The Little Man's New Apple of the Eye

If you've been reading this blog since it all started you're definitely aware that our Xian is an avid fan of Lightning McQueen. From his McQueen ride to toys, clothes, shoes,  bedsheet, underwear, towel, toy bin, plate and cup, school bag, school supplies, cap, at kung anik-anik stuffs bearing the McQueen design. That's why he's very easy to please – any McQueen item you'll give to him either as a gift or pasalubong, he'll reward you with a thank you and a kiss, ganun sya umappreciate at ka-happy with the Disney Pixar character.

*June 2012* ready for school! McQueen ba ka'nyo?

Until one day during one of our family trip to the mall for our grocery errand,my boys went to Toys "R" Us while I'm at the supermarket. His dad bought him a transformers toy. I can't believe that he's instantly hooked with the autobot. After that,watching Transformers movies became one of our family's bonding time kung dati kami lang ni hubby nakaka-appreciate, ngayon pati si Xian nahilig na din.He can actually cite majority of the Transformers major characters without batting an eyelash.

Anyway, I can't believe that this Optimus Prime toy cost around Php 850! yung liit na yan? dyosme!

  

Good thing, McDonald's previous happy meal featured the Transformers. Xian love all of them, and although they're stuck in vehicle form it's better than having a hard time mismatching them.Atleast safe sya,sira-miko din naman yung anak ko.

the trans-four-mers!

early morning shot of our happy Xian

When I asked him if he still like McQueen.his instant response -- "yes! but mommy i'm a big boy already, see? (then stand in front of me for me to see how tall he is now.haha!) Sabi kase ni daddy, transformers toys na 'pag big boy na.. pero buy mo pa din ako lagi ng McQueen ha?"

So this is all the husband's fault.lol.

Obviously, may dumagdag na sa Christmas list ng bagets. So to all our family members / relatives / ninongs and ninangs -- you already know what to give this Christmas.teehee!


 

Buh-Bye Time Once Again

After Allan's 3 weeks vacation, he already left last Tuesday.

Few days before his departure, I always heard my two boys with this kind of conversation.Tipong may heart to heart session lang ang mag-ama ko.

Scenario: (Xian while sitting on daddy's lap)

Allan: lapit na ulit umalis si daddy,magwowork na ulit dun sa malayo.wag ka magka-cry ha? 

Xian: opo.

Allan: promise?

Xian: promise daddy!


Then the little man gave his dad his sweet assuring smile.

Just a little note about the past 3 weeks, everyday as soon as Xian woke up and di nya makita si Allan inside our room itatanong nya kagad saken "asan si daddy?" which I will answer with "andun sa ____ (kitchen/bathroom/garage/backyard)" and then the little man will immediately go there and greet his daddy with his charming "good morning smile". Once na makita na nya, buong giliw nyang babatiin ng "daddy!" then Allan will carry Xian and proceed to their early morning kulitan. Ganun sila mag-moment everyday. I'm thankful that I've got two sweet boys in my life.

They're always together for the past 3 weeks of hubby's vacay. Since I'm at work, everytime Allan will go to a certain place like when he went to LTO to renew his license,or during those times that hubby run errands or kahit simpleng trip to the grocery lang, Xian  always tag along with him then after that, Allan will bring the little man to Jollibee for Xian's dose of playtime or sometimes naman uwi sila ng bahay na may dalang new toy si Xian which the husband bought daw while they're at the mall.

Same thing goes whenever Xian will take a bath,choice nya magpaligo si daddy nya. Magpapatimpla ng milk in the wee hours of the morning, si daddy. Magbibihis sa kanya,si daddy. Papainom vitamins, si daddy pa din daw. In short,nagpapamper sya ng bongga sa tatay nya!

That's why I'm a bit bothered that time that Xian will become super attached to his dad and it will be difficult for us him to adjust once the husband goes back to his overseas work. Pang-MMK ang scene the last time na hinatid namin si hubby and I don't want the little man to experience it again,baka ma-trauma na sa sad airport scene. Kawawa naman.

The day of hubby's departure came and Xian is aware about it. Sabi nya,sasakay na daw daddy sa plane. We left early since Allan will drop by to POEA  first to get his Overseas Employment Certificate before we proceed to the airport. I noticed that Xian became extra clingy to his dad on that particular day. Lagot na! At POEA, Xian doesn't want to stay inside the car, so we accompanied hubby while he's processing his OEC.

@ POEA, pantanggal inip ng bagets.

After hubby's agenda at POEA we headed to the airport. We had our lunch there and while waiting for the time, my boys had their kulitan.

I'm a cry baby and you know those times that just by happily looking at them together eh nakakaiyak na? Xian's tita ninang asked the little man kung ano reaction nya pag umalis na daddy nya. Then my playful Xian showed a "fake crying face" with matching huhuhu to the delight of everyone.At san nya naman nakuha yun?

