meet doctor bugs

mother, mother, i am sick
call the doctor very quick!

good day! i am doctor bugs
what's bugging you, guys?
tell me, tell me huzz
and i'll have you off the buzz! ;)

PS: isn't he cute with those big blue round eyeglasses? ;)


February 2008
At home in Laguna

my kuya luke

Isn't it sweet to see them this way?

Luke is now a kuya, and my heart leaps with joy to see that Kuya Luke is very eager to take care of his li'l sis, Lois.

Lois was born a few days before Christmas, and the way things are going on in our modest home is a bit new and different for our kuya. But smart as he is, he didn't have a hard time adjusting to the new set up. Of course, he can not do away with the jelly thing, but only at the first instance he saw me feeding Lois on my breast. After explaining to him how things will be from that time on, he accepted it with his whole heart.

I can see and feel his brotherly love for his li'l sis. He is so sweet to his sister and always kisses her (and we always have to remind him to kiss on her feet ONLY). He also likes to pat her to sleep (although she is already asleep), and he knows which burp pad is for Lois, and which one is his.

I hope that as siblings, they would stay as sweet to each other even when they grow up. ;)


At home in Laguna
January 2008

the smile that makes me smile

i really love to look at my son's pictures. i'd spend the whole day scanning the picture folders of my laptop in search for the best shots that i intend to share with you. then i chanced upon this photoshop-designed photo of Luke that makes me smile as i remember the time when this pic was taken. he was about 1yr 4mos in this pic -- more than a year ago -- but i could still feel the fantastic shivers of being behind the camera as my son brings out his irresistible smile.

smile with me, folks! ;)



Sometime in June 2006
Kameari, Katsushika-ku
Tokyo, Japan

When Luke is not playing ...

He enjoys killing the time sitting anywhere around the house...





and on and in the car. ;)





At home in Laguna, Philippines
Sometime in July 2007

How's life in Pinas?

No nice and wide parks and playgrounds. No toys to freely play with inside the malls. No traces of fast-running trains. No yummy donuts.

But we have all day to stroll around wide but rough roads enjoying the afternoon wind. The sight of tall and dried grasses may not be as delightful as what we have seen in Japan, but this little boy is superbly happy with his simple life here. Well, isn't it obvious? ;)


At home in Laguna, Philippines
Sometime in April 2007

Ratsky and me

In this photo, Luke is telling everyone that he has found a new buddy. His name is Ratsky -- simply because he is a rat! ;)

Luke is somehow trying to scare you, probably saying proudly that you should be good to him, otherwise, his friend Ratsky will devour your stuff. ;)

PS: I would like to thank my good students for giving us Ratsky. ;)


At home in Kameari
March 31, 2007

Pretending ...

to look scary ... or angry ... or funny???

At home in Kameari
December 2006

At the Kyoto Station

This is our last picture taken at the Kyoto Sky Gardens, a few minutes just before we entered the shinkansen tracks back to Tokyo.

Luke looked wittingly cute in this photo, probably musing about our exciting 10-day vacation from upnorth in Hokkaido down in the west in Kansai. And now, we're back in the east.

We shall never forget our grand escapade. Amazing. Exciting. Appetizing. Freezing. Simply memorable. Till next time. ;)


Kyoto Sky Gardens
JR Kyoto Station
January 4th, 2007

Hokkaido spree: snowman

Unlike in Wakkanai, it was fine (=sun is up and bright, no snowfall) in almost all days of our stay in Fukagawa. On days when we're not busy going here and there, we played on the meter-high snow just beside our friends' house.

Who is scarier -- Luke with big red hands or the snowman, aka snowdevil? Surely, we didn't want to be on a Halloween mood on a white Christmas season, eh. ;)

Do you think Luke is taller than the entrance to the snowhouse? Or he is just scared to go inside? ;)

Luke didn't have any water-proof gloves, but despite his already wet and cold cloth gloves, he went on playing trying to make a snowball, to no avail.



Fukagawa, Hokkaido
December 2006

My big red hands!

Luke always sees me wearing my pair of red fleece gloves, and he wants to try it on too. And, here's his version -- funny, (a bit) scary, simply innocent. Most of all, he loves wearing it. ;)



One cold December day
At home, 2006

Suman kayo dyan ... ;)

Luke here looks like suman, one of the famous native delicacies in the Philippines made of steamed glutinuous rice wrapped in either coconut or banana leaves.

It is brrrr-y cold nowadays so he is carefully wrapped in fleece blanket to keep himself warm, and thus, protecting him (I hope) from all kinds of cold-season illnesses.

And he likes his wrapping, doesn't he?



