Milestones of my 14months old

telling me to get out of his way, busy watching elmo.

He is now 14months and as always very full of energy that sometimes i wonder where he got it from lol. Definitely not from dad, he is more laid back and mellow. Perhaps from me? So what's my little toddler's up to these days?

Vocabularies, milestones and silly personalities of Mattie:

-"Dada/dadee" seem to be his favorite word(for his daddy),"papa" for grandpa.
-Refers to his bottle as "data" for gatas(i'm trying to talk in bisaya as much as possible)
-Saying "Adada" as he pointed his finger to the monitor(tv/pc) to play elmo dvds.(grandma got him a dvd player and elmo learning discs for valentines day). He's glued to it when it's playing.
-"Meme/mama" as he learn to call grandma and "Ma/mum-mee" for mommy(me). Very often that he calls my name unless he needs something(sad).
-Calls his banana as "Manamana".
-Mastered the word "tat" for our cat buddy. His no longer scared of her when she hiss and more comfortable petting her. On a good day he would just smile as she passes by with a mean look.
- "Ssssh" sound when he sees the snake picture.
-"Argggghh" for bears, tiger, alligator, still trying to create a different sound for each animal though.
"Aw-aw-aw" for puppy sound. Glances to our backdoor window to watch the next door neighbors barking dogs. He is fascinated with these creatures.
-says "hi" with gladness
-says "bye" with hands waving to everyone that leaves
-gives blow kisses when you tell him so
-says "nye nye" for bedtime
-very stingy with kisses but when his in the mood he smother us with wet kisses on our face.
-knows how to say "up" when climbing the stairs, even when he wants to go down he would say it too.
-recognizes the birds and their sound when he sees it and points his finger to tell mom.
-says "bloon" for balloon at the grocery store and books. We have to ask the friendly grocery associate to blow one for him otherwise he'll throw a fit and say the word nonstop.
-Knows how to turn the tv remote tv on, and at the daycare they told me that he now knows how to turn on the dvd player as well.
-He can get in and out of this kiddie car although he is still trying to figure out how to drive learning to push the beep beep button is enough for an exciting day
-Learning how to putt his golf ball is a lot of fun when his grandpa babysits
-says "at" when the food is hot and blows it at the same time

At the school they moved him last monday to the toddler II section with two of his classmates(2 blonde girls lol) . Teacher said that he's way advanced and now ready to learn new fun activities. I'm proud to be told that he is advancing. Not so surprise since he already starts walking at 10mnths. Thus all other developments came pretty early as well. Also, his school had them participate into activities from drawing to scribble and reading which i'm sure enhances their skill potential at that age. You can say i'm bias but i have nothing but support to daycares as long as i know they are watched and taken good care of i'm all for it. Anyway, he loves to give hugs and kisses to stuff toys and pictures than us. He seem to be born with fins, he loves to be in the water for hours. Whether in the tub, backyard with the water hose on or the beach his fearless and never gets tired of it. Loves grapes and banana the most for snacks, he still eats applesauce but less of the chunky fresh one. Basically eats any table food i served as long as it's soft. Not very fond of meats unless it's cut very small and again soft. Sleeping pattern, oh what a treat for me and Richard. Our boy can sleep. He averages from 9-11hrs at night and naps for two hours at the daycare. On the weekend he'll sleep an hour in the morning and another 30mins-1hr in the afternoon. Since our december trip i don't have any problems putting him to sleep. Lights dim and mobile songs playing and he is out in 10mins. For this i can't complain. He knows how to outsmart our staircase gate now that he simply stick his head underneath and on his way up climbing. We have to lower it or put pillows as stoppers on the first stair as blockage. On telephone rings he would respond by putting his hands on his ears and says "looo" for hello. He gets mad when you take away any phones out of his tiny fingers.

He recognizes the number words as you say it. On his elmo movies that has a counting scene he would stomp his feet to each of the number spoken . I guess he is counting too. The part that i love the most is when he gives kisses and hugs with a smile. I am going to cherish and remember these sweet tricks forever. Knowing that when he becomes an adult i won't be getting it a lot so enjoy it while it lasts.

Lovin mommyhood....

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I'm Back!

Since our December trip to the Philippines i have been neglecting this blog for quite some time. You know what it means when your a fulltime working mother. Some hobbies can always take a back seat when needed. Actually, I can make time to sit and type if i wanted to but life got hectic the day we came back which is the very next morning(i have to go to work). Poor sleepy me. I regret i didn't put an extra day off to at least relax and sleep normal. Not so smart of me. Not even a room for jetlag excuse. And one year old Mattie moving now like a maniac lol which pretty much sums up my entire exhausted day. Who said life is easy when your hands are way too full? But isn't it amazing how your body can accomodate all of it. It's innate. We're born to be flexible i think, at least i claim to be one. So no more slacking and it's time to update this dormant website..

