Dylan's Moving Up Day

We have reached another milestone in Dylan's life - his Moving Up Ceremony.  It's really such an achievement for him because he has to work really hard at it because of his speech impairment.  However, he has improved a lot - he's much more articulate now, he can keep up with the conversation and contribute to it, he can sing clearly and he can write some of his favorite letters and numbers.  I owe it all to his teachers in Little Sofie and to his teachers at Core Skills.  He still has a long way to go and we need all the help that we can get :)


His Moving Up Ceremony was held at the San Beda Conference Hall (the teachers at Little Sofie all come from San Beda so they have a special arrangement with them).   Everyone looked so cute with their long-sleeved shirts and well-brushed hair :)  and the girls in their "gowns" (yes, there were some students who actually wore ball gowns!) I was rather disappointed in some of the parents that didn't treat the ceremony with the formality that it deserved.  Some wore ultra-mini skirts that the moment they went up on stage to place the medals on their kids, everyone was "treated" to a sight that they didn't want to see...  uggh.. I think that parents also need to be behaved during ceremonies like this.  The kids were well-behaved but the parents were becoming unruly trying to get pictures of their kids.  It's understandable that they want to preserve the moment, but the fact is, they were becoming disruptive and the ceremony was turning into chaos because of them.. hmm..








I do commend Ms. Shiela, Teacher Dory, Teacher Karen, Teacher Kat and Teacher Del for all their hard work in their preparations.  They all looked very beautiful too! :)








Dylan got the Most Polite and Most Cheerful awards! hahaha After the event, we went to JT's Manukan Grille for some much needed lunch :)

Dylan's 5th Birthday

March is always a busy year.  Especially when you have to deal with graduations and moving up ceremonies.  It's doubly exciting for us since the kids both celebrate their birthdays in the same month.  Granted, it can also be cheaper since you only have to celebrate once, which at this point in their lives, they don't mind hahaha


So anyway, we didn't have a celebration planned for Dylan.  We figured, since he's going to his Moving Up ceremony on the 22nd anyway, we'd celebrate then and make it a double celebration (jeez, reading back, that's a lot of "celebration" words hehe).  Thanks to Ate Den and Kuya Erghie Dylan had his first gift of the day. :)  He got two workbooks :) What we wanted was to buy a bike for Dylan.  He finally figured out how to ride his small bike - before he used to pedal his feet on the ground instead of driving the pedals themselves. We thought about where to buy a good, quality bike.  We've learned our lesson with Dana's bike which we bought from a mall.  It broke down so fast, it stayed in the storage far longer than Dana was able to use it.

This time, we headed to the bike lane in Quiapo where we were able to buy Dylan's bike at a much cheaper price but it's a far better quality than that of Dana's.  We had to walk the length of the avenue to get a feel for what's available.  It was very hot but the corn and the green mangoes made it all worthwhile :) There were cheap bikes, there were expensive bikes.  Some bikes looked like old stock.  Some looked new.  Others looked rickety, others looked really sporty.

We found the best deal at King's Bicycle shop where the sales assistant was helpful without being too forceful. That quality to me is as important as the cost of the bike :D  It was slightly more expensive than in other stores but we thought that their quality was good considering the number of customers currently in the store and actually buying stuff from them.  Before we actually finalized the sale, we went over to the Globe Lumpia store in Raon!  It's such great tasting lumpia and cheap too!  We bought a lot for our lunch for when we get back home.  

We went back to King's Bicycle and bought Dylan's Spiderman bike.  We had to wait a while for the technician to assemble the bike too.  We kept ourselves occupied by admiring all the bike parts.  One caught Patrick's eye - it was a Cannondale bike frame that was so light you can pick it up with one hand.  But the price blew us away! It cost P60,000 (roughly $1400) enough for Dana's 2 years of education LOL We just took a cab to get home.