After staying at the airport's parking area for a couple of hours, it's time to go to NAIA's departure area.

before we go to departure area,oh kala ko ok na usapan nyo?

While we're at Terminal 1, that same old feeling hit me once again. I looked at Xian for his possible reaction, ni-ready ko na sarili ko for the little man's crying moments. Surprisingly,  he's composed.he's not crying and no sign that he's going to throw tantrums. Normal lang ang bagets. After he kissed his dad and said "ba-bye" he even managed to waved and said "ingat daddy.love you! ba-bye! " until the time the husband left and joined the crowd going to the departure area. 

 one last mag-ama moment @ the airport.their (temporary) goodbye kiss

Xian really kept his promise to his dad that he will not cry. How did my 2 years and 11 months old son managed to do that? I was astounded. That scene really touched my heart and when Xian saw me he said "mommy,don't cry na.stop na.." then wiped my cheeks with his towel.Kaloka lang,ako na pina-pacify ng anak ko ngayon! 

We should never underestimate the child's capacity to understand about the situation.

And yes,talking about son's word of honor to his dad. So proud of you,my little man!

 The C Family before Hubby's departure

(pasensya na sa background.lol)

We will see you in a couple of months,daddylove! We'll terribly miss you.We love you so much.much.much! ♥

Lunch @ Claw Daddy

During our Nuvali trip last Saturday, after fish feeding and boat ride, we had our lunch at Claw Daddy. If you've been reading my blog eversince, you'll know that I'm a seafood person. Crab, shrimp and squid can be part of my everyday meal and I won't get tired of it. Among them, crab is my all time favorite. That's why when the husband asked me where to eat, that restaurant is my first choice without blinking because just checking on their menu makes me drool already.

 Xian while checking on their menu. Ano gusto mo dyan,anak?

To start, we were first served three slices of corn on the cob as their complimentary food.

corn on the cob

Try not to dine in here when you're starving already because it took time for our food to be served. Hinuli pa daw kase yung crab eh.lol. But waiting is worth it naman because of their yummy dishes.

Here's what we had for lunch that made our tummy very happy,especially my tummy:

 BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Inay loved their Creamy Mashed Potato.

 Smoked Chicken BBQ

For crab dish, we ordered their Singaporean Chili Crab, that time the Middleweight crabs are not available so we settled for their Heavyweight crabs. Yum! Hello cholesterol :)

 Their version of the famous Singaporean Chili Crab

 

Yummy! The claw itself pa lang, ulam na.

For drinks, we had a pitcher of their Red Iced Tea.

our family's happy busog meal

Eating crab is not a messy experience here as they provide each diner with their own bib and a handy bucket right in the middle of the table to throw in cobs of corn and shell. Xian is not happy with the red bib and he didn't want to wear one.

 

We didn't consume them all especially the big serving of the crab since we're so full already,we were able to bring home our leftovers for take out! :)

Nuvali Saturday

We went to Nuvali last weekend since it's my dream (haha!) for Xian to see and experience feeding the famous koi fishes there and try his first boat ride. And eventhough it's a busy week for me because of the February 14 school activity and we still have office schedule last Saturday, buwis buhay akong umabsent and so far I'm still here at may trabaho pa naman ako.hihi.

Although I also love my work but family is still my top priority since weekend is very precious for us nowadays, eto na lang yung time to have some family day out.

Saturday came, Allan, Xian,me and Inay left our house at around 8:30 AM. Good thing that the weather is perfect that  morning kaso we encounter lang some minor glitch with directions after taking the Silangan exit and turn on the wrong route. Instead of turning right sa left kami napunta,well it's my fault since I insist that we turn left according to my instinct. (But my instinct fail that time. Bigla-bigla nang-iiwan sa ere. I was thinking karma ata 'to kase absent ako.di kaya?) Thank God that the husband "sensed" na wala atang pinapatunguhan pagdadrive nya and adding to that,that one person na napagtanungan namin di sya sure kase di daw sya taga-dun. Okay atleast we enjoyed the mini joy ride.

Fast forward na sa kwento,finally we reached Nuvali around 10:00 AM na ata.

Hello there!

Even though I've seen a lot of pictures of the koi,nakaka-starstruck pa din  ang mga isdang orange na 'to sa sobrang dami nila. 

Xian loves feeding them. He giggles everytime there's splashes of water generated by the koi.For the whole fish feeding experience,Allan and Xian bought 7-8 packs of the feeds and I think sa dami ng napakain ni bagets, close na sila ng mga fish. Kawawa lang tingnan mga fish everytime they went crazy fighting over the feeds pero in fairness mukhang masaya naman sila sa ginagawa nila :)

Here's some of my boys fish feeding moments.They're the Team White.lol.

Now here's the Team Violet:

me with Inay dear

Our day out is incomplete without some family snapshots.