First of, our trip to PI.

Initial stop to Manila for 3 days to shop for diaper since we didn't bring tons of it with us on the plane. Nothing exciting really, just a day of golf and dinner with Richard's business friend. Richard and I were trying to fast forward manila everytime we talk about our trip. It's because we lost our brand new sanyo HD camcorder there. Bought just for the trip. Went to glorietta on our first day in manila to get some food and some peso bills. On our way back to the hotel we forgot to take the camera out from the taxi's trunk. It wasn't in one of our SM bags so we figure it was left alone there without the drivers knowledge. Lot of things happened while at the mall that we rushed back to the hotel. Both of our concentration diverted to something else and not to our belongings. No blames pointed out but it did sure broke our heart that day. I even patiently waited outside the taxi stand hoping that the driver make his rounds again but no luck. I guess it was meant to be on someones hands on holidays. A freebie. Whoever got it must had a wonderful christmas. they could sell it for a thousand bucks easy with the brand new accessories like lenses, heck yah. Anyway, we proceeded to our next destination with less excitement because of the incident. We never recover the item after so many attempts of calling the taxi company and the drivers cell number. Hubby even promised the manila traffic enforcers stationed at SM some money if they find it. They did try though. Luckily, we have an old 5yr old digicam were supposed to give to my brother as a gift. But then again we didn't take lots of pictures from it coz everytime we do it reminds us of the other one we tossed away in a blink of an eye. At least that's how i feel. Hubby probably felt worst than i do. It's one of his precious toy btw. Anyhow, with our camera phones handy all the time we end up using it more often. Even though we still have our 2yr old sony digicam left here at home, Richard insisted of buying another one, same brand and model camcorder. Thanks to the insurance coverage, oh yes for times like this it's all worth insuring valuables. Otherwise i wont' let him spend a dime ever again for that piece of cool technology. He thinks it's the best one out there for it's size, functionality and features(sigh). What do i know about gadgets anyway?

Manila? yah not so exciting to recap......

Dinner with college friends at Cafe laguna. 2nd photo: Plantation bay resort.

Next stop was Cebu for 5 days to see my college friends and a little bit of sunny and sweaty golfing again.Wow how glad i was to visit this friendly city one more time. An overnight stay at Plantation Bay with friends was not in our iterinary but you can only do so much in the city of smiles. Definitely drain our wallet lol. Nevertheless, a great fun place for family to enjoy. Of course a night of exclusive karaoke was the night's theme, minus Mattie btw. For your FYI, hotel provides babysitter services for a reasonable price. A short visit but a good one. I'm reminiscing my college days while in cebu, indeed it was all great experiences i shall never forget. Cebu remains close to my heart for many many reasons that i consider retiring there in the future. Definitely one of my favorite city. Looking forward to the sinulog festival in '09 or 2010. To my awesome buddies there, watch out!

In Davao, Richard and Mattie was able to meet some of my mom and dad's relatives. It is near the holidays and off we are to SM mall to buy gifts for everyone in the family in Mati. I'm glad davao malls aren't as crowded as the ones in manila. Almost a week of fun and pleasure in the city of durian. Of course i didn't pass eating the famous stinky fruit. It wasn't season so i have to shed more money for 2 huge spikey durian. For me i didn't see a lot of big changes in Davao. It's still the same orderly clean city as far as i remember. They do have nice golf courses and housing development in the suburbs were tremendously increasing. We get the chance to talk to the real estate out of curiousity about few properties we were interested. Too pricey to afford if you want to live around the golf course area. What a ridiculous price they offer to my kano husband lol, it's like almost the same as buying it here in america. Pathetic.

Oh the overrated Marco Polo Hotel? it wasn't all that. I'm not too impressed, it was on ok hotel not the best in the city for sure. Just my opinion. I did have a night for clubbing. Sang a few songs with the band who also worked in beijing. They were from the same agency as me. Click the band photo and me here.

above photos: Pujada bay island of Mati

Left photo:cold spring with uncle. Right photo: hot spring with cousins.(mati springs)

Off we drive to our final destination. Mati City where i was born and raised. Just recently became a city of Davao Oriental. Lots of exquisite white sand beaches and small uninhabited islands to explore. Besides the mountains the beach is the most popular destination on the weekends and holidays for families to get together. We visited the popular hot and cold spring in Maragusan 2hrs drive away from the city. So refreshing travelling with the car window open. Pure fresh breeze of cold air. Loops of green vegetation was magnificent. It's like in the painting and storybooks. Although it was a bumpy terrain ride we manage to entertain the kids especially matthew the entire trip. How matthew loved to be in the water all day long was astounding. He had so much fun considering philippine water was his first dipped. He had both the fresh hot and cold mountain water pool and the salty sandy one. What a treat for our little boy.

