Encounters

We chose to move to this new place because we know Miguel will be able to meet and interact with other kids here. Although he hasn't made any permanent friends yet, he has met and played with several kids already.

Yesterday afternoon I brought him to the playground as usual. There he met a 4-year old Indian boy named Mahasi who was riding his bike. Miguel likes bike and though he has a toddler bike already, he still prefers the real bike. And so he asked me if he can ride the boy's bike. I told him he should ask the boy if he will share and so the conversation began...

A conversation which left me almost peeing in my pants and which made me realize I should always bring a cam so I can record these priceless moments.

I couldn't recall exactly how the conversation went but I was just to happy that they actually carried on a full coversation about bikes and slides and whatever.

Some of Miguel's lines...

"Can I ride your bike?" (tumatama na pronouns nya, yehey)
"I just want to see myself" (kasi hinihiram nya yung broken side mirror ng bike)
"Yes, I want to play with you"

When they both started playing on the slide, Mahasi recalled a story when he was a little boy. He said he fell off that slide and hurt his head and blood came out. I butt in and asked, did you cry, did it hurt? To which he answered, yes I did! I asked, did you go to the doctor? He said, no I just washed with water and then no more. Miguel joined in and asked "you washed with water and then it jai (dry)"? Mahasi said, no I did not die! and Miguel looked at me and said quite exasperatedly, mommy jai (dry) not die! hahahaha...

I'm poor at storytelling. I really wish I captured it on video!

No Updates

Two weeks of no blog update. Several reasons...

Moving to a new apartment is something I don't want to do in the near future unless utterly necessary. It took all our efforts packing and preparing for days so we could proceed to relocate on June 26, thus, no blog update.

Despite days of preparation we still had to wake up really early on June 26 to prepare for the move and as we were tuned in to CBS Evening News (i think it was), Michael Jackson was reported dead, so I was glued to the tv, thus no blog udpate.

First few days at the new apartment were spent doing further cleaning and organizing (I even had to scrub the ceramic tile several times to make sure it's disinfected). Thus, no blog update.

It took one full week before our internet was reconnected, thus, no blog update.

The routine changed. Whereas before, Miguel and I were usually stuck at home from morning till afternoon, mornings now are usually spent either at the pool or at the gym (with Miguel "working out", not me!) and late afternoons are dedicated to the playground. Thus, no blog update.

I've been Michael Jackson-ized since watching his memorial on Tuesday, thus internet time is dedicated to searching for his famed songs, videos and stories (can't stop listening to Man In The Mirror and Heal The World). Thus, no blog update.

Anyway, I'm trying to regain the appetite to blog. Hope to get there soon.

Weekend Snapshot: Goal

This is the height chart in Ikea's playroom.



Miguel has been wanting to get his chance to play inside the play area with other kids. But he's still too small to be accepted. We're taking advantage of this obsession to encourage him to eat well, saying he'll grow tall fast if he eats his veggies and soon he'll be allowed to play inside. So far, it's working. :)

Recently, we noticed he looks taller so we thought of measuring his height against this chart.

A few centimeters more and he'll be in. :)

More snapshots here.

A Whole New World

For a year Miguel and I have been stuck in the house almost everyday. We've rarely been out on weekdays except for a few ocassions when we visited a nearby mall. I'm not really fond of riding a cab. This apartment has no playground or a venue to meet with other kids. We feel Miguel has been deprived of outdoor activities so much. So we agreed to move to a better location when our lease ends and the rent becomes affordable.

Few months ago, we started scanning the properties section of the paper to see how the rental prices are going. Fortunately, rental rates are on a downward trend, thus we have more options. After a few phone calls, couple of site visits and a lot of discussions, we chose a one-bedroom apartment that's much smaller than our current one.

Incidentally, we don't need a really big apartment, it's this that matters more to us:


a playground, an open space, barbeque pits, adult and kiddie pool, gym and multipurpose hall conveniently situated in the courtyard, all available for the exclusive use of residents

Just looking at the photos already gives me a sense of freedom. Here at least, we don't need to go far just to enjoy a few minutes of outdoor activities. It's truly a whole new world for Miguel.

On a totally different subject, I chanced upon this ancestry dna site the other day and find it interesting. If you happen to want to know more about your heritage, check out this site and learn how dna testing can help you with your quest. :)

Mommy Moments: Outdoor Fun

Since Fridays are always busy around here, I usually get to post my Mommy Moments entries one or two days late, if at all. For a change, I am posting this week's entry one day earlier. :)

If there is anything we love most about Dubai, it's their parks. During cooler months, we spend almost every weekend visiting the different parks. We'd bring a ball or a shovel and Miguel would tirelessly climb, run, roll, slide and get down & dirty.

