Patience

"Finished na! Finished na, na, na!"

That is Hadrien shouting to all the world and sundry that he was done with No. 2 on the throne. His yaya calls back "wait!" as she was doing something then.

"No, I won't wait!"

Then he runs out butt-naked with a triumphant smile on his face.

This is why for the rest of his school year, he needs to work on "Patience, Patterns and Focus" - with much emphasis on "patience".

Conversations with Baz & Hadrien (Part 12)

My boys are naturals at "panliligaw". They instinctively know how to butter you up which makes me think they're not off the mark when you compare their quips against those cliche pick-up lines.

Hadrien: Mommy, I love you up to the moon!

Baz: I love you higher than the moon. I love you all the way up to heaven and outer space.

Hadrien: I love you 1000 times!

Baz: I love you 1 billion times! I love you 1 trillion times!

Hadrien: I love you... uh.... 1 sillion hillion times!

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Last night, as I was about to go out to watch a movie with some friends, the boys tried to emotionally prevent me from leaving this way:

Baz: Mommy, don't leave.

Hadrien: Mommy, I need kisses until the morning.

I dread the day when the boys will stop showering us with the love, affection and almost-adoration we enjoy now. Argggh... I cannot bear to think of these lines being spoken to somebody else, no matter how pretty or smart or kind that girl might be. Right now, the boys proudly proclaim that they don't have any plans of marrying. But who could resist lines like these?

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And then there are those times when Baz surprises me with his adult-like spiels. Like this one time, when he was scolding me about a trip -

Baz: Mommy, don't you want to stay married? Why did you go on a trip without Daddy? Married people don't do that! (with an accusatory pointing finger to match)

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There are too many conversations that go unrecorded. Like the times I overhear the boys negotiating turns at a toy they each want to play with, or choosing their quota of 1 DVD per day (that rule gets bent more often now....). I need to do a better job at listening and remembering.

Envious

of my friend Eleonor's photos with her kids, I tinkered with some fave pics of my 3 boys. Here are 2 pictures I jazzed up :) Need to invest in a good lens (hint, hint!) In the meantime, I know where I'll be channeling extra time and energy during the next few days. If only I didn't have to access the back up drive for this...


This was taken at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Budapest.


Near the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.


Hadrien at the Schonbrunn Playground, Vienna

Wait A Minute Mr. Postman

Teacher Jojie sent me this hilarious video of the mokong during the class field trip to the post office. I just had to post immediately. Thanks, T. Jojie! Very much appreciated.



On the way home from the office, I was trying to get the kids to tell me what happened during the day.

M: Who went to Renaissance for swimming?

Baz raises his hand.

M: Who went to the post office?

Hadrien raises his hand.

M: Who sent Mommy a letter?

Hadrien raises his hand.

M: Aha! I know your secret!

Hadrien: But it's not a letter, it's a painting!

M: Aha!

Hadrien: But you don't know what it looks like! (with pride as if he won the argument)

1st Sem PTC's for SY 2009-2010

Can't believe we're past the half-way mark for this school year! The boys are breezing through the year, enjoying every day they're in school. Whenever I ask them how school was, they would say without thinking "FUN!" I believe this as they come out smiling, bursting with the need to narrate their activities for the day.

We had Baz's PTC yesterday and am proud to say that he's doing very well. Cautious Baz is taking more risks, participates in group and teacher-directed activities. Mighty pleased to say that he did VERY well in his reading tests! Not that I was surprised as I've been harping about his ability to read at an early age. And it's not just reading, but actually understanding and asking questions about materials he reads. He needs to work on opening up and engaging with friends more though.

Dubbed as the "little binata" of the Kinder Koala class, Hadrien did Mommy and Daddy proud too! Teachers find his ability to retain and repeat information he absorbs from everyday conversations and experiences remarkable. He did well in the literacy aspect and shows his love for books. Needless to say, he knows his ABC's and 123's. He just needs to work on sticking to his task, opening up, being more interested in writing and drawing.

Video Updates

Practicing for Tita Bel's Wedding March from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Cheers! from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Dubrovnik - Mokong Dancing from malou.khan on Vimeo.

And here's a blast from the past. Look at those cheeks! Classic Baz.

Crazy! from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Trick or Treatin' @ the Parc

Trick-or-treating comes early at our condo - October 17, to be exact. Thanks to their titas, we didn't have to scrounge around for costumes even if we were not prepared for the early halloween celebrations. After a long argument, some pushing and crying, and the stern warning (ok, threat) that they would not go trick-or-treating altogether if they didn't agree between themselves, Baz graciously gave way to Hadrien.

