Say "Mommy"

These past few days, I have been teaching our dear baby to say "Mommy" or "Momma", instead he keeps on saying "Dada, Dada" or sometimes "Daddy". I remember when Sebastian was still too young to learn words, Bondi and I would compete and insist on teaching him to say "Mommy" or "Daddy" and Bondi would say "Let's just wait and see... I'm pretty sure he'd say Daddy first". I said, "No way! Babies always say Mama first". Now I have the feeling that despite the fact that he is thousands of miles away, they both had agreed to gang up on me and prove me otherwise. LOL!

Nowadays, Sebastian has been moving everywhere and there's no stopping him! He crawls, stands and cruises, and just keeps on moving so you always have to have an eye on him lest he gets into an accident. Just last night, I had him choose between ice cream (of course he can't eat it yet) and a bath... and guess what? He just took one last look at the cup of ice cream then crawled towards the "bathtub" (actually, a blue plastic palanggana) and tried to dive in. That's how much he loves baths. He also loves brushing his teeth (he teethed early but his teething phase paused for months now and stopped with only his two lower front teeth) and would protest if it takes me long before I put the toothbrush back to his mouth after taking a sip of water. And did I mention he stands on his own for a few seconds longer now?

(I'll try to see if I can post video clips later)

It has been six weeks since Bondi left for Cali and it's just sad that he missed out on a lot of his developments at this point in Sebastian's life. I didn't realize how fast everything would be. His gastronomic choices had expanded and he would rather eat real food than rice cereal or any mashed food any day. I had to slice vegetables, fruits and meat into smaller cubes because he likes his meal prepared chunky. He loves eating crackers and cheerios and has been practicing on developing his pincer grasp for weeks now. He tries to talk but has so far mastered the words "Hinde!" (or "No!" in English) which he says when he is angry or when he really means no, "Dede" (or "Milk" in English) when he's hungry and crying, so it wasn't actually a surprise for him to be saying "Dada" or "Dah-dee" repeatedly. (In case you're wondering, I am hoping to raise him to be bilingual since he lives in the US and would eventually be speaking English, that's why I talk to him in mixed Tagalog and English.) He also shows interest in music, and aside from dancing/jumping and singing, he would bang on the keyboards or the piano, observe people playing the guitar, and make his own rhythm on anything that sounds hollow. He is also a rough player, maybe it comes with being a boy.

Twick or Tweat

Sebastian was a cute little penguin today. We paraded his cuteness at the mall, where I was surprised to see people (children, adults, even the salesladies and mall janitors) in costume all jampacked in every corner of SM Southmall! October 31 wasn't like this when I left for California 3 years ago.

Why does it have to be scary?
With Auntie "Kwak-Kwak"
We bumped into Tita Monette, Ate CJ and Tito Brandon
And off we went...
....shopping...
...shoe-shopping!
It fits!
A quick pose
Imagine the long line just to get candies (good thing I don't eat those, yet)!
Sweet smile at the salesladies
At home pictures:

So into his character, Sebastian pulled out a "Happy Feet" move by bouncing in place:

Here he is making us laugh (at home)... he was standing and he got off-balanced that Auntie Karen screamed... He is also much too cute when he was crawling in his costume:

And here he is laughing at Uncle Ian's goofiness (pardon the uber-messy room):

8th Month

It's cake day once again! I miss my Daddy, but don't worry, Mommy and I will be there with you soon!

================

Notice how he always makes funny faces at the camera. He does this every time (since he was almost 6 months)! I don't know where he got it, but he still does it until now, every chance he gets...

Sebastian's Weekend

October 4-5

Too lazy for words. Let the videos show what Seb has been up to:

Bath time is Sebastian's most favorite activity. Even when he's cranky, giving him a bath instantly lifts his spirits up.

(Video clip removed. Note to Bondi: check our multiply blog instead)

Brusing his teeth: He only has one tooth (lower front) but the one next to that has started to come out as well. He loves letting me brush it, and tries to do it on his own too.

Pulling up to a stand: By the end of Saturday night, he made several attempts in his playpen to master the art of pulling himself up into a stand.

Walking towards Auntie Karen: After church service, he can't wait to practice walking.

That's all folks!

PS: These video clips are dedicated to Bondi who went ahead of us to the Bay Area and has been there for a week now. We miss you!

