Raising Boys

Lennon in school

2005-07-01T14:00:00.000+08:00

Lennon in school,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

Play time

New blog address

2005-06-18T23:56:00.000+08:00

I'm transferring my blog to my own server. My new address is marlen.limpag.com.

New phone

2005-06-15T18:44:00.000+08:00

I received a new mobile phone from the office yesterday. It's a camera phone. I did nothing but play with it all day.

I took pictures of myself, my son, Max, and (can you believe it?) the view from our kitchen.

I even took a view of our mango tree but I think I accidentally deleted that one. It's not that I had nothing important to do today; it's just that I did not feel like like doing any of it.

Maybe tomorrow, I will be able to rouse my mind from the stupor it is in.

Unforgettable party

2005-06-12T11:13:00.000+08:00

It was Dylan's birthday yesterday and he invited some friends over. His cousins also came. He told me he had a swell time. I could not say the same thing for myself.

I was so busy preparing for his party that I forgot to eat anything all day. In the morning, his dad and I had to get his cake from Goldilocks in SM because the bakeshop does not deliver anymore to its branch in Lapu-Lapu City. Plus, we did last minute purchases at the grocery. It was lunchtime when we got back from SM and we had to work double time to get everything ready by 2 p.m. My mother came to help.

Everything was going smoothly until my other son decided it was time he got some attention for himself, too. So he asked for water and when my mother gave him some, he bit down hard on the glass and took off a piece of it and he cut his tongue in the process.

I was outside and I heard my mother calling me from the kitchen and Lennon was crying so I was immediately worried. I rushed over and blood was coming out of my son's mouth and I screamed because I thought at first that he had swallowed the broken glass. There was a lot of confusion--I probably caused it--and I wanted to shake my son and slap and spank him for doing such a stupid thing but instead reassured and hugged him because he was very scared and he was sobbing. I suddenly felt the beginnings of a monstrous headache.

Naturally, we were not able to finish everything by 2 p.m. My mother forgot she was cooking something because of the furor over Lennon and so it did not turn out the way she wanted it to.

Fortunately, the guests only started arriving at past 4 p.m., which was good because we were already able to clean up after Lennon. The unfortunate thing is I had to do something so I had to leave them for an hour. By that time, my headache had gone from bad to worse and I remembered wishing that the day were over and done with. It all turned out okay later though.

Dylan's tales

2005-06-10T19:11:00.000+08:00

Dylan is starting his own blog. Daddy created it for him. The blog will be the repository of my son's tales and experiences.

His dad and I will be transferring entries in his journal, a class requirement, to his blog "Aliens, tsinelasay, and other tales". I posted the first entry from a story he told me last month. I was able to record his tale in my notebook because it so happened that he told me this story while I was taking down notes from a book that I was reading for an online course.

Home at last

2005-06-10T02:56:00.000+08:00

Came back yesterday from my Manila trip. I really want to write about my trip but I'm tired so that will have to wait another day.

My sons were so happy to see me. Lennon developed a slight fever at the mere thought of another separation. He fell asleep beside me when I took a nap shortly after I arrived. He held on to my shirt all day.

Dylan's first question when he arrived from school was if I was home already. He grumbled and protested when his dad told him that I had to stay a few days more in Manila.

Lost in Manila

2005-06-08T11:03:00.000+08:00

So obviously, I did not change my mind and am now here in Manila. I was last here 10 years ago and the changes to the metropolis since then seem overwhelming. I had quite forgotten how big this place is: wide roads, huge buildings, gargantuan malls.

It was a long ride from the airport to the Parc Chateau Condominium in Ortigas Center in Pasig City, where I'm staying, and I passed by Makati City on the way there. The financial district's skyscrapers dot the skyline and everything else seems small in comparison. The flowing stairway of water at the entrace to The Peninsula was eye-catching. So was everything else, I guess.

The taxi driver did not know where Parc Chateau is and so we spent a long time cruising around Ortigas Center to look for the place. We still did not find it. I called our correspondent in Manila for instructions and he told me it was at corner Sapphire and Onyx roads but the tax driver was unfamiliar with these streets. So what I did was just to look for the place on foot. Fortunately, I was only two blocks away from the condo and found it in no time.

