School's out! Vacation time!

Griffin had his last day of school yesterday! The day before they had their last exam then had special center time where they had face painting, made some music and had the chance to eat from the chocolate fountain. Griffin's first year in big school has gone so quickly. It was a breeze since he did not have any problems academically. He is growing so fast. He is also taller now as evidenced by his school pants which are too short for him now. He'll be in Prep this coming June, I am hoping it would be a good year for him too. He's happy that school is out because he is excited to go to the beach. It is going to be his first time at the beach. We'll be going to Acuatico in Laiya. The beach sand will be grainy and not the type for making sand castles but I hope he would still enjoy. Maybe when Hailey is older, we could go to Boracay.

Hailey is 9 months

Hailey at 9 months can easily walk around the room while holding onto anything for support. She can crawl really fast and can go up and down the bed. She is quite talkative and has a loud voice. When she sees food, she would make noise to tell you she wants some. When she wants something, she can tell you by making noises and by reaching for it to the point that she could almost fall if you did not hold her tight enough. She loves Griffin and gets excited when he's running around. She eats anything and everything she sees. She knows though, if it's food. Her teeth, both the upper and lower front teeth, are almost coming out. You can see the bump under her gums. Hopefully, the teeth would cut through the gums before she tums 10 months. I think she'd look even cuter with teeth. Her hair is also getting thicker although it's still spiked up. I hope it gets longer soon. I would love to put a hair clip on her. She no longer wants a hairband on her head.

Griffin's 3rd quarter Report Card

Griffin got his Report Card today. I am so happy with his grades. He got 5 VS marks and all the rest are HS. He also got a big Happy Gram, an award for Penmanship and another achievement award for academics. I hope that he always does well in school. I am also glad that he has learned to speak and understand Filipino through his playtimes with Ran Ran and Em Em. He hasn't mastered it but that's ok. I know that he will learn eventually. At least, I am no longer worried that he will have difficulties in his Filipino subject when he is already in Prep.

Hailey is 8 months

Hailey at 8 months can now get to the sitting position effortlessly. She can crawl really fast and has figured out how to get down from the bed to the floor although she still has accidents. She can also get to the standing position while holding onto the bed. However, her legs are still wobbly when she is in the standing position. She moves around the house on her walker really fast so one has to watch out or she'll hit you and you would hurt your feet or ankles. She loves eating. She can eat rice even without soup. She's very active specially when you leave her on the floor to explore. My baby is growing up so fast. In a few months, she'll be one year old and would probably walking on her own. I'm starting to prepare for her first birthday party with an animal/safari theme. I am actually excited about it. I have just reserved the party venue this afternoon.

Disney on Ice : Disneyland Adventure

We watched Disney on Ice early yesterday afternoon. It was Griffin's second time to watch while it was Hailey's first time. At the beginning , the National Anthem was played and Griffin stood up and even put his right hand on his chest. Griffin seemed to enjoy it more this time than when he watched it in 2008. He clapped and shouted and participated when the characters asked for audience participation. On the way home, he said that he liked the show. On the other hand, Hailey slept through the first half and watched the show for quite a long time before she fussed. She was relatively good as she did not cry during the whole show. Of course, we got some souvenir items which were so expensive. It was a good thing Griffin was feeling much better already and his cold sores were almost gone or else he wouldn't have enjoyed the show and he would not have been able to eat pop corn and cotton candy. My poor little boy, he suffered from so many cold sores in his mouth and he could not eat for 4 days. It is a lesson for him to stop putting his fingers in his mouth and to always wash his hands. We told him to stop eating his fingers if he does not want to suffer from cold sores again.

Hailey is 7 months old

Hailey at 7 months is still vary attached to me. She does not like anyone else to carry her except me. When she is on her walker and sees me walking away from her she starts to cry. She is also starting to crawl. Although not very well yet, she can easily and quickly move around the bed. I just tried feeding her Gerber (squash) today and she really loved it. I tried to feed her homemade baby food but she could not eat it properly because I just found out that I should have made the consistency more watery like that of Gerber. When she sees us eating or drinking, she also wants to eat or drink. She knows how to make a sound telling you she wants something she sees. She starts laughing with sound now although still not that often. She also loves commercials specially Selecta 3 in 1 plus 1. I have a video of this commercial in my iPhone so when she is crying I play the video and she stops. She still has no teeth as of today. I wonder when her first tooth would come out.

Learning Filipino

As I have mentioned before, it is my greatest worry that Griffin would not learn to speak Filipino before he enters Prep. My worries are slowly disappearing as he is learning the language slowly. He can now understand more words and can even say simple sentences in Filipino. He also gets practice while playing with Ran Ran and Em Em. He told me he said, " akyat na" when he was done playing with Ran Ran and he was ready to go upstairs. He also said, "opo, sira" when he was agreeing with Ran Ran that something was broken. It also helped that the song they sang for their Christmas program was also in Filipino. He has also learned new words because of the song.

