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Saturday, March 7, 2015

Sorry Baby Cat, No Updates

You started being extra clingy after Christmas, and we thought it was because you felt threatened by Beanie, the new baby in the Arevalo family. Turns out, you have already sensed that I was pregnant. You have just grown extra clingy since... Now you are back to nuzzling my breast and insisting everytime that you are the baby cat, and you belong in my arms, in my lap.

You love milk... Your Kuya seems to have outgrown it.

You love tinola, sopas, nilaga, sinigang and the soup from mussels cooked in ginger. I will admit to cooking them with you in mind, because you always ask for second servings and always exclaim how it's your favorite. I love how appreciative you and Kuya are of my cooking.

And yes, you also love champorado.

And you have taken to our new helper like a kitten adopted... Why you'd even eat meals without us! :)

You prefer banana over all other fruits.

You wear size 29 shoes.

You insist on cuddling (cuddle-cuddle) all the time.

You tell me that I make you sad when you do not get your way.

I just threatened you of going without a meal yesterday after you threw veggies you didn't want to eat on the floor. I would have gone and made you miss a meal had you not been medicating with Prednisone.

You still tend to wake up cranky, and you still tend to be happier at night.

You still like hanging upside down on the sofa. And you look forward to learning judo, because that's what we said you'd do.

You are adding a lot now, even though I had not planned it. You even ask for more IXL time than your Kuya.

You're still really cute when you make those kawawa faces... Pappie and ai still find it gard to stop ourselves from laughing sometimes.

You can be VERY contrary sometimes... And naughty that you get Kuya crying from sheer annoyance. You have learned to tease him, he has yet to learn to ignore you. Your grandparents still tend to be partial to you, because you can stay quiet and still.

But oh gosh, Pappie and I would sometimes look at each other wondering why we ever worried about you not talking. Because darling, sometimes, you'd talk our ears off!

Pappie, bad of him, sometimes teases you for your inability to pronounce some words well... Like those with Rs.

You are still more easy to ask favors from, more eager to stay by my side to help in the kitchen. Of course, you like doing everythinb Kuya is doing and gets frustrated sometimes... But I like that you are not so rebellious about the years you have to wait to grow up.

I worry about you feeling displaced when this new baby comes, because somehow, you are sooooo attached to me. But I have faith that just like Kuya was, you will be resentful and jealous, but also loving and protective as well. I think becoming a Kuya yourself will be a great gift for you.

I love you my baby cat (who used to be Kuya's caterpillar). Stay as sweet and helpful and steady as you are.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Delayed Summary for my Bunso


His turn now... With this particular fire hydrant.



*~*~*

Batang Pinoy = Arnis (Haha, ekshuli, these will be our exercise sticks for years)



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Mahal Mec ano ba naman ang anak mo, pumunta lang ako sa kabilang bahay, nahuli ko nang naghahalungkat sa baonan! Sana di makita ni Momsie Sonia ito, baka maisip niyang bilihan ng bilihan ng kung ano ano si Yamyoy! — with Bbee Kkhaa and5 others.


*~*~*

Awww... Perstaym that Yamee said "i love mama" and "i love papa"

Prompted by raisinets... But still.. Awww


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First... Gather dry leaves. Then, sit down somewhere and taste them.

Crunchy?!
 




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One thing that really makes me super happy these days is Yamee talking more, and using words more to get his point across.

I know in my heart he just really likes taking his time in that aspect... But I was also ever afraid that I was in fact, in denial.

Thank God for validating my instincts... And for the gift of better communication these days.

His fave words though are 'hungry, water, milk, crunchy and ready'.... It's a wonder he isn't obese, haha.


*~*~*

Sana lagi silang masaya sa kahon lang... Hehe 



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One of the toy sets that's mostly intact... Here he is consoling himself for being left behind by Kuya (who has swimming lessons).

Momsy Sonia... He built that himself!
 




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Yakee is teaching Yamee about the Solar system... Love it! 

Yakee: See, here, this is Mars... That is Saturn. 
Yamee: Ert.


