Sunday, June 30, 2002
you used the ladder of your lego as a slide... then constructed the steps going up to the slide... then mickey mouse goes up.. but falls down from the top!

fx

gardening chore... spray! ...

Saturday, June 29, 2002
hair cut today... picture of the backyard with flowers sa tree sa harap.. of ace and daddy in the balcony, ace with the 2smart laptop. ...

Friday, June 28, 2002
ship? okey, ship! (rocket ship)
fish? okey, fish! (gold fish cracker)
hound? okey, hound! (sherlock hound cartoon)
milk? okey, milk! (ice cream)
chicken? okey, chiken! (hot, hot... lunch)

went to nanay's
introducing paul to everyone, but no voice... just pointing at him
at night, upset when paul went home.
at home, dad asked him about paul
he went to look outside the window
paul... there... gone!

introduced temmie to daddy again... gusto magkiss! kasi pala everyone else kisses each other except his daddy

in the car going home, you asked for fries... so we passed by mcdo ... you saw the change... money!!! at first temmie gave you a twonie... but found a loonie so exchanged... no! ...money!!!!! ... to stop you from screaming you were given back the twonie and you gave back the loonie... on the ground floor of the apart is a vendo machine... you wanted to get something... no! ... money!!! of course, may money ka nga pala... you chose yourself the orange crush .... up to the apartment... we thought you were going to drink it... no placed it on the fridge.... a few min laters daddy arrived... rushed to kiss then rushed to the fridge to get the crush! you were so proud of it showing it off to daddy and you two shared it... ipapakita pa pala sa daddy

...

Thursday, June 27, 2002
playing with lego on top of overturned box for trains... there's a story... the dog is upset... mickey assures the dog "okey, okey"... then mickey walks away... then "i know! i know!" ... mickey builds something and the story continues... now the alien is on top of a lego structure and mickey is talking to the alien.. something about a rocket ship "okey rocket ship tttttttt"... then something happened to mickey ... he flew off the air... "torry... torry..." while picking up mickey ........ no someone is frustrated and mickey is saying "don't cry".... and mickey is now telling the alien "no, no, papen" and then the rocket ship goes off again into the air... mickey goes up in the air after the rocketship and says "no! wait!" ... mickey is upset with the alien, 'what you doin?' heavy (he means hard' ... (want to take a picture but you will probably stop if i do) ... my service was needed and i was called to help... mickey is hugging the alien... then i took pictures... something bad happened to the rocket ship... and the alien cried out "mommy, mommy" and mickey hugged him again ...
been playing with the tonka tractors lately. last night, can't find the favorite one before going to bed. this morning, i found it inside the lego box... i gave it to you and you smelled it for a long time ?! :)

trying to organize pictures lately. in small packs, then place them in a box. i think i finally know how to keep track of them. then next step, scan them and post them ...

Wednesday, June 26, 2002
my "do you want to go to the room" isn't working lately... i just get a "no! no! no!" back... what to do... what to do? ...

Tuesday, June 25, 2002
cooking green eggs and ham again. on the large bowl, popcorn, water, cantaloupe and watermelon. galit kay mommy when i go to him ... just now, i told him that's enough.. cause his getting more stuff from the fridge... sa pagmamadali placed the watermelon sa likod ng bike instead sa bowl! ...

Monday, June 24, 2002
scratched his face... binali kasi yung isa sa mga paa ng piano... cut into three and buti na lang hindi pumunta sa eyes niya.

always saying sorry when he hurts himself. tonight, daddy was upset with him cause he isn't careful.. torry... torry... please.. torry! ...

Sunday, June 23, 2002
went to the forks... thirty minutes pa lang tumutulo na pawis! another thirty minutes we went home... played with catch a bubble... then went to superstore ... went home and first time to go outside the balcony with daddy... cause daddy bought plants... then we didnt let you take a nap cause its too late.. sleep early na lang... daddy's outside planting right now you want to go too but no can do... i took your picture eating a drumstick on a bowl looking outside... you're trying to figure out how to get out now ... 'help! help!'

finally was allowed to go out... helped daddy with the plants by looking :)

a much needed nap at 9:30 p.m.! (picture)
...

