Griffin can tie his laces

Griffin can tie his own shoe laces. He just tried it out last night. At first, the knot was kind of loose but when he did it this morning, it actually looked really good. He's really a big boy now. He takes a bath by himself and eats by himself. My little boy is all grown up.

A Visit to K.I.D.S.

Griffin had no classes so we visited Teacher Cristy at KIDS yesterday. We arrived at around 11:00am. We were lucky that Teacher Cristy was there because she said she was not teaching this year. She will be in school only for 2 weeks because Teacher May was on leave. Griffin showed his Teacher his Happy Grams, Good job cards and Achievement award. She asked how was Griffin's penmanship and I said he improved a lot. Teacher Mina asked if he has tantrums in school and I said he was well behaved in school. I told Teacher Cristy my worry was Griffin not being able to understand Tagalog and I told her about the Filipino enrichment class I saw. But she said there's no need, he'll learn in school. Anyway, I still have time to teach him before next school year. I also told her that Griffin reads so well. He doesn't read slowly by trying to put the sounds of the letters together. She told me that he's really been a good reader. He sight reads so well.
Griffin had so much fun playing in the playground with his former classmates specially Enzo. His classmates Chesley, Nadine, Maddie and Angelo were there. He was really sweaty after playing on the slide and shooting balls with Enzo. We left at around 11:45 am. He told me he would like to visit again. I told him he could visit if he has no classes. Maybe on December he can visit again.

Hailey at 4 months

Hailey at 4 months can now stay on the bed without crying a little longer. At times, she can be left lying on her back or lying on her tummy and she would squeal and smile. Her neck muscles are very strong now, so she can hold her head steady and even lift her head up for long periods while lying on her tummy. She can easily turn over from lying on her back to lying on her tummy. She can sit up with support and can be propped up to sit leaning on pillows. She also gives big smiles when she's in a good mood so it's much more fun to take pictures of her.

She already has separation anxiety. When I leave her with someone else she usually cries her heart out until I carry her. She would at times stop crying once she hears my voice. I guess she'll be as clingy to me as Griffin was and still is up to now. It feels good to be loved by my kids but it can also be tiring when they want you all the time. I love them both so much inspite of the stress.

Report Card - First Quarter

Griffin got his report card last Friday. As I expected, he had good grades. He even got an achievement award in academics. His lowest "grade" was in Penmanship where he has Limited Progress. I'm not bothered by it because he has improved so much in writing, coloring and even in drawing compared to before he entered big school. He loves writing in his Megasketcher. He can even draw stars and hearts already. He can also draw by just copying a drawing unlike before when he would have tantrums because he couldn't copy the drawing.

UPDATE: I emailed Griffin's teacher to ask what grade he got in his Reading exam. Griffin told me he only got Good in Reading while he got Very Good in Chinese and Math because he got perfect scores in these tests. His teacher answered me today and said that he also got a perfect score in Reading.

Hailey at 3 months.

Hailey is now 3 months old. She is no longer colicky however she still has crying spells. She likes talking to people in her gurgling language. She smiles a lot these days although it could be immediately be followed by crying. She has tried to lift her head up while lying on her tummy. We have also seen her turn over from lying on her tummy to lying on her back twice already. I am not sleep deprived at night because she usually wakes up to nurse then goes back to sleep right away. She's getting bigger and bigger each day. Before you know it, she would be sitting, crawling, standing, walking and talking. Can't wait till she gets a few months older so I can buy her more cute little dresses. It is really fun dressing up little girls. If only she had a lot more hair, i would buy her cute little hair clips. She looks like a baby boy because she doesn't have much hair.

School Boy

Griffin has been really good at school. He is well behaved as evidenced by his Good Job cards and Happy Grams. Academically, he's doing really well. His quizzes have perfect scores except for one chinese test where he got 2 mistakes. His seatworks are mostly very good too. He also did very well in his oral tests in chinese and english. I am looking forward to seeing the results of his quarterly exams. It was really easy studying for the tests because he has mastered all his lessons. I just had to review him a little.

Griffin turns 5

Griffin turned 5 years old today. As was his request, he had a Ben 10 cake and cupcakes. I also bought him flying balloons. Of course, he got to open his gifts which were mostly Ben 10 toys. He particularly loved the Alien Creation Chamber. We went to Greenbelt to eat at Chili's but there were no more seats so we ended up at Flapjacks. My baby is a big boy already. I will miss the times when he was younger that we spend every single day together, just the two of us.

Hailey is 2 months old

Hailey turned 2 months old last July 20, 2009. She sleeps a little longer and doesn't sleep as much as last month. She's not so colicky anymore, although she still cries at times and likes to suck her hand or my arm. You can make her smile now, when she's in a good mood and is either lying down on the bed or sitting in her seater.

Sad Griffin

When i picked Griffin up today, he looked sad and had teary eyes. I asked him what was wrong and he answered, " I don't know". In the car, on the way home, we asked him again why he was sad and he still said, "I don't know". When my mom asked him if he got a "good job" card, he said he got 3 stars but he did not get a "good job" card. We asked him if that was why he was sad and he said, yes.

I wrote to his teacher and she told me through email that Griffin did cry before dismissal because they had Penmanship and he was scared to stay after school to finish his work in case he doesn't finish it on time. He however finished second to the last and on time so he need not stay after school. He did get 3 stars and his good job card is in school where the teacher keeps them till the end of the week to keep track of who gets a Happy Gram by Friday.

Mid-quarter PTC

I went to the parent-teacher's conference at Griffin's school last Saturday morning. I talked to his teacher, Teacher Ail. She told me that Griffin is a happy boy in school. He is enthusiastic when it comes to recitation. She also told me that when asked a question, Griffin thinks about his answer. His answers are very related to the question unlike some kids who just answer without thinking. She told me that Griffin is smart and has no problem with academics. He is also very friendly. He just gets easily distracted when other kids are talking or playing in class so his attention has to be called. Knowing his happy disposition in school the teacher was surprised when Griffin cried when classes were cancelled. He kept on saying to the teacher that I did not know that classes were cancelled and that I would not come to pick him up.

I am really happy with the feedback I got from the teacher. He also got a Happy Gram last week for being a good boy the whole week. Griffin has improved a lot. He had a lot of homework last weekend, particularly penmanship homework. He was able to finish it without any tantrums. Knowing that he's not fond of writing, writing so many letters and writing his full name 8 times was a major accomplishment, specially because he had to write it on blue-red-blue lines.

Ben Tennyson

Here is Griffin in his Ben 10 costume made by Ama.

Happy Birthday Ama!

Cancelled Classes

Classes were cancelled yesterday. Unfortunately, I learned about the cancellation when I arrived home already. Poor Griffin, he had to wait for more than an hour to be picked up while most of the kids went home already. When my mom got him from the classroom, he was just sitting down on the chair. He kept asking Ama where I was and why I was taking so long.

That night, he told me that he almost cried because I was taking so long. He asked me why I did not know that classes were cancelled. I explained to him that I only learned about the cancellation when I reached home so I had to go back to pick him up. My poor baby, next time it's raining hard, I'll wait for a while, in case they cancel classes again.

Best mommy in the world

Griffin and I were walking out of the EED gym, when I picked him up from school yesterday afternoon. As we left the gym, I saw one of his classmates who was not in PE uniform .....
Me: Why isn't Diego wearing his PE uniform?
Griffin: Maybe his mommy forgot it is PE day today.
Me: Maybe.
Griffin: You're the best mommy in the world because you know everything.
Me: Thanks.

It feels good that Griffin appreciates the things I do for him.