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.