Saturday, June 22, 2002
going to the park today... weather permitting ... not

"cooking" juice... picture ... "green eggs and ham?" ...

Friday, June 21, 2002
visit nanay today
picture of ace in red shirt, playing with lego, hammer
first day of summer.. picture

teenage boys in bike outside nanay's... going up the fence... they noticed your teeth and said you also went to the dentist like mikey (?).. but you have lot's he only had one

as we go to pickup ate from work... little black doggie... you wanted to touch his face... mom's scared! and so was temmie cause you weren't scared at all... he followed us to the car
took off the cover of nanay's secret ... tada!
no boys tonight so you enjoyed the company of the ladies ...

Thursday, June 20, 2002
i was asked you to get a pillow and our blanket from the room cause it's time for your nap.... "NO!" ... ok... so i just went to the futon and lay there by myself while you continue playing in the computer. a few seconds alter, you have a pillow in one hand and the pulling the comforter behind your back with the other hand. "here you go, mom" ... then placed the pillow in its place and the comforter on top of mommy... "good night!" i reminded you its nap time "NO!"

well, you're asleep now. i just realized it won't be long when we won't fit in the futon together. by that time, we have to open it up as a bed instead of a sofa. we've slept this way for your naps since you were a baby. with your head on my arms... though you're heavy now and your fingers are bigger ... i am now sometimes irritated by your clawing into the hem of my tshirt's neck ... i will treasure that feeling cause i know it won't last forever.

I took a picture of you sleeping... i have to stand up and leave you cause i'm actually falling off the side! ...

Wednesday, June 19, 2002
...
Stress Management for Kindergartners
The New York Times, June 18, 2002
by Sheryl Gay Stolberg

WASHINGTON, June 17 - Mary Minner makes it her business to know what worries children. As the school counselor at Rosemary Hills Primary School in Silver Spring, Md., Ms. Minner, a soft-spoken woman with owl glasses and long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, tends to the emotional needs of more than 500 students in kindergarten through second grade. If she has learned one thing, it is that young people are not immune to stress.

So Ms. Minner developed an eight-week "stress management and confidence-building" seminar for second graders. Once a week for 45 minutes, a half-dozen 7- and 8-year-olds referred by their teachers or parents gather around her conference table. Surrounded by books and colorful puppets, they practice relaxation techniques and learn the power of positive thinking.

The goal? To help them "find that quiet on the inside," Ms. Minner said.

In a world where inner quiet is all too rare, much has been written about children and stress, particularly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Even before that, the self-help shelves of bookstores brimmed with volumes devoted to helping youngsters overcome trauma, be it divorce, serious illness or the death of a loved one.

Far less attention has been paid to helping young people cope with day-to-day stresses like taking tests, competing in sports, being invited to the right birthday parties and staving off playground bullies. At the same time, said Dr. Georgia Witkin, director of the Stress Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan, childhood is more stressful than ever, but not for the reasons that most people think. ...
"The assumption has been that we are overloading kids with activities and demands and that was the major stress," said Dr. Witkin, who surveyed nearly 1,000 children from 5 to 11 for her book "KidStress." Children feel stress not because they are overbooked, but because their parents are.

"The most important thing I found is that kids don't see us `de-stress,' " Dr. Witkin said. "Every other generation saw parents going through hardship. But they also saw family meals or playing in the street. Now grown-ups de-stress in the middle of the night, after everyone else goes to sleep."

There is no way to measure the extent of childhood stress. Health officials do not gather statistics for the problem, as they do for diabetes or cancer. But there are certain indicators. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 1997 a startling 21 percent of high school students had contemplated suicide in the previous year and that 8 percent had tried to kill themselves.

