Tracing Fun

Posted on October 29, 2013March 28, 2014 by mommyjuvs

This is a super duper late post again. I almost forgot about this, if I didn’t check photos in my phone last night. Anyway, last August, we received early birthday gifts from Maqui of Familia kiki. I posted about it here. One of the books they sent was the tracing book. Maqui also blogged about this book here.

This book made it! He was the one who asked his ate Donna to do the pages. He grabbed the book, sat on his table and took a market. I think the graphics and colors interested him. Here are some of his in action pics. As you will notice, he is still having a hard time how to hold his pen (marker) properly. As Donna told me, he initially held it properly, but got tired and don’t want to listen na when asked to change how he holds his pen.

He showed me his previous works, and I think his favorite was the crane. he kept on going back to it and showed it to me at least 3x. 🙂

I can say this book was so effective that it did not last a week. Ubos na. there were some pages left at the back, pero super complicated na for him to even try.

As of writing, we are not pushing him to practice writing anymore. We are happy if he will initiate writing. Pero we just let him be. So far so good, he knows how to hold his pen properly na. He sometimes intentionally holds his pen wrongly to tease us. Then he will give us his sweet smile!

To Maqui, thanks again for this superb book!! 🙂

PS sorry about the photos posted sideways, tried to changed it, but still came out that way… hehe

Book: Creepy Crawly Creatures

Posted on September 17, 2013March 28, 2014 by mommyjuvs

Among the books we got from our Book Sale visit last Sunday, this book is Liam’s favorite – “Creepy Crawly Creatures”. The creator of this book is not joking when he put the phrase – dreadfully disgusting – it’s really disgusting.

It’s very nice though, since they have pop ups on every page, making the bugs come to life and description and facts on every page about the bugs they are featuring. To give you more idea on what am talking about, here’s how the book looks like.

Cover page – cover palang, it’s eeky na, wait til you see what’s inside…

First off are the cockroaches. My number 2 enemy (next to rodents). It looks harmless when you flip the page. Open the flaps and you’ll see what I mean. The pizza inside the box is full of cockroaches. What’s nice is that when you flip then box open, the Madagascar cockroach on the top pizza will also move. On the right naman, you will see the bottom part of a cockroach.

Next is the Spider page then the Ants page (or was it the other way around – basta these 2 comes next). On the spider page a big Tarantula Spider will pop out once you flip the bag open. On the Ant’s page, you’ll see it crawling inside the burger. Like the cockroach, this ant also crawls when you move the buns up and down. 🙂

My favorite is the Scorpion page. It’s claws and tail will move if you pull the zipper up and down. do you spot the difference between the 2 photos below?

Millipedes and Centipedes follow the scorpion. The Millipede will pop out curled-up when you flip the soccer ball open while the Centipede will crawl once you flip the rock up. Yes, the centipede is moving every time you flip the rock. Nice no?

Next are the Locusts and Cicadas, there’s nothing much about the Locust while for the cicadas they will come flying out once you flip the bushes. (side comment; it will be better if they incorporated the sounds of the Cicadas. Mas magaling sa author ang peg ko.. haha)

Millipedes and Centipedes; Locusts and Cicadas

Okay, sorry I skipped a page, cause this is the yuckiest among all the pages. The Flies!!! On the left, it explained how flies reproduce and shows the larvae on a hotdog sandwich! kadiri diba?!?! (those white thingy on the hotdog are the nasty maggots). On the left naman, it shows how a fly looks like once we swat them dead! hehe

Generally, it’s creepy, but if you read the text naman, it’s quite nice as the book explains how flies carry germs and how cockroaches lives. This opens an opportunity how to explain to kids why they can’t eat the food na once a fly lands on it or how we need to keep our house clean para walang cockroach.

