Halloween 2012

This year is Marcus' first taste of halloween.  Last year was supposed to be but we ended up spending part of the holidays in Asian Hospital.

Sick little dude and the Plants vs Zombies team of nurses at AHMD

For this year, I insisted (Jax is such a grinch on practially all forms of celebration!) that we finally get little dude a costume.  I'm so glad we did because Marcus was able to use it in two different occassions.

I've asked a few officemates to guess what we got for our little boy, with the only clue being "It's so predictable."  Guess how many of them guessed it right?  Almost 100%! Haha!  Marcus went as (whatelse?!) a racer dude.

Here's at the halloween event in his school.  Party before sem break!!!

The bad thing about this costume is that he kept on trying to remove the lock at the collar.  Must be itchy.

 

The Lightning McQueen costume came with a "helmet".

 

With some of his classmates.  He's obviously the youngest at his school.

 

Watching halloween-themed cartoons.

 

Little dude joining the musical chair game while eating chocolate

 And here's when we went trick-or-treating in our village...

See how he wants to remove the velcro in the collar?

Not scared at all!

Complete with his kart!  The dad wouldn't want him to wear the "helmet" anymore. 
The cap looked more real and champion-ish (whatever!), according to him.

We went around with Marcus on his kart.  Jax made "reinforcements" though for when the little dude gets tired of pedalling (which he eventually did).  I, on the other hand, was driving the car in case they BOTH get exhausted and needed to jump in to go home.  Hihi.

Love how the neighborhood really prepared for this.

With all the walking, part of me wished (again) little dude had friends to do this with.  The other part of me though was just happy to be the first people he gets to experiences these things with.  In a few more years, he probably wouldn't want to go anywhere with me anymore *dreading that day!* so might as well enjoy this stage.  Gosh, baby, please don't grow up so fast...



Countdown to Christmas

Christmas is almost here again.  How time flies! 

I have tons of christmas traditions I'd like to finally start our family with.  I've been waiting until the little dude can actually participate in these activities.  I wonder if at 2 years and 11 months he could already grasp the concept of a family tradition?

Anyways, let me start my series (naks!) of christmas posts by reminscing about the little dude's first christmas.  Here are some photos of us during an impromptu mini-photoshoot at our company christmas party. 

 

I couldn't find a picture on the christmas day itself. :(  I remember having a video of Marcus opening his presents on christmas morning though.   I seriously need to organize our "memories filing system"!

 

Obviously, one of our traditions is to wear matchy-matchy outfits.  This year, I'm thinking of having a green theme.  Hmmmm... let's see. 

Balik Bukid

 

I never win at anything.  And I'm not even exaggerating.  Even if there are prizes for practically everyone in a specific event, I would still be one of those who'd go home empty-handed.  Boo!

That's why I'm so happy to win a free pass to Balik Bukid (Part 2)! 

So what's this about?  From their FB page:

A One-of-a-Kind Country Fair for the Whole Family!

Experience an incomparable family day amidst the wonders of the countryside and embrace a holistic way of life with Sta. Elena's first-ever Balik Bukid Country Fair.

SHOP from a wide array of unique, handcrafted and artful products from our select merchants

FEAST in our selections of homemade, organic, artisan, natural food varieties
PLAY and let loose in our fun farm activities and interactive outdoor recreation for the whole family

UNWIND and let loose in our fun farm activities and interactive outdoor recreation for the whole family

I've been to the Fun Farm twice already - first was with my boys to experience the farm life, and the second one was for the Part 1 of Balik Bukid.  I highly recommend visiting this place, especially for those who have young ones, because it is both educational and relaxing. It's a nice way to be one with nature and be reminded of how to live simply and naturally (even organically perhaps?).

I can't wait to go! I just got my free pass this afternoon. Yayyy!  :)

Coming Soon

Sometimes there comes a point in your life when you know you've just had enough and that it's time to move on.  That just happened to me lately.  The past month was actually a roller coaster ride of emotions.  I prayed hard for SOMETHING to happen and God answered my prayer - again, during the most unexpected time. 

And so, yes, I am going to try something new.  It's a little scary but I fully trust Him when I surrendered my wants to let Him take over.  Thank you, Lord, for taking the lead on this one.  I think I AM now ready for new.

The Husband's Birthday

I sooo like to blog about the recent events that have happened to me and our little family of three (like this super late birthday of the hubby) but work always seems to be sucking all the energy out of me.  I wouldn't want to not document it though, so I'm still going to write about it even if it's a tad bit too late. 

September is my one and only Jax's birth month.  We celebrated it twice.  First was in his office where we brought food - defined as tacos (made by, ehem, yours truly) and chicken care of BonChon.

Hubby was also surprised by his officemates with a birthday cake.

