Riley at 23 months old

23 months. Really? It is hard to believe that my baby is now a smooth-talking, hyper-active toddler. I still find it surprising when he actually responds to my questions. When I reach home after a long day at work, one of the first thing I will ask him is what he did that day. He will tell me things like "Riley play outside" or "Lolo visit Riley, eat ice cream." He does not get the concept of using pronouns yet. It is always Riley this or Mama that.

The scary (or fun, depending how you utilize it) part is that he will repeat everything you say. I will be talking with my husband about how bad the traffic was on the way home and later on Riley will be talking to someone and tell them how his Mama was stuck in traffic. I will coach him to say something to his papa and when papa gets home, Riley will repeat what I said to him. That is one of the reason I am mindful of the stuff that he will be hearing from other people. We try not to watch shows where they utter foul languages.

Another thing he loves doing lately is to play with puzzles. At first, I have to show him how to do it then he will be able to do it by himself. Now that he has a lot more experience in playing with puzzles, he can do it by himself from the get-go and enjoys playing with it as much as he enjoys playing with cars. Whenever he gets stuck though he will make grunting noises and ask us for help.

His memory skills are developing so fast that he now remembers where he has hidden my mobile phone! He loves hiding items and then when you look for it he will find it for you and say 'tada!'. And when he cannot find it, he will tell us that it is now gone and missing. He will also recount what happened that day while we are lying down on the bed (like how he ate rice for breakfast and his yogurt drink stash is depleted so now Mama has to buy more from the grocery). This morning, he was telling me that he wants to go to the zoo and look at the penguins (sorry Riley, the penguins are in Manila Ocean Park, not in the zoo).

So far, I am enjoying this stage in his life. I am praying that he will not enter the terrible twos and hope that next month brings in the terrific twos instead.

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Sharing the #blessing with the Grandmas and Grandpas at San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the #Elderly

It is no secret that Riley loves his grandparents. They would spoil him and not worry about the consequences mama and papa will face the day after! I would come home and be surprised at the potato chips Riley is holding or the donuts that he is stuffing his face in.

With his lolo in SM Aura

This Christmas, my high school friends and I are organizing a charity drive for the people in San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly. Why the elderly and not the orphanage? Christmas is normally for the kids and the orphanages are flooded with people donating to them during this season. We opted to sponsor a home for the aged this year as we feel they are often neglected this time of the year.

I have set-up an account at indiegogo to help raise funds for our chosen charity. I've seen successful campaigns wherein the recipient will be given the latest iPhone 6 so I thought that funding this charity for an amount that costs way lower than the latest gadget will be a breeze. It has been three days and still no funders! Sigh...

I'm sharing it here hoping to reach out to people kind enough to donate: www.indiegogo.com/projects/san-lorenzo-ruiz-home-for-the-elderly/x/9073271

Do click the link above and see how you can help. Campaign closes in 28 days so hurry!

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Five things I said I would never do to my #child

I am not proud of myself by admitting these things. Planning things to teach my son in my head and actually pushing through with doing it are two entirely different things. Things were much easier when the pretty pictures were still inside my head. Day by day, my good intentions were sidestepped and the no-no's were slowly creeping in to our daily lives and becoming yes-yes.

I just wanted to get it out of my chest and hopefully, I would feel less guilty about it.

Here are the five things I promised myself I would never do/feed/(insert more verbs here) to Riley:

1. Processed food - On Riley's 6th month, he started on solid food and I diligently boiled, mashed, and strained healthy fruits and vegetables for him to taste and eat. It did not matter to him that his mom slaved away preparing his small meals. He would promptly spit it out and cry out loud as if I fed him poop. I've tried various flavor combinations to find out what he would like. And just when he was happily eating it one day, he would spit it out the next day.

Tired and stressed from this (and from a million other mommy things that I would not go into detail about now), I bought him baby food in jars and packs. Just add warm water or reheat in the microwave and I'm done. No hassle. If he eats it, great. If he does not want it, fine. I'll try again tomorrow. I've tried giving him the organic ones but he preferred the 'normal' baby food. Now that he is almost two years old, he is still a picky eater. I told myself not to stress about it whenever he eats packed noodles, french fries and spaghetti from McDonalds. At least he is eating, right? He occasionally eats vegetables but when he spits it out, I don't force him to eat it. I will ask him what he wants and if he says he wants a cookie, I will tell him sure if you eat the food on your plate. Even if he eats just one bite, I will still hand him a cookie. I don't want him to have a negative experience during meal times that's why I do it that way.

