We'll miss you Angkong!

My dad, Angkong to Hailey and Griffin joined our Creator the evening of January 19, 2011 at almost 11 pm. We'll surely miss him but we know that he is happy with God now and he is no longer suffering from pain. Griffin got to know Angkong for almost 6.5 years while Hailey had 20 months with him. Angkong never saw Hailey as he does not react anymore when you talk to him. Hailey knows Angkong and points to him when asked "where is Angkong?". When he passed on, we asked her "where is angkong?", she would answer with both her palms facing up which meant "not here". A few days after daddy was laid to rest, we were hanging out in Ama's room. It was time to return to our room so we started going up the stairs. Griffin went ahead so it was just me and Hailey going up. She was walking up the stairs, after a few steps she looked back and was waving like saying bye to someone then she climbed a few steps and looked back again and waved. I was asking her who she was waving to but of course she does not know how to talk so she did not answer. She was probably waving at Angkong. When i asked her the next day if she saw Angkong, she said "da" which meant yes. I don't know if it was true because she sometimes says yes to anything you ask her but she has never waved at no one. Rest in peace Daddy/Angkong.

Hailey is 20 months old

Hailey turned 20 months last January 20. At 20 months, she can understand very well. When you tell her to do something, she follows. She listens to our conversations and reacts which means she understands. She seems to understand both Filipino and English. She still doesn't talk though. The few words she can say are "da" or "ya", "ow", "uh oh", "aye" for bye or hi and just today she said "ine" for mine. She is slowly learning to say new words but her comprehension seems to be advanced. I was asking Griffin the other day if he wanted nuggets from Mc Donald's and Hailey reacted by raising her finger which meant to say she wanted some too. She even reacts when I say things in Filipino. She seems smart too, I hope she would do well in school too just like Griffin.

Overnight at A. Venue Residences

We were at A . venue residences last weekend for an overnight stay. We purposely went there to have a swim as I promised Griffin. We booked 2 adjacent 1 bedroom suites as no 2 bedroom suites were available. Griffin and Hailey had fun hanging out in the room but of course it was swimming that Griffin was looking forward to. We had our first swim on Saturday after eating lunch at Wendy's. We didn't stay long because the water was so cold that Hailey was shivering. Griffin still wanted to swim but I told him Hailey was cold so we went back to the room. He asked me if he could swim again the next morning and i told him yes if he could get up early. The next day i woke him up at almost 9 am. We just ate a little and went to the pool. The water was still cold so hailey just stayed in the jacuzzi where the water was warm. We stayed there till 11 am. Griffin had fun swimming. He did not want to go yet but we had to because we still had to take a bath and had to check out already. It was a fun weekend for Griffin and Hailey. If only the water wasn't too cold, hailey would have enjoyed it more at the pool.

Hailey's molars

Hailey's 10th and 11th teeth have erupted from her gums. It is the upper left molar and the lower right molar.

Hailey is 19 months

Hailey at 19 months still does not talk but is starting to put together more syllables. She can certainly understand us and can let us know what she wants although not verbally yet. She can now say woof woof when asked what a dog says. She raises both her hands when you say ran ran ru. She also does the same when she wants to see Ronald Mc Donald's ran ran ru video or whenever she sees Ronald's picture or statue. Her new tricks include 'brain freeze' where she holds the sides of her head and says 'aah!' , 'chill' where she stretches both arms with fists balled and shivers, tickle where she pokes you trying to tickle you and cries her fake cry when asked to cry. She once did brain freeze, chill and cry one after another without anyone telling her to do so. She can understand what we say even we are not talking to her. She has this bad habit now of spanking when you tell her 'no' and stamps hers feet when she doesn't get her way. When I ask her where something she played with is, she usually shows me where she left it. She also usually tells when she makes wee wee or poo poo even when she's in diapers. She loves touching stuff in stores and usually makes them fall down specially if they are bottles. She also likes putting stuff in the shopping cart. She loves playing with pretend food and also loves monkeys. I hope she adds more words to her very limited vocabulary. She can now say bubba for bubbles though, something I just heard her say just a few days ago while she was watching Hi5 blowing bubbles on the video. She has no problem making herself understood as she nods or shakes her head for yes or no and points and gestures to help you understand her.

Second quarter report card

Griffin got his report card today. As I expected, he got good grades again. He got HS in Reading, Language, Math, Filipino and Chinese. This time he got an award for good penmanship. Good job Griffin! Keep it up!

Hailey is 18 months

Hailey at 1.5 years old still does not talk although she can copy some repetitive syllables like mama, dada, kaka, nana, zaza and baba. She can say ya sometimes for yes and shakes her head for no. She loves watching videos of sesame street and hi5. She loves Dora and Spongebob. Whenever she sees these characters on clothes or other stuff like pens, blankets, containers she gets excited. When we are at the supermarket, she would get things on the shelf like chips and chocolate then drops them in the cart. She also loves making bottles fall on store shelves.

