Last vaccine for 2009

Last Saturday, Neo got his last shot for the year. The typhoid injection. After his meningitis dose in January, we are done! We will just get the flu vaccine each year.

We afterwards went to Tiendesitas, ate our lunch at Savory and did groceries at SM hypermart. We were supposed to go to the Arc of Avilon but Val had headache so we just headed home instead.

Cars, Cars, Cars!

Picture # 1 - set of walkie talkie and a dart board from Tat Ritzie
Picture # 2 - box of biscuit
Picture # 3 - set of beddings

Neo totally loves Cars! I'm not sure if I'm already spoling him but whenever we see items in this design we readily acquire it for the little boy.

a haircut, at last!

Yesterday, Neo had his very first, full blown haircut!

I thought that Neo would not subject to this activity but as Val recounted he was a very good boy all the way! I'm proud of him!

Cavite bazaar

Every year, towards Christmas, the Cavite Export Processing Zone hosts a holiday bazaar that showcases products of export quality, among others.

I was able to gather a pile of the following.

4 good quality shirts for Neo.

Thomas the train items. 1 shirt and a box of Thomas and friends mini book.

Cars mini book and a small Cars tumbler.

A cookie monster shirt and 2 christmas books.

Neo is TWO

Dear Anak,

It was the feast day of St. Joseph in 2007 when we learned that you are coming to be a part of us. At first I thought something was wrong because a lot of blood gushed out from me. I, together with Pap went to the doctor for check-up. It was a happy surprise to us when the doctora confirmed that I am pregnant! The ultrasound revealed that there were two of you inside me! But Papa Jesus opted for your sister to stay with Him and be your guardian angel instead.

I was instructed by the doctor to have a two week bed rest because she ruled me out with threatened abortion, meaning I am in a complicated condition. I was hospitalized for 3 days and the two weeks extended to a total of two months. The days of bed rest was filled with thoughts of having you soon and how we will spend our lives as a family. I read for you, I talked to you and we listened to classical music. More importantly, I drank milk for you! Hahhaha! I was finally given clearance to go back to work and the rest of the following months went out smoothly. Carrying you in my tummy was a fulfilling experience for me and Pap. Your father took good care of us bringing me to office every morning and fetching me at night. His foot rubs for me eased out the pressure of your weight as you grew heavier and heavier every day. Giving a name for you wasn’t a hard task either. Your Pap was consistent with naming you "Michael" because he said that many Michaels are great (Jordan (sports), Jackson (music), Schumacher (racing), etc). I followed your second name from your lolo and you are finally named MICHAEL SIMEON.

Your Pap would always pester me and my tummy asking to you to “get out”. As the days of my term came near, he would always ask, “Is it time?" “Is he coming out?” whenever I call for him. Your birth date came in November 08, a Thursday, two years ago today. I haven't filed my maternity leave yet so I was in my office when my water bag broke at around 3:00 PM that day. I immediately called my doctor to ask for instructions. I called for your Pap next and he came rushing, parking our car in the Tektite driveway and announced to the security guards that his wife on the 31st floor is about to give birth. He barged in our office with a wheel chair! I was carted out on wheelchairs and was feeling funny because I wasn’t actually feeling anything strange yet. Per my doctor’s instruction, I can still go home and take a quick bath, which I did. I remember, when we were on our way to Medical City, Pap and I we were laughing and happy. I cannot recall that I was nervous or afraid. We were excited because we are going to see you soon.

I was admitted inside the maternity room and your Pap stayed with me for a while. I was subjected to an emergency C-section because you already pooh-pooed in my belly. Yes, I experienced the pain of labour. After a while, I was prepared for the delivery room. I was awake the whole time they were cutting me and after only a few minutes, I heard you cry. When they laid you beside me, all I can remember saying to myself was how maputi you are. I even heard the anesthesiologist gasp. “Ang puti!”. Maybe he cannot relate because the mother is the opposite, hehhehe. They took you away and placed me in the recovery room. My time there was like forever, the clock was so “slow”. The next time I saw you were from the camera shots taken from the nursery and I immediately saw whose looks you have taken. Finally, I came to visit you in the nursery. When I held you close to me, I felt the fulfillment of my life.

Today, you turn TWO. Mommy and Pap will give you a happy, happy birthday! We have a long, long way to go and a lot of birthdays to celebrate. And as we recalled the very day you were born, we say our wishes that you grow up to be a a smart and confident individual, God fearing and obedient to your elders. Our prayers would always be for your safety and health.

Sweet dreams little man, we’ll be right here when you wake up.

Holloween

Our neighborhood association organized a halloween affair last October 30, 2009. The "Jeepers Creepers!" trick or treat activity was a lot of fun and the little boy had a grand time. We got this cute, cute costume from the mall the night before and had it at a discount!

More than a hundred trick or treaters attended. Val, Ruthie, Ritzie and Ner joined Neo on his very first holloween experience.

Neo turning two

Yey! I am posting today!