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As is my habit, I tell my kids 'i love you' all the time. Over dinner last night, after eating so heartily, I told Yamee I loved him... And he promptly responded with a 'love you' reply.

I'd have given him millions of dollars if I had any... Haha... But instead I gave him more pandan jelly. 


*~*~*

Last night, in the middle of Yamee's tantrums... I insisted on 'waiting for him to calm down' while lying there beside him, conflicted on how to handle his tantrums. Sigh.

Where can one buy a better sense of calm?


*~*~*

Pappie Jojo : Bunso, say dolphin.

Yamee: Fish.

Nyahahaha


*~*~*

First attempt at Superhero gloves... Good thing Yamee won't complain of uneven stitches and amateur handiwork.

Finally braved the crochet hook again... I wish there are words to capture the wonder in Yamee's eyes when I was fitting his Captain America glove on him. 



*~*~*
As I started tackling the peed on toys, yamee came to me clutching a bag of banana chips. I told him I'd open it later (since we just had lunch and I was busy).

So... After a while, I thought to check on him and found him biting on the bag while waiting in a corner. Yup.. Like a dog, hehe. 

Asked him, was he very hungry? He gave a loud YES. 

Sigh. He really only says yes to food.


*~*~*

Yamee... we sometimes pretend you're a cat, true. But you are not going to play with my 100% cotton/wool yarns.

*~*~*

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

It's 2013 and You Will Be Good

You are more verbal now. I think your grandpa will credit his 'project' with that... haha. Where before only I and Kuya will hear you utter a word, now you really know how to call other things and people. Like lolo. Or wiwi. Or Ice.

But because you are not yet really conversant, I don't really know which things you already know the names for. So, I was suprised the otehr night when I realized you knew what a clock was.

You are proving to be harder to manage these days though... sometimes, you will be grabbing toys from your brother, sometimes you will wrap yourself on his leg so he can't get away. You refuse to obey commands and yet insists on doing everything for yourself.

You have a habit of pointing to yourself everytime to indicate that you want the same that Kuya is having, or you're the same that Kuya is pretending, or you want to come along.

You insist on washing your hands on your own, and I do let you climb chairs. Over the weekend, you were triumphant in your climb over the porch seats at Lolo's house. And it was amazing to watch the wonder in your eyes as you played with glow sticks (like hanging them at your feet). Truth be told though, I already spanked you and scolded you profusely (because I never needed to really hurt you, just swat at your bum to make you feel spanked and you'd be all weepy) when at 2 AM, you still refused to sleep.

Your fave sign these days? Hungry. And my gosh, sometimes, we balk at the amount of food you consume. You even prefer the garlic mayo for the Manang's chips when I couldn't stomach it. And where Kuya needs ice cream to eat the Reese's peanut butter cups, you can devour yours from the wrapper.

Scary.

I love you and want to better communicate with you and understand you. I also want you safe (you insist on running with the tiger that is Kuya, and you easily end up in heaps of bumps and falls).

*~*

Miscellaneous FB updates:

Disaster!!! Yamee ripped the cover page of a ball-stick-bird book... I was so dismayed, I couldn't get angry. Plus, I knew he was feeling left out when I'm homeschooling Kuya and doing breathing exercises with him....
 And when I was ready to reprimand... I found silent tears in his eyes!

Kala mo inapi, kaloka!

(Yun nga e! I just said his name yumuko na at nanatiling nakayuko for arnd 5 mins till I picked him up to scold him. Quiver quiver pa ang chin.. Kaloka talaga, Buti sana kung magtatanda talaga at hindi lang nanghihingi ng Famas Award)

*~*

Yamee fell and hit his head, partly because Kuya pushed the bed he was hanging from. As he was inconsolably crying, Kuya kept saying sorry. At a loss, Yakee started licking the back of his hand and arm... and Yamee stopped crying while watching his brother in fascination. Then he started licking his own arm and finally smiled.

As I was trying not to barf, Yakee said, "Mommy, it's because we're cats, right?"


