Mga eskrap ni Lynneth

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2006-12-24T10:15:00.000+01:00

Family Affairs

2006-08-03T17:03:00.000+02:00

David's 2nd Birthday Party

2006-06-06T21:45:00.000+02:00

Oui-oui images courtesy of noddy.com and for the party theme from annikid.com

A very messy tsokolate

2006-06-04T16:54:00.000+02:00

First Halloween Costume I made

2006-06-04T16:46:00.000+02:00

Funny Faces

2006-06-04T16:30:00.000+02:00

First steps

2006-06-04T15:58:00.000+02:00

First solid food

2006-06-04T15:53:00.000+02:00

Just three days old

2006-06-04T15:48:00.000+02:00

Facelifting and remodelling

2006-06-04T14:58:00.000+02:00

This blog has been changed into a photoblog of all my digiscrap creations!

Greetings

2005-12-31T04:01:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year to All!!

I'm still having so much fun in the Phils.

Sakit

2005-11-13T01:56:00.000+01:00

Ten days in the Philippines, David got sick. The day after his baptism, he started having a fever. He refused to drink and eat. We brought him to the hospital and the doctor advised us for David to be hospitalized as he was starting to dehydrate. And since he wasn't drinking or eating, dextrose ang ending ni David. His blood, urine and stool lab tests all turned out fine and we were released the following day.
Now our baby is enjoying Boracay. He is loving the sea and the sun and is eating a lot. Tuloy-tuloy ang bakasyon. He still continues to say french words and my family is at lost at times ha ha ha...

You make me smile today. Genuine Smile

2005-10-18T17:04:00.000+02:00

Well son this actually happened a week or two ago. It’s only now I have the time to write it down. Nevertheless, every time I think about it, I smile at myself and feel a genuine excitement.
We were in the small playground, the one in our street. You wanted to play in the area for bigger kids, I believe that’s where you feel more challenged and excited. So you crawled in the elevated (it’s in fact at my shoulder level) tunnel, “counted” the balls hanging on the bars and ran around the maze and small bridge as I stood below watching, guarding your every step. Then I carried you to the slide. This one has rope-steps so it’s actually impossible for you to go up without my help. Even if you are just ten kilos, after several times of lifting you up, my arms did scream. But they were outdone by your jovial mood. So I had to continue carrying you to the top of the slide and after three counts, I said go! And down you went, son…
Then we did it again, but after 1, 2, 3 go, and more, you just looked at me strangely. I cooed you to go down. And you were there on top, holding on to the sides of the slide, one leg stretched, the other bent. Strange look on your face. “Go David!” I said. “Go!” In a transparent moment you looked at me and said: “My shoes!”
For a second there I was tongue-tied. Complete, comprehensible phrase. I came to you and saw that your left shoe got stuck at the corner of the slide.

Lolo David

2005-10-06T13:13:00.000+02:00

The adultness in him:
- He climbs on the sofa, and jump! Laughs hard at the impact. Did it from our bed, much higher than the sofa, fell on the carpeted floor and limped a few second afterwards. Didn’t laugh or cry. Just shock! Mais oui, David, you have to start internalizing gravity.
- After drinking his fruit juice from a glass, he puts the glass on the table.
- Collects my mug of coffee and puts it in the microwave.
- Sees his soiled diaper lying on the changing table, takes it and puts it in the garbage bin. Like a big boy!
- Pulls the vacuum cleaner, tries to plug it in the electric hole and goes vroooom! Son, our vacuum, although it has wheels, is not a car.
- Goes to get the phone every time it rings. Talks to it like an adult.
- Plays alone, makes his own joke and laughs hard. Sometime his laughter scares me. Makes me wonder if there are ghosts tickling him.
- When it’s reading time, he literally chooses what book he wants to read.
- He kicks like a bull on heat! It’s really painful especially if it’s “human balls” that are busted! Careful dadi!
- Cleans his own ears with cotton buds.
- I put lotion on his tiny palm, and he scrubs it on his face.
- Takes dadi's electric shaver and shaves his face.
- Walks around the house dragging with him dadi's briefcase.
- Puts on our shoes.
- When we play parts of the face, he quickly pulls my eyeglasses and throw them away, just to make sure he could poke my eyes correctly. I need another pair as a replacement for the other ones that have lost their arms completely.
Whew 18 months of compact energy. He doesn’t seem to run out of it. I do.

Ako gwapo!

2005-09-26T14:56:00.000+02:00

I wish David would say that. But no. For some reason since last Friday, he started saying "ako gago, ako gago, ako gago" to my shock! He hardly hears tagalog with us. I have no idea where he got it from. Blame it to his cold and flu!

I'm giving a twist to his ryhme. Every time he says "ako gago", I reply with "ako gwapo!" We'll see how it runs!

Sleep tight my little one

2005-09-23T13:12:00.000+02:00

For the past days… or has it been weeks, David has a troubled sleep. It has turned our nocturnal activities into a wild circus of a child screaming, or going wild playing around or watching never-ending Barney show. The night has turned into days and the moon is not rising. My and dadi’s eyebugs are black, eyeballs on red-hot fires. The scenario has put us parents on the edge of a nerve-cracking patience painfully stretch to the opposite ends. One of us is bound to snap.
It did. Dadi’s. Understandably tired and worn-out after a day’s work, no one wants to come home with a screaming child. And no wife would want to open a door for a gloomed face of the most expected person.
We’ve come to the conclusion of lessening David’s sleep during the day. An experiment. It could help. Usually David wakes up at 7 am and has a morning nap and an afternoon nap. I’ve decided to manipulate the clock and make him nap from 11 am until he wakes up.
When he is tired at night, David takes a pillow and his filou, marches around the house looking for me, and then grabs my hand, goes to our bedroom, and taps our bed. A toddler’s straight-forward declaration. I refute. Naturally. I court him gently to sleep in his bed. Cuddles, books, kisses, lullabies, cds -- formula that don’t work. There is no magic in putting a toddler to bed. His bed. It’s all hard work, lots of kempt woo, lots of fake smiles, lots of repressed aggravations. On my part.
The experiment was put to test yesterday. We've spent almost all of the afternoon outside. As dusk sat in, David’s battery was low. By 8 pm he was ready to go. But then as soon as I put him gently in his bed, he gave his piercing scream. Dadi was exasperated and told me to take him to our bed. No, I said. Let him scream until our neighbors bang the walls. The scream didn’t last long this time and soon I only heard the lullabies in his stereo. What a bliss! But only for two hours. David went screaming in his sleep. Yet again. I froze on my spot and listened intently, let go for few minutes and see if the cries would ebb low. No. Unfortunately. I rushed to his bed and saw David in a foetal position crying. My heart broke. Took him in my arms and whispered to his ears sweet nothings. It took him twice longer to calm down. We sat together on the sofa and gave him massage until he went back to his dreamland. Dadi and I ate our dinner in unwanted silence, mindful only to the sound of David’s rhythmic breathing that signalled he was fast asleep. I put him back to his bed and thankfully slept all night long. All three of us.
Night 1. Experiment – 7/10

Surprise present! Lucky me!

2005-09-23T12:22:00.000+02:00

Merci beaucoup lolo Pierrot, Lola Sarah, tita Laetitia, tita Alyssa and tito Matthieu for these lovely presents. I just love them!

Back to being MAKULIT

2005-09-05T19:21:00.000+02:00

David's fever is gone and he is back to his usual busy self, working on demanding, heavy tasks! See for yourself!

Wrecking his dadou's pc!

Harvesting our tomatoes!

Feeding a cow!

Refreshing in his baby pool!

Asa imong pusod David?

2005-09-01T17:12:00.000+02:00

Exaggerations:

Q: Where is your belly button David?
Act (A): Bends over searching for the button lost amongst his layers of tummy fats. He bends so hard until he topples over.

Q: Where are your eyes David?
A: Pokes his eye so hard, tears well up!

Q: Where’s your nose David?
A: Pokes his nostril deep down to the hole until he gives a weird grimace!

Q: Where’s your tongue David?
A: Pokes his fingers deep down his throat until he chokes and sometimes pukes!

Q: When you’re happy and you know it stamp your feet! Stamp your feet David!
A: Stamps a foot, outbalances, falls on his butt and stands up again to virtually repeat the act again.

-----------------------

*His fever is gone but some kind of skin rash is surfacing out... current mood: grumpy, wants to be carried all the time.

** Sabi ni doktor ang kanyang lagnat ay sanhi ng kanyang bakuna. Umeepekto daw ito pagkalipas ng pito hanggang sampung araw!

***Mama's mental and health status: on the verge of insanity, kuba-kuba-kuba!

Fun and Misery

2005-08-30T11:05:00.000+02:00

Disneyland Paris round 2 for David, round 3 for me and dadi. We had fun, only later that day on Sunday, while waiting for Winnie and his friends’ show, David’s eyes were watery, less overexcited by the chaos and just lying quietly on his stroller. He’s got a fever and we had no medicine with us. Not even the enormous park of Disney had an emergency pharmacy. David took lots of fluid, slept a lot while we stole some rides and guiltily screaming with glee as the rides brought around some high-powered adrenaline rush.
Almost 48 hours later, David is still sick. Vomited on both us plus on his Filou, the juice and medicine he drunk. My head is ticking announcing the rebirth of a migraine. The kitchen looks like smokey mountain, the toilet doesn’t flush, loads of clothes to be ironed. I smell puke.

Half day of fun = days of misery.

Have you seen my baby?

2005-08-19T22:34:00.000+02:00

Thursday night. Dadi came back from work and decided to buy something in the grocery store. I was preparing dinner, and Dadi volunteered to bring David with him. “It’s going to be quick David, let’s not put your shoes on,” he said.
Thirty minutes passed, unreasonably long. I begun to worry and was actually wondering where they went. They couldn’t have possibly stopped at the playground as David was shoeless.
More minutes passed and I heard the juggling of keys behind the entrance door. As soon as David was released from his belts, he went running all over the place. Dadi looked weird, really weird. “I was so bloody scared!” he exclaimed. “What happened?” I queried curiously. “I almost lost David a while ago. He was sitting on his car next to the cashier’s counter as I keyed in the code of my card, and when I turned around he was gone!” I ran to the street, the piglet wasn’t there! I came back to the store and asked the cashier if she noticed a baby boy, she didn’t. I ran around the store with my heart pumping! Then I saw him carried by a woman!" "I can't believe he can lift the protection of his car, get up so swiftly and go lost!"
"Actually da, he can do that now! Growing is his only main occupation you know!"

---------------------------------------------------

Accidents are just really an inch away these days. I was half-engrossed talking with my mother, auntie and sis on a videoconference and half-wondering where David is. Mamang noticed that David wasn’t on my back anymore so she told me to go and check for him. Indeed! The piglet was in the balcony attacking my lemon grass plant and was about to harvest my still green tomatoes!
Few hours later, I caught him manoeuvring to climb on our coffee table. With success! I’m now at an interior designing dilemma. We’ve pushed that table already close to the TV set because he knows how to put his dvd in the player. The table is there to block his way.
And now with progress, he has found out that climbing over, the whole TV set could be used as his support while he uses the table as his theatre stage. If I have to put back the coffee table on its original placement, our dvd player and stereo won’t last a minute and he could still climb so there’s the danger of going over on the opposite side of the table. If I leave the table close to the TV, I will have to clear everything on top of the set but that would give him another way to meddle the buttons just on the side of the television!
I think I won’t be able to sleep tonight!!!

Three Passports and a dozen needles

2005-08-16T22:33:00.000+02:00

We’ve been busy preparing the necessary papers for David’s trip to the Philippines. We actually had planned to introduce David to my family last year and for that we got him a Filipino passport because Dadi is just so excited to show to the world that his son is a Filipino. His French identity is attached in Dadi’s passport. But that planned trip was unfortunately cancelled due to some unforeseen circumstances. The planning for this year’s trip is far from finished. David has just recently been issued a French passport since going back to France it will just be me and him, sans Dadi. I still carry my maiden name in my passport and without the livret de famille (Family book), my passport won’t satisfy the fact that David is my son. As a matter of fact we are not at all related based on our two passports. So to make sure that everything is smooth, David can go back to France without hassles, he has his own French identity paper.
Last Saturday he got another kind of passport, the one issued by the World Health Organization. It contains pages of David’s vaccination as set by international standard. This thing just freaks us out. Aside from the obligatory vaccines required in France, he has to be immunized with four others, WHO passport calls it “Other Vaccinations” namely Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Rabies and Japanese encephalitis. These are particularly recommended for travels in South East Asia. We went to Air France’s International Vaccination Center as they are the only ones who could provide such vaccines without having to wait for months.
The people who poked a needle on our little one’s tiny arm just made us nervous. Their reaction towards David’s record of vaccines was unnerving. They seemed surprise that David is already vaccinated that much. It’s true that at 16 months old, he already received a dozen of needles. But we haven’t really gone overboard. We follow David’s immunization by detail as set by the French standard. The record might look overwhelming but most of it is just booster doses.
The people in Air France are really tackless and they lack of sensitivity towards the parents’ feelings. “Le pauvre, il a déjà autant de vaccins!” (Poor thing he already received these much vaccines!). They might think that we are on the trip of making our son a guinea pig, but no, every visit to the doctor and every tear that fall from David’s eyes is a pierce in our heart.
They won’t immunize David against Typhoid because it’s only given for two years old and above, and they hesitate of giving him the Japanese encephalitis. David got only his first of the three doses of rabies. Next week they’ll give him a second shot plus Hepatitis A. We are still weighing up the Japanese encephalitis (JE). This is a mosquito-borne flaviviral infection and principally occurs in rural agricultural locations where flooding irrigation is practiced. I’m afraid a part of David’s holidays will be in this scenario, added to the reality that it will still be rainy season there. On the other hand, according to CDC, JE is presumed to be endemic on all islands. That leaves me no choice but convince the people of Air France that David needs to get JE vaccine.