Dr. Witkin also pointed to an increase in certain health conditions worsened by stress, like asthma. The C.D.C. says that from 1980 to 1994, the most recent period with available figures, the incidence of asthma among 5-to-14-year-olds increased 75 percent. ...
The best predictor of how a child will cope with stress is how the parent copes, said Dr. Edward Christophersen, a clinical psychologist at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. If a stressed mother slams the door and throws down her keys, she is teaching her child one way to relieve stress, Dr. Christophersen said. If she goes out for a jog, meditates or practices yoga, she is teaching other ways.

Some children need to be taught how to cope. One of Dr. Christophersen's favorite techniques is to use bubbles to teach children that slow, even breathing can relieve anger and stress. Children learn quickly that if they blow too hard or too softly, they will not produce bubbles. But steady breaths will produce a nice stream.

After the youngsters have mastered bubble blowing, Dr. Christophersen asks them to practice once or twice a day, first with bubbles and then without, and instructs them to blow their imaginary bubbles when they are angry or upset. Parents are supposed to do the same.

"If you are taking your daughter to get shoes and there's a parking space in front of the store and it's raining like crazy and somebody takes the spot at the last second, you say, `Help mommy blow her bubbles,' " the psychologist instructed. "It's the parent's teaching the kid how to get angry."

Most parents think headaches, stomachaches, crying and yelling are signs of stress - and they are, according to Dr. Witkin. Other signs, too, often go undetected, including nightmares and a tendency for a child to want to be alone.

Experts say temperament plays an important role in stress. "Each of us is born with a different quotient of anxiety," said Dr. Marc A. Nemiroff, a clinical psychologist in Potomac, Md. "Some of us pop out more prone to anxiety than others. Some of us are placid and some of us are not, and we just came into the world that way." ...
Consider Jeffrey, 11, from a Kansas City suburb, who does well in school, has many friends and pitches for his baseball team. By all appearances, he is well adjusted.

But Jeffrey's mother, Kim, who insisted that the family's surname not be printed, was troubled by her son's tendency to become "very nervous about unknown situations." He withdrew from performing in school programs and sometimes felt so tense on the baseball field that it affected his game. The mother took him to Dr. Melanie Jones, a clinical psychologist in Overland Park, Kan.

Dr. Jones used what psychologists call visual imaging with Jeffrey. She taught him to imagine himself in the school play or on the pitcher's mound and then take deep breaths to relax. When the parents saw their son showing signs of nervousness at games, they flashed him the thumbs-up sign as a reminder to practice breathing.

"This whole relaxation thing for him has been very important," the mother said. "He goes out there now, and he knows he can relax himself. He's had a fabulous season. His first game this year, he had 14 strikeouts."

As child psychologists have come to recognize the value of such techniques, the methods are increasingly being taught in schools. "If kids can manage stress and feel better about themselves, they will do better in school," said Dr. Dorothy Youngs, counseling supervisor for the Piscataway, N.J., schools.

The counselors there use a range of techniques, Dr. Youngs said. One plays relaxation tapes for fourth and fifth graders. Another counselor fills latex balloons with flour and shows the children how to squeeze them to relieve stress. Another counselor has created a "stress basket."

"The students write down stressful events on a piece of paper and they throw it in the basket to get rid of it," Dr. Youngs said.

At Rosemary Hills Primary School, Ms. Minner teaches her charges that positive thinking can control anxiety. Using the image of a garden, she tells the children that they can can plant "weed seeds," negative thoughts, or "flower seeds," positive thoughts. Weeds can be transformed into flowers.

Confidence, Ms. Minner said, is essential to overcoming stress. She opens her seminar by asking students what confidence looks like, striking two poses - one hunched and cowardly, the other prideful and erect. Then she leads the children in a mock victory dance, a "confidence march," so they can feel confidence for themselves.

"I tell them the purpose of the group is to wake up our feelings of confidence," she said. "It's almost like not teaching. I am simply directing them to what is already there." ...

Tuesday, June 18, 2002
watching you play ... imagination working... overturned box, lego pieces, cars... took your picture... huli mommy!

you asked mommy to trace one lego piece, the long yellow one you love to play with... then went to play with the magnadoodle... next thing you called mommy and showed me "ouch, ouch" ... i saw that you drew a black square in the middle of the long rectangle, then placed dots on the other sides... a band-aid! ...

