From Auntie Genni, Hadrien is such a dear!

I was watching Buzz Lightyear of Star Command with Baz and Hadrien at their place. I wanted to nibble on something so I asked Baz what could I eat because I was hungry. I forgot what Baz said but little did I know, Hadrien was listening in on the conversation even as his eyes were directed at the TV. Hadrien got up without a word and went towards the kitchen. When he came back he told me that he already told his yaya to make merienda for me. Isn't that sweet? So, on his prompting, his Yaya Dora prepared thin pancakes with butter and powdered sugar for all of us.

Conversations with Baz and Hadrien (Part 8)

On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we decided to attend mass at Greenbelt. One of the readings was the story of Adam and Eve, which the kids were familiar with. Every now and then, Hadrien would ask, "did they get the apple", "why did they eat the apple", "did God get mad", etc. I was quite happy that he was listening and that he understood. When the reader got to the part where God was admonishing Adam and Eve - and I think the passage went, "why did you eat from the tree which bore the forbidden fruit" - Hadrien's eyes widened "Why is there a witch?" Of course, I found it impossible to explain that the reader said "which" and not "witch" :)

_________

Shortly after the reading, Hadrien fell asleep. The next day, Baz scolded Hadrien for falling asleep.

B: You know Hadrien, you missed out on the story and the songs when you fell asleep during the mass. You know that, Hadrien? That's why you should not sleep during mass.

H: Why? (Looking worried and biting his nails) Did he (referring to the priest, I guess) say I can't sleep?

__________

The kids have gotten used to calling our driver "Kuya Oca". Curious Hadrien decided to question this one day.

H: Why "kuya"?

Mommy: Because he's older. You call him "kuya" as a sign of respect.

H: But Papa ....

(his way of saying but I don't call Papa (his lolo) "kuya" even if he's older!)

___________

Raffy: Mommy should obey Daddy.

H: But Daddy, she's not a children!

___________

B: Mommy, do you obey Daddy?

Mommy: hmm..... only if he's right.

B: Do you obey your mommy and daddy?

Mommy: (while thinking uh-oh, how do I respond to this?) .y-yeah...

B: And we have to obey Mommy and Daddy.

Mommy: Yes!

B: Do we have to obey Mama and Papa (my parents)?

________________

Finally, on the way home, Baz turned teenager on us and was acting sullen.

Daddy: Baz, what's wrong?

Baz (in a "don't-trifle-with-me" voice): I'm tired!

Daddy: Why are you tired?

Baz: I've had a long day!

Daddy: Why? Why did you say you've had a long day?

Baz: Because I've been to four places already! (Apparently he counted the afternoon activities only: church for mass, dinner at a restaurant in Greenbelt 5, then Grandma's condo, then Malou's office to pick up some files, in addition to spending all morning in school!)

He spent the rest of the drive home staring fixedly out the window.

Conversations with Baz and Hadrien (Part 7)

Mommy: Yaya, was Hadrien naughty today?

Yaya looks at Hadrien, smiles and is silent.

Hadrien: Yaya didn't say anything. (Truly a lawyer-in-the-making - it's his way of saying, let the record reflect that the witness declined to say that the accused was naughty!)

_____

Baz: Daddy, you know Ortigas Center said that "you can do whatever you like - you don't have to obey!"

Mommy: That's not good!

Baz: But I didn't believe it, Daddy. I didn't believe it.

______

Baz has been on the hunt for CAT Company's frontloader by Megabloks. He had asked me to get it for him in the US but Toys R'Us didn't carry it. Neither did Amazon. It doesn't seem to be available online either. He's made 2 trips to the local Toys R'Us - still no luck. He didn't let the long weekend pass without giving it another try reasoning that "it's already the first week of December! They should have it by now. They said the last week of November!" Since we had given Toys R'Us 2 tries, Raffy thought we'd go to Toy Kingdom instead. Still no frontloader in sight. Here are some of Baz's one-liners which gives you a clue just how frustrated he was.

Baz: Maybe we didn't try hard enough, Daddy.