That same day, we also took Dana's bike to the shop near the house.  It turned out, the sprockets needed to be replaced and Patrick also bought bells which he affixed to the kids' bikes :)  Needless to say, we were all singing to Queen's "I want to ride my bicycle" throughout the day.  

As a treat, that Saturday, we all trooped to the Quezon Memorial Circle so that the kids will have the freedom to enjoy riding their bikes.  It's kind of hampering them having to just circle around the living room at home Den and Erghie also came with us.  We had to remove Dana's bike balancers to get her accustomed to riding, which at first made her really mad and frustrated :)  But all in all, it was a good day.  We rounded off everything with a trip to JT's Manukan Grille for lunch :)

Book Review: This is your Brain IN LOVE

March 16, 2010

Who wouldn’t want to know how their brain behaves when they’re in love?  I, for one, was caught by the title of this book (that comes complimentary from BookSneeze) and was instantly interested to find out what Dr. Henslin (the author) had to say about it.

Basically, this book is about “improving a troubled marriage, fueling the fires of passion and keeping a life-long love alive”.  The difference is that  Dr. Henslin uses brain imaging scans to bring therapy to a whole different level.  He discusses the five types of Lovers in detail:  the Scattered Lover, the Overfocused Lover, the Blue Mood Lover, the Agitated Lover and the Anxious Lover to provide insights you and your partner can evaluate on your own or as a couple and recommends solutions to facing such challenges. 

I really liked this book because it talks about the totality of marriage like a work in progress.  There’s the element of sex and intimacy between the couple (I found that list on Jewish tradition to be really fascinating that I had to share it with partner) and how it relates to the spirituality of their marriage.  Then, there’s the whole section on the Five Types of Lovers.  There are tables, checklists and brain scan images that are really fun to explore.  If you find that you’re not of that type, then you can skip it and focus on yours.  It’s very readable even though there may be scientific and medical terms to understand.  The anecdotes about the couples he had in therapy put a realistic stamp on his practice.  I also really loved the fact that he doesn’t rely on giving you pills immediately but offers a refinement of your diet and nutrition as part of the solution. 

This is a book that you can refer to again and again.  It is very useful for couples and even as individuals if you’re feeling lost in your marriage.  I found it fascinating, interesting and hard to put down.  Thumbs Up!

Trip to Quezon Memorial Circle

March 13, 2011

Do you have the same feeling when the weekend arrives and your feet are itching to go somewhere?  That happens to me a lot. :) Being cooped up in the house for 5 days in a row can make you go ga-ga so during the weekends, I wish to go out.  It doesn't really matter where I go, just need to get out of the house.

Well, we know that on Saturday we had Dylan's photo shoot so that basically covered that day.  On Sunday, I thought that we should bring the kids to the park and have them ride bikes.  When we went to the Quezon Memorial Circle before, there were just too many people that it wouldn't be fun for the kids to ride their bikes because you simply had no road to run on.  Well, fortunately, when we arrived, there were less people and we finally had a chance to ride.  It was also a good day because Den was able to come with us after such a long time of missing out on our travels :)

So there we were, Den on BMX bike (rental P80/hr), Dana with her solo bike (rental P80/hr) and our trike (rental P100/hr).  At first, we got a small trike for Dana to drive while Dylan rode with her.  But, I think the weight of the bike was too much for her to handle and she was getting frustrated driving it so we decided to get her her own bike.  Patrick and I took turns driving Dylan around but my butt ended up getting too sore so Patrick had to bear most of the driving.  The seat cushion was too small and hard and the handlebars kept bumping my knees.  The bike that we got was too small for us! LOL It was all worth it though because Dylan really loved the wind in his hair and being driven around.  When Patrick stopped by our table, Dylan will always tell him, "Daddy, you're not yet done.  You have to ride some more!" LOL

When our hour was up, we returned the bikes and went in search of some snacks to eat.  There was a number of stalls there and we settled with eating california maki, tokwa't baboy and kwek-kwek (battered quail eggs).  Weird combination, huh? :)

