requests

The last time I talked to my brother he delegated me to buy our parents' request for him to get when he is ready to go home. He said it would be better for me to buy the skin care products and assortment of colognes and perfumes that they specifically asked him to buy. I thought, sure, it couldn't be that hard. When I checked on the store where the colognes are to be bought, I am ready to hand the responsibility back to him. Goodness, the colognes are expensive! According to my standard that is. He should just go ahead and buy it for them. It is his fault anyway for making them get used to this particular brand. I don't care to buy the skin care products since I have been sending them these when we get a balikbayan box ready for them. The husband normally picks the brand to put in the box and my parents always appreciate his effort. And it seems like they like the husband's choice on things better than mine. Now I have to save to buy what they want so we can send the items together with other things on a box in a few weeks.

due

The stepson's insurance was due a few days ago. Since him and his wife are teenagers, their premium is high. We have been paying his car insurance up to last January when he got married and moved out to live with his wife. He is working right now and is supposed to be getting good pay from his employer that we are not worried about his car insurance payment. For the first time, he paid it with his own money. But his payment is only good for one month because he does not want to get broke. He said he will pay enough for six months, which was what we did when we paid for his insurance, when he gets his paycheck. The husband offered his son to search online for a cheap coverage since he thinks it is too much to pay seven hundred dollars for six months for two cars. What he found online was about the same amount the stepson is paying with his insurance company right now. He visited different insurance providers to get the best quote but he did not come up with anything substantial. He even arrived at a website about Tacoma car accident lawyer with his search. He had to make sure he searched everywhere but the stepson as I said is a teenager so there was no way his premium would be lowered. I am hoping he will go ahead and pay his insurance for six months like he plans to do because it saves him money and it also is responsibility he does not have to worry about for the next few months.

little man and his monster truck

Our little boy playing with his monster truck on the beach. Instead of getting in the water he prefers to play with either his truck or his plastic shovel. I have to keep an eye on the toys though because he just discards them when he sees people who pass by who are interesting (read: girls) enough for him to follow. He wants his truck to leave tire marks like the one which the beach patrol uses. It makes me think of getting him a bigger truck for him to use when we go to the beach. But not yet. Maybe when he is a little older.

on learning

The little man's mind is like a sponge. He absorbs every words he hears. He mimics expressions and throws in his own to make up an entirely different meaning to a sentence. He is into singing and dancing lately. We let him watch Mr. Rogers and he loves it when the episodes are about learning to dance. He can sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, I Have Two Hands, You are My Sunshine, Bahay Kubo (a Filipino song) and a lot more just by listening to me sing. He can even remember lyrics from songs he hears from the radio. The other day he started singing Jingle Bells to us. The husband laughed and wondered where his son learned the song from. It was from listening to his toy I baptized Rudolph which sings the same song when its paw is pressed. He is like a computer memory which stores everything that is keyed in. Earlier today his father aggravated him by asking if he was okay several times where he yelled yes! just so his father will quit bothering him. He is so funny but he can also be a menace when he wants to be. But he is our boy and we love him so much. We hope for him to learn more so he will be better equipped for the future.

i see a star!

This is what the little man said when I asked him what he saw on a bowl where the newly baked bread (it was still in the oven) was to be put. He was told not to play in the kitchen but this little terror could not help but stay where he is not supposed to. He dumped the shape in there and was so happy with what he did that when I asked he was ready to answer. I could not get mad with him for doing that. He was being cooperative, lol. You see, it is seldom when this little boy would answer me in complete sentences. It is always one or two words and I want to hear him talk more. So what I do is I encourage him to do something where he will be more interactive. I did explain to him that he was not to do that again because it is not safe for him to stay in the kitchen when Mama is cooking. He seemed to understand but who knows if he will do it? What I learned from raising this little boy is that there is nothing definite when it comes to dealing with him. What works today might not tomorrow. I will just have to make sure he is watched all the time to avoid any incidence.

on life insurance

A friend's aunt lost her husband because of cancer just a few months ago. She was devastated because he was a good man and he treated her well but such is life. We cannot tell when we are going and so it is best that we get prepared for our family's sake. Which was what the husband who died did. He had a life insurance policy with the wife as the beneficiary and she got a hefty amount after his death. It is heartwarming to think that even then he already was thinking about her well being. She should be fine for years to come as long as she is smart with her finances.

