Rice. And Magic

Sammy has started eating rice. We mix it with soup so it'll go down easier.  His 4 lower teeth have all lined up, and at least two teeth are peeking out from his upper gumline.

He still doesn't crawl.  But we think it's about time that he learns to, so we try to be a bit sneaky and set things up so that he'll be forced to crawl.

We set him down flat on his tummy, and then we place some of his toys about a foot beyond his reach.  The idea being that he will force himself to crawl toward the toys, if he wants to play. 

But he has other ideas.

By stretching his left hand toward the toys, palms up, and opening and closing his hands, it's undeniable that he's trying to use magic to beckon the toys to come to him.

It may or may not work. 

Keep tuned.

Thirsty

On the way to the train station, Pia was being playful and probably getting tired:

Pia: Mommy, my ears are thirsty.

New Bike

Taken at our old home in Hong Kong. Pia's new bike. We had to leave these two bikes behind when we moved to Australia. Those damn quarantine rules scared me. Quarantine Australia threatened to clean these bikes and send us the bill if they found any soil in the tires. Anyway, the bikes have grown rusty.

She Did Have Hair

I've gotten so used to seeing Pia with a shaved head that seeing old photos of her feels like seeing someone you knew from a distant past. It can't be that distant, though -- she's not even five. Here's a photo of her at two.

Math Study Updates

We are making progress in teaching basic arithmetic to the kids.  Dominic can now add or subtract arbitrarily large numbers, like these:

2345689 + 345284956

34950684 - 2304895

1000000 - 999

He trips a bit, especially when distracted by the TV, but he knows the rules for carrying numbers at addition, and for borrowing numbers at subtraction.  We'll keep giving him exerices to cement his understanding.

Beyond addition, he's now learning how to multiply and has quickly grasped the concept.  He now easily multiplies small numbers like 3 x 4, 2 x 0, 5 x 4.

Pia is starting her subtraction lessons and can do basic subtractions like 3-2, 5-4, and 6-2.  She sometimes gets confused between addition and subtraction though, and will occassionally give 4 as the answer to 3-1. 

Basic Manners

Pia ran to the swing at the playground, sat down, and yelled out: "Daddy! Push me!"

Daddy:  Say please.

Pia: Push me!

Daddy: Say pleeease.

Pia: PUSH. ME.

Daddy:  You should say please if you want someone to do something for you.

Pia: PUSH ME NOW!

Daddy: Say please.

Pia: NOW!!!

Daddy: You must learn how to say please.

Pia: You must learn how to push me now!

Relax

Whiling away the time and pondering the state of the world. All he needs now is a cigar.

Among the leaves

Walking back from church on Good Friday, we came upon a 'lovely' pile of dried leaves. It's the start of autumn. We were expecting that the trees will turn brown. Instead the leaves turn brown and drop off. The trees don't turn brown, they turn bare.

Sammy

He can still tip over backwards, so we make sure he sits with something solid behind him.

Like Mother, like Son

While checking over Dominic's toenails,  Mommy saw icky dirt under the tip of each toenail:

Mommy: 'Dominic, your toenails are so dirty. I think you have fungus!'

Dominic: 'Like you?'

The Way of the Fried Egg

Pia and Dominic both love fried eggs on their rice.  Like most children, their favorite part is the yellow yolk. 

Observing how they eat their eggs reveals something about their personality. 

Dominic finishes off the white of the egg first, leaving an unbroken egg yolk for last.  So he ends up with a half-sphere of yellow yolk.  Pia, on the other hand, eats the yolk of the egg first, leaving the white of the fried egg with a hole in the middle where the yolk normally is. 

Looking for the stars

The morning after a night of gazing up at the stars with the children, I asked, 'Look up at the sky. How come there are no stars in the daytime?'

Pia: Because we can't see them.

Me: Why can't we see them?

Pia: Because they're not there in the daytime.

Me: Why not?

Pia: Because they are not there.

Me: Why not?

Pia: Daaahhhddy....don't always say 'Why'

Me: Why?

Pia: STOP IT!

 

Perhaps a career in science is too early.

Countersigh

Domu left his toys and things scattered on the floor again.

Daddy: Dominic, how many times do I have to tell you: Put away your things after using them.

Domu: Oohhhhkay.....

Daddy: (Sigh) Dominic

Domu:  (Sigh) Daddy.

Adding Numbers

School's out and the children are on vacation until the 2nd term begins.

 

To make sure they don't lose momentum, we are giving them some studying to do at home. Domu is studying how to add large numbers of any number of digits (like 2,345,689 + 45,789,002).

Pia is just beginning to learn and we're giving her small numbers to add (1 + 2, 2 + 1, etc.)

Sammy is starting to learn how to open and close his hands on cue.

The Tooth

Four teeth coming out, but one of them seems like it wants to go somewhere else. His rightmost front tooth is not quite positioning itself properly. I hope this doesn't mean he'll have to wear braces.

Swinging

It's hard to believe, just 3 months ago this little guy was so afraid of swings that he wouldn't even sit on a stationary swing. Today, he'll even swing standing up on the seat.

What's YOUR name?

Right after church, we were approach by a nice friendly lady, declaring what a lovely family we were. She then asked our children's names. So I looked at Domu and asked him: "What's your name?"

Going beyond the requirements of the Geneva Convention, where prisoners are required to give out only their names, Domu remained embarassingly quiet. So I looked at Pia, our wonderfully outspoken daughter. Sadly, she took was struck by instant amnesia. I thought of asking Sammy -- maybe HE knows his name.

Determined to never let that happen again, that night I practiced the
children:

Me: Domu, what's you full name?

Domu: <gave out his full name>

Me: Pia, what's your full name?

Pia: <gave out her full name>

Pia: Daddy, what's your foolish name?

Skinhead

My skinhead daughter looking good in her Minnie Mouse shirt.

No, she hasn't joined the US Marines. It's traditionally believed that shaving a child's head will make their hair grow fuller next time round. That's why a lot of children from our country get their heads shaved, some even twice.

Does it work or not? I don't really know.

Fangs

We had been joking with Domu: "You have to teach Sammy how to grow his teeth. Or else he might grow up without any teeth."

It seems Domu has been busy teaching Sammy how to do it. If you look close enough, you'll see four of them growing from the lower mouth.

Be careful now of leaving your fingers within his reach.

Sammy's Baptism

Sammy was baptized at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Hong Kong. Just two days before we left Hong Kong for good. Our parish priest Fr. Nato baptized Augustine Samuel on Jan 12, 2007. Fr. Terrance assisted in the prayers and the ceremony (and also in restraining the other children from jumping into the baptismal waters). Robert, Gunter, and Merlinda acted as witnesses. Missing are ninong Gilbert and ninang Tess Cruz.