Thursday, February 28, 2002
dressed himself up with jogging pants, sweater, socks and boots... maginaw kasi, parang -35 sa labas... noticed that sometimes, siya na pumupunta sa washroom on his own. ...

Wednesday, February 27, 2002
had a dream ... mahaba din. started giggling like you saw something funny. then started to talk... even moving hands and legs... something about "knees" and "feet". we turned on the light, tuloy pa rin. your eyes are half open. tawa ka pa rin ng tawa. then you even got up and started to say "wow" "wow" to daddy and me like you are tickling us. eyes wide open but half asleep... made sure you are fully awake ... didn't cry again like the previous nights when you wake up in the middle of your sleep crying. must be the change in schedule, you've been sleeping by 11:30 for five days na. noticed too, no pee while you sleep. it must be that too. kaya last night, when you woke up around 2 a.m., crying, daddy took you to the washroom to pee. and iyon nga. went back to bed, galit ka sa daddy, took me by the hair and made me move to daddy's side so he can't see you (or you can't see him)... then about ten minutes after... nagstart ka ng tumawa... ...

Tuesday, February 26, 2002
thank you to tito noli and tita glo for the chairs! they brought them over tonight and you are so excited. we had to go down to them at the lobby and when we were going back, tito noli was turning the wrong way, i know i said something in tagalog, but you said, loudly and very clearly "that way!" .. not even high pitched... showed them how you use the computer, pero kaunti lang cause you are more interested with playing with tito noli... for some reason, every time you see him you go through his pockets... and don't know why too, but you took their shoes that were by the door, and brought them in, and placed them by their sides ... ...

Monday, February 25, 2002
repeats mommy's words ... with hand gesture and expression ... no, ace, nit funny, huh, i love you ...

Sunday, February 24, 2002
canadian pride ...

Saturday, February 23, 2002
...

Friday, February 22, 2002
...

Thursday, February 21, 2002
...

Wednesday, February 20, 2002
20022002 ...
...
...

Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Happy Birthday Nanay! ...

Monday, February 18, 2002
potty training bits:
saying "oh no, oh no" running to the washroom...
another occassion, mom just heard the flash... looked saw baby pulling up his boxers! pero may lumabas na pala outside...
today... i know how you will react to poops without pullups! you look like you have ants in your pants! tried to stop it, hindi mapakali then took me to the washroom, took off all your clothes, went in the tub, took the shower head and pointed it in your bum.. no water yet, you got the tabo (which is full of toys) and pretended to put water in your bum! kawawa naman so I washed you immediately and put on pullups so you can get all of them out .... ...

Saturday, February 16, 2002
favorite words lately: stuck, alright, what you doin?, no way, torry... and the all time favorite .... no, no!
...

Friday, February 15, 2002
no spills the last few days without pullups! great! even at night they don't get wet... but a few rashes at the back of the thigh again... must be the ribs we had tonight... we'll see... ...

Wednesday, February 13, 2002
postpone the pt... di ma p! nakakaawa naman ...

Tuesday, February 12, 2002
expert na sa puzzles niya he hasn't seen for so long... ...

Monday, February 11, 2002
Uh, dad? You done with those Digests?
Winnipeg Free Press
Sunday, February 10th, 2002

By Paul McKie

MY parents had this large wooden headboard on their bed and a small bookcase built into it. Instead of books, my dad had endless piles of Reader's Digest crammed into the headboard.

I used to laugh at him. "Why do you read those?" I asked with a smirk.

"It's all I can read," he said, simply.

I just walked away thinking my dad was really stupid because all he wanted to read was Humour in Uniform, another harrowing true-life adventure in five pages, or at best the Reader's Digest abridgment of a popular novel.

But 25 years later, I finally get it. Those well-thumbed magazines and watered-down novels were all he could read. I've discovered this for myself because I haven't read much of anything for 10 years.

Anyone who derives insight, knowledge, diversion and pleasure from reading is in for a shock when kids arrive on the scene. I went from reading a couple of books a week to reading a couple of pages a month.

The biggest hit is when the kids are babies. Forget about reading anything other than the endless self-help books on child-rearing that inundate new parents.

Babies keep you going so much that even if you had free time, you're too exhausted to do anything (and I do mean anything). That overwhelming fatigue stays for a long time. Even when our first-born got older, I found myself nodding off when I read a page or two -- of his books.

