State of the Baby Address! (SOBA)

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm glad to say that my day (although I had a falling out with Job - a.k.a. J - last night) began on a very good note. I got an invite from a very nice establishment in the city (secret muna) and I don't think the organizer was even aware that the owners are my neighbors. Hehehe. Anyway, I hope your Monday morning is good, too! :-)

So lahat siguro tayo aware that it's PNoy's SONA today. I'm not a big fan of Noy (feeling Kris!) - I didn't even vote for him - but I try to respect his decisions. This is because according to the Bible, Romans 13: 1, we are to submit to our leaders:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (NIV)

Which means that, no, this blog post is not about the President's SONA. Instead, I created a new category for Yuri - State of the Baby Address! Woot!

So here it goes:

Dear Yuri, to whom this letter is addressed to, lend me your big ears. In 10 years or so, I hope you might read this so that you'll know how you were when you were a baby. And yes, you were quite a handful for poor little momma. Here are the reasons why:

1. After a year of waiting, you finally walked on your own. It was a big milestone for all of us, but nothing could have prepared us for the whirlwind that was you. I realized that I need not sign up for the gym after all; just running after you provided the exercise I needed.

I am supposed to upload a video here, but for the life of me, I can't make it work. Di bale, I'll just show it to you when you grow up, okay?

2. You are becoming a picky eater. While you would eat rice and veggies well, it is clear that you favor sweets and other carbs: chocolates, cookies, biscuits and bread. Oh how you love bread! Whenever lolo and lola get home, it's also clear that you know which pasalubong is yours:

Oooh, pahingi?

3. You give me a little heart attack whenever you get too near to the electric fan. It's a good thing we bought that fan cover a while ago. Nakakapagod lang maglakad, no? Kaya chill lang muna:

With little Jabee in tow. :-)

4. At 15 months (going on 16), you still don't know how to talk - which is fine with me. You develop at your own pace, baby, which gives the inkling that you're gonna be a headstrong child. However, you seem to have developed an inclination to answering calls:

Hello, how are the orders coming? Diba I told you to work double-time? Chos.

5. But I'm proud to say that you already know a lot of "tricks" and can even point to someone's nose accurately. Like Jollibee's:

Jabee: I. Can't. Breathe.

6. You love books. I'm surprised that even though I give you real books (which you prefer over cloth and board books), you have not ripped a single page yet. Crumpled, yes, but ripped, no.

Ninang George's gift is our fave book!

7. You mumble along while I read you books. I like that.

8. You now love stuffed toys of any kind. Be it the Winnie the Pooh bear you have in your crib, your new Jollibee stuffed toy, or your aunt's old pink rabbit. You're not discriminating at all.

It's coming after me!

9. You love throwing things. The harder the throw the better. And sometimes, you like throwing your hard toys at my face. I don't like that.

10. You love taking selfies. Well, it's not you who take it, but you love looking at yourself through the front camera of lola's phone, through the mirror, or through the TV screen. Are you vain?

I don't have your selfies in my phone; they're all in lola's phone. Huhu. :-(

11. You love little Ryzza Mae Dizon. You are a fan of her show. This shows that you might be a man enamored with humor and funny girls, just like your dad. Charot!

Your face while watching Ryzza Mae - priceless.

12. You love walking (and running) naked around the house. Which is fine with me because you look cute. Just don't do it in school, ahkey?

Boy Hukas: Ang siga ng Cabantian!

13. Also, you love running around in the grocery.

"Fixing" the alcohol bottles... more like ruining the display!

14. Because of that, I now know that when shopping, the only place for you is the pushcart - or sometimes - the basket.

15. You play weird games.

Uh... what are you doing?

16. But most of all, you like discovering things - running, walking, hopping, whatever. You are not afraid to walk under the sun (much to your poor momma's dismay) and discover the simplicity of everything. In fact, whenever we go out, your favorite plaything remains to be dry leaves on the ground (so sad that I don't have a photo of this). I like how happy you are not with expensive toys but just by being active and free.

My handsome Yuri (and the annoying momma)
By the way, Yuri's outfit peg here is "UP Student." Bwahaha!

There we have it. Sixteen things for the almost sixteen-month old you. I know this is not an extensive list; these are everything I could come up with in just 15 minutes!

However, do know that for this moment, while you are sweetly taking your morning nap, these are the things that popped in my mind. Therefore, these little things are important to me. I hope they are as important to you, too.

Yes, you are a handful, but you fill my heart and there's no other way I prefer.

Notable omissions: You now know how to give when someone says "hingi," you are fond of toys with wheels, you are fond of wearing something (toys, food containers, real hats) over your head, you have a distinctive laughter, you get excited when you see other babies, you get excited when you see animals, you get excited when you see cars (you're pretty much an excitable kid), and you like climbing up furniture.