"I'M LISTENING, MOMMY."

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa - February 2016

Lately my son has learned to apologize. AND by that I meant not just throwing the word "sorry" meaninglessly but saying it with remorse and guilt. You could tell it by the tone of his voice and the puppy look no mother could resist. He would even apologize repeatedly until he gets a positive reaction from the offended party. That could range anywhere from a smile, a light tap on his head to a hug-kiss-and-tickle make-up kind of thing. His grandparents (my side) were touched and tickled whenever they would hear him apologize to me, his dad or them.

So this morning, my 3-year-old boy was having a rough day. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed. With head full of cowlicks and a sippy cupful of milk on hand, he went to church, looking frumpy, grumpy, and not his usual cheeky self. Not even his favorite church moment, the congregational singing, changed his sour mood. By the time sermon started, he was ready to throw a fit. I took him from his dad as I want his dad to be able to concentrate on the preaching. He was trying to fight me and would not agree going to the nursery, so when I stood up and carried him to take him to the nursery, he burst into tears and started having a meltdown.

Inside the nursery, I tried to calm him. He was sobbing and crying and kept on telling me that he didn't like to stay in the nursery. My friend who was watching the nursery this morning told me that I could leave him and he usually quiets himself after a minute or so anyway once left there. However, when I told my son that I was going to go back in the sanctuary, he quickly told me in between pitiful sobs, "Sorry, Mommy." I knew he was having a really rough morning, so I said to him, "It's okay. There's no need to say 'sorry.' I'm not mad. I just need you to stop crying." I walked towards the door and he ran after me, and said, "I'm listening, Mommy." AND THOSE WORDS THAWED MY HEART.

You see, his dad and I, when we reprimand him, we always tell him that he should start listening more to us. This boy is only 3 years old yet he could be hardheaded and stubborn as a bull a lot of times, and so we always have to remind him that he should listen to us. So, when he told me this morning that he was "listening," it broke my heart in a good way. It is hard to put into words what I felt but I had all different sorts of heartwarming mommy feels. Let's just say I had a motherhood defining moment there. One of the many (and more to come) that I would never forget :)

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa - February 2016

TURNING 3 IN FEBRUARY

"I'm turning 3 in February." - Vonn Kaleb at 2.5 years

It's crazy how super fast time flies when you're a parent, and whenever I realize that my pint-sized boy is no longer the tiny, fragile, fussy, unable-to-talk baby I used to cradle and carry like Roo-in-Kanga's-pouch, I get sentimental. *sniff sniff*

Sigh. The cycle of life. So surreal at times... (and another sigh!)

Anyway, emotional dramatic mother feelings aside, I am joyful and thankful beyond words to see how my precious child grow each day. I am in awe of his growth, and his development have truly been leaps and bounds. It's simply amazing how a child can transform over a short period of time, and to be there to witness it happen right before your eyes every passing day is truly a blessing.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most children at age 3 do the following:

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL

• Copies adults and friends
• Shows affection for friends without prompting
• Takes turns in games
• Shows concern for crying friend
• Understands the idea of "mine" and "his" or "hers"
• Shows a wide range of emotions
• Separates easily from mom and dad
• May get upset with major changes in routine
• Dresses and undresses self

My son does everything in the above checklist except "dresses and undresses self" which he can do but still with assistance from adults.

The most challenging milestone we have met in this aspect was "separates easily from mom and dad." He has always been the clingy (untouchable by others) baby. Recently, he has been attending Sunday School and Nursery on his own without resistance. We also has had success leaving him with his grandparents a few times for date nights. He understands now that "grown-ups come back (thanks to Daniel Tiger!)"  when he is separated from us, his mom and dad. Honestly, knowing how clingy my boy is, I didn't really expect we'd get to this point this soon, where we can actually leave him in a Sunday School class without him bawling his eyes out. I'm the proudest momma in the whole wide universe every time I bring him to Sunday School and he willingly joins the class and not run after me when I leave.

LANGUAGE/COMMUNICATION

• Follows instructions with 2 or 3 steps
• Can name most familiar things
• Understands words like "in," "on" and "under"
• Says first name, age and sex
• Names a friend
• Says words like "I," "me," "we," and "you" and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
• Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time
• Carries on a conversation using 2 to 3 sentences

It overwhelms me how my son's language/communication skills has been evolving. I was so concerned about his speech being delayed. He didn't say a word (Daddy) until he was 21 months old. I prayed and prayed to God to help us in this regard because the thought of my child being unable to utter not even a single word when most kids his age were already engaging in conversation with their parents was getting too concerning for me. So, you know, now that he's turned into a very cheeky, chatterbox, who talks and sings nonstop all throughout his awake time, my husband and I would just shake our heads and tell each other, "We asked God for it." His language and communication skill for his age is pretty impressive and amusing at the same time. He never fails to entertain us and his grandparents with his witty remarks. Actually, he is a little bit advanced in terms of his language/communication skills, and I'll get to that in detail later at the end of this entry.

Examples: This morning I asked him to put on his sandals and his reply to me was, "Maybe later." The other day he told his friend, "Miss Isla, you have to use the potty before we take a nap." His most used expression? "I don't want to!" 

Also, he loves playing with his words. He conjures and twists words to make new words. He intentionally changes word pronunciation. He talks nasally in purpose. He is so silly!

BUT, my favorite is when he randomly sings and hums tunes. To say that he loves to sing is an understatement. Really. AND I'm not saying this because I'm his mom, but our friends in church have already noticed his singing too. Sooooo sooooo precious! He reminds me of a quote I read before, "A bird in the house is like sauce to meat." With all the talking and singing he does all day, there's just no dull moment with him.

