Fairy First Date

This is a photo of MacDaddy and me eight months pregnant with the boys .. yes, yes I know, huge ... but back to my point. Anyway, this is us completely ecstatic over this fabulous baby shower MammaMia and the Titas threw for us, and all the equally fabulous gifts we got including a hair spa gift card for me (because that is my guilty pleasure) and a Thai massage for MacDaddy (and that is his) plus the baby journals I asked for and was all eager to get cracking on. I couldn't wait to diligently jot down those milestones. First tooth, first crawl, first step. And then real life got in the way, I said I'd get to it eventually and here we are five years later. We did abuse use the gift cards. God knows we needed those after those sleepless nights. But umm.. the baby books. Untouched.

Thankfully one afternoon Nona and I were sitting in the car, discussing doing a joint mommy-blog (this one!) and I thought.. that should do more than make up for the those very empty baby books. Mommy absolution. The kids' very own cyber baby journal. Good thinking, Nona. I hope this blog will still be around for the kiddos when they're older or until they disown us if we start humiliating them with more stories and more naked pictures.

Mak, journal material for you.

Mak's front lower tooth is wiggling. Not the ever-so-slight rocking the dentist pointed out a few months back, but it looks like it should be any time now. His milk teeth are starting to fall already! He is four! Okay.. almost five but, he is f-o-u-r. He's moving it like crazy, all excited and ready to let it go and here I am getting all freaky sentimental not ready to let go.

I texted his dentist. Mak's tooth is moving. Is that okay? (Laugh all you want. It's a first for me.) Her reply: Is it just moving or has he fallen? If it's moving because he bumped it and you want to make sure, we can xray to check on trauma. Ok. Suddenly feeling really stupid. Its just moving. I text back. Her text: Then it's ok. Relax! Exclamation point. I deserved that.

Some little facts to sink your teeth into, according to the internet. Everyone will have two sets of teeth in their lifetime - milk teeth and permanent teeth. A baby has twenty teeth while grown-ups have thirty-two. Milk teeth start to push through the gums at around six months of age and generally fall out at ages six to seven. First the lower front ones, then the upper ones and usually in the order that they first came out. They can fall out earlier than normal if the teeth came out earlier than usual for an infant. (Ahh.. but if I had filled up that baby book I would know when Mak's teeth first made their appearance) By twelve to thirteen years, most baby teeth have been shed and almost all permanent teeth are in.

On one of his routine dental check-ups

It seems a date with the tooth fairy is sooner than soon. Whoa, I don't even know the fairy's going rate these days. I am sooo not ready, but aren't many mommies sooo not emotionally ready for sooo many things anyway? And that is real life getting in the way again.

Lisztomania!

Our favorite children's choir continues to make beautiful music. As a testament to Teacher Gregg's coolness, he got his PS22 kids to do a Phoenix song. Do you love Phoenix? I love their pop-rock-electronica sound so much I can put on my running shoes and hit the pavement for a whole hour listening to them and just them. So here it is, a personal family summer hit revisited. Lisztomania sung a cappella... 

As the band mentioned on The Creators Project, on paper it shouldn't work but it does, and even got them teary-eyed. Yes, PS 22 tends to do that. Now here are the boys from Versailles themselves, live, stripped of any sound engineering magic, but awesome, nevertheless...

Thank you teacher Jojie for the heads up on Lisztomania PS22 version. Thank you Entourage Season 1 (or 2?) for putting this song in one episode's end credits. I tracked it down with my google-investigating skills then et voila, have been in love with Phoenix ever since.  Falling, falling, falling, falling....

Hearts

It was Pappy's first Ironman 70.3 so I just had to be there for him in Camsur. We went without the kids, marking another family first--first time to leave town without them for 3 nights and 4 days. Our longest stretch apart, so far.

In the end, it all turned out okay. Better than okay. Pappy finished the race. Mission accomplished! Plus we had a great time. Good vibes and good friends all around in Camsur during Ironman weekend. To top it off, we got home to kids that were alive and well, and so happy to see us back home my heart could have burst. Chicha posted this in our front door...

While we were away, there was crying during the goodnight phone calls. There is something about the evening that makes kids want their moms and dads even more. The I-want-mommy cries were a bit tough to take. But mornings and afternoons they'd tell us how busy their days were. Which doll got a haircut from Chicha... Lily! What new beyblade Bear invented... Dragon Anaconda, who was originally SUPER Anaconda, but it is DRAGON A now, not Super. There is a big difference. Got it Bear.

Lately, Chicha never runs out of projects requiring pen, paper, cards, tape and what-not from my office table. So I shouldn't be surprised she thought of a project relevant to the whole situation. You could call it the Write Mom And Dad Everyday While They're Away Project...

She wrote this card for her brother. The rounded dot on the letter i is a dead giveaway...

