Snow day

We had some snow yesterday so we decided to let Swe-cha out in the snow to play. There was some struggle getting him into his snow pants (not sure if he wasn't happy about being bundled up or what) but he was happy once we got out.

His snow boots are still a tad too big but he was able to move around in them (thanks to Tita R & Ninong R for the snow boots, looks like we'll be using them for another season next year).

He had so much fun as soon as we got out. He kept walking and making trails in the snow and he would stop every now and then to look at me, point to the snow and say "snow", we also met our neighbor's snowman :)

And when it got too cold outside, we went back into the building and watched Daddy clean his car from inside.

It was a fun fun day.

(Post) Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy left a lot of damages in the east coast when it passed by and sadly, a lot of of people are still having to deal with the aftermath. Gas is scarce - stations either have no power & cannot run the pumps or they're already out of gas - and earlier today, I counted myself lucky when I ONLY had to line up for 1.5 hrs to fill up our tank***.  Others have to wait in line on foot (in the cold) to fill up gas containers for their generators at home because they still do not have power, while in other places, cars have to wait in line at 4:30am for 3+ hrs just to fill up.

We feel blessed and thankful that despite the gas scarcity, power outages and property damage that we and our friends have to deal with, there is nothing that cannot be restored / replaced.

Praise God!

While Hurricane Sandy was doing its thing outside, we've had to deal with Hurricane Swe-cha inside:

- he made his mini-puddles on his high-chair tray and climbed on it so he can splash with his feet

- he colored on the walls

- he booby-trapped the stairs by leaving his trains, cars, blocks, and even spare rechargeable batteries on the steps

- he rummaged through clean and dirty laundry & mixed them up, thus making Mommy wash everything again

- he took his clothes off and ran around the house naked

- splashed water all over the bathroom during bath time (in fairness, we have Daddy to blame for this because he was left in charge).

- experimented with gravity by pouring water from his drinking cup down to the floor.

- got several crackers, crushed them and spread them all over the steps. 

- peed on the bed 3x in 1 night (the new mattress protector we bought works!). Thankfully, he stopped after the 3rd because we were out of sheets.

- he pooped in his pants, reached in and put his hand on our sheets before we could catch him

- made Mommy read his favorite books and sing / dance to his favorite songs a million times

Yep, this little hurricane kept us on our toes but I wouldn't have it any other way =)

We love you, Swe-cha!

---------
*** special thanks to our neighbor R who tipped us about this open gas station.

Halloween 2012

I AM NOT WEARING A DRESS, Mommy!
- Swe-cha










I'm my Mummy's boy - Swe-cha

Saxophone

While watching a Baby Einstein video...

Swe-cha: o-one

Mommy: Yes, trombone

Swe-cha: oh-one (with emphasis on the "h")

Mommy: Yes, that is a trombone

He then leans over and points to the first bear and tries one more time...

Swe-cha: ahx-one

Mommy: Ah, Saxophone!

Swe-cha: [happy] *claps*

standing my ground

This morning, swe-cha wanted to go out and I had to say no because it was chilly outside and he didn't want to come in and change into proper clothing.

It was then that he decided to throw a tantrum. See those two dark spots near the door at the end of the hallway ? Those are his crocs, he threw them off of his feet when he realized I wasn't planning on letting him out. 

While his shoes were out there, the little boy was throwing a tantrum [translation: naglulupasay] at my feet, 5 doors away from where he left his footwear. 

My instinct was to walk out and retrieve his stuff but I caught myself as I stepped towards it and realized that he should learn that Mommy is boss, not him. He is not a baby anymore so I stood my ground and told him that he should get his shoes, if he does not retrieve them, then he won't see them ever again - he does love those crocs.

He continued crying and throwing a fit at my feet and I let him. He wanted to be held / hugged [naglalambing] and I did not give in, not until he does what he is told and retrieves his shoes. I just stood at our doorway and would not look at him.

I don't really know how much time elapsed before he finally calmed down and ran towards his shoes, it seemed like a long time (screaming toddlers tend to make time feel so slow) but from the time stamp on the camera, it wasn't more than 5 minutes.

Then, just as suddenly as his fit erupted, he stopped and ran towards the crocs, put them on and came back. He calmly walked into the house and he was okay. Bati na kami. 

Self-feeding

Today marks a very special milestone. Swe-cha ate an entire meal at home all by himself - what's even more special about this milestone is that he initiated this himself. Prior to this, the most I'd get him to self-feed was half of his meal & after that, he'd have to be spoon-fed.