safety first

Because walking your bike inside the house is unsafe, or so the little man thinks.

happy

I am one happy mother. Want to know why? Because it seems like I have found the best diet pill to help me lose weight. I am down another pound and I am happy about it. And the pills are not even expensive at all. Although the husband had reservations about it at first, he is happy now that I did take the pills because I am not complaining about being hungry all the time anymore. I only eat when I need to not because I want to. I have better control on my food intake right now. Although sometimes I cheat, lol. Yes, I do have cheat days. Now all I have to worry about is how to get rid of this extra fat in my tummy. I am doing sit-ups and hopefully it will work. I want to be able to wear what the husband calls my teenybopper tops.

flip flops

The little man's feet is growing like crazy. His shoes and sandals are now tight so I am letting him wear flip flops with back straps. He has been using it for two days now and he is doing splendid. Perhaps next summer he can wear flops without the back strap. It is funny how he lifts his feet when he walks though. His father was like that when he first started wearing flip flops. Would you believe he did not wear flops until after we got married? He had accidents with it but he is doing well now. I am hoping the little man will get used to it. It is good to wear shoes but when you live near the beach you have to wear flip flops especially during the summer months.

that's not my name!

I was trying to get the little man to take his afternoon nap the other day when he said something funny. Since I was already in bed and he was in the living room I called him using the nickname I always use on him which is Big. Don't ask me why I call him Big but I do and I think it is cute, lol. So I called him and told him we should take our naps and what he said in reply made his father laugh. He yelled that's not my name! and I burst out laughing too. He is really a handful. I wonder what words he will come up with in the future. It sure is an experience living with this little guy.

scribbles

Once upon a time, the little man used my laptop as his writing pad. This was how it looked.

This afternoon I lied down with him in the bed where I ended up taking a nap while he ran around free. When I woke up, his father showed me this:

He probably thought he would have a much bigger place to scribble if he does it on the wall so he did. This is in his room so in case mama will inspect she will not see it right away especially since she can't see good without her eyeglasses. I still have to ask him who or what was in his mind when he did this. Now I am glad I never listened to the husband when he asked me to give his son the washable markers I bought for him weeks ago. I now have more to clean before we move. This after I had to scrub blots of ink off the carpet (which thankfully was water-based). These two pretty much keep me on my toes I wonder why I am not losing weight, lol.

swiper

When I went to the store today I noticed that the ten dollar bill that I swiped from the husband yesterday was gone. I knew I did not buy anything before going to the store so there was only one culprit and that was the little man who got hold of my wallet earlier in the day. I saw him throwing my bank cards in the couch while he kept the business cards in his hands. I took everything from him, or so I thought until I noticed a piece of paper where I wrote down reminders was missing. I did not notice the money was gone until I went to the store. I told the husband I had to look for whatever else the little man got from my wallet because I did not know what else was missing. I am glad I did because when I found the ten dollar bill I also found my social security card with it along with that piece of paper I knew was missing. Guess where I found the most important document? In his alphabet truck. There is a slot on top where he can drop these rectangular shape plastic with letters in it and I was in the process of putting more letters when I saw the tip of the bill and when I opened the side of the truck I saw my card. I took the card and the money (of course) but the husband thought he should replace it with a one dollar bill which is still in the truck as of this post. The little man took it out and put it back in along with his other treasures. It is a good thing I did not know that the card was missing or I would have freaked out and raised hell while looking for it, lol. As it is, I am happy that I have found what I was (and was not looking for) and the little man did not throw it away or tear it up. The incident today made me think about buying him a plastic piggy bank or a wallet so he will have a place for anything he thinks important.

pop it

The husband gets crazy when he sees or feels a bump in his face. He either pops it himself or asks me to do it for him. It does not matter what it is he wants it popped. I told him I know from experience it would be better to just leave them alone especially if it is a zit but as you can tell, he has other ideas. It is easier to pop blackheads. It is just dirt and it comes off without pain or discomfort. Even my nieces back in Leyte used to do it for my brother (for a fee of course, lol). I don't know anybody who does not know how to get rid of blackheads because it is easy to do. It is spotting them that is hard but once you know the spot all you have to do is have the right tool to do it. Of course it feels a lot better if a professional will do it but then it comes with a fee. So one has to make a decision.