My little boy is now almost 27 months old. He turned two last August but I wasn't able to blog about it since I'm only able to write with sense when the mood strikes me.
These days, I get exhausted just by looking at him. Somewhere along the way, he realized that walking is too boring and hopping, running and jumping is the way to go. It's even worse when we're at the mall because he prefers to go the opposite way from where we want to go. And the sight of escalators can bring the biggest smile to his face, as well as the mightiest tantrum if we don't go on it immediately. So, we ride one floor up then ride back down and he's satisfied.
What I'm enjoying most right now is how he surprises me with what he knows and continues to learn. I tried to slowly start teaching him a few letters of the alphabet, names and sounds of animals and how to count when he turned 18 months old but with each attempt, he'd merely smile at me then he'd run away. It frustrated and worried me a bit but I knew that children develop differently from one another so I didn't force the issue and let him be. He surprised me about two months ago, after I'd posted some easel-sized blank papers on our walls with a few drawings, which I named aloud to him while pointing them out, and he got it in a snap. I was ecstatic when he identified the moon, star, heart, flower, kite, house and tree. He insisted that my rainbow was water though, hahaha!
And it's been surprise after surprise since then. He's uttered his first three-word sentence: "Where go Dada?" He rarely says "dodo" for his bottle now and cries for "milk" instead. He says "please" and "thank you" (pronounced as teechu) although not all the time. He can count from 1 to 5 and can identify them visually, too. However, 6 to 10 is still a jumble. And he finally calls an apple apple. He used to call it A because A is for apple. He knows what's green and what's red, he calls his slippers "sippos", and whenever I open Cafe World on Facebook, he'll run to my side and names what he sees on the opening graphics: cown (corn), milk, chee (cheese), apple and mmm (the plate, LOL!).
I could go on and on but there's way too much to fit into one blog post. God has blessed me with a healthy, smart and extremely sweet little boy. You should witness our "movie sequence" where he goes to one end of the room then we'll both open our arms wide while we call each other's name then he runs straight into my arms to give me a tight hug. And even though most of the time I feel like I'm just winging it, seeing my boy flourish so wonderfully makes me think that I must be doing something right.
Mood Music: Beautiful Boy by John Lennon
one step forward, two steps back
Friday, November 13, 2009
This is so frustrating!
After almost two years of avoiding it, I finally had to admit to myself that I needed to drop my carb intake drastically if I really wanted to lose weight and keep it off. I was loathe to do it at first but about three weeks ago, I removed rice from my diet. I really thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off since I love my rice so much but I was very surprised when I did manage it without any major drama from myself. And guess what? I lost 4lbs in just 2 weeks. Yay for me! It made me feel so good and confident that I'd be able to finally lose the extra weight I'd gained in the past year and to keep it off.
Until PMS hit me this week. Like always, it has made me crave for food, food and even more food. I'm trying my hardest not to give in but I've slipped a bit the last few days. I indulged in tapsilog, pancit, champorado and pasta for 3 consecutive days, waaahhhhh! Although, in my defense, I only ate half of what I used to consume but know it's still going to set me back a bit. And the difficult part is if I don't satisfy my craving, I become very short-tempered and turn into a banshee. My poor husband and precious little boy have to tread carefully around me or else.
There's probably another week of having to deal with my hormonal short-circuit and I'm hoping fervently that I'll be able to get back on track or else I'm going to feel quite depressed once my PMS is over and the weight I lost comes back. Wish me luck!
Mood Music: PMS by Mary J. Blige
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After almost two years of avoiding it, I finally had to admit to myself that I needed to drop my carb intake drastically if I really wanted to lose weight and keep it off. I was loathe to do it at first but about three weeks ago, I removed rice from my diet. I really thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off since I love my rice so much but I was very surprised when I did manage it without any major drama from myself. And guess what? I lost 4lbs in just 2 weeks. Yay for me! It made me feel so good and confident that I'd be able to finally lose the extra weight I'd gained in the past year and to keep it off.
Until PMS hit me this week. Like always, it has made me crave for food, food and even more food. I'm trying my hardest not to give in but I've slipped a bit the last few days. I indulged in tapsilog, pancit, champorado and pasta for 3 consecutive days, waaahhhhh! Although, in my defense, I only ate half of what I used to consume but know it's still going to set me back a bit. And the difficult part is if I don't satisfy my craving, I become very short-tempered and turn into a banshee. My poor husband and precious little boy have to tread carefully around me or else.
There's probably another week of having to deal with my hormonal short-circuit and I'm hoping fervently that I'll be able to get back on track or else I'm going to feel quite depressed once my PMS is over and the weight I lost comes back. Wish me luck!
Mood Music: PMS by Mary J. Blige
ready, set...
Sunday, November 8, 2009
I've finally been able to work out an itinerary for our Singapore trip. Since our time will be limited, I had to narrow down my list to places that Jeolo would especially enjoy but also wouldn't bore J and me. I also had to make sure that our schedule would allow us to be back at our hotel by 9 pm, more or less.