*These past days I’ve been digging infos about health issues in the Philippines and I’m quite surprise and impressed by the data available. There’s so much out there to be learned and understand. The stuff I’ve found out makes me so paranoid about bringing David to the Phils. But then some articles also gave the same kind of paranoia when traveling in France and other countries in Western Europe, so I give it a benefit of a doubt. The only thing I can appreciate about the readings is that it helps me in deciding what’s best for our son. I am not just a passive parent who would agree to what doctors or nurses say. A white robe doesn’t mean “I-know-everything-in-the-medical-world” and be loud about it.

** So far with all the vaccines that David received, he never developed any nasty reaction, no allergies, no fever, not a change of mood. Thank God little one!

*** Excellent sites I'm currently digging:
CDC Traveler's Health
Department of Health Philippines
Travelling in the Philippines (Jens Peters Publication)

Nudity is beauty!

2005-08-09T22:05:00.000+02:00

Can you beat that?

Happy Birthday Ninev!

2005-08-04T07:30:00.000+02:00

LOL

2005-07-29T19:00:00.000+02:00

I just need to post this, his biggest laugh ever captured. I told him to smile for the camera and that's what he gave me. How generous! Can you count how many teeth in that small, errr big mouth? 14!!!

*The other day 27 July he turned 16 months old. We've promised ourselves not to do the monthsary party anymore since he turned 1. As it turned out, I bought him a pair of new shoes, dadi bought two Barney dvds from Amazon.com and lola bought Mickey and Babar. If he gets spoiled it won't be his fault!

The Artist

2005-07-26T21:29:00.000+02:00

Feeling ni David these days artist sya. Creative. Original. And the whole apartment is his big, wide canvas. His imagination has no limit.
Feeling din ni David may utusan sya na hindi lang tagaligpit sa kalat niya, kundi tagapalakpak pa sa kanyang mga achieved masterpieces.
Dito na yata ako na highblood. (Ligaya).
He draws on blank papers but I have always guarded him because he also likes to paint his lips, teeth and the whole face. Once he looked liked a stupid clown. No matter how much he gets yelled at he prefers to do his own thing. The louder you say no, the more he does crazy stuff. Last week sa inis ko ilang days ding hindi ko sya pinagamit ng mga pens. As if he cares really.
Washable daw itong mga pens niya pero ewan kung anong type na washable. Siguro pag gamitan mo ng Clorox tanggal sya.
The top picture, happy ako. Mukhang serious pupil ang anak ko. Di syempre feeling proud at excited, photo, photo. Sumaglit ako sa toilet, as in saglit lang talaga. Pagbukas ko ng pintuan ito ng bumulaga sa akin:
Second photo, the artist's work on a shoe cabinet. Ok lang madaling natanggal kasi wood sya.
Third photo, the artist's abstract painting on our closet. Nakawall paper sya, imagine my nightmare. Nahugasan ko naman pero may mga traces pa rin.
Fourth photo, loko-lokong artist ito di na nakuntento sa cabinet at closet, pati sa carpet dinagdagan niya ng design.
While on full fours cleaning the mess David was there laughing thinking I was playing cow with him. Of course I cursed. If only I could hang him and put him in the closet, sus Ginoo jud, ginawa ko na!

I grew more white hair today!

2005-07-22T21:45:00.000+02:00

That is David’s Filou, his sleeping companion and most of the time functioning as his teether. It’s the most disgusting creature in the house with all the slimy, yucky stuff sticking on it all the time.
I went to wash it in the bathroom leaving David on the couch drinking his milk. A little while later, I could hear him running around, in the kitchen in the bedroom looking for me. He barged inside the room and saw what I was doing. I told him that Filou needed a desperate bath. He was standing on his toes, perking, with a concerned look on his face as Filou was being unmercifully scrubbed. He was pulling my leg yelling. I told him with such kiddie dramatic effect that Filou is bathing and is really enjoying all the sweet perfumed bubbles and warm water. No effect. He pulled my short pants again, again and again until the elastic couldn’t hold on to my waistline anymore. My pants dropped to my feet and so was David.
I pulled both of them up, pants and the piglet. I let David touched the drenched Filou and he flinched back with disapproval as he felt the water dripping from it. I motioned him to put Filou in the washing machine fro drying. He surly refused. He saw me putting his friend inside and went screaming knocking on the machine’s door as Filou went round and round inside. He was grumbling, peering through the glass door, trying to open it and feeling helpless.
I took him away from his current misery and played with him in his bedroom. When his attention was riveted towards his trains and cars, I went to wash his bottles.
I couldn’t find the recent one he just finished. I went through all the cabinets, opened pans, checked under the couch, his bed, behind the TV. I went on checking the tub, the toilet bowl, the garbage bin. Nothing. It was my turn to yell, scratching my head wondering where it went. I stood in the middle of the kitchen trying to think. Then for some reason something told me to check the microwave. I was hesitant convinced that he couldn’t possibly reach it yet. And when I opened it, voila, the bottle was lying in the heart of the microwave. I was dumbfounded realizing that he has imitated my actions of warming up his milk in the microwave! He is growing so fast. Too fast for me!

Of Bilingualism and the languages in between

2005-07-16T19:10:00.000+02:00

Many times when we have the occasion to attend social gatherings I’ve been asked, mostly by kababayans, what language we use for David. I say English. Some raise their browse quietly, others are brave enough to tell me why not tagalog, like that sa start pa lang naituro na sa kanya na sya ay half-filipino; and that when he goes to the Philippines or have a long distance conversation with my family, the communication would run smoothly. Often times I feel elated when I hear this, it goes to show that my tagalog is ok (assuming pa). And when I say “hindi naman nagtatagalog pamilya ko eh”, I get an automatic reply of “di bisayain mo na lang!” At times when I get that kind of remark I have this feeling that they think I speak English with David para sosyal ang dating. Ay sus petra! As I said already, nahihirapan na nga ako sa apat na lenggwahe.
The truth of the matter is I am bisaya and therefore my family speaks bisaya. I have nothing against tagalog, bisaya or whatever language Filipinos speak. But I choose to speak English with David because that’s where I’m comfortable at and because English is the universal language. I’m sure he will thank me one day for introducing it to him early.
At home he hears two languages, English and French. At this stage, Dadi and I decided not to crowd his growing mind with other languages I "know". I’ve read somewhere that toddlers who are exposed at home to more than two languages tend to talk later than their counterparts who hear only one or two languages.
It would take us parents a lot of work to introduce David the proper and correct ways of using a language. That’s why at home we limit ourselves to English and French. And I’m not going to fall into the mentality of being “sosyal” if I choose English instead of Tagalog or Bisaya.

*Btw, David said tiger today while watching his favorite animal show. I was totally surprised! But really happy to hear this new word!

On being a SAHM

2005-07-12T18:27:00.000+02:00

I’m a SAHM since the arrival of David and I’m practically dependent on dadi financially. For the past months I’ve been nagged by the constant thought of joining the workforce no matter how hard it is to find a decent job in France. I can’t help feeling a pinch of guilt every time I spend on something not really necessary. Dadi works hard to provide us all that we need and to spoil me with some luxuries. I’ve been brought up with the notion that money doesn’t just fall from the sky. A penny spent is a penny well-earned. I’m also this type of person who detests being totally dependent on someone. I grew up in a big family where everyone has their share of responsibility. And now I’m a SAHM.
Wouldn’t it be nice to surprise dadi with little presents without the costs appearing in our account? Wouldn’t it be nice to give way to some of my capriccios without having to tell dadi? Wouldn’t it be nice to buy presents to your family and friends without really having to discuss about it? Such are some of the nicesities that come along when you earn your own living.
But I have a son and he is at his most interesting, needy stage. He is so attached to me as I to him. As we go along in our daily routines there are tiny details that make me wonder; if someone else is taking care of David would she notice those?
David plays with the other children in the playground and I usually sit on the bench just few feet away from them. No matter how engulfed he is in his games with other playmates he always scans the crowd, the benches surrounding the area, searching for me. And as we make eye contact, he would give me the sweetest smile, stand up, run towards me with arms stretched forward and gives me a hug. Then he would run back to his game. This is one of those moments when I feel so happy and terribly lucky to be a SAHM. I have to swallow back the guilt of not earning my own living. I cannot short-change my son’s needs by a few bucks I could possibly earn. When he starts going to school, then I will brave the market. At the moment, I’d rather be the one hugged by those tiny arms.

Busy like a bee!

2005-07-02T22:25:00.000+02:00

Preparation for the Pista sa Paris 2005. David had fun today participating in the installation of our Sponsor's booth for the Barrio Fiesta to be held tomorrow. When the adults were busy playing "kiddies" around (bottom-left pix), David was also busy playing his "adult" game (flirting with a cute girl, pix bottom-right).

Marche Arrière

2005-07-01T19:45:00.000+02:00

David starts to discover walking backwards and running forward with eyes closed.

Attention: Yoghurt can cause blindness

2005-07-01T14:31:00.000+02:00

Well yoghurt can make you blind if you let the piglet handle the spoon. Luckily, I wear glasses!

Latest Milestones

2005-06-29T18:36:00.000+02:00

A month has passed, David is now 15 months and 2 days old. Changes? A lot! Here’s some of them:
- He can easily stand up on his own without holding on to something.
- Can climb up and down from our couch.
- Points out at his dvd collections when he wants to watch shows. When he doesn’t like what you put in the player, he points at the dvds again and says “dat, dat”.
- Runs wildly and marches often. He likes to throw his head back, arms forward while walking fast. The “zombie” stance.
- Plays peek-a-boo by putting his hands over his eyes and says “baaaa” afterwards.
- Can put back the cap of ball pens.
- Draws “abstract” figures.
- The only way he drinks juice is through a straw. Otherwise, he drinks water from a cup/glass.
- Shows “wants” and “un-wants”.
- Points at his nappy when it’s soiled or when he is about to soil it.
- “Reads” books on his own. Like going through the pages and pointing at every images and says something about them.
- 10 pearly-white teeth plus one still on the process of emerging.
- Pokes my eyes and says “eyes”.
- “Counts” his fingers. Ask him “how many…”, and he opens his fingers and points them one by one saying “dat, dat, dat”.
- Pushes and pulls toys while walking.
- Plays “soccer”.
- Loves to play “give me five” and “apir”.
- “Helps” me a lot with the household chores. Such as loading/unloading laundry, dishes, etc.
- Tries to put on his shoes/socks.
- Prefers to eat with us at the table.
- Destroys “building toys” and tries to put them back on again.
- Dadi is still his best friend.
- Knows the correct way of using familiar objects such as phone, toothbrush, hairbrush, spoon etc.
- When he hurts himself with something he taps the culprit several times and says “adi, adi” meaning “baddy”.
- When he hears the phone ringing, he automatically puts his hand over his ear and says “ado”, the French way of “hallo”.
- “Talks” a lot.
- Friendlier with strangers.
- Enjoys giving food to the point of stuffing it roughly in our mouths.
- Gives a sudden shriek and laughs boisterously upon hearing himself.
- Vocabulary increasing madly:
--- Dances by shaking his head when you tell him to dance.
--- Goes to the kitchen when I say “let’s eat”.
--- When he touches something hot, he exclaims “hot” then blows his fingers. Then tries to touch the hot thing again as if testing it. Ice cream and cold yoghurts are also “hot”!
--- The other night, just arriving from our vacation, I logged on to my pc to check emails and bien sûr David insisted on climbing on my lap so that he can poke his little fingers on my keyboard. Just to get rid of him, I said unconsciously “go get your dede (milk) in your room.” I didn’t even realize he left. He came back seconds later and ceremoniously handed me his bottle. My jaw dropped, I was totally surprised he understood what I just asked him to do.
--- He likes to play in the bathroom with all the toiletries. Every time he is caught, he is being shouted at: “Out, go out of the bathroom David!” He goes out quickly with a sheepish look on his face!
--- Does lots of tricks and checks if there’s any effect of them.
--- He makes a funny face by fluttering his eyes and wrinkling his brows. It happened the first time when we were in a restaurant in Côte d’Azur. He wanted to leave the table and we said no! We thought he was just being defiant. But it happened again when we stopped along the road for lunch on the way back to Paris. The woman next to our table was teasing him and he made that face as a reply.

- Lots and lots of naughtiness. It’s definitely an adventurous road ahead of us!

Lost in translation

2005-06-15T23:56:00.000+02:00

David understands so many things in so many different ways. I have taught him parts of his body and I have the impression that he basically knows most of them although when I say where’s your mouth, he points mistakenly at his nose. But if he is pointing it at me, he gets it right.
The hands are the part which he gets to hear so many times every day. “Look at your hands David they are dirty!” He opens them and looks at them intently.” “Let’s wash your hands before eating David”, and he goes to the bathroom. “Let’s wipe your hands David, they are dirty”, and he gives them to me openly. Dirty and hands apparently become intertwined in his vocabulary. Today, he was eating on his own and his front shirt and pants were covered with stains. “Gosh David, look at you, you have dirty clothes!” David’s instantaneous reaction was to open his hands and studied them carefully. “No I didn’t say your hands, I said dirty clothes.” I pulled his front shirt just to show it to him. Still he raised his two tiny hands silently giving me clues to clean them up.
Wipe and mouth seem one for him. “Let’s wipe your mouth baba, before you leave your chair.” Tonight I have left the tissue on the floor and David was playing with his bottle pouring milk on the coffee table. He was drooling and I could see trail of saliva going longer as it went further from his chin. I asked him to wipe his mouth, showed to him where the tissue was. He bent down took the tissue, wiped his hands, wiped the drops of milk he spilled on the table, turning around all four sides, then wiped his mouth. I would have preferred him cleaning his mouth first, then hands, then the table. But that’s too much asking from a 14 months old head.
“David if you want to do caca, “uu-caca-uu caca” (chanted), you tell mama ok?” Look this is the potty, we do caca here ok? So, tell mama when you want to do caca!” Today, we did it almost, sauf the bloody telephone rang. I ran to get the phone but didn’t get it on time. (I still have to figure out how to make it ring more than three times.) I checked anyway who called and it said “dada’s office”. I redialled the number and while doing so David came up to me and said, “uhuh, uhu, uh!” I thought he wanted the telephone, as usual. I told him I have to speak with dada first. He went quiet and when I glanced at him he was holding his bottom, going red. “O baba, you mean you wanted to make caca!” Too late, the air in the room was already stinking shit!