New Walker

We went to the mall, and lolo and lola ended up buying Sebastian a 3-in-1 walker. I know his pediatrician doesn't recommend putting him in a walker, but all of us here can't seem to keep up with him so it is fairly easy to put him in there and let him walk around, as long as we keep a watchful eye on him. Besides, I don't think he's gonna be behind as far as his development on "walking" is concerned. He can cruise around the house from time to time (not long enough, but he does). This certain walker can be transformed into a rocker or a feeding chair. Here is a video clip of him trying it out in Shopwise (Alabang) as the salesman assemble the new stock for us.

As the day ended, here is another clip of him hanging on to lola (Momsky) during his nightly routine of spending time in their bedroom. He can actually crawl now, but for some reason in this video clip he keeps on banging his head on the bed each step. And once he reached grandma, he is just too happy to use her so he can stand.

Today's Video Clip

Sebastian has been very active ever since. It's getting harder to keep up with him as the months go by. Here's a video clip (from today) of his subtle moments. Look how he's trying to stand on his own. He's been doing this for the past month. I wonder when he'll be able to really stand on his own without struggling.

Family Photos by Ging

About 10 days ago, we finally had a family portrait session with my uber-talented best friend, Ging. Here are some of the shots she took:

The story and details (and the same set of pictures) on her photoblog. Click here.

The Magic of His New Pair of Red Shoes

We went out to buy stuff and ended up buying Sebastian a pair of red walking shoes. Excited, we tried it on him once we got home. He used to make steps backwards, but in these shoes, he manages to step forward continuously. Here's a video clip of our little boy from an hour ago:

7 Months Old

My dear son is now 7 months. And, as usual, you guessed it! We had cake tonight.

He even managed to swipe some icing when we weren't looking (he's probably thinking why every month, we celebrate him with cake yet he never even tasted any of it).

And the cake ended up looking like this:


Some pictures:

With Lolo (Grandpa)

With Lola (Grandma)

With Daddy

With Mommy

With all of them

Happy 7th Month!

And before the night ended, he went to play with grandma:

Playing in the Sand (Siloso Beach, Sentosa)

Here is a video clip of Sebastian playing in Singaporean sand 3 weeks back:

He loved it so much, we have to constantly watch him else we'd be taking sand out of his mouth. LOL.

Fever Bug...

I don't know what's in the air lately, but almost everyone I know was or is hit by sickness, most specially fever and coughs/colds. My dad got confined, my friend Pete was also confined, and a couple more people I know was also confined in the hospital. Dear hubby was up to his 40's (Celsius) a few days ago, but it got better and now he only has the persistent cough left in him. To make it worse, both me and Sebastian was also hit. Thank goodness his on and off fever lasted only a day, and mine only a couple of days. Like Bondi, we only have the same dry cough which is really very irritating (and it's no wonder Sebastian is very irritable lately). Poor baby! The doctor says so far he looks clear but we are to observe him until Sunday (tomorrow) and then send her a text message regardless. I don't know if it's a virus or bacteria but we just can't wait for everything to be over. This bug stole us precious time from Bondi, who will go ahead of us back to California (we are to follow on Thanksgiving which is on November) this coming Friday. I also planned to pubish more of my draft entries this week until this bug knocked me down. Oh well... hope everything gets better soon.

Let me end this entry with a video clip from yesterday:

Sebastian, The Book Lover

September 14, 2008

Our family friend from church (and one of our wedding ninangs) Grace D. Chong (http://leavesofgrace.blogspot.com) had a scheduled book signing with OMF Literature at the book fair held in SMX beside MOA. Her newest book, "Gifts of Grace 3", is finally out in the market and also her newest children's book "Big Brother".

Sebastian just got so excited with this new purchase. I didn't realize how much he loved books until that moment. Of course he couldn't read and understand what it is about, but he just loves to look at pictures and have someone read the book to him.

A Couple of Shots by Ging

A couple of weeks ago, we had a short vacation in Singapore. More details on my entry about it next time. But I'll leave you with a couple of pictures taken by my best friend Ging (there are more to follow)...



Visit her site at http://photosbyging.blogspot.com

I'm Back!

