1st birthday x2

we celebrated gabriel's 1st birthday twice. our little babytot's birthday was last friday and since it fell on a weekday, we had to celebrate twice. my mom prepared a merienda-dinner party for gabriel at home on the 16th and dax's parents gave him a mc donald's party on the 17th. the baby is so lucky. my contribution were his invites (i used the pictures from his photo shoot, added some text and had it printed) and give-aways (went to divi for this.. *nakakapagod din, ha!*)

dax and i got him a tigger stuffed toy and my parents bought him a remote controlled car. he liked both very much. aside from that, he has a lot of gifts since he had two parties. i can't forget his face while we were opening his presents! he was very funny then. everytime i open a new gift, he'll get really confused as to which one he'll play with.

the morning before the party - he's checking out his give-away bears and papa and mama's gift

opening his first gift

trying out his new toy car

first taste of his first birthday cake

- His Mc Donald's Party -

his second first birthday cake

mommy blowing his birthday candle

with daddy and grimace

wanting ninong rodj's camera

with ninang candy

wearing ninang rania's sunglasses

my superBabyGabriel

every year, the homeowners association in our village prepares a a small halloween party for the kids. this is gabriel's first halloween so dax and i decided to get him a costume. we both agreed that we didn't want anything scary for the little boy and since dax likes superman, we opted to get him that. the party started around 6pm and a little before that we got him dressed up and we took some pictures. his costume was too big for him (this was the smallest already)! he didn't look irritated or anything but i know that he's not comfortable. we went to the party and left after maybe 45 minutes. he looks ok but he didn't enjoy it very much. maybe next year.

the little boy's 1st photo shoot

i've been very busy with a lot of crappy things for the past weeks and i didn't get the chance to blog. well, as usual, the little boy is still very *malikot* and still very adorable and the big boy is still very *makulit* and huggable. hahaha!

after the Glorietta 2 incident, myCoco told me that we have to minimize our mall visits. crap. Gabriel loves to go out and he definitely enjoys himself when we go malling. but of course, it's always best to stay at home to be safe. however, we had to go out 2 days after that. my babyCoco has a photo shoot somewhere in paranaque. our wedding photographers, bobby and maritoni (eleazar), gave us some gift certificates that included a free photo session for our first baby. i told dax we had to use it before Gabriel's first birthday to be able to use the picture for his tarp. aside from that, their studio is in their house and we can still stay away from malls. and so, we went.

after the photo shoot, dax suggested that we check out the KOI pet mall in magallanes. he said Gabriel might like it there. since we were already near magallanes, i said OK. he said he also wanted to have lunch at Racks (wipee, there's still one!).

at the pet mall, i saw KOI's which they are selling from 200 to 250,000 pesos! OMG, they are really expensive. i'm not sure if we'll get some for our Gabriel.. but we're definitely not getting anything above 500 pesos.

we went to Racks afterwards. the place was almost full as early 1130am. i guess a lot of people missed Racks. Gabriel really liked the baby back ribs with java rice. i think that was the most *subo* that he did since he started eating solids. dax kept on telling me that we might need to go there often for the little boy(or was it for the big boy?). hahaha.

oh well, i'll be really busy in the next few days. we have a lot of holidays, yes. but, i also have a lot of things to prepare for little Gabriel's 1st birthday!

BPI and Tokyo Tokyo Beef Misono!

dax and i are trying to spend less with food by not eating out. last week (or was it last last week?), on our way to the office, he told me we had to stop and get gas at Petron. we paid using my BECC (BPI Express Credit Card) and when i got the charge slip, it was longer than usual. and wow, we got a FREE beef misono at Tokyo Tokyo! well, after a few days, we tried it again.. and got another charge slip with a coupon. weee. we went to Tokyo Tokyo - People Support and i asked the cashier if i can use 2 at the same time.. she said yes but i have to order 2 red iced tea. well, that's fine i guess. 1 order of beef misono is 95 pesos anyway, so i'll still be saving 190. hahaha!

yesterday, we used 2 coupons again. and i still have 3. and... will have more in the coming weeks! by the way, no need for the "coupon" part on the charge slip. as long as you have purchased something worth 500 pesos or more, you can just present the charge slip with your BECC. you can also get up to a maximum of 5 beef misono's in one order. isn't life great?!

chocolates i love!

i love chocolates! i eat chocolates when i'm sad, stressed, happy, excited, angry, anytime. these are my favorites (not in any particular order):

1. Meiji Melty Kiss - i first had this when i went to HK with dax. it is sooooo good. soooo good i bought a few boxes to take back home. it melted though :(


2. Snickers - my first love. peanuts in my chocolate... yummy!


3. Nestle Crunch Dark Stixx - newest addition to my list. dax found this in S&R when we went grocery shopping a few weeks back. i liked it (but not instantly)! now, ill see to it that i buy a box or 2 (one for dax) everytime we go grocery shopping!


4. Ferrero Rocher (and Mon Cheri) - heaven.


5. Bar None - i used to eat a lot of bar nones back in HS. i wonder why they discontinued making this one. i really think its good. i miss.

i still have a lot but these 5 are definitely on my list. yummmmy!

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.