The plane ride to Manila was uneventful but the view from up there was really something. I got a window seat and the two seats beside me were unoccupied. I looked down while the plane was climbing up and I saw rows of houses, road networks, mountain ranges, the south reclamation, the south coast road. I had never seen the south reclamation from up there before and it looked so perfect.

We climbed to a higher altitude and I saw clouds wheezed by, below me and above me.

Headed for the capital

2005-06-07T00:26:00.000+08:00

I'm supposed to be in Manila later today. That is, if I don't change my mind. I just might decide to go home instead of boarding a plane at the airport.

The thing is, I have not prepared for my two-day sojourn in the capital. I have not packed any clothes or given any thought to where I'm supposed to go once I'm there. I guess I still have until 10 a.m. to resolve all this or it will be too late.

Earlier, I've thought of every excuse why I should not go. Classes have started and Dylan needs me to take care of things for him. Lennon won't be able to sleep at night without me. He'll wake up and cry if he sees that I'm not there. And many, many other reasons.

I regretted having said yes to my boss when she asked me to attend in her behalf a forum in Makati City. I'd rather be in Metro Cebu, where it is only 15 minutes away to any destination, than in smog-drenched Manila.

My husband assures me it will be Thursday before I know it and I'd be home. I guess that's true. So I'm wishing that it's Thursday now but because there is no way that will happen I guess I will have to get on that plane and get it over it.

In first grade

2005-06-05T12:34:00.000+08:00

Dylan will start first grade tomorrow. He will be bringing 15 books and 11 notebooks everyday. He has three books for his English class, three for Science, two for reading and one for speech, five for Pilipino and Makabayan, and surprisingly, only one for Math.

It's difficult fitting everything into his schoolbag so we may have to buy a smaller one for his notebooks and other school things.

We've joined a carpool service so someone will pick him up at 6:45 a.m. and bring him home when classes end at 4:30 p.m. We will have to bring him lunch, though.

He's really looking forward to the start of classes on Monday but he may have a little difficulty adjusting to the whole day schedule.

Lennon's scribbles

2005-06-03T23:55:00.000+08:00

Busy Lennon,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

I've decided to cut down on the number of hours that my sons are allowed to watch TV at home.

After that initial outburst of speech when he turned two, my son Lennon seems to be learning no new vocabulary whatsoever.

I blame the almost eight hours of TV that Dylan subjects him to everyday.

So I told my son Dylan that he should stop watching TV and instead teach his brother to talk.

Dylan, ever the dutiful son that he is, agreed so now he does not watch TV when Lennon is around.

What he does is play with his younger brother and although it is a little chaotic at the house with the two of them running around, I guess I'd prefer that to the couch potatoes that used to inhabit my living room.

When Dylan is out playing with his friends, my son Lennon scribbles on the notebook I bought him just recently.

He'd draw a big circle and calls it his "kuya" (big brother Dylan)and draw a small circle and points to it and say "baby".

Preparing for school

2005-05-31T19:32:00.000+08:00

I've started doing some of the hundred or so things I needed to do before the start of classes on June 6. My husband and I went out of our way to buy Dylan's school requirements, venturing as far as Magallanes St. in Cebu City, because my friend said things were sold cheap there.

It was a nightmarish walk through Manalili St., what with all the people scurrying to and fro and crazy drivers in a hurry to get to their destinations.

When we arrived in La Nueva, my husband was told to leave his bag at the baggage counter only they did not have any number tag left and so we had to wait until someone claims a bag or package before they'd allow us in. What is with that? Don't they want customers? Can't they make any more tags knowing what they have are not sufficient anymore?

It was a good 15 minutes before we were able to finally come in. Someone made of less tolerant stuff would have left already. We hurriedly bought all the things we needed and thankfully got out of there.

My friend was right. The things sold there were less expensive than those in department stores. I'm not sure now, though, if I'd trade savings of less than a hundred for the comforts of SM or Ayala.

