I Am Five | 2010

Five years ago, I was in the operating room of Asian Hospital in Alabang, Muntinlupa. I was in a daze because my wife is in labor and we were about to be on the receiving end of a 7-month pre-term baby who was very impatient and wants to come out early. Days and nights in the Neo-natal ICU followed. Days of visits to doctors and specialists soon came after. Followed still by a few hitches and a few glitches later on.

But five years on, we never would have imagined Jakjak to be this irresistable little huggy-bug that brings endless joy to his mum and dad (and most of everyone else that he knows).

I can still recall how he worried us when he got his first fever and could not sleep. When he had his first cold and could not breathe. When he had his first operation for hernia at 6 months old (God, that was unbearable for a parent, especially a dad). And that time when he fell from the bed when he was but 3 months old. He still worries us every now and then, it's just not as often as before. He still falls and fumbles every now and then, but it's just because he is too much of a scrambler who does not look at where he's going most of the time. And we love him to bits.

He likes presents. He likes toys. He likes pretty much whatever it is you give him (except for food during lunch and dinner). But he doesn't ask for toys that often. He asks if what he wants is expensive or not, and leaves it on the shelf if it is. He will often shout "I like that" when he sees the TV ad, but he never throws a tantrum just to get it at the toy store. In a way, I probably did that to him. I was like that when I was small, but for a different reason than what I was teaching him. Because today, I can give him the toys that he wants, but we control our buying sprees simply because he has so many toys already that he knows what to do with. And we fell it's healthy for the both of us (I did not have as much toys as Jakjak has when I was his age).

He knows his letters and his numbers. He knows his words and his vocabulary is quite big for his age. He would often ask what a word means if he hears it for the first time and will use it while talking to you until he understands how to use it. He knows how volcanoes erupt and that Saturn has rings made of gas. He knows which is a Ferrari and which is a Porsche, and he also knows which is a Mazda. He makes cake and ice cream from Play Doh. He draws helicopters, buses (with 3D wheels) and mum and dad. He makes trains out of empty boxes and water bottles and a rocket booster from cardboard and paper (decorated with green highlighter pens). He's an imaginative thinker, and he makes good use of his talents to bring love and happiness to people. And we appreciate it most, because we love this boy to the core.

Appetizer | 2010

For the longest time, Mum had been coaxing Jakjak into eating to make him, well, look healthier. He is healthy, mind you, it's just when you look at our sizes, he seems a bit underwhelming. The problem we found with Jakjak is that he eats only what he wants to eat at a certain time. He eats most of anything, in his own time. And when he wants to eat, he really wants to eat. Lately, he's been chomping his way on late night dinners and milk before going to bed (that's dinner at 11 PM!).

Of course, as with most of anything that we allow him to do, we still need to watch what he eats. The way we are now, and the problems that we have (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.), we believe it prudent that Jakjak learns which foods are good for him and which are not. Thankfully, he likes what we give him (most of the time) and is easy to teach and control. We let him have his way as long as he has eaten healthy at least 70% of his total intake.

One problem that we have always assumed to be the cause of Jakjak's non-capacity to gain weight is his over-hyper-dooper-active lifestyle. When he's not sleeping, he's talking. When he's not talking, he's playing with his toys. When he's not playing with his toys, he's running around like a headless chicken trying to juggle a gazillion things at the same time.


At the very least, we are now happy with his eating habits. It took a while to get him to eat right, but a little bit of persuasion from Mum and Dad helped. We taught him how to cook (by engaging his help while Mum is cooking), we taught him how to make sandwiches (the messy kind), we had him help make pancakes (after which the kitchen looks like snow city) and just ask him to be there while we eat. Of course, now he has his own toy stove with a complete set of pans, a tea party set, an ice cream maker and a bunch of Japanese style miniature food replicas. Girl stuff? Nah, chefs are men with balls after all.

Mister Maker | 2010

One of Jakjak's favorite things to do at the moment is to "make something". He had just gotten a new Play Doh ice cream making set which he saw on the telly (it was on sale!) and was having a jolly good time pretending to serve ice cream swirls, when he finished his Cookie Crisp cereal. At the back of the box was a cut out rocket which I helped him cut and tape together. After a while, he had a great idea and put on the cut up box on his head and started mumbling airline blabber (you know, the kind that goes "we are now at 1800 feet above Singapore ..."). He had so much fun that he forgot about the ice cream maker. 

