babyCoco's 10th month

gabriel turned 10 months yesterday. usually, my mom cooks pancit for little Gabriel but since his 10th month falls on a sunday, we decided to just eat out.

our first stop was s&r. they have some items for sale and we checked it out first. it was still too early for lunch anyway and we have to wait for gabriel's aunt ann (w/ friend robert) and tito boogie. when gabriel saw the stuffed toys, he wanted us to put him there. well, here's another shot of gabriel with the toys :) dax also got him two toy cars which he really liked. i meant dax for "he". hahaha.

we went to alabang town center to have lunch at brazil! (brazil!) around 1130. luckily, we still got good seats since the place was still not packed. they served asparagus soup then we turned the yoyo green! divina with robert arrived then boogie followed. at the buffet table were salads, paella, pasta, tuna, chicken fingers, mashed potato, some veggies that i didn't try of course.. cakes for dessert... and that's about it. what's f-u-n was, they were serving the bbq'd meat non-stop. it took some time (for them to go to our table) though but it was alright. yummy. gabriel ate macaroni salad, mashed potatoes and he loved the mango cake!

right after lunch, we went to glorietta to get gabriel his new toy car. dax and i saw it last friday when we went to the mall for lunch. since it's his 10th month, we bought it for him. my mom got him a cap. he looks so good in it! he was so funny, he tried to remove it everytime but when my mom told him he looked really good and that he'll use when they walk around the village, he didn't take it off.

we went to bonifacio high street and serendra afterwards. we wanted gabriel to try krispy kreme donuts that dax and i loveee and we also want to try cupcakes by sonja with him. he loves sweets!

the moment we entered cupcakes by sonja, gabriel was doing his funny *takam* look. the store smells so yummy! but the cupcakes for me was ordinary (sorry). i think it's too pricey. anyways, gabriel enjoyed it. he got a box of mini cupcakes for free. i think it was because it's their first year anniversary.

we went to krispy kreme afterwards. he had some free donuts and a hat.

on our way home, he was sooooo hyper. too much sugar? yeah, i think so.

dax and i were so happy he enjoyed his sunday. he was really tired when we got home but still managed to play with his new car.

gabriel went grocery shopping

sundays are usually reserved for grocery shopping. yesterday, we all went to south supermarket and s&r in alabang. it was already 1030am when we left home and in less than half an hour, we were in the supermarket. dax wanted to try if gabriel would like to sit in the push cart. i brought his walkings with me just in case he wants to walk but it seems that he likes the moving pushcart a lot. he was shrieking and smiling. what we did was to give him whatever it is (that he can carry with his 2 small hands) that we'll be putting in the cart such as century tuna - flakes with lemon and butter. we also got him chuckie and some biscuits in animal shapes! i hope he likes them all. according to his pedia, we should start giving him more solids than milk. he might be more *payatot* though since he will need to adjust but he should lessen his milk intake.






after grocery shopping and a quick french baker lunch, we went to s&r which was just a few blocks away. i saw a mountain of stuffed toys and dax and i thought he'd like it. i was just worried he might grab each nose and start biting it (that's what he does with mickey and flabby and henry and all his other stuffed toys).

isn't he extra cute?

my 9 month old son & my 18 year old piano

i woke up earlier than usual today. gabriel was crying and he was looking at me when i opened my eyes. he does this everyday.. he's my wake up call. anyways, i prepared his milk and picked him up after he finished 2 ounces (yes, just 2) since he kept on moving around and i think he wants to go downstairs. while i waited for breakfast, i made him sit in front of my 18 year old piano. and.. i took some pictures. i'm not sure if he'll want to learn to play when he grows up. i started my lessons when i was in grade 3 and stopped when i was already in high school (i think). i had recitals.. i played four hands.. and now, i have zero practice. too bad. dax had some piano lessons too but he liked the drums better. i wanted to take violin lessons when i was younger.. maybe, gabriel would want that! or, no instruments at all. haha!

gabriel looks like he knows how to play the piano:

and obviously... not really knowing how:

4 days with gabriel

i had 4 straight days with my little gabriel - the weekend, a holiday and a sick leave :( myCoco brought me to the hospital on sunday night, was admitted and discharged the following day. i had some serious stomach trouble for eating too many pizza. thankfully, the lab results were not serious.

anyways, myCoco worked overnight (Friday to Saturday).. so for saturday, gabriel and i just stayed home while we waited for dax to be up. we played all day. he's so heavy now and i'm having a hard time to make him sleep (unless he's really really tired). his dad has this ridiculous dance and song number that lulls our little kulokoy to sleep - and that i cannot do. well, i have my own song for him but not much dancing and definitely not ridiculous. sometimes, i think gabriel just sleeps to be able to stop dax from singing. dax woke up around 4:30pm and i got ready to leave for a party with my mom. it's sad to leave my honeyCoco and babyCoco but it's a debut and gabriel doesn't fit. when we arrived home, at 12mn, they were both sound asleep.

