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.

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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."

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