Places To See:
Places to Shop:
Well, we won't really be doing much shopping except for a few pasalubongs and if anything particularly special catches our attention.
Mood Music: Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude by Jimmy Buffet
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Places To See:
- Singapore Flyer. This wasn't around yet when I worked in SG 3 years ago and when J first visited so it'll be something new for us. I'm also quite sure Jeolo will enjoy being inside a gigantic ferris wheel. We plan to be there near sunset so we'll be able to catch a panoramic view of the cityscape while there's still some sun and also get to see it the city's bright lights in the evening.
- Clarke Quay. J wasn't able to see this place before so I put it on my list. Unfortunately, we won't be able to enjoy the bars and clubs in the area but it's a nice place to stroll around, have dinner and maybe even catch a bumboat ride if we have enough time left.
- Jurong Bird Park. I know our little boy will love it here! He'll have a chance to run around to is heart's content (and to our exasperation, hehe!) as well as see the beautiful bird species that this world-famous aviary houses.
- Sentosa. There are only 3 particular attractions here that I've marked for us to see: Dolphin Lagoon, Underwater World and the Songs of the Sea show - all for our baby boy (not that we're not going to enjoy it, too). I am hoping though that we'll have enough time for me to have a go on the MegaZip.
- Singapore Zoo. What little kid doesn't love animals? Plus they recently opened a new attraction which I know will drive Jeolo nuts: Rainforest Kidzworld. There's a water play area that will be sure to occupy most of his attention.
- Esplanade / Merlion Statue. What's a trip to Singapore without the obligatory photos in these places? Hehe!
Places To Eat:
I really have missed the hawker food in SG so I'm making sure that we eat out at two of the best hawker food places that are within the areas we'll be visiting.
Places to Shop:
Well, we won't really be doing much shopping except for a few pasalubongs and if anything particularly special catches our attention.
- Far East Plaza. It's located on Scotts Road but is still considered as part of the Orchard Road shopping experience. I always loved it here because there was always such an eclectic choice in clothes, shoes and accessories - from the fashionable to the outrageous. And it's also a place to catch some great bargains.
- Bugis Village Flea Market. Tourists, as well as locals, come here to buy clothes, bags, jewelry, souvenir items while exercising haggling skills so that's where we'll be, too. And I like it that the more posh PARCO Bugis Junction mall is just right across the street, an airconditioned haven to run to after we're done.
Mood Music: Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude by Jimmy Buffet
prozac in a book
Thursday, October 29, 2009
When I'm feeling a little glum, there's one book that I want to take down from the shelf and reread because of how much it made me laugh the first time I read it and how it still manages to make me laugh for the nth time around.
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is probably a book I'd have never chosen to read for myself because it just wasn't my type, so to speak. It so happened that I was hanging out at a good friend's house and I was browsing his bookshelf for something I could borrow. He practically shoved this book down my throat, along with Dune and American Gods, promising me that I'd enjoy them all tremendously. I was bit skeptical but I wasn't about to be scared off from reading books outside of my "comfort zone".
So, Armageddon will be taking place on Saturday according to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a 17th century witch and the only accurate prophet to have ever lived. And this is a major problem for Aziraphale (who used to be the angel guarding the Garden of Eden) and Crowley (originally named Crawly and was the serpent who tempted Eve into eating the forbidden fruit), representatives of Heaven and Hell on earth who have become great friends, have gotten used to their lives here and rather like humankind. They've decided to work together to keep an eye on the Antichrist and to ensure that he grows up in a way that he can't simply choose between Good and Evil and, thus, postpone the end of the world.
Unfortunately, due to a mix-up at birth, the child they've marked to be the Antichrist is nothing but a normal eleven-year old and while the real harbinger of destruction is living a very regular life as the son of typical English parents, totally unaware of his powers. He also isn't easily influenced as he's a child with a strong independent streak in his thoughts.
With only three days before Heaven and Hell go to war, Aziraphale and Crowley have to find the boy and save the world. Making it more difficult is the presence of a couple of pissed off demons, the traffic jam of the century, a hurricane and a deranged Witchfinder Sergeant.
The entire book is a funny, convoluted, wacky and cynical take on the Book of Revelation and if you plan on reading it, you'd better keep an open mind and take the entire thing with a grain of salt. You won't regret it though. Take it from me.
And here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
Mood Music: Until the End of the World by U2
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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is probably a book I'd have never chosen to read for myself because it just wasn't my type, so to speak. It so happened that I was hanging out at a good friend's house and I was browsing his bookshelf for something I could borrow. He practically shoved this book down my throat, along with Dune and American Gods, promising me that I'd enjoy them all tremendously. I was bit skeptical but I wasn't about to be scared off from reading books outside of my "comfort zone".
So, Armageddon will be taking place on Saturday according to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a 17th century witch and the only accurate prophet to have ever lived. And this is a major problem for Aziraphale (who used to be the angel guarding the Garden of Eden) and Crowley (originally named Crawly and was the serpent who tempted Eve into eating the forbidden fruit), representatives of Heaven and Hell on earth who have become great friends, have gotten used to their lives here and rather like humankind. They've decided to work together to keep an eye on the Antichrist and to ensure that he grows up in a way that he can't simply choose between Good and Evil and, thus, postpone the end of the world.