Tonight, I had made him a bowl of rice noodles and set it aside on the table to cool. I left for the kitchen to prep the rest of our food and when I got back, he had already grabbed a fork and had already fed himself the few strands that happened to get

I hurriedly got his plastic bowl and poured a bit of the warm misua and let him at it. He ate it all.

The thing is that he does not like to wear a bib most times (big boy na eh) so it gets messy but hey, nobody's complaining. I'm just so happy that he's finally doing this.

His teacher at school tells me that he has been feeding himself during lunch time most days since last week but this is the first time I've seen him do it for an entire meal at home.

Mac & Cheese

My picky eater is finally eating Mac & Cheese.

This is big because this means that we can go to most family restaurants serving American food and be confident that there will be at least one item on the kids' menu that he will eat. For the past several months, we have confined ourselves to eating at Japanese, Dimsum, Vietnamese and Vietnamese places only - oh, and let's not forget Dunkin' Donuts. And before that, we never went out at all.

Replanting

Swe-cha's school is closed for Yom Kippur today so I took the day off so I could stay home and take care of him (we're also going to get flu shots later too, shhh! don't tell swe-cha).

Seeing as how it's a nice day outside - high 60s and cloudy (we don't like staying under the scorching sun) - I decided to give Swe-cha some lessons in gardening.

We took down the Spider Plant (also called Ribbon plant) from Tita A and started propagating its babies.

Swe-cha helped me put soil in the small pots, water them and pat the soil down. He was more interested in scooping the potting mix & the watering part rather than the plants but every now and then (as I type this), I see him walking back to that small table to look at the plants.

Hopefully, these little babies take root quickly so I can cut them off from the stalk that connects them to the mother plant and we can bring them back in before it gets really chilly outside.

If anybody in my area wants spider plants, give me a holler :)

---------

Edit: Okaaaay. Seems like Swe-cha is TOO interested in the plants. He keeps going back and check on them and in doing so, he pulls them out of the pot. These plants are so NOT taking root today.

=)

Train Ride

When we attended our church's annual fair, he couldn't get on any of the rides because there is a minimum height of 36".

For the most part, he was like this. Kawawa, no ? Eventually, kids started coming and they rode the train, so he wanted to go too. He cried when we wouldn't let him through the gate. It broke my heart  and I vowed that the next time he can ride and wants to ride, I won't be barat and will let him ride as much as he wants.

And then the following week, the little boy got his wish. We attended our local street fair and boy, oh boy, there was a train! And he can ride it!

We had to wait half an hour before the rides start running and he spent the whole time exploring the train (and getting on the driver's seat). Enjoy ang bata.

I couldn't contain myself and if I could, I'd have rushed time so it'll be 11a ASAP.

He rode with Mommy first, he wasn't happy when we left Daddy behind - someone had to stay behind to guard the stroller and our freebies/loot/purchases that we got from the stalls in the fair.

He cheered up as soon as the train turned around and he realized that we weren't really leaving Daddy behind and he started enjoying himself.

When we finally circled back to our starting point, he didn't want to get off.

So Daddy rushed off to buy more tickets and this time, Daddy rode with him. He wasn't happy about leaving Mommy behind this time but he cheered up as soon as the train circled back.

I'm glad we got there early enough that we didn't have to wait in line for the train (the other kids started coming in after we were done) so we really felt like we had a private train. The driver was even kind enough to stop for photos =)

iPad

This is how our first iPad case looked like after a few weeks with Swe-cha.

We've tried to repair the cracks on the hard plastic part - see the black tape running across the bottom left corner and another shorter piece of black tape covering the upper left corner ? The black tape actually covers the cracks which we've tried (in vain) to repair with super glue.

You'll also see food & laway drippings on the opposite side - the one w/ the soft surface.

Like I said, we tried to do what we can for the old case but it just wouldn't do. Sayang naman if the iPad gets damaged because we wanted to scrimp on protection.

Here's the new one (see 2nd photo), we got Swe-cha the Griffin Survivor case. It's supposed to be US-Army-approved and can withstand windblown water & sand.

Hopefully, it can withstand Hurricane Swe-cha too.

Month 32

started at new school

started eating the entire Dunkin Donuts' Egg and Cheese wrap (we're getting there!)

Can finish 4 orders of hargaw dimsum all by himself (shrimp dumplings) plus a small order of congee.

loves to share what mommy is drinking

----
One time, at bedtime:

Mommy: Hey, why are you still awake ? Sleep na.
Swe-cha: [rolls over to his side and starts snoring] *ngorkkkk ngorkkkk*

Like this...