So sige na nga, I like the book din pero still this is eeeeew!! 🙂

Liam’s Top 10

Posted on September 16, 2013March 28, 2014 by mommyjuvs

Here are Liam’s Top 10 picks when it comes to his books. Ranking is based on how frequent he reads it and alin ang nakabisado na nya. I had a hard time trimming down this list as there’s more than 10 naman that he likes. So the ones he liked when he was barely a year old was out and I made a little daya – put 2 books together. hehe

#10 – Speedy Little Race Cars – This book helped him identify the colors. Also, this was the first book that I heard him memorize. You say the color of the car, and he knows what happened to that car.

#9 – Corduroy’s Day and Corduroy Goes to the Doctor – The Corduroy’s day book is the first that he showed interest in a character and this was the first book he was able to relate himself too. So, I bought the latter to help ~~him~~ us with his check ups and it worked. After that, even Wawa helped us find other books starring this cute little bear.

#8 – Walt Disney’s Pinocchio – This is one of his favorite cartoons (his first favorite cartoon was “A Bugs Life”). He still gets this every once in a while and we will read this together.

Walt Disney's Pinocchio books — Walt Disney’s Pinocchio books

#7 – In a People House – We often read this earlier this year, but stopped when we started the bug books. He knows all the things highlighted in this book after our first read.

#6 – Green Eggs and Ham – to my delight he liked this book. Yey! Though this was also set aside for the meantime, as he’s busy with his bugs. hehe

#5 – Minibeasts and 1000 Facts about Wild Animals – he likes these too but lately prefers his new bug books

#4 Put Me in the Zoo – another one that he memorized. He also started to spell out the words in this book. (spell by reading of course)

#3 – I Love Bugs – We still read this until now and he knows all the bugs in this book.

#2 – Numbers – Ohh.. nagkalasug lasog na tong book since he always bring this with him. He also likes using this to make fun of his mommy. He will always count the ones that should not be counted and laugh so hard cause he know I will react. He calls this his fish book (as seen on the cover)

#1 – Go, Dog. Go! – his ultimate favorite! I think we have read this a thousand times already, as we read it twice or thrice a night! Even during day he will ask me to read this to him. During the hype of this book, he will ask for this first thing in the morning! Kahit pikit pa mata ko sa antok! KOW!

That’s it, pacsit! Well, this is as of this posting. I feel this will change soon, as he have acquired a new bug book yesterday and he’s bringing it with him every where he goes.. hmm.. Let’s see..

Books! Books! Books!

Posted on September 6, 2013March 28, 2014 by mommyjuvs

After comparing the Top 100 Children’s Books list with Liam’s collection, realized that we only got… 11 out of 100!! 11% hmm.. ang layo! hehehehe Thanks to Maqui now we have more than a dozen (literally 1 more than a dozen, haha). She gifted Liam with 2 new books that’s in the list! YEY!! Here are some of the books we have..

here are some of the books we have — i wonder where the “Goodnight Moon” and “Guess How Much I Love You” books went.. hehe

Anyways, even as a kid, am just a sporadic reader. But i remember having a set of Dr. Seuss books at home and we have a set of Disney Encyclopedia at may grandma’s place where I grew up. i remember reading those encyclopedia during free time and that my favorite Dr, Seuss book is Green Eggs and Ham.

That’s why, when I saw these Dr. Seuss books in Book Sale, I can’t help but buy them. They are way cheaper than the set I saw in one of the bookstores here. A set of 12 mini-me sizes costs P 3,200.00 (P 266 each). P120 from Boos Sale is still waaaay cheaper. Here’s our Dr. Seuss collection…

Am also so happy kasi my money did not go to waste as Liam loves them. When he was barely a year old, his favorites are “Hop on Pop” and the “Foot Book”. That’s why those 2 looks worn out. Oh, he also love “Are You My Mother?” Now he likes ‘The Cat in the Hat”, “Put me in the Zoo” and “Green Eggs and Ham”. But his ultimate favorite is “Go, Dogs! Go!” We read this E V E R Y night, 2x pa at times.