COGNITIVE (learning, thinking, problem-solving)

• Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts
• Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
• Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
• Understands what "two" means
• Copies a circle with pencil or crayon
• Turns book pages one at a time
• Builds towers of more than 6 blocks
• Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handle

My boy's pretend games are so creative. His make-believe games are so "vivid" that an adult could easily jump into the story. The other day, he was playing with his friend, Isla, here at home. He was riding his tricycle, when he said, "There's a train! We have to stop." Isla didn't budge. She looked around, stretched her neck, wondering. After a few seconds, she asked, "Where's the train?," and you could see in her face that she thought Vonn Kaleb meant an actual train. Vonn Kaleb replied to her pointing to a direction, "Right there, over ahead of us!" These toddlers are so precious.

Puzzles - he has been doing 12-piece jigsaw puzzles for quite a while now. I've been wanting to get him 24-piece ones but I just hadn't gotten to buying them yet.

He does know what "two" means, so as three, four, five and even up to 20. He can "subitize" up to 6. I used dice to introduce him that technique when he turned 2, and I really wasn't expecting him to get it right away. The dice were much more enticing to him as a toy than a mathematics learning tool, so I didn't really pursue, but I guess, the concept did click on him, because now he can easily count objects up to 6 with one glance.

His building skills have gotten more creative too. This morning, he made an elaborate ship out of his Lego Duplo blocks. I thought it was just me who noticed that but his grandmother did too.

MOVEMENT/PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Climbs well
• Runs easily
• Pedals a tricycle (3-wheel bike)
• Walks up and down stairs, one foot on each step

He loves riding his tricycle! I didn't think he'd learn to pedal before he turns 3, but lo and behold, he did! I'm soooo proud of my boy :)

In conclusion, my son's developmental milestones are on track, and as I mentioned above, in some aspects, he is actually ahead. Just out of curiosity, I checked what 4-year-olds usually can do, and out of the checklist, here are things that my son (shy of 3) can do now:

• Is more and more creative with make-believe play
• Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using "he" and "she"
• Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or the "Wheels on the Bus"
• Tells stories
• Can say first and last name
• Names some colors and some numbers
• Understands the idea of counting
• Starts to understand time
• Remembers parts of a story
• Understands the idea of "same" and "different"

Again, as I have observed (all bias aside) he is very creative in terms of pretend play.

His grammar is impressive, considering his parents, whom he learns majority of his communication and interaction skills from, are ESLs. He uses past tense and plural forms. He knows basic pronouns. 

He sings songs, and I'm not talking about nursery rhymes or children songs - songs with different verses, choruses, refrains, bridges, etc. He sings Kids Praise songs, Sandi Patti songs, church hymnal songs, good ole' nursery rhymes, TV show songs, Christmas songs, etc. Sometimes, he knows the words to a song more than I do. He would even correct me when I sing the lyrics wrong or got them mixed up or even with just a word that I didn't get right. This boy loves to sing, he picks up songs so quickly.

He loves telling stories.

He knows his full name.

He knows his colors and numbers and letters, too! Uppercase and lowercase both. I haven't taught him how to actually read yet. I'm taking it slowly as I don't want him to get burnt out, so right now, whenever we read books, I throw a word here and there, for him to "read" and spell, and he has been doing very good so far. He actually can spell and "sight" read a bunch of words now. I keep a list of those words and I add whenever he learns to spell or "sight" read a new word.

He knows how to count. This afternoon while I was so busy cooking, I heard him count 1 to 20. When I turned to look, he was counting block "pegs," and to my surprise, he was right! I had to do a double take to make sure there were really 20 "pegs." 

He sort of has a concept of time now. The way we do it at the moment is we tell time by saying where the hands of the clock point to and what does it mean. For example, we say, "It's pointing to 8 and 6. That's 8:30. That means, it's time for bath." He follows that pattern whenever he talks about time. This morning, I told him that we need to get up from bed already as I have to cook for lunch, and he said to me, "I want to cuddle for 5 minutes." So I said okay to him but I told him that when the clock points to this and that, we have to stand up then because that means 5 minutes is up.

His memory is very sharp. He is keen and very observant. He is particular to details. He has no trouble remembering parts of stories.

He knows what same and different are.

So yeah, there you go! I know this post is way too long and self-serving, and I meant it that way. If only we could install a camera that will capture ALL of his moments a la THE TRUMAN SHOW, we would definitely do it, just so we could document everything. With him growing so fast and changing each day, I want to keep a record of his milestones even if only thru this blog.

MOMENTS: A LATE PUBLISH

Note: This has been sitting in my Draft Folder for some time now. I wrote this in November 2015, and only now (March 2016) did I realize that I have yet to publish this. If there are any grammatical errors or slips, my apologies. I didn't proofread or make further edits other than this addendum note.

In a short span of time, motherhood has taught me a lot of things already. I learned that I didn't just become a parent but I've also gained my youngest best friend - my son. I realized that there is no such thing as little moments with him. The shortest hug, the slightest touch, the quickest kiss -- they're all too big and overwhelming. If only I could freeze a moment in time...

So here's one reason why I blog my MOMents. I could never tell time to hold still even for just a moment but I could at least document moments here in my blog. When my son is grown and I'm all wrinkly and old, and when the time comes that my mind fails, I hope to still vividly recall and feel in my heart those moments through the records in this blog.

Mr. Kulit Paulit Ulit

I didn't get enough sleep the other night. In fact, I went to bed at around 8:00 in the morning. I pulled an all-nighter working on our church's financial records. It wasn't like I had a humongous pile of work to do. It's just that I waited and procrastinated, and so I got behind and did some catching up on it. I knew that was going to happen and when I don't get enough sleep, the tiniest annoyance could set me off. Who doesn't, right? So I kept reminding myself not to blow my fuse up at the pettiest of things. It's my fault that I was sleep deprived. My son doesn't have anything to do with it, so he doesn't need snarling and gnarling from me especially when he's just being his usual naughty self.

Around 9:30 in the morning, my boy woke up. He was pleasant. He was playing with his toy in his bed, so I asked him to lie down beside me. He is already used to me not being a morning person, so he obliges whenever I tell him that I still want to lie on the bed and catch some zzzzs. After a short while, he asked for milk, and so I got up and got him milk. We both laid on the bed while he drank his milk. He then grabbed books and asked to be read. I obliged. He was already up and about playing at that time when I was reading to him. Soon after, he said he needs to use the potty, so I took him to the bathroom and helped him. In his active energetic mode already, he accidentally hit me, so I frowned. I didn't say a word but he saw me frowned.

