Lucas's First Day in School

To my delight, Lucas's first day in school was a complete success :) There was a little challenge when the little boy refused to wear his shoes and leave the bed while repeatedly chanting, "I am still sleepy Mom...". I just gave him a few minutes and proceeded to the task of putting his shoes on. After that, he was okay and gamely ate his cereals for breakfast.

Lola's garden. While waiting for his school bus.

He got his lunch box at Alexa's birthday party last weekend. The front sticker says "Girl Power". But he likes it more than his Cars lunch box so we let him use it. JJ just placed Thomas and Friends stickers all over to make it, err, more manly.

I rode with him in the schoolbus as we want him to get used to it. JJ just followed in our car. We got in school early but lots of little kids were there with us waiting.  In fact, we were sorrounded by little kids saying hi to their classmates. They looked excited to be back in school (which I think is a good thing). It was nice to note that the place was pretty secure with a very nice ladyguard looking after the kiddos.

The preschool area opened at 7AM and Lucas's Teacher Millet was in their classroom already. To test our little boy, we left Lucas to his teacher's care though we can stay for a while longer. He was completely alright when we left and said goodbye without tears :) Yey! I was honestly prepared to bribe my way out of a dramatic goodbye scene (capsule Thomas was ready!).

We had breakfast nearby while waiting for his class to end. I kept on asking JJ if he thinks Lucas is doing fine. I think he wanted to roll his eyes when I asked the same question twice or thrice during the meal :)

And come 9AM, our boy's smiling face tells us that the day went splendidly. Whew! We survived the first day :)

Here he is on our ride home.

We're so proud of you little boy.



Conversations with Lucas

Lucas: I love you mom!
Mom: I love you too!
Lucas: I am not too. I am Lucas!

***************************
Mom: If you will have a baby brother, what would you like to call him?
Lucas: Uhhmm. Thomas!
Nyay! Well, at least hindi Salty or Duck...
Mom: If you'll have a baby sister?
Lucas: Dora!
Hahaha! I made him choose from three names na lang. So far, consistent naman siya sa name na pinipili niya.

HIS7ORY

The 2012 French Open Men's Final is bound to make history, no matter the outcome. On one hand, Novak could be just the third player in history to hold all four major titles at the same time. On the other, Rafael could break Bjorn Borg's (and his!) record of 6 French Open titles.

Lucky for Rafa fans, it was the Spaniard who went on to win his record 7th Roland Garros title.

 An anti-climactic double fault from Djokovic sealed Nadal's fate.

The clay-court maestro

Next stop, Wimbledon!

Who Let the Dog Out?

Apparently, NO ONE let it out. Someone just threw a coconut at it. And that SOMEONE happened to be my dear son. So what happens when one does that? That someone can escape unscathed or that someone can get BIT. Sadly, the latter was what actually happened :( I've asked myself countless times how could that incident happen? We were just there. But they said boys will be boys and that one cannot be in the same place as your kid 100% of the time. I know that. But still, it was heartbreaking.
It happened last Holy Week in Tarlac while we were visiting my Tito Boy and Tita Susan. The dog, thankfully, is one of their pets. But to be sure, we brought the little guy to the nearest hospital and had him administered with the anti-rabies vaccine. Funny thing, after his initial drama over the dog bite, he was more upset over the fact that we CAN go home to Manila sooner than planned. Kids.

He was okay hours after the incident. He was off running and playing with his cousins again once we got back from the hospital. Understandably, he was a little wary of the dogs during our entire stay. His anti-rabies shot was completed middle of May. Now that it is over and done with, I'd like to share some things that I've learned:
1. After the bite, clean the wound with detergent soap.
2. Have the first anti-rabies vaccine as soon as possible. Rush to the nearest hospital or Animal Bite Center.
3. Within a week from the incident, the doctors will recommend that you take the human rabies immunoglobulin. Lucas was given Berirab. This one's expensive and the dosage depends on the weight of the patient. Lucas was given two vials. Given the cost, we had to verify with JJ's cousin if we really had to give it to Lucas. Unfortunately for our pockets, Kuya Larry said it is much better to have it. Better safe then sorry right?
4. If you're from the South, you can go to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for the succeeding anti-rabies vaccines. The cost is 50% less compared to hospitals. You just have to be there early to line up. You may reach RITM at 809-75-99 for any queries.
5. You can get the vaccines for free. Contact your municipal health centers. I inquired from the Muntinlupa City Hall and the procedure goes like this:
 - Go to your Barangay Health center and secure an endorsement
 - Go to the City Health Center to secure approval
 - Once you secure the City Health Center's approval, you may proceed to the Bayanan Health Center where they administer the vaccine or RITM if the Bayanan Health Center runs out of the vaccine.
But please, if you can afford to pay for the vaccine, please go to RITM instead of availing the shots for free. Other people who cannot afford the shots might need it more than you do. Please also note that the procedure is different per municipality.

