Griffin's Best Friend?

Griffin's best friend in school is Zach.  They are almost the same age, Griffin is just a little over a month younger then Zach.  He likes Zach so much that just the other day he said, " I don't look like Zach but I sure like Zach.".   He even told me that when he's looking for Zach in school he says, " Zach, where are you?".  I don't know if Zach considers him as a friend because Griffin said," Zach likes me but he said don't touch me.".    He even told my mom, " Ama, I have a secret.  I love Zach but he said don't touch me."  He also told me that sometimes Zach doesn't want to play with him.  My poor baby, he better find someone else who likes playing with him all the time, hmph!

Shopping at Divisoria

We went to Divisoria yesterday to shop for stuff for Griffin's party in school. I actually shopped for loot bag items and the loot bag itself. Our first stop was Divisoria mall where I bought the bags, pencil cases, glitter pens and notebooks. Outside the mall we bought the paper balls and blowouts. We transferred to 168 mall because Griffin wanted to go there. We ate at the food court then looked around again. Here, I bought party hats, erasers, pencils and whiteboards.  I just hope I bought enough loot bags.  According to Griffin, there are 5 boys and 6 girls in his class.  Anyway, it would be easy to go back to Divisoria since I know where to buy the stuff already. The total cost for each loot bag is P116.59.  It's quite expensive but I'm happy with what I bought.  I'm sure Griffin's classmates will love it.

Breakdown of prices:

bag (P10.00/pc.) 

pencil case (P20.00/pc.)

glitter pens (P20.00/pack) 

notebook (P7.00/pc.)

paper ball (P1.20/pc.)

blowout (P1.25/pc)

party hat (P1.66/pc.)

eraser (P10.00/pc.)

pencil (P2.08/pc.)

whiteboard (P35.00/pc.)

This is the girls loot bag.

This is the boys loot bag.

Narrative Report - First Week in School

This is Griffin's first Narrative Report written by Teacher Cristy:

Although Griffin is the youngest in our class, he had no difficulty adjusting to our routine and schedule.  He is smart, articulate and often in a happy disposition.  He follows directions well and can do his work for the day with little supervision.  During times when he gets distracted by other children walking around, he is able to focus again once he is prompted by teacher to listen.

He did very well during our informal assessment of basic math, reading and language skills.  He is able to answer what, when, where, who, why well, and expresses his ideas like a little grown-up.  The only times when he showed some hesitation to work was when he was asked to write/trace his name and draw about what he enjoys doing.  "I don't know how" ans "I cannot do it" were his initial reactions, but with some encouragement, he went on to give it a try.  He also needed some help with cutting, although felt more confident the second time he handled scissors.

Griffin shows independence during snack time and changing time.  He eats well on his own, brushes his teeth without help, and changes his shirt by himself.  Even when he uses the toilet to make wiwi, he says "I have to make sure there's no more ne", before he pulls up his underwear.  He then proceeds to flush and wash his hands.  "I have to wet my hands a little, before I put soap, mommy said".  He is like a little grown up in many ways.  : )

Griffin's First Absence

Griffin missed school last Friday. He slept really early the night before. However, he woke up at around 10 p.m., complaining that he could not breathe. I gave him Benadryl to help him sleep. I was hoping that it was only allergy. He couldn't sleep anymore so he watched TV till midnight then fell asleep. He woke up again at 5 a.m. this time coughing. I gave him Ventolin for the cough. He seemed OK and was wide awake already although he did have a runny nose. He fell asleep again after 2 hours. I was kind of sad that he missed school. He was supposed to bring a toy, his triceratops, which according to him was his favorite toy, because they were going to learn about sharing. We even had his snacks planned already. He was supposed to have Frosties and milk and I had prepared everything. But he wasn't really fit to go to school. He would have probably infected his classmates. He's a lot better now but classes are suspended for tomorrow so he has one more day to recuperate.

Biking in the Rain

We were on our way home, after eating at Mc Donald's when Griffin saw a man on a bike with plastic on his back to shield the rain.

Griffin: Why does the man have a plastic on his back?
Me: To keep him dry from the rain.
Griffin: He can use an umbrella so that he won't get wet.
Me: He can't hold the umbrella while riding the bike. How can you attach an umbrella to a bike?
Griffin: You just take of the seat then use tape to stick the umbrella to the bike then place the seat at the back.
Me: You're good Griffin.

