My first ever throw back post. Well coincidentally, it’s Thursday today that I thought of doing this post. 🙂
Liam, do you remember this?
Where have time gone? You may grow up so fast, then and again, you will always be my baby. 🙂
Throw Back Thursday
One Fine Day
Conquering That Stressful Haircut
Remember my old post about Liam’s stressful haircut? My SIL, Leah, also wrote about Liam’s stressful haircut here. This is really one thing we dread to do every time the need arises. Well, am happy to report that we are “slowly” conquering this fear.
Before 2013 ended, we brought a long haired Liam to the salon. As always, I talked to him beforehand that we are going to see Kuya Eduard. He agreed and I took advntage of his good mood and told him that we need to go inside the salon. (You see, past haircuts, we do it outside the salon so as not to disturb other customers…) I even ask him if we could sit down. Nakahalata ata at di na pumayag… Hehe
Improvements:
1. We are now inside the salon (still carrying him and standing)
2. We wore the “blanket” (tunic) this time
3. No more crying, no more struggles, no more bites on my shoulders.. Hehe
Last Sunday, Liam had his 2 weeks delayed haircut. Again, we talked to him. I really thought he’ll back out when he learned that his ever trustful Kuya Eduard is not available. Fortunately, the gel trick did it for us. 🙂 It was Kuya Michael who did his do. Because he’s behaved, the haircut took us 30 minutes. Yes, he sat still for 30 minutes, kahit kame ni Dino di makapaniwala. hehe..
Improvements:
1. He now agreed to sit on the chair (on ate Donna’s lap)
2. He now wore his own “blanket”
3. He is more relaxed now
I’m so happy that we finally beat this fear. Next stop is for him to sit on his own na. 🙂
Good job Liam!! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. 🙂
Sari Saring Kwentong Liam: Simbahan
If there’s one good thing the earthquake has brought to my family, it’s that we were able to go back to church and hear mass every Sunday. Well, the earthquake was just half of it, it was also Liam’s birthday.
You see, Dino and I are not too religious. But we made it a point to go to church every Sunday to hear mass, say our thanks and ask for forgiveness. This stop lang, when we had Liam na. We tried going back when he was 5mos, but it’s a bit difficult since he can’t understand what it is pa.
So last October, we heard mass as a family. Okey, it was just the 3 of us adults (including ate Donna) who really understood, but I think this is the best way to introduce the idea/concept to Liam. As expected, he was not super behaved. He asked a lot of questions like what the nuns are doing, who is talking, is it finish na ba, and a lot more.
I first introduced Liam to church, the structure, earlier this year on our way to the mall.
Mommy: Liam, that’s a church, you see there’ a cross and at the window there is a big bell, blah blah blah (i went on describing the sound and what it’s for)
Liam did not say word. Kala ko wala na intindihan. After a few meters…
Mommy: Liam, that’s also a church
Liam: where’s the bell?
Ayun, nakikinig naman pala…
The first time we brought him to church, he kept on asking questions at the start, then he started to get bored.
Liam: mommy, are we done na? Go home na tayo?
Mommy: we can’t pa, we have to wait for the priest to finish
Liam: who is the priest?
Mommy: the one in green (habit)
After a few minutes..
Liam: mommy is the green one finish na?
Sa isip ko.. Wala namang green sa Bioman ah!?
One afternoon, ate donna gave liam choco flakes in a bowl..
Liam stood up, got a piece and went to his ate, gave her one on her hand..
Liam: you say amen
Communion ang peg..
Liam really got intruiged with the host that we take, one sunday at mass…
Liam: mommy, i want to eat host
Mommy: you can’t pa. You’re still a little boy. When you’re big na, you will have your first holy communion
I think he understood, since he did not ask me about it again.
One night when I stepped into the house coming from work, he ran to me excitedly and said…
Liam: Mommy! ate said am big boy na!! Can i eat host na!?
Toinks!!! Naintindihan nga nya sinabi ko! Hahaha
There are a lot of things pa that got his interest like the holy water and the offerings. One way to persuade him to change and go to church is when I tell him I will let him dip his hand in the holy water which we do last (before going out ) so he’ll have something to wait for and look forward too. Yun lang, he keeps on asking if we’re done na.
He also likes the singing part pala. He usually hums with us. There’s this responsorial psalm that caught his attention and several times he asked me to sing it for him. Kaso I forgot the line na. So the following week, i made it a point to remember, kow ung nauna pa din ang gusto nya.
Well, hopefully soon, he will understand na din what this is all about. Since I can’t take photos during mass (mapapagalitan ako ni Bobe), eto na lang share ko sanyo..
Christmas Balls Project
Am really not a crafty woman. One of my least favorite is art class. I remember my uncle telling my cousins to help me with my projects when I was still in elementary. Naawa ata sya saken at hating gabi na di pa ko nangangalahati sa project ko. When I was in high school naman, I always make it a point to team up with someone who’s good in drawing and in crafts. hehehe..