The sprouting of three molars

2005-06-14T15:46:00.000+02:00

The healing power of a chicken bone. When he was a newborn, he demanded milk every three to four hours, in the middle of my shower, in the middle of my nap and during the horrible times of dawn. I didn’t complain. When he started solid foods, his demands for food stretched out to a longer period. I was ecstatic. When he started teething, feeding time was like queuing up to visit the Eiffel Tower. He was really slow and was playing with food. I was surprised how my patience could be so elastic. Then came the contented and satisfying period where he was eating whatever was being offered and whatever he could find on the floor. I was in cloud nine. There’s so much joy of labouring on preparing meals for a piglet and him devouring them down up to the last drop. Now the wind has changed its direction. Three molars sprouting and David is dribbling, not eating and well back to play-eat-play mood. I could feel my elastic patience beginning to snap. Really.

2005-06-08T14:20:00.000+02:00

He finally figured out how to drink from a straw :o)

2005-06-06T14:31:00.000+02:00

I was browsing through the photo production of the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith and David came up to me, looked hard at the screen and exclaimed: "Dada!" Alright David, you may still suffer from "all-men-are-dada" disease but for mama, there's no other man but dada :o)

New words

2005-06-03T19:38:00.000+02:00

David has two new filipino/bisaya words: ate and tita.

I'm waiting for the moment he can say "mama".

2005-06-02T22:20:00.000+02:00

After-nap expressions. I just love these shots!

1,2,3… ten little fingers!

2005-06-01T14:01:00.000+02:00

Counting peanut-size toes and tiny little fingers is one of our favourite games. David likes it so much when I cuddle him up and we count together the extremities of his feet and hands, the tickle being the culminating part of the game. For me this is one of those wonderful games that could fill every room of my heart with warmth and love. There is so much joy in his laughter even though I tend to get kicked from time to time. For David, something else and something more is apparently happening inside his skull. It was visible to me this morning when I dialled the telephone to call someone. As I said loudly “zero,zero,six, three…” at the corner of my eye I noticed David opening up his palm and sort of counting his fingers. Although his “micro” motor skills still lack of finesse and refinement, I knew he was counting his fingers. It was a complete delight and I was totally surprised! I didn’t realize that our so innocent game gives him an understanding of “counting fingers” -- even if he saw me pressing keys on the phone. As I dialled the last digit of the phone number I was calling, which was 3, I playfully shouted “ten little fingers” and he was laughing, begging for more.
Now it gives me a disconcerting thought. If David has this much of comprehension already, does he understand when dada and mama are arguing? What does he think about it and how does he feel?

Give and Take

2005-05-31T17:21:00.000+02:00

Giving and taking is currently David’s new obsession, it’s actually tiresome. But today at the playground where he was playing with a little girl his age, I’ve witnessed a new dimension to this new game. David and the little girl were standing opposite with a slide barring them at the center. My little piglet was holding the girl’s tiny pink bear and he stretched out his hand giving the toy to the girl. The latter didn’t move an inch, just stared at David intently. After what seemed like an eternity, David finally moved over to the girl’s side, took her hand and put the bear there. He searched the girl’s face for some reaction and she looked at her hand. David smiled. A big, big smile!

We are exhausted

2005-05-30T09:19:00.000+02:00

Two successive nights of sleeping at midnight that’s what David is up to now. As soon as he reached his 14th months, David decided sleeping very late is a cool thing and Dada and I are just feeling lost with this new development. I have no idea if this is a temporary phase David is going through or he simply just found out that sleeping at the same time with us is fun. My, my, he doesn’t even want to sleep in his bed, not his favourite filou can make him feel comfortable in bed, in fact he throws away his doudou on the floor then wails out like a mad cow! If we are living in a house with no neighbours I would definitely leave him crying his heart out until tears dry out of his system, but since we live unfortunately in an apartment where there are ears on every wall, I can’t just leave him alone. Les voisins might go on riots! I’m feeling like a zombie right now and I’m sure dada is feeling the same…

Hot and Cold

2005-05-29T11:06:00.000+02:00

Yesterday David had a cold fruit dessert for dinner. As soon as the spoon touched his mouth, he exclaimed “hot!”, and went on blowing every time he helped himself with the food. Just kyut :o)

The taming of a piglet

2005-05-29T08:48:00.000+02:00

David is changing and there’s no stopping him! He insists on eating on his own using his spoon. Much as I want him to do it by himself, it’s catastrophic as food ends up everywhere except in his mouth. But a skill well-mastered starts from the very step and so we let him do what he wants with that bloody spoon. I just have to pinch myself time to time to keep my patient intact. But really when his chair and the carpet are all covered with orangy-greenish-yucky-slimy stuff and knowing that the culprit penetrates to the very last fiber of the carpet, I swear I hear homicide police squad banging at our door. But then again, David makes a mess and gets a kiss afterwards!

Children's Characters

2005-05-25T23:29:00.000+02:00

David today in the playground. I was quite fascinated today seeing how children behave in so many different ways.
Scene 1: David approached a little boy around his age and they were standing there eye to eye. David didn't move an inch and all of a sudden the other one slapped him three times!!! The first two were gentle, but the third time must have hurt my piglet since he turned around with crumpled face crying looking for me. I searched for the mother and found her watching us, cigarette in her hand. David never approached that boy again!
Scene 2: David was playing with his car on the ground and a girl almost his height but obviously much older came closer looking interestingly at the toy. As soon as the girl crouched hesitantly reaching out for the car, I heard the mother shouting "don't touch it, it's not yours!" She backed up a little and watched David enviously going vrooom, vroom! When David had enough of it, he looked at the girl curiously and gave his car to her, much to her delight! They actually both ended up playing together.
Scene 3: I have noticed that when David finds himself in a group of boisterous children, he detaches himself and goes somewhere else less noisy, like exploring the neighbouring gardens.
Scene 4: When other children are building up cakes and castles in the sandpit, David hastily comes to destroy them oblivious to thunderous NO's!
Scene 5: There are times that other bigger children try to explain to David how to do things like when he's struggling filling up his bucket with sand, there are also those who showered him practically with it, sand sticking to the farthest places of his diaper.
Scene 6: When it comes to playing ball, David likes to do it on his own, but when he sees others kicking, he steals the ball whenever those tiny legs and hands get a chance.
Scene 7: I find pleasure watching and observing the children in action and how parents or guardians react to different situations. Imagine me eyes like hawk's following every move that David does and at the same time the radars attuned to all the noises and faces :o)

Highlight of the Day

2005-05-24T18:53:00.000+02:00

Mama : “Bonjour David, did you sleep well?”
David: “Prrooot, prroot, prot!” (going red)
Mama: (a moment later) “Gosh David, was it a fart or a caca? It stinks in here!”
David: “Aaaccchhooooo!”

2005-05-23T21:33:00.000+02:00

Mathias's Bday Party. The kiddies dressed in different costumes. I made David a tiger costume but the ears unfortunately looked like those of a dog! They had so much fun! For more photos click http://mgabata.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

Kissed by a stranger

2005-05-20T20:52:00.000+02:00

Monday, was it last Monday? Well, sometime this week, the sky was spotless blue after days of gloominess. I took David to the playground without his stroller. We were strolling leisurely on the street enjoying the warmth of the sun. An elderly woman greeted David with so much enthusiasm. She was somehow fascinated seeing David walking on his own, stopping at every car parked and was happy. She went chattering to David who was giving generous smiles (somehow his social intelligence has improved). I was quite surprised when she gave David a really big kiss on the forehead, like a loving grandma who hasn’t seen her grandson for long. It made me feel uncomfortable. It was the first time a total stranger kissed my son with so much affection. My first lousy thought was I hope she has no germs or bacteria! Gosh, I felt ashamed even to think about it, but it was what I honestly felt. I told myself to stop being a freak, the woman’s kiss was given with good intentions.
My curiosity and uneasiness gently faded away when she narrated that her granddaughter who is two years old doesn’t like walking and hates being on a stroller, she just like being held in the arms. In my mind I said to the woman sorry for being such a freak, but the words she heard was “it must be hard for the mother.” She replied with a big “Ah oui!” Then she waved “au revoir” to David and moved on, my son waving her goodbye as she disappeared at the corner of our street.
I told dada about it when he arrived from work, and funny thing was he had the same reaction as me: “Oh la la be careful next time, those people might be sick!” I told him he’d rather give me the right formula of telling a stranger not to kiss our son without offending the person. Unless it’s really obvious that a stranger is suffering from something, I could not frankly dismiss them away.

I love weekends!

2005-05-14T21:01:00.000+02:00

Saturdays and Sundays are blissful days for me. I can get up a little later than the usual days of the week. I’m just so happy and contented burying my face on warmth pillows while I let dada take care of David. Although I don’t totally black-out as I could hear them talking and playing in the sala, the thought that I could laze around without worrying a bit of our little piglet is a pure bliss.
This morning when I got up David was already clean, had his huge breakfast and was so happy. The funny thing was that when I greeted him “Good morning David!” he just gave me an eight-teeth-megawatt smile and turned back gleefully saying “dadi, dadi, dadi!” and went on playing vrooom, vrooom with his dadi! So sweet!

Guilty Conscience!

2005-05-12T21:37:00.000+02:00

I hurt David today. I was preparing his lunch while he was rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen! There are certain doors that I allow him to open, but the one below the sink is a definite no no, as it’s the ultimate storage for toxic chemicals. No matter how I screamed no, he still went on until he found this bottle for removing carpet stains. I was chopping off tomatoes when I saw this, I was alarmed and the expression must have been written all over my face as David ran away smiling cheekily as soon as we made eye contact. I chased him and knelt down in front of him pulling the bottle away, (he was already putting the bottle in his mouth). But his grasped was so strong. His strength sometimes surprises me. So we did a tug-of-war, him screaming and resisting, me shouting! I pulled the bottle that was still in his mouth and boom, it bounced back! This time he shrieked out of pain! I knew I hurt him but didn’t realize the extent. When he went away still weeping madly, I went to check and saw saliva and blood dripping from his tiny lips. Guilt engulfed me! It’s a really tiny cut but gosh, it feels like I have just butchered a saint!

Kamatis, tuyo at suka!

2005-05-11T13:50:00.000+02:00

David had his big bowl of mashed vegetables and beef for lunch. He finished everything with much gusto. After his lunch I made myself a sawsawan for the left-over grilled chicken we had the night before. The sawsawan is a mixed of diced tomato with tuyo at suka. As I started eating kamayan-style (hmm sarap), David wanted a taste. I gave him a piece of chicken but he pointed out at the bowl of sawsawan. I dipped a piece of chicken and gave it to him. I expected him to coil and smirk with the strange taste of vinegar and soy sauce but he didn’t. Instead he was sucking the meat with delight and pointed more at the sawsawan. Nakakatuwa. He really liked the taste of it and when I refused to give him more, he shrieked. As I handed him the kutsarita he dipped it in the bowl and brought it to his mouth with the tongue stretched out long! He definitely got the pinoy taste buds!

2005-05-03T17:37:00.000+02:00

I was surprised to see David today picking up things on the floor and standing back straight without falling off. A big achievement for our little piglet ;-) Bravo baba!

2005-05-02T08:58:00.000+02:00

Sunday Picnic in Bois de Vincennes. It was a day of fun!
Read it in http://madpinoy.blog-city.com/
For photos click here.

The other side of the coin

2005-04-29T20:52:00.000+02:00

After all the sweet joys I have divulged in here about having a child, let me express wickedly the other side of the story. You know your life has turned topsy-turvy when:

> The flow of your shower sounds like the baby’s cry; you dry up yourself quickly even if the shampoo is still sticking in your hair. Only to find out the baby is sleeping tight.
> Instead of buying a pack of beer or bottles of wine, your shopping bag is loaded with diapers, formula and baby cereals.
> You believe breast pumps are the most miraculous invention man has ever created.
> You vacuum your floor more than twice a day instead of twice a week.
> Your undergarments drawer is mixed up with tiny slippers, tiny socks and all things tiny!
> You spend hundreds of hours washing baby bottles instead of polishing your nails and plucking your eyebrows.
> Next to your champagne glass is a baby bottle. And the tiny person sitting next to you is more interested in the champagne than his bottle.
> You wake up in the middle of the night NOT to do labing-labing with your partner but to sing lullabies.
> You spend a lot of time on your knees cleaning up leftovers thrown on the floor, on the sofa and coffee table.
> Instead of ironing your clothes, you iron some teeny-weeny clothes.
> He’s got clothes that could fill up a mall, while you can’t remember when was the last time you bought yourself a garment.
> The trunk of your car is overloaded with stroller, heater and toys every time you travel.
> When you buy shoes, you hesitate buying the ones with flirty hills or the runners for chasing tiny legs. Eventually you choose the ones which you think qualify for marathon.
> During a candle light dinner, you partner whispers sweet nothings and you give in a puzzled-alarmed look and you say “do you think the baby is asleep?”
> Every day you keep on looking for your remote control and phones.
> Some time in this new life, your favorite dvd finds itself in the toilet bowl.
> You go to the loo for an urgent call of nature, then you realize the toilet paper is gone. You search every corner of the house and find the bloody thing lying on the kitchen floor like a red carpet rolled over.
> Instead of watching Lord of the Rings, you end up watching ducks, pigs, cows and frogs circus. It’s the nth time you’ve seen it, yet the little person next to you laughs as if it’s all something new.
> All of a sudden your favorite song is "Baa, baa, black sheep". You sing it a million times.
> You tiptoe in the house, take a cozy blanket with popcorn in hand ready for your favorite show and as soon your bottom landed on the sofa, there’s a cow saying mooh, mooh, or a duck going quack, quack, or worst yet a little red fella proclaiming “bonjour, c’est moi Oui Oui” all buried under the cushions and pillows.
> Your interior design has changed quite dramatically with decors gaining levels up just so the little person can’t reach them.
> Your wallpaper and screensaver are all images of the little person.
> Talking about someone’s dirt makes you puke, and yet half of your daily routine comprises of cleaning someone’s bottom and you even proclaim ecstatically “what a beautiful caca!” every time you change him.
> You hate seeing someone digging their fingers inside their noses, and yet you are so eager to pick the snot of your little person.
> Hearing bodily sounds emitting gases is your worst nightmare and yet interestingly you laugh hilariously when your little person does thunderous farts and burps.
> Many of your books have lost their pages, others chipped off, you begin to wonder if rats have invaded your house.
> Your electric outlets are suddenly wearing hats, others wearing scotch-tape masks.
> When you are convinced that your eye-bags were already there the day you were born, you know the little person has quite invaded your time for beauty sleeps.
> Your work-outs comprise of pushing a stroller, chasing a little person, running/crawling around with the little person on your back while you go "neigh, neigh, neigh".