Lately, Liam is into bugs. I downloaded apps about bugs and insects in both tablets and bought him some books about it too. Buti na lang I bought him these books at nakapahinga lately si Go, Dog! hehehe

"Minibeasts", "I Love Bugs", "1000 Facts About Wild Animals" and his "Number Book" — “Minibeasts”, “I Love Bugs”, “1000 Facts About Wild Animals” and his “Number Book”

The number book is not about bugs, but he also likes this lately. He likes the flaps that shows the correct count of the items on the page and likes making fun of me too – counting the pictures that should not be counted then will look at me and laugh.. haaay.. ang kulit lang ng anak ko.. hehehe (by the way, this “fish book” (that’s how he calls this) is a gift from Leah’s boss when she visited us earlier this year. Ang Sweet no?

Well, Liam have other books pa na he likes. Will be doing a separate post on that na lang next time as I haven’t organized my thoughts and pictures pa for that.

Liam reading his Fish Book.. ganda ng lazy boy nya no?? :) — Liam reading his Fish Book.. ganda ng lazy boy nya no?? 🙂

P.S. Thanks again to all contributors to our mini library. We feel the love.. mwah! 🙂

Liam’s Books Wish List

Posted on July 25, 2013March 28, 2014 by mommyjuvs

ever since I read Maqui’s Someday post, I have planned to write about the Top 100 Children’s Books of All Time too. (4 months ng delayed ang book post ko. hehehe) But busyness and laziness attacked and this was almost history. hehehe..

Oh well, since I’m still not able to take pics of Liam’s books, I’ll share books ~~Liam~~ I want to have (for Liam of course) from the Top 100 list. (by the way, just want to share, I think we only have a dozen from the list. hehe.. ang layo ko pa!)

I would like Liam to have this as I think this will be a good example of pure and unconditional love. Did not see this yet, pero I feel Liam will like this. 🙂 This is number 2 in the list. 🙂

Number 7 on the list, I think Liam will love this as he’s into worms nowadays. And as the description goes, this is a delightful tale with a lesson. This is an interesting story about the caterpillar since he was a egg until he became a beautiful butterfly. Teaching our young ones numbers and days of the week. 🙂

This one I’ve been requesting about a year now. Di ko malunok to buy at Powerbooks.. hehehe.. Calling Ninang Tita and Aco Juddy. hehehehe…

23rd on the list, Everyone Poops by Kane / Miller. One of our dilemma now is how to train Liam to use the toilet. We already tried several ways – potty trainer, ate sitting on toilet with him, sitting on toilet converter, etc. But none really worked. Problem is, nandidiri si Liam sa poo poo nya.. 😦 Well, I hope this one will help. Super sayang, as I already saw this book last year in booksale, but did not buy it as I did not see the need pa. Now, can’t find this here in Cebu na.. haist.. sayang..

Well, for the same reason as above. Will be hunting for these books.. 🙂

Oh another book I would like to have is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I loved the movie version of this and I think Liam would love to have this too and hopefully this will introduce him to try eating other food.

As for the other books in the list, I haven’t really scrutinized the plots pa, pero for sure there are more books that would interest our little boy. 🙂

On the side, am really worried today and wants to go home na as our little boy is sick. We asked him to skip school today so he can rest but he cried and told Donna that he wants to go to school. So as not to break his heart, we allowed him to go. after an hour, he was sent home na din kasi he was already matamlay. Haay.. Ganito pala ang feeling, I want to be there beside him, to be the one taking care of him. Oh well, mommy will be home soon anak.

Story Time

Posted on February 6, 2013March 28, 2014 by mommyjuvs

One of Liam’s tranquil time is our Story Time. Sometimes it’s not really story telling but kalat time. He will get all his book and spread them on the floor.. haay.. But most of the time, we really read the books. Right now, his favorite books are Sesame Street books – “Down on the Farm with Grover’ and “Farley Goes to the Doctor”. Farley’s story is same with Corduroy’s kaya usually we read these 2 together. We compare what Farley and Corduroy are doing in the clinic. hehehe..

Anyway, here are some photos Dino took during one of our story nights…