We then went back to his room and I once again laid down in bed. A few minutes after that, I decided to finally get up. There's no way I could catch winks anyway with a toddler in active play in the same room with me, so might as well get on my feet and get going. The moment I stood up, my son definitively said, "Mommy is awake. Mommy is awake. Mommy is awake..." He said it repetitively though. That's just how he is. He will keep on saying something until he gets reassurance and confirmation from either his Mom or Dad, which we do almost every time. This time, I purposely ignored him though. He persisted and kept on saying, "Mommy is awake..." He has already gotten used to receiving constant affirmation from us even when he's already stating an obvious fact. I want him to learn and know that it's okay -- we don't have to repeat or say everything back to him to assure him. I want him to develop self-confidence.

"Mommy is awake. Mommy is awake. Mommy is awake...," he went on. I was waiting for him to stop, so I remained quiet and went about fixing the bed. When it dawned on him that he wasn't going to get the reassurance from me, he changed his tone -- sweet, slow and calm -- and said, "Good morning. Good morning, Mommy."

That broke my heart. I melted. I thought I was teaching him to be confident and independent, but when I thought about it, he is just a 2.5-year-old boy. He understandably still needs reassurance from his parents. In due time, he will be all on his own, and I will be phased out of his life, but until then, I ought to give him all the reassurance a sweet, innocent child needs, kahit pa Mr. Kulit Paulit Ulit na :)

Mr. Kulit Paulit Ulit wearing a Dreadlocks Rasta Hat

~ October 23, 2015 ~

BYE BYE, DIAPERS!

Three weeks ago, my toddler all of a sudden decided he wanted to sit on the potty and use it. Just like that. Out of the blue. I didn't see that coming. I wasn't ready for it but it was apparent that my son was.

The first time we tried him on the potty just to introduce it and let him have a feel of using it was when he was around a year-and-a-half old. He went a couple of times but after that he didn't want to anymore. The idea of not going in his diaper repulsed him so that at one point he wouldn't even pee while bathing because he wasn't wearing diapers. We didn't push it any further that time since we thought it was pretty early to potty train him anyway. So we hid the small potty away for a time and it sat somewhere in the bathroom collecting dust.

Second attempt was when he was about 2. A friend gave me children books about potty training and that kinda got him interested. He would sit and sit and sit and sit and sit while Mommy would read and read and read and read, but that was just pretty much about it. No going in the potty. He was getting to be really good with words by that time and so the songs his potty sings stuck on him that he could actually sing them. Our favorite potty song was the one by Little Baby Bum:

"I like to sit down on the potty. It's so much fun! 
Sometimes I have an accident but that's okay 'cause
Every day I try again
I pee/poo in the potty and wash my hands
I'm growing up and getting tall
I don't need my diapers anymore."

Despite him knowing those potty songs by heart and me having read to him potty books countless times already, he despised going in his potty. He would sit on it every now and then, just to sit, but when it was really time for him to use it, he would throw a fit whenever I offered it. He knew when he's going but he hated sitting on the potty to do his business. One time I thought he was actually doing well because he peed into it a few times with only a couple of accidents but then the following day, he again rejected the potty. It was putting stress on both of us, so I gave the potty a rest, and let it collect more dust.

Then, three weeks ago happened. No fuss. No resistance. Little to no accident at all during awake. I was impressed. I was floored. I was taken by surprise. Third day into it, he was fully potty trained during daytime. Sometime around the first week, he woke up around 3:00 in the morning to go potty. I couldn't believe it. Second week into it, he was fully potty trained, day and night. A couple of times he woke up in the morning with "wet" pull-ups but it was because he had drank a cup of milk or so right before he went to bed.

I didn't expect he'd be potty trained so fast. Even when in the tub bathing or swimming in the pool, he tells us when he needs to pee. We went on a trip last week and we were driving on the interstate when 2.5 miles away the next exit, he felt the urge. We told him to hold it until we could exit. He grunted, "going, going" several times, and twitched positions, shifted and stretched his legs with toes pointing forward, while we scurried to exit. I could tell he really was trying his best to hold it and on the verge of it, but he still was ABLE to hold it! We exited, found a gas station, pulled his pants down, and as soon as we sat him down the potty, he relieved himself. He is really very good in holding his pee/poo that he always makes it to the potty with no leaks whatsoever. Totally impressive!

I am so proud of my son for having achieved this milestone. I was talking to my sister about this and she congratulated me pointing that potty training is one of the big challenges for parents. I think readiness is really the key and commitment on the caregiver's part. It helped that I was constantly reminding my son about the need to say bye to his diapers and learning to use the potty as he is not a baby anymore, but it was my son's readiness that made potty training a breeze for us. I give my son all the credits for a very successful potting training. Kudos, my big boy! ;)

Geez. My son is two-and-a-half. He is potty trained. He is weaned off his binky. He feeds himself. He can flush the toilet by himself. He can wash his hands by himself. In fact, he even says, "Do it yourself (myself)." This is happening too fast. Too overwhelming for me. It's a sinking feeling. I can't seem to wrap my head around it. In a click, my son was suddenly ready, and I wasn't. I'm still not. I don't think I will ever be ready.

Comfy in his big boy boxer briefs.

Phone in hand. Chilling on the big bed. Tank tops. Boxer briefs.
Makes me feel I already have a teenager.

BYE BYE, BINKY!

The first time I tried to wean my 2.5-year-old son off his binkies was I think when he was around 20 months or so. His binkies brought him certain calm that even us, his parents, apparently could not provide. When I tried to keep him from having his binkies, he obviously got so stressed out, that he literally cried for an hour. It happened twice, and I saw how miserable he really was without his binkies. I felt guilty for subjecting him to such torture. He just wasn't ready yet, and I felt so bad for not being sensitive enough towards my son. After all, it was me who knows him best, and yet I gave in to what others dictated. My heart broke for him, and so after two failed attempts, I let him have his binkies again.