Baz: That's why I wanted to go to the US!

Baz: Maybe they (the toy store staff) don't know what a frontloader looks like - maybe it's really there!

Haay!!! I feel bad for him.

Irony

We had our PTC with Baz's teachers and were very happy to know that he's become more relaxed in school and now participates in more activities. Instead of opting out of activities which were new to him, he now takes advantage of the options offered to him. So instead of using glue or paste, he happily uses tape. He's also taken the role of teacher's assistant - a role that he's proud of. In fact, just a couple of days ago, he came home with smores shaped as a christmas wreath. He told us that they used 4 cups of rice crispies, 2 (he was not sure about the unit of measurement for this one) butter, 2 cups of marshmallows, green food coloring and red sprikles. Curious as to whether he remembered correctly, I asked his teachers if what he narrated was accurate - and it was!

Immediately upon entering the car, he boasts that he labels the work of his classmates or that he tapes pictures that his teachers print out from the computer. He's always eager to tell us what he did in school - complete with all the details (i.e., what materials he used, which teacher he worked with, what he did not want to do, etc.)

Ironically, Mr. Eager-to-do-anything-in-school-aka-sipsip-boy rarely tells us (in fact, evades our questions) what he did in school. I guess he's the type to live in the moment and I can imagine him saying "I did all that I had to do, all that I wanted to do so there's no point in talking about it."

Tonight's Prayer

"Dear Jesus,

Thank you for our blessings today. Please always watch over us and help us to be good boys and girls. We love you. Thank you."

Baz: Please give us a sister.

Hadrien: Please take care of Daddy's backache.

Baz: Please bless the girl in Ethiopia.

Hadrien: And please give her clean water.

They're supposed to be sleeping right now but I hear them squealing, giggling and whispering "porkchop" and "spareribs" (their food pet names) to each other.

BAZaar

Baz and I went to the Karl Edward bazaar at The Tent in The Fort this morning. The theme in school this coming week apparently has to do with setting up your own bazaar (it's a lesson in entrepreneurship), so the teachers asked the kids to visit a bazaar this weekend and note five things that caught their attention.

Here are Baz's five things:

1. A bucket of fish (smoked tinapa)


2. A blue Christmas tree (it's behind this one. OK already, I messed up, I didn't get it in the shot!)


3. Small dresses (a display for uniforms made-to-order)


4. An air freshener that uses water


5. Bells with a cow, cat and fire truck

Crafty Halloween

Since I'm off again - I thought I'd leave something for both my 3 boys and me to look back to.

Halloween started pretty early this year with a play by Baz's class and trick-or-treating at school. Baz played a "tree" (other kids came as the ocean, grass and there were other trees as well). Ok, other kids played a whale, a shark, an eagle, a bat, a maya bird...) Since Hadrien wanted to wear a jumper to school, we thought he'd go as Bob the Builder, complete with a hard hat and tools!

There was also a (not so great) halloween party here at the condo. The host had this annoying accent and voice to match. I mean, aren't there enough Sophies these days that he counldn't pronounce it right saying "Soupy" instead!At least the kids had a grand time trick-or-treating - alternating between giving treats and making their rounds! This time, they went as an Afgan/Turk and Superman.

Thanks to Raffy who made sure we had a full weekend with the kids! We did several projects this weekend - making the halloween decors for the door (hand-painted bats and giant spider), a house model made from scratch based on Baz's very own floor plans and a halloween sign.

Here's a little something to remember this halloween weekend by.


Untitled from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Conscientious Baz

I've heard from someone that with children, you plant the seeds from age 0-7 and form values between 7 & 12. We TRY to do what we can. We've talked about patience, sharing and love for family. Lately though, Baz (and sometimes Hadrien) has been really keen on "not wasting" - be it water, food and even energy! This translates to them playing with water less, eating the food they have on their plates, and shutting the TV and the lights when they don't need it. Pretty cool, right?!

Come to think of it, even as a toddler, Baz hated it when we told him that we would be throwing the food he didn't eat...