Flood in the house

2005-05-29T10:43:00.001+08:00

A deluge of biblical proportions (overstatement) swept through our living room from the kitchen shortly before dawn last week soaking (understatement) everything in its path including Lennon's favorite books because he took them from where they would have been safe from the water when he woke up at 1 a.m. and left them on the floor afterwards.

The rain gutter and downspout could not handle the sudden onslaught of the water and so it found all possible means of getting out of its narrow confines into wider areas like our kitchen and living room.

It happened before dawn and nobody was awake, not even daddy, who is notorious for keeping very strange hours--like sleeping at 6 a.m. and waking up at 3 p.m.

To say that we did not expect that would be the understatement of the year. It was so hot before it rained, who would have expected a downpour as heavy as that with such clear skies the night before.

So there we were, drenched carpet and all, mystified at how a night so perfect could turn into a day so rotten.

Carrie is American Idol

2005-05-26T13:27:00.000+08:00

Carrie Underwood won the American Idol title. Yehey!

Loving astronomy

2005-05-25T20:49:00.000+08:00

Of all the sciences, I really love and appreciate astronomy the most and I think this bias has rubbed off on my sons. Dylan loves reading about our solar system and even knows a lot about the sun and the major planets. He simply cannot have enough of Saturn's beautiful rings and Jupiter's many moons. He loves finding out about space, the stars, and black holes.

One of Lennon's favorite things is a picture book on the sun, moon and the planets. Whenever he wakes up in the wee hours of the morning, he'd get that book and look at it. The craters on the moon and the fiery sun fascinate him and he'd point to the pictures again and again.

If there is anything we all agree on, it is looking at all the awesome pictures (such as this one) of newly born stars, nebulas, surfaces of planets, moons, comets, asteroids and other stuff that astromers provide.

Sometimes, on cloudless nights, we'd go outside and gaze at the multitude of stars that fill our sky, they hang so low we could almost touch them with our hands. On some days, beautiful Venus appears and takes our breaths away.

Next American Idol

2005-05-23T20:22:00.000+08:00

One thing I'm really looking foward to this week is the American Idol finale on Wednesday (performance night) and Thursday (decision time).

I hope Carrie Underwood will win. She has been my favorite from the start. Bo Bice is great, too, but Carrie is star material. Most of my friends and officemates prefer Bo, though.

Star Wars III (Sith happens)

2005-05-22T13:03:00.001+08:00

Dylan wants to watch the third episode of Star Wars, "in the moviehouse and not in DVD", so his dad and I went to check it out first to see if it was acceptable viewing material for a six-year-old boy.

Aside from some bad acting and the rat in the moviehouse, I'd say it would do for a young boy. I'm sure my son would find it awesome, special effects and all. I was probably already biased about the acting even before I went inside the cinema, having read a review somewhere that said it stank.

Coming inside the moviehouse at the most inopportune time, a scene or two before Anakin Skywalker aligned himself with the dark side, did not help either. I kept wondering why it was so easy to turn someone who had grown up in the good side of the force and the skepticism stayed even after I watched it from the start and realized that his fear of Padme (Natalie Portman) dying was what caused him to betray the Jedi order.

My son keeps bugging me about watching the movie already. I guess when I sit through that again, I'd watch out for the political message that George Lucas supposedly embedded in his movie.

For a review on the scientific complexities involving a war in the stars, click here.

A morning of tantrums

2005-05-19T19:32:00.000+08:00

Lennon woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and proceeded to make my life difficult. He cried every time I attempted to use the computer. It irked him to see Dylan and me talking. Any wrong move on my part sent him on a fit of bad temper. He was crying and screaming for me from the bedroom by the time I finished talking to someone on the phone.

The temper tantrum lasted the whole morning. I spent half the day pacifying him by hugging and kissing him and calling him my "love" and my "sweet baby".

When I was called to Dylan's school in the afternoon because the person doing the paint job on the classroom and tables had to be paid, there was no other recourse but to take Lennon with me. Naturally, Dylan had to be brought along as well. Needless to say, it was an especially trying day.