Here are some photos:

at Zabeel Park

at Mamzar Beach Park

enjoying the beach at Mamzar

at the lawns of Grand Hyatt Dubai

at the Creek

inside the tunnel at Dubai Creek Park

up on the spiral ladder at Dubai Creek Park


Join us here for more mommy moments.

On To Phrases

We're reading short phrases now.

It's only been four months since we started with the YBCR video and already we're down to the fourth dvd. Technically, this is the last in the series because the fifth one is just a review dvd. We're not supposed to proceed to dvd 4 until the end of this month but the impatient Miguel wanted to watch the "green" one already.

I'm very happy with how this program is working for him. In the beginning, I actually focused on getting him to watch regularly and insisted he reads the flashcards. Later on, I don't exert any effort at all and we're not even watching the videos or reading the cards regularly and yet he continues to learn new words--and he learns really fast. I've stopped counting but I can guess he knows about 70 to 80 words already.

I know some parents would say there is no point in rushing the kids to read and that is exactly what I thought when I first saw this program. No doubt, kids will learn how to read in time. But what convinced me to introduce early reading to Miguel is the fact that it doesn't only teach reading, it promotes better comprehension (which is the whole point of reading!).

To this day, I'm still not sure if Miguel will actually "love" reading someday. Parents are quick to conclude their kids love to read based on several ocassions when they spend more than a minute turning the pages of a book. I am guilty of that. I think I might have said in the past how Miguel adores books when in fact he adores anything he can chew or tear--books, shoes, hairbrush included.

Recently, he's showing signs of interest in independent reading. He points to billboards and posters whenever we're out and would say "mommy, that's S" (the only letter he can recognize). Of course, he's right cause he's pointing to the word 'sale' hehe. It's already a given fact that he likes to listen to stories--either read or told. Even when he's all sleepy, he would insist we read a poem or I tell him about Joseph the Dreamer or The Night Before Christmas, and with droopy eyes, exerting every ounce of effort to control himself, he would resist falling asleep until the long story ends.

Guilt-free Fried Chicken

What kids don't like fried chicken? I bet every mommy of a toddler or preschooler could swear by the motto "when all else fails, serve fried chicken." I am one of them. I serve fried chicken once a week, depending on what's in my cupboard. I know fried isn't really the best way to cook chicken for a toddler but I guess it isn't bad that you indulge them in ocassional treats such as this one.

To eliminate the guilt of serving fried, I skip those ready mixes which usually contain artificial ingredients and msg and use all-natural ingredients for marinade instead. Luckily, I have this fried chicken recipe which I got from Guiada DiLaurenti of Food Network a year ago which I am sharing below.

Pollo Frito

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo chicken parts
equal parts lemon juice & olive oil (I use 1/3 cup each for 1/2 kilo chicken)
salt and pepper
flour

Procedure:
Mix lemon juice, olive oil and salt
Marinate chicken for at least 2 hours
Drain marinade. Dry chicken with paper towel
Mix pepper and flour
Dredge chicken in flour and fry in olive oil, over low heat, for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with steamed vegetables.

Drug Concern

I was browsing the paper today while having my usual morning coffee and an article caught my attention. Perhaps I'm not reading the paper or watching the news often enough cause until today I didn't realize that drugs is also a major concern in this country. I'm not even sure there are drug rehab centers around.

According to the report there has been an increase of 19% in drug-related cases and arrests this year from last year's record. Dubai is also said to be in a strategic location between countries that manufacture these drugs and those that host them, thus, making it a good place for trafficking. It's a good thing that concerned government agencies have proven techniques and skilled people to handle smuggling cases and in fact, have recently uncovered the largest trafficking operation in the country.

It's saddening to know that no place or country is spared from drug-related concerns and that it still remains a major challenge for parents of teeners to keep them away from this evil thing. I hate to even think that my boy will someday go out and be exposed to a world full of wickedness. And since we cannot shelter him forever, we are making sure he grows up in a loving, positive family environment as this will build a strong character foundation he will need to resist worldly temptations.

Over the Top

Thanks Kero for this wonderful award. Surely, my blog isn't exceptional but I bet it's our common interest with boys--specifically our little boys, that made you pass this on to me. I'm grateful. :)

1. To receive this award your blog must be exceptional in design and content; presenting us with new knowledge, a sense of style, or at times just giving us a smile!

2. Each recipient of the award will acknowledge (through a linkback) the person who honored them with the award.

Now passing this on to annaville, jona and janis.

I hope to blog about my disastrous chocolate muffin but first I will start looking for diet supplement because if I keep baking this way, I will end up eating all these cakes.

Weekend Snapshot: The Summer Cut

It's almost the peak of summer in Dubai and what better way to gear up than to get the perfect haircut. Here's my boy's summer look (with matching bright, sunshiny yellow shirt).







More snapshots here.