At home
Autumn 2006

Oh, those teeth!

Aside from the stickers on his forehead, what I want to show you folks is his big mouth and, well, his teeth.

I could still remember when the first tooth came out. Cranky, irritated, drooling, crying ... and fever too! After that, tooth came out one after the other almost unnoticeable unlike the first's grand entrance.

Sadly though, his upper incisors have caries. Yup, so early. :( When he was 1yo, I took him to the dentist for treatment of only one front tooth. After 6 months, the adjacent tooth has started to decay too. Cause? Maybe due to his biting habit sparing nothing, not even a metal. Another reason could be, after reading it somewhere, due to his bottle feeding until now. Well, he's supposed to have ditched the bottle already, but ...

Anyway, despite those caries, his sweet and mouthwide smile compares to nothing, and seeing him so happy is enough reward for me for enduring the physical exhaustion of taking care a hyperactive child. ;)

And oh, don't be scared. He's not gonna bite yah! ;)



At home
Ordinary autumn day

We're collecting stickers!

Yeah, we are sorta sticker collector. Any kind will do -- from fancy and elaborate ones to the usual types. And gee, we ran out of albums to place our stickers on. (To be honest, our stickers are not that organized yet, but they are stored in one place, that's for sure.) So, Luke happily stuck a few on his forehead (only one in the pic though), also on his palm and feet. He put one on my forehead too. He also alternately put some on the wall, floor, mirror, practically almost anywhere in the house.

I just love this picture of him -- may not be a perfect shot, but it is a portrait of a young boy enraptured with his sticker forehead. ;)

What else does he collect? Wait and see. ;)



At home
Ordinary autumn day

Make a guess...

Sya ba ay...

1. bagong gising, as in kakamulat pa lang ng mga mapupungay na mata
2. bagong paligo, at hindi mahanap ni mami ang suklay
3. pagod sa kakalaro at kakasigaw
4. pa-cute lang sa harap ng camera
5. ... ???

Wild guess, anyone? ;)

Spin a win!

As a parent, it is just amazing to know that kids like mine are keen at imitating what adults do. Here's a classic example of how observant they are. On a few occasions, Dadi was playing with Luke and (unconsciously) showing him how to spin any rounded thing away. And, much to our surprise, Luke is able to do it by himself, after carefully observing how it is done. I think that started when Luke was about 11 months old. And until now, everytime he sees an object that is relatively new to him, he tries to spin it to his extreme delight, laughing all by himself as if saying, "Yipeey, I did it!".

Hence, the mood of the play nowadays is spinning here and there, even if the object is not spinnable. ;)

Is that ... uhuh

Hey, buddy boy! Is that your new room? How are you gonna sleep in there? Is that an example of what they call "capsule hotel" in Japan?

And why are you holding a laddle? Don't tell me you're cooking in there?

Luke replies, "Nope, mami! I'm just doing an ocular inspection of our bodega and hoping to see a snake in here. Besides, this is a lot better than kapuseru hoteru!" :-)

Ha! ha! ha! ;-)

Ooops, you'll never gonna find a snake inside the house. Only cockroaches! Yikes! But dadi already killed them all. :D


bodega = stockroom
kapuseru hoteru = capsule hotel

Anxiously waiting...

Anxiously waiting? For what?

Oh, well, Luke and I were at the train station waiting for his newfound friend who has just arrived in Tokyo. And, as a good samaritan, he is giving him his stroller. Yup, that's right. His dearly beloved baby car, which he used since he was four months old. Now, he is giving it away, for good use by another Pinoy baby.

More hand-me-downs were given to some friends, mostly clothes and other stuffs. And this way has not only forged voluntary sharing of "pinagliitan" or "napaglakihan" but also a nice way of deloading our already much-loaded wardrobe. ;)

Balikbayan box boy

I'm sending some of our things home through a balikbayan box, and guess who wants to be in it. ;)

I wonder how much this heavy package would cost me? :)

Facial Expressions

Pa-cute.

Sobrang excited at gigil.

Muryut na. Super duper ultra mega bored to the max!

A whisper ...

Here's an interesting conversation between Luke and the empty can of milk.

Luke: Hey, there.. come on let's play!
Can: Oh boy! Why me? I'm supposed to be at the trash bin. Don't you want to play with your toys anymore?
Luke: Ssshh... yeah, I know I have lots, but I'm not in the mood to play with them today, so I just stuck them all over there (behind him). C'mon, let's play hide and seek.
Can: Okay, okay. You're the boss! Do I get to hide first?
Luke: Hmm, okay. One...two...three...
Can: (thinking) Oh, if I hide in the trash bin, will he find me there?

You bet! :)