Swe-cha likes to look at me every now and then while he does puzzles in his iPad and he will want me to clap and cheer him on.

One time, the half-hearted clap that I gave him (I was busy!) did not satisfy so he came over, took both my hands and clapped them together and said "yay di" ("Like this"). He did this a few times until he was satisfied that I got it.

Aba, hindi pa nga nagsasalita, tuturuan pa ako ?

Cooperative boy

Swe-cha got sent home from daycare yesterday because they got concerned that :
- he felt warm, but he wouldn't let anybody take his temperature.
- he didn't eat lunch
- he wasn't playing (matamlay) & when I picked him up, he was sitting on his sleeping mat and reclining against a wall - it's so unlike him!

The most concerning part is that when I picked him up, there were 2 other kids who were just plain sick. They were bundled up in their blankets and were lying down - the dc had enough sense to separate them from Sean, they were sleeping against other walls but was really just in the same room as the rest. This kinda reaffirms our decision to move Swe-cha to another place.

Thankfully, he didn't have a fever, he was warmer than usual though and was obviously fighting a bug off. He did perk up as soon as he saw me and was bouncing around (literally bouncing off of the sofa onto the floor) as soon sa we got home. He also started asking for food (egg, milk, etc) so this is good.

We were hemming and hawing about keeping him home from daycare again today because we didn't want to have to argue w/ daycare on whether or not he was sick yesterday (24 hr sick-free rule) and I was concerned about the 2 other sick kids in daycare. My thought was that if there was something going around at daycare, I don't want him around all the coughing, sneezing and feverish kids that might be there - and baka mabinat. On the other hand, we didn't want to absent ourselves from work either. My smart boy solved that by plopping down & giving me a really really wet / liquidy poop. And so home it is and again, thankfully, by noon, he pooped again (it's normal for him to do #2 up to thrice) and it was a nice consistency already.

When I called my boss to let him know that I can't make it to work today, he asked if I was having a day off or if I was working from home. I told him, I could probably work at least half the day - when Swe-cha is sleeping - and he says okay, that's good enough and for me to just do whatever I can. He's working from home today himself too.

Ha ? ohhhhkay :)

And my little boy (pwera usog) has been so good all day, not demanding at all and no sickies, he's been eating consistently - meals & snacks and  I was able to do what I was supposed to do for work.

And last but not the least, I did call up his current DC provider and told them that he's done w/ them & won't be coming back next week. We'll come pick up his stuff next time (since we were absent today). They didn't give me a hard time at all - probably because they have a full house anyway. Swe-cha will be going to his new DC on Monday - but this will be another story/post which hopefully, will not be a stressful one.

All in all ? We're having a good day and life is good :)

Updates

Life is hectic / busy in our household these days but we're not complaining :)

My side of the family came over for a visit last July and Swe-cha got to spend time with his Angkong, Ama, A-i and 2 Ahyas. He loved them and could not get enough of his 2hya (Lyle), he keeps kissing him! he has angkong wrapped around his little finger and would make Angkong recite nursery rhymes and sing songs. His fave songs for Angkong are "Old Macdonald" and "three blind mice".

On the milestones part, Swe-cha has a thing now for counting. He can count from 1-10, even when asleep. Yes, sleep-talking yata. He likes to watch his counting videos and asks for them by pointing to the TV and counting.

And (drumroll please) he has been feeding himself more and more. Today, he fed himself 1 whole meal (before, he'd get tired after the first few spoonfuls).

He loves to snack on YanYan and eats churros. He tasted a yogurt smoothie during a Costco run one time and could not have enough of it, I had to go back several times to the samples station to ask for more. He must have had at least 10 servings (sample-sized). Yes, we did buy a 6-pack of the smoothie for him.

We switched to Soy Milk at night for him and it seems to help w/ the gas. These days though, he wakes up in the middle of the night & looks for someone. Last night, his Daddy & I were in the other room (I was reading a book and Daddy was playing Diablo) and we were surprised to see him standing at the door. He didn't make a sound. We had to bring him back to bed and lie down beside him before he'd go back to sleep. Super lambing to the max :)

It's bittersweet to realize that my boy is not so dependent on me anymore. It used to be that he wanted me for everything and at bedtime, he wants me to hug him & either pat him on his thigh till he falls asleep or massage his feet. (yeah, royalty yan). These days, he just wants his Daddy to scratch him all over (royalty pa rin), guess I should just be thankful that I can go to sleep while Daddy struggles to stay awake to scratch him.

- Mommy.

Heart Attack!