Baz was so cute in his Sponge Bob costume (c/o Tita Bel) with matching brown shorts, white socks and black shoes and an oh-so-cute expression on his face here.



Not to be outdone, Hadrien was in character as Batman. Notice how he tries to hide behind Sponge Baz in the first picture - a true stealthy dark night! Until he flashes his gigil smile that is pure Hadrien :)




I love you so much, my little boys! You both are growing up right before my eyes - not too fast though....

Cousins! Cousins!

For lack of "first cousins" on both sides, second cousins count! Just recently, the boys met some cousins from Papa's side for the very first time. It's sad that this get-together was brought on by the passing of Tita Marita (Papa's last surviving sister) but hopefully, this is the start of regular reunions.

Boys being boys, they enjoyed horsing around and zipping through the house in Little Tikes toys built for toddlers. Luckily, no person, toy or furniture was injured in the process. Just lots of laughter from the kids while adults worriedly watched.

Here, Baz is getting the royal treatment from his cousins. I love that smile!



And look at my little sanguine, Hadrien!



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Just before that, we went by Southvale to check up on things. Looks like Baz found the lot too small. He surveyed the lot, which had been fenced off temporarily and pointedly asked, "where's the garden going to be?" I think we managed to take his picture as he pointed to the lot (not ours) where the garden should be. Patay!

Baz's Family Tree

Baz's class activity over the past month has been learning about family, and one of the exercises was to make a family tree. Here's the one Baz made:



Baz pretty much did all this by himself, including identification of "paternal" and "maternal" sides. My only contribution here was to glue the labels, oh -and yes- draw a hideous tree outline using a gold lame' pen that I hope comes across as brown (it's a tree, after all). Sorry Baz!

Apparently LMH (Little Mokong Hadrien) wasn't impressed:



Tomorrow is the class' culminating activity. Baz has recorded a video explaining his family tree, which I'll leave for viewing to Vimeo.

Social Science 101

For days after Cory's death, I was glued to the TV watching the wake, interviews and news stories that came out on GMA's unconscionably extravagant dinner shortly after Cory's passing. It felt like the end of an era and it affected me more than I thought it would.

Little did I know that it would also present an opportunity to teach the kids about our country's not too distant past. I started with who Cory was, explaining that she once was the President of the Philippines. And because the documentaries showed pictures of Ninoy and his funeral procession, I also had to explain to the kids that Cory was Ninoy's wife, that Ninoy was killed by Marcos' soldiers, and that Marcos tried to cheat in the elections that led to people marching in the streets to protest giving rise to People Power.

It also led to these amusing exchanges -

B: What happened to Ninoy?

M: He was killed by Marcos' soldiers.

B: How?

M: He was shot.

B: Where?

M: In the airport where his airplane landed.

B: In Ninoy Aquino International Airport?!

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H: Is Marcos bad?

M: Yes... but he wasn't always bad. He was good, but he did not follow the rules (hoping that this could be a "teaching moment" for obedience which we are working on these days), until he forgot the rules, and then he did not know right from wrong.

H: Don't call him Marcos - call him "Bad"

B: Call him "Baddie"!

Weeks later, the boys were excitedly telling us how they would fight and punish the bad people. Until they turned to us and asked -

B: How are bad people made?

H: They also come from heaven (perhaps remembering my comment from a few weeks ago that bad people, even Marcos were born good).

B: No, the devil makes them in hell.

H: Is there snow in hell?

M: I don't know.

B: Marcos would know!

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And then when we were watching clips of Cory's speech before the US Congress, Baz noticed the US flag and asked me if she was the President of the Philippines or of the US. When I answered that she was the President of the Philippines, he asked "but why is there an American flag behind her?" I then told him that she delivered a speech before the US Congress. Of course, a flood of questions came:

B: What is Congress?

M: It's the body that makes laws.

B: What are laws?

M: Laws are rules made by the government.

B: What is the government?

I don't recall exactly how I answered or how this exchange ended. I distinctly remember thinking that his questions are not normally asked by 6-year olds, but Baz is not quite the ordinary 6-year old, and these weren't ordinary times.

Cory! Ko-wee! Kowee!

Cory Aquino's death on August 1 gave us the opportunity for a little history lesson with the boys. As we watched the news coverage of her funeral arrangements and the tributes to this great woman, we were able to explain to the boys that, when their Mommy and Daddy were teenagers in 1986, Cory Aquino became President after "People Power." We told them that Cory's husband was Ninoy Aquino, and that the bad people killed him when he arrived at the airport because they didn't want him to be President. Baz immediately made the name connection, and asked, "Did that happen in NAIA?" Apparently, he remembers that the "NA" in "NAIA" stands for "Ninoy Aquino."