Then you think loudly, “life will never be the same again!”

Is love enough?

2005-04-28T21:40:00.001+02:00

Yesterday was David’s 13th month birthday. In the eyes of anyone, it was like any ordinary day. But for me it was a very special. As I watched David playing in the sandpit with other children, I realized how time passes by. I ponder how he came into our lives; how he gives us joy and fear we’ve never known before, how he has changed our lives completely and how he will always will.

There’s so much unexplainable joy and wonder in bringing a child into this world, but with it comes sacrifices, fear and even paranoia. I believe every born child is a perfect child. And David, well, a perfect gift, yet so painfully delicate and helplessly dependent. A little cold, a tiny discomfort or a fierce cry would send us parents to a panic, wondering how we could ease the pain, wishing it’s us suffering and not him.

Our love, unconditionally given will always serve as David’s strong foundation as he grows into his own person. But then, I doubt this might not be enough as the reality of a harsh world would eventually penetrate in. There are times, I think, we are tougher on him than necessary.

He is very, very, young, but as he slowly discovers that there are other children out there, there are other people and that he is not after all the centre of the world, he does struggle to understand. His face crumples into a hundred creases as he takes someone’s toy and the other child would shout at him: “C’est à moi ça!” (It’s mine!) Then if I explain it to him why the other kid is angry, he throws himself into a wild fit and shouts his lungs out.

He throws me strong, penetrating gazes, searching for some comfort when a friendly stranger tries to talk to him. Well, this is just a beginning for his social growth. And I cannot forever comfort him in my arms every time his uneasiness overcomes him. “I love you baba”, simply is not enough.

As David grows and tries to comprehend the world, dada and I are likewise struggling how we can make it easier for him. How can you explain in Davidian language that poking one’s fingers in electric outlets or eating earth is harmful and dangerous? An authoritative, high-pitched NO may work at times but does he really understand our simple explanation why he is not allowed to do certain things? How can you talk the baby-talk to a baby and get the satisfaction and assurances that indeed he understands them?

And I realize, this is just the beginning. I worry so much about petty things concerning David. I am becoming pathetic. And if I dare continue, dada will give up picking up my white hair, he'll just buy a dye for me instead! Well I hope it's dye not a razor! :-o
I have to pinch myself time to time to remind me that he is just growing and everything around him is part of the process. If I have to say no a million times over the same things, then perhaps I have to say it so. Pag matigas pa rin ang ulo, e di iiayakan ko na lang!

So I’ll try to resolve myself and go on with Davidian flow. One step at a time. I might stick a card on my PC screen that says: Live the moment and let the future worry itself! And if that doesn’t work, I will just have to call my mother and ask, “how on earth did you do it with seven stubborn kids?!”

Mama's rambling...

2005-04-28T08:00:00.000+02:00

Mama blogs also in MP, you can read her GIRL'S NIGHT at this link: http://madpinoy.blog-city.com/

Our little Pope

2005-04-26T14:29:00.000+02:00

This is dada’s original idea, I’m just putting them into concrete words ;-) Here it goes:

David walks like a pope (dada’s creative description). And it’s true. After months of walking with open arms as he tries to find his balance, David now walks with ten little fingers interlocking together clasp on his chest. Like he is praying or something. In our crooked mind, we jokingly tell the piglet, “are you praying not to fall David?” He looks always serious as he does this. Sometimes when he is holding his cup of water up as he goes around the house, dada describes him like “the pope is offering the holy water!” Bad parents! :-o

A solution to shyness

2005-04-22T15:51:00.000+02:00

It took me until today to realize that David's shyness and awkwardness towards other people of all ages, sizes and shapes, may not be after all a product of his burgeoning development, but may be a natural, inherited trait.
We went to the playground today to enjoy Mr. Sun who decided he wants to show his face to David. Around 2 pm, there are not a lot of children in the playground since, I suppose, most of them are taking their siesta and it's school time. There were just a handful of them there today, playing on their own.
After a short play in the sandpit, (we were kicked out since the people encharge are adding more sand in the pit, the huge truck loading in fresh sand from who-knows-where), David led his way to the slides. I heard an elderly woman, I assume she was the grandma, telling her little charge, “look there's a little boy coming over, he looks like your age!” Few feet away from them, David came to an abrupt halt, looked at the old woman, looked at the boy, and then quickly turned around and walked hastily towards me, burying his face in between my knees. A sign of timidity.
It hit me hard today on the way home while contemplating on his reaction towards the grandma and her little boy, I suddenly remember my mother (mamang) saying frequently to other people: "she is a shy girl". The girl being me. Myself. David's mother!
Apparently, mamang, being the watchful mother to her flock, realized at my early years on earth, I was a timid little girl. While my two elder brothers were boisterous, adventure-seekers and rowdy, I was the quite, happy-to-be-alone child. Although, I must say, I didn’t miss on anything that my brothers had explored-and-destroyed. I was always tagging along! But then being with the big brothers and with other people are two different social worlds.
To overcome such ferocious shyness, mamang did everything for me. Every school, social, religious and communal activities happening in our neighbourhood, I was there. I even participated in Flores de Mayo, beauty contests, girl’s scout activities and all.
I hardly can remember all of these but I got plenty of photos. I still have photos of me dressed in different costumes dancing on the stage of our school during commencement rites. I even have photos dressed in Wonder Woman, or dancing in tights and leotards to the tune of the inevitable “Flashdance’s What a feeling”, or on sweats and shorts for Olivia Newton John’s Let’s Get Physical! Mamang, realized I guess, that if I can’t sing then at least, I should learn when to coordinate and rhythmize the right and left steps of my feet while wiggling my bottom and the rest of my extremities! And since it was all her ideas, she was always volunteering, at the end of the school year, to teach me and my friends numbers to be presented during the graduation rites. I’ll tell you even my brothers who have two left feet were wooed into doing these stunts. And we were always like on the middle or front: in plain view. That for my mamang, bless her wonderful heart, was her way of overcoming my shyness. I’m quite sure she never heard about the “feel the fear and do it anyway” self-help book, but she sure was on the right track on how to overcome one’s limitations and fears. And I was just around 7.
During my elementary, high school and college life, every activity that involved public speaking and social interactions with strangers, was I guess, almost always a painful process of overcoming that nagging fear, no coin inside your socks would help. But each occasion was never a traumatic experience for me. I just knew that when I couldn’t do it, I had to say so. And no one actually had forced me to do otherwise.
I haven’t got the slightest idea where did I get this shyness; my family is a cocktail of shameless people. (opps sori guys! lol!!) But it sure does itch my sides thinking that our little one may have inherited this unpopular part of mine!
I told dadi about this and well, he didn’t buy it at first. I had an impression he thinks it was one of my never-ending paranoia about raising a child. Then for the past few days, for some reason, he is starting to think I may be right. And he actually has one really simple solution to this and that is, bring David to the Philippines.
Dadi, did you say, BRING David to my country? Like, you know, taking the airplane, flying, and then enjoy, the sun, sand and family?
Now, we are talking! Philippines is a country never lacking of social interactions. In fact, I think, people who are extremely shy and are having innate social difficulty interacting with other people should go there. It is a therapeutic archipelago inhabited with brown people wearing smiles on their faces, who are just more than willing to make friends. And the smiles are for free. So for David, this might be a good idea and for mama, ha, ha, ha, an excellent excuse to hang out with the shameless family. I am not complaining...

David's expanding vocabulary

2005-04-21T15:01:00.000+02:00

David's dictionary is indeed expanding, but it is a dictionary he, I and few people like his dada and lola, can use. His got the word out, or sort of out! But it means a lot of things like, going out, light and any sort of things that hang on walls. You'll know what he means because he points at them. So naturally when he says "out" and he points at the door or window, it means he wants to go out. If he points at the light, then he means the light, either it's on or off. Art is something he understands as he points at painting or any artisty decors!
You ask him to do the lion sound and he does an enormous growling, guttural sound. When he sees lion on TV, or sees it on picture books, he imitates the lion sound and he is rather good at it. My throat hurts when I do the same!
He knows socks, and I am not surprised. Everytime these two tiny things are attached to his equally tiny feet, he removes them and I constantly remind him "do not take off your socks, David!" When he wakes up after a nap, sans socks, I ask him where they are and he goes looking for them, buried under all his stuffed toys. Once he finds them, he gives them to me, delivery with a wicked smile glued on his moon face.
Oucha is water. Da or cha is anything and everything. He understands most of what I said observing the way he reacts and the way he looks at me. If he doesn't understand or still trying to understand he gives a fierce concentration look, with brows wrinkling in the process. He is one expressive piglet! But as he gets older, his dada and I realize, our piglet has a serious almost painfully nasty look. And he is so expressive, you can almost read him like an open book!

2005-04-21T13:27:00.000+02:00

Happy, smiley butt! This was taken when David pissed on his dada's dvds! Ohh that's really nasty!

Marking his territory

2005-04-12T15:35:00.000+02:00

Last sunday, the three of us really had a lazy afternoon after we spent the morning shopping for our week's needs. David fell asleep long, like three, maybe four hours on his poussette, parked at the entrance. We planned to visit the evolution museum just a walk away from our place, but David woke up around 3, had to eat his lunch that could take another an hour or so. By the time we would be ready to move, the museum will be announcing its closing time. So we decided to stay home.
On this afternoon, David did his usual stinky business and had to be changed quickly. I don't know if it's only him or other toddlers do the same too, but David really hates being dressed up or undressed down. He wiggles, kicks, flutters and twaddles a lot. You need to be really quick to change him. We were watching the dvd series Alias so, I changed him in front of the télé. As soon as his butt was free, he rolled over and sat up in a split of a second, my jaw just went hanging! I couldn't say anything as he started crawling away from me, butt-naked.
It looked hilarious seeing him diaper-less, so I filmed him with our digicam. As soon as I pressed the on button, I heard dadi screaming "nooo, noooo!" Then I realized the piglet has peed on his dadi's dvds, looking like a puppy marking his territory.

A full time job!

2005-04-06T21:12:00.000+02:00

Mama's full time job! Today David has decided he won't do his siesta at the good hours of the afternoon. Bottles of milk are piling up in the sink, his clothes screaming to be ironed are still hanging on the clothesline, tons of garbage needing immediate disposals, I have heaps of numbers needing to be dialled as my friends are starting to abandon me huh huh huh due to calls left unanswered for days, his food needing to be prepared and cooked, his toys and books scattered all over the sala and bedroom, and David not satisfied to be on his own, is tagging my pants down. Here in this photo, I gave him a strawberry fruit just so he has time to kill (this is his first time to taste the fruit) and me attacking the biberons (utmost priority). Do I need to specify that while washing the biberons, I have to sing, tell stories at the peak of my voice just to outtop the gushing sound of the faucet, make funny faces, create crazy sounds and wiggle some parts of my body just so David would stop to grumble? When I turned around, the piglet is in himself a complete mess, another cleaning to do, not to mention pans, detergents, napkins et. al. have taken refuged on the kitchen floor as typhoon David passes by. (He has finally found the logic that inorder to open the cabinet doors he needs to back up a little bit so he won't block them, ugh!) And then with his strawberry-soaked hands, he has left stains everywhere!!! I want to be paid, it's not fair!

PS. Thank God, there is blog, at least I can scream! Da huwasan lagi!

2005-04-05T09:54:00.000+02:00

Ang baktin super enjoy sa iyang chocolate cake.

2005-04-05T09:51:00.000+02:00

Doing the "luge" in the French Alpes.