2. Watching TV - What can you do if Mickey Mouse is more entertaining than you? Me, I watch Mickey Mouse too. And Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Peppa Pig, Hi-5, and most of the shows on the Disney Channel. You'll know if you're a mom to a boy when I say that Thomas the train is the number 1 train in Sodor, not Spencer. Riley probably spends around 30 minutes in the morning and an hour in the afternoon watching TV.

He does not sit down and zone out in front of the tv though. He still jumps on the sofa, rides his toy car, dance when there is music playing... he does all of these things while 'watching' tv. I'm not sure how he manages to remember what is happening but somehow he does. He still loves interacting with people more than watching and he always runs to his books when we are inside the room so I hope his tv schedule is not affecting his mental skills in the long run.

People who meet him for the first time are surprised on how well he speaks, especially after knowing that he is only turning 2 this December. Watching TV sort of helps him learn different words that he does not hear from us. Like jumping on muddy puddles and ahoy mates!

This is what I see when I get home! Shame on you, Papa!

3. Playing on the iPad - It seemed so cute at first, when Riley was grasping and pointing his chubby fingers on the iPad screen. Now that he knows there are fun games in it, he does not want to let go. He has a really strong grip for a child his size. He navigates youtube to find videos where people are opening, playing and reviewing legos. He will watch and choose the cartoons that he likes. He even pushes my hands away from the iPad when I try to take it away from him.

If it was just me, I would limit his playtime on this but what can I do when I arrive home from work and someone has already given him an iPad to play with? I'm always the fun spoiler because I'm the one always telling him no and to give it back. To lessen this, I play with him for a few minutes and tell him in advance that I will be taking it away from him after he finishes the game. Oh he knows how to bargain already at such a young age! He will tell me, "Just one more Mama then Riley finish". But after 3 more games, he is still not done. By this time, I would make him give it up and he will dramatically run to the bed, plant his face on the mattress and cry.

Drama king, I tell you. I'm already thinking of auditioning him for acting roles when he is a bit older! Might as well put all his drama to good use. am I right?

4. Eating cakes, donuts, chocolates, and ice cream - The first time he saw M&M's, he was frantically yelling "mine!" over and over again. And he has not even tasted it then. I'm thinking he was attracted to the bright colors and it came in his favorite shape (circle). He still has not tried M&M's (to my knowledge!) but he has tried a tiny taste of a chocolate bar, tons of chocolate cake (blame it on birthdays), and gallons of ice cream! I've been trying to not give it to him and I find it difficult since a lot of people (grandparents, mostly) buys it for him whenever I am not around. And when I get home and find that it is not opened yet, I will (with a heavy heart) eat it all so that he will not consume it. The sacrifices we parents face for our children! Ha!

I try to tell Riley that he will only get these things on special occasions and from the way he has been eating a lot of these lately, he probably thinks these special occasions are also called weekends.

5. Telling him that he will get scolded by strangers if he does not obey me - If you have a very headstrong toddler in your hands and very little patience, you will succumb to this! I used to hate it when I hear parents tell their kids that the ghost will scare them if they do not do as they are told. I promised myself that I would never, ever tell this to Riley. I guess I kind of kept my promise because I am doing this although with a twist.

For example, last weekend in the playground, we were going to head home and I have been giving him constant reminders that we are about to leave so it will not be sudden for him. When I told him that I have collected our bags and will head to the door, he got up with the toy cars he was playing with and would not leave them behind. I tried telling him that those were not his and he can come back for it when we visit again next week but he still would not let go. After 10 minutes of calmly explaining to him the reasons why he cannot take them home, I called over one of the play area attendants and told Riley that Uncle is here to take back to toys from him. Riley took one look at the guy and politely returned the toys. No drama involved! It's like magic!

I've done this countless of times whenever we are out. I will tell him to not throw the food in the restaurant because the waiters will not be happy at him if they have to clean it up. He will stay close to my side when I am busy at the ATM or the grocery counter because I told him the security guard will tell him to stay close to me. He will take a few bites of fish and meat because he does not want the auntie and uncle selling fish and meat to scold him for not eating the food. It has even come to a point that I will just tell Riley to behave and he will finish the sentence by "or else uncle will scold me." I'm trying to cut back on doing this to him because I don't want him to be scared of the people around him. But it is so addicting to be able to say one word and he will follow.

