Our Trip to the Koi Village

We (unexpectedly) spent most of our weekend at my parents' house in Makati.  I said unexpected because we were supposed to be home by Saturday afternoon, if not for the "overseas emergency support" we had to extend to my bro who is now based in Singapore.  We picked up my sis-in-law from the airport on Saturday morning and by 3am on Sunday (earlier today), we were sending her off back to SG.  Para lang syang nag-lunch sa Pinas, literally.

But that's not my topic.  While my sis-in-law took a nap (she's a new mom and I practically dragged her to the bedroom to get some decent sleep because I so know how it feels to lack sleep during the first months), we went to the Koi Village in Magallanes.

It's actually just a five-minute walk from our place.  I've been here once but not since we had Marcus.  My objective is to let little dude see some pets, while for hubby, it's to check if we can buy a dog (to which I rolled my eyes on - I'm not an animal person).

This is how it looks inside the Japanese-themed pet mall.  Obviously though, their business is more on koi's.

There's an area where they display the dogs on sale, like this:

We didn't get to stay for long because Marcus wasn't enjoying was trying to hide his fear of animals (like mom!), but if you're one pet lover who'd like to check what you could add to your home zoo, then this place is worth a visit.  As for me (and maybe my little dude), I'm just happy we went home empty-handed.

First Trial Star

For the longest time, my mom has been bugging me about little dude not being madaldal yet.  So, just to pacify her, we went to a developmental pedia a few months ago and had Marcus tested.  Turns out, and as we expected, he's perfectly fine, even advanced in some areas.

The doctor, however, recommended that we start sending our little one to a toddler school in order to have more interaction with other kids.  Since both hubster and I are working, Marcus is left with just the yaya (who I bet would rather text and watch telenovelas than talk to my son) the entire day.  There are also no kids of his age within our neighborhood so there's really limited "communication venues".

Hence, we are now on hunting mode for a toddler school for Marcus.  Right now, my major considerations are:

1. Proximity - At this point, I don't think I can bear the thought of having to entrust my boy's safety to a school bus service of some sort to take him to his classes.  Plus, I wouldn't want to stress him out with byahe pa lang so we're really aiming for a school that's close to where we live, walking distance, if possible.  The good news is, we have 4 schools within the village so I'm hoping at least one of them qualifies.

2. English as medium of instruction - I always believed in teaching my little dude English as his first language because I thought Filipino can inevitably be learned anyway.  We talk to him at home in English and we kind of force yaya and our families to speak to him in English too. Although I learned from my other co-n@wies that it isn't easy to learn Filipino once he's used to speaking in English, I still want him to be taught mainly in English.  When he grows older, sa dami naman ng mga nag-ta-Tagalog, I'm sure he'll learn din naman.

3. Appropriate Teaching Methods - I want the learning interventions to be well thought-of, scientifically-proven kumbaga.  I am not comfortable leaving my child's learning to a bunch of teachers who are not properly educated themselves to specialize on young minds.  Also, since this is just toddler class, I am expecting the teaching techniques to be fun but educational and age-appropriate.  It's not supposed to be very academic at this stage (baka magsawa sya kaagad and end up hating school by the time he's a teen) so I guess it should be really more "play-based".    


So anyway, we went on a trial class this week and now we have some idea how the usual classes go.  Not sure if we're going for this one already but one thing's for sure - my little boy IS ready to mingle with classmates! He had so much fun dancing (and screaming!) with the other kids.  Too bad I didn't get to take photos (took a video though) except for this, which I thought was really cute.

I hope you can still see the star stamp on his hand.  He really loved this!

Hopefully, we'd be able to have another trial class in the coming weeks so that little dude can officially become a school boy. :)

What We Want to Hear

I stumbled on this blog and found a link to a nice read about, well, I would say tips to show your wife that she is truly loved.   Here's a repost:

10 Things Wives Want to Hear from their Husbands

 1. “Thanks for all you do for our family.”

Yes, you work hard.  You might even feel that your load is a million times heavier than your wife’s.  But your wife works hard, too…and a little thanks goes a long way.

2. “You are a great mom and wife.”

If you really want to make her day, go beyond saying “thank you” and praise her for doing a good job.

3. “Let me do that for you.”

Your wife realizes you are exhausted when you get home from work.  She probably is too.  So offer to help out.  Start with something small like cleaning up after dinner.  Or, if you really want to score points, do the laundry or something else you normally don’t do.

4. “I love you so much.”

Did you notice the extra words, after the “I love you?”  Telling your wife you love her is a great start, but telling her why you love her, how much you love her, or that you’ll love her forever, will melt her heart.

5. “You are beautiful.”

No matter her age, her size or how long you’ve been married, a woman loves to hear that you think she’s attractive.  And, don’t just say, “You look nice.”  Instead, use adjectives like, great, lovely, fantastic.

6. “Let me watch the kids.”

If you already watch your children regularly, good job!  If you don’t, think of it this way.  When you offer to take care of the children, your wife gets to recharge her batteries.  A wife with a recharged battery is usually more patient, kind and loving.

7. “Let’s go out tonight.”

Take charge of your next date night.  This shows your wife that you enjoy spending time with her.

8. “I’m sorry you had a hard/frustrating/disappointing day.”

These words let your wife know that you are aware of what’s going on in her life.

9. “I would marry you all over again.”

In one sentence you’re telling your wife you value your life together and that you’re committed to her.

10. “How can I be a better husband to you?”

Hearing these words will either make your wife burst into tears, smile like a kid in a candy store, or, if she’s completely shocked, laugh uncontrollably.  Before you ask this question, though, be ready to hear what she has to say without being defensive.