Monday, June 17, 2002
used chess pieces as nail... hammered it into the jigsaw puzzle box (picture)

then dad and mom saw you walking so slowly, arms swaying as if marching, elbows up, with a silly grin on... ta da da da.... then took out from inside your boxers the dental gum you found inside the colgate box! ...

Sunday, June 16, 2002
introduced tita emmie to daddy (and mommy?) again...

dad watching tiger, mommy phil, forgot to ask baby to take a nap so he told them in his own way. took a plastic cover of a container as a pillow, and the comforter in the bedroom, positioned himself infront of the tv as mom and dad lay down on the opposite ends of the futon... good night! then mommy stood up and a few seconds later baby was in her place in the futon, under the comforter... wants to sleep pala... took sometime before mom realized the shades aren't drawn ... after closing the curtains, a few minutes later, fell asleep right away. ...

Saturday, June 15, 2002
woke up as mommy prepares to leave.... come on! come on! .... that way! that way! ... pointing mommy back to bed in the pillow

still can't ride bike outside cause doesn't brake... so dad and baby walked to petland across the street. shouts when he saw the goldfish (?!) ... more interested on the accessories than the pets... goes in wherever there there are more people ...

Friday, June 14, 2002
going to visit nanay
mommy... look at the sky... clouds
chocolate bar! kitkat
felt sad when kuya and tito mac left to play basketball... ...

Thursday, June 13, 2002
after a three hour nap, i woke you up at 7:30 p.m. saying ''wake up,wake up" you immediately opened your eyes, smiling and nodding.. then went down and going to the bedroom to wake up daddy! eh nasa work ang daddy... ...

Wednesday, June 12, 2002
ace baby! then i see your face .... go wake up daddy .... running toward the room... mommy! mommy!

Playing basketball... nagdridribble... ball not bouncing though kasi hindi talaga nagboubounce. you like playing with daddy, then pretending to move around ... your legs crossing each other then after sometime, shoots! parang nba :) ...

Tuesday, June 11, 2002
confusing mommy ... daddy... pero pag asked to kiss mommy tama naman, and daddy too . dumating si temmie tonight and you greeted her "mommy!"

ininit ng daddy ang tuyo sa microwave. of course.. you didn't like the smell. "help! help!" ... "yucky, yucky!" ... "help! help!"
...

Monday, June 10, 2002
thunderstorm today
how do i explain thunder?
Jesus playing drums.... boom... boom! ...

Sunday, June 09, 2002
idea! ... aha! idea!
while playing blocks with daddy
suddenly stood up and went to your toy cars to look for something... saying "idea!" ...
mommy... daddy... introducing temmie to daddy and mommy to daddy too

last night, went to nanay's
playing drums with the pencils and nanay's side table.... then at the end would say something like "shhhh" and them the feet and knees would fold outward
harry potter tape ... thanks.. thanks... in the car a big sigh of relief cause you weren't asked to leave it behind. at home.. not really interested once started to watch it

friday night.. played with me-anne ... really happy showing off everything even dancing in the car and playing guitar for her, etc... but best of all wrote the letter "A" perfectly. i wanted to take a picture of it but you heard us talking about it and once inside the apartment you went to the magna dooddle and erased it! ...

Thursday, June 06, 2002
still loves playing with playdoh and reading books and playing with the train... i asked him "what's your name" and i only said the first part and he repeated ... my name ... is... and he supplied the "ace" himself. alam naman pala name niya eh ...

Wednesday, June 05, 2002
played "pool" (billiards) with an orange rubber ball and a golf club... naduduling pa sa pagtingin sa ball before hitting it. ...
...

Tuesday, June 04, 2002
first parent's meeting mommy attended ...

Monday, June 03, 2002
spider! ...

Sunday, June 02, 2002
took a nap in daddy's chest ...

Saturday, June 01, 2002
on the way, to nanay's, nakita ulit costco... please... there... please... visit with nanay ... sat under the coat rack looking really bored. ...