Knowing Sedna

2005-05-19T12:02:00.000+08:00

Dylan tells me that he wants to be a scientist. This is a vast improvement from last year's wish to become a security guard. I showed him this speech written by the scientist behind the Bad Astronomy Blog and Dylan asked me to read it to him. I'm posting the whole speech here.

I know a place where the Sun never sets.

It’s a mountain, and it’s on the Moon. It sticks up so high that even as the Moon spins, it’s in perpetual daylight. Radiation from the Sun pours down on there day and night, 24 hours a day—well, the Moon’s day is actually about 4 weeks long, so the sunlight pours down there 708 hours a day.

I know a place where the Sun never shines. It’s at the bottom of the ocean. A crack in the crust there exudes nasty chemicals and heats the water to the boiling point. This would kill a human instantly, but there are creatures there, bacteria, that thrive. They eat the sulfur from the vent, and excrete sulfuric acid.

I know a place where the temperature is 15 million degrees, and the pressure would crush you to a microscopic dot. That place is the core of the Sun.

I know a place where the magnetic fields would rip you apart, atom by atom: the surface of a neutron star, a magnetar.

I know a place where life began billions of years ago. That place is here, the Earth.

I know these places because I’m a scientist.

Science is a way of finding things out. It’s a way of testing what’s real. It’s what Richard Feynman called “A way of not fooling ourselves.”

No astrologer ever predicted the existence of Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto. No modern astrologer had a clue about Sedna, a ball of ice half the size of Pluto that orbits even farther out. No astrologer predicted the more than 150 planets now known to orbit other suns.

But scientists did.

No psychic, despite their claims, has ever helped the police solve a crime. But forensic scientists have, all the time.

It wasn’t someone who practices homeopathy who found a cure for smallpox, or polio. Scientists did, medical scientists.

No creationist ever cracked the genetic code. Chemists did. Molecular biologists did.

They used physics. They used math. They used chemistry, biology, astronomy, engineering.

They used science.

These are all the things you discovered doing your projects. All the things that brought you here today.

Computers? Cell phones? Rockets to Saturn, probes to the ocean floor, PSP, gamecubes, gameboys, X-boxes?
All by scientists.

Those places I talked about before—you can get to know them too. You can experience the wonder of seeing them for the first time, the thrill of discovery, the incredible, visceral feeling of doing something no one has ever done before, seen things no one has seen before, know something no one else has ever known.

No crystal balls, no tarot cards, no horoscopes. Just you, your brain, and your ability to think.

Welcome to science. You’re gonna like it here.

Dylan was very interested to hear about Sedna and asked to use the computer because he wants to know more about this ball of ice on the fringes of our solar system. He was also amazed to learn that it was always day on one part of the moon.

I just love this side of him that seeks answers to how things work. The wonder on his face when he learns something new is priceless.

When I came to that part in the speech that mentioned a place where life began billions of years ago, he butted in excitedly to say he knows where that place is.

I asked, "Oh yeah? Where?"

"Earth," he answered. He'd make a great scientist. I should know, I'm his mom.

Brigada Eskwela

2005-05-16T20:14:00.000+08:00

I arrived late (10 a.m.) for the Brigada Eskwela today and had to suffer sullen looks from the other parents who were there at 8 a.m. sharp. Like all parents who have children in public schools, I suffer through the Department of Education's yearly school cleaning program.

Dylan, thankfully, chose not to go with me, finding Spongebob and Patrick's latest big screen escapade (in DVD) more preferable than my company. This, from a child who calls me at the office every night and begs to be allowed to wait up for us. He must have watched that cartoon flick a million times (Of couse, I'm exaggerating).

Once in a while, I get this weird feeling that some of the other parents dislike me. A friend told me there are still those who continue to question why my son, aside from receiving first honors at the commencement exercises of the Preparatory Class of 2005, was also given two other top awards.

The Science and Technology Education Center (Stec) preparatory level is nothing like its elementary class. For one, the parents get to buy the books for their children in preparatory. I was also told the computation of the grades is different in the prep and elementary levels. I think the parents believed the prep teacher was not as impartial as she should have been when it came to the her grading of the students. And I am being considered close to the teacher when I'm really not.

