Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 🙂

Joaqui Goes to: Nia’s Dedication and 1st Birthday Party

Happy birthday, Nia! 🙂

Joaqui’s Firsts: Scratch on the knee

I know how much my little boy enjoys being outside & being able to play & run around. Imagine him waking up at 5am & the first thing he would tell me is “Mommy, bas” (for labas or outside). And because it’s still early, I would always tell him we will go out once the sun is up, then I would lull him back to sleep.

Today was no different. He & Yaya went “bas” while I had to go back in front of the PC doing all the online part-time work I’ve been doing because I fell asleep last night when I was not yet supposed to.

When Yaya & Joaqui came back, I heard Yaya telling my mom that Joaqui fell down while running and got a small scratch on his knee. I hurriedly went down to look at my little one to see if he’s doing okay. He was his usual happy all-smiles boy as if nothing happened. I looked at his knee & asked if it hurt but he didn’t seem to mind. I washed it with water & soap then put Betadine on it.

He will be fine. He’s a strong little boy. After all, he takes after his mommy. :p

 

 

Joaqui’s Funniest

There have already been several instances when I wish I have captured Joaqui in a video doing funny stuff.

Here are some of them:

#1 Joaqui and I were coloring his activity book when I suddenly broke the crayon I was using into two. He looked at me, stared at the broken crayon then told me in his serious face, “Haka” (Hala ka or Oh no, you’ll be in trouble).  

#2 He was coloring on his notebook then eventually he went on the sofa and started coloring on the cushion. I stopped him and told him, “Hala ka kay Lola mo” (You’ll be in trouble with Grandma). He immediately disposed the two crayons he was using and pushed them under the sofa then told me, “Nana” (Wala na or No more).

 

#3 Yaya (his nanny) and I were folding some clothes and Joaqui wanted to also help us. He kept getting the unfolded clothes and gives them to me, then wants me to give them back to him, then he would put them on a pile of clothes while smiling the entire time. Its downside? The neatly folded clothes he puts on the pile eventually gets unfolded again and Yaya has to do it all over again. 😀

“Daddy”

I never thought it would happen this early when Joaqui would repeatedly say ‘daddy’ as if asking for his non-existent father.
Yesterday, he just kept saying the word over and over and I was unable to react right away. After he has said the word about five times already, that was when I asked him, “where is he (referring to his ‘daddy’)?” Joaqui answered, “bas (referring to labas meaning outside)”. I then told him yeah his father is outside, in a far place, with his girlfriend (like he would understand that so as not to say the D word again). Naturally, he still kept saying the word until I finally had to tell him, “Daddy? Dead!” then Joaqui started doing his fake cry as if he understood what I just said.

Honestly, I’m still not ready for any ‘daddy’ questions Joaqui may have. Thank goodness he’s only about two years old to start asking me about such stuff!

I’ve been thinking of the proper and right answer to the questions that my son could ask me one day such as: where’s daddy? why isn’t he around? will I ever get to meet him?

I still haven’t thought of any acceptable answer. Well, there may be no acceptable answer to such questions for any child but still I want to be able to properly explain things to him what our situation is, without him feeling abandoned or neglected by his own father. I know I ought to read some stuff about it soon.

This is what breaks every mother’s heart, still not being able to give your child everything that he needs no matter how you try. There’s nothing else I can do but to let him feel loved by the people around him everyday while growing up. And I pray that all this love would already be enough to make up for his father’s absence.

Joaqui’s entry on Disney Junior Birthday Book for May

We are constant viewers of Disney Junior ever since Joaqui came. And now that he’s turning 2, I’d love to see his reaction once he sees himself on the very channel he’s always tuned in. I’m one excited mom! 🙂

Disney’s Mickey & Minnie’s Birthday Bash: Joaqui’s Entry

Joaqui, my son, loves Mickey Mouse so every time he’s up, the TV’s always tuned to Disney Junior.

Mickey and Minnie’s birthday is coming up so Disney cam up with a birthday greeting contest for Mickey and Minnie for its kiddie viewers. Naturally, I made an effort to have an entry for Joaqui. 😀

Here’s the birthday greeting I made as Joaqui’s entry:

I thought I’d make Joaqui scribble some colors on it but then it might ruin everything so I decided I won’t have him do it anymore.

Based on the contest’s rules, the kid must be at least 2 years old (he’s 17 months old so I’m not sure if that will do. hehe) and he must be holding the birthday greeting on the photo (which I had trouble with because he won’t hold still even for just a good 2 minutes so I ended up having so many photos which are not valid for entries. On my last attempt, I just took a photo of him with me holding the card instead. Haha.

Yep, that’s what I submitted. I really don’t care anymore whether he wins or not. I just did not want my efforts for my baby to go wasted. At least we tried. 😀

Joaqui’s Firsts: Photoshoot Audition

Whenever Joaqui and I would go out, strangers usually come up to me and tell me how “cute”, “adorable” or “pogi” (handsome) my son is. Then it will be followed with a question “May lahi po?” (it’s like asking if my child is of mixed nationalities) as if my son is a dog with a different kind of breed!

Well, I never really get offended with the question since my son’s skin is so white while I am dark-skinned. So normally, I would politely answer any stranger back with a “yes” and say thank you for the compliment they give my son. Others would have a follow-up question asking which nationality and again, I would politely reply.

Because of these compliments that my son gets every time we are out, I have received so many suggestions from friends and strangers alike that I should have him auditioned for modeling.  Honestly, I have no idea how I’d do that until I came across Mossimo Kids page one time in Facebook. They were having a weekly online contest and all you would need to do is just submit a photo of your child and the winner will be drawn electronically. Initially, I joined and submitted Joaqui’s photos but because of lack of time and the fact that the winner would be picked out of luck, I have eventually stopped. But then, I came across another Facebook page called Philippine Fashion Racks (PFR) and PFR Model Kid and they work hand in hand with Mossimo. I liked its FB page and came across another FB account named MyFameandFortune.com.