Last night, he misplaced his favorite binky just before going to bed. All lights out and a little over past 12 midnight, we tried to look for it but we couldn't find it. When I didn't bother looking harder for the missing binky or handing him his extra binkies, I thought I would just test the waters. I told him that it was probably time for him to say goodbye to his binky. He didn't object when I said that, mostly because he was still so hyped up, blabbering incessantly, singing and talking in whispers to himself, playing with a toy train in one hand. He was still playing on his bed when I dozed off and I didn't really notice what time he went to sleep.

At around 3:00 a.m., I woke up to my son's small sobs. He was looking for a binky. I ignored him at first and waited. When his sobs started getting louder, I comforted him with an "It's okay," and I maintained that we still couldn't find his binky. He continued to cry. He then told me he needs to use the potty, so I took him to the bathroom and helped him. When we got back to his room, I laid him down beside me on our bed, and I told him that he's a big boy now and he should do his best to try to sleep without his binky. I gave him the reassurance that he can do it, but I was ready to give him a binky should I see him stressing over it just as before. I didn't want him to go sleepless over it.  My son, however, slept through the night. He woke up quite earlier than his usual though, but I made sure to hide away all his binkies before he woke up.

At the library this morning, when he was getting anxious during story time, he kept on searching for his binkies in his baby bag, but he didn't throw a fit when he didn't find one. When we had our afternoon nap, he fell asleep on his bed with, again, a toy train, albeit a different one, in his hand. No binky in sight, and he napped perfectly fine without it. My husband could not believe when I told him that my son has weaned off from his binkies. The final test was bedtime this evening. Not a tiny craving for binky, and he fell asleep peacefully without one, and holding a wooden helicopter toy in his hand.

I know my son was very much attached to his binkies, and it makes me feel so proud that he finally has let go of them. As his mother, I am sure it took him courage and bravery to overcome his anxiety without a binky. I'm so happy that my son is learning, and growing, and achieving milestones like this, but at the same time, it makes me realize that my son is indeed GROWING, and there's no stopping him from it. Every milestone he meets means a step closer to independence and a step farther away from me. Moments like this remind me that I could only hold my son so much for a time. Moments like this tell me that I'm going to muster all the courage and bravery I could gather to overcome the anxiety that one day I will see my son independent in all ways, and I become obsolete just like his binkies.

Taken on Aug 28, 2015 in Club Med Sandpiper Bay, FL
Four days ago, my son was still inseparable from his binkies. He at least needed two - one to put in his mouth and the other to press/rub/brush on his eyelids, nose, cheeks and all over his face. We called the one he put in his mouth as "chup chup" and the other one "duk duk". When I would ask him to surrender his binkies to me when he didn't need them, he would bargain with me and plea, "[I] can have one. Just one." Now I only have pictures to look back when my son still had his binkies :')

MY NEW BEST FRIEND FOREVER

Photo taken in May 2015

I had just given my two-and-a-half-year old a quick wash in the tub, changed his diaper, and was putting clothes on him. I was kneeling down, fixing him up, when he wrapped his arms around my neck. While hugging me, he spontaneously said, "You're my best friend, Mommy." He kissed me on the lips afterwards. In his cute toddler talk, he managed to express that "Vonn Kaleb and Mommy are best friends." That was one of the sweetest things that has ever happened to me in my entire life.

I'm not a perfect mom. I second guess my parenting skills every now and then. Although my husband always tells me that I'm the best mom our child could ever have, a lot of times, I feel inadequate and overbearing. Having heard my toddler say that I'm his best friend somehow validated my efforts. It makes me think that somehow I must have done something right.

The boy who stole my  ♥ 

My son, I will always be your best friend no matter what. I love you more than it's possible.

MORE MILESTONES MET

Can someone please tell me where time went? Vonn Kaleb is a few weeks shy of being 2, and this momma here is having mixed emotions over the fact that my once cute, pea-sized, fussy wussy, scratchy infant has now grown. At 2, I'm already feeling this, so can you just imagine how much more would it be for me when my son marries and leaves home?! I can't! I can't! LOL.

Okay, let me put aside those mommy hormones for now, as I wanted to blog about my son's development over the past weeks. If you read my post back in December 2014 wherein I talked about developmental milestones, you'd remember that Vonn Kaleb met most of them, although there were a few in which he wasn't quite there yet, specifically in his language and social skills. He was 22 months then when I wrote that, so I thought I'd do a follow-up on it now that he's almost 2. Jeez, almost 2 - now, I'm getting emotional again. Hehe!

Anyway, here are the most pertinent points in my checklist from December:

Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children, such as in chase games

✔ Back in December, I mentioned that his social skills improved considerably ever since we came back from our vacation in October. He was still very clingy to Vince and me but he had become more friendly and would say "hi" and "bye" to people and even would give hugs and kisses to those he was very familiar and comfortable with. Vonn Kaleb then would play alongside other kids but I had yet to see him play chase games.

✔ Well, yesterday, Vonn Kaleb played with his three "girl friends" (two older and one younger than him) while we're at church. At first, he didn't want to play away from my arm's reach, but with my permission, I let one of the older girls, "Aubwee (Aubrey)" watch him. Aubrey used some goldfish crackers to bait Vonn Kaleb into following her to the nursery, and next thing I knew, he was running back and forth and all around playing with the girls. Not only was he doing that but he was also saying, "Chay! Chay! (Chase! Chase!)" while running with the girls. So you see, the fact that he was saying "chase" indicates that he was aware that they were playing chase, and that he wasn't just parallel playing. I think my heart melted that time :') The older girls took turns chasing him which he obviously enjoyed. Considering how aloof Vonn Kaleb used to be, this is really a major milestone for us. 

