What's Up Wednesday

Yes, I have chubby, baby hands. You can say it to me - just not to my face, okay?

If I were asked what my secondary needs are, I'd probably say the first is an internet connection. If you work from home like me, you understand why!

But I lost internet connection yesterday. And my backup internet, my SmartBro, was very weak and wasn't much of a help. So even though I wanted to work, I had to be absent yesterday.

Which actually turned out to be a good thing. Not the missing-work part but the away-from-the-laptop part! Because yesterday, I was able to do three things for the first time: make moonsand, play with Yuri, watch a fun movie, and attend a focused group discussion (the details of which I won't divulge).

When I realized the SmartBro wasn't getting me anywhere, I knew I had to miss work. So I turned the TV on and tried to "relax." But even though there was an interesting show, I couldn't sit still. In other words, aligaga. I wanted something to do and remembered the sand we collected from Samal last summer. I checked our pantry and saw cornstarch. I thought I'd finally do the project I've been meaning to do all summer.

And boy do I not regret it! The moonsand was very easy and fun to make and Yuri had a blast playing with it.

Bad Influence

"Tanga ka! Tanga ka!"

The words pierced my consciousness while I was in my momentum, working, yesterday afternoon. I know Yuri and his yaya were out on our yard with some kids from the neighborhood. Just like any other day. The only difference was that the peaceful playing and laughter was interrupted by a persistent --

"Tanga ka! Tanga ka! Tanga ka kasi"

The words were yelled by a 7-year old boy to a 4-year old girl, whom he previously hit. The girl cried when he hit her accidentally, and the boy, for some reason, thought the girl was just being stupid. And the words weren't yelled in a childish manner. The words sounded angry.

I waited for them (actually, for Yuri's yaya, since she was the grownup) to settle it, but the yelling still continued so I went outside.

Careful not to sound too angry, I chastised the boy. No I didn't ask him to apologize. I believe I'm not the one who should do that. What I wanted was for him to stop bullying the girl.

And then I saw my sweet 2-year old Yuri in between them, seemingly unaware of the fight he's in the middle of. But I know he's an impressionable child. All toddlers are. I prayed that he wouldn't copy the behavior he saw that afternoon.

Not during the fight

I've seen bad influence work in many lives including mine. But I wasn't prepared to see it happen so early in my toddler's life. More than that, I was really shocked to hear such hurtful words from such a young boy.

Is it true then? That today's society is raising meaner kids?

Overheard from the Daycare Center that was our House

Okay, our house is no daycare center, but it surely looks like one these summer days!

The days are longer during summer, and since the sun's so incredibly powerful these days (ganito ba last year??), we stay inside the house until at least 5pm. There are days when it still feels like high noon at 5:30!
But when the sun finally calms down, that's when a few kids from the neighborhood begin coming over, one by one.

This doesn't include the group of the older kids.

I love it because as a child, I lived farthest from where my friends lived. Ergo, play dates almost never happened in our house. Aside from the location, they were also afraid of my father who used to have a large, booming voice. I swear, I used to know where my father was just by listening to how loud or weak his voice was.

Anyway, I'm getting off track. Our current house, because of its location on the main road, became the meeting place of kids. It's also because all lots surrounding our house are empty, and we know kids love empty lots! So in the afternoon, our house becomes like a mini-daycare center with several kids and a handful of yayas. As much as I would like to join the fun, I'm still working during that time!

As for me, I like having many kids in the house not only because the house becomes livelier but also because Yuri gets to practice his socialization skills. Despite being the youngest (all the other kids are about 3 and older), he knows almost each kid by name.

So far, there's not been an issue with sharing, too. Way to go, kids!

Another thing that I like about having many people around are the conversations I get to eavesdrop to unintentionally hear. Here are a few I remember:

Honey, Yuri's yaya to a 6-year old boy, MJ

Honey: MJ, diba kayo yung may prosti?
(My eyes widened when I heard this.)
MJ: Ano yan?
Honey: Prosti gud. Diba may prosti kayo sa bahay nyo?
MJ: Anong prosti?
Honey: Yung benta nyo gud?
MJ: Ah, ice candy

Photo: http://www.dmc.com.ph/ 

Honey: Oo yun. Prosti man tawag dun.

Nina, George, and my New Snapware Glass Bottle

Before I proceed to writing this post, guess what? I don't have a camera again! It suddenly stopped working yesterday. It's only been a week since we got the camera, so it might be a defective unit. Huhuhu. We already contacted customer service, and I hope it gets replaced as soon as possible. Huhuhu!

It's a good thing, though, that my laptop can read the SD card directly. At least I can still post some photos from my beloved camera. Looking through my last photos, these are the events that transpired during the last few days.

Last Sunday, a downline of my parents visited us, and with them were their 2-year old daughter, Niña, whom Yuri calls "pinya." Haha! Anyway, instant friends!

................................