New look

2005-05-16T19:23:00.000+08:00

What Lennon looks like now, after that fateful Sunday date with the barber.

Haircut

2005-05-15T12:18:00.000+08:00

Haircut,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

Lennon had his hair cut by a barber yesterday. It's usually my mother, his grandmother, who cuts his hair. It takes a long time for my son to become comfortable with those not within the family circle. In fact, he is still suspicious of his nanny, who was hired half a month ago, and would sometimes not allow her to hold his toys, feed him, or give him a bath.

Yesterday, when he allowed the barber to cut his hair, was the exception. Seeing the barber snipping away at his dad's hair must have eased his mind somewhat.

Public school griefs

2005-05-12T20:51:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my son Dylan's first grade teacher distributed school books, 15 in all, for the coming schoolyear. The pages of some had been torn out and there was one that was so damaged you would not recognize it as a book if not for it's cover. I guess that's the official welcome to life in a public school for my son.

I asked the teacher what we can do about the missing pages and she said we should just borrow from those lucky enough to have been given books with all their pages, photocopy the missing ones, and attach them to our books. The books look that way because they have been used by several generations of pupils.

I believe we're luckier than the others because my son's school, a special science school, gets the best that government and the private sector can give. I wonder how the rest of the public schools are doing? How bad can their books be, or if they have any at all?

Siesta time

2005-05-12T20:36:00.000+08:00

Lennon has been falling asleep around noon for a few days now. I'm pleased--he has never taken a siesta before four days ago--but worried at the same time. Could something be wrong with him? Is this just a development stage? Is it because of the heat? It's been so hot the past few days in the city.

Elsewhere, I'm hearing reports that the heat wave has destroyed millions worth of crops. It's that hot, huh?

Just around the same time he started taking a siesta, my son has had a new sitter, too. Could the sleeping be a reaction to a new face in the house? He seemed to have adjusted well to his new nanny, though.

If this persists, I may just have to bring him to a doctor for a check-up, just to be on the safe side.

Angelo's birthday party

2005-05-08T19:31:00.000+08:00

Dylan and Lennon arrived two hours late for their cousin Angelo's birthday party today in Maryville Subdivision in Talamban, Cebu City. What's more, they came without a gift.

Dylan was able to join one game, but was unsure how it ended. Lennon was at his most difficult the whole time, running around and screaming at each attempt to get him seated.

Copycat

2005-05-03T19:27:00.000+08:00

Lennon, 2, loves to copy everything his older brother says or does. If I ask Dylan something and he answers back, Lennon will usually echo his brother's reply. Hearing Lennon speak is a welcome relief especially because, until very recently, he did nothing of the sort.

Lennon has also taken to copying words he hears from TV. He has taken to imitating the trademark reaction of a game show host to each right answer from contestants. He'd get the intonation correctly but would pronounce the word as "coyyect" instead of "correct".

He has also taken to laughing while watching Mr. Bean on TV, in imitation of Dylan. Lennon laughs even during the not-so-funny times, to the chagrin of his brother.

The world and superstition

2005-05-02T19:12:00.000+08:00

Today's conversations between my son and me.

Dylan: Mom, what makes the world go 'round?
Me: (in bed, reading Foucault's Pendulum) Ummm...love...love makes the world go 'round.
Dylan: No, no. I want the real answer.
Me: (still reading) Love is really the answer.
Dylan: (exasperated) Mommmmm...
Me: (shakes sleeping daddy) Dad, Dylan wants to know what makes the world go 'round.
Daddy: (mumbles) Don't know.
Me: (eyes still on book) I don't know, baby. I'll just find out later and tell you tomorrow. K?

Later.....

Dylan: What's a superstition?
Me: (wishing she has dictionary in hand) Things people believe in that are not supported by the natural law.
Dylan: (confused) What?
Me: Well, it's like this. Some people believe that if you break a mirror, you will have bad luck or something for seven years. That's not true, of course. There is no connection between a broken mirror and bad luck. We don't even believe in bad luck.
Dylan: Ahhh...Like it's not true that if you step on a crack, you break your mother's back.
Me: (thinking) Mmmmm....good one.

