June - The Start of Classes

It has come to this.  My two kids are now in school.  Has time flown by so quickly that it was only a few years ago that my two kids came out of me?? It's still unbelievable and highly surprising that when I think about it, it was like yesterday that I'm cradling my babies in my arms, having a lot of sleepless nights, washing endless bottles of milk and making regular trips to the pediatrician.

Now, this June, Dana will be in First Grade while Dylan will be starting Preschool.  I have no qualms about Dana starting a new year in school only that it surprised me to find out that she'll be spending a half day in school and bringing her own packed lunch.  I remember distinctly when I was in Grade I, my classes didn't take up a half day.  Get this, she needs 13 notebooks for all her classes and she has 10 workbooks which she needs to lug to school everyday - whew! talk about pressure! hahaha

Dylan, on the other hand, makes me nervous.  Though I know he's used to being left with a teacher since that's what happens during his speech therapy.  I have no idea how he'll handle nursery and being in a class by himself.  Fortunately, over the summer, he was able to get used to a classroom setting when I enrolled him in a preschool near us.  He was received well in Little Sofie and he blossomed there!  So when he started regular classes, it was a cinch for him.  They also had 2 hours of classes from Monday to Friday and it's great that they only had 6 students to a class which meant that the teacher will be able to track the students' progress with ease and since he also spent some time there during the summer, the teachers already have a soft spot for him.

In the first picture, Dylan is wearing his formal daily uniform which they wear Monday to Wednesday.  On Thursdays, they can wear civilian clothing and on Fridays, they wear their P.E. Uniform as you can see from the 2nd picture.

Another highlight in Dylan's school life is having additional free sessions in his Speech Therapy classes.  He was fortunate to have been selected to receive additional free therapy from Speech Pathology interns from the University of the Philippines.  Though it meant an additional hour every week for a year, it's still a huge benefit because it means that his progress will be quicker.  And the "free" price tag is unbeatable! LOL

Health Issues Galore!

Sometimes things happen all at once and you just wish that they wouldn't.  For instance, this May there are a lot of expenses brought by education.  You have school supplies and uniforms not to mention the tuition for the three kids.  You really have to keep track of the expenses if you want to be able to eat three times a day! LOL

On top of that, we were scheduled to visit the kids' pediatrician for their regularly vaccinations and check-up.  It's tough having to bring them together because you can just imagine how much their visit costs LOL But then, when you think about it, you'll still pay for the medicines because you don't want anything bad to happen to them.

But wait, there's more!! Dylan was also scheduled for a visit to his child development specialist to evaluate whether he's improved from his speech therapy the past few months.  Each visit costs P2000 for like an hour of evaluation!! Good Grief!! But that's the price you have to pay for you to know about your child's development.. The good news though is that Dylan has definitely shown signs of improvement but he still needs to continue with his therapy for articulation drills.  His vocabulary has increased but his motor skills still need some work.  He has been told to practice buttoning his shirts.  The funny thing is that he rarely wears shirts that need to be buttoned hence the missing skill! LOL

His enrollment in summer preschool certainly paid off.  We decided to enroll him in summer school because Teacher Amy (his speech pathologist) noticed some attention deficiency.  To me, it wasn't a big deal because aren't kids easily bored anyway? LOL  But still, we figured that getting him accclimated in a school setting might change his behavior regarding sitting still and paying attention.  It certainly helped that his teacher was very patient and knew how to take care of him.  It was also training ground for him entering preschool.

Patrick wasn't also immune to all these health concerns.  During the 2nd week of May, he complained about his foot hurting and he suspected gout as he has seen with some of his friends.  He ended up buying a cane to help him move about and the kids were teasing him about being like Dr. House :D  After taking some painkillers, the pain subsided.  But it returned with a vengeance and we ended up going to the UST ER after his office.  We stayed there until around 3AM and still not knowing for certain that it was gout.  He was prescribed some painkillers, had some blood work and urinalysis done too.  It was kind of sad that while we were there in the ER, someone died and it was like watching something on TV when everyone was in a flurry of activity to resuscitate the patient.  I could feel the pain of the loved ones who were left behind.

Funny enough, with all these health issues, I got a call from a health provider saying I can claim a discount card for their medical services, especially for lab work.  I immediately dragged Patrick with me to claim it LOL because at least the next time that someone is sick, at least there's some discount card I can use to lessen the expenses LOL

Taking care of Stanley

The thing about having a 2nd hand car is the maintenance.  It needs more maintenance than new cars but when you don't have enough money to pay for a spanking brand new car then you have to live with the quirks and minor repairs of your 2nd hand car.  This is a lesson I'm learning with Stanley, our beloved Subaru Legacy.

Granted that so far, most of the repairs have been minor, like buffing up his paint or replacing his wheels.  These minor repairs can still cost you an arm and a leg! LOL The only major repair we've had so far was when his CV joints got busted and we were practically crawling from Pampanga to Manila.. but still, in other cars, their wheels would've just rolled off.  Other repairs include aesthetic things like a new sound system (we got the Sony Xplod thingy), grilles and garnishing (yeah, a car term!) and headlights.

One maintenance schedule that we follow is the oil change.  Unfortunately, when we had most of Stanley's oil changed last time, Ondoy arrived at our doorstep.  Stanley was flooded.  Goodbye to all that oil!!  It's only now that we're able to finally change his oil, after months of saving up.  We went to Speedlab along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City which was owned by Patrick's co-worker.  I can sense the difference as soon as we got in and went on our way home.  Stanley was practically purring like a cat :)

The next item on our maintenance schedule was the repair of Stanley's aircon.  This was looked at by my uncle who owns a car-aircon shop earlier.  They made stop-gap measures to keep the car cool.  But over the summer, the heat was just too strong that even at the highest setting, Stanley couldn't keep us cool.  What's worse, there was a leak somewhere and Stanley's dripping water!!

Patrick thought Stanley's condenser and one other part that I fail to remember now need to be replaced.  We took Stanley to Fusion R along E. Rodriguez since they're well-known to Subaru owners for supplying good quality 2nd-hand but original Subaru parts. Turns out, the condenser wasn't the problem but the tubes and fittings needed to be replaced.  There was a lot of detail that I didn't understand but all in all it was like I bought a room airconditioner for the price of all those repairs.  The bottom line, Stanley was breathing cool, cold air again and that was what's important.

I think next on the agenda will be the replacement of the glass tint.  We need to get the tint with more heat-rejection because it gets really hot.  If any of you have suggestions as to what tint we should get, feel free to leave a comment :)