We went to UP Diliman and walked around with the kids this afternoon. I wish there were more park-like areas in the city, but UP's a good option. They've cleaned up the area between the lagoon at the back of Quezon Hall, trimmed the high grass in and around Beta Way and the Sunken Garden, and on weekends the academic oval is car-less, opening up the road to pedestrians, joggers, cyclists and skateboarders.
But first Baz took a ride with Mommy on a UP Ikot jeep, while Hadrien and I followed in the car:
Then we parked between Law and NEC, walked up to Eng and cut across to AS via the Beta Way. A lot of the old growth trees are still there, and with some new ones.
Naturally our curious two boys were all over the place, clambering up trees and fallen logs.
Baz the Monkey (and he actually said, "Monkey See, Monkey Do")
Last night, Yaya Andora found a worm in the kangkong (water or swamp spinach, scientific name: ipomoea aquatica forsk) we brought home from Robinsons Supermarket. It looked like Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar so we excitedly called the boys to take a look. Voila! 3 boys came rushing into the kitchen.
We asked Baz and Hadrien to touch the "caterpillar" and they readily did. After having fun with it, the 3 adults of the house pondered what to do with it. No one wanted to be the bad guy and throw it away. We didn't want to let it loose in our balcony garden either as it might eat away at our precious oregano leaves which we give to the boys whenever they have a cough or a cold. So, we ended up putting it into a bottle with leaves in it and naming it Dona for now. We don't really know if it's a boy or a girl, but the bottle we put it into is labelled "The Donatello" :)
This morning, Baz asked me if Dona will become a butterfly and I had to tell him it was a worm. He looked at me as if he didn't hear anything. He wants to invite his friends to come see Donna. So I guess for now, Dona will be our family pet.
PS: Raffy thinks it's a caterpillar. We'll keep you posted on this.
We decided to send Hadrien to Toddlers Unlimited for the remainder of the school year. He's starting a year earlier than Baz (Baz first went when he was 3 1/2), but the reason we're starting him sooner is partly because Hadrien has been to Toddlers so many times that he's been insistent on "going to school."
Getting ready for school
His familiarity with the school showed on his first day today. No signs of tentativeness or hesitation, he was in the Yellow Room and playing with the toys within moments. He didn't want the door closed, though, and wanted me and Malou there, watching him, until Teachers Weng and Maica distracted him, allowing us to slip out unobserved.
Checking out today's lesson
Yellow Room here I come!
But we continued to watch him through the observation windows. He played nice with the other kids, and was mostly focused cooking "donuts" on the kitchen playset in the room.
Malou and I had to leave before lunch, but later we learned from Yaya Dora that Hadrien (a) had eaten lunch i.e rice and meat, during "snack" time; (b) had taken his sweet time while eating, such that all the other kids had finished and proceeded to Story Time (Hadrien: "I want to eat some more!"); (c) was shouting his comments to the teacher and his classmates on the book being read, while still seated at the lunch table. The book for the day was, coincidentally enough, Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which Hadrien has mastered. Hence the numerous side comments; e.g. when they book came to the part about the "big, fat caterpillar," Hadrien goes, "Like Kuya Baz!"
He also had a crying moment, looking for his Mommy and me, but was assuaged by lunch and the book. Later, when we asked him how his day went, the first thing he said was, "I cried." Why, we asked. "Because I was looking for Daddy and Mommy."
All in all, though, he enjoyed his First Day In School. He's raring to go back on Thursday!