Says sentences with 2 to 4 words 

✔ Back in December, I noted that Vonn Kaleb's speech was a little behind. He started talking at 21 months, but since then, his language and speech has developed a lot. He is definitely speaking clearer now, and he is learning new words every day. His growing vocabulary includes words such as "caboose," "train cars," "huge truck," "school bus," "sunlight," "bridge," "drama," "green car," "purple ball," "fries," "dryer," "ice cream," "cookie," "seagull," "offering," "goldfish," and so much more! He is not speaking 4-word sentences yet, but he does speak 2-word sentences such as "read please," "open please," "out please," "sit down," "fall down," "get you," "try again," "behind you," "hop in," "jump pool (jump into the pool)." He knows his ABCs, numbers (recognizes 1 to 10, and counts from 1 to 20), basic shapes, and most recently, basic colors. He calls familiar people by names e.g., Tacey, Elkin, Aubrey, Isla. He now knows to use interjections such as "Oooppsiee!" (and sometimes he would copy us saying, "Oooppsiee Daisy!") and "Hoy!," and he loves imitating us say, "Grabe!" The first Tagalog word he learned to say (and he knows what it means) is "paypay" (fan).

In conclusion, I'm very much happy and proud to say that my son's speech and vocabulary has caught up now and he has in fact met the normal developmental milestone for speech.

Like any other parent, I'm very proud of my child. As early as he is in his formative years, I could objectively tell that God has blessed us with a very smart and charming boy. It is now up to us, his parents, to take advantage of his early development stage, nurture him, and help him reach his full potential. Such a daunting and overwhelming task when I think about it, but with God's grace, I know we can do it ☻ 

EDITS: As of publishing, Vonn Kaleb spoke his first ever three-word sentence, "More bubbles please!" ☺ What can I say? My boy loves bubbles ♥

NYT NYT, MATEY!

I wish I could say that our journey to sleeping through the night was a walk in the park, but it definitely wasn't. Vince and I had more than our fair share of first-time parents sleepless nights. Vonn Kaleb was a very fussy baby and a light sleeper like his father. For the longest time, we went nights after nights of waking up just a couple of hours into sleep with Vonn Kaleb crying and fussing, wanting to be comforted, and taking forever to go back to sleep, only to wake up again after a short while, and the viscious cycle repeats again. Vince and I were like zombies walking dead during the day. We were the epitome of sleep-deprived parents. Vonn Kaleb was the poster child for colic babies.

Vonn Kaleb was around 9 months old when we moved to our current house. That was when I told Vince that I'm putting Vonn Kaleb in his own room. He slept in his crib in the same room with us up until that time. Since then, he has been sleeping in his own room. It helped us to finally get more sleep at night but it wasn't an easy transition either. He really didn't sleep through the night until probably around 14 months but even still there are times when he still cries and calls for attention in unholy hours of the night. After we came back from our recent Caribbean vacation, we noticed a big improvement in his bedtime routine, in that it's now a lot easier to put him to bed. Less resistance, less rocking, less "sleep fighting." And yes, less waking up too = more sleep for all of us! Hoorah!

Since he's turning 2 soon, we decided to transition him to a big boy bed. I was thinking of getting him a regular-and-nothing-fancy toddler bed but his dad got all excited and went all out and bought him a pirate ship bed. Ahoy, matey!

Vonn Kaleb had fun while we were assembling the pirate ship bed ;) He probably thought it was a big toy we were putting together. Hehe! Most importantly, I really wasn't expecting the transition from crib to bed to be easy, but surprisingly, it was. He has been doing so well sleeping in his big boy bed, which means Vince and me have been getting more than 40 winks in the comfort of our king bed :)

There's really no stopping Vonn Kaleb from growing. He graduated from the crib and has now moved up to a toddler bed. I understand that not all kids mature at the same phase, with some advancing faster and others who take their time to eventually catch up #latebloomers. For us who came far to achieving a sleep-through-the-night status, this is an accomplishment we are happy and proud of. Each step towards independence albeit how little they may appear to others, like weaning off the bottle and transitioning to sippy cup or learning to use the fork to feed himself, these are triumphs that we celebrate in our family. In the short time that I've been a parent, I have learned that parenthood is anything but easy and those benchmarks and milestones make it more rewarding and worth it :) Having said that, I'll sign off using a very appropriate parenting remark from my husband, "Sulit na. Hindi ka naman lugi." ☺☻

TURNING 2 SOON - KEEPING TRACK OF DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

Vonn Kaleb is turning 2 in a few months. Already?! It seems like it was only last week when I gave birth, three days ago when I had a newborn, the other day when I had an infant, and yesterday when I baked his 1st birthday cake... and now a toddler onto his terrible 2s?! Gosh, where did the time go?

Anyway, I thought I'd check which milestones my precious son has reached so far, and according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, here is what most babies do at 2 years of age (please bear in mind that Vonn Kaleb is only 21 months at the time of writing):

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL

✔ Copies others, especially adults and older children

✔ Gets excited when with other children - *Not so much, but his social skills have improved a lot since we came back from our recent vacation in October.

✔ Shows more and more independence

✔✔✔ Shows defiant behavior (doing what he has been told not to) - *Amen! Preach on, brother! Vonn Kaleb has actually been showing defiant behavior for a while now... #terrible2

✔ Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children, such as in chase games - *He does parallel play with other children, and like I've mentioned above, there really has been a noticeable improvement in his social skills that even other people took note of it. I have yet to see him play "chase games" with other kids, but he is starting to be more interactive now with other children in a playgroup setting.

LANGUAGE/COMMUNICATION

✔ Points to things or pictures when they are named - *He's been very good at this, and he just keeps on getting better and better, and his vocabulary is growing each day.