On Monday, a very good friend of mine, George, visited us in the boondocks on our side of Davao City. She was bearing gifts (Ay, gift lang pala - walang gift kay Yuri! Bad Ninang! :P), as in Christmas gifts. She went home bearing my Christmas gifts for her and Andrei, while she also brought with her our gifts for Teena, which she will send to Manila. We actually planned a get-together last Christmas but it didn't push through, kaya naging March ang gift-giving. Super advanced lang ng gift-giving namin. Haha!

Of course, since George and I both love pizza, and I've been raving about Dexter's Pizza here in my blog, we ordered two: ham-and-cheese for the kiddos and the famous shawarma pizza. Nakalimutan na naman ang diet!

Of Playdates and French Toasts

My camera has finally died after two years of service. Yes, it died out too quickly! This must be the result of taking hundreds of photos every day... Anyway, yesterday, I took out the memory card and saw that I was able to take blog-worthy photos in the last minute. Yay!

Last Tuesday, Yuri woke up a bit late at around 8am. Actually, I had to wake him up so we could go down for breakfast (and I was, like, holding my pee since forever). He finally woke up and I got to prepare our breakfast downstairs (everybody else was already finished eating). In less than five minutes since we went down, our neighbor arrived bringing with her her half-American son.

Everybody, meet Gabe:

He's our friendly 6-year old neighbor who gave Yuri this Tigger stuffed toy last Christmas:

He brought with him a toy car (also an army tank) along with a Pokemon toy and a Mario figure. It's Mario's son daw. Yuri was very curious to see what his kuya Gabe was doing. What's up with boys and tanks?

Well, they did not play together, but they did play side by side.

Funny anecdote (I was preparing Yuri's breakfast):

Me: Gabe, do you want cereal, too?
Gabe: No, I don't want cereal.
Me: What would you like to have?
Gabe: I would like to have pahn-duh-sahl.

If you didn't get it, pandesal daw! Tutyal!

The next day, we were in the mood to make some French Toast. Actually, we have been planning to make some for a few days now, but there's always aberya. For example, one day, we were ready to make French Toast, and when we opened the fridge, wala palang itlog. That day, despite remembering that we were already out of cinnamon, we still decided to push through to satisfy our craving. Also, nakakailang loaf bread na kami. Haha!

Again, we didn't have cinnamon, so we made the most basic of French toasts. Here are the ingredients:

We used only two eggs para hindi masyadong ma-cholesterol. First, combine the milk and the eggs in a bowl and whisk them together. Then, add a capful of vanilla and a pinch of salt to taste.

The Cold Sunday That Was

The weather has been restored to default now (I think), which is a bit balmy: not hot but not cold either. I honestly prefer the weather last week, which was very cold (at least for me!), but I wouldn't want places flooding, so this weather would work, too.

Weather last week (the entire week)

I mean, who doesn't like bed weather? Not me! (I'm blessed I get to enjoy that kind of weather by being able to stay home all day.) But this morning, I awoke to a bright sky. Suddenly, it doesn't seem legal to wear sweatpants anymore!

Anyway, what was I up to last weekend? Not that it has been very interesting hehe, but that's the only day I'm out of the house so... You know what I mean. Heehee. Sunday was still very cold and rainy, and we were all in jackets so I didn't bother to take OOTD photos. Wala namang makikita eh! Hehehe. Even little Yuri was wearing his St. Patrick jacket, so walang kwenta ang OOTD shot. :P

Plus, I was not able to take a lot of photos since I intentionally left the camera home (what is it with rainy days and laziness?!). In fact, this was the only "OOTD" shot that I have:

See? Yuri is balot na balot. And in the last minute, I exchanged the denim bolero for a long-sleeved cardigan because I was too cold!

Meanwhile, instead of SM Lanang, we went to Abreeza this week. You see, Yuri had a "poop emergency" in church, and the nearest mall with a decent changing station was Abreeza. Yuri never does well with changing diapers in places other than the comfort room, so with the rare occasions that he does poop in public, we really have to go to a comfort room with a changing station. Luckily, church was just in front of Abreeza Mall, which has a great family lounge with good comfort rooms.

Honestly, I love SM, but when it comes to private comfort rooms, I prefer Abreeza's. Please forgive the bad photos taken by my phone hee hee.

The photos don't do justice to the comfort room in the family lounge at all. Someday, I might take a decent photo using an actual camera. You do have to pay a small fee to use the comfort room, but it's worth it.

After that, we ate lunch in Jollibee (because I still have some coupons left hehe). It was a rather stressful experience because of the number of people there and the lack of facilities (read: high chair). The highlight of our stressful day was this:

You see, in the atrium of the mall, there is a Timezone for little kids. As in it looks like a mini peryahan. There was even an indoor playground for little kids where they could play for free, but it's always so crowded. Maybe when Yuri gets a bit older, I'll take him there on a weekday. Meanwhile, Yuri has set his eyes on the rides that go around the mall's atrium.

Suffice to say, it's not just Yuri that had a lot of fun that day!

My turn! I always say that I'm an old soul but I have a very young heart!

We finally bade goodbye to the animal rides and off to the grocery we went. And that's officially how my Sunday went. How did yours go? I hope it was uneventful, too!

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