After 2.5 years, I had thought that I was immune to all sorts of toddler-induced heart attacks until I went to the bathroom for half a minute and came back to find this.

Yes, that is a Little Tike's chair on top of his train table. He's done all sorts of things on his train table lately (in addition to playing with his trains).

He'd watch his videos while sitting on it.

Or he'd just sit down at the side, swing his legs front & back and think about what other things he can do to scare Mommy.

Month 30

Loves to play ball - kick, roll, throw

can say "FAN" clearly (started saying this in 6/17, Father's Day)

still loves dimsum (hakaw and congee), japanese noodles and vietnamese pho

sits in stroller while mommy pushes him around (finally!)

pretends to count on hand and while pointing to picture books

does puzzles on iPad

loves tesla game on iPad

goes to bed easier, no more struggling w/ mommy.

sits down w/ classmates during circle time, sings songs, follows actions

sits down at table for activities

Philippine Independence Day 2012

Swe-cha woke up just in time for us to drop by for a quickie visit to this year's Philippine Independence Day celebration at Passaic.

We got there around 6p, not a lot of stalls selling stuff anymore (not sure if there were a lot earlier and we didn't go there to buy anything anyway) but the food stalls were still open. We had good timing too because things were winding down and the food was being sold at lower prices na.

Sago went from $3 to $1 / cup. Combo meals with 2 entrees and a cup of rice went from $7 to $5. Pork or Chicken Barbeque went from $3 to $2.50 per stick. Unfortunately, getting there late also had some drawbacks - for one, I was looking forward to having some bubble tea and when we got there, all the stalls did not have the boba (sago pearls) anymore. I was relieved to not get my bubble tea fix, I really need to lose weight!

We saw Ninang A, Tito S and the gehls, A & A. He chased a squirrel and a few kids on skateboards and a motorized scooter. He was so happy!

We carried Swe-cha while we were at the area of the food stalls, I didn't want him to get accidentally get poked in the eye by a skewer, get spilled on by hot food or accidentally touch a hot plate or cooking surface.

We released him and let him run off on his own when we got to the inner portion of the park. He was so excited about the ducks swimming in this body of water.

I pointed it to him and said "Wow, RIVER. The ducks are swimming in the RIVER." He ignored me - not a surprise anyway - and just kept hopping with excitement while he alternatingly shouted "uck" for duck and "ond" for pond.  Onga naman pala, that is not a river. *bonks head*

Centerfold

It amuses me when I suddenly come into the room where I left my boys and overhear their conversation.

Last night, I got back to the room just in time to hear Daddy tell Swe-cha, "ayan... and that, anak, is how you look at a centerfold."

--

Edit: Daddy wants to note that they were looking at a Japanese hobby / model magazine, totally GP, no girlie pictures involved :)

Misty Island Rescue

While watching Misty Island Rescue (thomas & friends)...

Swe-cha: "aaaap!" [with raised hand] (stop!) - when Diesel is about to push the Jobi logs off of incomplete tracks

Swe-cha: "epppp! (help!) - when Diesel was being dragged down by the Jobi logs and was about to fall off the tracks into the river below.

Stroller

... and we're back to using the stroller, yay!

for the longest time, Swe-cha has been refusing to get on the stroller. Try and force him to sit on it, he'll scream & cry and throw the most awful tantrum you've ever seen so we just avoided using it.

Lately though, we realized that if we want to be able to bring him places at this age, the stroller is essential in the sense that:

- it'll keep him safe (compared to just letting him run - he does not walk, he runs!)

- and it'll save our backs from carrying him when he's tired

- he'll have a place to rest & nap while we're out

So we decided to have another go at training Swe-cha to use his stroller again.

Thankfully, it only took a few tries (and temper tantrums) and now, he realizes that the stroller is his friend. Today, after letting him walk for 30 minutes after I picked him up from daycare, I went to the van, opened the trunk, showed him the stroller and asked him if he wanted it. He said yes so I took the stroller out and true enough, he started climbing into it as soon as I've unfolded it. 

I buckled him in, gave him a book and a sippy cup and pushed/walked him around the neighborhood for the next 55 minutes. When I started feeling some soreness on my leg muscles, I thought that I got the raw end of the deal... but seeing how happy and relaxed he was (he even had his feet propped up the belly bar!), okay na rin.

:)

You know you're a parent when...

... seeing your child's artwork make you feel excited and want to go home right away so you can post this on the refrigerator.

or am I just being OA ? =)

Horse

At bedtime tonight, Swe-cha suddenly stood up, straddled me, and then started bouncing up and down my tummy while shouting "horse! horse!"