✔ Knows names of familiar people and body parts - *He can now say "mommy." Finally! The way he says it is kinda funny and cute at the same time because his pronunciation of 'M' is 'B' (and this is for most of the M words he could say.) So "moo" is "boo", "me" is "be", and "mommy" sounds like "bombby" - yeah, there's a hint of M somewhere in there but the more prominent letter you'll hear is B. Interestingly though, he can say "ma" but for actual words beginning with the letter M, he pronounces B instead. Hmmm...*

 Says sentences with 2 to 4 words - *Although his comprehension is very good and bilingual I should say, his speech is somewhat behind. That kinda' get me concerned, so I spoke to a pediatrician I know and she advised me to wait and see until Vonn Kaleb is 2 years and 2 months. She told me that some boys just take their time and most of them they catch up - and this is also what my husband has been telling me. She told us that what she tells her patients is that if by 2 years and 2 months, if the child was still not talking as he was supposed to, then that's the time to consider evaluation and speech therapy. Since I was being antsy and anxiously worried by the delay in Vonn Kaleb's speech, Vince and I agreed to give him until 21 months, and seek help if he's still not talking at that time. Guess what, he started saying "daddy" and "baby" very clearly at 21 months! Well now he's still "bulol" (sorry can't find the exact translation of this Filipino word in English) and does not pronounce all the sounds/letters of words - like "moon" is "boo", "car" is "ca", "chips" is "chi", "chocolates" is "cho", "spoon" is "poo", "sky" is "ky", and so on, but what he used to say as "baba" for "bye bye" is now really "bye bye" and same goes for "hi." There are words which he enunciate very well like "go", "daddy", "baby", "puppy", "key," etc.

✔ Follows simple instructions - *He has been very good at this... and in two languages - Filipino and English.

✔ Repeats words overheard in conversation

✔ Points to things in a book

COGNITIVE (LEARNING, THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING)

✔ Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers

✔ Begins to sort shapes and colors - *Shapes, yes. Colors, hmmm... I haven't really paid attention if Vonn Kaleb has started sorting them - this is a homework for me.

✔ Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books - *This is our new hobby and source of entertainment. Hehe! He's very, very good at this, and Vince and I are so proud of our son. Like I said, Vonn Kaleb is still "bulol," but regardless, oh boy, he does know how to complete sentences, rhymes and songs. He can even recite the alphabet on his own with some cues and help from us, despite his delayed language skill. We're impressed with how awesome he is at this. ☻

✔ Plays simple make-believe games

✔ Builds towers of 4 or more blocks - *There are blocks everywhere in our house now.

??? Might use one hand more than the other - *He hasn't shown particular hand dominance yet, although when he was younger, he used his left hand more than the right. There's a lot of lefties in my side of the family (my father and two aunts are, and a number of our cousins, too), and my mom-in-law is ambidextrous, so we'll see ;) Me and Vince are both righties by the way.

✔ Follows two-step instructions such as “Pick up your shoes and put them in the closet.” - *Like I noted above, Vonn Kaleb has been very good at this - and in two languages.

✔ Names items in a picture book such as a cat, bird, or dog - *He can recognize and identify all the letters of the alphabet as well as numbers 1 to 5. 

MOVEMENT/PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

✔ Stands on tiptoe - *We really never encountered a problem with his motor skills. In fact, his motor skills develop quite advance for his age. He took his first baby steps at 11 months, and the funny thing with the way he walks is that he walks on tiptoes. Hehe! He was a "bear crawler" - he used his hands and feet (instead of knees) to crawl - so we called it the "Spiderman crawl." He runs more than he walks - and he is always running fast... like 60 mph or something like that. LOL.

✔ Kicks a ball - *He started doing this shortly after he turned 1. He has very good visual motor skills and coordination.

✔ Begins to run - *See note above ☻

✔ Climbs onto and down from furniture without help - *He has transitioned into a toddler bed now. Yay! Mind you, not just an ordinary toddler bed, but a pirate ship bed complete with mast and canon and lights and secret treasure compartment and all that. Hehe!

✔ Walks up and down stairs holding on

✔ Throws ball overhand - *See note above regarding "kicks a ball." Same goes here.

 Makes or copies straight lines and circles - *He does makes curvy lines with crayons but I have yet to see him actually write straight lines and circles.

Based on the above checklist, Vonn Kaleb seems to be on track with his developmental milestones. Other than his delayed speech, overall, it appears he is developing age appropriately. As I said, he is only 21 months at the time. Hopefully, by 24 months, he'd be talking two-word sentences, and at 3, he'd be fully caught up with his speech and social skills ☻ Regardless, I'm always so proud of my boy, and he makes me one very blessed momma! I love you, Vonn Kaleb ♥

ME AND MY TODDLER'S FIRST COLORING SESSION

I recently introduced my 19-month-old son to crayons. When I first showed him how to use a crayon, on a piece of paper I drew shapes of circle, square, triangle and star, which I then colored one by one as I say the name of the shapes. I'm surprised as to how fast he picked that up and I honestly did not expect that, so that makes me one proud momma of a little boy who now knows his basic shapes. Yay! *feeling achieved*

I've actually been contemplating of homeschooling my son for pre-school, and who knows, maybe even all the way depending how we both do. I started looking up homeschooling curriculum and materials, and in my search, I found an arts and crafts book meant for toddlers age 18 to 24 months. I bought the book and we tried coloring a couple of pictures from it. After a few attempts to familiarize him, it seems to me that he is still very young to appreciate crayons and what they're supposed to do, (and I honestly think that he's too cute to comprehend yet why I say repeatedly, "Crayons go on papers only - not on walls, carpets, floors, or anywhere else!). He showed some interest in the beginning but later on he just wanted to go back playing with his toys. Talking about children having very short attention span! I feel though that the arts and crafts book is a good start for both of us especially that I'm really considering homeschooling him in the future. Right now, I decided to put our arts and crafts sessions on hold until he's probably a little older, like when he's 2 maybe, and hopefully, his young mind will have a better grasp of it by then.

Anyway, I just want to share here photos I took from our coloring session. As I said, he was so eager to go back playing with his toys when we finished coloring. It was so hard to keep him still for pictures, so I was able to take only a couple of good pics.

I'm very proud of you, my son! :)

Pretending to color, and he was good at it. Hehe!