Original songs

2005-05-02T18:00:00.000+08:00

I did not allow my son Dylan to watch his favorite TV shows for a few hours today and naturally he grumbled about not having anything to do. I was not swayed, however, and after a few minutes sulking he came to sit beside me outside, under the mango tree that grows in front of our house.

He talked about some crazy things (mostly about stuff he watched) that I half-listened to because I was sleepy from the noontime heat. Then we talked about what he should do when his younger brother Lennon grabs his (Dylan's) toys. Or when Lennon is in one of his tantrums. I told him he should be more patient and not raise his voice at Lennon even when his brother is at his most difficult.

Later, he told me he had composed several songs and he was singing them to me. He belched out songs that I knew he made up just then, lines like "raindrops, raindrops...they fall from the clouds...like ice pops" or "small, big, biggest...a mouse is small, a dog big, and an elephant the biggest" and a really long one about how you can't do anything when you ride in a sports car. (We don't have a sports car so I'm also wondering where he gets these ideas.)

I regretted not having been able to take his picture, though, while he was screeching at the top of his lungs in his best approximation of singing.

Beach lovers

2005-04-29T19:33:00.000+08:00

My sons love the beach. They'd spend every day of their lives there if that were possible. Fortunately for us, we live near the sea. We don't go as often as we would have liked, though, as matters like work and studies keep us away. When we do go there, we make sure we enjoy every minute of our stay.

Dylan and Lennon like to wade waist-deep in the shallows. Lennon does not fear the water as his elder brother did when he was of the same age. Lennon could swallow seawater or some of it could get into his eyes but he does not let any of this deter him.

Dylan is more at home in the sea now more than ever. If he gets tired of the sea, he'd sit in the sand and build sandcastles. Just last month, we went to a beach in Marigondon in Mactan.

Last November, we stayed overnight at the Plantation Bay resort, also in Mactan.

Wonder mommy

2005-04-28T00:20:00.000+08:00

My two-year-old son Lennon believes I'm Wonder Woman. Really. That's what he says everytime he points to this character in his Justice League postcard. He'd usually ask us to name everyone else in the picture--Flash, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Superman--but blurts out "Mama, Mama" whenever he comes upon Wonder Woman in the line-up.

It amused his dad the first time he did this. So he pointed to Wonder Woman and asked Lennon to name her again and again. Same answer. "Mommy," his dad tells me, "Lennon thinks you're Wonder Woman."

It's the strangest thing, but Lennon can't be swayed. We tried correcting him (even his brother Dylan joined in the efforts) by telling him it was not "Mama" but "Wonder Woman". But he'd laugh and insist "Mama".

So there. I'm really Wonder Woman to my son.

Tooth pact

2005-04-27T20:56:00.000+08:00

I told my son Dylan today that everytime one of his baby teeth comes out, he does not have to put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. I told him I want to keep it as a memento and I will just pay for it at the price set by the footh fairy.

The tooth fairy (read: me) cannot put up with the charade anymore because she is: 1) forgetful 2) busy and 3) can't lie to her son with a straight face.

The tooth fairy also can't stand disappointing her son, who woke up today to find his tooth still under the pillow. The funny thing about this is, I already took care of that tooth but Dylan found it yesterday on top of the computer table where his dad left it and thought it was one of his two lower teeth that came out months ago. He lost one and was not able to offer it to the tooth fairy. Just imagine how happy he was when he found it.

All right. Enough. I can't take it anymore. I told him, "Never mind the tooth fairy, I want to keep all of your baby teeth." Fortunately, he believed me.

Learning Filipino

2005-04-26T00:33:00.000+08:00

Dylan is taking advance lessons in Filipino, designated the Philippine "national language" by the country's Constitution, during the summer break from April to May in preparation for first grade, which starts this June.

As Filipino is not offered in preparatory class, which he just graduated from, my son consequently learned English ahead of his national language. I suppose I should be thankful to cartoon network, too, for his mastery of this foreign tongue.