Mattie on his baptismal outfit. Very uncomfortable wearing the itchy barong lol.

On christmas day was also Mattie's baptismal. The parish priest where my mother do some volunteer work was kind enough to squeeze in the ceremony to his already booked holiday schedule. A quickie one so to speak. I didn't mind, afterall, all we care was for him to recieve the sacrament... no big entourage just us immediate family. More swimming that i could care less getting lots of tan. I'm lovin it!

Then an icecream night with grandma and cousin angelo. Photo below.

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Hairstyling

His daddy finally had enough procastination, mattie was off to his high chair yesterday for his much needed trim. Since this is his first hair cut he was completely annoyed by our constant restraint. Poor boy, but we've reached the end without any cuts lol. Aside from the not so perfect cut it turned out to be just fine. He looks more like a little gentleman now. Traditional clean styling with a little dub of baby oil did the extra wonder lol.

So how do i look grandma and grandpa?

Recent photo of me and my mattie

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Walking at 10mnths

Finally had a shot of Mattie walking, were just too glued watching him learn it everyday that a camera doesn't come in handy anymore. Hubby is partly to blame since he is not into pictures, he would refer me as " worst than a japanese tourist"(stereotyping) before, thus made me less excited to grab a shot especially when i want multiple flashes to pick a good one lol. He's been walking at his own free will at 10mnths, now approaching 11mnths he gets too fired up that he wants to run already lol. More comfortable without the shoes of course, but he's trying to master it from time to time.

recent photo of Mattie.

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Afternoon Fun

left: Me w/ host Effy ,right: With Joy and Matthew

Mommy and son first outing together to meet a group of filipinas here in San antonio. It's also my first time to drive farther out of downtown, at first it was a breath clasping adventure the fact that i only have a printed direction in hand and not much familiar with the area we are about to explore but we managed to get there easy despite the wrong mapquest information. We didn't get lost but i end up calling the host to meet us up somewhere close to her area rather than driving around. It was a surprise baby shower for a newcomer filipina Joy. Host Effy was generous enough to prepare and cook for the party and even had her husband chef baked a fancy cake. I won two baby shower games, one is the the baby food guessing and the other is the belly measurement. I had fun meeting them all. Matthie was astounded with the new faces and voices but he eventually learned to mingle with them mommies and big kids later on. His first taste of bihon was pretty funny though lol. I thought he'll spit the tiny noodles out but didn't. Perhaps suggesting that i should cook some at home for he is ready for more.

left: With Joy the future mama right: All ladies photo

Effy thanks for the wonderful party.

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Seven Random Facts of Banot's Past

Tag from Geri

1. Dislikes weekend during childhood years coz it would mean spending the entire two days doing household chores.
2. Had a boy cut hairstyle for 3years(2nd yr.highschool-1st year college). To complement my boyish attitude i thought it would be cooler to have a short hair too.
3. At 5th grade mother sent me to the city for a summer class which happened to be an english speaking class. I would have taken my second piano lesson if i knew it before hand. Hated the twice a week tongue twister audio class and the gay teacher but enjoyed the extra curricular dance class. We get to showcase the steps during recital, it was fun.
4. Was chosen to represent our school divisions volleyball team for the SMRAA(southern mindanao regional athletic association). Back then i could only wish to be tall so i could hit and spike the ball hard...
5. Wanted to become a policewoman after highschool, i even applied for the entrance exam for the military academy(PMA) but my height failed me to break through. It was one of the saddest moment of my life.
6. I'm terrorized with big ocean waves, i know i'm an island girl but i'm really scared of it eventhough i know how to swim. I almost drown when i was 8yrs old, i guess that would explain it. It haunts me even in my dreams so i would settle down in the sandy rocky side of the water everytime we go to the beach and watch my family waving, calling my name to come join them. Very sad.
7. Choir group member since 4th grade till college. Back then i don't know how to use my vocal chord properly so i always strain my throat and end up hurting the next day even loosing my voice and miss a big presentation because of it.

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