long distance "love affair"

since my in-laws lives in dipolog, it's routine for us to call them every week, just to give them an update on what's happening with nikko. often times it would be on a weekend but we also call during weekdays.and since we know they want to "talk to" nikko, we call them in the mornings when he's awake.

nikko with papalo & mamala during their visit last june

nikko doesn't "talk" that much though, he just listens. and when we tell him to kiss mamala & papalo, he'll kiss the phone. and when we tell him to say goodbye, he waves his hands. and we describe these to mama & papa and we know they're happy hearing it.

with this simple routine, we're able to teach nikko the value of connecting with my in-laws. and how important it is to stay in touch with them even through just a phone call. i hope that when he gets bigger, he'll be more receptive and that he will talk to them often and share his own stories.

here is a storybook of nikko before we called mama this morning. i love how i was able to capture these photos.

gymboree play & learn

when nikko hit 12 months, i knew i wanted him enrolled in a play class.

he's been an expert crawler for the past 2 months but i want to push him further. he also "walks" when you hold him but never on his own. when we encourage him to take small steps alone, he tries but he "rushes over" to hold on to something. there are times when he just stands still and sits down instead of even taking a step. he'd much rather crawl than walk.

but, we did notice that when you don't mind him, he does try to take little steps. and he seems more confident when he's doing it alone.

since i wanted to "push" him a little more, i convinced nelo that we enroll nikko at gymboree's level 3 class. there, he'll be in a different set-up away from home. and i'm sure he'll have "classmates" in the class as well. i am hoping that this will encourage him when he sees other kids around his age.

when we went for a gym play session the week before his class, he was taking more baby steps already. i knew it was a good sign. we'll just see if he'll take it a step further.

on our first week of class, there were around five of them and mostly girls. there were just two boys including nikko. the session started with singing a song and clapping. he was a little shy as teacher mica started the class. it also made me realize that nikko needs to catch up on learning stuff. he's the type of kid who wants to do things in his own time and it makes me worried sometimes.

anyway, after the singing, they had to go through some of the play activities. nikko was participating very well! he was crawling up the slide, keeps pushing the foam roller and totally enjoying the bubble play. there was less walking for him that day but you can see that he's trying and he's enjoying the activities.

on his second week, i saw a different nikko! he was now more confident and interacting with the other kids. and he was standing on his own, less wobbly, and taking a lot more step than usual. he was also clappping now unlike the previous week. this week though, he wanted to be with his daddy more. so they were the ones doing most of the activities together.

we were so happy after this week's class. nikko had more confidence and was exploring more. we hope the next two weeks' classes will continue to improve his disposition and his learning skills.

high chair, my chair

with nikko eating more regular food now, we've made it a habit that he stays with us by the table during mealtimes. i want him to develop the habit that we should all eat together during mealtime and no running around. i know there will be days/moments when we might bend this rule but i want it followed as much as possible.

he actually got a booster chair as a gift from his ninong joel during his christening. but the problem was, with nikko getting bigger, he couldn't fit in the booster chair anymore. so we ended up just letting him sit on my lap or lola's while he eats. or sometimes, we put him inside his crib, place it by the table and that's where he stays during mealtime.

nikko was almost 7 months when we started him on the booster chair

i wanted to get him a high chair but the price of a brand new unit was off my budget. i was open to buying a pre-loved unit as long as i can find one. thankfully, i did! karen, a scrapper friend and a fellow n@wie posted about selling her high chair for a minimal cost. it had a few tear but was still in good condition. when i inquired from her, she said she'll just give it to me and i can just use the money to have the tear repaired. yipee!

it was off to binondo for us two weekends ago to pick-up the item. the unit was good and you can see that they've really taken care of it and to think it's almost three years old already.

we set it up as soon as we got home and we let nikko "test drive" it. he loved it! he's been sitting in that chair every mealtime and he sits like a king while we feed him. it was worth everything and very much thankful to karen. :)

nikko, now at 12months, on his pre-loved high chair, with daddy

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...