It's funny to hear Baz holler "Mommy, Hadrien is wasting water!" He understands now that what goes to waste now is gone forever. He also knows not to take too much of things he doesn't need as it would only be wasteful and that he may need it at some future time. I see a genuine concern in him about these things - and it makes me hopeful that his generation, if not ours, will take better care of nature and many other things we take for granted.

Artwork and Floor Plans

Seeing my friend's 5 year old triplets confidently scribble away turtles, dinosaurs, fruits, etc, I am reminded that each kid is different. Not only do they have varied interests and talents, but they also develop the same talents and interests at different paces. I put it down not only to genetics but, perhaps more importantly, also conditioning. On both sides, the kids have aunts and uncles and grandfathers who can draw and/or paint quite well. So they must have it in them to churn out awe-inspiring artwork from time to time. But since Raffy and I don't really draw, or paint, or sculpt... I can't really expect a masterpiece, can I?

Here are the kids drawings:

Hadrien actually had several of these lined up to form a mat (so he says!). When I asked him to choose only 1 that I would post on Tootay, he said "There's many artwork. Choose as many as you want!" It's hard to believe how much air of authority he can muster - and he's only 3!


As for Baz, he's not into drawings and artwork. For a while, he was quite fascinated with calendars. Lately, he's been pouring over floor plans and renderings so I wasn't surprised to find him drawing his versions of our hopefully future house :)

Impromptu Concert

It isn't too hard to get Hadrien singing. In fact, we've often heard him burst into song while walking, playing or even mid-sentence. Without a doubt, their Music & Movement class ranks as one of his favorite "subjects" in school.

Baz enjoys jamming with Hadrien too - as long as it's not in a "performance setting". Sometimes, I am able to get him to do his entire repertoire by simply asking him to help me with the lyrics and before long, he has unconsciouly sang a string of songs.

I've been meaning to record their uber-cute performances. Alas, the video camera is rarely charged when I need it. Thank goodness for i-sight and the willingness of one boy to perform in front of the camera/computer :)


Hadrien Sings from malou.khan on Vimeo.

God and Heaven

Thankfully, the boys make sure we pray before meals and before they go to bed. Countless of times, Hadrien would shout "hey, we forgot to pray!" as Raffy and I were on our fourth or so mouthful :) Hands clasped together with eyes closed, our 2 little angels would sing "God is great and God is good. Thank you God for our food. Amen."

At bedtime too, the routine starts with "it's prayer time!" :) The boys would always make sure that both Raffy and I were there with them. Their usual prayer goes "Dear Jesus, thank you for our blessings today. Please always watch over us and help us to be good boys. Thank you Jesus. We love you. Good night." After the typhoon which caused the sinking of the Princess of the Seas, they'd always add "please help the people in the typhoon". Obviously, the kids now understand that they are in a conversation with Jesus and have from time to time added a prayer to address their special needs like "please help us go to UPB tomorrow", "please help Hadrien's asthma go away"...

One time, I started the prayer saying "Dear God" instead of "Dear Jesus" and then corrected myself (since they were used to saying "Dear Jesus"). Hadrien being Hadrien, picked up on that right away.

H: Is Jesus God?

M: Yes, Jesus is God.

H: Is God Jesus?

M: Yes. (Thinking of introducing the concept of the Holy Trinity)

H: Is Jesus different from God?

M: There are 3 persons in one God (not even sure if I explained it correctly, besides whether he would get it). There's God the Father and Jesus.

H: Who's the third one - Amen?

_______

I should have known. Raffy's wisdom tooth is coming out only now at age _8 :) Anyway, he had to have it extracted as it was growing sideways and showed it to the kids. Yuck! After explaining what happened, Hadrien ran to the bathroom "I want to brush my teeth, Daddy!"

Baz, concerned about his dad's missing tooth, goes "I know! You can go to heaven and buy another tooth!" At 5, he now has a concept of everything originating from heaven. Don't ask me though why he thinks he can buy tooth in heaven!

A sister?