Trip, trip, trip

2005-04-02T12:07:00.000+02:00

Almost one week has passed since we arrived back in Paris. It was such a short break, but we spent it sans dull moment! I guess that's the thing with short vacation, you try to make the most of it ;-)

Day 1 (errr night 1) : We left Paris to Chamonix, right after dadi's work, around 7:30 pm. It was a smooth drive for David since he was just sleeping all the way through. But it wasn't definitely a good start for us when dadi was caught by the gendarmerie overspeeding! At night it's hard to see who's lurking beside the autoroute in addition to thousands of camions. We didn't see the radar at all. It was only when a police car pulled us over that we realized "merde" we are overspeeding! They made us followed their car on their way to the gendarme's office. Dadi was just cool, to my suprised! He told me there was no need to get angry, pissed or whatever! He made a mistake and that's it period! So he paid 45 euros and deducted one point from his license for an overspeed of 20 kms per hour! Ouch! The police told him he was lucky the law has changed. If we had done the offense a month ago, we would have paid 95 euros and that's definitely a blow to one's pocket.
Anyway, as we went back to the autoroute, I told dadi to be careful this time. The autoroute in the South is apparently heavily checked. Now this is the funny, ironic part. Dadi said to me: "There's the saying that bad luck strikes only once". I replied: "Have you heard of the maxim "In every rule, there's an exemption?". Then there quelques minutes plus tard, we got flashed! It was actually scarier than I thought because in the pitch dark of the mountain road, there's the sudden white flash of light. Dadi said what was that? I answered: we got flashed! And we duetted: "merde!" I was thinking, I hope this is not a bad omen for our vacation. Dadi was ever careful with his driving, I was afraid his eyes were more fixed on the speed meter than on the road.
The night's event receded back to the deepest pits of our minds as we started the holiday with David on the snow. He was really enjoying it. We had a mild weather so it was lovely. During the 5-day break, David has changed a lot. He said several sounds like dadi, outta, eeyahhh, yahhh and more of his growling "lion" sound. Everytime I asked him, "how old are you David?", he pointed out his index finger and said: "chhaa", then clapped his hands wildly! He showed us things by pointing them with his tiny finger. He gained weight, got colors in his cheeks, and was happy all the time. He was eating food in the restaurant and was even stealing some from our plate. It was fascinating. This is a kid who loves the outdoors or vacation lol!
Anyway, we've done lots of luge for David. Spent one day of ski then went to Italy and Switzerland. The day after our ski, we decided to cross-border. So David had breakfast in France, lunch in Italy, an afternoon snack in Switzerland and dinner back to France. It may sound like a mad driving having covered three countries in one day, but it didn't feel that way. It was relaxing. Well, maybe tiring for dadi who was on the steering wheel all the time. But he was happy. Travelling and driving are two things he likes most. I wonder how he manages himself sitting in the office 5 days a week!
Back to Paris and back to normalities and routine. It took David a while to adjust to his home, his room and his toys. For two nights he was waking up in the middle of the night and ended up sleeping with us.
However, it's spring time, the birds are chirping, flowers and trees blooming and most important of all, the sun is shining. This means plenty of outdoors for David. The other day, we went to the playground and I made him play in the sandpit. It was his first time and you could see his curiousity with the sand. He was holding it with both hands and let the grains drop off in between his fingers. He did it over and over, turning towards me time to time, laughing, his eyes glistening with wonderment. He was spellbound by it all. Just few days before he was playing in the snow and now, under the nice warmth of the sun in the sandpit. How fascinating to see things in the eyes of a child. It is refreshing and I practically saw things for the first time and felt that even the sand I took for granted all the time could actually look new and refreshing.

Thank you, daghang salamat, maraming salamat, merci beaucoup!

2005-03-30T16:04:00.000+02:00

We would like to thank all our dear friends and family who came to David's birthday party and who offered presents to him. One day our little one will realize how lucky he is to have somebodies like you ;-) Merci beaucoup:

Al & Nina
Dominique, Janese & Virgil
Grégoire, Lucille, Cathy & Louis
Guillaume, Ana & Roxane
Lionel & Jaina
Lola Bernie
Madeleine, Fred & Raphaël
Alex, Maria & Mathias
Terence & Emmanuel
Rochelle & Laurent
Roger, Mila & Nathaniel
Lolo Pierrot, lola Sarah, tita Laetitia, tita Alyssa and tito Matthieu

Bday bash that comes with running noses!

2005-03-21T14:16:00.000+01:00

March is a special month for the three of us. We are all born on this month, dada in the beginning, me somewhere after the middle, and David almost at the end! ;-)
We have decided to celebrate David's first year on the 19th, which was last saturday. It was an advance bday bash since we won't be in Paris on the exact day of David's birthday. We are going to spend the Holy Week in the Alpes, hoping to catch some of the remaining snow that I'm sure by now is starting to be soupy. Well, what the heck, if there's none left, a mountain would still be a good break for the three of us.
David's birthday went well. So I hope. I guess the people who came to celebrate the special day with us should be the judges. The party was really simple, although it took us two months to think of the theme. I already knew it would be about animals, as David loves animals. But we have gone to many shopping centers, baby shops, party stores, etc. to find the whole set of an animal party. We have found none! The closest we got was this animal circus, but the set wasn't complete. They had the cups, plates, table cover, but they didn't have the banners and hats. The complete set we actually found was Mickey and Winnie. But these two cute creatures, lovely that they are, didn't appeal to me. They are just so everywhere, seeing them makes it less original. And for David's first party, I really wanted it to be original, nothing fancy really, just down-to-earth-simple but with a touch of originality, my kind of originality mwahahahah!
I like the barnyard theme I found on the internet but has to be delivered from UK. Dada and I sat in front of the eshopping, choosing what we needed. We discussed what we should order. He told me already no plastic cups-spoons-fork and paper plates. As he puts it, the French don't use those stuff. So we didn't. As we concluded the list to order, we ended up with just the decors and the total cost was like, peanuts compared to the delivery cost. He was so ok with the whole thing, but practical as I am, I said no. The french side in him started to debate and the filipina side of me started to argue back. He reasoned out that it would be much easier to order the stuff right there and then so that we wouldn't worry anymore. I begged him to go through the list again and asked him if it was really practical to spend every penny and have them delivered with a price tag three times more than what we would order. My stubborness brought home the medal, so to speak. This might be our first child's first year party but I didn't want our heads to get carried away and just go on spending on nothing. We can still have a memorable party for him, have a good time without becoming too extravagant. That's definitely one thing I want David to learn and comprehend.
So, everything was set. Tuesday, I started to feel terrible. I got the bloody cold! Of all times! I was so sure that it will be passed on to David. I told dada that if by Friday David is going to be sick, we will cancel the whole thing. I didn't want his other friends to get sick as well. Two days came and went, David was still en forme.Our angel was cooperating. So Friday morning, David and I went to buy all the fresh food. We went to the supermarket at 9 am, by ten we were already back. He went to sleep and I took the chance to clean up and decorate the living room with balloons and crepe papers. Just after noon, he woke up. When I started giving him his lunch, I noticed his eyes were tired and the nose was running! I had cold sweats! "Gosh baby, you have a cold!" he refused to eat but was fascinated by all the decors and the mess! He kept on sneezing, wiping his nose off with his hands and continued chasing the balloons and pulling out the decors. The cold wasn't nasty since he was still active and was excited. But then, it was just the beginning. And colds are known to fall in love with their victims for long, they stick in you for days. And since it was just beginning, I had fear that the following day, his party, he would be really sick. I was debating of cancelling the event and I was biting my nails literally as to what to do with the tons of meat in the fridge as we are leaving for a break. Dada had no second thought of it, he told me on the phone to call all our friends and cancel the whole thing. I reasoned him out of it. I told him, let's give David until late afternoon. If he gets feverish then I'll give the ultimate call. But David was just happy and playing. Before he went to bed that night, we gave him medicine and he slept it all through the night. And for myself, I went on finalizing the decors, chopping meat and spices for the following day! I went to bed at two in the morning with my nose completely blocked!
Six a.m., I started cooking. This was really funny, since I couldn't smell anything nor taste. I was feeling groggy with the cold and flu medecine I've been taking for days. Even when I chopped off the onions, I didn't cry! Now that was something! As dada put it: "you are a blind cook!" That was an honest-to-goodness comment, and I couldn't agree more! But that was a terrible compliment, it didn't raise my confidence at all knowing that kitchen is my least favorite place. But I continued cooking, with the recipe book in hand, and my neurons trying to remember how did mamang and papang cooked this and that! I actually prepared the easiest filipino dishes, some people cook them with eyes closed. But since I don't have the talent, I needed all the miracles of our oven and pans. By quarter to one, everything was cooked. Dada tasted everything, and made his culinary skills to artistically tell me what he thought. Our guests started arriving around one, as expected. My friend Maria and her adorable son, Mathias came in first and she helped me prepare the apperitif. I asked her to go all through the dishes and tell me what's lacking. Actually, before they arrived, I found out, my adobo was so bloody salty! I applied my father's trick on what to do when occasions like these happen, and as it turned out, my adobo was most popular mwahahahaha!
When the guests were starting to arrive, I can't remember anymore what happened. It was just chaos, children running here and there in our tiny flat and David looking gloomy with his nose. Although he did behave well considering the situation he was in. He played a bit with the children, asked for mama most of the time and slept twice (I think) in that afternoon. The funniest part was with the cake. I put him on his high chair and presented him his birthday cake while everybody was singing happy birthday. His teary eyes (bcoz of cold) were wide and I have no idea if he understood what was happening. I just know he enjoyed his chocolate cake very, very much! Two servings and David was a picture of a piglet playing in the mud! Dada had the biggest laugh. He was happy seeing his son enjoying the cake. Seeing my two boys laughing and enjoying, I realized it was worth all the effort. The decors and themes didn't matter anymore. It was having this family affair and share it with our close friends that counted the most.

Ped nightmare! :-o

2005-03-08T19:58:00.000+01:00

I just have few minutes here to jot down some notes. David is playing dog with his dada.
Absolute FEAR is how we can describe David's visit to his doc. As soon as he saw his ped he went into a mad howl, his whole body shaking. It was actually the first time he made such horror show, of course he cried before but not to this extent.
Anyway, everything is ok with him, although as usual his weight is just below average. Doc said he has low fat. But height and the size of his "skull" are both normal :-)
I don't worry much why he can't store fat, he eats well, way pili, but then he is so active, makes caca 3-4 times a day, and he exerts so much energy by getting so excited even just flipping through books.
Hmmm, I'm off time to feed the piglet!

Blah, blah, blah

2005-03-08T17:27:00.000+01:00

I am just currently viewing David's blog and realized, it's been almost a month I haven't posted anything in here! Gosh, he has got heaps of devs and I haven't jotted them down. Our little piglet grows like a weed and there's simply limited luxury time for me to sit in front of my pc. It's true what "seasoned" mothers and grandmothers say: enjoy it while he is still a baby for once he learns to crawl and walk, it's another story!!
And indeed what a story! Few days after his tenth month bday, David started walking with absolute absence of fear that he might fall down or bump his head, and a week later he decided, crawling is just as fun as walking! Now he spends most of his waking time crawling, walking, pulling things out of cabinets and drawers, sticking his tiny little fingers in electric plugs and the funniest for him of all is pulling out cables that run around the flat like cobwebs! And for myself, I'm starting to sound like a dictator: no, no, nooooo David! Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't! I have this feeling that the more he thinks it's prohibited, the funnier it is to do it!
David made a lot of improvement when it comes to crawling, I mean he just goes off as if a speed blaster is attach in his nappy! Before he did few tumbles, you know like he crawls faster than he could and off went his head and face on the floor! I kept on telling him that even crawling there's a speed limit. He has found his balance and he is like the master of all crawlies! He loves it when his dada and I do the "cow game". On our feet and hands we chase him and say "moooh, mooh, mooh"! He really thinks it's funny.
As to walking, hmmm somehow he has developed a sense of fear, finally! I was worried before when he would launch himself without the understanding that he could eventually fall. Now, he is scared walking on his own. He has to hold onto something before he makes his steps.
Alright, I'm just gonna pause it here, he is awake and crying! Later we are off to the ped for his monthly check!

NewDevs!

2005-02-15T19:54:00.000+01:00

David has another new lower tooth sprouting out. He now crawls, enfin! Time to clear out cables and plugs :-o

Saturday Fun

2005-02-12T21:10:00.000+01:00

Today was supposed to be papa's turn to do his shopping. But as usual, we ended up buying everything for David. The only thing we bought for us was two mugs of coffee!!!
And today David had so much fun as he tried the merry-go-round for the very first time. We chose a small car and there was another girl sitting next to David, much to his delight. The moment it started turning, David head went weird, like his eyes went from side to side! But as I cheered him up and the other little girl mimicking my voice, David was laughing. After the ride, on the way home we stopped in the playground where David did his favorite thing --- chasing pigeons!
We bought him a pack of balloons and at home David spent his time playing with them. He exploded one as he bit it. I was really scared, I thought it hurt his lips. But David just showed a slight surprise and went on laughing!!!

Siesta sched

2005-02-12T20:30:00.000+01:00

David does siesta once a day now mostly around 11 am to 1 pm. He started doing it the other day. But he now takes longer sleep during the night from 8:30 pm to 7:30 am. This actually means that we spend most of the day time playing together. The games he particularly likes are kicking balls and balloons (he is just nuts with balloons), spending time in the playground (that is when the weather permits) stealing other children's food and chasing birds, riding on his toy car, and just walking around the flat.

From tummy to sitting position

2005-02-10T18:55:00.000+01:00

David can now manage to sit himself up from a crawling position. But he still cannot crawl, he still goes backward. It's hard to leave him alone playing as he can circle his room on his own on different positions.

Bed is down

2005-02-04T13:19:00.000+01:00

Alright, David shows he can get up on his own now, as I discovered him again this morning kneeling down on his bed. I got scared as he could definitely fall out of it if he just pushes himself a few inches up. Papa is supposed to lower down his bed this weekend, but I couldn't wait. David and I spent the morning fixing it. It took me longer than I thought. David was jabbering nonstop and was working hard trying to steal the screws and drivers.

I can sit up on my own

2005-02-03T11:35:00.000+01:00

Hmmm, another surprise from David. This morning I could hear him kicking his bed signaling that he is awake from his morning nap. I let him be for two minutes, and when his room went silent I went to check on him, and there was David sitting up straight on his bed! That's his first!

