Jack The Parrot

From gibberish to parroting... my 1.75 year old Jack repeats / mimics everything he sees and hears. When most of the adults will laugh over dinner, he would do the same albeit in a more exaggerated and oh so cute way. This in turn will make all the adults laugh again, Jack copying their laugh and so on and so forth.

When Jack saw his cousin Mika washing her face, he rubbed his face with both hands as well. His added flare was to pinch his chubby cheeks with his hand and stretch it out.

When he saw Zorro riding off the sunset in his horse, he began riding his 1-foot elephant stuff toy and "hiyyaaa" away. When he saw a 6-inch horse stuff toy in his cousins' house, he rode it as if the horse can actually carry him away.

I wonder what he hill parrot next.

Bonding Time

Mornings with Migo. My son's school time and my work schedule allows me to bring him to school every morning. It's our bonding time. I learned that my first born doesn't want to bring any strawberry flavored snack or drink to school. I'm not sure if he's too giving or his classmate Juliana is too insistent in asking for her strawberry flavored goodies. "Hinihingi ni Juliana yong tira ko kahit hindi pa ako finish." Migo didn't want to bring his Big M Strawberry Milk to school even as I bought one (1) whole case for him. So what we did was to remove the outer plastic label indicating the strawberry flavor and he just brings a plain white plastic bottle to school (still with a pinkish red cap). Now Migo's finishing the last few pieces of Big M I bought. :)

Evenings with Jack. My youngest son is slowly picking up words but still chooses to baby talk. I was surprised that he asked, actually demanded, for me instead of his Mom when he woke up one weekend. He pointed to me when my wife tried to pick him up from his crib. Then I remembered that I tickled him to sleep the night before. I rubbed together the soles of his feet which he truly enjoyed. I also lifted him up as he sat on my feet while I lay in bed. I guess he wants more of that before sleeping time.

I do hope that I get to spend more time with them while they're still young.

Nearing 40

I just turned 37 last month. 37... 3 years to 40. 20 years after graduating from High School. 8 years in my current job. However, no middle life crisis for me. I guess because I have these two boys, aged 5 and 1.5 that keeps me on my toes.

The 1st one keeps your mind thinking for questions like why does the monster truck look like a car? why does the other monster truck look like batman's car? or what about why is the soccer ball small (he's referring to a stress ball in one of my officemate's desk)? when told that it was for exercising the hands, the follow up question is why do they use the hand when soccer ball is for football?

The 2nd one already understands and follows instructions like give this to Grandpa and throw this in the trash can, yet he blurted out his first word "Mommy" just yesterday. It's been months since he's been talking gibberish yet he already gave his older brother at least three bruises a day for hitting him with toys and books - with a strong swing to boot! Yet, he adores his Kuya and will always laugh when he sees his sibling making faces.

Bath time turns into wet time for everyone in site. Sleeping time is preceded by a wrestling match between unmatched weight classes. Eating time turns rice all over the table, chair and floor mess for the younger one while I want more gravy for the other one. Playtime ends up with each one wanting the toy held by the other.

So no, I don't feel like I'm nearing 40. I feel like I still need to be fit to keep with these two boys. The long term plan is that they should be good at sports so that I don't need to spend much on their college education. At least 16 to 20 more years to go! :)

Quick Updates

It's been a while since I last posted a blog... what has happened since then...

1. My 2nd boy celebrated his 1st birthday at Red Barn. :D All the kids and the adults had fun! What stood out during the party were:
a. Great host / magician - he had fun with a general's grandson Sean, Stacey who wanted to win the longest "Happy Birthday Jack-Jack" contest with (Happy Birthday Jack-jaaaaaaak.....aaaaakkkk....akkkkkk), and older guests who shouted as much as the kids when he was pushing a long pin in a balloon.
b. My officemate's daughter. They were the first to arrive because they had to leave early for a wedding. I didn't think they were able to leave in time for the afternoon wedding because the little girl had fun:
Host: "What's your name?" Stacey: "I'm four years old."
Host: "How old are you?" Stacey: "I'm Stacey."
c. Stacey crying because she thought her hand will be cut-off with the magic trick and Sean also hesitating in the similar situation.
d. My other officemate's daughter who was very competitive in the "Bring Me" game.
e. The parents got tired of the kids who went ride all you can after the party.

2. I bought my first SLR camera for P31K. This is an expensive hobby! Since then I bought a separate flash (P16K) and am planning to buy another lens (P29-35K). Whew!

3. My youngest son started to walk on his own. The tiring part is following him around just to make sure he won't fall down as he tries to balance himself. :i

4. My eldest son had his first play "Noah's Ark." He played the part of "water" to quench the workers' thirst. He was on stage for around 15 minutes, his actual "acting" part for less than 5 minutes, while practicing 4 hours per weekend for 4 weekends! :)

5. My Mom and Dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. I had to say my speech in English because my English brother-in-law was in attendance. :D

6. My eldest son asking: why don't I see any Chocolait commercial. I only see Chuckie commercials? :P


I'll expound on this topics when I get more time....