After reading Mylene’s post “Battle With Bottles,” I have decided to finally get rid of all of Justin’s remaining feeding bottles because like Mylene’s daughter, my son is more than three years old already. He turned four last July, but he is still drinking milk from feeding bottles, well, not all the time, but at least once a day. He already knows how to drink milk from a glass or cup, although he still prefers bottle-feeding most of the time.

Last week, I already discarded some of his feeding bottles, but I left a few at home just in case he asks for them. I’m still a consenting mom, you see, so I’m partly to blame for his continued dependence on feeding bottles. LOL!

Last Wednesday before he went to school, I told him, “Justin, no more feeding bottles for you today; I’ll throw them away later.” He nonchalantly answered, “Okay.”

Later when he arrived from school, had lunch, and got ready to nap, he asked for milk. I said, “You’ll have milk in a glass.” I actually forgot to hide his feeding bottles while he was away, and he was quick to notice that. When he pointed to his bottles, I said they were still dirty and so he agreed to drink milk from a cup.

Now, all of his remaining feeding bottles are out of sight. He hasn’t been asking for them for four days now, and I don’t intend to bring all of them back even if he whines, so yes, I can finally say that my son is now totally weaned from bottle-feeding!

Thanks, Mylene! Your post inspired me to follow suit.

I mentioned in one of my May 2010 posts that my son who at that time was two months shy of his 4th birthday could already write his first name and some numbers. A month after that and a few days before his lola, my Nanay, underwent coronary artery bypass graft, Justin could already write his full name.


We didn’t force him to write, and they’re still not being taught to write in their Pre-K class. Justin learned to write on his own. As you can see, his strokes are still unpolished. He would write some letters beginning from the tail going up, instead of starting from the top going down. He does the same with some numbers. He can also count up to 100 now. My son has just turned 4 last July 7.

These past few days, Justin would always be asking us for a pen, but not just any pen. He has a specific pen in mind, and he won’t stop bugging us until he gets it. He would only settle for a pen that we give him if he realizes there’s no way his current favorite pen could be found.

The reason he needs a pen is because he wants to write and draw. Those activities are what keep him preoccupied lately. He finished Nursery last March and would be a pre-kindergartner this coming June. In his Nursery class, the kids were not given writing exercises yet, but they were asked to trace their first names on paper every day.


During our last Parent-Teacher Conference in Justin’s school, his teachers told me that Justin is the only student in their class that can write his first name on his own. The rest are guided by teachers. We didn’t teach him to write his name at home. He learned to do it on his own. Because he knew the letters of the alphabet, he started writing them down. One day, he approached me and showed me that could already write his first name.

Last Sunday, when we went to church, he asked his Tita Meann for pen and paper. He lied down on the floor and busied himself writing on the tithing envelope that his Tita Meann gave him. To our surprise, aside from his first name, he also wrote numbers 1 to 10; number 4 was missing, though. He said he didn’t want to write it. This is the first time that he wrote down numbers. We didn’t even know he knew how to do it already, and again, he wrote them without any help from us.


Of course, his handwriting strokes are not polished yet, but this is already a good start. And oh, I forgot to mention that he can draw jellyfishes and Patrick (SpongeBob’s best friend), too. He’s only turning 4 this July.

I’m counting the days now until my son Justin shuns his feeding bottles for good. For several days now, he’s been drinking milk from his cup, not the entire day, though, but a few times each day. As a matter of fact, he ended up using only two bottles last Friday.

Woohoo! This calls for a celebration!

I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll get rid of his diapers next. To date, he has made several successful attempts at peeing in his potty, and he seems to be enjoying it. But he never really pooped on it, not just yet. He used the toilet once last November, but he’s never done it again.

I'm hoping it won't take him long to unlearn peeing and pooping in his nappy.

What about you? Is your child weaned from the bottle/potty-trained yet?

Yesterday was Justin’s first time to be inside a movie house. It wasn’t planned, though. We were having a leisurely walk in the mall, and we happened to pass by the cinema area. What piqued Justin’s interest were the big numbers near the entrance of each cinema. He wanted badly to get inside the theater, so his dad yielded and bought tickets for Adam Sandler's film Bedtime Stories.

I still had to do my grocery shopping, so I begged off, leaving Justin in his dad’s care. I did not leave the two of them immediately, however. I asked the lady guard if I could get inside the theater to see my little boy’s reaction.

Father and son occupied two seats initially, but Justin was uncomfortable in his, so his daddy scooped him up and placed him on his lap instead. I left the two of them in that position. I took advantage of this time alone to do some shoe shopping for my mom and for myself before heading to the supermarket.

After two hours, there was still no text or call from Justin’s dad. I texted him while I was lined up at the cashier to pay for my groceries. When I saw the two of them, I excitedly asked how Justin’s first movie theater experience went.

From the look on hubby’s face, it wasn’t very successful. Why? Hubby recounted that Justin couldn’t stay still in one place and wanted to roam around the theater. Perhaps, he thought it was just another play area where he could do what he wanted and play all he wanted.

And what’s worse? My son pooped. He isn’t potty-trained yet! And that was the end of the story. Father and son only lasted 30 minutes inside the theater, that after having paid Php300.00. We learned earlier that children one year old and above should also pay full flick fare.

What was your kid’s first movie theater experience like?

“Mommy, pode (pwede) computer Justin?” (Mommy, can Justin use the computer?)

These were the first words my two-year-and-five-month-old son Justin uttered when he woke up from his afternoon nap today.