At that time, MyFameandFortune.com was inviting FB users to submit photos of their child, get a required minimum number of likes for the photo once included in the official album and get a sort-of pin or access code to their website.

I managed to get 100 likes on the photo of Joaqui which I submitted which entitled me to get a 12-month access to the site for free. On that website, I was able to create a setcard for my son. What is a setcard, you ask? Well that was my question too at that time. I had to Google that out. According to modelsetcard.com, “SetCard is a business card  for visual presentation.Most of artists like models,photographers,actors,i.e. use SetCard to present themselves by visual and physical ways.”

Initially, I only used Joaqui’s photos which were taken using my digicam for his setcard and then I submitted that setcard to every modeling agencies MyFameandFortune.com works with. Upon submission, three modeling agencies contacted me through email and asked me to submit Joaqui’s professional studio pictures (which I didn’t have at that time!). So I brought Joaqui to Pic-a-boo in SM Megamall to have those pictures. After a few weeks, I got the photos and submitted a new setcard to these agencies.

Anyway, forward to September 2013, PFR Model Kid announced on their FB page about an audition for the Cutest Kid in Town. Like any proud mom, I eagerly submitted Joaqui’s photo, used PFR Model Kid’s template, and indicated the venue that I prefer. They have already held auditions on the three venues: Festival Mall in Alabang, Glorietta in Makati and the latest was at SM Megamall in Ortigas. This week, they will hold the last auditions at SM City North EDSA.

Before mid-October, two babies per location will be announced and asked to attend a whole day Mossimo Kids Fall/Holiday Look Book Photo Shoot together with PFR Models.

Last Wednesday was our schedule, between 10am up to 12noon. We came early so we could also go home early since I still had work at that time. Joaqui was #12 on the line.

When we arrived at the mall, Joaqui was already in no mood mainly because his sleep was cut short. I asked my dad to let him play first before we actually line up outside the boutique of Mossimo. After warming up, he was already smiling and playing. But when it was almost our turn, Joaqui started yawning. Uh-oh.

Once it was our turn, I let him sit on the chair first but he kept moving to the point of almost falling so I had to stay beside him and hold him. He preferred to stand and kept saying “Oh” to the sales attendant, whom he met just 2 days ago when we went there to buy his shirt. He hardly smiled the entire time. I think the photographer even had a hard time capturing his best moment. Hehe.

Here are some of the behind the scene phone photos as well as the livefeed phone photos from PFR Model Kid:

After a few more minutes, we were done. It was already 11am and we were already hungry. My family and I just had lunch and went to the supermarket afterwards before finally heading home.

By the time we reached home, my son was already asleep. It was a fun and interesting day for us, even if Joaqui rarely smiled at the camera.

Joaqui’s Firsts: SM North EDSA Lakwatsa

My parents had to visit my aunt at the Lung Center a few months ago and because we (Joaqui and I) could not go there, they dropped us off at SM. We spent our time going around the mall trying on some hats on my son and checking out some toys. Later on, I ended up having a cup of cappuccino at Cafe Mediterranean. I also ordered baklava but before it was even served, my parents were already calling so I just had it as a take-out. 🙂

Joaqui’s Firsts: Dental Visit

Joaqui’s pediatrician has recommended that I take Joaqui to his first dentist appointment the moment he turned one. Mike and Maggie, Joaqui’s ninong and ninang, have also suggested the same thing for fluoride application.  They were also the ones who advised me which non-fluoride toothpaste I could use for my son the moment his tooth started coming out one by one. It is recommended to use a toothpaste without fluoride for your toddler because swallowing too much of fluoride over time can lead to a condition called fluorosis, which can cause white spots to show up on your child’s adult teeth.  This is why it’s important not to use too much toothpaste, especially before your child learns to rinse and spit it out.

Until now, Joaqui is still using Earth’s Best Strawberry & Banana Toothpaste which I bought from Healthy Options. It’s quite expensive for a toothpaste. It costs around Php500. However, you can use it for a long time.

Photo from Earth’s Best website

I recently found out that there are actually other toothpaste options available in the market now for babies which also do not have fluoride. There’s Pigeon which only costs around Php100 in The Landmark and Colgate for Php200 in some online websites.

Two months ago, after searching the web for pediatric dentists near our place, I finally decided to take Joaqui to Little Ones Dental Clinic at SM Megamall. I specifically looked for a pediatric dentist because he/she would have an additional training in caring for children’s oral health. He/She will also be prepared to deal with any squirming or hollering child on the dental chair, and there would be a waiting room filled with distractions such as kids books and toys.

Photo from Little Ones Dental Clinic website

Joaqui fell asleep on our way to the clinic and eventually woke up while we were still waiting for our turn. He was so engrossed from watching the TV showing the Ice Age movie in the clinic when we were called in. The dentist had a look at his teeth and told me we would still be waiting for 8 more teeth to come out. Fluoride was also applied.

When his teeth were still being cleaned, Joaqui was just quiet and behaved. But by the time fluoride was already being applied, he was already kicking and crying that we had to stop from time to time.

After a few minutes, we were finally done and Joaqui is back to his old happy self with a cleaner set of teeth. 😀 The dentist told me to just keep brushing his teeth every time because his teeth are still perfect. We would have to come back after 6 months for another fluoride application.

Check up fee costs Php500 and the fluoride application costs Php1,700.

I know I have to look for a pediatric dentist which is a bit cheaper than Little Ones, perhaps a clinic that is not located in a shopping mall. But while I try to search for other options, we would be sticking with this one for the meantime.