*sigh*

Joy Ride to DD

We did something unusual today.

After dinner, we took Swe-cha out of his high chair (as usual) and he walked towards the stairs. When he got there, he sat down and tried to put on his shoes - he wanted to go out. So we figure, we'll all walk to the garbage chute to throw out some trash.

We never made it to the garbage chute because Swe-cha, apparently, had other plans. He wanted to go downstairs and out to the car. Curious, we let him lead. He went to the passenger side, wanted the door opened and then he climbed onto his car seat.

Thankfully, hubby had his wallet/license with him and when he asked where we should go, I asked to go to Dunkin Donuts a few blocks away. When we got there, Swe-cha started saying "egg", I asked him if he wanted to eat and he answered "eat". So we got ourselves some iced tea and an egg sandwich w/c Swe-cha ate.

Aliw :)

Colors

Swe-cha is more receptive now when I try to teach him and sometimes, it's like he's even asking to be taught.

Last night ? I was on our bed, catching up on email, when he comes running with a purple cross from his shape sorter. He stops in front of me and says purple (sounds like "uh-oy"), I praise him and he runs off.

Then he comes back with a green cube and says red ("ed"). He pauses & waits for my praise but I tell him "no, baby, that is green! That's a green square." He looks down at his shape and runs off.

He then comes back with a red triangle this time and again, he says red. I praise him, "you did it! great job!".

He comes back one more time with yet another shape and correctly identifies an orange star ("o-ech").

Facial Hair

Tonight, I left my boys playing in the tub and ran off for a quick shower and came back just in time to overhear the husband talking to our 2 year old about facial hair and shaving.

I came into the bathroom and asked (while laughing), "what are my boys talking about ?" and Swe-cha answers "aaah!", giggles and points to his upper lip.

Uh, isn't it a bit too early for this talk ? :D

What are little boys made of ?

Snips and snails
and puppy dogs' tails
that's what little boys are made of.

My little boy proved the old nursery rhyme true this afternoon when he dropped this into my hand without warning. I thought he was giving me a leaf and I couldn't stifle my scream when I realized what it was that he put in my hand.

And the little boy ? He just laughed and laughed. He thought scaring Mommy was just hilarious.

wake up, mama

On most days, Swe-cha wakes me up in the morning by kissing me - Sleeping Beauty style ;) Since we're encouraging him to communicate, I try not to do what he wants unless he says something or signs (I do realize now that kissing me is a way of communicating too). He sometimes says "up up, mama" to wake me up and this morning, that was what I was waiting to hear.

Anyway, this was how things progressed this morning. Since I was sleeping on my side, he kissed me on my cheek. I ignored him and pretended to sleep some more. He then turned my head towards him and kissed me on my mouth. Again, I ignored him. So he kissed me with a little bit more force this time and still, I pretended to sleep.

The next thing I knew, I felt teeth on my nose. He was biting my nose!

Ayan, communicate nga.

Laundry Day

Laundry Day(s) isn't much fun in our house. Armed with only a compact washer and a dryer, and since we have a very active toddler in the house,... well,.. laundry - dirty or clean - tends to pile up. Just to give you an idea, this is what I have in my plate or rather, baskets, right now. Note that when I started, there were 4 baskets and they were all overflowing.

The good news is that these are already washed and dried, the bad news is that since they've been crammed into the baskets instead of folded & hung, most will probably need to be ironed. *sigh*

One more thing to be thankful for is that there is at least one member of our household who enjoys laundry day. It doesn't matter what he may be doing, you just have to turn the washer on and wait... it won't be long before he comes running with his little step stool.

He'll put the stool down in front of the washer...

And he'll watch and observe. He has not tried to put anything in yet, not even his hand. But I'm sure it won't be long before he tries because just this morning, he left his spot for a few seconds and when he came back, he had a toy boat in his hand (but no, he did not put it in the washer yet).

Vietnamese Pho

Tonight, Swe-Cha ate Daddy's Vietnamese Pho.

This is good news because now, this means that we can go out to any restaurant that serves the following:
- Chinese Dim Sum
- Japanese Soba or Udon
- Vietnamese Pho

:)

Kweh-A-pe's Train

He loves the train that Kweh-Ape bought for him.

He even sleeps with it! Mommy should've taken a picture of the train when it was nice, new and still whole because now, because it is so well-loved, it's not falling apart. The annoying sound speaker, unfortunately, is still going loud and strong.

Bye!

Thank you for the pasalubong, Tita R.