*~*

Introduced the boys to sugarcane. Yakee kept gagging in the attempt, and he was only nibbling at a stick... So he gave up. Yamee, however, gnawed and chewed and spat out like a pro... And got upset when I wouldn't give him more.

It's shameless how Bunso is a fan of anything sweet!


*~*

Yakee has been at us to get his head shaved... And I like Yamee without hair... So there!


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Mec  because we pray first and read a book or two to the boys before sleeping, it seems that Yamee had associated the two activities together... He was making the sign of the cross before opening his second book.

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Started preparing choco giveaways as Christmas treats... my little elves helped and gave the endeavor greater meaning for me (even if it took Yamee a minute at least to ponder which chocolate ball to put in the bag each time).

*~*

Champorado with a little fresh milk and lots of powdered milk... divine.

Yamee having 3 helpings of it... bad parenting on my part :D




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Oh gosh... The boys are suddenly quiet at the other house. Do I check on them or continue with the chores (and my breakfast)?

( ahh, tame sila the first time. They just scattered two boxes of toys Nung second time na, Yamee was sliding down the stair rails na, dun na nag-shoot up ang temper ko

*~*

A face only I can produce and something I cannot resist.

Sleep na, Yamee!



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Both boys reached milestones tonight... Which ended in tears for the Bunso whose creation was knocked over by Kuya accidentally.

Sigh.



Yamee's first time to build something that had form

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Yamee will not say PLEASE but will say DIABLO.

Hayst.


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Yamee didn't like hearing us call other kids as BUNSO so we gathered some of the bunsos in the family.



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Found a note on the dining table from my Dad which said, "please don't eat, only for Yamee".

I hid the note and somberly tasted the fried meat I saw... Then later on told hubs about it and how sad I was that my father could be playing favorites.

Then, my Dad arrived and was all excited about the special food he left for Yamee. Then, he said that we shouldn't eat it coz it's to make Yamee talk.

I froze and asked if it was the privates of a pig and my Dad said yes. Then he asked if we ate it.

Suffice it to say... My father loves our youngest in an old-fashioned way, and I am a little traumatized.

And weirdly enough, both boys like it.


*~*

Yamee went missing for a while. Pappie Jojo found him crouched behind MIL's Christmas tree. When asked what he was doing there, he started brandishing and waving a knife he was holding...

Making of a psycho moment... Hehe


*~*

Pappie Jojo, Yamee is 43 duplo blocks tall.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

You Are Now Two!

I won't deny it, I am still talking to your angels and asking God to give you the gift of right speech. But I am still not overly concerned. It's actually funny that you're sounding out the alphabet along with Kuya and I.

You are more given to petulance lately... and just before your birthday, you were extra hungry, clingy, needy that I thought you might be coming down with something. You have recently taken a series of minor falls that left you more offended than wounded, and you cut my yarn that I had to keep tying them together.

Sigh.

You still like being read to and still adore cars... and is on a perpetual war over a certain stuffed toy dog with your Kuya.

For a while, you wouldn't eat right and would just insist on throwing things and putting the bowl over your head. But I'm glad you're back to feeding yourself again most of the time. I'm glad you like your cloth diapers. I'm glad you can spray water on your own.

I'm not glad that you still generally walk around without slippers on... and would just plop on any ground when you feel like it, even if it's dirty, wet or ant-infested. You're really a boy of the earth, hehe.

Pappie's birthday gift to you is a drum set, which you played with that first day... but haven't played with since. So, here's a pic of you enjoying the gift that first hour:

 
I can't help but whisper in your ear sometimes, "what will mommy do, mommy doesn't have a baby anymore" because you are now officially a preschooler.  But oh darling, you're still my baby and how bittersweet it really is to see you all grown up and coming into your own (temper, wahahaha).
 
I love how you'd insist that Mommy and Pappie do things for you, instead of Ate Nene and Kuya (but mind, it's very frustrating too!).
 