After resting a bit, we headed to Patrick's neighborhood barber to get a haircut.  Then, we went to Shopwise in Cubao for some grocery shopping.  Funny enough, the kids weren't tired at all and they had so much energy! :)

Here are our pictures:

Dylan's Photo Shoot

March 12, 2010

Today is a milestone in Dylan's life :)  This is the first time he'll be participating in a professional photo shoot for Smart Parenting magazine (online version).  How did this happen, you ask?  Well, during the week, Patrick was, of course, working at the office when Steph from Smart Parenting came over to the Top Gear digital cubicle and was asking co-workers if they had kids, specifically boys ranging between 4-6 years old.  Patrick told me he had to compute for Dylan's age considering he was having his 5th birthday this coming 18th :)  When he said he had a boy fitting the description, they both looked at pictures of Dylan on Facebook and Steph liked what she saw and she told Patrick that details for the photo shoot will be emailed as soon as they were finalized.  Then, we found out that the photo shoot will be for Saturday and we got so excited! :)

So now, it's Saturday and we all woke up early so we won't be late :) First impressions last and all that :)  It's good that we know where the photo shoot will be held (Somerset Millenium Makati) so we know we won't get lost on the way.  When we got there, we had a little time for Dylan to get accustomed to the place.  He usually isn't fussy when encountering some place new but it's good that he immediately became comfortable so easily.  He was actually the first person/model to be photographed because he didn't have to put make up on LOL

It was fun watching Dylan hamming it up in front of the camera.  To him, it was just like playtime :)  We do a lot of the same stuff at home - making funny faces, pretending to take pictures and generally just really goofing about :)  It worked well during the photo shoot because all his shots look really natural and he was able to take direction really well.  He also didn't complain at all which was a huge plus factor! :)  He was just a little confused why he has to change clothes a number of times but other than that things proceeded as scheduled :))

The whole photo shoot took about 4 hours because of setting up, changing clothes, taking a break for lunch and getting the kids ready.  It was a relief that Dylan didn't get tired! LOL

Here's a preview of some of Dylan's pictures courtesy of Smart Parenting.  The article came out on March 14th and here's a link to it.

Happy 7th Birthday, Dana! :)

Happy Birthday to our beautiful daughter, Dana Catherine! :)

You can't imagine how fast time flies.  Here's one way to think about Dana's 7th birthday:  It's been seven years since she came out of the hotel, yes, the one I call, The Womb! LOL  It's truly incredible how such a small person can blossom into this lovely little girl that's obviously a product of Patrick and me :)  I may look like her, but her mood swings are definitely Patrick's LOL

I've often heard that the 7th birthday is a real milestone in a child's life.  I haven't really guessed why.  For me, every day that your child is alive is a milestone and should be celebrated not with parties (they help) but with love and affection.  And though Patrick and I really wanted to celebrate Dana's birthday with a huge bash, unfortunately, this year, we are kind of painfully stripped off a budget for it.  It's tough, when you think about it.  I feel guilty not being able to give her THE Party which her classmates in school obviously had.   I'm just glad that she accepts the reality and am proud of her for understanding it.

Though she didn't have a grand celebration, I did surprise her with a gift when she woke up that morning.  I asked her Ate Den to have a huge tarpaulin made of her favorite character, Willy Wonka, played by Johnny Depp.  See, Dana really likes Willy Wonka/Johnny Depp.  She brings the DVD everywhere she goes.  When she's watching TV, the DVD is right beside her watching with her ;) So, she was really surprised and her eyes glowed with delight when I presented that rolled-up tarpaulin for her :)  Her smile was priceless!!

After her school, we surprised her with a trip to SM Centerpoint for lunch :)  We all ate at Savory (Patrick was still at the office) and her Ate Den presented her with their gift - a Spongebob wallet :)  We also bought her a cake and bought ingredients for carbonara (her favorite) for dinner :)

Hot and Sour Soup

Kikiam