Lately we've been kidding Baz and Hadrien about having a sister, since the house we're planning will have three kids' rooms. Initially Baz was against having a sister, insisting that two of the rooms should be his. Lately, though, he's coming around, asking, "What will a sister do to me?" (Subtext: Will she be another kind of Hadrien?), or, "Will a sister obey me?" (Subtext: Hadrien doesn't, so will she?) He's also been asking, "Where will a sister come from?" (From God, we said, hence the prayer the other night for God to give him a sister.)

Tonight he asked me, given that there were six billion people, how many would it make if we had a sister. The only logical answer I could give, of course, was "Six billion and one."

Tractors, tractors!

On my way home Friday night, I saw they were digging up the lower lane of the Meralco flyover yet again. Normally a cause for consternation because of the associated traffic, tonight it was an opportunity to make a toy become real.

Because lo and behold, in full and glorious operation underneath the klieg lights was a "CAT company payloader" - one of Baz's favorite construction toys. I got the boys dressed as soon as I got home, and after making a 20 minute detour to get back to the same place (toldja it caused bad traffic), we were on the street just a few feet away from this plaything writ large.



Officially, it's the Caterpillar 428E Center Pivot Backhoe Loader. But Baz and I have taken to calling it a payloader (which is a front loading vehicle). It looked exactly like the Megablok-CAT Company toy (which Baz is holding in the picture below). Coincidentally, Baz had pleaded on going to Toys R' Us last weekend after noticing in the catalog that this was a new kind of loader that he didn't have yet (they already have have the "Articulated Dump Truck").



The toy was accurate right down to the support struts that extend out when the backhoe is in operation. I wanted to ask the driver's permission to take a look inside the cab, but he was, of course, busy, and I know better than to come up close to someone operating heavy equipment.



The upside was that the boys saw the machine in operation: it was scooping out a trench, probably to lay pipe in. It would use the bucket to crack the asphalt road surface, then scoop out this fine grey sand and dump it on the side of the road. The team of workers doing the job seemed amused by our interest in their contraption.

If ever they open a theme park dedicated to construction, the two boys and I will be there. But only if they allow guests to operate the equipment.

It was a busy weekend...

We started with lunch at Antipolo with Clarisse, Jose and Tomas at Crescent Moon Cafe. The kids had fun feeding the fish and walking around the water lily pond.

Since we planned a late lunch, we were "smart" enough to make sure the kids had eaten before setting off. This allowed us to more or less concentrate on lunch while the kids watched Thomas the Train with - who else - Tomas! For some reason, the 2 boys wanted to make sure that Tomas was acquainted with their train identities. Tomas was Thomas (for obvious reasons), Hadrien was Henry (because Henry is marked #3 and Hadrien is 3) and Baz was Gordon (marked #5, for the same reason). After getting that part settled - there was less shouting :)


After we got home, Mama and Papa stopped by and had dinner with us. The kids wasted no time in showing off new books, their latest building structures and of course, the house models! They even led the prayer before meals and performed their "Down in the Jungle" and "10 Little Indians" songs :)



Yaya Dora was out for the day today (Sunday) so it was just the 4 of us for the most part. I thought it would be a good idea to make the kids help me set the table and clean up after. Hadrien volunteered to place the spoons and forks on the table. Baz on the other hand picked up all the debris. Both boys got checks in their notebooks for eating independently. They would have gotten 2 checks had they finished their food quicker :(

We bought some towels which were on sale in SM, devoured 2 orders of churros at Dulcinea for merienda then feasted on lechon kawali and pansit for Yaya's birthday dinner. Happy Birthday Yaya Dora!

Teacher's T's remarks on Hadrien

I was hanging out in school today since Hadrien didn't want me to leave right away. Teacher T. approached me and told me how pleased she is with Hadrien and that sometimes she cannot believe he's only 3!

She recounted that Hadrien loves to compare and contrast and always asks cause and effect questions. Apparently, yesterday, when they were doing art with colored sand, he did not only call out the colors he was using, he would also shout what happened when he combined 2 colors! I smiled upon hearing this and remembered the many times he'd ask me "mommy, what will happen if ...." or how he would comment "but me...." whenever we would say something about Baz, whether bad or good.

