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.

Joaqui’s Firsts: Jeepney Ride

Our car has broken down 2 weeks ago on our way to Manila from Lucena. Joaqui and I had to stay with my parents while the car gets fixed there and my other siblings had to commute by bus, including my 11-month old niece, because they had work the next day.

It was okay for me and Joaqui to stay in Lucena while we wait for the car to get fixed since I can still work from there.

We were already in Sariaya when it broke down and it was only around 7pm when we left the auto shop to go back to Lucena. The car was still not fixed. We were just towed by another car to be able to go back to Lucena. By that time, I was already having a terrible headache and Joaqui was already cranky  due to lack of sleep.

The next day, we went back to Manila, car-less. We left my aunt’s home around 4pm already. We had to walk a few meters before we could hail a jeepney going to the Grand Terminal Station.

Initially, I was the one carrying Joaqui with two bags on my right shoulder. But the things my mom were carrying were slowing her down so I told her to carry my son instead while I carry all the stuff she has. I ended up with 5 bags in all – two on my right shoulder, one on the left shoulder and one each of my hand.

Walking with 5 bags was not a problem at all for me. It only became a problem the moment I tried getting inside the jeepney.

The moment I was able to get a seat inside, the rain started pouring down. I was watching my son during the whole ride. He looked curious and kept looking in all directions. It was because it was his first time ever to ride a jeepney. I had to take out the camera inside the bag on my right shoulder to take a pic of it.

He was behaved the whole time despite his curiosity.  🙂

 

12 Things That Joaqui Can Do Now

For sometime now, I have been mentally noting down Joaqui’s latest achievements. There will be times I just wish I capture all of them in a photo or video so it’s easier to remember and blog about it since I always do not have enough time to actually sit and write down about my son’s milestones. If you noticed lately, I have only been posting interesting blog posts from different sources. It’s much easier for me to do those right now while working.

Anyway, ever since Joaqui turned 1, I have been looking forward to what else he could be doing by now and here are quite a few of them:

1. He can say more words. He used to only say gogog (dog) and caca (cat) before he turned 1 and his pedia wanted him to learn more words each month and would always remind me to read him books (which of course I always do). However, I thought despite the reading that we do, there have been no progress at all because he doesn’t even try to mimic the words I say. But now he can say the following words: ca (car), ten, baby, mama, tita, daji (daddy), ana (wala na), omor (no more), bugaga (bulaga). He also can say some of the letters of the alphabet when it is being recited to him. It just makes me a happy mom.

2. He knows how things are called. He can now point out the following when you ask him where it is: nose, hair, light, shower, car, cat, dog, mommy, book, Mr. clock, ear (although he tends to forget it), Joaqui, hot / cold (he would usually touch a mug or a glass), tita, lolo and more.

3. He now has a new dance step. He loves to dance ever since he has learned to stand. He would normally jump up and down in his crib or on the bed while holding on to something every time a music is played. Lately, the whole family is having a blast when he starts doing his latest craze of which I call his pwet dance (ass dance). He would move his ass  dancing the way a duck does when it walks that it looks so funny. I’m still wishing that I could have that on camera one of these days. He also started doing his head bang version.

4. He can now be left alone to play. There will be times now when I can just leave him in his crib/play yard and he will just play with some of his toys or by himself. Sometimes it’s even funny to watch him play because he would talk to himself as if he’s playing with someone else. I have some of those play time in video.

5. He can finally walk. Joaqui started late in walking, even in sitting up. I even had to bring him to therapy sessions at Therabilities for more than 2 months as per his pedia’s advise so he would have a strong back. But personally, I think he just needed some practice. It was the third week of August when he started walking more than two steps on his own. He did that when we were on the bed. He let go of his hold on the bed rail and started walking towards me and I got so excited. Now, he would want to always walk instead of being carried. Once he starts walking he would throw tantrums if anybody attempts to carry him instead of letting him walk. It can be quite tiring. He also can go down now from the bed on his own although he would still need some help from time to time.

6. He can play sawsaw suka. I do not want him to only learn English kids songs and games. I also want him to learn Filipino games and songs. So one day, I thought of teaching him how the sawsaw suka game is played. Now, he would sometimes grab my hand and do the game and that meant singing the song Sawsaw suka mahuli taya. I also taught my niece the same thing one time and she can also play the game now. 😀

7. He has crazy reactions to things. Whenever he hears someone on TV shouting, he would immediately do the same thing. He reacts as if he’s excited when contestants in a TV game show shouts. He also reacts when mommy reacts to what I’m watching. Just like yesterday, I was watching One Day on TV and I got shocked when Anne Hathaway got hit by a truck towards the ending of the movie that I almost shouted. Joaqui stood up from the crib and made a surprise reaction too as if he understood what happened then started crying. I had to calm him down and learned not to watch shows like that again when I’m with my son.

8. He is turning out to be a very sweet boy. Every morning he normally wakes me up by kissing me. But aside from that, he would also sometimes just come up to me and hug me or put his face near my face so our foreheads would touch and then lies down on my stomach later on. This is the most rewarding for being a mom.

9. He has started hitting. This, of course, is not an achievement. I have been reading so many articles about toddlers hitting adults and how you can stop them from doing so. Two weeks ago when he has started to hit me. It started out as if he was only playing but later on it has turned out to be really bad that I even cried at one point. I have tried everything I have read but nothing seemed to work. We have tried to talk to him in a calm manner but he would just keep quiet and look in another direction. Sometimes when we try to talk to him, he would even whisper or say something as if he’s answering us back. Or he would make face and we would end up hysterically laughing at him. It was tough. We just try to consistently talk to him in a calm manner and try not to laugh at his craziness every time he hits anyone of us and so far, the hitting has been lessened although not totally gone yet.

10. He is such an artista (actor). He would sometimes fake his cries to get our attention. Or make faces or throw things. Maybe he was used to being always the center of attention that whenever everyone in the house is busy, he claims that spot again by doing some of his crazy antics. But I just let him cry sometimes so that he would also know that he can’t always get what he wants.

11. He sometimes fakes his laugh which makes the whole family go nuts. I don’t know where he learned it from or how but one time when my youngest sister was playing with him, he suddenly tried making these fake laughs. It was just hilarious.

12. He knows how to give a “flying kiss” and also  “bless”. I used to teach him the first trick when he was younger but he seemed not to get it. He can do it now with no problem. He has also been taught the Filipino practice of pagmamano (the act of putting an elder’s back of the palm to your forehead) as a sign of respect.

It’s really a hard work being a hands-on mom, with no maid or yaya at all. Sometimes I even feel that I do not deserve to be a mom or I’m not a good one at all especially when there would be times that I would really lose my patience with Joaqui and all I wanted to do is just shout and cry at the world. I even told one of my mom friends that I feel like this sometimes and she told me it’s normal. Even she feels the same way sometimes with her three kids. It’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who feels this sometimes and that it’s normal to feel that your kid is testing your patience.

No matter how tough a day may end for Joaqui and me, it still feels rewarding when I realize that I am part of all of the things that he is able to accomplish now. And I look forward to more of those days, no matter how challenging they may end up to be. I just wish and pray that I continuously be able to raise him properly later on.