(this pasalubong was from last year but we found it again while spring cleaning and he's enjoying it all over again)

Dimsum again and more letters

Swe-cha is proving to be a dimsum-monster. Specifically, shrimp. He loves the shrimp rice roll and shrimp dumplings - he eats the wrappings too but would much rather just eat the shrimp filling. He can almost finish 2 orders by himself (and this is on top of the congee that we give to him on the side).

Today, he showed us how much he liked the shrimp because when left to his own devices, he fed himself w/ the fork and later, would also try to spear the shrimp w/ the fork all by himself - he's never done this before and would always just wait for us to feed him (lazy boy!).

At bedtime, he asked his Dad to open his bag of magnetic letters & numbers. While spread out on the floor, he would pick up letters & identify them and I'm happy to note that he knows more letters & numbers now than he did before, yay! Yun nga lang, I can't count pa which ones he knew because we seem to be missing a lot of pieces already but tonight, he successfully identified the letters: A, B, C, E, F, H, M, N, O, P, S, V, X, Z ; and the numbers: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9

Ewan ko lang kung chamba but hopefully not.

The following letters and numbers were either missing or left untouched (probably because he doesn't know them yet): D, G, J, L, Q, R, T, U, Y, 3, 4, 7

And he mistook the following for a different letter/number that looks similar:

W - gets confused with the letter M

K - gets confused with the letter H

I - gets confused with the number 1

0 - gets confused with the letter O

Escape Artist

You know how escape artists somehow slip out of their clothes & restraints ? Well, this is what Swe-cha has been doing these days.

I guess this is how Houdini got his start =)

My Day - by Swecha

I woke up earlier than usual today and thankfully, we already heard mass yesterday, so we all drove off to Mitsuwa for some brunch (Daddy wanted to check out some magazines at the Japanese bookstore too!).

I wore the Disneyland Micky Mouse hat that A-i gave me for the first time today, I liked it so much, I didn't even think of taking it off in the car.

We love going to Mitsuwa at this time of the day (we usually go on Sundays) as parking is still plentiful and the food court isn't too busy yet. We do not like waiting for a table to become available and Mommy does not like to run after me when I get impatient.

True enough, we got a table immediately after we got to Mitsuwa, we got one of those huge booths out by the window. Mommy and Daddy were so happy.

Daddy went to our favorite fast food place, Kayaba, to put in our order while Mommy stayed behind to guard our table.

I thought that sitting at the table was boring so I ran off to help Daddy - gotta make sure that he gets it right. *smile* We don't want him to forget anything important, especially not my soba. I also want to make sure that Dad gets a few extra drinking cups for me to play with.

Daddy did not forget my cups.

Today, I played "hide the caboose under the cup" with Mommy while we waited for Daddy to come back with my order.

I also got a plastic spoon and pretended to stir something in my cup with the spoon.

This is my favorite and the reason we all come to Mitsuwa.

It's just plain soba in broth but I love it so much. I don't care much for the tofu - Mommy and Daddy eat that - but the noodles are one of my favorite foods.

I love eating them with chopsticks, I always complain because I think Mommy is too slow in feeding me. Today, I almost finished this entire bowl, I left a few strands of noodles behind.

We then went to the Japanese bookstore in the nearby building (same compound as Mitsuwa) and I made Mommy chase me while I circled the entire building (outside) 3 times while Daddy browsed around the magazine section. I love running.

When Mommy was out of breath, she made me go back to where Daddy was and I saw these awesome erasers shaped like a helicopter. Of course, Daddy just had to buy it for me.

I fell asleep in the car while playing with it, I didn't let go of the helicopter at all, not even once!

The 20-minute snooze I took in the car revived me and when we got home, I went out to the upstairs balcony (off of the master's bedroom) and played.

Mommy says that she never realized how much fun I could have in a 3' x 6' outdoor space. She was very happy that they (Mom & Dad) finally put up that net over the balcony rails to make it safe for me to stay there.

When I got tired of running & crawling around the upstairs balcony, I dragged Daddy to the downstairs balcony so I could play with bubbles. Mom stayed upstairs so she could fold laundry and do some vacuuming.

After a while, I got so tired. Dad brought me upstairs and he & mom changed my clothes and wiped me down. They wanted me to take a nap but I showed them! I downed 2 bottles of milk and after that, I felt recharged and was raring to go again!

We decided to let Daddy take a nap today so Mommy let me out to the upstairs balcony and I started running and rolling around it again.

I cannot believe how much fun I have walking around in it. I think it must be the fake grass, I love how it feels when I walk and sit on it.

