gymplay at gymboree

after our father's day lunch, we brought nikko to gymboree for some play time. i actually wanted to expose him in a different setting to encourage him to try walking alone.

when we let him try walking solo at home, he's very apprehensive. he will either hold on to you or he'll just crawl. i don't want to force him to walk but i'd like him to try doing it on his own.

when we got to gymboree, there were a few kids playing also. nikko would crawl towards the balls and play with them,and he'll try going up the foam slides. and with kids around, i think he's encouraged by what he sees. so we tried to let him walk... and he did! all on his own! we definitely had to help him balance first but he was taking more baby steps compared to just doing it at home.

look at him go!

 

that playtime really helped push nikko further. at home, he's been walking a bit more than usual. and he's gained confidence in walking alone. i think it will still be a few weeks before he can really walk on his own but we're getting there.

father's day celebration

it was a simple father's day celebration for us. just our usual sunday mass and lunch out. what made it special though was, nikko is much bigger now and we totally enjoy every minute with him.

 we wanted nikko to have a gym play session at gymboree after lunch so we decided to have lunch at friday's in bonifacio high street. we let nikko explore a bit as we headed off to friday's.

at friday's we ordered french onion soup for nikko. we also gave him some fries. for us, we got a caesar salad, mushroom chicken and mushroom, friday's pork adobo and chicken fingers.

caesar salad. the perfect way to start the meal. it was light and tasted just right.

french onion soup. nikko liked it. it had this big crouton inside soaked by the soup. the cheese coating was yummy.

mushroom chicken mushroom. it was just okay. nothing really fancy.

friday's pork adobo. the meat was tender and savory. but the dip was too salty for me.

chicken fingers. a simple dish and yet the best for me that afternoon.

 after lunch, as we headed off to gymboree, we stopped by the musical pipes at high street. nikko liked the sound it makes. i'm sure he'll be able to explore it even more as he gets bigger.

 

then it was off to gymboree for his gym play!

shopping cart ride

whenever we go for grocery shopping, nikko loves riding in the grocery cart. he likes that he sees a lot of things around the supermarket. and he probably likes the "freedom" of just sitting there instead of being carried by mommy.

nikko @ 9 months. look at the way he sits there. parang si don quixote! :)

at parang naka-akbay pa ang arms. notice may hawak syang biscuit. senorito!

and he also likes looking up at those grocery boys who goes up the ladder and pulls down their supplies. he has this big smile whenever he sees them and even giggles when he sees them going up and down.

one thing nikko likes to do lately is to stand up in the cart as we push the stuff towards the parking area. he probably thinks he's in control. we do tell him to hold tightly and we push it at just the right speed.

nikko @ 1 yr. old. he's more confident now standing inside the cart.

 

i'm sure when het gets bigger, he'll soon start getting things off the rack and put it in the basket. lol! i'll have to take a photo when that happens. for now, we love that he enjoys these little grocery moments. a little way to explore new things for him.

a visit to antipolo

after attending mass at the antipolo shrine, we had early lunch at  savory chicken at the victory mall park & shop almost across the shrine. we were one of the first customers so we were able to get a good seat.

the first and last time i was able to eat at savory chicken was in early 2000 in their escolta branch. it's been a while that i can't even remember how it tasted back then.

we ordered hototay soup, chopseuy, lumpia shanghai and the original savory chicken. my updated view of the food - the chicken was good. it was --- savory to say the least! lol! and i like the crispiness of the chicken. the hototay soup was also tasty, and the fresh egg was the perfect touch.

 i wanted to have some dessert before buying pasalubong from antipolo. i saw this cupcake place nearby but i forgot the name of the restaurant. i wanted to try their different cupcakes so i ordered three kinds -- red velvet, choco fudge and cupcake smores. then i ordered tea and carrot cake.

among the three cupcakes, i liked the red velvet the best, next was the choco fudge and last would be the smores. the last was just too sweet for me.  i actually just had a taste of the cupcakes as they were more for aly and those were the flavors she wanted.

the tea and carrot cake went well together. nelo & i liked the carrot cake. it was just the right sweetness and i love the frosting.

after dessert, off we went to the pasalubong center behind the shrine for some pasalubong. the best pasalubong from antipolo - suman sa ibos, coco jam and kasuy nuts! aling cora, the store owner gave us a sample of her suman to taste. we dipped it in muscovado sugar - yummy!

after we've satisfied our spirit at the mass and our tummies with the food, it was time to go home. hopefully we can go back to antipolo and explore more of the city. until then...

independence day pilgrimage to antipolo

every year, the parish of san fernando de dilao in paco holds a pilgrimage to the national shrine of our lady of peace and good voyage in antipolo. this is done every june 12, independence day. the former is where we attend mass every sunday and where nelo also serves as a lay minister.

we've joined past pilgrimages but not recently. this year, we decided to join in the pilgrimage again and bring along nikko with us.  we went there with my sil and her family. the mass was scheduled at 8am and we left the house around 6:30am. it was raining when we left and nikko's outfit was just perfect for the weather.

when we got there, the previous mass has not yet finished so we had to wait. once inside, i told nikko to sit down on the church pew. good thing the lady was nice enough to let him stay there. i told nikko to hold on to his lunch box. we always bring this whenever we go out. it's filled with his favorite fruit- banana, some biscuits and his cerelac.

it was hot and humid inside the church. as expected, there were a lot of people who were attending the hourly masses. lucky for us, my sil was able to find a seat right behind the lay ministers. our mass already started around 8:30am.

nikko was behaved during the entire mass. of course there's the occasional "shrieks" from him and being carried back and forth between me and his yaya. but other than that, he was a good boy during the mass.

after the mass, we lighted a candle for our special intentions then paid homage to our lady.

 

then it was off to an early lunch. more on that on my next post.