"Wake up, Dad! This is where the baby bird finds his mother."

Out of touch

You know you're out of touch with books when "Call me Ishmael" doesn't mean nearly as much as, "The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day."

Suddenly, the house bulges with books that you can read in five minutes. (As compared to books that I've devoted only five minutes to. Toy Story wins over Tolstoy every time in my house.)

I still remember my mom complaining how many times she had to read Diddle Daddle Duck to my youngest brother. That's way grimmer than anything those German brothers dreamed up.

Here's the real problem with reading books to kids. They never -- NEVER -- like the cool books you buy. You can go to all the nice bookstores and pick up beautifully illustrated renderings of ancient European folk tales that will enthrall you and your mate. But your kid couldn't care less.

Even the classics that boomers consider classics won't cut it. Forget Green Eggs and Ham -- Sam I Am would have a coronary trying to convince our three-year-old.

Despite a room full of books, our younger son has gravitated toward a piece of mass-market shlock. Somehow a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Storybook -- replete with cardboard tabs you pull to animate the story -- found its way into our home (the sewer system, no doubt.)

The three-year-old insists that this book be read almost nightly because, "It's my favourite."

That's right. Forget about The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland or even If I Ran The Zoo. Shredder, the turtle's nemesis, would make mincemeat of Mr. Toad -- unless he became a mutant toad with a penchant for pizza.

My pleas that the turtles are passe carry no weight with the three-year-old. He's not yet old enough to comprehend that his bad taste isn't even popular bad taste.

But we're about to turn the, ahem, page in our house. The 10-year-old reads on his own these days (often without any kind of physical coercion). Even when I read to him, finally they're books I enjoy.

The success of Harry Potter has as much to do with parents embracing the stories as kids. J.K. Rowling has become my favourite author simply because I've read more of her works in two years than any other writer alive or dead.

But finally there is more time. I achieved a milestone recently. I finished a novel I've wanted to read since college and then dusted off another 500-page classic.

OK, I lied about the last one. It was a Michael Crichton paperback my sister-in-law gave us. But it was full of grownup concepts like killing and, uh, blood lust -- nothing like those mutant turtles at all.

Still, there's a greater chance of me reading the adventures of Frank and Joe Hardy than tackling that six-novel set of Thomas Hardy. I have a ways to go before the madding crowd at my place lets up enough for me to fully enjoy reading again.

I expect even my sons will soon ask me if I've read any good condensed books lately.
...

Saturday, February 09, 2002
can't make gamegear work... one game... columns... he was playing, just inserting/removing the games, on and off... and he was able to make it work!

milestone: wearing boxers! (picture)

picture playing gamegear pressing wheels on stick ...

Friday, February 08, 2002
song, jesus loves u 1st to sing together... sleep within 20 minutes ...

Thursday, February 07, 2002
noticed that recently everytime mommy gets mad, you offer me something to drink, water or juice!
the potty saga continues... naconstipate yata. saw you want to do it this afternoon, but pinipigil mo cause you don't have your pullups. then i asked you to get one and you happily handed me one... pero hanggang ngayon wala pa ...

Wednesday, February 06, 2002
day 2 of potty training...slowly lang. tonight cried cause i took him to the wr while he pps.. nabitin pa tuloy. sorry. he doesn't want to do it there...

laundry basket with daddy

watching outdoor life network, african tribes coloring their bodies... next thing i know, puro color na ang hands niya!

pihikan today kumain, though gutom siya. he asked me to cook hotdogs for him. i cooked two, he gave me the plate back asking for more. i cooked another two. hindi naubos. i also gave him the pansit that temmie brought over this afternoon. kaunti lang ayaw na. ... hours later, i noticed the pansit. i offered it again, ayaw. so being a mom, sayang ang pansit... so i started eating... when almost gone, he approached and looked at the bowl.. ubos na! he took the leftover hotdogs that was right in front of me (i have no intention of eating them cause i don't like them that much) and placed it in the fridge! baka daw kainin ko din :)
...

Tuesday, February 05, 2002
tried the no pullups potty training... working naman, ...

Monday, February 04, 2002
tosswords! ...

Saturday, February 02, 2002
went to polo park then superstore... don't want to let go of the digimon dictionary daddy handed to him.. ayaw ng ibang toys, the same with the marbles he saw at polo park... but can't do... sorry ...

Friday, February 01, 2002
...