Liam is the opposite of me when it comes to art, he likes art. He likes painting and all those crafty stuffs. I think this is another de Leon side of him. Dino is artistic in his own way. He is good in drawing and not to mention he is good photographer. May it be SLR or a simple point and shoot, he is really good. We always say that he has an eye for it. His Lolo and his Ninang is also very crafty.
Am also so lucky that Ninang Tita (my SIL, Leah of The Bright Spot) is very resourceful and never fails to update with anything and everything under the sun. She posted this site on my FB page, telling me it’s a good Christmas project for Liam. Tama nga sya, Liam did enjoy it.
This project is very easy, you only need Christmas balls, white acrylic paint, paint brush, markers and egg tray (for drying).
After the first ball, Liam went to the sink to wash his hands. Eto mahirap sa batang to, he don’t want his hands dirty or sticky. Wash agad yan. hehehe.. So he washed his hands and told me he’ll do it by himself na. After the Second time he washed his hands, it’s my turn naman daw.
And here are our finish products!!
Easy and fun project!! Thanks again to Ninang Tita for the suggestion!! 🙂
A Day at Shangri-La Mactan
One of my wish list for 2013 is to be able to travel with Liam and we did just that this year. We were able to travel a few times 2nd half of this year 2013 (yan nagagawa ng delayed post). First was the trip to Moal Boal with Ninong Ken and Ninang Bonch. ( you may see my post about it here, here and here).
After that, we were able to have 3 more weekemd escapades. One was our trip to Toledo on Liam’s 3rd birthday (see post here) . But before that we flew to Boracay last August (separate post for this) and as a pre-bora trip we checked in Shangri-La Mactan without Ate Donna. Yes just us 3. We left Donna at home to help Ate Lilia clean the house. I was able to convince Dino to buy vouchers when Shang had their Paradise Sale earlier this year.
This was the first time we had an overnight stay somewhere without Donna. Actually, I know naman na we can do it. Liam’s big and can understand na pero syempre, mas comfortable and hassle free if we have Donna with us. 🙂
Anyway, we were not able to take much photos then, since kame nga lang and my head ached the first day, so it was just Liam and Dino in the pool.
Bumawi ako the second day. We went swimming after our breakfast and Liam enjoyed the slide so much we went back and forth. Pero napapaso na puwetan ko so I told him to stop na. 🙂 We let him run around by himself the whole stay that he scraped his knees. Both knees, the left knee twice. He did not cry, instead he said “Again!?’ as if he’s asking himself why he fell down again. Silly brave boy.
see the knee? Yeah, we let him be, kaya ayan.. tsk tsk! bad parents.. hehe
What I love best about this trip is that it made Dino realize that he wants to this with us more often. Maybe not in Shangri-La again, since it’s really steep since we can’t enjoy all the amenities pa with Liam with us. Pero definitely, this trip set the pace for us. For sure, there will more weekend getaways to come on this site. 😉
Aw Aw’s Bath Time
It’s been crazy here these past 2 months. We’ve experience calamities left and right. I really didn’t want to write any of it down in the blog, but thought that it’s still part of our (Liam’s specifically) history – that we were able to experience these calamities and we were able to survive it.
Between the earthquake and the typhoon, am more stricken with the earthquake. Since I was here in the office when in struck and the fact that we are still experiencing aftershocks until last week (a strong one at that), this is really nakakatakot. With Typhoon Yolanda naman, all offices were closed that day, so we were able to stay home with Liam. Though it is really depressing since Yolanda was really so powerful that thousands of people are now homeless. We, ourselves were also busy tracking down our staffs in Tacloban. Glad to announce also that we were able to track all 8 of them. We are now working on relocating them. This is a better problem, diba?!
Anyway, back to my topic, as introduced before (see my post here), Liam has 2 dalmatian stuff toys, Aw Aw (ok, I conceive, his original name is doggy, but for some reason, mas kilala sya sa pagiging Aw Aw) and Raf Raf. Among the 2, he always favor Aw Aw. Lately, I thought magka-level na silang 2, since he likes bringing both dogs along and even agreed to bring Raf Raf sa plane instead of Aw Aw who slept in the luggage. Well, mas presentable kasi si Raf Raf (colorwise, hehe).
After that trip, both dogs are suuuper dirty that I already talked to him to let Ate Lilia wash them both. I specifically asked Donna to have Aw Aw washed first, since he is super Putim na. That night, I saw the almost black Aw Aw in our room and I asked Donna what happened.
Donna: Ayaw po ni Liam palabhan e. Si Raf Raf na lang daw.
When I asked Liam how come he don’t want Aw Aw to be washed, he smelled Aw Aw and said “di pa bantot!” hahaha ang kulit lang ng anak ko.
So with the determination to have Aw Aw washed, I asked Liam to give him a bath that weekend which he willingly obliged.
Hitting 2 birds with one stone ika nga! hehe..Have a nice week ahead everyone! 🙂
A Walk at Night
Am here in the office early. Finished checking may Emails and need to focus on finishing our evaluations. I also intended to do a post today about the calamity and all that am feeling and thinking. But, I saw this post from a friend and decided otherwise. I don’t want to be let down of what’s happening. I need positive thoughts!!
