Writing update

Griffin has started writing his homework in his HSCN. He has already done it for two days and his penmanship actually looks good. He had GOOD stamped on the first one and VERY GOOD stamped on the second one. I am very happy with the improvement in his penmanship. I hope it gets better and better.

To sleep or not to sleep with Ama

While hanging out in Ama's room last night ...

Ama: Why don't you sleep here with me tonight?
Griffin: I don't want.
Ama: Why?
Griffin: I don't want to, but I still love you Ama!

Hailey goes bananas over bananas

Last Tuesday, November 3 , Hailey had her first taste of solid food. We gave her some bananas placed in a mesh container and as expected, she loved it. She's been trying to eat everything she sees whether it is food or not. When I am holding a glass or bowl or just about anything in my hand, she would try to reach it. We gave her some bananas again today. She loved it so much. She also likes drinking water in her zippy cup. We will start giving her solid food regularly by the time she turns 6 months in 15 days. It looks like she is not going to be hard to feed. I hope that she won't be too greedy as I don't want her to get fat.

Filipino update

Griffin is learning little by little, more Filipino words. I asked him the other day, "Masarap bs yung ice cream?" and he answered, "opo". He also asked me once, "Gusto mo ng fries?". Just a while ago, he told me, "ano is what in Tagalog". He can also understand a little because sometimes we talk in Filipino and he asks or says something related to what we were talking about. I really really hope he learns to speak and understand Filipino soon.

Griffin's Conversations

While eating at Max's Restaurant after Hailey's Christening ...

JD: I'm married to Jamie (his sister).
Griffin: I'm not married yet because I don't have a wife.

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A few nights ago, while helping Ama make Angkong's food...

Griffin: Diego is back .(His classmate was absent for a few weeks. According to his teacher, Diego was in the US to do important things,)

Ama: What important things did he do? He went to Disneyland and Universal Studios?

Griffin: Ama, those are not important things, those are important places.

Hailey laughs

Hailey laughed with sound today. She usually has big smiles but she has a silent laugh. But today while lying on the sponge during bath time, she sees Griffin and laughed a few times. It was a joy to hear since she rarely does it.

Hailey loves Griffin so much. She laughs when she sees him and she also loves to touch his face and hair. I hope they would always love each other.

Good Reader

Griffin is a very good reader. He's a good sight reader but we tried asking him to read Tagalog words, he can also easily read them. He does not read them per syllable. He just says the whole word right away. I bought him a vcd and cd of Filipino songs to help him learn to speak Filipino. I hope he learns through singing the songs. I hope he'll be able to speak and understand simple Filipino before next school year.

Hailey is 5 months old

Hailey turned 5 months old last October 20. She can sit down assisted and sometimes she can sit by herself altough not with her back straight. She has really strong legs as she can stand up with some support. She still screams specially if she wants something or when she wants me to carry her. She can easily turn over already. She likes grabbing whatever you're holding, particularly glasses and plates. She likes to eat just about anything. She is short tempered though, specially when she tries to bite her teethers. She bites them then after a while she gets so frustrated that she starts to cry. We might start her with solid food by next month. I hope we won't have problems feeding her.

Mooncake Festival

We played the dice game in celebration of the Mooncake Festival last October 3. Griffin won First prize in the second round. I hope this brings him luck all year.

Hailey's Baptism

Hailey is now a Christian. She was baptized at Our Lady of La Paz Parish at 11 o'clock this morning. She was well behaved for the Baptismal Ceremony and only started crying when it was time for picture taking. Her Ninongs were Apit, VJ and Alvin while her Ninangs were Iper, Nikki and Cathy. After the Baptism, we went to Max's Restaurant to eat lunch.

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.