All that from her little head, made from her tiny hands inspired by her big, big heart. Big brother Bear helped out, a bit. He signed his name and wrote out one card, upon her insistence. Haha! Busy little sister did all the writing and artwork as he dictated some words she couldn't spell right. She's not a fan of inventive spelling, although we insist that that's completely okay at this point.

In this card for Mom and Dad, Yaya had to take some dictation part of the way since her "hands were already tired." A.k.a., there will be words that she "cannot spell like the dictionary"...

We love you too our little ones with big hearts. Even more than all those adorable hearts you made and signed for. In conclusion, The Best Welcome Home. Ever.

Irondads 70.3

This is more like a postscript to your previous post Nana. Viva la vida papas indeed. 

Way to go Irondads!

Viva Papas

Just a few more hours before our very own VivalavidaPapas kick some serious butt in Camsur. We are mighty proud of you both!

Tonight's bedtime prayer...
Tato: Dear God, Make my Papa big and perfect. And the fastest biker in the race.
Mak: ...but not faster than a car.

Amen.

Traditional or Progressive School?

Deciding between progressive or traditional schooling for your child? What exactly is the difference? There's an Explorations Preschool parenting forum that can help answer those questions.

The Inside Scoop on Traditional and Progressive Settings 

21 August 2010, Saturday, 9 to 11 am in Explorations Preschool. 

Attendance is free to all enrolled Explorations families.  

Guests are welcome for a fee of P350.00 per person.  

To reserve a slot, call the school at 724-3320 or 724-4271.

Keys Math Fair logo inspired by the Borromean Rings

What in the world are Borromean Rings?

If you know me or you've been here before, you probably know my take.  There was this internet-tirade, then this post that was all love and rainbows.  Once, I even connected progressive schools to The Blue Man Group. I can't help my pop-references! Of course... if you have kids to put through school, you have to listen to Ken Robinson. Ken is the man, I swear. He did it on TED again this year. 

Above link-a-palooza is pro-progressive, yes. That's where I stand. My kids go to Keys and Explorations which are both progressive. But the Explorations event is not a progressive school hard-sell. Trust me. You'll hear all points of view. Explorations is quite known for sending a lot of kids successfully into big, traditional schools.

problem solving process for Keys third-graders

I was among the parents tapped as a speaker in the same forum last year. Together with parents from progressive schools Keys and Beacon, as well as parents with children in traditional schools like Ateneo, La Salle and Xavier, we talked about why we opted to send our kids to their schools and how the experience matched our goals and expectations. Progressive and traditional, both.

What's great about this year's forum is that moms, dads and kids--yes kids--are joining the discussion. Last year, it was just a number of us moms who were speakers. This August 21, you will hear actual school experiences from Keys, La Salle, Ateneo, ICA and they may add representatives from another school or two.

problem solved

Teacher Didi Manahan will start off with the basics--what exactly is the progressive approach and how it differs from the traditional method. From there it should be an interesting and enlightening free-for-all discussion. 

If you have questions I didn't cover, drop it in the comments box and I'll oblige if I can answer. Oh and, here's the Explorations Preschool phone number again, 724-3320 or 724-4271. Call them. They're great with kids... and parents too.

Coffee Break

Dear NinangEs, 

We don't know if you had anything to do with it but... Thank You! for the great little additions over at our favorite cafe. Kid-sized seating. Now we're talking. 

We're totally loving our banana bread dates now.  Oh, and big week for you.  Happy, happy B! 

Music! Music!

Just one of the many things I love about the boys' preschool is its rock solid music program. Fourty-five minutes of every single three- hour day is devoted to all things music. And it's not just singing and dancing. The boys shake, drum and use mallets on all these sorts of instruments, some of which I confess I can neither pronounce nor spell. Today, as an added treat, I got to sit-in and join the kids watch a mini concert by a multi-awarded, twenty-four year old pianist. Oliver Salonga, this wonder boy who is even more wonderful for agreeing to play for the kindergardeners, has been making beautiful music on the piano since he was seven. Do the math. Ahh-maz-ing.

Somewhere in the middle of his variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, a three-year old belted out her own little variation. Think My Way by the dreaded office mate who's had one too many on karaoke night. Amusing side show. After the first few keys from Beethoven, a little one shouted "I know that!" His Chopin piece brought the house down. Mak was overheard in between all the applause and the More! More! shouting "O-li-ver! O-li-ver!". Hmm... son, very classy but one day I shall teach you to say Bravo.

Waiting for the show to start. Do you see Tato?

Mak (in yellow) with classmates

Oliver Salonga working his magic

Answering questions from curious minds

Tonight, still inspired, there is some clanging and banging coming from the playroom. Tato is trying to revive an old battery-powered drum set he received some Christmases ago. Mak is looking for a tambourine he won as a prize in some birthday party. They are both screaming to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Ta-na-na-nan! Ta-na-na-nan! Music to my ears.