Two months from now, we will begin the parent-child program at St. Michael... and that will be the beginning of our official dates :)
 
*~*
Miscellaneous FB updates:
My sons are soooo lucky. They ended up getting lots of new toys from us and their grandma at the Rob Warehouse sale. So, I told Yakee we have to give away some of his old ones... aside from space issues, I don't want them to have too many toys that they're overwhelmed to do any meaningful play with any of it... and for them not to take care of them because there's so many others as backup.

Good luck to not being hit by toy arrows though... because Yamee was already hitting me with the nunchaku.


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The kids enjoyed National Museum so much... because of all the parquet floors and space to run about in... and the echo.

At one point, hubby had to tell other patrons that Yamee was the museum's sweeper/polisher disguised as a kid... because he LOVED rolling and sliding everywhere.


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As karma to me letting our 7-year old neighbor babysit my kids for me, Yakee is now going around saying he has a crush (because neighbor girl has a crush on her friend) on his classmate too... and that Yamee has a crush on him because Bunso kissed Kuya.

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Because Yamee was throwing a tantrum during lunch (and our attempts at comforting him or distracting him weren't amounting to anything), hubs and I decided we will just let him cry it out and we'd just comfort him after he's calmed down a little.

Yakee came to us brandishing a wooden sword, looking very upset. Then, on the verge of tears, he said, "I am angry to you. I take care of my brother but the two of you don't."

Yes.... sumbatan :D


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Two days ago, Yamee showed me his hands filled with some crinkle crumbs and was signifying they needed to be washed. I told him, "No need to wash baby, just go wipe."

He immediately walked past the hand towel hanging by the fridge door and went to the mat outside the CR... and wiped his feet.

Sabi ko nga!


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Asked hubs to get boxes from work and he also got some from MIL for our decluttering plans... but the boys have turned the balikbayan box into a slide, and the other boxes into tunnels and 'grouch' homes...

so.. pano na?


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Let's just say... you each have your own brand of naughtiness :)

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The cemetery was his playground...

 
 
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Uhm.... my sons know a balikbayan box when they see one. Kinda scary and too cute :D

Wooden toys, here we come!!!

(I was so excited to show the boys the wooden toys... but yamee is playing with the chains and the rope that came in the box, and yakee is preoccupied with the books lang)

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Mommy's super sleepy making this, darling, but oh.... how bittersweet it is for me that our baby is now 2!

I am loving your pout baby!


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Yakee put on a puppet show for us. I wasn't sure which was more wonderful... his attempts at storytelling that way, or the wonder in Yamee's eyes as he watched his Kuya.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Why So Cantankerous, Baby?

It just occurred to me that waking up with you is very different from waking up with Kuya before. You, unfortunately, seldom LIKED waking up... was seldom in a happy mood to immediately play with me upon waking up... seldom smiles or giggles after waking up.

Usually, you'd demand for the breast again and again and again in a frustrated way until you've had enough.... or I've had enough.

But lately, you have also started switching on that naughty smile when we're already starting to rerpimand you. It is really so infinitely hard to keep scolding when you're so cute. And yes, Mommy had your head shaved again. You really just look better that way, baby.

I don't have much FB status updates involving you... but that doesn't mean you haven't grown much this past month. Your balance, for example, is a lot better now. You still take falls but a lot fewer :)  You've progressed to jumping off the sofa and some stair steps too.

Sometimes, when you trip or fall, you immediately start scolding and growling at Kuya... even though most of the time it's all you. How cross you look, and how cute.

Just tonight, you pouted at Pappie with your arms on your waist/hips... haha. You like pouting... and you like Mommy doing things fory you. How you resist Pappie or Ate Nene helping you wash hands or change you when I'm around.

One very great thing is... you are more amenable to brushing your teeth now. Love it!

And you sign more... and are more verbal. Now, Pappie and Tita Grace have heard you say "aho" (taho) and "bye" and you like immitating Mommy by calling Ate Nene for me. How I really wish you will talk soon, darling, though that will also kind of make me sad because then... yet another step from babyhood will be done.

Happily, I have managed to feed you more succesfully these days. It's not that your appetite isn't there (except when you were sick, maybe) but you intend on showering yourself with the food... or throwing them at Kuya.

