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)
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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!"

Subaru vs. BMW

The boys are such opinionated beings! Even if sometimes, those opinions are formed by things they see and hear. For instance, they call the Grandis the "dizzy car" and clamor to be driven in the Subaru every chance they get. And because their Daddy can't stop himself from pointing out each Subaru car or sign we see along the way, the boys can readily spot the cars and signs even at a distance. Baz has even asked his Daddy to give the Subaru to him when he's an adult - I'm not sure we will still have the car by that time, but we'll see! Right now, I can't bear of thinking of them as adults and/or teenagers old enough to get behind the wheel :(

Such is their love for the Subaru that every car pales in comparison. In this video, Baz and Hadrien join Daddy to test-drive Tito Ickyboy's BMW. Thinking that their Daddy took the wrong car or exchanged the Subaru for the BMW, they started wailing!

Untitled from malou.khan on Vimeo.