I saw Cory's cortege when it passed through Makati, and Malou went to stand on South Superhighway on the day of the funeral procession. Today it was the boys' turn.

First they made their own expressions of tribute, on paper. Hadrien made a "yellow flag," with the note "Hadrien loves Cory."



Baz made a Philippine flag, on the reverse of which he wrote a note saying,

"Dear President Cory,
Thank you for being a good President.
Love,Baz."



Then we taped them to chopstick "flagpoles."

Off we went to 25 Times St., the Aquino residence in Quezon City which has apparently become a historical site (it has an NHI marker). Ten minutes after we got there, a white SUV pulls up, and Noynoy Aquino comes out and mingles with the crowd on the way into the house - I guess he still lives there. Nice guy - he posed with the kids and Malou, took the time to shake a lot of hands, accept words of condolence, and - when Hadrien offered it - even read Hadrien's flag/note.





There was a nice lady there who gave packs of Hershey's Kisses to Noynoy, and afterwards she explained that she works for Hershey's, that Kisses were Cory's favorite, and that she'd deliver them to the Times St. residence. Touching story indeed, but the nice twist to the tale was that, finding the two mokongs so cute, she gave them a pack of Kisses each. Of course I'll have to scrutinize the chocolates since they came from a stranger, and taste test most of the pack.



We stuck the boys' flags to the gate with the permission of one of the bantay, all of whom were very nice and genuinely pleased to see this outpouring for Cory.








Baz took pictures of his own, and the results were pretty interesting. Good eye Baz!






Mabuhay si Cory! Or, as Hadrien says, "Kowee! Kowee!" Yes, the two boys know how to flash the "Laban" sign!

Conversations with Baz & Hadrien (Part 11)

H: Are we going weft oh wight? (left or right, with matching hand movements)

Mommy: What?

H: East oh West?

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I was quizzing Hadrien on the animals on his book. It was the first time I was actually using this particular book with him so I didn't really expect him to know the animals except for the usual dog, cat, bear, snake, elephant, etc. But my little boy surprised me, in more than one way! On the "A" and "B" page, he was able to identify the anaconda, ant, armadillo, bear, beaver, badger. I flip the page and pointed to a camel and enjoyed a hearty laugh. His response: "ahmm..... hump, hump!"

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Hadrien's first day of classes for this year was postponed 4 times! His first day should have been on June 15, but it was moved to June 22, then June 24, then classes on June 24 and 25 were cancelled due to the typhoons that never came to pass. He's not one to flaunt or express his frustrations, preferring instead to grunt and look away. But today, on the 4th aborted 1st school day of the year, he says:

Mommy, it's not raining anymore. So can I now go to school?

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I've learned to use Facebook to capture the boys' quips. Here are some of my status updates out of the mouth of babes:

Baz: How old was Michael Jackson when he died? Raffy: 50. Baz: He was a middle adult! He was still young, right? (6 July 2009)

Baz: Why did Michael Jackson die? Raffy: He had a heart attack. Baz: No, because he changed his face! Hadrien: And he also changed his skin! He dies when he every time he changes his face! (5 July 2009)

Baz said: Mommy, it takes 3 days to go to the moon. That's 3 24 hours!(2 July 2009)

Baz just said: "When I become a man, I will blast off to America." While Hadrien said: "she's not my girlfriend" when I asked him to say "bye" to his classmate. (30 June 2009)

And from Raffy's Facebook status:

Told the mokongs that, before they were born, they were angels in heaven. Baz: "Were with angels with wings? Did we have stingers?" Hadrien: "How did we get to earth? Did we parachute?" B: "Did God throw us to earth?" H: "Is heaven above outer space?" B: "Did I pass outer space on the way to earth?" My answers: Yes. Angels, not bees. God sent you. No. No. Neither above nor below, but all around. No. (5 July 2009)

Hadrien: I'm a 'skeezah.' Baz: What's that?! H: Something you do to wubber ducks. B: You mean 'squeezer.' H: That's wight." And that is how Hadrien gets around pronunciation issues. (28 June 2009)

Hadrien: "I will NOT talk to you, Kuya!" Baz: "You're talking to me Hadrien. When you said you will not talk to me, you were talking to me." And that is how a four and a six year old brother argue. (20 June 2009)

Sweet Hadrien

The brothers are best of friends. They talk incessantly that we need to make sure that the lights are out in their bedroom by 8 pm, if we expect them to be asleep by 9. While we sometimes get impatient that it takes them so long to fall asleep, Raffy and I find it extremely amusing to hear them make up stories, finish each others' sentences and giggle at each others' quips.