Actually, its not only me who's busy but our laptop is. ;-)I haven't even seen the shadow of that machine as Val has been manipulating it for the past days. I have a pile of backlogs to post pa naman! Anyway, I borrowed my sister's unit just so I can update and document our plan for the little boy's birthday.

We are spending Neo's special day in Tagaytay. We booked a room at the Taal Vista and we will spend Saturday until Sunday there. Ang bilis ng panahon talaga! Our boy is two already. I doesn't feel that long ago when I was busy preparing for Neo's first birthday eto at birthday na ulit nya!

Just for a quick update on milestones -

Neo already has his "terrible" episodes such as over crying, faking cries, throwing things around, slapping faces and tantrums.
On the up side, he recites the alphabet (with assistance)/recognizes and identifies more than
half of the 26 letters
He counts ... man, to, tri
Animals he recognizes are tigers, elephants, zebra, fishes, dogs, cats, monkeys etc
It is so difficult to put him to sleep especially during the day
He loves playing with other kids and calls all of them "baby"
He observes things first before actually plunging in and get engaged
He can say many words now, new words every day!
He dances funny!
Love, loves Lightning Mcqueen
He is aware of his company. Like when we were in the mall and there were four of us (Val, Ritzie, me and Neo), he would make a roll call on all of us. If one is missing he would be searching with his eyes and ask out for that person

And the list goes on! We are excited as we turn to another phase because there's more to come!

Birthday cake

It is going to be Neo's 2nd birthday on Sunday! Last night, we went to Layers and Layers and ordered for Neo a small cake. I requested for it to be made in "Cars" theme.

Val, Neo and me will be heading to Tagaytay on Saturday and go back on Sunday.

A holloween affair

We went to Megamall today and got Neo a t-shirt for holloween. I was eyeing some costumes on the racks but most of the designs are body huggers with tights. I was thinking Neo will not be wearing them yet. I also bought one of those green pumpkin buckets.

Our neighborhood will be holding a halloween affair this Friday. I am hoping that Val will be free on Friday so that can get Neo join the activities as I cannot because of month-end work.

I also bough Neo an aquazorb green towel which we had embroidered with his name.

Greenhills

Last Saturday, we (Ritzie, Mommy, me and Neo) went to Greenhills.

I got Neo two pairs of slippers. A disney black set and a Cars pair.

We also got a package of Cars collection: Lightning Mcqueen, Mater, Sally and Luigi. The bigger Lightning car was a separate unit.

We heard mass at the Holy Family parish.

Mommy Moments : Tantrums, tantrums

Neo never had any hissy fit or any unmanageable tantrum.

However, I will have to add to that statement with ... so far.

As he nears his second birthday, the "terrible" in the "terrible two" is beginning to manifest in the little boy. His "likot" increased about 500% and now engages in crying spells for reasons known and unknown! But i'm happy to say that such episodes don't usually take long and I manage to talk him out of his whims.

So far....

Brownout

Due to the technical mishap in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) last October 07 which brought down several power transformers in Taytay substations , rotational brownout has been effected in some areas of Metro Manila. Pasig, where our office is at and also the area where we live was one of the sites affected.

Because Neo has been complaining "hot!", "hot!" with no electric fan in the heat of the noon sun, Val together with the yaya bought Neo to Jollibee for lunch.

After their lunch meal, they went to my office. I used my lunch time to come with them to Mega mall. We just stayed in the mall for a while and then they headed home shortly.

With still no electricity when they got home, Neo stayed and played outdoors.

As night fell and still no "ilaw", I tagged Val ad Neo with me to Astoria Plaza where our office was having dinner. Here is Neo listening to the band.

This is getting to be our favorite (signature) family pose ;-)
(taken at the dining floor of the hotel)

Electricity finally came at 2:30 AM.

No yaya

Whew! I'm back now after about two weeks of no-post. I have missed three weeks of Mommy Moments.

I had been busy at work because of the series of power disruptions. Following that hurdle is the not reporting yaya! Val covered the days of last week and now, Neo's lola came over to take charge. I am actively looking for a replacement right now.

I should now be looking for a stay-in nanny. Although, an "uwian" arrangement worked for us for more than a year, I feel it is time to have somebody around the clock. Pretty soon, our little boy will be going to school and his needs will be more demanding.

It has been crazy last week and even crazier this week! I will catch up on my postings next week.

The makings of a photographer

These are too cute!

Saturday

Last Saturday, judging that the storm will not strike us this time, the five of us, Ruthie Ritzie, Val, Me and Neo went off to Greenhills. We just went one round in the shopping floor and then got our lunch at Las Paellas Cafe.

Paella Valenciana
Salmon Pasta
Pizza Margherita
House blend iced tea

It is here in this restaurant that we took the picture that is now our current header.

Since we are all full, we just got a cup of Fro-yo at H&B to share. It was the first time for Ruthie.

Look at what we took home from Greenhills! A set of Thomas the Train pajamas. Neo insisted on putting it on (kahit di pa nalalabhan!).