That Filipino is not popular or even used in areas outside of the Tagalog-speaking regions is no surprise. There have been sporadic debates about which of the country's many dialects should serve as the base for the national language and even accusations from the predominant Cebuano-speaking group that this Filipino was only Tagalog masquerading as the national language.

Favorites

2005-04-25T19:42:00.000+08:00

Dylan likes ice cream, hotdog, fried chicken, roasted pork, and even milk. Lennon likes his Spiderman shirts.

Dylan loves Hagar, books, computer games, cartoon network, Nickelodeon, Disney channel, his stuffed toys. Lennon loves his toy cars.

They both adore their dad and me.

Wanted: Tooth fairy

2005-04-25T19:15:00.000+08:00

Another of Dylan's baby teeth came off three days ago and he was surprised when the tooth fairy did not come for it. I was so tired when I came home from work at 2 a.m. that I forgot to take it and replace it with money.

He was quick to report the matter to me when I woke up around midday and even suggested that it was I who had taken the other tooth from under his pillow a week or two ago. It took all of my willpower not to laugh. I told him the tooth fairy was probably busy and will come for his tooth later that night.

He told his daddy the tooth fairy was on the other side of the world and missed his tooth.

Next Linus Torvalds

2005-04-24T11:49:00.000+08:00

Next Linus Torvalds,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

Or someone else just as famous, if you consider Linux developer Linus Benedict Torvalds that. (He must be, though, because I got over 2 million results when I googled him.)

Or he could grow up to be average and ordinary. Nobody really knows for sure with this child.

Lennon meets Mozilla

2005-04-23T18:11:00.000+08:00

Lennon meets Mozilla,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

What's that square thing on the upper right portion of the computer monitor doing? Curious, Lennon goes near to investigate.

A browser icon is a strange thing to catch a child's interest but this one's no ordinary kid. He waits until he is over two years old to speak, and does so in sentences. He cries and laughs in the craziest circumstances and over the strangest things. He can be very kind one moment and so cruel the next. He can cling to you and just as suddenly ignore you.

Every day, he rewrites the growing child book.

Graduation blues

2005-04-21T18:53:00.000+08:00

Graduation blues,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

April 6, 2005 was a special day for my son Dylan. It was his graduation from Preparatory Class at the Science and Technology Education Center in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. The graduation rites were held at the Waterfront Hotel in Mactan.

He received three gold medals for being first in his class, a select group of achievers, and two awards: High in Naturalist Intelligence and High in Verbal/Linguistics Intelligence.

Boob tube moment

2005-04-21T13:56:00.000+08:00

Enjoying Disney Channel

Happy child

2005-04-21T12:45:00.000+08:00

A test update from a mobile phone

Upside down

2005-04-21T03:38:00.000+08:00

Lennon gets another perspective of the world, in this picture taken using daddy's mobile phone.

Beautiful boy

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Lennon,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

Everytime I look at him, I remember John Lennon's song, "Beautiful Boy".

His face, how fast it changes with his moods. Brows so thick they almost meet in the middle. Deepset eyes, brooding and mysterious. You look into them and you drown in their depths. Nose that's just the right size in a roundish face. His mouth like a little angel's; he's almost impossible to resist when he wails "Mommy".

My other son. My beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy. My Lennon.

Minus a tooth

2005-04-20T20:19:00.000+08:00

Dylan,
originally uploaded by engkanta.

Dylan's front tooth came out while he was brushing his teeth last week. Good thing that it was already summer and school was out. Or he would have flipped, for sure.

He placed his tooth under his pillow (for the tooth fairy) when he went to bed. I almost forgot to replace it with money and because I did not have any change I had to put in a twenty.

He reached under his pillow when he woke up and shouted "It worked, It worked".

As the sky is blue

2005-04-20T19:45:00.000+08:00

This blog is blue because it's my six-year-old son Dylan's favorite color. I'm sure though he would have preferred a lighter blue, like the sky is blue.

The other day, he followed me to the kitchen and asked me in a voice so low it was almost a whisper, "Mom, where do babies come from?". The question really floored me, not because I was unprepared for it but because it was then I realized how fast he was growing up.

I just felt this pressing need to remember everything that he was and is so I will better understand what he will be.