So there. Hope this post helps.

Thomas and Friends CapsuleToys

or Gashapon as I believe they are also called.

It will be an understatement if I say that Lucas likes Thomas and Friends. Obsessed is more like it! But the toy lover in my husband indulges our son's love of toys. Apart from the Plarail and wooden series, Lucas also loves to play with those small Thomas wind-up toys that come in capsules.

 Wind up Thomas, James, Scruffey, Annie and several trucks

 Wind up Percy and Plarail Duncan

Plarail Percy and Wind up Percy

Some of Lucas's wind up toys: Dodge, Hiro, Percy, Bertie the Bus, Percy, Annie, boats and Kevin

As you know, getting the nice toys from the machine comes with a bit of luck and well, trying so many times. For this reason, we have lots of excess characters including:

1 James
1Thomas with snowplow
4 Annie
2 Scruffey
1 Toad
1 Bertie the Bus
1 Turntable (from another series)
1 Kevin (crane)
Several track accessories (tunnel, tracks, etc.)

In case you are collecting too and have lots of excess characters , let me know. We'd be more than willing to trade if you guys have something that we do not have yet (which is a lot! andami palang iba-ibang series). If you want to buy, we also sell at cost :)

The Iceman is Back!

He started the race in 16th place BUT finished in 7th place! :)

 Team Lotus

Iceman on track

Now that Kimi's back in F1, I'd surely be watching the races again with hubby. I am sure JJ would find ways to annoy me by saying not so nice things about Kimi and his capabilities as a driver but I'd just say, "Bring it on...". :)

Baguio 2012

We headed off to Baguio City to celebrate our 13th year :) We stayed in one of our office's staff houses and I was luckily assigned the biggest unit! With all that space, I decided to invite my side of the family to sort of celebrate my mom's birthday in advance.

FRIDAY

We were up and about by 5 AM. I double checked the stuff we packed the night before while JJ was busy preparing our baon for the long trip. We figured its better to stop just for restroom breaks and just have lunch in Baguio. By 6:45 AM, we were on the road. The drive was uneventful (thankfully!) and after about 6 hours (because of the tricycles) we were finally in the City of Pines. We dropped by the house first and I took the opportunity to do room assignments. After that we went to SM Baguio to have lunch and buy groceries.

After lunch, I got a call that my parents and my brother's family are already at the staff house.  

 My nephews Matty and Miggy, Popsy and Momsy and SIL Meng

 Family picture (after Daddy's nap :) )

SATURDAY

My other brother, Tom, and his family arrived by 2AM Saturday. Our bunso arrived by 4AM. Finally, family's complete.

After breakfast, we took the kids to Burnham Park.



 Boat ride

Picnic spot in Burnham

Taken by little Matty: Hubby and I, Carmy and Tom & Meng and Teejay

 By the play area at Burnham

After Burnham, we decided to go back to the house to have lunch. The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house and well, eating :)



 Me and my siblings with Popsy

Kiddos were content to eat ice cream and watch movies

SUNDAY

Except for JJ, Lucas and I, everyone travelled back to Manila that day. After breakfast, we decided to squeeze in one more trip and took the kids to the Botanical Garden. The garden was nice, with a lot of space for the kids to run around. Merchandise was cheaper there too (cheaper strawberry jams, chopping boards, etc. But the broom is still much cheaper at the public market). It was a short trip as everyone had to finish packing. Time really flies so fast! Seems like moments ago when we first stepped into the house and now, 2 days have already gone by.

My Lugue Family

 Lolo Popsy with Lucas

Chissa and I with Momsy and Popsy

Me and hubby

It was so quiet in the house when everyone else left. By mid-afternoon, our little family was off to buy stuff from Good Shepherd and finally back to SM to have dinner. As there were only three of us left at the house, tinamad na kami to cook. After dinner, we just enjoyed the cool climate by staying in our room and watching TV.

MONDAY

We were up early because we had to go to the market to buy stuff like peanut brittle and veggies. By 8 AM we were all packed and ready to go. I was a little sad before we left the house as leaving meant vacation over na. After saying our thank yous to the house caretakers, we took our last set of pictures.

My boys

Goodbye Baguio...

And yup, we will be back again soon...