Baz the Builder

Gramma and Gramps found my old Tonka tractors. I got these when I was about 7 years old and enjoyed them for years! I was happy to see they're still around, and apparently so was Baz. He was amazed that he'd be playing with "Daddy's toys," as if he couldn't believe that I, too, was once a kid like him.



Having the old Tonka toys next to Baz's MegaBlok "CAT Company" construction vehicles also highlights the difference thirty years makes in toy technology, consumer sensibilities, and child safety. Tonka's use of metal seems inconceivable these days, and I'm sure they didn't come with the long list of warnings about their use. Even now, watching the boys play with them, I wonder if Tonka used lead-free paint (I turned out relatively OK and lead-free, I guess).



But Tonka also strove for realism, and their toys look less like approximations of construction equipment than miniature versions of the real thing.



Maybe I'm just biased. But it was great seeing my old stuff again, still in working condition and bringing happiness to yet other children, this time my sons. Maybe we can keep both sets intact, so that when Baz and Hadrien have kids, they'll have something to pass on as well.

I've still got my Star Wars character and playset collection to share, but that's something the kids aren't into yet, so we'll save that for later on.

This continues Baz's fascination with building and construction, which is truly in evidence now as we prepare to construct a house. We've got a really great architect, Denise De Castro, working with us. Denise has translated our two preliminary floor plans into working models, to help us appreciate the flow and layout better.

Needless to say, Baz was fascinated when he saw the models. He's been interested since we showed him and Hadrien the floor plans, pointing out where their rooms are going to be and asking them if the locations are all right. But he had trouble understanding the 2D drawings: they didn't match, after all, with the mental picture of a house.

What's great though is that he understood how the floor plans worked as soon as he saw the models. With hardly any prompting, he put floor plans and models side-by-side, and matched the room layout of the 2D plan to the 3D model.



I think that means he's really spatial!

M is for

Momoy aka Mommy
Mooger aka Baz
Mokong aka Hadrien
Master aka Daddy (says Daddy)

B is for Bridens Gabong Gabong, another code name for Daddy which the kids whipped up. Don't ask us why or where it came from. Got no clue!

Toddler or Teenager?

Hadrien has been testing us with his wit and persistence lately.

Tonight at the dining table, after scoring 2 x's, Daddy spanked the hand which hit Baz. He acted as if he wasn't bothered or hurt and after seeing that his Daddy was done, looked up and said, "he's bad no?" - referring not to his Daddy or to Baz, but to his hand!

Not a long time after, Daddy was sort of giving him a lecture -

Daddy: Hadrien, you obey.

Hadrien: (perhaps seeing that his Daddy was walking away, muttered under his breath) No, you obey!

Daddy: What did you say?

Hadrien: Nothing! (in that trademark sing-song tone)

It's so hard to stay mad at him though. He knows how to wiggle himself out of these situations by smiling or hugging or kissing or immediately apologizing.

Architect or Astronaut?

He hasn't changed his mind about being an astronaut yet but Baz is sure into building. Whenever he sees models of buildings/condos on display in malls, he doesn't miss running towards it to ask what the different parts are made of.

Yesterday, "Architect Denise" lent us a model based on a preliminary schematic design we were exploring. Baz called it "very well made" and went about looking at each room of the house. He wanted to learn how to make one. He chose his bedroom, put the model next to the floor plans and I think began to understand how to read the plans.

A couple of pictures of mostly Baz's structures -










Baz usually works with the natural-colored wood blocks while Hadrien prefers the plastic and colored blocks. They both know to respect each other's creations :) Although countless fights and building toppling have erupted if one was not careful.

Kinareer na Homework

Some would say I'm taking homework too seriously. Maybe I am. But let me explain.

We've asked Baz's teachers to allow him to submit homework as videos which he can show his class only because he still has trouble verbalizing (ok, talking) in school. We hope that these videos will help him feel at ease with the thought of his friends hearing his voice and will also remind his friends that he does talk.