They also look out for each other. Hadrien being the "maton" takes special care of his kuya when they're out in public. One time, a 3 year old playfully threw her shoes at Baz, and Hadrien didn't hesitate to retaliate (I won't say how as I don't want to incriminate my own son!).

The day after the fire in our building, the boys had to wear the same pair of pants since we didn't have spare clothes for our impromptu sleep-over in Alabang. Perhaps because Hadrien was wearing hand-me-downs which had been passed on to him only weeks before, Baz insisted on wearing the pair that Hadrien already had on. Hadrien was bothered that Baz was upset but naturally, wasn't prepared to give up his own pants for his kuya who had his own pair anyway. After 30 minutes or so, he checked up on his kuya saying "I love you, Kuya!" to which Baz responded: "Can I have your pants now?"

Two days ago, over lunch, there were just 4 tiny pieces of crispy fish which the boys love. Baz was busy with his Lego blocks and Hadrien scrambled to get what we thought was for him. But instead, he took 2 pieces and put them on Baz's plate before getting his own share!

The bond does not go unnoticed. Someone from Baz's school remarked at how the boys would be so pleased to see each other after school.

For Teachers Joy, Mandy and Timmy

Here's the video of pp. 3 and 4. The last part took sooo long. This process validates that it takes A LOT of patience to be a teacher. :)

Reading Assessment PArt 2 from malou.khan on Vimeo.

For Teachers Joy, Mandy and Timmy

Reading Assessment (pp. 1 and 2) from malou.khan on Vimeo.

Conversations with Baz & Hadrien (Part 10)

I came upon a crying Baz. Apparently, Hadrien had pinched him. After first trying to make it appear that Baz had pinched him first, Hadrien offered this explanation for his deed:

"It's bad to drink other people's responsibility!" Baz's offense: taking a sip of Hadrien's milk!

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B: Papa, Gramps wants to be an astronaut! Can he be an astronaut?

Papa: Yes, he can be one.

B: Gramps is already 74, he will be 93 when I'm 25! He'll be too old!

H: He will have to wear a toupee!
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The kids, who think that spicy food is bad even if they eat spicy food unknowingly, threatened to throw all the Tabasco sauce away one day.

H: Mommy, when I'm an adult, I'm going to throw away all the Tabasco sauce!

M: You know, even when you're an adult, I'll still be your mommy, and I'll get mad if you throw my Tabasco sauce away.

H: Mommy, when you're dead!

My take on this is that he implicitly assured me obedience for as long as I'm alive :)

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B: How many people are there in Parc?

Papa: How many floors are there in Parc?

B: 27 floors, and there are 2 units in front, 2 units in the back and 4 units on the side of each floor, so how many people will there be?

Papa: (pauses for a moment) 200! (nanghula nalang!)

Hadrienisms Part 2

The boys have an accent. For Hadrien specially, it's because he can't, or refuses to, enunciate some letters preferring instead to emphasize the vowels in the syllables with consonants "r" and "l". His teachers told us once that Hadrien gets upset they can't decipher what he's trying to say. But instead of saying the word more slowly, he just repeats himself but with a louder voice, and a frustrated look to match.

Lately though, he's trying to figure out different ways to help us understand what he's saying.

H: Yaya, can I have kwa-kes? (crackers)

Yaya: What?! Cockroach?!@#$%

H: No, sky-fakes!

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H: Look at that tuck!

Mommy: What tuck?

Y: The big car behind us!

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H: Is Venice on "Ot" (earth)

M: What's "ot"?

H: The pa-net (planet) , hee (here), where we ah!

Football, football!

I guess the couple of sessions we attended at Futbol Funatics did pay off. Baz and Hadrien are naturals in running with the ball as you can see when they played football with Daddy and Papa!

Once or twice, Baz managed to kick the ball in between Papa's legs and score a goal. It's a pity I missed that shot :( Unfortunately, what I got is this where it was Papa who pulled one over Baz, who scratched his head in exasperation - or bewilderment - you choose!

I didn't play much as I was the designated photographer but I was able to steal the ball from Raffy and score myself! The competition got so fierce that Papa lost his balance when he tried to prevent Baz from scoring a goal! Here is Papa after his spill.



And here's the mokong playing monkey when he felt he had had enough!

By the way, did you notice that all of the boys were in stripes?

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It was Nanay's 97th birthday that day. Happy birthday, Nanay!

Another Joint Birthday Party

The great thing with having their birthdays a month apart is that we only have to go through the party planning/preparation just once - but with twice the fun! This year, we decided to hold the kids' birthday party at Jolly's condo again. As expected, the boys and their friends had a blast at the pool - sans the fountains this time :(

Notice that the daddies were the swimming chaperons :)


Sssshhh.... they don't know it's their birthday party!


