Mangga at Bagoong

I've been craving for these since lunch time. There was a display of several green-with-a-little-yellow mangoes on the counter. I asked the cashier how much and lo and behold it was at P40 per piece. Wow! Highway robbery. Those mangoes never left my mind and I've been contemplating whether I should just give in and buy. But the "kurips" in me prevailed. I will just buy a few at SM after work and then indulge my craving at home.

Hay. Can't wait.

*Photo from marketmanila.com

Close call

This morning, we were driving along C-5 when all of a sudden several cars ahead of us stopped. I was initially thinking that the car will stop in time (as it usually does) but my mind suddenly calculated our speed and the distance, it all clicked. We will hit the car in front, for sure! Good thing JJ was calm enough to maneuver the car hard to the left towards the island. Moments after the car came to a full stop, I gave a huge sigh of relief. We were safe and it looks like we didn't hit the car in front of us. JJ immediately got out of the car to find out what happened and saw that we actually grazed the other car. We were really just aftereffects of the incident in front of us and good thing the police were there immediately after the accident. The police looked at our cars and told JJ and the other driver that given that the damage is relatively small, he'd rather that we talk about it than file a report. He said that the effort is not worth the cost of the scratches the cars sustained. Minor scratches really. JJ and the other driver settled and we were on our way to work again in a short while. I was still shaken as we stopped by the nearest gas station to inspect the car.

Apparently, a "kariton" full of bananas was crossing the street (yes! crossing C5!) when it was hit by a motorcycle. Bananas covered portions of the road and one car (probably discomfited by the site or was afraid that the bananas made the road slippery) suddenly hit the brakes. The car next to it (an Altis) swerved to the left and hit the brakes hard causing the Civic in front of us to hit the brakes as well.

JJ and I rarely bring a car to the office, usually just once or twice a month. This morning was one of those rare occasions. Next time, we'll probably think twice, thrice before we bring a car again. Hay. Nakaka-trauma! But then accidents do happen and I guess we're also lucky that no one got hurt. We just have to be more careful next time. 40 kph na lang sa C5 :-)

Our 17-Month Old

Lucas will be 18 months in a few days and again, I wonder, where did the days go? I look at my son now and I marvel at how different he is from the 7lbs. little boy I gave birth to in August '08.

Toddler tidbits

• "NO" is now his favorite word. He knows when to use it and he says it while shaking his head. Leaving whoever he is talking to with no doubt that he doesn't want to do what he is being asked to do.


• He loves cream-based pasta sauces, soups, suman and bibingka. He hates meat that's why we ingest protein in his diet by feeding him taho, which he also likes.


• Whenever we see a Jollibee foodstore, he signs "eat/ food" and then wails if we drive past it. He eventually settles down until the next Jollibee branch :-)


• He loves watching Barney, Dora and Sesame Street DVDs. There are mornings when right after waking up he'd blurt out "Barn!, making me and JJ laugh and shake our heads.


• He still signs. To date, he can sign: airplane (he has his own version), drink (signing while saying "ju"), milk, more, eat/food, quiet, mama, thank you, change nappy (which he knows how to use already. he signs after he poops!), no more, shoes


• He says the following words: Mama (though he also calls JJ Mama which we have been trying to correct for weeks now), Lolo (oh so loud and clear! and he calls both his gramps Lolo), Ju for juice, A-po for apple, Bu for book, Babu- bubbles, Babu- for Jollibee (we don't know why!), Bob-bob for Spongebob, Barn/Bar-yi for Barney, Do/ Dowa for Dora, Gogogo-when he wants to ride the car, Yumyum for food and of course, his favorite word, No.


• He loves playing with his cousins and other children. I also noticed that he'd go where he sees kids and then he'll pretend that he's part of the group. He will laugh when they laugh, etc.

As for me, we're still breastfeeding :-) I still pump in the office but given that Lucas is already mixed-fed as I cannot pump what he takes in when I am at work, I am more relaxed in my pumping schedule. I also found out that I have an acrobatic son as he loves to nurse in these weird positions, which never fails to amuse me or make me sigh.

That's it for now :-)

My little angel right after Eugene and Innah's wedding, crashing the walk-in closet at their hotel room. Yes, that's a shoe box he's sitting on :-)

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Happy 2010!

Happy New Year!

The holidays breezed by so quickly I cannot believe it's been 11 days since my last working day for the year. It has been a busy two weeks, with several weddings on top of Christmas, our third anniversary and the New Year.

As usual, Christmas and New Year's Eve were spent with my parents at our home in Muntinlupa while Christmas and New Year's were spent with the Vallesteros' :-) Lucas had a grand time opening one gift after the other. For kids in the family, Santa came to the house more than once this Christmas.

With all the happenings for Christmas, JJ and I decided to have a low key celebration for our 3rd anniversary. Initially, the plan was to have buffet lunch at the Bellevue in Alabang. But JJ thought that it will be difficult given that we won't be leaving our little boy behind. So, it was Pepper Lunch for me, daddy, Lucas and Lolo G :-)

Lucas also had his first visit to the dentist before the year ended. The findings: he had an advanced stage of dental carries probably brought about by his milk. The dentist told us that Lucas will need to have either root canal! (heart attack! for Mommy) or have his teeth pulled out. Given his age, we just have to delay the spread of the carries as much as we can. before resorting to the two options previously mentioned. We will also be seeking a second dental opinion as given his age, we are leaning towards not saving his milk teeth vis-a-vis the possible trauma of root canal/ tooth extraction not to mention the risks involved in sedating him at that age. Hay.

I will post pictures of our holidays next time. 'Til then. Have a blessed 2010 everyone :-)

Still Alive :-)

Yup. Was just being a bad blogger....

I've been busy these days, that's why. Lucas is at this stage where whenever he sees me, he automatically becomes my shadow. I can't eat, I can't go to the toilet without him making a big fuss. Hay, it's hard I tell you but I am pretty sure this will pass soon so I might as well treasure the days when he simply can't be without Mama when he sees me.

I checked out the Guess, Mossimo and Mango Sale yesterday and I am so glad I went there. A lot of great buys! I almost crossed out everyone in our shopping list (keyword = almost). We're planning to go back there to finish the list and buy stuff for us too. We also dropped by the Richwell warehouse sale in Calle Industria. There are lots of toys on sale but it will be difficult to buy gifts for kids in the family given the state of the boxes. Our last stop was the Anvil booksale where I was able to get Archie comic books for P10 each (though there were only two titles left!) and several P10 and P20 books.

I am hoping to recharge with this long weekend.

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!Obviously, someone didn't get what he wanted....

Our little Spidey... at EDC trick-or-treat

Haha :-) I swear this was not a planned shot! As if I can ask my son to pretend to yawn.

Daddy's 29th Birthday

What he does whenever we're checking out houses....

Oratio Imperata

Almighty Father, we raise our hearts to You in gratitude for the wonders of creation of which we are part, for Your providence in sustaining us in our needs, and for Your wisdom that guides the course of the universe.

We acknowledge our sins againsts You and the rest of creation.

We have not been good stewards of Nature.

We have confused Your command to subdue the Earth.

The environment is made to suffer our wrongdoing, and now we reap the harvest of our abuse and indifference.

Global warming us upon us. Typhoons, floods, volcanic eruption and other natural calamities occur in increasing number and intensity.

We turn to You, our loving Father, and beg for forgiveness for our sins.

We ask that we, our loved ones and our hard earned possessions be spared from the threat of calamities, natural and man-made.

We beseech You to inspire us all to grow into responsible stewards of Your creation, and generous neighbors of those in need.

Amen.