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!