I have a feeling this list will multiply as the years go on. And as I try to mend my wicked (but effective) ways to raise my son, I will be crossing my fingers and wish (and hope) that it will not turn out to be a childhood trauma that Riley will remember when he is older.

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This is how you eat a #doughnut

Purchased a box of Krispy Kreme Halloween themed doughnuts the other night. Riley loves eating chocolate doughnuts and I was thinking he will love the design on these.

Look how cute they are!

Looks good, tastes yummy too!

He wanted to try the pumpkin one and then he said the orange tasted yucky. Weird because they all tasted the same, it was just the coloring that was different. Silly boy! He ended up devouring the cobweb one as he deemed it a normal doughnut.

And here is how he ate it.

First, carefully taste it if it is a 'normal' doughnut

Then...

Second, open wide to place more of the yummyness inside your mouth

That funny face...

Finally, say 'Mmm, good!'

He's my little drama prince!

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#Halloween Carnival 2014 at Verdana

After weeks of preparing Riley's costume (I only work on it during my spare time, like 30 minutes a day), he will finally get to wear it in public. He had some dry run on wearing it inside the house just so he can get accustomed to the feel of carrying it on his shoulders. And so far, it was a success. He almost broke it apart but after a few strengthening tricks (double-sided tape and glue were my best friends) all of its parts held on after a few rough handling.

Happily wearing his Thomas the train costume!

This year, we took part in the #halloween festivities in my relatives' village in Laguna. We attended last year and found it satisfying so we decided to go there again this year. I would probably try other places next year like in Fun Ranch or the hotel parties but since Riley is still young, I did not want him to get crushed in the crowd in those places.

This is giving me a heart attack...

It was held in the village clubhouse and since we were quite early, we spent our energy in the nearby playground. It is very seldom that Riley experiences playing in an outdoor playground. Aside from the play area in Alabang Town Center, this is only the second time he was able to run around an actual playground.

Love the bright red pants from Mothercare

We were seated up front so the kids will have more room to walk or dance around. They were playing Pharell Williams' Happy song and since he loves this song, he was dancing in the front with his balloon sword. So cute!

The theme this year is Halloween Carnival and they had face painting, balloon sculptures, photo booth and was hosted by McDonalds. They served the one piece chicken meal with rice (the chicken was mostly skin so thumbs down for this). There was a nachos booth but you had to pay additional for that. I find that the food choices were lacking this year. They had ice cream last year and with the heat that afternoon, it would have been a hit. The loot bag was better this year though as they gave away happy meal toys (doraemon and scooby doo) and kiddie giveaways from a pharmaceutical company (sample medicines, flash cards, origami paper, kiddie chopsticks, lunch bag, pouch, and pens).

Grimace and Ronald Mcdonald made an appearance and boy, was Riley scared! He jumped into my lap when he saw them come out. And take note he was still wearing his costume so imagine the chaos! We had to step out of the covered area just so he would stop crying. After seeing the 'scary' mascots, he would not go down from my arms. He kept telling me he only wanted to be carried. Oh dear...

Still in shock from seeing the 'scary' mascots

He quickly wore his costume again when he saw another boy wearing a truck costume. Riley said he wanted to go racing with him and kept following the boy around the place (even though the other boy did not want to play with him).

When they were announcing that the costume contest was about to begin, Riley promptly stepped out of his costume and ran to the pool area. I tried to coax him to wear it again and have him line up the judging area but he was having none of it. Sigh. Better try our luck next year!

After the event, we were divided into two groups and started trick or treating. It was fine for the first two blocks. But since Riley did not want to walk or ride his stroller, we had no choice but to carry him while going around the village. And we did that for almost two hours! Luckily, my husband was there to carry him too or else I would have gone home early. If we are doing this again next year, I would definitely consider bringing a car with us because it was just too tiring to walk around the village.

He only walked one block and we carried him all the way

Riley may still be young to really enjoy this holiday but I think he had fun. He loved choosing which candy to take, he carried his pumpkin filled with treats, and did not even want us to touch his loot!

He did not stop taking from the candy bag until his pumpkin was full

Even though we were so tired, it was all worth it seeing how he enjoyed himself. Me munching on the candies while Riley was sleeping is just an added bonus! Ha!

