For The 3rd Time Around

Yes, the school has just given their grades/report cards for the third grading period and he maintained the first slot.

Proud Nonna here. I remember those days when your mommy and your ninong used to receive awards every school year until your mommy graduated Magna  Cum Laude in college. You have passed on the good gene Nissa 🙂

Nilahat mo na –  Batang Maasahan, Joyful Thanksgiver, Busy Bee.  Love that perfect attendance. Hope to see you next Saturday.

 

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And It’s Okay To Be Smart

The other Saturday when they came over, I watched Nissa  make some reviewers for Nate for his first periodical exams this school year. so happy to this result.

So proud of you Nate, you made good again.

I still remember those days when I did the same thing for Nissa and Josef. I remember those days when I would  attend their recognition awarding. And the culmination was Nissa graduating as Magna Cum Laude in college.  I always said, “may pinagmanahan si Nate”. 

And as a reward, my son-in-law bought this for him, a  War Machine that Nate loves. He has previous toys of these action figures but he is  still collecting.

Giving rewards for a job well done motivates a child to do better.  And being smart inspires confidence.

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Another Milestone

Yesterday was another milestone in Nate’s life and in ours too, his family.

It was a lovely celebration of Moving Up at the Manila Hotel, a two-hour program where they sang and danced.  They didn’t have this honors awards but Josef got two awards, Best in Reading and best In Science. So proud of you baby. I remember those days when your mom was like your age. I started her in kindergarten instead of nursery school but she got the first honors and a gold medal. Bank in high school and in college I was up the stage every recognition day and graduation. She graduated  Magna Cum Laude.  Hoping you will too when you grow up. I can’t help but post these lovely photos of yours.

how lovely getting those gold medals.

 

A close-up shot of our future pilot.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now on our final approach into Manila. This is your Capt. Nate speaking….

 

Nissa, a proud mommy up the stage. Sarap ng feeling di ba?

 

meeting a real pilot in the hotel. Are you shy baby?

 

the proud parents with the new graduate.

I am so proud of you baby. So happy for you 🙂  Moving up soon to nursery school Make it good.

 

 

 

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Nate’s First Day In School

It’s another milestone in our baby Nate’s life, it is his first time to attend summer school. We are all excited. Nissa and I were exchanging jokes last night and I laughed when she said “I am a stage mom.” She filed a leave of absence from work so she could accompany Nate to the learning center where he is enrolled for the summer. It would not be complete of course without pictures, right?

Ready…set…go!

A little bit shy or he is just observing other kids…

He must be wondering what to do with the paper and pencil.

Go Nate, that is only for a few days but you will gain lots of friends.

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Define F-U-N

I have several pictures that Nissa shared, some of them taken here  at home when they had an overnight stay two weeks ago. Every weekend when they are free, they bring Nate to visit places where he can enjoy and where they could relax just watching him experience things that he hasn’t done before.

What a child does to make you smile.

We had fun, rather Nonna had more fun having Nate around.  Family Day over the weekend.

So curious…so happy!

Fun to the max…..

Sometimes you wish you have the energy, the same degree of curiosity, and the urge and desire to experience same things like a child does – without fear, just a bunch of laughter and smiles.

Define f-u-n 🙂

 

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Sharing Love

Oh…oh…..happy moments with Dad!

Love speaks in simple ways!

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Growing Up Too Fast

And it’s quite hard now to make him pose for the camera, sometimes he makes faces.  There is really no dull moment when he is around. You’re on your toes except when he is asleep.

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Look, That’s A Teddy Bear

I know you would probably ignore this. What’s a pair of slippers doing in my blog? It’s for our little guy of course. I loved how he danced, skipped and smiled while looking at himself in the full length mirror in our bedroom.  He is appreciative of everything you give him, proof that he is really growing up fast.

It’s a little too big yet for his tiny feet but he keeps wearing my bedroom slippers so I let him wear this. He was shouting “bear, bear” when he saw the designs embroidered in the pair. I bought him a pair of Crocs slippers too but it was designed for a two to three-year old so maybe he could use it next year. I keep reminding Nissa to always check  the gifts Nate received on his first birthday, she might forget that there are still more than a dozen shirts he has not worn yet, toys still unopened, and books that are just waiting for him to discover.