Griffin's really smart!

My Little Big Man

People often say that Griffin talks like a grown up. When he first went to school at O'dea, the teachers' comment was that he speaks like an adult. He was only 2 years and 10 months old then. When he had his trial class at K.I.D.S. last December, the teachers also had the same comment. Now that he's a Level 3 student at K.I.D.S., these are some of the comments of his teachers:

After the Parent's Orientation, I think it was Teacher Nannie who commented, " 15 years old ka na ata."

When I picked him up, I think last week Teacher Mina said while ushering him out, " Our little 'mama' ".

Teacher Cristy told me when I picked Griffin up awhile ago that he's a 'little grown up'. She said that when she asks him how old he is, he answers, "I'm almost four".

I'm Just a Kid

Iper was talking to Griffin and he was getting grumpy.

Iper: Grumpy old man!
Griffin: I'm not a man. I'm a kid. I haven't grown up yet.

Smarty Pants 2

I promised Griffin that I would buy him violet glitter glue at National Bookstore.  While we were at National yesterday ....

Me: Griffin, they don't have violet glitter glue, only violet glitter.

Griffin: Why don't we put the glitter in the glue?

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While still at Greenbelt, we were in a store selling trinkets .....

Griffin: Mommy, what is this?

Me: That's a notebook.

Griffin: What is this? (holding another notebook)

Me: That's also a notebook.

Griffin: No, it's a diary.

It was a diary because it was a notebook with a button that binds it so it won't open.  He probably saw this kind of notebook on TV, that's why he knows it's called a diary.

Father's Day 2008

Griffin made this in school.

The teacher labeled it incorrectly. Griffin is the small one and the bigger one his daddy.

Giving the award to his daddy.

We ate at Fish and Co.

Pretend Restaurant

At lunch time today, Griffin was sitting on the chair at the dining table. He said he wanted to eat there so I got his plate, spoon and fork. I cooked him his current favorite, cheesedog with rice. After I served him his food, he asked me to get his wallet and the black thing referring to the bill folder. I realized that he wanted to pretend he was in the restaurant and he would pay for his food after eating. I pretended I was the waiter, so after he finished his food, he asked me to get his wallet and the bill folder. I wrote a pretend bill then he paid using his card.

Eating his meal.




Drinking his coke.


His wallet and the bill folder.


The card which he used to pay is actually his health card.

Griffin and Writing

When I brought Griffin to school today, he was in high spirits because he wasn't sleepy when he got up this morning. We arrived quite early so there was just one kid in school.

While I was there, Teacher Cristy told me that something Griffin did not want to do was write. That was one thing that I knew already as he really doesn't like writing letters. His usual excuse is, "I don't know" or "I can't do it" and these were the same excuses he told his teacher when he was asked to write so the teacher just made him scribble on paper.

It saddens me that even in school, Griffin does not want to write. I was expecting that he would at least try to write, seeing that his classmates were writing their names. It's stressing me. Now I have to find ways to get him to practice writing at home. I told him that next time the teacher asks him to write, he has to try writing even if the letters don't look very nice. I told him not to say "I don't know" or "I can't do it".

I also told him that from now on, we are going to have study time at home. During study time, he has to practice writing his name. He agreed to this. He even traced his name three times, on the Father's Day Card, on the worksheet and one using the color changing marker. I hope that the next time I ask him to write his name, he would willingly do it.

I'm just glad that he really loves school. He willingly goes to school even if at times, he is still sleepy.

Griffin Can Read

Griffin was looking at a box of Frosties I bought. This box has a free toy maze inside so on the box there are pictures of the 4 designs that are available. The photos showed the front and back designs and was labeled as such. To my surprise he asked me, "Mommy, why does it say FRONT and BACK here?".

Communication Notebook

This is a photo of Griffin's Communication Notebook. Parents were asked to decorate the notebook with their child, so this is Griffin and my work of art. This is no doubt Griffin's notebook because of his photos on the front and back cover.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

This is the Life Cycle of a Butterfly which Griffin drew all by himself. He showed it to me when he was done drawing it. He's getting better at drawing and even at writing letters although he stills prefers to write the letters which he finds easy to write like A, O, H and I.