This is sooo TRUE!! I’m sure many mommies would agree with this quote. Ever since I got pregnant with Liam, it’s always about him and our little family.
I read Ms. Toni Tiu’s (blogger behind Wifely Steps) “Ordinary Moments Make Life Most Special” post last week and I couldn’t agree with her more. For us, it’s the same. As I posted before, we are having the no gadget rule at night so we can focus and give more attention to Liam (and to lessen his tablet usage, hehe), since this is the only time we are together talaga. It’s also every time we come home and Liam will come running to us with a wide excited smile in his face. Everyday, he’s excited like that and it never fails to brighten our day.
Oh, here’s me and Liam last night outside our gate, another of our “ordinary times” together…
Nautakan ako ng anak ko kagabi. We are weaning him na from poh poh (carrying) na. We want him to start walking on his own na. He does naman pero soooobrang tamad! hehe… Last night, while playing in his room, he heard fireworks (super hina per narinig nya) so we ran outside (kahit alam ko di namen makikita yun), I carried him so it will be faster for us to go outside. After realizing that we can’t see it, I told him we’ll go inside na. Anong sabi nya?
Liam: No, let’s walk around …
Very seldom does he want to walk around the village (near zero possibility). Dino always tries to invite him for a walk at night after dinner, never nag yes ang bagets. Last night, dahil karga ko siya.. Siya pa mismo nag-yaya. Since weather was nice last night, I gave in and walked with him around the village. We talked about everything we can think of, the leaves, the trees, the ladies we saw at the neighbor’s lawn and stopped to greet everyone we see. hehehe
After 1 round, he wants to go around again.. But I know I might make it back since he is not the light na no.. So we decided to call his dad instead and took a photo of us last night before we went back in and prepare for bed time. 🙂 Okay, I changed my mind, this is not so ordinary at all but it’s a special moment I want to keep. 🙂
Hmmm.. I can feel the positive vibes na. Thinking and writing about Liam makes my day and it takes all the blues away..
Have a blessed Wednesday. Need to get back to work. Will be blogging more soon.. 🙂
Our Little Biker
This is already a late post. This was supposed to be posted 2 weeks ago. Things got crazy here in the office with so much to finish and whole Cebu got crazier with the earthquake and all the intense aftershocks!!! Oh well, will not dwell on that anymore. Here goes..
Couple of weeks ago, Dino and Liam started the day “detailing” Liam’s rides. Liam showed interest with cleaning, way back after seeing his dad clean Pajeyow. Good that Dino found a way how they can do this together (bonding time na din for the boys).
We’ve been planning to buy service bikes for the office for short trips and finally decided to visit our friend’s shop who sells secondhand folding bikes. We found good items for our office had them reserved and bought Liam a new bike on impulse. We fell in love with the bike and since we’ve been planning to buy him a bigger one, Ka-ching!! 😉
Just want to share, our African Daisies started blooming again. We had this plant during our outreach program last 2011. The school principal gave us a pot and now we have almost 10 pots of these beautiful flowers. I snipped these 2 and placed them at our counter. (mental note: buy a better vase.) Aren’t they wonderful?!!?
The following day, we let Liam swim after having breakfast and went to JCenter Mall for lunch. We really planned for him to play in one of the playroom in the mall that have a zip line for kids. But our little boy refuses to go in. he cried when I tried going in by myself. Not sure how this started, but he suddenly have phobia going in closed door facilities like Gymboree and the salon. Hmm.. will try the “Wipe Out” trick next time. Hope it’ll work. Anyway, since he doesn’t want to play, we went to the arcade instead and spend time with their machines which is not a lot and a bit boring. 😦
Liam: no, you are big na, small lang here…
While waiting for our lunch to be served Liam played with the fish bowls containing rolled up Bible passages. After lunch we decided to go home and let Liam rest.
it’s been a while since I really cooked and baked, I made it a point not to sleep-in that afternoon and make my time fruitful while Liam’s napping and Daddy is busy at the garage. I baked Calamansi Cupcakes that afternoon and prepared dinner too. I decided to try Mommy Sha’s Sizzling Tofu. I tweaked it a little since Dino don’t like mayo. Will share my version in a separate post. 🙂 We paired it with Lechon Kawali and a glass of Aloe Vera juice. yum yum.. 🙂
Mommy: That’s my cute little baby…
I really don’t know why I called this post / series (not sure if this will be constant thing) when it always contains our weekend (2 days) together. Oh well, it just sounds good, right!??! Anyway, just an update, comes Monday, Dino and I decided to buy the bikes for ourselves na. So, presenting our new rides.. 🙂
Oh yeah, before I forgot, like my previous One Fine Day post, there’s one thing that is not fine that weekend. Liam is acting up again during meal time. Haaay.. This is really making me frustrated. I might dedicate a separate post for this alone.
Anyway, have a lot of pending posts pa, Boracay trip, Shangri-La trip, Liam’s birthday celeb and a lot more. Stay tuned guys. 🙂
Spell Chillax
L – I – A – M