I cannot agree more.  I'm all for communicating and hearing sweet nothings from my hubby (who, unfortunately, is exactly the opposite - fine, he says his improving bit by bit but still).  At the end of a long day, don't we wives just want to feel appreciated?  I don't ask for anything in return for all that I do for my family but gestures like this is definitely a bonus. :)

Bits of Life

Last week, my boss invited her friend (and ex-boss) who now works for United Nations to give a us a short talk on change management, leadership, being in the career of "service", and, well, life in general.  I learned quite a few things that I thought I'd share, not his exact same words but at least how it struck me.

• Find your passion.   
• Never stop learning. 
• Be happy - on your own.
• It's ok to be selfishly in love with yourself once in a while.
• Travel.  It's more than just the "experience".
• There will always be a change you would have to deal with.

During the early part of the workshop, we were each asked what we'd rather do if money was not an object.  Naturally, I said a housewife.  However, now that I got the chance to think about it more, I'd say a work-at-home mom and lifestyle blogger. :)

*wishing I could update this site like a real pro blogger*

Little Dude is Two!

Time flies!  Marcus just turned two last week.  Since Jax and I agreed we won't be throwing him any big birthday parties until he's seven, we just had a simple celebration meant really for little dude to enjoy the day his way.

We've been planning to go on a beach trip but decided against it at the last minute because Marcus had colds.  So, we went on a "field trip" instead.  Hehe

Let's go do a photoblog...

I ordered a small cake from Bonggak Pastries, just for the purpose of candle blowing.  I had it designed with a toy car but they went an extra mile and did a Lightning McQueen.  Hindi na ko choosy, cute din naman sya. :) Marcus liked it though he didn't want to get close enough to the flame to blow it so we had to help him.

I also bought smiley balloons to add to the "fun-feel".  This got him excited when he woke up.  Look at him running around our streets with these yellow "buboos"!

Check out the shirt he's wearing!  It says "Marcus, the birthday boy!"  Had this made for him at a small shop in Festival Mall, the same place we had his shirt printed for his first birthday party.

Picture with mom and dad.  Little dude couldn't take his eyes off his cake.

Field trip destination # 1: Manila Zoo.  Enjoying looking at the bird sanctuary.  This is his first time in a zoo so he was really staring at all the animals there.  Notice how similar my boys' postures are!

Field trip destination # 2:  Mall of Asia.  We had lunch at Fish and Co first.  This is what he did when asked, "Who's having a birthday today?" (He meant "meeeeeeee!!!")

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take photos of when we went to Cosmic Kidz.  It was a huge playground for the kids and kids at heart!  They had a separate area for smaller kids like Marcus, which was good because it ensured the safety of the younger ones.  He went with his dad (na suko sa pagbantay! haha!) and loved the slides, tubes, mini carousel, toy boats, and all the attractions.

We were still supposed to go to Museo Pambata for our field trip destination # 3 but we were already tired by then.  We just went to my parents' house for merienda since it was also my niece's first month birthday (syempre may handa din si momsy!) and then went home.  The day still didn't end there though, because when we got home, hubby's family also came over to bring another cake for the birthday boy.  That day, we somehow got to share it with our families

Like I said, we went low key with our little one's birthday this year but I still wouldn't do it any other way.  It was nice to spend it the best way we know he would have fun! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, my Little Dude!  

 You will forever be our baby.  Mom and dad loves you very much.

The Revival

For weeks I've been contemplating on whether to create a new blog or to keep this as is (well except that it would be updated more religiously).  I so wanted to go back to blogging and it's one of the things I promised I would do for 2012.

Finally, I decided to keep Superwifey because: 1. I couldn't think of a new domain name, and 2. I don't have the heart to throw away the few posts I had here, especially those about the time hubby and I were just starting out.  I figured I'll just update the look a bit. Thank God for blogger's background images, I found this cute it's-so-me template.  I cannot wait to have my laptop installed with Photoshop again so I could do more customized tweaks! :)

Anyhoo... I want to keep my profile write-up because it's a cute reminder of why I put up this blog in the first place.  However, it's not anymore a reflection of who I am now so I guess I really have to update.  Will just post the old write-up here before I delete and revise.  

I'm a newbie wife to my husband, AJ. We're both still trying to get the hang of this thing called married life but cherishing every moment of it.  It's amazing how there's always a new discovery about each other!  I'm keeping this blog mainly to document how we're starting out as a married couple.  I don't ever want to forget this HAPPY feeling so I thought it would be great to have this space to go back to someday. Oh and yeah, this is also where you'll probably see how the bratty drama queen is turning into a (trying hard) superwifey. ;)

I wonder how different I'd describe myself now...

Ooooh that thing you do!

The naughty boy at 1 year & 9 months,

just a day after he got out of his 1st hospital stay.

***

I love how my little dude...

• refuses to lay on his bed unless I do so myself
• only wants nobody else but me when he cries
• says "do" when he means dog, "ka" when he means cup, "nga" when he means one more (weird, I know!), "cos" when he means close, "toter" when he means water, and all those other small "words" he can utter
• greets me when I get home with his eyes all lit up
• grabs my hand when he wants to ride his bike or go outside to play
• laughs uncontrollably when playing with his dad
• messes up his hair as if shampoo-ing when he sees a shampoo commercial on TV
• goes around in circles, jumping, until he gets dizzy and falls
• calls me "ma" only whenever I'm not paying attention to him
• wants my arms wrapped around him when he wakes up at the middle of the night to get him back to sleep

... and the list goes on.

Thank you, Lord, for the greatest blessing ever. :)