The boys are prohibited from watching "violent" content on TV, so that pretty much includes everything outside of the children's TV channels, Discovery, Nat Geo and Animal Planet (even cartoons nowadays seem too "adult" compared to when we were kids). But they're able to sneak a peek sometimes, as the following exchange bears out:
Baz (in his sumbungero voice):I saw Hadrien watching violent with your Daddy (i.e. Gramps) when we were in Las Pinas. Yaya Dora: Uy nandun ka rin e. Silang dalawa yun nanood e. Aha! Buking, or so we thought. Daddy: Baz, did you watch violent also? Baz: No. Mommy: How do you know Hadrien was watching violent? Baz: Because I was watching him. Daddy (trying to catch Baz): Were you also sitting down when you were watching Hadrien? Baz (realizing where Dadddy was going with this line of questioning): No, I was standing. Daddy (not giving up with the cross-examination): Where were you standing? Baz (realizing that to be literal is the safest way out): On the floor. Daddy (still trying, not succeeding): Could you see the TV from where you were standing? Baz: Yes. Daddy: Where were you looking, at the TV or Hadrien? Baz: At your Daddy. Daddy: So how did you see Hadrien? Baz: I was walking and I saw him. (In Filipino-'Napadaan lang ako'). Laughter all around. Daddy (to Mommy and Yaya Dora): Ang galing masyado nito. Baz: Thank you.
It's official - we've made it through the hectic holidays of 2007 - christmas parties, get-togethers, lunches, dinners, brunches, coffee meet-ups and all.
The festivities for me started with Baz's school christmas party with him staying on stage without crying that was normal for kids his age. Then came our office christmas party where Hadrien gamely played Santa by distributing christmas ham thus earning his nickname of the moment - what else but "Christmas ham"? Baz enjoyed himself prancing to the music and playing photographer.
On December 23, the kids got to watch their first christmas carols by the Children's Joy Foundation. An Italian couple also visited with some sisters (nuns). They were due to pick up their newly-adopted son named Eman on christmas eve - imagine that! Maribel was supposed to arrive that night but the runway of Narita airport where she was supposed to make her connecting flight was iced, forcing her to spend the night in Japan. On christmas eve, the Cruz/Feliciano family was as complete as could be :) Tito Edgar, Tintin, Pam, Alby and Tita Ed celebrated with the four of us, mama, papa, Ickyboy, Joy, Jolly, Kristine, Maribel, Mikel and Nanay. Ate Ferry, who has been with us for 36 years now, was also there :)
Christmas day lunch was spent wth the Khans/Enriquezes, again, as complete as could be. We attempted to have a virtual reunion with aunts and uncles, including Auntie Na-a, in Houston. Apparently, we could see them but they couldn't see us. Genni's "thinking chair" was such a hit with the boys (ok, not just the boys but all of us) that it caused a push-cry-scratch fest resulting in Hadrien's "marked" cheeks.
On Friday, December 29, Baz attented the children's christmas party at Raffy's office where he got to play with Kristina, Bea and Nathan (among others). Hadrien was feverish and had to stay with me. Not to be outdone, he had pizza, pasta and green ice cream at Amici, where he was so behaved.
On Sunday, December 30, Marnie, TJ, Amelie and Miguel came over for the usual daddy-playdates. Being "helpless" for the holidays, we decided to lunch at McDonald's which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. Papa and mama then treated everyone to dinner at Paseo Uno in Mandarin Oriental where we celebrated Ickyboy's birthday. It was also Tita Ed and Maribel's advanced despedida party.
On December 31, we had brunch with Nonie, Jill, Gabby & Miggy and Mai at Kanin Club (Paseo de Santa Rosa). We also got to see Mai's new house (really nice!). Again, New Year's eve was spent with my family while New Year's day was spent with Raffy's. This time we judiciously refrained from buying fireworks (since last year, by Raffy's own estimate, only half of what we bought went off). At 3 am in the morning, (btw, both kids were still awake at this time) we said our "goodbyes" to Maribel, whose visit was really much too short :( No attempted virtual reunion with the Enriquezes this time but we got to watch home videos of the boys' cousin Ian. The boys also got to wade in Auntie Neny's pool with their lego fire tanker.
Christmas and the passing of the year makes most of us (including me) nostalgic. Going through the 10,000 or so pictures made me think about how much the kids have grown and conversely, how much everybody else have - for lack of a better word - aged. It made me realize and resolve to spend more and really, really cherish time well spent with family and special people we are lucky to have in our lives. Here's to living more and making more meaningful memories in 2008!