Hailey Anecdotes

This afternoon when Hailey saw that I was cutting the plastic lamination from a printout for McDonald's, she got excited and pointed to the McDonald's "M" logo. There was also a time when she saw a very small Ronald McDonald throwing trash in a bin on the softdrink cup and nuggets box. She was ponting at it then raised both her arms up just like the Ronald doing the "ran ran ru" action om you tube. Hailey surely knows McDonald's. Just this evening she saw a Chowking coupon on the table. She was looking at it and pointing at the chicharap on the plate. She saw the chicharap and wanted some. Hailey sure is observant and has very good eyesight. She notices things even if it's just a tiny picture. She also remembers that there is a sorbetero on the sidewalk of Griffin's school. She often wants to go to that place even if the sorbetero is not there. She seems to be like another Griffin in the making. She's smart, observant and has a good memory.

Upper molars

Hailey has two new teeth coming out. She has two upper teeth that have cut through her gums. I think it is her left and right upper molar.

Griffin's allergies

We brought Griffin to the ENT last week to have his ears checked because he always complains that he's dizzy whenever he's riding a car. The doctor checked his ears, he did not see anything bad. We also told him that Griffin always had colds. He said it was allergies, as he saw Griffin's eyes. He checked his nose and throat and said Griffin had inflamed or enlarged tonsils, I'm not exactly sure. He also checked Griffin's balance and said he had a slight imbalance because he was slightly swerving to the right during the test. I don't know if the test was accurate because Griffin said his right shoe wasn't worn properly. Anyway, griffin was given Alnix and Avamys nasal spray to treat his allergy. He has been taking the meds for more than a week now and he's been allergy free so far. He has not complained of a clogged nose nor does he have colds. I am happy that he does not have to suffer from allergies anymore. So far, he also hasn't complained about dizziness in the car too which he never fails to complain of before taking the meds. His dizziness surely was caused by his allergies. It was not motion sickness after all because he also felt dizzy at times even when not in the car although not as bad. I'm glad that he no longer has to suffer from a clogged nose, something which I could not relieve him of.

My birthday

It was my birthday yesterday. We had no special food, not even a birthday cake. The day was kind of hectic since Griffin had classes and it was raining so hard. We got home so late because the traffic was so bad around the school. We'll be having my post birthday celebration at Yaki Mix on Saturday so that my mom, Apit, Nikki and Iper can join us. I'll probably buy a cake later so Griffin and Hailey can blow out the candles and we can have some photos together.

Yaya interaction day

Griffin is having their Yaya interaction day in school this afternoon. They won't be having classes just fun and games with the yayas. He doesn't have a yaya so a few months ago when they started talking about this activity, he was telling me he wanted one. He of course wanted to bring a yaya to school just like his classmates. When we got home from school yesterday, he was telling me about the gifts the other kids were to give their yayas. He didn't get one because he has no yaya. I asked him who else doesn't have a yaya and he told me only he did not have one. I felt kind of sad for him as he could not experience the bonding the other kids would have with their yayas. I also felt guilty for being a grumpy mommy specially when he's being "makulit". I feel stressed taking care of two demanding kids everyday. I am guilty of getting mad easily, having little patience and shouting. I really don't like being a monster mommy. I pray to God for me to be more patient and to understand that Griffin and Hailey are just kids. I know they love me and both want my full attention. It's not an easy task trying to split myself in two to satisfy both of them but I know it's not an excuse to be mad all the time. To be loved so much by my two babies is a blessing. I have to stop being stressed all the time to get rid of the monster in me.

2nd quarter test scores

I am so proud of Griffin. He is really such a smart kid. I saw his 2nd quarter test scores pasted in his HSCN and he got perfect scores in Reading, Language, Filipino, and Chinese, while he got 39.5/40 in Math. He has been very good in school and hasn't given me any problems whenever he has tests. He knows his lessons well that he does not need to review much when he has exams.

Hailey is 17 months old

Hailey at 17 months still doesn't talk. She can say mama but doesn't call me mama all the time. She say "da" for yes and shakes her head for no. She can follow instructions like "throw it in the trash can" or "get elmo". Hailey loves the water. She enjoys playing around in the big tub. A few days ago, I filled up the jacuzzi with water because Griffin wanted to swim, naturally, hailey and I would join him. She had a blast swimming. She wasn't afraid of getting her face wet . I had to hold on to her because she would twist and turn in the water . Just recenty, i saw her shakng her finger and trying to talk as if she were telling Griffin off. She's surely seen me get mad at Griffin.