The second one, which was on the actual day of his birthday, was spent in and around the area.  The birthday boy said he wanted to do new things that day.  He was supposed to go to the fairway (would've been his first time) but decided against it when the skies started to turn dark.  We ended up at the driving range again.

Birthday swing!

Teaching the little dude

We then had a quick lunch at Recipes Solenad 2.  This is the hungry-hubby celebrant waiting for our orders:

Because the theme of the day was "new experiences", the second activity was a trip to the Republic Wakepark.  It was a quick drive (less than 10 minutes from Solenad 1) going to this new hangout.

View from the entrance

Rates

Love the "Cali-feel" of this area.  Sarap tumambay!

I think this is a drying area?

Boards and suits can be bought from this shop

Marcus had fun at the play area for kids!

There's quite a long line already, to think it was middle of the week!

Beginners' area

Jax wasn't able to try out wakeboarding anymore (he has now, but that's for a different post) because the line was too long for him.  We basically just people watched surfer dudes and chicks do their thing with their boards.

Overall, I would say the husband's birthday celebration was simple and spent with family (although I wished we had some alone/date time that day - hihi).  I guess as we grow older, the way we want our birthdays to be spent, if at all we'd like to make a fuss out of it, becomes more subdued and quiet.  Or is it just the not-a-good-planner me? Tsk tsk.  Let's see.

Happy 31st Birthday, Jax!
Love you. =)

Little Dude's Friends



I wish we had more friends with kids who live nearby.  When I see Marcus playing with the Wii (not a very good thing, I know) by himself, I feel a little sad.  If there was only one way I could give him a younger brother (or sister), then maybe playing with his toys would be a lot more enjoyable for him.

 

So far, these are his friends whom we were able to meet up with recently.

1.  Keon, who is also my godson.  He's the son of hubby's friend from his car club MLPH.

 

 

2.  These two are actually our neighbors, Ish and Noah.  They are much older than the little dude but somehow they manage to enjoy the kind of play he wants.  They take care of Marcus and is fully aware that he still needs to be given extra attention to, which is good.



 

3.  Rafa, the best friend he can't seem to forget.  Rafa's mom, Emily, and I go way back when we were still in highschool and then roomies in college.  Hopefully, they can move in here in the same village soon so these two can have more frequent play dates.

 

4.  Future first girlfriend, Tala.  (Haha! Peace, RD and Kay!) 

 

This is what I would like to call "second generation of friendship". :)

Little Dude's Milestones Post # 2

I initially thought I'd make a milestone post every month but being the lazy blogger that I am and having a crazy workload in the office (hence the tired, tired body when I get home), looks like that's not a possibility.  Tsk tsk...

Anyway, here's another "review".  Marcus is two years and ten months as of today.

Feeding

• We're now (finally) on purely Nido 1+!  Average intake is 2-3 220-ml bottles per day (yes, still have not weaned him)
• Favorite baons to school -  Koko Krunch and Animal Bites
• Likes spaghetti, fried chicken, and french fries from McDo (ask him and this is what he's gonna say)
• Loves taho

Bath

• Can wash and rinse his face on his own in the sink
• Brushing his teeth isn't as difficult as it used to be that sometimes he insists on doing it on his own
• Using Johnson's milk bath and orange shampoo    

Sleeping

• Still takes one to two-hour afternoon naps after school
• Dreams more often - sometimes calling out "mommy!" or laughing in his sleep

 Attitude/Habits

• Kisses me and says "good moning!" (isn't he the sweetest?!) when he wakes up before I am, which is usually on weekends
• Fond of screaming when he doesn't get what he wants
• Always wants mommy or daddy to "watch" and "come here" (with him)
• Starting to learn that yes is opo

 Abilities/Development

• Can spell his name M-A-R-C-U-S or recognize it when it's written
• Holds pencils and crayons properly
• Counts until 13 perfectly (14 to 20 still gets mixed up)
• Plays bowling, basketball, golf, swordfight, table tennis, and frisbee on Wii
• Finally makes the peace sign to mean that he's two years old
• Identifies all the letters of the alphabet, basic colors, and shapes (I love how he knows pentagon and trapezoid! hihi)
• Goes to the bathroom, puts his pants down, and pees without assistance
• Can take of his clothes on his own  
• Finally says "mommy" instead of "mani"
• Points out to traffic lights - green means go, red means stop

Favorites/Pet peeves

• Reading books with mommy before bedtime
• His number puzzles
• Lightning McQueen and High Five
• Wii and golf

Measurements

• Height - 91.4cm
• Weight - about 14+ kg (same)
• Shoe size - 6 to 7 (same)
• Shirt size - usually S or 2T, depends on brand (same)

Come to think of it, his terrible two's stage isn't so terrible at all! :)