sunday, we went to the mall to inquire at globelines. unfortunately, their wires haven't reached our village yet. crappers. i think gabriel got too tired from looking around so when we had merienda, he was sleeping. he woke up after a few minutes and ate some pizza (cheese, actually). on our way home, the too-many-pizza-stomach-trouble thingie started.

monday, gabriel visited me at the hospital. he was his usual kulit self and he kept on trying to pull my dextrose. luckily, somebody always gets his hand first. i can't imagine the pain if he'll be able to do it successfully. well, we still continued to play at the hospital bed. he was all over me and most of the time, dax had to pick him up to avoid further damage to me. i went home with them that day, yipee. though i wasn't feeling that OK yet, i know it'll be better to recover at home.

the following day, dax stayed at home as well to help mom take care of me and gabriel. OMG. the little kulokoy is more kulit than ever and he's starting to be a brat. while i was changing his diaper, he kept on moving and so i told him to stop and i held his legs tight. he looked at me and said "HUHHH!!" with a red face and arms stretched firmly. he looked really stiff. i told him again to stop and he did. i won! oh well. i hope he learns what's good and bad and that he listens to us without the im-really-stiff-now look with some heavy crying. he actually looked funny but he shouldn't know he still looked cute.

long overdue post: i'm back home, finally

last august 10, after 90 days in ashburn, VA usa, i flew back home. it was a long journey but it was full of anticipation. i want to see my little gabriel so bad and i just want to kiss him all over. same with myCoco, of course. since dax and i became a couple (which was 1999), i think the longest time we were away from each other was 3 days or maybe 4. we usually see each other everyday since we came from the same university and still working on the same office. and during those years when we worked separately, he picked me up at the office to take me home almost everyday.

oh well, thanks to MSN Online and Yahoo! Messenger, i get to talk to them and see them online almost everyday so it was alright. however, seeing them but not being able to get real close was tough. especially on the first weeks and last few days.

august 9th, i was already checking in online at www.nwa.com. i was so excited that i've been packing for god knows how many days already. i have two 24x18x18 boxes with me to take home with shoes, bags, and a lot of other stuffs for pasalubongs. it was so hard to fit everything but it was fun. haha! i wish i had more money to get everything i want for myself and for my family. shopping heaven.

anyways, our flight (i went home with mark) was at 1240PM from Washington Dulles to Detroit. Then 355PM from Detroit to Nagoya, Japan. And finally, 730PM from Japan to Manila - that was august 11th already. thankfully, no delays. we even arrived ahead of schedule. dax, with gabriel and my tito boloy, tita charrie and cousin tinay picked me up at NAIA. gabriel was sleeping then but he woke up when i took him from dax. he looked at me for quite some time then he started jumping and shouting and smiling. he's got 4 teeth and 4 more that's starting to come out. he's a bit heavier and he sure is louder. when we reached home and i was unpacking, he was all over my luggage as if trying to see what i bought for him. he soooo loved mickey from ninang aida and he especially loves to bite the tail. the next day, mickey was smelling like promil gold. hahaha!

i am so happy to be back home.

my florida adventure

last weekend, i went to florida (courtesy of my Ninang Aida who reads my blog) to see Universal Studios and Disneyworld. here's my story.

thursday, 3:45pm

i left the telos building with randy and mark. they're taking me to washington dulles international airport. my flight for orlando leaves at 5:40pm. i'm thrilled. i went down the van around 4:00pm and just walked straight to the inspection area. i already checked in online and i don't have any luggage with me. everything went well... until i arrived at my gate. they said the flight was delayed and will leave around 6:40.. then 7:20.. then 8:40.. then 9:30pm. crap! thankfully i bought a magazine after i had my dinner. it kept me company. then i thought i should've just brought my lapitapi. anyways, by 9:30, we were asked to board the plane. i got a window seat and a girl sat next to me. after sometime, the plane didn't even move a bit. then they said they are still waiting for instructions or whatever and we can't leave yet until they get the permission or something like that. i think it was the weather. so, i decided to take a short nap. it was already late. when i woke up, it was 11:00pm. i thought i was in orlando.. but to my surprise, i was still in DC. after 40 minutes or so, the plane took off. my flight was delayed for 6 hours. we arrived in orlando int'l airport around 2am friday. i waited for my ninang and her sister tita lyn to pick me up. and, well they got delayed too since some roads were closed. hahaha. i slept around 4 in the morning and hoped that i'll be up in 4 hours.

