I have recently been paying attention to my son Justin’s verbal language. As a matter of fact, I have been keeping a list of them when I thought of writing this article. At one year and three months, I realized he’s such a fine imitator of spoken words.

I think the first word he uttered was “baba,” from a TV commercial he grew very fond of. That ad showed a child with his mom in the grocery and the child pointing to the low-priced product, hence the catch phrase “baba” for “mababang presyo.”

The next word he spoke was “ate” (older sister). There are kids in the building where we live that are a lot older than my son. They are mostly girls and they usually play with him, and we often tell Justin to address them as “ate.”

Then, he was able to say “Daddy.” I wished I noted the date when this happened. To date, this remains to be one of his most repeated words. He usually calls his Daddy nonstop when he sees him out of the bathroom freshly showered. He knows his Daddy is about to leave for the office. Justin never leaves his Daddy’s side from the time his Daddy leaves the bathroom to when he’s about to head to the work place.

“Shoes” is definitely one of Justin’s frequent utterances. He goes out of the room and plays with the kids in the hallway or just have a leisurely walk or some bonding time with Mommy or Daddy or Manang, our house companion. So “shoes” are definitely one of those things he uses most frequently on a day-to-day basis, which explains his familiarity with them.

The first letter he was able to speak was “E.” Anytime he spots any letter of the alphabet anywhere, he calls it an “E.”

The first number he was able to identify and voice was “2.”

The rest of the words that he can articulate so eloquently are as follows: me, up, eyes, wow, “dede,” “tayo,” see-saw, coco (for Coco Crunch), “aw-aw,” “wee wee,” “susi,” cat, taxi, and fish. He surprised us one time when out of the blue, he uttered “kain tayo”; he never spoke those two words again; it must have been just a spur-of-the-moment thing. And the runaway winner is the five-syllable E-I-E-I-O from the classic nursery rhyme “Old McDonald Had a Farm.”

I’m looking forward to the day when Justin finally speaks the word “Mommy.” That will certainly be music to my ears. Until then, I’ll be jotting down more of what will come out of my little babe’s mouth.

I have decided to consult a cardiologist last April due to persistent chest pains. My ECG test, blood pressure and physical examination were all fine. What I had actually was muscle pain probably caused by carrying my then just 9-month-old baby boy who’s growing up pretty fast and heavy.

Since I was also quite concerned about my weight – I seemed to be losing a pound each month for the past two or three consecutive months then – I insisted to have a series of blood tests, which I had done only a month after this cardio consult.

I was only able to see the results last September – because that’s my only free time; I’ve been really busy with work and the baby – by paying my cardiologist a second visit. The good thing is I’m not diabetic. I initially feared I had problems with my blood sugar. I still need to be extra careful, though, about my sugar intake because my mom is a confirmed diabetic. Better be safe than sorry.

The alarming finding from my blood tests was actually this: my LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol level was alarmingly high. From a normal range of 0-100, mine was 170. Holy cow! I mean, blame it on the cara beef.

You see, we’ve changed our family’s diet from pork-centered to cow-centered late last year on the pretext that cows are cleaner, ergo, safer and healthier to eat than those infamous pigs. What’s worst, we serve beef on the table three or four times a week, which leaves little room for fish and veggies. So more beef equals more grease, err…more bad cholesterol equals more risk of stroke and heart disease. Yikes! I’m too young for those.

So, along with the one-month cholesterol-lowering medication, I have embarked on a penitence, red meat-fasting, that is, to the extremes. I meant to pass my next round of blood tests with flying colors. I’m going to ace it this time. And I’m going to show my doctor how good a patient I am. Here’s a list of my achievements so far.

1. I have not had my fill of Jollibee cheese melt burger (good thing, this product is now phased out) and large fries for three, going four, weeks now. Come to think of it, I’ve been really fond of this combo meal for quite some time now. I think this is also a major contributor to my elevated LDL level. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m better off without you, at least for the time being.

2. I have been consuming fish after fish after fish I might soon have gills and fins appearing. FYI: Bangus belly, which I’m very fond of, is actually a good source of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol, so I’m taking my sweet time gorging one belly after another as milkfish is actually my all-time favorite. I don’t really mind having paksiw na bangus three to four times a week. Yummy!

3. I have successfully avoided beef having only had one full serving of it in almost a month now. I also realized we’ve been spending more on food that does more harm than good. We’ve actually cut down on market spending because I somehow altered the whole family’s diet too, but not as extremely as I did mine. The whole family’s weekly menu now consists of one beef day, one pork day, one chicken day, and four seafoods day. There are always veggies included in the menu, by the way.

Am I being too hard on myself or what? Nah, I’m just being totally subservient to my doctor. I hope my hard work pays off. By the way, I had one sinful treat of grilled sisig last Sunday. Can’t say no to the husband. I hope that does not count.