My first few steps

2005-02-02T21:19:00.000+01:00

At 10 months and 6 days, David has made his first five steps!!! After his afternoon nap today, David woke up super hyper, it just blew me away. He was there making a lot of noises, screaming "tatatatatatattata". I was playing with him on the floor, and then he wanted to stand up so I helped him on his feet, and just like that, he launched himself for five quick, unstable steps. He was extremely excited with this new physical discovery that we spend together almost all the afternoon practicing walking. I am so over-excited for him!

SomethingNews

2005-01-30T20:50:00.000+01:00

This weekend, David showed three new things. One, he is starting to have a mind of his own. Yesterday we went to a small zoo next to where we live, and when I put David on his stroller, he just let his body stretched out refusing to sit. By the time I buckled him in his seat, I was sweating and it was just few degrees outside.
Two, "this is mine". It was a big surprise for us when papa took from him the hanger he was playing with. He resisted, and wouldn't let go of the thing and he got a strong grip! When papa finally got it, he raised both hands to get the hanger back, then screamed and then cried. Three, he's got another new tooth popping out on the upper-left gum. We are just over the moon!

New thing

2005-01-29T09:44:00.000+01:00

David is having a new trick again. Yesterday early morning papa put him back to his bed to prepare his milk and David just let his legs stretch out like a stick. As papa pushed him down to make him sit, he refused unbending his legs so he ended up walking backwards on his bed. He did it again this morning with me. He wants to walk all the time now and it's a back killer for me since he can't balance on his own yet. Thank goodness, someone invented the walker!

Catching up

2005-01-28T21:31:00.000+01:00

Hmm, I'm missing a lot on David's blog. I've been chasing time during this month and well there are a lot of things needing to be finished. Unfortunately, David's site and blog are on the last priority. But here I am, nevertheless.
Ok, so where do I start? David's website host has been having trouble. First they were upgrading, I believe their system, and when it's up, I can't transfer files because of clients' traffic. It was only yesterday that I was able to transfer files.
David, you've been such a good boy, far from your first month when we were having trouble how to put you to sleep. I remember how many hours we have spent putting you to sleep in your walker at the entrance, right next to the kitchen and toilet room, because that was where you were comfortable the most (your bed was too big for you). And then the months where the living room was transformed into a family bedroom, us sleeping on the sofa and papa sleeping on the floor right next to us. You were waking up every two hours for your milk. Funny, it seems so far away. Now I just put you in your bed after a book or two and then off you go to your dreamland.
And yesterday was your 10th month birthday. You had a piece of choco cake papa prepared. You were so excited running around the house, chasing everyone while outside, the snow was falling gently.

Talking of snow, last weekend was a wonderful time for all of us. Papa has brought us all to the mountain to let David experience his first height, first snow, first sleighing and first hotel (most of our trips were visiting loving families and relatives). To our delight, David was enjoying the whole trip. Of course, he cried a bit (but babies do after an exciting day). David adored it when we were pushing him down the slope. Papa and I took turn in pushing and catching him. I think, he wasn't frightened by the sensation of going down, the cold and the height because we were there cheering him up. He was like King Louis XIV with his bunch of cheering squads. And us parents just had the joy watching our little one smiling and laughing with the steam coming out from his nostrils and mouth.
We also had the time to visit Colmar, Alsace, the place of "cigognes" or storks. We actually saw many of them, strange for this time of the year. Then after the visit, we went to Freiburg, Germany. We didn't stay long, we know the place already. It was papa's idea just to let David cross the franco-german border, and perhaps his excuse to drive again! As it was, David went to Germany just to poo!

Being ten months old

2005-01-28T10:28:00.000+01:00

David is ten months old and for his developments, I simply cannot keep track of them. He doesn't like playing with his toys anymore, somehow they lost their appeal. When he is awake, he likes to stand up holding on to furniture or walk around. He is fascinated by lights, cabinets, hangers, washing machines, ovens, etc.; in fact anything that isn't a baby toy fascinates him. He likes watching the birds outside and keeps on saying "acha, acha", whatever that means.
He has few vocabularies, although he doesn't say them yet, I know he understands by the way he reacts to what I say: when I say "birds fly outside", he looks out the window up in the sky; when I say "where is the dog", he looks down to the street looking for people walking their dogs; when I say "where is the cow" he looks for it and holds it tight, the same with his cat; when I say "where is filou", he looks at his bed, that's where filou is all the time as filou is his sleeping companion, and when we are in the house, filou must stay in the bed and nowhere else. He has a new word, “art”. He did it when he was looking at the painting in our hotel room during our trip to the Vosges. But at home, hmmm, he says “art” to everything hanging on the walls, including the lights and mirrors.
He likes to answer the telephone. As soon as it rings, he drops anything at once and turns towards the phone ringing, says "dada, dada", then looks at me with an inquisitive look. He likes flipping through his board books; unfortunately, he has the impression that books taste better than they look. He has eaten pages! And we keep on looking for the bloody remote control, David hides it anywhere!
Alright, for the crimes, he broke his bed and fell from it. No injuries, his feet were actually touching the pillows I put right next to his bedside, and he was holding on to his bed sheets, screaming... He broke the curtain holder again! Aside from me covered with food, there are stains everywhere on the carpet; he likes to blow with food in his mouth. The other night I saw an ad on TV of a father putting on a raincoat, gloves, goggles and a hat before he feeds his children, now that's not a terrible idea. Anyway, I have few concerns, he doesn't eat much. Just how much can a baby eat? He doesn't look skinny at all, he looks fine, but I have this paranoia that he is small for his age. I wish he would just finish what I give him. I mean, he looks such a baby. Alright, I'm paranoid; he is only ten months old after all. But gosh, his energy is boundless, and he does caca three times a day! When he behaves like a boy, but looks like a baby that’s where my paranoia strikes.
And mealtime is my most challenging time with him. Since he was born, no matter how he cried, fussed or stayed awake at night, it was ok for me. It’s mealtime that makes me want to cry or scream. Ahhhhhhh!!!! All the possible mealtime games don’t work anymore, not even that ever popular airplane. He seems to know what I’m up to with the spoon! And he turns around in his high chair, tries to stand up and bangs his head… then cry. I put toys in front him, I let him munch on them while feeding him. Ok, it doesn’t matter if the toys are covered with food, I can just wash them after. But dropping toys on the floor and me spending time putting them back on his chair, back and forth, back and forth, it drains out my energy. If only I have cheering squads and four hands, two minding the toys, the other pair, feeding him… that would be helpful! But no, unfortunately I only got to worn-out hands and I’m tired of saying endlessly, food is good, yummy, yummy, yummy!! Grrrr!!!
Anyhow, after this endless grumble of mine, David is still adorable, sweet and such a coquinette (mischievous). He steals things not his and run away with them with a naughty laugh. And when you run after him, the faster he goes! It’s amazing how those tiny feet can cover miles and miles.
It twists my heart when I often, note at this time it’s often, shout at him “noooo!” He gets scared and upset. When I say to him he is not allowed to eat those books, he gets really upset, he looks at me with fearful and sad eyes, afterwards when I give him back the books he just pushes them away. The same reaction with his other toys.
When I’m preparing food in the kitchen, in his walker he goes rampaging the cabinets and opens every possible door and well, grapples every bottles, sponges, brushes and whatever you have in the kitchen. And of course, I say noooo!! He really freezes right in the middle of what he is doing, looks at me sensibly and when I repeat my no several times, he backs out, looks at me again studiously and when he sees I’m still serious, he pulls my pants looking helpless. I explain to him a million times why there are certain “nos” in the house. And he is just there, standing beside me looking like a beaten puppy. My gosh, he is just so sweet. Anyhow, there are times I noticed he remembers what he is NOT allowed to touch, but of course, most of the time he just goes doing the forbidden stuff…
Anyway, in his tenth month, we have started putting him on his potty. It’s easier than I thought. He actually has done several poos in it, so we are just happy. For some reason, he just looks funny when he does it. To keep him sit still on the potty, I give him books to read, cover his exposed legs with blankets so that they are warm, and I chant “oohmmm caca!” Don’t ask!!! The next step David needs to understand is to let us know he wants to go to the toilet before he soils his nappy. I guess we have a long way to go on this…

Potty first, potty first

2005-01-21T10:57:00.000+01:00

This morning, David has successfully done his caca business in his potty. We usually have our little play when I think it's time for him to do his toilet. I let him sit on the potty, make the rhyme "ehmmm caca, ehmmm caca", several times until something comes out. To make him stay on the potty without moving and wiggling, I put a book on his lap and let him flip through the pages. It actually works.
I hope the "ehmm caca" would also help him understand that it's time for toilet; afterall I've been saying those since the day he was born and during the time he did his pushing and gruntling sounds that only meant he is in the middle of a stinky business.

Backaches!

2005-01-19T21:24:00.000+01:00

Backaches, that's what I've been feeling since last week. David is just so active. He doesn't like sitting down playing with his toys, he keeps on moving holding on to furnitures or to me to stand up. If I'm not around, the next thing I could hear is a head bumping on the floor, followed by a scream. Good thing the carpet is thick, if not he would have bruises on his head. When on bed, he keeps on turning on to his tummy and since he can't turn over back yet, he screams again. Sometimes even asleep he would turn over, I dunno how he does it and then he would wake up crying and gone is the sleep....
He likes watching birds flying outside his window. If I stand away from it he cries and turns his head towards the world outside. Today I brought him to the playground and he was just chasing every possible pigeons who landed. And since he can't walk nor balance himself well, I had to hold him all the time. Gosh I feel like a grandma with back twisted and achy...

Oh by the way, he started his toilet training the other day, so far just "pipi" coming out!

Oopps, I did it again!

2005-01-12T20:28:00.000+01:00

Something disgusting happened today! David had his usual daily bath, I should have known when he suddenly stopped playing and flying his tiny arms up to me asking to be taken out! I thought, that was a new trick, usually he likes to stay long in his bath that if I don't take him out, he would just be happy staying there forever. Today, was different. I thought hmmmm, another progress!

What progress!!! I took him out from his bath seat and let him float for a minute in the water so that his shoulders would be warm. He gave me this look, a kind of look that people wear when they do multiplication and division! Well, calculation! I talked to him gently and I was about to caress his bottom submerged in the water when I suddenly saw a caca slowly nudging its way out to its final glory!!! Holyyyy gollly, I was so surprised but maintained a good hold of David. I didn't want to interrupt him in the middle of something really eventful! It was like looking at a submarine slowly moving its way to the surface of the sea. As soon as David popped everything out, I whisked him out of the bath together with all his toys...

I complained to the tiny head that it was the second time he did it to me. (The first one was ok, I didn't see it going). I just got a curious look and a contented smirk glued on his face. Kakun!!

Happy Birthday tita Alyssa

2005-01-12T18:22:00.000+01:00

Dearest tita Alyssa,
It's your big day today! I hope it's going to be a blast! Have a wonderful time with everybody! Happy birthday tita. I love you!

hugs ans kisses,
David

A weeekend filled with Galette des Rois

2005-01-09T20:39:00.000+01:00

Galette des Rois is a large round cake, often filled with almond paste, traditionally eaten on the Twelfth Night of January. It contains a small porcelain figurine (the fève). The cake is shared out and the person who finds the "fève" becomes the king or queen and is given a cardboard crown to wear. This is a french tradition.

Saturday this weekend, the fête was hosted by Lionel and Jaina. David was there with his little friend Roxane. David is really becoming a boy now as he was behaved and was playing around with his toys while we adults were having our lunch/dinner. As the galette was served David was fast asleep so he missed the whole ceremony. It was too bad he didn't see his papa wearing the crown as he was the one who got the tiny figurine. David had his own photo session with the crown only later after he woke up.

The following day, Sunday, well today, we went to another "galette party" in Claude's place, David's big cousin. It was amusing to see him very shy with our hosts who he met for the very first time. But he was friendly with the black cat, first time he actually had a close encounter with one. He wanted to touch it but the cat was rather too shy and escaped away. Later in the afternoon, we found out that we haven't brought any milk for him!!!! My gosh, how stupid of me! I have brought three bags all for him, containing toys, extra diapers, bottles, yoghurt, etc... but no MILK!
When he started fussing, I tried putting him to bed, but it wasn't his bed so he was crying. I called his papa downstairs, in the middle of his lunch to make David's milk; he cried out that there was none in the bag. Gosh my heart skipped a thousand miles and I was really thinking hard, it's not possible I've forgotten our baby's milk. So I went downstairs with David in my arms and searched the three bags. Nothing! Duh!!! Alright dilemma!!!! Ok, no panic!!!
We gave David his yoghurt which he didn't finish. He wasn't crying really so he wasn't hungry, just a bit tired. But I felt so guilty and worried. The party lasted till 7 pm and David, the whole time, was feasting on a piece of baguette (French bread), biscuit, banana and water. Again he missed the galette ceremony as he fell asleep.
There were five of us and the host was wondering how to cut the round cake into five equal parts. We suggested she cuts it in six parts to make it easier. Funny thing was, everybody had finished their share and there was no "fève" found. So we assumed it must be in the last slice. And no one wanted the last part since it was obvious the much expected fève was there. So our lovely host sliced again the last part into five shares and as she did, the fève popped out!!! Another dilemma, if she gives out the slices like that, the mystery is gone and well, it would kill the whole fun. So she hid the plate and as she held a slice she let me decide to whom it should be given, without me seeing if the fève was there. As the distribution ended, it was her husband who got to wear the crown and picked up my mother in law to be his queen! Now that was fun!
David woke up crying, and I knew he was hungry so I gave him another piece of baguette and he kept quiet. He just loves munching this bread. It was time to go and I started packing up all his toys that were scattered on the floor. As we arrived home, and papa opened the car trunk to collect our bags, it was the time we realized duh!!! we forgot his pushchair. So tomorrow papa will go back to Claude's house to collect it... bon courage dada!

Merci beaucoup pour tous les cadeaux de Noël!