Sometimes, I still get exhausted when you're in that difficult mode of now knowing what you want. But all in all, you are lovable and cute and sweet. Now, you even like kissing us all one at a time, when it was very hard to prompt you to do so before.

Because I instructed Pappie to lap read to you, your drive to be read to was stimulated that you're now more able to sit through a book (but you still insist on being the one to leaf through it) and you LOVE sitting on our laps.

You still like that naming game where you point to things and expect us to label it for you. That's how I know you're making sense of this world in your own way.

You've developed a bad habit of JUST wanting to eat the icing or butter off food though... tsk tsk tsk.

You amazed me with the Tangrams because your fine motor skills are really so well developed... and you showed how you can sort things, stack things and attempt to make pictures.

One thing that distracts you and is your favorite game to play is getting me to guess which fist has whatever it is you're hiding there. Funnily though, because your fists are so small, we could sometimes see the object and you would refuse to open the fist with the object... you insist we pick the empty hand. Or,sometimes, both fists would be empty (as it turns out) because, what you want me to find is the big object in front of us... or the object is hidden under some canister or box.

You're cute that way!

Kuya has been more patient with you and I wish I can say the same thing about you... haha... but you adore your brother and still perpetually try to emulate everything he does. There were a few times though that I had to let you cry yourself to sleep (and downstairs) this month because you'd insist on playing way into the night (which doesn't help all the crankiness in the morning)... and well, it's nice to know that YOU CAN sleep on your own already.

Next month, you will already be two. Really no longer an infant nor a toddler... and I sooo, sooo love you!

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Misc FB updates:

After 1.5 hours of theatrics ('coz he bawled while lying on the stairs) and hysterics (I'm sure neighbors thought I had locked him up in a cage)... Yamee finally fell in an exhausted sleep.

Now... I dare not transfer you to the bed lest you start wailing again.


I think I will really invest in these multi scarves just so they can play pirate and ninja in style :D

*~*

First... I heard Yamee's soft, pretend whimpering. Then, a repeated soft wailing for "Mama". When I turn to look at him, he was sitting, his back against a wall, covered all over by a blanket.

If this was the first time it happened, i'd have probably screamed in fright.

Talk about crazy kids :D


*~*

Their current brotherly trick is jumping from the headboard of our bed together...


 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Yamee Baby: Quite Contrary

Heaven knows how much I love you, Mahal... how I am struck by amazement and and a tinge of sadness every time I hold you close and realize that you're no longer a baby (but like Kuya, you'd always be MY baby). I really cannot stop myself from nuzzling your neck and hugging you, somehow hoping that time will stand still for a while, and you'd stop growing at the rate you're going.

Sigh.

I love you so much.... but I also want to just lock you in a room and have nothing to do with you at times when you're being very contrary.

I find myself selfishly praying that you'd talk already, just so I can understand better. I guess, in a way, my prayers were heard and are being answered... because you're more willing to sign now. You still don't know enough for us to communicate properly in terms of activities or meals but it's a start. And you're babbling more... and more willing to repeat some words/sounds (like Banana and Nene). Based on my non-expert opinion, I'd say your language development is behind by 6 months to a year compared to other toddlers. But much as I want you to talk already (if only to assure myself that you aren't mute nor have speech problems), I'm cool with that. It is what it is.

But you are VERY CONTRARY.

I know Kuya went through a phase like that... when you want everything and don't want everything and nothing I can do can please you. But Kuya didn't start and end our days with tantrums. Bedtime is sometimes a battleground between us... and I sometimes can't help myself being cross for the better part of the morning because you chose to kick and scream and whine upon waking up.

Sigh.

You hate it when Kuya demands a toy back. You hate it when Kuya wants the toy that you got. You hate it when Kuya leaves without you. You hate it when Kuya goes first on something.

BUT you are now Kuya's true-blue playmate. In fact, Kuya earlier told me that I got pregnant because he asked God for a playmate.

And you're always easy to, and eager to share.

And your fave imaginative play is going around pretending to get things and put them somewhere (like in a bag, or your mouth).

