen for our recently-opened bogzzi sizzling haus, which includes, but definitely not limited to, purchasing of supplies and raw materials, monitoring of operations, and accounting and auditing of sales and expenses. so you can just imagine how i am coping up with all these aside from tending our uber-kulit and likot toddler whose favorite lines these days are "mommy, come!" and "padede"... and doing the house chores. ay, kaloka!

but looking at the glass half-filled, it's during this trying time that we get the satisfaction of being married to the right person. even without saying anything, we can always count on each other to help or make life convenient for the other. all the more that we can say that our marriage is for better or for worse.

we are surviving and i think we can survive longer without much help from other people. we don't know anyway where the tides will bring us so we take problems like this as eternal preparation for the bigger challenges in life--and we have to deal with them all by ourselves to give us room to grow. =)

 

homeschool or waldorf school?

this is my dilemma right now and i think this remains as one of my major concerns until next year when iñigo is ready for a formal schooling. i should be thankful though and consider myself lucky as i have other options now other than sending my kid to a traditional school. but the downside of having many choices--i can't figure out which one is the best for the little boy and for us too as parents should also be 100% involved in their kid's education.

allow me to tackle these two modes of learning and the potential benefits we're banking on, alongside my concerns and the setbacks i foresee:

homeschooling

it was jude who introduced me to the idea of homeschooling as he was fascinated on how some millionaires in the US homeschool their kids instead of sending them to private schools, which they can greatly afford. i have faint recollection on why i entertained the idea and researched further but it's this link that made me convince that homeschooling is a good, if not, a better option for our son's education:

http://catholicfilipinoacademy.com/cfa/10principles.php

though we are not equipped with 18 units in education, we have what his future teachers lack and that is full knowledge of our son's capacity. i bet it would still take time for them to know that iñigo is more "words smart" than "numbers smart". but more than anything else, my son is "body smart". i am making this assessment because i don't want to end up like the other parents who put pressure on their kids to excel on academics when in fact, their kids really can't because their intelligence doesn't dwell in science or math but in arts or sports. both the parents and the kids just end up frustrated. but hopefully, with the help of homeschooling, i can gauge my son's strengths and weaknesses and try other teaching approach so i can deal with the latter more effectively.

also, i see homeschooling as a medium to discipline me or jude (take note: it's us and not the kid) to set aside real quality time for our kid for two to three full hours a day. that's a lot of real bonding moment for us, don't you think?

and how can i forget... homeschooling is the cheapest as there's only a little tuition, no uniforms, no school bus, no baon, etc. we can have the flexibility on where to put our money for iñigo's development/ 

my only concern with homeschooling is, "can i do it?" (i will definitely be the teacher here) or do i have the mastery of the subject to teach my son the lessons infallibly. aside from this is my patience is also questionable and i can be really mean to iñigo when he's acting up or becoming extra-naughty. it may just defeat the purpose i have mentioned a while ago and instead of becoming closer to me, iñigo may see me more as the "tyrant mom". hehe.  

waldorf school

i learned about waldorf or steiner education from the n@w group as someone brought it out for discussion. i became more interested and followed the thread on this topic. for some of you who are clueless on what's waldorf schooling is all about, here's a little backgrounder i got from wikipedia:

"The Waldorf approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning,^[3][4][5] developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component.^[6][7] Studies of the education describe its overarching goal as providing young people the basis on which to develop into free, moral^[8][9] and integrated individuals,^[10][11][3] and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny (the existence of which anthroposophy posits).^[2][12] Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures.^[13]