 
After feeding the fish,  what else to do kundi Boat Ride! Allan bought our tickets and reserve the whole boat ride for our group for Php 180. we were assigned boat docking #20 (tama ba yung term?)  and that time nasa #15 pa lang yet Xian already wants to ride the boat. So while waiting for our turn and to entertain Xian, my two boys just engaged in their usual playful self.

daddy,habulin mo ko..

their "huli ka" kissing game.. Btw,can you spot Inay dear, inip na din sa boat ride.hihi.

Finally after 25 years, it's our turn! :)

mahangin talaga sa labas.

 

gusto nya solo lang nya yung upuan

Xian loved it when  the boat entered a tunnel under the bridge. There was also a time when he happily exclaimed "wow,mommy look flamingo!" We were shocked that at his age he already knows that kind of bird.

The water taxi ride took about 10 minutes to go around the lake which the little man enjoyed every minute.Feel na feel nya lang the whole time. With the boat's sudden turn before our boat ride end (pang-finale ba.. haha!) I looked at Xian to see his reaction and he said "mommy,di naman ako scared!"

moment lang..

After our boat ride,we had our lunch at Claw Daddy. I will publish a different post about it next time. For now I'll enjoy the rest of our precious days with my boys. This is our last weekend before Allan's flight.

Happy Weekend everyone! 

Valentine's Day Dinner

Since we had a school activity yesterday, Allan went to my workplace and patiently waited there at the lobby since it's our plan the night before that we'll dine out na lang on Valentine's Day.Good thing that our activity were finished on time so I was able to leave the office at 5:45 PM.

Where to eat? My first options are between Gerry's Grill or Hap Chan but the husband said na sobrang traffic going to SM Lipa and byahe pa lang ubos na oras, which is may point naman. Then I suggested na Lipa Grill but according to him,wala masyadong parking space dun.  So my last choice is Giligan's Restaurant  (again) at Robinson's Place and so far ok naman sa date ko kase naisip din daw nya dun.Weh? Besides dining at the mall is the best option since it's more accessible for us to buy Xian's pasalubong.

The place is jam-packed when we got there,good thing we were able to reserve a table after a couple of minutes.

Inside the restaurant, I saw a few couple with their kids. I told him sana sinama nya si Xian para sana dalawa sila na ka-date ko that night but according to the husband, we deserve some couple time every once in a while plus we just came from a family day out last weekend (na until now di ko pa din napopost.ansipag ko mag-blog.lol) So last night, it's just the two of us.

What I love about the place is their very relaxing ambiance. Cool na cool. It's a fun dining restaurant instead of fine dining. 

For this Valentine's Day dinner,these made our tummy happy while we're talking on just about anything,tipong binabalikan yung mga dating date night namin for the past 11 years.

 Giligan's Seafood Feast

hubby's plate of Sisig with Rice. I also order this one. #gaya-gaya lang.

Mango Float

partner na pamatid uhaw.

But you know what made our date special for me that night aside from the fact that he liked my gifts?

Few minutes before we leave after Allan settled the bill,nagpaalam sya na pupunta lang sandali sa rest room. while waiting for him, bumalik si crew sa table namin then gave me this single stem rose (which is inserted in the bill presenter and said "pinapabigay po ni Sir (Allan). Happy Valentine's Day po Mam!"

You see,I can also relate to Em's post about the flower thing since di ko na matandaan the last time I received flowers from Allan after we had Xian (last Valentine's Day was a paper rose from my boys.in fairness effort naman.nakatago sya sa baul ko ngayon.lol) But talking about the real flowers, I forgot already. Although during our bf-gf days,every Valentine's Day talaga meron sya binibigay na flowers and chocolates plus handwritten note pa. But there was a time that I told him to stop doing it since nanghihinayang din ako sa ibibili nya flowers,ipandagdag na lang nya sa chocs,mas matutuwa pa ko lalo. Akalain ko ba naman seseryosohin nya.Hmp.

That's why I'm surprised to received something like this last night. well,di na nga lang sya bouquet pero keri na din.hahaha. I've been teasing him the whole time after that. 


We were supposed to watch a movie pero tinamad na kami so we just stroll around and bought Xian's pasalubong. He also bought a new luggage bag which made me realized that less than a week na lang at schedule ng flight na ulit nya.Pero dahil Valentine's Day ngayon,iwas emote muna ako.


So that's how we spend our Valentine's Day 2012. Simple and laid back,parang kami lang.

Thank you so much hubby love for this day. Alam mo na yun. I will forever be thankful to God for giving me someone like you, someone "imperfectly perfect for me". Thank you for giving me the best gift - our Xian and for loving me unconditionally which you never fail to express every single day. Now on our 11th Valentine's Day together, still thank you for everything! Words can never express what we have. 

Xian and I love you so much!♥