friday, 8:30am

i'm up. have to get ready fast. we went to Universal Studios Florida. of course i have to get a pix with the globe.

we made a right from the entrance and checked out the following:

1. Holywood: Terminator 2: 3-D
2. Kidzone: ET Adventure
3. World Expo: MIB Alien Attack
4. San Francisco/Amity: JAWS (just took a picture)
5. San Francisco/Amity: Earthquake
6. New York: Revenge of the Mummy
7. Production Central: Shrek 4-D
8. Holywood: Lucy - A Tribute (just took a picture with Lucy in the car)

around 4:00pm, we decided to transfer to the Islands of Adventure theme park. we passed by City Walk and took some pictures.

inside Islands of Adventure, we went left and visited the following:

9. Jurassic Park: Jurassic Park River Adventure (really cool)
10. The Lost Continent: The Eight Voyage of Sinbad (a show)
11. The Lost Continent: Poseidon's Fury (closed :'((
12. Seuss Landing: The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride (for kids!)
13. Seuss Landing: The Cat in the Hat (for kids too!)
14: Marvel Super Hero Island: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (winner!)


after Spider-Man, my ninang and i sat down for awhile while her nieces and nephews tried the Incredible Hulk Coaster. i didn't go with them since i saw three big loops and i know i can't take it. we saw some fireworks from where we're seated and just after a few minutes, they came back and we went back to home.

it was almost midnight when we got home. we slept and tried to get as much rest as we could for tomorrow is Epcot day.

saturday, mom's birthday

i woke up around 8:30am and took a quick bath before i had breakfast. ninang aida and i left around 10:00am and reached Disneyworld after a few minutes. Disneyworld in Florida has 4 theme parks - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM-Studios and Animal Kingdom. i told her i'd like to see Epcot instead of the Magic Kingdom since i was thinking it'll just a bigger version of what i saw in HK with myCoco. theme parks here has lotsa round shaped thingie. i had my pix taken on Spaceship Earth which is the icon of Epcot (says wikipedia).


our schedule says we'd go around future world first then we'll move to the world showcase.

first on our list was Spaceship Earth and well, it is closed and will re-open sometime November. crappy but no big deal. we passed by Innoventions and went to:
1. Universe of Energy: Ellen's Energy Adventure (cool, with dinosaurs and all)
2. Mission: SPACE (green team only.. can't take spinning so i took the lite version)
3. Test Track (just got a FASTPASS and will return later)
4. The Seas with Nemo and Friends: The Seas with Nemo and Friends
5. The Seas with Nemo and Friends: Sea Base (viewing area for the aquarium)
6. The Land: Living with the Land
7. Imagination: Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
8. Test Track (went back.. really fast cool ride.. i was a single-rider. ninang opted not to ride with me)

then rain.. rain.. while waiting for the rain to stop, we went to the character spot to have pictures with mickey. well, we got some bonuses.. they also have chip 'n dale, pluto, goofy and minnie! even after i had my pictures taken, the rain didn't stop. ninang bought some ponchos and we started walking again.. to the world showcase.

9. Mexico: Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
10. Norway: Maelstrom
11. China: Reflections of China

we just passed by Germany, Italy, American Adventure, Japan, Morocco, France, UK and Canada. it was still raining and it was hard to take pictures. we looked for a store where we could get souvenirs or something and stayed somewhere in the lagoon area near canada and waited for the fireworks - IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.

here's what ninang aida got for my little gabriel. i'm sure he'll like it. it's bigger than him though!


sunday
we went to Orlando Premium Outlet and heard mass in a nearby shrine. we had lunch at Florida Mall and headed for the airport afterwards. i'll fly from olrando to atlanta and atlanta to DC. my flight to atlanta was delayed for an hour or less (at least it wasn't 6 hours). reached atlanta before 7:00pm and boarded the plane to DC by 9:00pm. i was already in DC by 11:15pm and mike with pattie picked me up. i drove home to ashburn, virginia. by the way, my flight to atlanta was delayed because they closed all the gates and moved all flight schedules for some security thingie. i heard there was a bomb threat but it wasn't confirmed.

it was definitely a fun-filled, lotsa-stories-to-tell weekend.

what's up with my babylove

almost everyday, myCoco sends me pictures of our little boy. he's really big and *kulit* now and i miss him terribly. i always chat with them though and whenever i'm out somewhere, dax calls me and i talk to gabriel on the phone. he usually makes some sounds and he cries at times. last monday was his 8th month. in 4 months, we'll be celebrating his first birthday. not sure yet on where we're goin to celebrate. maybe we'll get the outback kiddie party! right. time flies...

sleeping gabriel

gabriel in hat


trying to stand

being really cute