Waldorf schools approach learning in early childhood through imitation and example.^[27][28] Extensive time is given for guided free play in a classroom environment that is homelike, includes natural materials and provides examples of productive work in which children can take part;^[21] such an environment is considered by Waldorf pedagogues to be supportive of the physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child through assimilative learning.^[28] In Waldorf schools oral language development is addressed through songs, poems and movement games. These include daily story time when a teacher usually tells a fairytale, often by heart.^[22] Waldorf kindergartens and lower grades discourage exposure to media influences such as television, computers and recorded music, as they believe these to be harmful to cognitive development in the early years.^[24][29]"

what i like best about waldorf education is it doesn't push the kids to learn everything at an early age. it enhances first the kids' love, ar at least the curiosity to learn. the pace of learning is more relaxed than in any other school. i also like it's principle regarding electronic media exposure particularly television and dvds, as i believe that nothing beats the mother-kid interaction when it comes to learning.

now here goes my concerns...

as you can see some of waldorf school's principles seem to be a tall order for us and i don't think we can adjust with the lifestyle it offers. i already visited the waldorf school near our place and i admit everything is ideal--the ambience is so serene, teacher-student ratio is only 1:10 at the most, no tv and other electronic devices for the students, the toys are all made of wood or indigenous products, the clippings in their bulletin board are encouraging the parents to eat non-fat foods and use only organic products in their households--and we are not sure if we have a place on this kind of system.

jude winced on the idea that he can no longer watch tv and eat junkies as we must set an example to our son if he's already enrolled in that school. so there's the question again, "can we do it?" tuition is no longer an issue as we think that the rates of other progressive schools in manila are 50-100% pricier. it's the change in lifestyle that we think we are not yet ready to take.

so which one of these schools? mini mini mini mo... =)

 

friendship chain

bless is such a sweet girl to tag me with this... thanks, bless! =) you're truly my best online buddy.

~~Begin Copy~~ I have randomly selected other bloggers below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to add your link in the end of the list and tag other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding Tag others . This is the easy way and the fastest way to

1. Make your Authority Technorati explode.
2. Increase your Google Page Rank fast.
3. Get more traffic to your blog.
4. Makes more new friends.
5. Build your community


Rules :1. Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog. (for bloggers paste on the "compose" not the "edit html" part in posting blogs so it will be linked automatically).
2. Put your own blog name and link.
3. Tag your friends as much as you can.

1. Picturing of Life 2. Juliana’s Site,a 3. Hazel-My Life, My Hope, My Future. 4. Jeanne-The Callalily Space 5.My Family is my Life 6. The Simple Life of a Baghag 7. On A Wonderful Day Like Today 8. House Everything, a 9. The Creativity in Me 10. Travel and Photography 11. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 12. Nora’s Notes 13. Noras Family Treasures 14. Fil-Oz Blog 15. What A World 16. More on Health 17. Everyday Life 18.Pinaywifespeaks 19. Pinaywife Atbp. 20. Laugh Out Loud 21. Life’s Lessons 22. Kerslyn’s Comfort Zone23. Borski and Nai 24. M A R I K I T, 25. Jan April, 26. Random Thoughts 27.the long journey of my life 28. Life's Journey, 29. Wonderful Life, 30. Gen's Palace, 31. Moments I Treasure, 32. Trails N Life, 33. Life Has Began, 34. Simply Amazing, 35. Amazing Life, 36 Sorrounded Everything, 37. Alot To Offer, 38. Travel Blog, 39. Fascinating Life, 40. Blogger Spider Man, 41. Creative in Me 42. Little Peanut 43. Me and Mine 44. Sugar Magnolias-45. Clark & Butchay's Blog 46. Me, Myself and I ; 47. coffeenchoclate; 48. Magical Beginning...Fairytale Ending 49. Our Journey After Mountaineering

--End Copy--


i'm tagging my kumares here: leah, joy, rina, joy and lui who are some of my best buddies all these years. this tag is also extended to all my online buddies who never failed to visit my site and leave a post.

10 random facts about me (tagged by benson)

welcome me back to the blogging world, please? =D

gee, i realized that it's been a month since i made my last post with a bad news on my pregnancy, which might made you to think that am too depressed to blog... well, nope. =) the thing is we are too busy since march and it's always that am dead tired at the end of the day.

but thanks to benson for this tag as i began to miss blogging. i promise to blog again especially on our recent accomplishments but let me start now with the tags i've been getting such as this:

rules:

1. each blogger starts with 10 random facts/habits about themselves.

2. bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog 10 things and post these rules.

3. at the end of your blog, you need to choose 10 people to get tagged and list their breads.

4. don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

****

1. i am a mild case of an obsessive-compulsive (OC) person, it's only in my opinion though but there are times i felt the need to seek the help of an expert. hehe. i feel restless whenever there are things in my to-do list that are still undone or there's a tiny speck of dust or hair strand in our floor. i want everything to be clean and organized including the stuffs inside my bag and wallet. everything should also conform to my standard even how our clothes are hanged and folded. thank GOD my helper and my husband is still with me. hahaha.

2. i hate rats and flies and i can't stand having them inside my house. i get paranoid with rats; but with flies, i really get annoyed to the max that i kill them by swatting them with my good old tsinelas! jude once said that if ever there is a contest on flies-swatting, i'll take home the grand prize.

3. i love to shop. i get excited once we hit the mall and see some red tags. hehe.

4. i can be a multi-tasker. i can talk with someone over the phone while i surf the net or check my emails and breastfeed my son.

5. i was (though i insist that i still am) into mountaineering since 1999. i already climbed more than 15 mountains here in the philippines and made my last climb (with jude of course) three months before our wedding day... huling hirit.

6. one of my biggest frustrations in life is i didn't learn how to play the guitar. i also don't know how to swim and to ride a bike, with the latter as jude's biggest frustration for me. hahaha.

7. i was addicted to basketball (pba, nba, uaap, even paliga sa bgy. namin) during my teen years and yves dignadice was my biggest crush then.

8. i modeled (ramp) once for a fashion boutique, which i wouln't name to save its reputation. hehe. it was four years ago and i was still still slim and booting a flat abs then. hey, i still have the pictures with me and i can email it to you if you don't believe! =D

9. i was a thomasian for nine years:  four years in high school, four years in college where i took up a degree in economics, and one year in its graduate school. i finished my mba in another school. 

10. i can never be a morning person. my wake up time is usually from 8 am to 9 am. my mind and body work best in the afternoon and in the evening. 

i'm just tagging anyone who will read as i'm not sure if they already did this tag. please snag this if you feel sharing 10 facts about yourself and let me know once you're finished.

 

GOD has giveth, GOD has taketh away

we learned yesterday thru an ultrasound that I AM NO LONGER PREGNANT. my recent pregnancy was anembryonic or i had a blighted ovum. take note that we refuse to say we lose the baby. but still, we are saddened with the fact that our second baby, who i will cuddle and breastfeed again and iñigo will shower with his kuya kisses, is not yet coming.

i just had a research on blighted ovum and this is what i found out:

"a blighted ovum (also known as “anembryonic pregnancy”) happens when a fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, but the embryo does not develop. cells develop to form the pregnancy sac, but not the embryo itself. a blighted ovum usually occurs within the first trimester before a woman knows she is pregnant. a high level of chromosome abnormalities usually causes a woman’s body to naturally miscarry." (american pregnancy association)

i already had a hint when my first trans-vaginal ultrasound (TVU) result came out--no embryo was seen when in fact i was already six weeks pregnant. i was able to research well on these cases during my first pregnancy; hence, i have an idea. it was only disappointing because my ob who holds clinic in asian hospital waited for another four weeks before she endorsed me for another TVU. we were already dreaming and waiting eagerly for our coming new bundle of joy within the four weeks that passed. not to mention that we have already shouted to the world that we're pregnant again. had we known earlier, the impact should have been less disheartening for us.

but jude and i have gracefully accepted this fact. we just rely on our faith that in HIS time, we will hold another baby that we can call "ours". by that time comes, we will make sure that all of us in the family are ready--me, jude, and iñigo.