The good news is that he is much more communicative in school, even to the point of hugging and kissing his teachers when asked, initiating communication (albeit by hand movements) and now reacts with a smile when convenient - to avoid doing something he doesn't want to do. His teachers do admit that once he flashes that smile, he sometimes gets his way. He's also started to make sounds in class - perhaps in an attempt to finally break the silence.

His homework had 2 parts. The first part was for him to portray his favorite animal - and lucky us, he chose the rhino! The second part was for him to investigate certain characteristics of an assigned animal - the tortoise.


Baz Reports on Tortoises from malou.khan on Vimeo.

It wasn't hard to get Baz to do his homework or talk in front of a camera. Except that time when Hadrien was making side comments to which an annoyed Baz said "I'm not making this video for you!"

Asthma

August hasn't been a good month as far as asthma episodes are concerned. One of the boys gets a cold from someone in school and then passes it on to the other either immediately or just as he is easing himself out of it. Either way, that means that both of them develop a bad cough that keeps them awake or coughing throughout the night. Last Saturday, Hadrien probably over-exerted himself on a particularly sunny and humid day. This resulted in two nights of waking up to let out most of what he had eaten a few hours before. The funny thing is that when I try to give him cough medicine, he tells me he'd rather have oregano - yuck!

I will probably be bringing Hadrien to the doctor tomorrow. His cough is accompanied by a low-grade fever and his breathing appears quick and shallow. Why am I still blogging? Well, I had to compile a video for Baz's homework.

Conversations with Baz & Hadrien (Part 6)

We started "piano classes" with Tito Teacher Ickyboy. Baz & Hadrien had a swell time banging away at the keyboard which produced different instrument sounds. After 30 minutes or so however, Hadrien went looking for some - what else - milk!

Hadrien: I want MELK!

Yaya: No more milk.

Hadrien: Let's go down to look for a cow.

Mommy: How do you get milk from the cow?

Hadrien: The cow will give you Cowhead! (a brand of milk)

_____________

Hadrien used to be in the Panda class with Jack, who also happens to be the son of my law school classmates Karen and Larry.

Baz: Is Jack good?

Hadrien: Is Jack Sparrow?

_____________

Hadrien saw me compiling Baz's pictures. Obviously he noticed he wasn't in any of them :)

Hadrien: What's that?

Mommy: I'm fixing Kuya's pictures.

Hadrien: How about me?

Mommy: I'll get to your pictures in a while. You weren't in the US yet when these pictures were taken.

Hadrien: That's not good!

Futbol Funatics

This is the football camp which the kids attended this July-August. And indeed, the kids turned out to be fanatics of football.

Some of you may remember Baz's try out session which we also posted about here. What we didn't get to write about is that he later refused to join the group for practically the whole course. After 6 or more sessions of him refusing to kick the ball, unless it was just towards us, and we hanging around the field getting him to participate in any way, we decided to leave it at that.

This July, we decided to bring Hadrien to football camp. He was a natural! He quickly joined the group and the warm up exercises. See how he handles the ball - and without any need for coaching!



















This is Hadrien exhausted and parched after his first day. Then here's Baz leading his brother into the field and a great candid shot of the 3 boys :)



Too bad that it was bright and sunny the following weekends. See, Hadrien, like me, hates the sun. So he only joined the class twice! That first time and then one other session which was held indoors. His complaint - "It's sunny, I need some shade." He promised to play on a cloudy day though :)

We had hoped that seeing Hadrien play would make Baz want to join in. But we didn't want to get our hopes up. We allowed him to linger but since we didn't formally enroll him, we told him that there wasn't enough balls. He asked us to let him join many times but we told him that he had his chance last year. Just to be clear, we did feel bad letting him down. But at that time, we thought that it was the right thing to do. He promised to kick this ball this time. IT WORKED!!!! The next session, he needed no prodding and joined in without any hesitation. He even bragged to yaya later that day - "You know, I talked in football. I didn't just nod, I talked!"

So, this is Baz's first real "go" at football. Me thinks he did a good job!