2005-01-06T21:06:00.000+01:00

I would like to thank the following people for the Christmas gifts they have offered. You made my first Christmas really special. (Je voudrais remercier les personnes suivantes qui m'ont offert des cadeaux de Noël!):

Lolo Pierre & lola Sarah, Tita Laetitia, tita Alyssa & tito Matthieu
Lola Bernie, papa & mama
Oncle Robert & tante Colette
Ginette
Tito Al & tita Nina
Friend Mathias
Tita Joy
Tito Emmanuel & tita Terence
Tito Guillaume, tita Ana & Roxane
Friend Elise
Tito Lionel & tita Jaina
Claude & Rosita
Tito Laurent & tita Rochelle

Thank you also for those who have sent us lovely greeting cards. Happy 2005 to all of you!

David

David's Website Update

2005-01-06T21:03:00.000+01:00

Dear family, friends and visitors,
David's site cannot be updated until 17 January due to our hosts improving their platform. Anyway, you can still visit the site which was updated last 30 December 2004. A bientôt, see yah!

David's Chatter Room

2005-01-06T20:38:00.000+01:00

Bonjour People,
I have just discovered by chance the blogger today and find it quite interesting. So here is another little corner where I can jot down some notes about David's daily changes. Feel free to post your comments.
à bientôt,
Webmaster (mama)

Nine months old

2005-01-04T16:44:00.000+01:00

Last night I was watching a French documentary show about women giving birth. It was an excellent documentary as it covered a lot of different situations. There was a woman in the middle of her labour who kept on laughing every time the midwife said push, push! Geez, she was practically laughing all through the labour process. The midwife even said she was the queen of “giving birth”. There was also a woman who was howling of pain, there was another who just had a blank look on her face you wouldn’t realize she was pushing. There were babies who were born premature, had respiratory problems, etc. My heart went to a baby boy who was born really healthy but the mother didn’t want him, she didn’t even look at him. The midwives took the baby away and put him on the list for adoption.
The saddest part was when there was a woman who gave birth (induced) to a dead baby. The camera wasn’t allowed inside the delivery room but you could hear the sobbing of the mother when the baby came out. I was overwhelmed with sadness when behind the closed doors of the delivery room you could hear the midwife saying, “Push madame, push, I could see the baby’s head now….ok, good work madame…” There was a short and intense silence. I was hoping to hear a baby’s cry, but there was none, just the sobbing of the mother. Apparently, it was a healthy pregnancy from the start, but at eight months and a half, the mother discovered that there was no movement in her belly and when she went to have a check-up it was too late… the foetus just stopped breathing. The doctors don’t know the reason. There was also a woman who wasn’t allowed to get pregnant because of her heart problem and did otherwise. By six months she was into daily monitoring and by seven they opened her up. The baby was really tiny, just over a kilo, but managed to stay alive through medical interventions.
I have never realized that pregnancy could be that hard or life-threatening for that matter. Maybe because my own personal experience proved otherwise, except of course of the pain. My mother has given birth seven times, three times at the hospital, four times at home. And with all the scientific and technological advancement, pregnancy and birthing should somehow come with minimal complications, if there is any. It is a natural process. After watching the show, I realized there is never guaranty in life… or giving life.
I went to see David who at this time was sleeping tight and snoring like a pig. A few hours ago, we presented him his ninth month old cake. I watched him for a long time and found myself saying words of gratitude to the powers in heaven. I feel so lucky to have him and hope that one day he’ll feel the same for us as his parents.
Anyway, this is not supposed to be the main subject of this journal. I actually want to write something about his developments.
So, David is nine months old. He’s got four teeth. He has experienced his first Halloween and first Christmas. The past month we’ve encountered a lot of challenges and witnessed a lot of milestones. The last two weeks of November and the first two weeks of December were dominated by running nose, ear infection, teething, crying and sleepless nights. David has experienced a lot of falls, bumps and thuds as he turns himself around while sitting down, or when he tries to grab objects far from his reach or when runs around with his walker. He knows how to refuse by pushing away things he doesn’t like or not opening his mouth when he doesn’t want food anymore. He gets so frustrated and mad when he can’t reach his toys.
He has his few favourites: Barney music, the météo (weather channel), Tibère et la maison bleu (a children’s show), yoghurt, toilet (we call it the magic room), playing in the bath, pulling things out of cabinets and drawers. Every time I let him play in our bedroom, just a little minute over, the room looks like tsunamis have passed over. He likes banging things, the louder the better.
He screams when he is furious, still cries like a beaten puppy when scared and gives a deadly look when he is not contented with you. He sleeps all night without interruption but still wakes up so early, 5:30 in the morning, grrrr, grrrrr and grrrrrrrr!!!
He is like a real person now, you know when he is awake even if you don’t see him and you somehow miss him when he is asleep because the house just seems so quiet. If he is hungry and he happens to be in his walker, he goes to the kitchen crying. Or he gives a loud “dede, dede, dede”; meaning milk.
He knows where to find things. He goes to corners in the house expecting that the things he saw yesterday would still be there today. After learning things through conditioning, unfortunately via accidents, he knows what not to touch. We have this thing in the kitchen to hang up our laundry, several times he was playing with it and it fell on him. Every time he approaches it now, he gives it a curious look, touches it gently and when it moves, he backs out. He understands my “no”. It was fascinating when it happened for the first time. I was boiling water and he tried to pull the cord out of the socket. I got so scared I screamed “noooooo!” I kneeled in front of him looked at him in the eyes and delivered my firm “no” several times accompanied by hand gestures. He was so surprised and I’m not sure shocked, that he stepped back and looked at me hard. I touched the cord, wiggled my index finger, shook my head and said no! I’m sure he understood. He ignores it now. I’m just waiting when he starts walking, I’m sure it’s another story.
He drinks four bottles a day, eats breakfast, lunch and dinner. But feeding time is a terrible time. David doesn’t eat much. He nibbles his food and it takes him a long time to finish half of what’s on his plate. We have tried several ways to make him eat his food; the only way that works a little bit is the “airplane” technique. You know, you fly the spoon around with all the airplane sounds and land it in his mouth. He opens his mouth at every “landing sound”. Still he hardly finishes what’s on his plate. The only food he actually devours without much fuss is yoghurt. He could finish a pot, with matching piggy noises. And at the end gives a big burp.
I have promised myself not to compare David to other babies, but I would prefer jotting it down here for remembrance sakes. David hasn’t done some things that other babies do such as rolling over his stomach back and forth and then eventually sit up. My brother’s son, Seth who is just six months old apparently can do that. Seth weighs nine kilos and very active. He rolls over his stomach and manages to sit up on his own. David on the other hand doesn’t do this. When he was less than five months old, he tried rolling over few times. But every time he was on his stomach he screamed. He hated it. By six months he could sit, but that’s only when we put him on that position. If we won’t he would actually just lie down turning side to side until he gets bored. Now he moves few inches here and there using his bottom, that is, while turning and turning. Time to time we make him practice crawling; a week ago he managed to crawl a bit but going backwards.
However, I’m not in the least concern if he doesn’t do things other babies his age do, as long as I see he is ok. As they said, each child is different. As long as we see David developing normally in his own ways, I guess that’s ok.

Being nine months old

2004-12-27T16:44:00.000+01:00

Mama, mama I am sick!

2004-11-25T13:24:00.000+01:00

David is sick. He started having a cold last Sunday, 21 November. This is actually the first time he ever experienced having a cold and flu, and unfortunately an ear infection that is a consequence to his cold. Monday, he had his 8th medical check-up. Until now I wonder if his doctor actually noticed how awful his cold already was, as David was crying the moment I settled him on the weighing scale. After the usual routine check, my husband and I mentioned it to the doctor. He advised us to use the serum drops to clear and clean his nose. Aside from that David was in perfect health.
Tuesday, David started crying terribly, and couldn’t take his usual late morning nap. He started feeling warm, and when I checked his temperature, it recorded 38.5 °C on the thermometer. I didn’t give him his medicine right away as the doctor said we should do it only when his body heat surpasses 39 °C. So I went on rocking a screaming David for like eternity, until he fell asleep.
On that night, it was a “déjà vu” of what had happened in the morning. No, it was worse, a lot worse. David, hardly finished his milk and was screaming to death. No matter how we tried to ease him down or danced him in my arms, it didn’t work. For the whole night, he managed to sleep for only two hours.
At 6 AM the following day, Manu called the “SOS doctor”, who arrived less than thirty minutes later. David was sleeping tight on our couch. I even thought, my gosh, of all time he chose the doctor’s visit to be calm and tight asleep. The doctor went on to check him: his stomach, chest, back, mouth, ears, everything. It was in his left ear we found the reason to his previous crying episodes. He’s got an ear infection, and there were traces of blood.
Being first time parents, it was pretty scary. My heart sank. When I looked at Manu’s face, it had the weirdest expression. The doctor must have registered what we felt, as he instantly told us that it was nothing serious and that ear infection is actually a common sickness for infants, especially around this time of the year.
David is taking antibiotics for eight consecutive days plus paracetamol for his pain. This is the hardest part. There is the issue of following the measurement up to the last drop and worst of all there is actually just no easy way of giving medicine to a baby. Every time we give it to him it is a constant struggle. It is bearable during the night when Manu is around, but during the day, I get kicked, slapped, spitted on and my hair pulled, not to mention his wails and huge tears. I have a feeling he hates his nappy-table now, somehow he associates it to these constant tortures.
Currently, David is feeling much better. The fever has stopped. But the nose is still running like Niagara falls. It looks so heartbreaking, at the same time funny when his cold starts to roll down and when I don’t catch it first, he wipes it off with his hand, making trails to his cheek. Many times I witnessed his nose making bubbles and popped out back to his nostrils, of course I laughed! I even have photos of these occurrences!! (bad mother). When I carry him and I forgot to check on his nose, he would either wipe it off on my clothes or grab my hair and use it as his handkerchief. That would be David’s survival trick, a punishment for mama who is not constantly on guard.
Going on about his cold, it is really terrible. As his nose rattles and the cold going in and out, I felt many times helpless. When he struggles drinking his milk and trying to breath at the same time, I find myself, holding my breath, and afterwards gasping for air. It is like staring at a person choking, fighting for air. My chest gets tight, and I couldn't breath. But David manages to coordinate all these, he sucks several times, open his mouth wide and breath, then suck again. He is a tough little baby.
At the moment, feeding time is a horrible time for both of us. I tried following advises from our doctors and friends, that is clearing up his nose before feeding. This basically means dropping some nasal drops in his nose or when the cold is abundant, pumped it out with rubber suction. This is another torture episode for both David and me. It is just way out too tough to vacuum his nose with this suction bulbs when there are tiny, yet strong legs and arms waggling wildly, not to mention his head going left and right trying to ward me off. And as he hates it more than me, the nasal discharge gets even worst as he continues to cry.
Several times, I sucked his nose myself. It is easier as he couldn’t do much strangled between my elbow and chest. I heard a friend’s brother has done it with his child. And my mother had definitely done it when we were babies ourselves. I thought at the beginning it was disgusting, but when you hold your child in your arms who is gasping for air through his mouth, all the hocus-pocus of feeling disgust just go inside the bin. Hmm, I didn’t like at all having a taste of David’s snot, it’s not like a cocktail, but David doesn’t like it either, at least we are on the same sphere, which is quite reassuring. The last thing I want from him when he’ll have another cold occurrences is to beg me, “Mama can you suck up my nose, pleeaasee?”
Now, aside from nursing a baby, here comes the paranoia of making everything in the house squeaky clean, starting from drawer handles down to every fiber of his things. So, I make sure all his non-washable toys are strictly wiped, his stuffed toys washed and dried as he uses them at times to wipe his nose, I could see dry snot on them. Cow, bear, kangaroo, giraffe, monkey, elephant, duck, boat, cars, trains, balls, shapes and all get their daily pampering in the warm bath. These lucky little fellas have to be dried and cleaned so that when David wakes up, they are ready for another sneezing, biting, snot-wiping game.
This has been going on for a little more than a week now. Of course, I am tired and have a cold myself. But when you are taking care of a sick child, your neural radar seems to be more attuned to keeping the baby as comfortable as possible, and at the same time praying that his cold will be over real soon and well, hoping that tonight he’ll just go to sleep without waking up every now and then.
Babies are born dependent, and a million times vulnerable when they get sick. It is frightening and heartbreaking to witness a baby sick because you just don’t know where he is hurting. It is likewise frustrating because much as you want him to feel better really quickly, there is no quick fix; lullabies, cuddles and rocking just don’t do the work. And finally, a bit selfish now, it’s tiring. You don't get enough rest and sleep. Your muscles ache and there's a constant bobbing in your head. Well, it’s okay if you have a full time help. I certainly don’t have.

