Last night, Baz was playing with his magnetic shapes and decided to make a sailboat. When it was time to put the flag on the boat, he picked an orange triangle and asked me what country had an orange flag. I said I don't know, I don't think there's a country with an orange flag so Baz just made up a country, he called it Gabiday. I know the spelling because I asked Baz to spell it. Then he continued to tell me all about Gabiday. It was a pretty detailed description. He continued imagining about Gabiday this morning. I can't remember all the details but here goes --
- it has tall, tall buildings with four basements: B4, B3, B2, B1, G, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, LowerPenthouse then the roofdeck (note, he didn't include the number 13 in the floor count)
- the buildings have bubble elevators, which are also rocket elevators that go z-z-z-z-z-z-zoom because the buildings are very tall; "it's a fast rocket ship bubble elevator"
- the elevators do not have walls, they have windows and doors and there are bubbles in them
- right outside the buildings is the ocean
- the CAT company is responsible for building everything in Gabiday
- Gabiday has big, big, big roads; there are 100 roads
- all the cars in Gabiday are fast race cars, some cars have donut wheels
- Gabiday has a big, big planetarium
- Gabiday also has pyramids
- apparently, Gabiday is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean because to get to Gabiday, "From the Philippines, you go south, then you go to Japan, then Hawaii, then Gabiday"
- the people in Gabiday are called Oreia (again, I asked Baz to spell this); the language spoken is also called Oreia
- the language sounds something like this: "kapawipa kapawipa wapawapa wapawapa wapi wapa wapa wapa wa"
- the planetarium is a really tall building and to get out of it, you get on a log ride, a roller coaster slide that has water
- it always rains in Gabiday but there rainbows all the time, really big rainbows
- there are good fountains in Gabiday and you can walk around them without falling into them and as you walk around them, you sing "walk around the fountain, walk around the fountain"
- there is one hotel in Gabiday, Mandarin Oriental; to get to the hotel -- from the Planetarium, go to the overpass, turn straight to 81 Manila High Street
- Gabiday "celebrates Costume Day on April 19, not like in the Philippines where Costume Day is April 18"
hmmm, i'm sure i'm forgetting some other stuff, Baz has such an active imagination...and so detailed
BTW, Baz supplied all the information and details about Gabiday. I did not ask any questions or offer anything that added to his details. (Like, it was he who thought of naming the people and the language of Gabiday, with no prompting from me.) I basically just repeated what he said or reacted with a "wow" and "really?" and "Gabiday sounds like a fun country." At one point, I slipped and said "Gabiday sounds like a fun city" and he corrected me saying, "Gabiday is a country."
_______
From Auntie April: BAZ IS A GENIUS!!!
From Ninang Ritchie: YesP, Baz is a genius but it is really better for him not to know
that....in the condo, I asked him if I could be a citizen of Gabiday
and he said "nope"
:-(
3.09.2008
Wading
We went to Grauntie Neny's and Grandncle Ernie's house this afternoon to do a little "swimming." Since the boys don't actually swim yet, it's more like wading, actually. For that reason Auntie Neny's pool is perfect - there's a stepped area at one end where the boys can go waist deep and play with water toys.
Of course they brought their Lego fireboat, which has a little motor that attaches to the hull. It's not remote control, but because the pool is oval, the boat makes a full circuit and ends up right back with the boys. They also brought their magnetic fishing rod, which "catches" on the magnets on the fishes' snout.
Auntie Neny mentions something about color blindness on the Enriquez side, so just to get immediate feedback I take the different colored fish and have Baz identify their color. He identifies the basic shades without difficulty. But what if it's a differentiation-of-shade kind of thing (Malou says I have this problem with green)? So I ask him what kind of blue the blue fish is, and after doing nothing more than just a double take, he says, "Fish blue!" Oo nga naman!
The boys are cautious in the water and know they can't swim, so what I'll do is stand on the edge of the stepped area and have them walk out to me. Despite precautions, though, Hadrien still took a dunking. While seated on the pool's edge he leaned forward and went a little too far, going into the water. I fish him out immediately and he's none the worse for wear, if a little surprised. "I drowned!," he says, but I reassure him that he's all right and that there's nothing to worry about. For good measure we get mad at the pool, which according to Hadrien was the reason he fell.
A little later though I see him all contemplative and quiet, so we're wondering if the dunking made him afraid. Turns out, though, that he's looking at the wrinkles on his hands - he's worried they won't come off! Auntie Neny tells him not to worry about his "old man hands" because they'll become young again as soon as they dry off, but he's unconvinced and up to the time he asks to leave the pool 10 minutes later, keeps his hands out of the water. Vain din pala!
Of course they brought their Lego fireboat, which has a little motor that attaches to the hull. It's not remote control, but because the pool is oval, the boat makes a full circuit and ends up right back with the boys. They also brought their magnetic fishing rod, which "catches" on the magnets on the fishes' snout.
Auntie Neny mentions something about color blindness on the Enriquez side, so just to get immediate feedback I take the different colored fish and have Baz identify their color. He identifies the basic shades without difficulty. But what if it's a differentiation-of-shade kind of thing (Malou says I have this problem with green)? So I ask him what kind of blue the blue fish is, and after doing nothing more than just a double take, he says, "Fish blue!" Oo nga naman!
The boys are cautious in the water and know they can't swim, so what I'll do is stand on the edge of the stepped area and have them walk out to me. Despite precautions, though, Hadrien still took a dunking. While seated on the pool's edge he leaned forward and went a little too far, going into the water. I fish him out immediately and he's none the worse for wear, if a little surprised. "I drowned!," he says, but I reassure him that he's all right and that there's nothing to worry about. For good measure we get mad at the pool, which according to Hadrien was the reason he fell.
A little later though I see him all contemplative and quiet, so we're wondering if the dunking made him afraid. Turns out, though, that he's looking at the wrinkles on his hands - he's worried they won't come off! Auntie Neny tells him not to worry about his "old man hands" because they'll become young again as soon as they dry off, but he's unconvinced and up to the time he asks to leave the pool 10 minutes later, keeps his hands out of the water. Vain din pala!
3.04.2008
How Time Flies
Sniff... sniff.... Even if Baz is just moving up from Toddlers Unlimited (his first pre-school ever!), I felt what most parents (including parents in TV commercials) feel upon seeing their son/daughter in a toga. I wondered where all those weeks/months/years went and why they flew by so fast!
It wasn't entirely sentimental though. I first saw him in a toga in school - where he refused to have his picture taken. And me being me, I persisted in trying to convince him until I gave up in frustration (rather, Teacher Gabby wisely told me in a knowing voice "you can take home the toga and just give us the pictures - good save there!)
The good thing though is that we got to take more pictures with the toga at home. Also, I'd like to think we got better pictures this way :)
It wasn't entirely sentimental though. I first saw him in a toga in school - where he refused to have his picture taken. And me being me, I persisted in trying to convince him until I gave up in frustration (rather, Teacher Gabby wisely told me in a knowing voice "you can take home the toga and just give us the pictures - good save there!)
The good thing though is that we got to take more pictures with the toga at home. Also, I'd like to think we got better pictures this way :)
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