Baz's First Go at Futbol from malou.khan on Vimeo.

And he hasn't looked back since :)

Blessed

We're blessed to have kids like Baz and Hadrien. When praying for my kids, I'd have to confess that first few things I ask for is that they grow up smart, healthy and happy (not necessarily in that order) - forgetting to ask that they also grow up to be kind, generous, patient, loving, etc. At this age however, they have learned to sympathize (or is it empathize?) and look out for others.

One time, when Papa and Mama were visiting, Papa remarked how many toys they had, which he didn't enjoy when he was growing up. Baz immediately asked why this was so and Papa answered that they didn't have money to spend on toys. Without saying a word, Baz got his checkbook and wrote out a check for "PAPA" to the tune of $100 and signed "Lucas Khan".

A few days after, when Raffy said that he was going to buy a cake for himself, Baz and Hadrien "but not mommy", Hadrien reminded him to get one for me too. Raffy told him that he only had money to buy 3 cakes so the ingenious Hadrien said "I know! I'm going to get money from Kuya's bank." Not knowing what was happening, but hearing that Hadrien was going to take money out of his piggy bank, Baz rushed over to stop Hadrien. At a loss as to what to do, Hadrien tearfully and with a quivering voice looked up to Raffy who was watching all this unfold and said "but mom...." Raffy ended up assuring him that he would buy a cake for mommy, too!

Baz's Field Trip Report

The Pups class went on the 2nd field trip last Friday. They visited the local post office, police station, fire station, the Archibishop's Palace and .... Krispy Kreme. Baz came home and explained in detail what he saw. At the post office, he learned about the use of stamps and saw "flat rectangle holes" for Metro Manila, US, Visayas and Mindanao (he's editing me as I write and asked me to erase "Luzon" which I placed before Visayas). He also learned how letters are sorted into "boxes of different countries" and how letters are "placed inside square boxes inside the room" and how they are "given out outside the window".

At the police station, he saw saw "a cage with many round bottles" and the pictures of "bad people near the door".

At the fire station, he saw a fireman with "a blue and yellow suit with the hooks and holes and a helmet with a glass here (visor)." He also saw the "fireman with a firetruck, which has a hose connected to the rooftop of the firetruck. He described the hose as having a "snoozer with a shower at the end to spray the water".

At the Archbishop's Palace, he saw many seats near the "altar table where the priests celebrates the heavens and there was a big entrance, like that, like that (moving his arms to show an arch), and there was a tall tower and then there was Mama Mary on the balcony on top of the tower". Since he's very much into architecture and structures, he gave me more details on the church's structure which I am not able to capture here.

Here is a video of Baz relating what he saw at Krispy Kreme. See how descriptive he is and how much detail he is able to retain and communicate, even days after his trip.


The Krispy Kreme Report from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Chick-Boy

Hadrien LIKES girls. Once, he asked his classmate Sophie to be his girlfriend right in front of her mother - then realizing what he had done, ran to hide behind me.

Now in his new school, he talks about the other girls in his class - Cathy, Paige and Carmen. Although he's consistently said that Joaquin is his bestfriend. He enjoys holding Carmen's hand when they sing "The More We Get Together". He even named a comb (of all things!) "Carmen" and pushed the comb around the house as if it were a car while saying that the comb was the "Carmen Comb Car--- but don't tell Carmen".... Don't ask me where he got the idea - but it sure is funny!



"Don't Tell Carmen" from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Hadrien the Artiste

The first time Hadrien asked me to post his work on this blog, I was amazed and guilty. Amazed that he had a concept of bragging about his work online. Guilty that he may have felt that we weren't giving him enough credit for his work.

Here are a couple of his works:

I can hear him say "that's a check" when I look at this. See, the boys now receive checkmarks when they finish their meal without getting up from their place or if they pack away their toys and get x's when they disobey, don't finish their food, etc. It works for the most part and is generally a great way to discipline them (emphasis on the "generally"). I guess Hadrien thought to himself, "hey, I deserve a check for this" and gave himself one without forgetting to explain to his teachers what he just did.