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Trick or treat candy alternatives for #halloween

Now that Riley can verbally express his likes and dislikes, it is a challenge for us to explain to him why he cannot have certain things. We will be joining the Halloween trick or treat in our relative's village this weekend and while I cannot control what people will be handing out, I can at least make a list in case some people are looking for other things to give kids when they come to their doorsteps.

Happily handing out candies last year as he still had no clue he can eat them!

Raisins - Small packs of raisins is a healthy option. Riley loves snacking on these and although they are sweet, I feel less guilty handing them out to him as a treat.

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Popcorn - Pop a couple of bags in the microwave, pack them in small plastic bags, and you're done!

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Small toys - They don't have to be expensive. As long as they don't break in tiny pieces!

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Tetra Packed Drinks - Dutch Mill yogurt drink is one of Riley's favorite.

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Fun size chocolates - It would not be halloween if there's no chocolate! Standard sized chocolate packs are confiscated by this mommy for immediate consumption!

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Small packs of crayons, coloring books, light-up sticks are also great alternatives to giveaway this halloween. For me, I would probably handout popcorn if Riley does not eat all of it!

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#DIY Thomas the train halloween costume

I have been browsing the shops (both online and physical ones) for a costume that Riley would like to wear. The #halloween costumes they have in SM are too large for Riley. Even though the salesperson was insisting it will fit him, the pant legs are too long and the sleeves are tight. I found a cute firefighter costume at Mothercare but the price made me hesitate since he would not wear it often. I searched online to see if someone is selling a dinosaur or Thomas and friends costume but all of them are overseas.

Then I saw this site that made a kick-ass #Thomas the train costume for her boy!

I'm thinking it looks like I can do it (not the 3D face though!). Not perfectly but I can try. Why not?! We have tons of carton boxes at the back and I only need to buy a few supplies to color and make Thomas come to life.

Game!

I have chosen a box that is the right size for Riley. Something not too heavy for him to carry and has a double wall of carton to make it sturdy. I followed the pattern shown from Little Red Window, or at least I tried to make it close enough since our box dimensions are not the same. I taped the edges to close them and made sure that it would not break apart easily.

cover from Chef Tony's popcorn

I cut some circles from the carton to form the wheels. I only needed three circles as I only needed a half circle for the wheel.

The last wheel did not exactly fit perfectly so I had to trim it a bit. A bit lopsided, I know! I tried not to let it bother me as I am sure it would take me a while to make it perfect. I used a combination of glue, double sided tape, and packaging tape to stick those wheels under the carton. First I inserted the half wheel in the space between the double carton and the double sided tape is used here. When it is in place, I glued the edges to seal it. When the glue was dry, I taped it to make sure it is attached. Sinong segurista?! Me! 

At this stage I let Riley try out the train by letting him push it around. Well the wheels did not hold up from the abuse so I had to reinforce the wheels so they are 3 times thicker. I left the glue to dry overnight. After another round of testing to see if the wheels are better, I asked my husband to spray paint the body for me. I bought this can spray paint from the bookstore for around P250. And it did not cover the print on the body! It was transparent. Apparently, the carton was so porous that is soaked up the paint even after 2 coatings. Shifting to Plan B, I carefully cut colored paper (you can buy them in big sheets) to cover the whole body. Then using styrofoam and a styrofoam cutter, I made the circle for the face. I used black poster paint for the outside area of the face. And silly me. I forgot how poster paint transfers to your hand/body easily! So I had to cover the paint with packaging tape to prevent a messy situation.

Looking good!

I made long strips of styrofoam for the red bumper and attached it using glue all around the bottom portion. For the details, I made the pattern and number using Adobe Illustrator. The funnel was made from toilet paper roll. Finally, I downloaded the face from this site (thank you!).

Meet Thomas the train!

Success!

Cute right? My husband was asking if I can make him a Percy costume so he can match Riley's Thomas costume. Is he kidding me?! Luckily, he is...

So far he is playing with it by pushing it around. I have not placed the ribbons to make the carton hang from his shoulders yet. But so far, he is happy to step inside and make choo-choo noises as he goes around the living room. And it is still in one piece! Hopefully it will last until the Halloween festivities.

This actually took me almost two weeks to make as I only did it on the weekends. I'll try and get a decent image of Riley wearing it. So far it is hard as he is too fast for my lagging camera!

Hopefully, I can make him another DIY costume next year.

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