This is a pilot helmet. Really.

There seems to be something about empty boxes that call out to children. He once used a big empty computer box (one I used to carry my stuff out of my old office) as an airplane. He used a "balik-bayan" box as a hide out. He even used one of medium-sized ones to make himself a Jakjak in a box. If I had only realized that it would be this cheap to get creative playtime with him, I would have just put all those Hotwheels cars in a box (one that says "Dad's") and bought him empty cardboard boxes from the local grocery. It would have made our place look like a warehouse though, and Mum probably wouldn't approve.

This is a train. Really really.

During their free time, Mum usually home schools Jakjak with letters, numbers, words and the sort of things that you learn in school. Most of the time though, Jakjak is just playing or watching the telly. Television shows nowadays seem to have evolved, and I meant that in a good way. Back in the day, the only choice I had was Sesame Street and the News. Today, we are watching Word World, Captain Y, Mister Maker, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora and Diego and all the other education biased shows. Which is a relief, because those are the shows that Jakjak likes to watch (along with Flapjack and the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy). With some parental guidance, he's been learning stuff that I didn't know until I was thirteen. It's good to see him use what he has learned, and it makes him proud to see his work appreciated, which is why our kitchen has now become an art wall. We like to think of it as, free wallpaper.

Home | 2010

We always tell Jakjak that home is where all of us are together. Dad, Mum and Jakjak. This is because he was born in the Philippines and has grown up there until the age of three, before we moved to Singapore. And as young as he was back then, we made some pretty good memories with families and friends. Sometimes, Jakjak would see something familiar, like a toy or a photograph, and he would just say: "Dad, I have one just like that in the Philippines!". He is always so happy (and sometimes a bit surprised) to see something that he remembers from his younger days. So we brought him back home for a vacation (the problem that comes with a job, is that you rarely get chances like these).

Surprisingly, those locked up memories that he used to blurt out seemed to disappear when we were there. It was like, it was in his subconscious, but it failed to unearth itself during the time he was actually there. Mum felt a bit sad, because those memories seemed so vivid at the back of Jakjak's mind during all that time. So we decided to make as much memories as we could. Ten days is just too short for making memories. Specially since Jakjak had no sense of time whatsoever. He still woke up at 10 in the morning and slept at 12 midnight. He still played as much as he could with whoever would play with him at the time (sadly, Dad had to go to hospitals for check ups and doctor's appointments for his gallbladder).

At the very least, we managed to let him ride a horse, have a picnic and play with his cousins. There were still a lot of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to see. But the weather was not as cooperative as we would have hoped and my trips to the doctor went on longer than what we expected. Still, it was as good as it is. And at the end of the trip, Jakjak, naturally did not want to go back.


It had been a great time off from everything. We managed to lay back and relax for a bit of time. We managed to get Jakjak some time to be with his cousins and grandparents. Memories are all that we made on that trip. But they were memories that we would always cherish. Hopefully, we would be able to do it again in a few months time. Until then, it's back to living our lives in our home (with Dad, Mum and Jakjak, wherever it may take us).

Night Library | 2010

We somehow managed to get Jakjak into reading. And as such, we have amassed a good number of books for him. He does not read yet, unfortunately, but at least the drive is there. We have already put aside books that were not for his age anymore like shapes, colors and big drawing types. Although occasionally he manages to find the hidden treasure box and asks us to read his old books. Those books used to take us 2 minutes to finish back when he was 2 years old. now it takes us 1 and 1/2 minutes. You just can't satisfy a child's curiosity. Add to that the fact that they are able to find the most minute detail in a picture book made for children under the age of 3!

We are now into Dr. Seuss. And strangely enough, the stranger the book, the more interesting it is for Jakjak. Cat in the hat is just a tiny part in the imagination of Dr. Seuss. In fact, you can probably live in a whole planet of weird with all the characters in these books. And although we feel that there are some words that are still not suited for his age, parental guidance helps with controlling what goes into a child's mind (we now have the ability to automatically replace the word "stupid" with "silly" out of any reading material no matter the font face). 


We are also a regular now in the public library where there are lots of "free" books. At least free for two weeks. I believe it's a good thing to start them early on reading. It enhances his vocabulary and is a great excuse for dad to spend some quality time with baby without breaking his back playing horseback (dad of course being the horse). I do my best to read at least 2 books a night, all of which I have to go into character to keep him busy. I know he's paying attention because I play with the words and he corrects me every so often. In fact, you can't skip pages because he absolutely knows the books inside and out now.


