Next Stop ... Up! | 2007

So now your child can walk. Hurrah! It's a  milestone in his life, and a mark of good parenting on your part, right? For the most part, I would say yes. The question is what role did you play in getting him there? 

I have to admit, I wish I had more time to spend with Jakjak to teach him new stuff. But work and chores get in the way. Still, when you look back on it, you realize that children absorb things like a sponge. They learn from their mistakes (unlike some stubborn adults) and make the necessary adjustments to keep themselves from falling. I have also noticed that their drive to achieve something is far more persistent than an adult. It may look mundane to us the goals that children at this age (one +) want to achieve (get up and walk, reach the glass of water, make a mess, etc.), but then you have to realize that their goals at that point is learning the basics.

So now your child can walk. Now what? Well, to give you a better picture, we have a rather large and empty living room which gives Jakjak loads of room to play and roll and crawl all over. Our bedroom however, is on the 2nd floor some dozen or so steps away. So in the instant that you decide to take a break, he'll notice you're going up the stairs. And he decides to follow. The designated stair-watcher has to be alert when he does this and re-direct his attention to something else. But there came a time when diversion didn't work anymore. So it was like learning how to walk all over again.

Every time Jakjak decides to go on the stairs, you have to be there and wait on him, guide him and clap your hands every step he manages to cleverly take. Believe me, this took a while (and quite a bit of time). Imagine more than five minutes to get up a flight of steps. And that's not yet including the way down. We let him have a go at it because in the end, he will do it anyway. It's either this, or get a lift built into the house.

On some days, after he finally got the hang of it, he would go up half way, call onto us through the railings and give that wonderfully sweet smile of his. We smile back at him with a reminder to be careful, but what he does not see is dad's heart beating twice as fast as normal hoping that he would remember to hold on to the railings and get up or down safely.

Shared Delight | 2007

Changes were expected at the arrival of a child. And there were a lot. There were sleepless nights, soiled diapers and messy houses. Not to mention the stacking bills and shopping expenses. I had then succumbed that it would be a while before we tasted a Mocha Frappuccino again.

One other change was the diet when we went out of the house. Sure, he survived the first year with his ration of baby food. But I found out that babies evolve much faster if you give them organic baby food. No kidding! When Jakjak got his teeth, I thought it should have been in two more months. Not to mention him starting to climb stairs all by himself by now! (this, we had to take drastic action on, seriously)

 And so we were bringing him out more often with us. And that meant always having something good for a one year old to eat. I mean, honestly, I don't think french fries qualify as baby food. As the food hunting went on, Jakjak continued to evolve and decided to start eating most of the same food that we do, as long as he can bite his teeth into them. So his baby diet included pizza, cheese (from a cheeseburger), french fries, donuts and to top it all off, a Mocha Frappuccino!

Surely, at least one of those made his mum very happy. I mean, how could you not say 'no' when Jakjak points to a Mocha Frap at Starbucks?

Walking the Walk | 2007

When you are watching your child grow up, you sometimes grow impatient. Not because you are frustrated that your child cannot do what you want him to do, but rather because you set your expectations too high. Maybe because your friend's cat can play with a ball of yarn at 2 months old, or your neighbor's dog fetching sticks at 3 months old. I believe that every child is special, and that he will shine and surprise you when that time is due.

Then there's the reality that raising one is an awfully big responsibility. In the movies, you see the good stuff. The laughing, the playing, the cute smile and obnoxious farting. But when you're actually there, you see what goes on behind the scenes. What the director of the movie has to put up with. This includes the wailing, the crying, the messy feeding and the stinky diapers. This is where I believe the line is drawn between the men and the boys, not some race to see who is the fastest or who scores the most baskets. What separates the men from the boys, is how you buck up and change soiled diapers (when the baby has diarrhea, no less).

When Jakjak was still a baby, we couldn't wait for him to start crawling. After getting tired of waiting for him to crawl, he walked! The little bugger actually walked! Sure he was clinging to the side of the crib like there's no tomorrow, but he walked! Rather than crawl, he must have figured he would get farther (and faster) if he was walking. And when he was walking, we couldn't wait until he could do it on his own, without the guides, without holding on to mum and dad. When we got tired of waiting, he decided he wanted to ride the baby pram instead! He must have figured out he would get farther (and even faster) in less time and less effort if he was in a pram! He really shines where it matters though, in giving his mum and dad the time of their lives.

Nutty Donuts | 2007

Go Nuts Donuts opened in a mall near our place. The first time we tasted the sweetness of these nutty donuts, we had to traverse Manila's treacherous traffic laden streets. It soon came nearer, and the travel time was cut in half. When it finally opened at a mall just a stone's throw away, we imagined stuffing ourselves with gooey chewy donuts all day! 

That never happened. Because for some reason, the excitement just isn't there anymore when you don't need to battle for your round piece of heaven. Still, Jakjak was as happy as ever munching his way through every sweet bite of black forest donuts. This gave mum and dad an excuse to get some cold frappuccinos (not in any way comparable to Starbucks) along with his pile of sweets.

Thankfully, donuts are not the only reason we go to the mall. After a handful of calories and a dollop of sugar coated flour, we stroll around the mall to burn some of the fats. Also, at the very least, the mall was a place for Jakjak to interact with other people (really, he's just so ... 'political' in nature). We also at least let him spend some time in play areas scattered within the mall. For the most part, it's where we cool off when it gets hot in our house. Think of it as an air conditioned playground. :)