So, here I go again, with my on-and-off blog relationship. Obviously, a lot has happened the past weeks, so many that I don't know where to start (and I'm sure I'd miss mentioning some of it too). I have yet to post Sebastian's 5th and 6th month pictures, and he's on to his 7th month now! His lower front tooth finally popped out, after months of "teething", that it's finally visible when he smiles. He eats a lot of solids, he loves his veggies (carrots, squash, potatoes, peas...) and fruits (bananas, apples, oranges...) but he also eats crackers which he has grown very fond of (specially since he gets to "bite" it). He's also been drinking out of a normal glass and would choose a glass over his sippy cup and bottle. Surprisingly, he can do it without making too much mess and spills.

At 6.5 months, not only can he sit up on his own, he also loves to stand up, and hang on to his pack 'n play as he peers over the railings just to see us. He also licks/bites it, which I personally think is gross, but what can we do? Babies are like that, they put everything in their mouths every chance they get. Sebastian especially loves to explore everything he lays his eyes and hands on, and has such strong grip you would have to struggle to win. Of course, he still hasn't outgrown his jumping phase yet, but it made his legs stronger than ever. My mom tried to let him stand on his own a number of times yesterday (let go a few seconds to see if he could balance himself), and he did for a few seconds before he realized he was doing that and fell slowly to his left side. He actually tried to stand up on his own a couple weeks back when he was sitting on the bed by forcing his feet against the bed. He went up 45 degrees and dove face front. Then smiled. Now he can push himself into a stand holding on to something (such as pillows, etc.).

He also made up games of his own, and I think his favorite is pretending to be a monster. I don't know where he got it, but he does it all the time! He does his monster voice and tries to scare me, it's so funny! He also "wrestles", where he twists his legs over your arm and grunts and puts pressure. He still loves to play peek-a-boo and still plays with his soft blocks, piano, and other toys. But he would hands down play with real people over his baby toys. Yesterday, he was playing with Ai, the household help, and it struck me how witty he's getting. Ai was teaching him to shake hands, and he does it slowly, then suddenly try to bite the hand he's holding - complete with a roaring sound. He does it over and over, sometimes pretending like he doesn't care, but would still try to surprise us by pulling the hand to his mouth. I think he loves to hear the sound of us laughing. He has so much energy, he doesn't know where to put the extra ones, so he kicks and squirms and claps and squeals and rolls and... the list goes. I get exhausted just thinking about it.

This baby also has a "showbiz" personality. Aside from loving the cameras, for some reason, he loves people's attention. He always smiles, and laughs, and coos whenever people are around. I am always amazed at how he draws people to him wherever we go, be it in church, malls, and other public places. I've noticed strangers to always look our way and tell him how cute he is and talk to him or make funny faces at him specially while I'm carrying him on my shoulder or when he's in his stroller and wonder how he could have such magnetic personality. Until Bondi and I discovered one of the ways he charms people. We were in the MRT in Singapore last week and I noticed how he looks at his "victim" intently, waiting for an eye-to-eye contact. And when the unsuspecting person does, he does his trick by smiling and blinking his eyes and scrunching his nose. He does it repeatedly that the person couldn't resist and you know how the rest goes. Ever since he was smaller, people would just come up to him and couldn't resist taking pictures. His charm is very overpowering indeed.

As I look at this 20-pound-26-incher person, I can't help but reminisce the days when he was just a little newborn who only sleeps and nurses. I used to just leave him in the middle of the bed when he falls asleep while nursing. Now, good luck with leaving him alone. He rolls over and over, even while sleeping (yes, he moves a lot, I can't really sleep well since he co-sleeps with me for now). Now I understand why people keep saying savor the moment because time definitely passes by like a breeze.

NOTE: Pictures and videos to be uploaded later.

Auntie Bernadette Visits the Philippines

Sebastian finally met his "Auntie Ba", one of Bondi's sisters. She arrived in Manila on August 21 and left for Australia on September 8. She and Sebastian hit it off right away. They cherished the bonding moments they had and always had fun being together. Some snapshots:

First encounter: Notice how they're looking at each other...

...and eventually got over it and looked at the camera

He got tired because he was up waiting for her

But took pictures soon after he woke up

They bonded every chance they got...
...together with Auntie Lou (who tried to get him to drink tea)

So, he was sad to see Auntie Badette leave...

I said sad...
...sad, Sebastian!

I give up!