In general, we choose books with nice, friendly pictures and big enough text. We match it with his attention span and his interests (cars, faeries and families) and only buy it if we know he really likes it. We had books that he read for one week and we have books that he has been reading for months! We do our best to get into the habit of reading to him and we have a regular schedule now. Unfortunately, "schedule" does not mean the time of the night, it just means the sequence of events before he goes to sleep (bath, brush teeth, story, sleep). Still, we prefer this than having fall asleep in front of the telly (he already does that for his afternoon naps).

Maximum Security Cell | 2010

I remember the days when I started making the house a safer place for babies. That was the day Jakjak first fell off the bed. And to think he wasn't even 5 months old back then. Over the years, I thought that we have already outgrown the need to make things safe. I mean, it was almost always second nature to us already to keep sharp things away from child's reach, dangerous liquids in high cabinets and all that basic safety ideas. So last night, Jakjak managed to cut his pinky-finger with a fold-away trolly.


I have already surrendered to the fact that a toddler, a boy at that, would be an active and adventurous little critter. How wrong I was. He is active, and he is adventurous. Just not as active and adventurous as I would have thought. As he was growing up, Jakjak had always been playing catch up with me. During his "training" years, he would be able to run a few meters and then sit down. Today, dad can run a few meters and then sit down. It's a sad thing when age comes clawing up your lower back. Still, that is active play, and I know that kids need it. As much of it as he wants as far as I'm concerned (because if he manages to tire himself out of playing, the chances that he would go take a bath and straight to bed is much more a possibility). But sometimes there are no kids his age at the playground, so he plays with an adult with a brain his age (yes, he looks at me that way - in fact, even Judy does - waitaminute! sounds like a conspiracy to me!).

And in the hours upon hours of playing and being silly, he manages to get bruised, scratched, cut, you name it. Jakjak shrugs most of it off. In fact, in his dictionary, it's "no blood, no foul". Of course, in mum and dad's dictionary it's "that won't come off until Tuesday". At the back of it all, we do our best to remind him to be careful, to watch where he's going (this one, it seems, he has absolutely no drive to do) and to watch out for that tree. It's amazing how tough he is though. It's like he was carved out of marble. It really takes quite a wallop to stop him in his tracks. And at the very least, we are thankful that he is as tough as nails.

Tired Out | 2010

It started out as your typical week. A bit tiring because of the current shift at work and a bit stressed due to lack of manpower. At home, it was more or less, typical as well. Jakjak being Jakjak, he becomes annoyingly cute. I'm not quite sure if it's just because we're his parents that we can keep our sanity behind all of his antics. He runs around our small flat, bumps his head on the sofa (twice), trips on his own toys and never stops talking about anything and everything. Sometimes I wonder where he gets all his stories from because he somehow has a never ending supply of it.


Near the end of the week though, Jakjak decided to add some spice to our lives. More for mum though, because I was hot under the collar but still went all the way to work (sometimes, you just have to). 15  minutes through my commute, Judy calls me up and asks where I hid the torches. It was ten in the morning so I wondered what the torch was for. Apparently, the little monkey stuck two rubber tires (from a toy aeroplane) into his nose. While mum managed to get one of them out, Jakjak insists that he put in two. And while kids tend to make up stories to grab your attention, we believe him and mum takes him to the clinic. The clinic, after failing to remove the tire (how hard can it be, right?) referred the two to a specialist children's hospital.

Alas, after a few hours of struggling with the doctors and nurses (the bad experience from the clinic irritated the little boy somehow), he was deliberately put to sleep. Within a few minutes, they managed to yank out the remaining tire. However, due to the sedation, the hospital kept them for another hour until it wore off. All of the things that happened probably enriched my wife's experience as a mum by ten-fold. And while I did want to be there to help, work (as usual) kept me from doing such. However, Judy handled it beautifully, and at the end of the day, it was like nothing happened at all (for Jakjak anyway).


When I asked Jakjak what he was trying to do when he put the tires in his nose, he said: "Well, I was trying to make mommy happy, but she wasn't, she got cross". I could only imagine the scene when Jakjak had excitedly proclaimed "Look Mom!" with the tires on his nose. At the end of his story, Jakjak merely stated: "It's crazy, huh?".