Yesterday, he was at the playground in Timezone playing with a little girl who spoke to him in Filipino. Whereas before, he would speak English to his playmate, this time, he spoke in Filipino despite his limited vocabulary. Here is a sample of how he spoke to the girl:

Girl: Dito na tayo!
Griffin: Opo.
Girl: Color tayo!
Griffin: Exercise tayo!
After going on the treadmill...
Griffin: Play na tayo! ( proceeding to go up the play structure)

Some of the other things he can say...
Ligo na tayo!
Nanay, laro na tayo!
Ano pangalan mo? ( although he would say it as "ano palangan mo?" sometimes.

Willie asked him some questions which he was able to answer.
Willie: Sino tatay mo?
Griffin: Ikaw
Willie: Sino nanay mo?
Griffin: Siya (pointing at me)
Willie: Sino kapatid mo?
Griffin: Ano kapatid?
Willie: Brother or sister
Griffin: Si Hailey

He has learned so fast that's why I'm no longer worried that he would not learn Filipino.

Chinese watcher

Griffin is one of the students selected to be in the Chinese dance for Chinese New Year this coming February. He had his last practice for the year last Thursday. Their dance practice will resume next year and will be from Monday to Friday. I asked him yesterday, if his other classmates are not Chinese dancers, what are they? Are they Chinese singers? He said, "No, they are Chinese watchers. They only watch".

Pet Ecology Week

It is bring your pet day today at Griffin's school. Originally, he was going to brung his sea monkey but I asked him if he wanted to bring a fish to school. He told me he'd like to bring the fish like those Apit used to feed the Arowana, ie. feeder fish. Last Wednesday, we went to Cartimar and bought a small square aquarium and 2 colorful guppies. He was set to bring those to school but yesterday, we went back to Cartimar and bought 8 little crabs and a container with a handle. This would be easier to transport and also easier for Griffin to carry to his classroom. Aside from the convenience, I think it is a unique pet, not something a kid would bring to school. I hope he has fun looking at all the animals in school today.

Update:
We picked Griffin up in school. His pet got a special award as Rocker Pet (the hardest pet).

Hailey is 6 months old

Hailey at 6 months is very active. She can move around in her walker very quickly and moves around on the bed really fast. She is not quite crawling yet but she can easily roll around the bed and can move by using her feet to push herself forward. She can sit down unaided for longer periods. She is also more patient when given a teether or pacifier. She does not cry right away as she can hold on to the objects better than before. She still cries but it's mostly because she wants me. She usually starts to cry when she notices that I'm not there which is almost immediately. We will start giving her solid food this month. She seems to be ready to eat solid food because everytime she sees us eating, it seems like she also wants to eat.

Report Card - Second Quarter

Griffin got his Report Card today. He got even better grades than in the First Quarter. The S's he got last quarter are now VS except for one. His penmanship grade also improved from Limited Progress to Satisfactory. He only has 2 Satisfactory grades and the rest are VS and HS. I am so proud of Griffin. He got an Achievement Award again for Academics this quarter.

Griffin is doing very well in school. As I mentioned in my earlier post, his teacher said he's the fastest reader in his class. He was also chosen to be one of the prayer leaders for their prayer service on Monday. I don't even have to help him practice reading the prayer because when I asked him to read it, he read the entire prayer correctly. I don't have any problems teaching him his Reading subject as he already knows how to read. In fact, I have no problems teaching him any of his subjects, whether it's Math, Chinese or Language.

Dance practice

Griffin was selected to participate in a Chinese dance for their Chinese New Year festivities on February 10-14 next year. They will be having their practices everyday from 3:00 to 3:30 except on Fridays, . I asked him if he would like to join the dance and he said yes. I hope that we'll be invited to watch the dance as I would love to see Griffin performing a Chinese dance.

Bad tummy

Griffin had a tummy ache this morning. He still went to school. When we picked him up at school, his classmate told us that he vomitted in the classroom. He probably had indigestion because according to his teacher, he threw up 3 times in 2 minute intervals. He was sent to the clinic but went back to the classroom after a while.

When we got home, Griffin took a bath and told me that his teacher said he was the fastest reader on his class. I'm so proud of him. I hope that he will always do well in school.

Happy Birthday to me

It is my birthday today. We brought Griffin to school then went to Greenhills and ate at Shakey's. We picked Griffin up then passed by Red Ribbon to buy a cake. Griffin sang the birthday song then we both blew the candles out. I then ordered Amber's palabok and barbecue for dinner.