First Day of School

It was Griffin's first day of school yesterday. The night before, I was so happy because he fell asleep at around 9:00 pm. I was expecting him to sleep till morning. Unfortunately, he woke up at around 12:00 am and couldn't sleep anymore. He was awake, watching tv until 3:00 am, because of this, he could not get that morning. I dressed him up while he was asleep and carried him to the car. Once in the car, he sat down already. It seems like he was ready to go to school despite the lack of sleep. He even said "bye" to Ama. When we arrived in the school, he was smiling and ready to go in. I accompanied him inside then took some pictures of him, putting his bag in the cubby and washing his face in the bathroom. Soon after, I left him and as usual he didn't mind me leaving him.

In the afternoon, Griffin came with me to the Parent's Orientation. After the orientation, his teacher told me that she had assessed Griffin, and told me that he really knows a lot. He's really good at following instructions. He just needs to have a longer attention span. According to the teacher, one moment he'd be joining in the activity then the next moment, he'd be wandering already. But she said, it's just because he's still so young.

Here are some photos:

Walking to the school's gate.



Putting his bags in the cubby hole.


Standing by the aquarium.


Washing his face in the bathroom.


"Good Work" stamp on his hand.

Getting Ready for School

Griffin's classes will start on tuesday, June 10.  We are all set to go to school.  I didn't have anything to prepare as he won't be having any books.  I just bought him some new clothes since his school doesn't require wearing a uniform.  Parents orientation will also be on tuesday at 5 pm so I don't know if we'll be given a list of things that he'll need to bring for his school kit like soap, powder, toothbrush, etc.  But definitely no school or art supplies as these are all included in the school's tuition fee.  

Kung Fu Panda

We watched the 12:00 pm showing of Kung Fu Panda yesterday. Griffin has been looking forward to this movie since the first time he saw the movie trailer way back in January. Whenever he tells me that he's going to watch Kung Fu Panda next, I always tell him that Kung Fu Panda will be showing in June.

June came and Mc Donald's had the Kung Fu Panda Toys for their Happy Meal.  Of course, he had to get the complete set. He got all 8 characters a day before we watched the movie.

He was really excited to watch the movie.  We bought his caramel pop corn before going in the movie house.  He was a little restless watching this movie as he didn't sit still the whole duration of the film.  He was even less restless when we watched Indiana Jones ("Indiana Junes" according to him).  Despite his restlessness, I know that he was watching because he knows what was happening and even told me that the Dragon Scroll was blank.  In the middle of the film, he had to pee, so we ran to the toilet.  He told me, "I'm not finish watching yet.". Right after peeing, he hurriedly went out of the toilet to go back to our seat.  He didn't want to miss the parts of the movie.

Kung Fu Panda was an entertaining movie. We had a good laugh while watching it.

Right after the movie, we went to avail of the free face painting, glitter tatoo and animal ride. We given 2 Kung Fu Panda caps, a badge, stickers, and cards.



Waiting for his turn to have his face painted.


He chose a green dragon design.


He had a lizard glitter tattoo.

Here are his face paint and glitter tattoo side by side.

Goodbye Sand Box

Griffin no longer has a sand box because of the cats that come in our garage. These cats are using the sand box as a litter box. Just a few days ago, Griffin wanted to play in the sand box. When we took the cover out and started mixing the sand, there was a really bad stench which smelled like ammonia. We had doubts that maybe the cats peed there. The sand box is usually uncovered during the daytime to air it out, unfortunately, there is a risk that the cats could poop or pee in it. A couple of days later, Iper saw a cat peeing in the sand box. That was the end of Griffin's sand box. We threw out all the sand and dismantled his makeshift sand box. I was sad about it, the sand box did not even last a month. It was fun building sand castles and Griffin really enjoys playing in the sand. Now, we are left with his toys for the sand minus the sand. Oh well, maybe some other time again.

Car wash

Around a week ago, Willie decided to wash his new car for the first time. It was night time and he was washing the car in the garage. I asked Griffin if he wanted to go downstairs to see what his daddy is doing and he said yes. He saw his daddy washing the car and he wanted to help. He got the drying mitt and started drying the car.

Here are some photos of Griffin drying the car:

Blog Readability Test

Shhhhhh

Griffin was playing when he saw the small air pump in one of his toy boxes....

Griffin: Mommy where is the pump you step on and you pump, pump, pump. (with matching action - bending his knees like he's pumping)

Me: I don't know where it is. I have to ask Ama but she's sleeping already.

Griffin: Mommy, you just have to talk quietly.