I was craving for something sweet  this morning so I baked a carrot cake. I could imagine Nate shouting  “yummy” if he were here.  That’s the only word he describes food, it is always yummy. It’s really a joy to see him enjoying vegetables in his meals  as long as they are not cooked dry.

The joys of being a grandma, priceless moments  to treasure.

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It’s All In the Family

Yesterday, while Nate and I were playing, he saw the pile of books I purchased at BFL and he said, “bok, bok” while reaching out for a copy and he glanced at the cover then ran his hands on the pages. So I told him, “do you want me to read you a  story?”. He smiled so I started , “once upon a time…” he was all ears and when he heard his name, he laughed. That made my day!

I will buy him more children’s books when he learns to read. One more bookworm in the family 🙂

He picked up the computer mouse thrice, put it in his ear  and said “Ninong, ninong”, referring to Josef who was not around when they visited so I told him, “ninong is in the office”.

I told Nissa that we didn’t take pictures like we usually do when they come over to visit us so I said, it’s all in here, pointing to my heart, she laughed. Later she sent me a note on Viber. “I hope you had fun with Nate”. Of course, when Nate is around, everything is fun.

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Tell Your Kids Stories

Definitely, there are no dull moments when Nate is around. I had a great time bonding with him yesterday that it made  me miss him so much today. As soon as he saw the pictures displayed in our dining area, he said, “Ninong, Ninong”  while looking at the framed shot of Josef with him when he was just a month old. It took Josef quite sometime before he could confidently hold Nate when he was just a baby. The  word Ninong in the vernacular means a male godparent.  Then he would point his fingers to the other photos and identify each of  us. This is always what he does every time they come over for a visit – seeing his mommy and daddy, his Nonna (that’s me of course), his tito and the various studio shots of himself when he  was barely a year old.

He left this monkey toy yesterday and I had it on my bed for the night. It smells of Nate of course, that nice baby scent that clings to his toys and pillow.

The frustrations of a grandma! I was telling Nate stories from one of the children’s books that they brought with them. Nissa said that I was not a good story-teller because I cannot pronounce the sounds right. Vruummm….vruummm goes the car and it sounded like short pop of words that does not appeal to my listener then she demonstrated how it sounds. I got frustrated 😦  Never mind, I have to practice soon.It is important that we teach our kids by telling them stories.  I could scare him to death (and that means he laughs out loud and jumps atop the bed covering his eyes while I make faces). He really loves that. The things we do just to make the day a wondrous one for our baby.

He made his bag into a headgear, face serious to scare Nonna. Hahaha!

Children learn words, they learn sounds, they see objects in the story book that would add to their knowledge.  Body language is just as important. Think about what they see and feel when you open your arms wide in welcome.  Think about the sense of love and comfort they feel when you embrace them tight. Think about letting them show what they can do and you clap your hands in approval and say “ang galing”.

I was amazed that he already knows so many words and can speak three words in one sentence. He is only a year and eight months old but he can pronounce the words right and can identify the names of objects in his ABC book. I can’t fault Nissa for teaching him this early, she really spends time teaching Nate when she’s at home.  In between their monthly visits, I get to talk to him often thru Viber. Nissa tells me that he knows how to locate the app and when he  sees my picture there, he would always say, “Nonna, Nonna, Nonna”.  That probably means “Let’s call Nonna, mommy”.

Home or mall? And he says “mall”. Nissa told me that he usually imitates the last word when you ask  him to choose. We laughed when he said in his excited voice, “Daddy……buy robot”.  How did that come about, I asked Nissa and she told me that he kept repeating those words to his daddy when he saw a robot on TV.  Oh well, I just told them to look at the unopened boxes of toys that Nate got on his first birthday last year. They might be surprised if  there is something  there that would make Nate smile. He received a lot of clothes and toys on his birthday.

Blue is the color of the day.

Way to go baby, I miss you so much and did I say, I love you so much too?

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