After around 10 minutes of doing this, I realized that more fun could be had downstairs, I dragged Mommy downstairs again and out into our bigger balcony.

I love using the giant bubble wand to capture bubbles that come out of our bubble machine (Gazillion Bubbles).

I also like to dip it into the bubble solution and then make Mommy blow the bubbles out.

Eventually, I realized that I have not had my daily walk around the neighborhood yet.

We for a walk outside. Mommy made sure that I stayed in the sidewalks.

I walked, ran and played with the toys our neighborhood kids left outside. I found some very small puddles left over from the drizzle we had last night and stomped on them. There wasn't a lot so I didn't get wet at all (Mommy is happy). Then I played inside our car and twiddled with the controls.

Here I am pointing to a weed growing through the cracks on the pavement beside our building and saying, "eaf" (leaf).

Of course, I realized that this was a weed and that it wasn't good for it to be growing against our building so I stomped on it for good measure and then I ran off to play some more.

By this time, we had already been out for an hour and a half and Mommy wanted us to go home and so we did.

I wasn't ready to call it a day yet so we went out to the balcony to play with more bubbles!

I fell asleep in my high chair during dinner. Mom says this is the earliest I've ever gone to bed.

- Swe-cha

Childproofing our balcony

A child-safety thread is now going on in my egroup and thought I'd share what we did with our balcony rails, we got the idea from our neighbor.

[Click on the picture to enlarge]

We got some plastic fencing material from our local home supply store (Home Depot) and just attached it to the rails using zip ties. Quick and easy, took us 10 minutes to attach. Now, we can play and hang out in the balcony w/o worrying about our child slipping through the rails.

Score 1 for Mommy

I've been trying to get Swe-cha to eat more fresh fruits but what we have here is a picky eater. If he sees something he does not recognize, he won't even try.

Tonight, I had the greatest idea ever. I opened a fruit cup - peaches - which he knows and likes. I peeled some red seedless grapes and sneaked it in the cup and that's what I've been giving him and he doesn't seem to mind. I try not to get too much syrup on the grapes so the taste doesn't get masked by the sugar.

Next time, I'll keep a few of these empty plastic fruit cups and will put peeled grapes in it so I can give them to Swe-cha, sans the syrup.

Putting things away

Swe-cha has been very good playing with his crayons these days. It used to be that he'd get so excited when he sees a box of crayons that he'd go "aaaah" while he pours the crayons over himself - sort of like what you do when you rinse yourself with water from a cup.

Last night and this morning, I gave him the box of crayons from Tita R's halloween lootbag when he showed interest and wow, he impressed me when he took a few out, scribbled on his paper and later, he put those crayons back into the box again.

This morning, he did the same thing!

Ambaet :D

Sticker

Today, Swe-cha came home with a Sponge Bob sticker on his shirt.

He didn't really care much about it but seeing him come home with a sticker pulled at my heartstrings and I look forward to the day when he'd be wanting to have a sticker to bring home already :)

Fly

While watching TV, Frank Sinatra comes on and croons,.. "fly me to the moon..."

and immediately, Swe-ha walks around with his arm outstretched in a flying motion, sings "ayyyyyyyyyy" [ around 4 seconds ] and flies into my arms for a hug.

:)

Uncle E

Uncle E, Mommy & Daddy's high school friend, dropped by today. We had a great time. I kept staring at him and strained my neck, I couldn't believe that someone could be so tall!

I said hi and later, bye, and even pulled his arm so he could walk outside with me - but that was when I thought he was Daddy. :)

I got a taste of the Red Ribbon Crema-de-fruta that Uncle E brought, I'm not sure if I like it but I didn't dislike it either. Mom says she's going to give me another taste later.

- Swe-cha

Month 26

Today, we celebrate Swe-cha's 26th month :) Thank you, Lord!

He likes:
- Barney's Sing & Dance
- Barney's I Can Do It
- Barney Live: Around the World
- Barney's Top 20 Countdown

He watches Sesame Street and likes Ernie, Bert and Cookie monster. He identifies Kermit (frog), Abby and Grover but would not watch any of their segments. He loves Thomas the Train shows but will only pay attention to the start & end where there are songs, and the middle part where they feature real trains documentary-style (he really loves trains!).

His favorite toy is the train that Kweh-Ape got him and plays with it on/off the whole day. Sadly, it's falling apart now - an affliction that most well-loved toys and books suffer. His favorite book is still Good Night, Moon and Sesame Street's Yucky Yucky. Both books are in pieces now but have been taped together, Mommy still cannot find a few missing pages from Good Night, Moon.