Best friends

2004-09-21T18:50:00.000+02:00

It’s been almost three weeks I have started writing this part. I kept on typing the first line and by the time I hit the period to finish off the first sentence, my middle finger wonders off to the delete key. And I found myself staring blank on the white surface of the screen all over again. Somehow, my brain is not functioning well for this subject matter and my fingers are not talking. But I really want to do this part. David is growing faster than a TGV train and I’m afraid by the time I’ve finally written this, he might have another best friend. Maybe Roxanne??? Shhh, sshh…
David has come to a stage where he smiles at everyone, as long as he is being held by friendly familiar hands. That is my hands or dada’s hands. He gives smiles to people of different sizes and forms. He gets attracted to other babies like him, including the one in the mirror. I know this is just a passing stage. For how long he will stay like this, I don’t know. But as friendly as he could get to anybody, there’s only one person in the world who I think he considers his best friend. And that is his dada.
For reasons that only David knows, he relates to his dada in such a different way, you could almost tell he knows Manu is his dada, and mama is his sort of yaya.
On weekdays, we all wake up at the same time in the morning, no matter how I’m rebelling against it. Manu puts on his morning financial news while making coffee and me lounging on the couch, looking and feeling like a zombie next to the baby. David at this time is hyper and really wide awake, you think he went to choco-wonderland during his night sleep and consumed all the chocolates. His dada while preparing for work, talks to him as if deaf people live in the house. And remember the sun hasn’t even risen yet.
Both these men are having, you think, very interesting conversation. The dada talking boisterously to his son, while the son answering back with smiles – huge, wide smiles the corners of his mouth almost reaching his tiny ears. Dada getting inspired by this showsonship, would tickle him and talk even louder, to which he gets in return a laughter, hands flipping in the air and tiny legs kicking madly, his bottom would slide down from his chair. As for me, well, I would just try bury down my head amongst the cushions. Unfortunately, to no avail.
By the time Manu leaves for work, David is exhausted. He demands for food and cuddles. By 7:30 am, he goes back to sleep, leaving me feeling like a mummified zombie.
Except during weekends, the next time David sees his dada would be at the end of the day, around 7 pm. David usually cries around this time. There is something about the dusk falling that makes David edgy and grumpy. I consider this personally the worst time of the day with David. I guess because that’s when he screams the most and that’s also the time I feel hungry and exhausted after a long day.
Many times in the middle of these grumpy moments David would hear the door lock being opened. And in the midst of his temper he would stop instantly and turn his face towards the entrance door, eyes wide full of expectations. And there is the grand entrance of his Dada. David’s face would lighten up and starts bouncing on my lap, arms fleeing. Manu would start asking him questions such as “how was your day, anak?”, “did you have a good time?”, “did you eat well?”, “did you piss-off your mama?”, etcetera. He answers back with such joy and excitement, my heart feels so warm beneath the achy muscles.
David is still a baby. But when he plays rough games with his dada, sometimes I think he is a big, tough kid. Behind those fragility is a force and energy waiting to be dispersed. David likes to play karate, he likes being tossed and pushed, he likes the loud voice of his father and above all, he likes it when Manu says to him :”You are the man, David, you are the man!”
If I play the same kind of rough games with him, David just really reacts differently. Oh, he laughs and giggles and kicks around when we play together, but it’s not the same intensity as with his dada. When father and son are playing together, I could see their energy being passed on from one to another, their enthusiasm so tangible, their love so apparent. In David’s eyes I could see wonderment, curiosity, expectations and sometimes fear when Manu gets really, really loud. With me it’s like David knows what will come next and the boy, would even show to me if he is bored. How dare him! With his dada there is no dull moment.
Sometimes I talk to David in serious tone and tell him, it’s not fair and just that he is playing favoritism. That I’m the one working around like a horse just to make sure he is comfortable and happy. I should be his favorite friend. No reaction. If he has, I imagine him saying: “yes mama, continue being so drama, you might win an Oscar one day!” Wait a minute, this seems to be dada’s reaction, not David’s! I think David’s would be: I’d rather be nice to dada or else I won’t have any toys to play, food to eat, and trips to take! Cheeky!

What’s in a name?

2004-09-17T13:03:00.000+02:00

So it’s a boy. It’s been confirmed through the ultrasound results we did on my fifth month. Then came the mind-blowing, forever-searching of what name should we give to our son. I have never thought finding a name could be that hard. It was harder than the Maths and Physics I did when I was taking up engineering --- I have given up on that side of my career-ambition, obviously when we have parts of the brain that are not inclined to counting and calculating, you just have to shift to something else – like knitting and sewing.
Anyway, back to the name. It took us four good months to come up with something. If our child was born premature, I’m sure he will temporarily just be called “little boy”. The Mairie has to wait until we come up with the proper noun that not only sounds good to our ears, but that has some meaningful meaning.
I have search the internet, exhausted all the possible databases that existed online, looking for a name. I have gone to all bookstores nearby, listed down nouns that I thought were interesting. I even got a 500 pages book, talking only about the most popular names there existed. It’s during this time I have disgustingly discovered how many people have become rich just writing books about human names.
If it was a girl, I already have my hands ready for it. But then it was a boy and it was very complicated than I hoped for. It was even more difficult when you have people around you suggesting, commenting and sort of “ah I like this one better”. Adding a family history and culture of naming human beings even made matters worst.
In the French society, it’s pretty common to have five nouns for just one head, not counting in it the father’s family name and the mother’s. It’s also their tradition to name a child after the grandparents. So, the child bears his own proper name plus the name of each grandparent. In my homeland, this would pose a huge problem, if not a total torture to the child.
See, in the French civilized society, all the first names may appear in legal and administrative papers. But on daily basis, such as writing your name during school works or filling out forms, the first proper name of the child will do. In my civilized country however, all the names must be written out including the mother’s family name and the father’s. If we have to follow the French ways and the Filipino ways, my child for example could be named: Alexandre (proper name) Nicholas Robert (grandparents) Ybala (mother’s family name) Lejour (father’s family name). That is Alexandre Nicholas Robert Ybala Lejour. Imagine my child writing that every time he goes to school. Or filling out forms with boxes already laid out, only to discover there are no square boxes left for his remaining family name.
I have a vivid picture of him learning how to write and by the end of the last letter of his name his tiny little fingers are already worn out. If he won’t have a trauma or develop a phobia on papers and pencil, he might just as well go to a place where pencils and notes and writings don’t exist.
No, this won’t happen to our child. I don’t care about the cliché of long multiple names sounding distinguish and well-off. I want my child to have a name simple enough to identify him. Later, when he grows up, it’s up to him to define his own individuality that would separate him from other who bears the same name as his.
Still, we had trouble finding that NAME. And there are still the same nagging people commenting and suggesting. I love the nouns Alexandre, Nicholas, Antoine, Raphael, etc., the problem was my husband knows many people of the same name and he couldn’t imagine himself calling his son and have this picture of a different person. So all the names above were scratched off from my list. He likes William but sounded too English for his own French taste. So off you go William.
Then comes Jeremy. Oh, how we almost name our child Jeremy. I came up with it while we were driving. We started exploring names by the alphabet, until we came to the letter J. Jonathan was a no-no. Then Jeremy. We thought it’s unique. That there are not a lot of people named that way and that we both like the actor Jeremy Irons anyway.
Then during a get-together with our close friends in our place, I raised the question “how do you like the name Jeremy for our son?” “Do you know anyone who is called Jeremy? “ I will never forget this episode. Until now, it still makes me laugh thinking about it. Terence, a dear friend, actually said, “there is aguy called Jeremy in the Star Ac”. And I went, really? How is he?” Hesitantly she said, “Ahmm, he is really talented, he can play the piano but he shouldn’t sing. He is also very trendy, wearing pants whose waistline so loose it reaches the knees and therefore the crotch part almost touching the floor. He doesn’t seem to know shower. His hair always looks greasy,” (note: this is my own translation). She said something else that I don’t want to put in here. I don’t want Jeremy knocking at our door demanding to see us.
Anyway, another friend Guillaume had the same opinion. So naturally I was intrigued. The following evening I watched TV switching channels hoping to catch a glimpse of now the popular Jeremy. And there right in front of my face I saw him. My eyeballs almost popped out from their sockets when I saw the guy. Not that I have anything against this person. It was just the thought of me calling my son of the same name triggered a cold sweat down my spine. My reactions towards this could be considered refine compared to my husband’s. But that I won’t divulge in here. It is suffice to say that because of some TV personality our son won’t be called Jeremy.
On the other hand, Manu has this stubborn idea that we should follow my family tradition of naming sons and daughters starting with letter L. The problem was, my family is huge and they have exhausted all possible names that started with L. Well, I may be exaggerating but if my son’s name will start with L, then it rather be a good sounding L. But there was no good sounding L that we found. As I said my parents have used them all. If only they have two kids. But we are seven, and L is something hard to define.
Two weeks before I gave birth we still have no name. The pad note that I kept to myself wherever I went to just in case the gods in heavens will lighten me with a good name, was shading its pages fast. Then one day, I gave an ultimatum to my husband. We can’t keep postponing this thing anymore, especially that the Mairie gives us three working days only to declare the birth of our son. Manu put me on a date, well just a drink, and since I was nine-months pregnant I only had fruit juice while him a good wine. We went through my list again, he didn’t have any. Apparently it was understood that I would be the captain of this endeavor.
So back to the list. It may have taken me months to come up with a final one-page list of names, but it took Manu less than five minutes to decide which one. When we have chosen it, we kept it to ourselves. No one else in the family knew, even our friends. For me it was not because we wanted to keep it secret, like some couples do, but because up to that last minute I was never really sure. Come to think of it, even when the nurse was preparing the papers while I was on the delivery table, I wasn’t even sure. When she asked me what’s the name of the baby, I bursted out “David”. I was totally in pain, I didn’t have time to think. And Manu left the room that very moment to check on something. So David it is. We added Pierre after Manu’s father.
When I saw our son and heard him cry, I had this weirdest feeling that the proper noun David just suits him well. And the second, Pierre made it perfect.

First picnic

2004-09-06T22:38:00.000+02:00

It was a sunny, lovely day. Parc Bercy is just few minutes away from where we live. We could have just gone there by foot, but having a baby when you go out is another story. It’s like you are going to a place where seasons change every minute. You’ll just have to pack whatever it is that he might be needing: diapers, wipes, water, bottle, formula, heater, towels, extra clothes and more extra clothes!!!
It was double-hard to find a parking space outside as it was the day for Madonna’s concert. So we opted for the parking lot. David was all curious and alert. It’s amazing how he can quickly turn his head from left to right and vice-versa. His eyes were wide open, full of wonderment.
Inside the elevator, mama and dada had their sunglasses on, David sitting on his stroller. The record-breaking event started here, when David looked up to us and he found himself being stared at by two goggly-wide-eyed-creatures. We smiled at him but he started this slow lip-twisted-controlled cry. From his own perspective, he must have been looking at some aliens and wondered “where did my parents go when the elevator door closed”. Realizing this, we quickly took off our sunglasses and consoled him gently. But there was no controlling David. He let out a bawl.
Added to the alien scene, inside the elevator was like being in a toilet that has been pissed on by hundreds of beer-drunken men. It was a death-smell of piss fermenting for a century. If it was disgustingly horrible for us, with our breath reaching just above the throat, it must have been awful, awful, awful for David.
I assume these were the reasons why David just had a terrible picnic in that sunny afternoon. He cried and cried and cried and for the first time since he was born, I begun to wonder if he was at all sick. He was sobbing even until he fell asleep. When he woke up, he started playing around with our friends and with dada. But when he got a good look at each person at the picnic mat, he started out his wail again. A stroll around the park, eased him down. It was time for mama to at least enjoy the remaining time of the picnic. Whew!!

Girl or Boy?

2003-07-26T18:43:00.000+02:00

Manu and I discovered that I was pregnant after the preggy test showed two bars – which can only mean one thing -- positive. Weeks before that I actually felt being “pregnant” and when I missed my period I knew I was conceiving. Aside from being regular, I have never missed a period in my entire adult life. So, when I saw the result of the test, it was more of a confirmation than a surprise – at least to me.
For Manu, I believe, it was something else. His reaction was a bit off-handed and the least I expected. His face was not a picture of a future dad floating in cloud nine. His was a portray of someone flying somewhere in the milky way without oxygen mask and astronaut costume. He was totally pale, and was practically seeing stars. Well, he was in the universe, wasn’t he?
I’m not saying that he didn’t want us to have a child yet. On the contrary, we planned this conception really well. But when reality hits home, I guess, it could sink pretty scary.
The episode of the pregnancy testing will forever register in my not-so-big memory storage. I remember being upset of seeing his reaction. Ideally, I wanted him to jump of joy until the neighbor below us would start banging their roof, direct to our bathroom floor. But adding insult to the injury or adding injury to the insult, whichever, Manu was accusing me of not doing it the right way. That since the instructions were in français, I could have misunderstood everything. In the midst of our chaotic emotions and confused neurons, I was deeply, deeply happy. I am going to have a child. And he likes it or not, the test was telling the truth.
Anyhow, Manu adjusted really quickly to the idea that I’m going to be a whale for the next nine months. Although, I have never received a “you-are-going-to-be-a-great-mom” bracelet, he was nevertheless a very supportive, thoughtful and responsible partner. I couldn’t ask for more during the duration of my pregnancy.
Manu was really vocal and expressive when David was still inside me. By then, we didn’t know it was a boy. First of all he wanted it to be a boy, girl, he thinks, would be his constant headache. He could not imagine his daughter, all grown-up, flirting with other boys. He also thinks having a girl would be a constant unwanted noise in the house. And most of all, he thinks, if it’s a girl, there will be two naggers in the house, constantly bickering about nothing, and him caught in between. I have known a bit of this chauvinistic side of Manu before, but boy, how it surfaced wildly during our gender-preferences discussion. On the sweet innocent side, he thinks, it’s really ideal to have a boy first then girl next. The big brother will take care of the younger sister, so he says. Just like the way my two big brothers took care of me.
For me, at the early onset of my pregnancy, I was thinking of wanting a girl. How can you resist all the pink silky ribbons, pink little socks, sweet pink hats and alluring pink dresses with tassels and laces? Besides, I practically grew up in a testosterone-loaded environment, my mom sick-worried I would turn out a tomboy. I have five brothers and most of my high school and university friends were guys. I thought a baby girl would be a blast! This was my longing during my early stage of pregnancy, but as second month came, my mind has changed. I wanted a boy for a really conventional- down-to-earth reason – to carry the name of my husband. (Mind you, in our modern civilization, girls have the choice to carry the names they wanted). Anyway, come the middle of my pregnancy, I didn't care anymore if it's a girl or a boy. All I ever wanted and prayed for was to have a healthy child – be it a boy or be it a girl. And with this came the realization that we are entering a new chapter of our married life.