Neo @ 23 months

Ok, this will be the last month and Neo will turn to a full two-year old boy in November. They say this is the dreaded stage where kids become too terrible to handle. Well, I say, no matter how terrible Neo comes to be, he will not be terrible to Mommy (well, let's see).

So far, Neo has grown with a good disposition. He is very playful and malambing. Makulit and very inquisitive. I haven't experienced any uncontrollable episodes with him. He listens to instructions well and obeys Mommy and Pap all the time. Except for some very minor disagreeing grunts now and then, he has been a very good boy and I cannot complain.

He can utter many words now. The newest word he learned just yesterday was "bam - bee". Val was watching Transformers and he pointed out the robot "Bumble Bee"! Neo readily voiced out "bam-bee"!

He recognizes many letters and can tell you the letter if you point it to him. Or sometimes, when he sees text on our shirts or anywhere, he will identify the letter himself. He is most familiar with the letters "M", "Y" and "I". He names the letter "O" kai kai (same name he calls the circle shape). He sounds off the letter "F" in a very funny way and still cannot pronounce the letters "H" , "W", "X" and "Q".

He knows many animals - lion, elephant, zebra, dog, cat, duck, bird, fish among others. Next time naman, i'll teach him salamanders, ardvark, cockatiel, hedgehogs, sea otter ..... hahahahah!

He already has preferences in the clothes he wears. He objected on the t-shirt I wore him last Saturday when we are setting to go out. He went to his clothes drawer and got from it the Cars shirt I recently bought. When he is watching the DVD of Thomas and Friends, he should be wearing this Thomas shirt. Same thing if he is watching Garfield or Cars.

He doesn't like sharing his pillow anymore. When before we share one pillow for the head, he would push me away now.

He sleeps only once in the day and sleeps very early at about 7:00 PM at night. Sometimes, he wakes up when I come home or rouses up in the middle of the night to have a milk fix. He wakes around 7:00 AM.

I think he hates clutter. Whenever he's done playing his toys, he puts them back in its place. The other day we were at the grocery, he was pointing to me the boxes of Cerelac and accidentally knocked about boxes down the floor. He picked each one and neatly placed it back on the shelves. May pagka OC ata ang anak ko, hehehe!

Alright, now we are ready, we are set and off we will GO as my boy turns TWO!!!

Bagyong Pepeng

After the havoc that Ondoy left last weekend, we again hear news of another super typhoon to hit Luzon.

As a matter of preparation, we went to the grocery last night to get stuff , just in case. To my surprise, the counter for fresh chicken and meat were empty. The freezers were empty. Noodles and bread were out. The grocery store was still open until past 11:00 PM because of the load of shoppers.

News on the coming storm is very alarming. We just hope that it will not come to be as it is currently forecasted.

________________

According to theWeather bureau PAGASA, typhoon Pepeng (international codename Parma) is forecast to bring more rains and very strong winds in Northern Luzon including Metro Manila once it makes landfall Saturday afternoon.

There is a big possibility that it will become a supertyphoon. This is a very strong storm, packing winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 210 kph. Most likely it will make landfall in the afternoon of Saturday. That is when it is most critical.

Pepeng is much stronger than last Saturday's tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana), which brought record amounts of rainfall and triggered the worst flooding in Metro Manila in 40 years.

"In terms of wind intensity, Ondoy was only half of the strength of Pepeng. When it made landfall, Ondoy only had winds of 85 kph while Pepeng is 175 kph. However, we cannot really compare the two because it was the rain that was really destructive about Ondoy," he said.
He added: "Our major concern with Pepeng is the disastrous winds - 175 kph to 210 kph. We expect typhoon Pepeng to intensify further as it moves towards northern Luzon."

__________________

Let us pray that the Lord may bring us all to safety amidst natural disasters.

Bagyong Ondoy

It was an unfortunate weekend for residents of Pasig and Cainta and other nearby towns as typhoon Ondoy left hundreds of families homeless and about a significant number losing lives.

We thank God our families are safe and we pray for those afflicted.

Mommy Moments: That's my favorite

This is late from the Friday schedule of Mommy Moments but I'm filing this contribution nevertheless.

Neo is just barely two years old but he had shown particular inclinations/ likings to some animated characters. Among them are Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, Lightning Mcqueen and Jollibee.

His earliest favorite was Bob. Even before he turned one and way before he was able to call me Mommy, he can already call out "Bob".

And then, he was introduced to Thomas. For a time, he had forgotten about Bob and had careered on alternately playing four CDs of the animation. He refers to Thomas as "Mat".

Lately, he came to like Lightning Mcqueen of Cars. From constant loading, the DVD of the movie has been corrupted! He would still ask for it to be played that is why I will get another set soon.

For this week's theme, I share pictures of Neo and Jollibee. I just got this doll last Friday. Since the toy is not anymore available in the stores, I have directly called the company to see if I can be able to get a unit. And, here it is! A Jollination USA version doll!

I cannot forget the smile he gave me when he saw the toy.

Oh well, we have a long way to go and many other Neo's favorites to handle.