He has a red wagon which he loves riding and playing with. When he saw the picture of a wagon, I think he recognized it, and when I told him it is, I saw in his eyes that he understood what I said. His vocabulary is evidently growing each day and we're just patiently waiting for his speech to catch up.

IT'S A BIG WORLD OUT THERE, SON!

Growing up, I was a small kid. Well, I still am short and petite, but what I meant was that I was always the smallest kid in my entire batch. I had my own fair share of teasing and name calling by some of my bigger and taller classmates, but honestly, they didn't really bother me at all. I knew that I had every right to be smaller than the rest of them mainly for the fact that I was two years younger than them. I had the impression that I shouldn't let people from my school know about my age fearing that I'd get demoted, or worse, kicked out, if the school find out that my parents forged a copy of my birth certificate and altered my year of birth just so I'd be accepted in grade school. Truth was that I was initially declined admission for the same reason that I was too young to be in grade school and they wanted me to attend preschool instead. My mother thought otherwise having known that I was reading and writing very good at age 4; hence, we came back the second time with a vengeance, or I should say, misrepresentation with a forged public document. Anyway, if there's anything I picked up from the taunting I received back then, it was the realization that the world is a big place. It dawned on me at such a young age that, yep, I was a small, small girl in a big, big world. Literally and figuratively.

Fast forward to puberty and all the awkward teenage years in between early adulthood to where I am at my life right now, I came to a point where I was pretty much at par with my peers and colleagues, and that age (and height) gap did not factor anymore. I have conquered insecurities, developed self-esteem, gained confidence, acquired skills, collected accomplishments, made new acquaintances, known true friends, broadened my horizon, and kept on growing into maturity that I thought, "Wow, it is a small world after all!" Literally and figuratively.

More recently, my husband and I have been taking our 18-month-old son to outings, and getting him more exposed to other children. His Filipino stature obviously does not meet the American average, so whenever he is in a common play area, it's not a surprise to see him getting bulldozed by other kids his age or even younger ones who are way heavier and taller than him. While there are admirable well-mannered kids who are aware of other children's personal spaces and are cautious and mindful when at play with smaller and younger ones, there are also those who obviously hurt or at least badger other kids on purpose. All parental bias and subjective opinion aside, how hard is it to tell a kid who is just playful, naughty, active and rough housing, apart from one who is outright misbehaving and bullying others particularly smaller kids like my son? It doesn't take a genius nor a psychological degree to figure that out, right?

Having said that, I have seen my son, in all his effort, climb up to go down a slide, only for a bigger kid to cut him in line and go ahead of his turn. I have seen him gets tossed on a bounce house when bigger kids get on. I have seen him fall on the floor when innocently pushed by a younger but bigger child. I have heard him cry when an older toddler snatched a toy away from him and purposely hit him on the head with the toy. In all those experiences, I couldn't help but feel how suddenly the world has once again become a huge place for me. It even felt like it doubled its size, now that I am a parent. Literally and figuratively.

It's a big world out there, son. I trust it won't take you long to scale it, seize it, make it your oyster, and even hold it in a paper cup like I do, and until such that time when you could do it on your own, your father and I promise to be always here for you. We'll face and conquer this giant together. We love you very much, Vonn Kaleb.

DESTRESSIFICATION

What's the worth of working for hours and hours proofing a 27-page report, which after you got everything lined up, cleaned up, cross checked, and prettified, you make the mistake of overwriting the file, thus sending its existence to bane? Gone, vamos, vanished, baboosh! Just.Like.That. There's no crying over spilled milk, so inevitably and ultimately, I re-did the file - all 27 pages from scratch. Betchabygollywow. I think I need a stress pill. STAT if you please!

Or maybe not. How about a couple of new flip flops, some new dresses (seven pieces not enough? more?) to wear here and there, few new swimsuits and bikinis... and a weeklong tropical vacation to The Bahamas maybe? Yeah, forget the stress pill, because THOSE are exactly what I need to de-stress!

These ladies will have fun in The Bahamas with me!
*Havaianas and Victoria's Secret*

Because of the confusion and chaos that my double agent (SAHM WAHM) life has brought me in the past how-many-weeks now, I hereby declare and invoke my right to splurge. Retail therapy mode on!

I name them Sahmmy and Wahmmy ;)

So those are but a few of my loot. There's more to come in the mail and my shopping list is still open. A new waterproof digital camera is definitely in order since I found out that our old one is no longer working and has given up the ghost after its faithful service to us in our various trips including Jamaica, Florida, Boracay and Hawaii. 

On a more serious note, while I do enjoy the purchasing power I get from my very own hard-earned money, I still will not deny that career and mommy duties are taking their toll on me. Waaaahhh! My aging process has sped up twice. Double the trouble. Double the wrinkles. Double the fat. Goodness me!

I feel that I may have to choose one or the other. I'm no Superwoman, and it's impossible for me to give in to the demands of mommyhood and my job 101% all the time and at the same time. I'm in a dilemma and seriously torn about it. If only I can get a little help, I can totally rock this... but then again... sigh!

With that, allow me to bid adieu by sharing the current anthem of my life, courtesy of the late Karen Carpenter:

"I'm caught between goodbye and I love you,

Never knowing quite where I stand,

I'm caught between goodbye and I love you,

Falling both ways, nowhere to land

So constantly stranded, I can't understand it

This double life you've handed me

Is like the devil and the deep blue sea."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS:

Thank God It's Friday! Thank God it's a long weekend. Thank God for sending His only begotten Son to die on the cross and shed His blood for the atonement of our sins. Thank God that on the third day He rose and is alive forevermore. Hallelujah and Praise God for saving my soul! Have a blessed Friday and happy Resurrection Sunday to all my brethren in Christ.

ANOTHER SAHM WAHM UPDATE

So, okay, I'm surviving this double duty I've put myself into (yay to me!) but gosh, some days really do almost push me to my limits.