Unfortunately, due to a mix-up at birth, the child they've marked to be the Antichrist is nothing but a normal eleven-year old and while the real harbinger of destruction is living a very regular life as the son of typical English parents, totally unaware of his powers. He also isn't easily influenced as he's a child with a strong independent streak in his thoughts.
With only three days before Heaven and Hell go to war, Aziraphale and Crowley have to find the boy and save the world. Making it more difficult is the presence of a couple of pissed off demons, the traffic jam of the century, a hurricane and a deranged Witchfinder Sergeant.
The entire book is a funny, convoluted, wacky and cynical take on the Book of Revelation and if you plan on reading it, you'd better keep an open mind and take the entire thing with a grain of salt. You won't regret it though. Take it from me.
And here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
There were people who called themselves Satanists who made Crowley squirm. It wasn't just the things they did, it was the way they blamed it all on Hell. They'd come up with some stomach-churning idea that no demon could have thought of in a thousand years, some dark and mindless unpleasantness that only a fully-functioning human brain could conceive, then shout "The Devil Made Me Do It" and get the sympathy of the court when the whole point was that the Devil hardly ever made anyone do anything. He didn't have to. That was what some humans found hard to understand. Hell wasn't a major reservoir of evil, any more than Heaven, in Crowley's opinion, was a fountain of goodness; they were just sides in the great cosmic chess game. Where you found the real McCoy, the real grace and the real heart-stopping evil, was right inside the human mind.
Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide.
"This isn't how I imagined it, chaps," said War. "I haven't been waiting for thousands of years just to fiddle around with bits of wire. It's not what you'd call dramatic. Albrecht Duerer didn't waste his time doing woodcuts of the Four Button-Pressers of the Apocalypse, I do know that." - Armageddon delayed by technical difficulties
"Don't think of it as dying," said Death. "Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush."
Mood Music: Until the End of the World by U2
Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche
I was reading through some of Pablo Neruda's poems tonight and I felt like sharing one of my favorites. This particular poem never fails to make me teary-eyed as it speaks of the longing for a once-great love, the inability to come to terms with being alone and the struggle to try and forget the past.
Mood Music: You Don't Know How It Feels by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
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Tonight I can write the saddest lines. Write, for example, 'The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.' The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. Through nights like this one I held her in my arms. I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. She loved me, sometimes I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture. What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is starry and she is not with me. This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance. My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer. My heart looks for her, and she is not with me. The same night whitening the same trees. We, of that time, are no longer the same. I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her. My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing. Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses. Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes. I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long. Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer and these the last verses that I write for her.
Mood Music: You Don't Know How It Feels by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
a shoe thing
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Whenever we make plans to travel, I always worry about what footwear I should bring along with me. And I always choose comfort over fashion first. What's fashion if my feet will end up killing me from walking all day?
In the past, my choice would always be sneakers but since some airports require passengers to take off their shoes during security checks, I ditched the sneakers for flip flops. They're comfortable and convenient. Only setback is that my feet get dirty very quickly while trudging around and some pairs are a little stiff so I sometimes get cramps from wearing them. Last year, I got me a pair of Crocs Alice, after hearing a lot of good reviews about it, for our Hong Kong-Macau trip. I loved that it had arch support and were quite comfy except that by midday, the plastic button that held the straps had rubbed the skin above my arch and gave me blisters. Good thing I had a pack of Band Aids ready for emergencies.
This December, we'll be off to Singapore and I'd been planning to wear my Ipanema by Gisele Bundchen pair. I find them to be a lot more comfortable than Havaianas flip flops but, at the same time, I also wanted a pair of shoes that would be perfect for long walks. Then this evening, while J was shopping for some board shorts, I saw some Sanuk footwear at the store. I'd already heard about them but didn't think they were for me. On a closer look, they seemed to scream "comfort" so I tried on a pair and they were absolutely wonderful! The shoe, no... sandal, was very light, flexible, and looked like a shoe but didn't give my toes the cramped feeling that's common with regular shoes. The upper was made of textile with eyelets on the side for added breathability. Plus the style was perfect to wear with either jeans or shorts. And the best thing about it was it was on SALE at 70% off! Woohoo! I immediately asked J if I could have a pair and he didn't even hesitate because it was such a steal. He even bought one for himself, too.
I can't wait to wear them!
Mood Music: New Shoes by Paolo Nutini
it's his birthday!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
33 years ago today, God created the person who would become my rock, my best friend, my partner-in-crime, the father of my child and the man I will love for always. I am so blessed.
Happy Birthday, Sweetie. I hope Jeolo grows up to be the kind of man that you are. I love you.
Mood Music: It Had To Be You by Billie Holiday
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Happy Birthday, Sweetie. I hope Jeolo grows up to be the kind of man that you are. I love you.
Mood Music: It Had To Be You by Billie Holiday