With adult guests, Anastasia, Clarisse, TJ, Marnie, Jose (partially covered).

Girls vs. boys - what happened to chivalry?

Thanks to Marnie, TJ, Clarisse, Jose, Nonie, Jill, Carol, Anastasia, Patricia, Josh. Thanks too to Mama, Papa, Grandma, Gramps, Aunti Neny, Uncle Sader, Auntie Bebs! Last but not least, a big big thank you to Yaya Dora, who with help from Yaya Marvie and Yaya Charina catered the event :)

Things the Kids Say

When I told Hadrien he couldn't watch DVDs and that I would throw them away if he insisted on watching them, he said, "God made DVDs. He will get mad if you throw them away."

I asked him to practice spelling and reading, and spelled out the word CAT with his letters. He then turned that around into C-T-D-A. When I asked him what that read, he said, "Legaspi Market."

(From Raffy's notes)
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Baz was scolding Hadrien tonight for wasting food at dinner i.e. he didn't finish his dinner.
Baz: "I don't like you Hadrien, you were wasteful." "You were praying for the baby in Ethiopia but you were wasteful with food Hadrien. You weren't working for it Hadrien even if you were praying for it."
Daddy: "That's a good message for Hadrien Baz."
Hadrien: "NO! That's not a good message. I"ll crumple it."

(From Raffy's notes)
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At Christmas mass Hadrien was the coin bearer, and was sitting in the front row with a full view of the proceedings. When I explained to Hadrien that Jesus was with us during communion, but then he saw the priest putting the Monstrance into the tabernacle, he asked, "Are they baking Him?"

(From Raffy's notes)
---

Hadrien has a knack for identifying flags. At age 3, he could tell you the flags for the Philippines, US, Canada, Morocco, Canada, Cambodia, Somalia, Libya, Palau, Israel, Greece, India, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, UK, Australia, Vietnam, Czech Republic, France and many more I can't remember. His fascination started after Papa bought them shirts and caps with the Vietnamese flags.

One night, I was testing them on what they remembered and was surprised to find out that he had anecdotes for some countries:

Canada: That's where Barack Obama is! (Just that week, Obama made his first state visit to Canada).

Cambodia: That's where the bad people are (Since trial started that week against Pol Pot)

Spain: That's where the rain is (The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains?)

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It's not just because I'm a proud momma - but I do think that Baz is able to handle algebra at such an early age. Every now and then, he'd say things like, "11 more days till Hadrien's birthday!" Or "10 more minutes and it will be 11:41". But the past few days, he expressed algebraic equations which I never thought my precious 6 year old, smart as he is, was capable of.

1. Hadrien, you know, your age was my age two years ago. (Hadrien just turned 4, while Baz had turned 6 the month before.)

2. Baz: Mommy, is the Subaru older than Hadrien?

Mommy: No.

Baz: Hadrien, we bought the Subaru when you were 2! (It took me a while to put everything together. We bought the car in 2007. Hadrien was born in 2005. So yes, he was 2 then!)

3. Ariana is 4 years older than me because in July, she turns 10!

Hadrien's 4th!

The Little Mokong turns four years old today! This year, Kuya Baz and Daddy are with him, but sadly Mommy is abroad (this time last year, Mommy and Kuya Baz had gone ahead to the States, and Daddy and Hadrien followed two weeks later).

So we started out the day with the usual greeting sign on the wall -



- and opening the birthday gifts.

Kuya Baz and Daddy went to get these gifts (Buzz Lightyear on a scooter, and Emperor Zurg, both chosen by Baz) in secret yesterday, separating from Hadrien, Gramma, Gramps and Yaya in Rockwell mall to go to the toy store. Earlier, when he had been asked what he wanted for his birthday, the Little Mokong had specified, "Something we don't have ... but it has to be for '4 and up.'"



Then a video call with Mommy, followed by a little jumping around.
















Instead of dinner this year, since it was a Saturday we went out to lunch at Milky Way.





Auntie Na-a made a gorgeous theme cake, with Baloo and Kaa from "The Jungle Book," as requested by Hadrien.





Hadrien blew out the "4" candle, but seems to have caught Kuya's bias against singing the Happy Birthday song, which we had to recite instead of sing.



With Ninang Genni:



Hadrien even brought Tito Jolly's birthday gift, a combination bag/pillow/blanket stuffed toy monkey that Hadrien dubbed "Matoy."



You're a Big Boy now, our Little Mokong! As Kuya Baz said, "time to be more independent!"