Lucas's 4th Birthday

Our little boy is now four (4) years old!

He was quite content with his chocolate cake. I guess, as long as it has lots of candles :)



 He asked Lolo G to light the candles 4 times... of course, we sang Happy Birthday all those times

 He was looking forward to his gifts... we've been giving him hints on what he's bound to get

From Ninong B, Flynn the Fire Truck

Happy 4th Birthday sweetheart. Daddy and Mommy love you very much.

Lolo G and Lola E's Olympic Babies...

I find it quite amazing that all four (4) of Lolo G and Lola E's grandkids are born on "Olympics" years.

If they will go by where the Olympics was held the year they were born, our Kuya Einar will be named Sydney. Kuya Enrico will be Athens. Lucas will be Beijing and our little Alexa will be named London.

SYDNEY: Einar (February 20, 2000) 

ATHENS: Enrico (July 20, 2004) 

BEIJING: Lucas (August 15, 2008)

LONDON: Alexa (July 11, 2012)

Wonder if the family's next little one will wait until 2016's Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro...

Arts and Crafts

Since we minimized Lucas's TV time, it was imperative that we give him something else to do. Lola E started with watercolor painting which Lucas enjoyed. After a few days, I searched the net and inquired from fellow N@wies on the best sites for arts and crafts apt for preschoolers. I got a lot of good sites (Thanks Clarice!) and I'll definitely try the activities I found one of these days.

At the moment, we are working on alphabet crafts. I found a lot of good ideas from www.notimeforflashcards.com. Here are the letters that Lucas did last week:

A = Alligator

B = Bee

C = Carrot

D = Dragon

Lucas had fun doing the letters and now looks forward to his "Arts and Crafts" sessions with Lola E. Last Saturday, when we went out and dropped by National Bookstore to buy more stuff for his afternoon activities, he was very excited and kept on getting glitters and colored pencils :-) Earlier today, he requested that we make a robot.

Lucas and his masterpiece for the day

Looking forward to more of your artworks sweetie pie :)

Thank you Lola for patiently teaching Lucas :)



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.