Like this one particular day last week. It was busy at work (what else is new about that?!) and the reports were piling up (and why does it seem like we're never caught up ever?!). The diligent and dedicated worker in me in all honesty was willing to give all my best effort to help and bring the workload down and I was determined to take on my list big time, HOWEVER, Vonn Kaleb had other plans for us that day. He had been extra clingier (yeah, that's right, because he was being too clingy a level up than his usual) the past days, and on that particular day, all he wanted to do was basically attach himself to me like a joey to his momma kangaroo. That would have been perfectly fine with me IF I didn't have lotsa' work to do (and if I had a pouch like a kangaroo!) So, imagine me  trying to proof reports with a fidgety infant on my lap, who didn't want to be put down on the floor to himself. For a minute or so he would play when not on my lap but then when he'd realize that he didn't have my full attention, he'd whine and would ask me to pick him up or hold his hand wherever he'd go. It was just impossible for me to get any work done!

Well, naptimes are supposed to be my "breaks" from Vonn Kaleb, and I take full advantage of those times, no matter how short or long they may be. By that I meant, I try to get as much work as I can whenever Vonn Kaleb goes for his naps. The problem is, it usually takes so long to put him to sleep, at least half-an-hour to an-hour-and-a-half or even more! Normally, I have the patience to rock him back and forth and tap his bum until he falls into deep slumber. However, on that particular day, I was soooo behind at work already, and guess what, it was taking Vonn Kaleb forever to fall asleep. Time was ticking away and the amount of time I lose at work because I have to care for Vonn Kaleb means the same amount of time I must make up at work after regular hours on top of the extra overtime hours I was being asked for. So after rocking Vonn Kaleb to what felt like the longest time ever, I finally gave up and laid him down on his crib in a very much awake state. I left his room with the door opened, went to my work station, and turned the baby monitor on. He didn't cry immediately after I left. From the monitor, I could hear he was babbling and playing (with his stuffed dog, Woofster) but after several minutes (albeit not long enough for me to finish even just one report), he started fussing and eventually went to a full blown cry. When I checked on him, this was the scenario:

Pardon the quality of the pictures as they were taken using my old iPhone but if you look closely, you'll see my son bawling his eyes out (and he was crying out loud then as in screaming his vocal cords and lungs out!). Then, shift your eyes on the floor and you'll see two pacifiers (there were actually five pacifiers on the floor but only two are seen in the pictures) and a pair of gray pants. Now, the pacifiers on the floor weren't a new thing -- he loves to throw them out his crib -- but the pants?! He was wearing those when I left him to sleep! I guess, in his tantrum fit, he managed to wiggle himself out of his pants, and then he threw them on the floor too. Ayayay!

Sigh...  I really find it hard and extra challenging to do my work and mommy duties especially that I do both of them at the same place and time. So true, you can't serve two masters. My son is not the laid-back easy-going kind of child that can be left to his own for the longest time and not cause a fuss at all. He is in fact the opposite and one who loves being held, being played with, being rocked and cradled, etc. He likes constant attention and reassurance. On the other hand, my job is somewhat demanding and intense too. It's the kind of work wherein I need to really be focused, careful and attentive to details.  It is time sensitive so I need to be driven to meet and beat deadlines. I'm part of a team, so even if I'm working remotely, I need to be always ready to answer to superiors and help the team. I mean, my work is really work. So a lot of times I feel like a modern age woman version of Bernardo Carpio who is trapped between two big rocks trying to prevent them from bumping onto each other. 

I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. I love my son to bits with all my heart and soul. I love my job too. I'm just venting out my exasperation and exhaustion from this predicament I've personally chosen to put myself into. Vince, as always, has been very supportive of my decision to continue working, but just the same, he has been asking me to quit my job and just "retire" from working. He has been itching to write my resignation letter for me since day 1, hehe!

So anyway, byway, high way, I'm thankful to God that it's the weekend again. I survived another week! Yoohoo!  So grateful that even for just two precious days every week, I get to temporarily hang my proverbial career jersey and just be a full-time mom/and wife, and spend those two precious days with the most important people in my life ☺☻☺

CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER

Last month, I mentioned in a previous post about our outrageously soaring high utility bill. Other than it was winter and that our house has two heater/AC units, our main suspect for the sudden increase in our bill was actually the pool, and to a lesser degree, the dishwasher might probably have played a role too. Since then, we had set the pool to run only for two hours every night as opposed to running it for eight hours every night as before. Needless to say, I stopped using the dishwasher too, and much more needless to say is that I have dishpan hands again. Boo!

Well, guess what, our utility bill for this month came in and we were able to cut it in half. Yebah!!! *insert happy dance here* Hehe! From $600+ now down to $300+. Imagine that?! Vince and I were soooooo relieved. Honestly, we're not going to be able to keep up with this house in the long run if this will continuously consume that enormous amount of electricity and water. I mean, $600 was just absurd! What household of two-and-a-half people consume that much in a month? Jeez.

So anyway, even now that we brought our utility bill down to an acceptable amount, we're still looking for ways to make our house energy efficient as possible. We have an energy audit scheduled this month and from that, we're hoping to glean more info on how to lessen our energy consumption.

Also, to minimize our expenses, we temporarily discontinued the professional pool maintenance service that comes to our home once to twice a month. We had asked our neighbor for pool cleaning tips and we learned a lot from her. As well, we watched a few videos at YouTube and Vince has been reading up on the Internet about the different pool chemicals and testing and the works too. There's a bunch of stuff to know but Vince was confident that we could do our own pool maintainance and care. 

So, this past couple of weeks, during the weekends and when we're free in the afternoons on weekdays, the three of us had spent some family time by our pool.  While Vince and I was trying to clean it, Vonn Kaleb insisted on testing the water.

Our 13-month-old didn't flinch at all, not even a toe, despite the pool being as cold as freshly melted ice. I almost changed into my swimsuit to oblige my son but I couldn't stand the cold. When summer time comes, all three of us for sure will have a blast in our pool, and I'm so looking forward to that, but until then, little Vonn Kaleb is going to have to settle with merely waddling and bicycling his legs on the surface of the pool. Hehe! :)