School Time

Baz and Hadrien started school mid- June. Baz is in the Kinder Pups class while Hadrien is in the Nursery Panda class. Hadrien easily settled into school and the routine and is always eager to be in school much earlier than he needs to be. Not that Baz doesn't like school, he just hasn't chosen to participate yet. The good thing though is that he has started talking in the hallways and grounds.

Having been briefed on and after experiencing Baz's "silent treatment" quirk, teachers Rosana, Karen and Aiza suggested that we make a video of Baz introducing his family and home to coincide with their community theme. This would show his curious friends that he actually talks! True enough, little faces lit up and went from video screen to Baz upon hearing his voice.


Baz's Family and Home Video from malou.khan on Vimeo.

As for Hadrien, he is turning out to be the ultimate "sipsip". When I ask him how school went, he would brag "I shared my cookie with teacher Ingrid and teacher Nika!" Ingrid also told me how one time, thinking that the class was becoming too noisy, got the "quiet" sign for teacher to hold up. To think that Yaya Andora reports to me that his voice usually stands out whenever his class is in the playground!

We've also started doing homework (not assigned homework from school). I figure they need to get into the habit of working even before the real homework comes pouring in :) So far, they enjoy it a lot. Baz does english and math exercises while Hadrien is practicing writing and is learning the sounds of the letters (M says "mmmm", W says "daba"!)

Hiatus

I've just realized that we haven't posted anything in nearly two months. Yet a lot has happened: we were in the States for most of May to attend Na-a's graduation and then we drove down to Disneyworld; then in June the boys started school in Ex-. We'll update the posts as soon as possible, but right now let me start off with a list of ten fun things from the boys' summer vacation, in no particular order:

1. Enjoying every bit of Disneyworld, particularly the log ride
2. Playing in Madison Square Park
3. Seeing astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center
4. Avoiding getting drenched by Shamu
5. Visiting with the "good" and "bad" dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History
6. The company of cousins Ian, Arianna, Alex and Gabrielle, and friend Teo
7. The big blocks at the National Building Museum
8. Denny's, Friendly's and Perkins, and Holiday Inn, Best Western, Hampton Inn and Comfort Suites, with Daddy, Mommy, Gramps, Gramma and Auntie Genni
9. All the stuff at the Baltimore Children's Museum
10. The cannons and other forms of "gunning" in Charleston, Savannah and Richmond

We'll be posting about these places and events soon!

Hadrien's 3rd Birthday (Cont.)

Hadrien hosted an intimate dinner with family on his birthday. He chose Fely J's - a "comfort food" place in Greenbelt 5 run by the same people who own Abe's in Serendra and Cafe Adriatico in Malate. Gramps, Gramma, Papa, Mama, Aunties Genni and Ritchie, Uncle Jolly and Tita Kristine, Graunties Enya and Neny, Granuncle Ernie and Uncle Japes, and Yaya Dora and Lita were all there!









Hadrien was early, and entertained himself by drawing with his pastel crayons:



He's in his Jackson Pollock phase, apparently. Here he explains to Auntie Genni that the black part of the painting represents "darkness" (his word - he didn't say, "night").



The "darkness" is riven by flashes of red ("fire") and yellow ("lightning"). But apparently there's a double meaning: the red and yellow also represent the "sun" - it's rising because it's almost morning. The Grandparents' Committee was impressed and congratulated him on his latest work:



It was a good meal, and later the waiters and waitresses came out with a birthday cake (actually, three slices of cake with candles on top) singing "Happy Birthday!" loudly, startling Hadrien who, nonetheless, responded with equanimity and his "nguso" style of candle blowing.







He was so excited to be the center of attention that he wouldn't eat at first, until Daddy (pretended) to call Teachers Maica and Weng to tell them that Hadrien wasn't eating his meal. With his "No, no, no!" he immediately began eating prompting Auntie Ritchie to remark that I was playing off his desire to maintain his "good boy" public image in school!

The ebullient host, in his favorite Doraemon shirt, shown here with his entourage:



He rolls 15 deep!