He eats rice, eggs, miswa, pho, udon and soba. His favorite ulam is Mommy's Pork Giniling with carrots and potatoes. His all time favorite is hakaw (shrimp dumplings) and century egg with pork congee from our local dimsum place. He also loves cookies and KitKat chocolates. He will eat vanilla pudding but not chocolate pudding.

He's also made a few attempts at eating by himself - basta masarap yung food.

His favorite words these days are:
- face "ace"
- feet "eeet"
- off - but he really means to turn on. He says this when he wants you to turn on the fan, lights, projector, his toys, etc.
- flower "hour"
- leaf "uf" or leaves

and when you pretend to sneeze, he will run towards you and cover your face with his lampin. This is probably something he learned from barney's Keep Your Sneeze to Yourself song. He likes to tickle Mommy & Daddy under the chin.

He likes to watch the washing machine go round and round so when Mommy does the wash and he hears the water running in the machine, he'll rush off to get the little step-stool in the bathroom  & he'll bring it in front of the washer so he can watch. (Mommy should get a picture of this sometime, he is so cute!).

Help

Last night, I started teaching Swe-cha to ask for help verbally.

This morning, he wanted me to unfold his Thomas the Train Playhut, he kept pointing at it.

Me: what do you say ? Mama, ... ?

Swe-cha: hep [help]

Noodle Chu

Confirmed na. Swe-cha really loves shrimp.

We went to Noodle Chu for lunch again today and this time, Swe-cha ate 2 huge seafood (fish + shrimp) dumplings and almost finished his congee.

There was a 20 minute wait when we got there (always is) and he couldn't wait! He kept wanting to go inside and I kept having to chase after him. When we eventually got a seat (after a 10 minute wait, it wasn't bad), he was so happy and well-behaved.

Proud mommy & daddy moment :)

---

My son is officially chewing! The pork bone soup didn't make it in time for dinner so we had to resort to giving him an Earth's Best jar of baby food. I opened up a Stage 3 Vegetable Beef Pilaf jar and was so surprised that he finished it all! It was chunky & thick (lots of veggies & pilaf).

So happy.

Conversation with Swe-cha

This afternoon, as I always do when I pick him up from daycare, I asked Swe-cha how his day went.

Me: Did you have fun at daycare today ? Did you play ?

Swe-Cha: [no reaction]

Me: Did you eat a lot at daycare ?

Swe-Cha: Et! Et! (eat)

Me: You're hungry ? you want to eat ?

Swe-Cha: Et! Et! (eat)

Me: What do you want to eat ? You want eggs ?

Swe-Cha: Ag! Ag! (egg)

So I dropped by DD on the way home and bought an egg & cheese wake up wrap. Sure enough, he finished it all by himself (the egg & cheese, minus the wrap).

We're beginning to understand each other now :)

Oh.. and on an even happier note, Swe-cha gave me 2 kisses when I picked him up today. He cradled my face in his hands & kissed me on one cheek and then the other cheek. It was so sweet!

Diaper leak

Swe-cha tossed and turned for hours tonight. He would not ... could not sleep. I thought he was just full of energy (he slept really well the night before and had a long nap this afternoon).

It wasn't until 3am that I checked his clothes, his diaper had leaked and his clothes were wet! I quickly got him fresh clothes and he was out in 1 minute. Kawawa naman.

Dimsum

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with a dimsum lunch today. Yes, it's been 5 happy years - yay!

We were so proud of Swe-cha today, he ate one whole order of congee (Pork & Century Egg) plus a whole hakaw (around 3 pcs of shrimp). Swe-cha kept chewing and chewing the shrimp and we kept thinking that he was going to spit it out soon but he ate it all.

We love love Noodle Chu at Parsippany, NJ :)

First haircut of 2012

We took Swe-cha to the kiddie salon this morning for his first haircut of 2012.

He was still uncooperative and it was a struggle for everybody to keep him in place. My favorite part was when his haircutter asked him "don't you like me ?" and he vehemently shook his head. Everybody - 2 other hair cutters and 4 parents - laughed and yes, they were all looking at us.

Not surprisingly, there are parts of his hair that still seem a bit crooked. Thankfully, it's not as crooked as the last time.

Daddy is not too happy about how Swe-cha's hair turned out. He thinks it's too short and I keep explaining that with a struggling toddler, there was no way that I was going to permit scissors near him so there's really no choice.

As I look at his before and after pics, I realize that we really shouldn't be waiting this long between haircuts.