We bought you a notebook of your own when you kept trying to be allowed to use Kuya's notebook... but you didn't like the new notebook and preferred the BIG scratch book.

Your method of saying hello to our plants is to try and pull them (you  killed two mongo plants the minute we got back home).

When you're being naughty... your father sometimes can't help but burst into laughter because you either look soooo much like me, or sooo much like your grandpa.

And you attract insects like crazy... you have so many itchies on your legs (which you scratch) and arms and legs, you look like you're a streetchild :D

And man... your appetite for meat and strong flavors is a little disgusting for me (tomato and garlic dip, and you try to drink it! ewww).

And I thank God that I have finally figured out how to brush your teeth properly... I let you brush me while I brush you. That's the only way where you'll allow me to really clean your mouth.

I love you Yamee... I have told hubs that IF we have another child... I really want it to be a girl, not just because I want a girl, but because I want you to be BUNSO forevermore. The girl will be PRINSESA :)

================

Miscellaneous FB updates:

Upon seeing what looked like a baby centipede, Yamee's initial reaction was to mock-eat it off the floor.

Suffice it to say, I felt weepy inside and asked God again why He gave me boys.


*~*

Yamee... on the other hand, has just shown me that he can sort Lego blocks by color :) And line them too! (posted Aug. 23)

YES... all the bumps and falls and crashes didn't damage their brains!

*~*

Biruin mo... same face shape :D

(but Bunso isn't happy you have a baby girl in your arms, mahal kong Jojo)



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Yakee to Yamee: If you cannot sign or talk, I will not let you borrow my toys.

tsk. pressure!

(and your expression showed you understood that Kuya was asking you to do something you still cannot do... awww)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Growing Independent

Just a few days shy of being a year and 9-months old, you're still not talking. But you've grown very self-sufficient... automatically cleaning up after making a mess, climbing shelves to get to pens, bring cups and glasses to me at the sink and packing away after you're done with something.

You love the photo album... and love getting us to tell you whatever it is you're pointing at in the album or in books. Now, you also sorta pretend to take your turn being read to at bedtime.

You still love meat... and just last dinner time, feasted on pickles. You also love sauces and dips.

You like fine motor stuff... pasting things, sorting, doodling... but you can also spend a long time just sliding down the sofa bed, or running around, or exercising with us. It's so cute when you try to jump (and you can, with two feet).

You've also developed this affected big hug for every person that arrives... hehe... which is really sweet. And it's still really hard correcting and scolding you because your lips still quiver, and you bow your head as if you're the most pitiful sight in the whole wide world... then siddle up for a hug.

In your father's own words... you're such a character!

*~*

Here are my FB alerts about you since the last update:

Lolo... do you know, I love crabs :)


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great, Yamee just ate dust off the aircon

*~*

Great.
At one year amd eight months, Yamee can hitch himself up over the stair railing and slide down all by himself ... and all in pursuit of doing everything his older brother does.

Kuya is a clapping mess of proud.

The parents cannot quite afford to be.

Stress. (July 17, day of the fall)

*~*

Babies sure grow up soooo fast...



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Hubby Jojo reinforced some things in Yamee because he found it cute. So, now, Yamee walks around with puckered lips (nguso) and crossing his arms on his chest when he doesn't like something.

Paluin ko tatay, no?

*~*

Yamee was his usual exploring self when we heard a rattling/shaking sound... when we looked at him, we saw that he was shaking this canister where Jojo was collecting his kidney stones. Bwahahahaha

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more on your fall:

It was like slow motion for me, because somehow, you did land on every step... which was why, even though I felt all kinds of bad and scared, I also knew you couldn't be seriously hurt. You didn't fly off the stairs, you rolled down.

You cried, I held you, breastfed you, and within 2-3 minutes, you unlatched and proceeded to continue playing.... as if nothing happened. That was another sign for me that you weren't seriously hurt. Your late-night cryings lasted longer than that one.

And then at the hospital... you were dancing and exploring and really playful and pa-cute.

Thank you Baby, for being ok after that fall!
 
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