Since my work for December ended on the 20th, I spend less time on the computer these days. The only time I get to use the PC is when my son Justin is asleep.

My son now takes my place in front of the computer watching Thomas & Friends YouTube videos. This is because he only has a handful of Thomas & Friends DVDs (only three, in fact, but he accidentally broke one, leaving him with only two now). He usually spends three to four hours a day video-hopping.



I know, I know. He’s not supposed to be watching too much. But what’s a mom to do?

Whenever Justin’s dad is watching VCD/DVD, he’s always reminded of how much havoc his son has done on his 6-month-old DVD player. If he is lucky, he’ll be able to watch the movie without a hitch. More often that not, he will not be able to finish the entire film because it will stop in some parts or it will not play at all. That’s because Justin, with his ever-curious mind and busy toddler hands, had toyed with that DVD player so many times in the past months and still does to this day. This DVD player is not the only thing in our house that has experienced Justin’s “gentle” touch.

To date, he’s broken/destroyed the following:
1. A fan blade. He was having a grand time playing with our living room stand fan, and the whole thing actually fell. It was a good thing that it landed not directly on Justin, but on the other side. That’s why the fan blade was broken into bits.
2. Two whistling kettles, one ended up with a broken spout and the other with a broken handle.
3. A Xenon DVD player, our first DVD player, now dysfunctional.
4. Several of his toys: his miniature toy cars are now without windows; his toy guitar is left with only two strings; his microphone is now divided in half.
5. Mommy’s brown pair of shoes, newly purchased at the time Justin’s wide feet landed on them.
6. One of his Thomas & Friends DVD was split into two as he desperately struggled to lift it from its case.
7. Our dining table now has pockmarks because Justin pounded his plastic spoon and fork on it.
8. Our living room sofa bed has scratches on the side because Justin keeps bumping his “big” car against the poor thing.

We know this wrecking rampage is far from over. We’re just consoling ourselves with the thought that this, too, shall pass.

Justin is quite a friendly toddler. He loves being with people, and he loves talking with people. When he’s inside the elevator, a simple prodding from mommy would make him say good morning to those inside the elevator with us. He would say, “Good morning, ate” or “Good morning, kuya.” (Note: In Filipino, “ate” means “big sister,” and “kuya” means “big brother.”) Justin even greets the lola (an elderly woman) who lives in one of the units in our floor whenever he sees her.

Most of the guards and the utility personnel in the building where we live know Justin. They call him by his first name and even give him a high-five whenever they cross paths with him in the hallways or at the building lobby. Justin also adores babies. When Justin sees kids a little younger or older than him, he wants to touch, kiss, and hug them. Sometimes they hug him back, and sometimes they ignore him. This doesn’t stop him, however, from being cordial with kids and adults alike.

I’m happy that my son is not shy around people. I hope he grows up to be a confident boy and that he doesn’t change his friendly ways.

Today, Justin finally sat on the toilet bowl for the first time. At first, his nanny made him sit on his own potty that his daddy and I bought several months ago, but he wasn’t comfortable with it. He asked to be transferred to the toilet instead, and voila, he finally did it. I hope he does it again tomorrow.

Mommy’s photo taken by Justin

One of my son’s favorite pastimes is toying with my cell phone. He usually calls his lolo (Tatay) or Tita Meme and Tito O. using that phone. He also loves to listen to that phone’s various ringing tones. He plays with my phone’s keypads, too, as if he’s texting. And last but not least, he finds great joy using my phone’s camera. He actually knows how to take a picture. Of course, mommy taught him how. Last Saturday night, while he was holding my phone, I posed in front of the camera and asked him to press the “Capture” key. It was Justin’s first lesson in photography.

Eleven days ago, my son Justin could only identify the following letters o, s, and x, although he knows how to sing the Alphabet Song by heart. That was before he started watching the Brainy Baby DVD that teaches the alphabet. He watched it several times since October 23, and today, he can identify letters a, d, l, o, s, v, and x. He can also recite numbers 1 to 20, but he keeps forgetting numbers 15 and 16. And he now recognizes colors red, yellow, orange, and black.

Justin could sing the alphabet song when he turned two years old. (He is now 2 years, 3 months, and 16 days old.) But he can only identify three letters so far: o, s, and x. A month ago, his dad bought him Phonics Flash Cards to help him learn to identify the letters. But it wasn’t any good. Justin is more interested in the objects that were seen with the letters. He didn’t pay much attention to the letters. He actually ignored them. He already had a Brainy Baby book on the alphabet when he was just one year old, and he could identify most, if not all, of the objects in that book, but not the letters.

Last night, while looking for new DVDs to watch, I stumbled upon some of the gifts Justin received on his previous birthdays. There was a Brainy Baby DVD that teaches the alphabet, complete with the sound of the letters and things that start with a particular letter. I think this is a better way to teach him to learn to identify his ABC’s because the moment I played it, he was hooked. In fact, he was just lying on the bed intently watching what was being taught and not minding the rest of us who were in the same room with him. His daddy was able to play uninterrupted chess on the computer. You see, Justin loves playing with the computer keyboard, pretending to type something, so we can’t really use the pc with him around. Last night, though, was a different story.

I intend to make Justin watch that DVD over and over again until he gets to identify all the letters of the alphabet or until he gets tired of it, whichever comes first.

Today, Justin sings a new song all by himself. I was in the bedroom the whole day working and Justin was playing in the living room. I overheard him sing at the top of his voice (I think he did this on purpose to impress his nanny) the lines of the song “Are You Sleeping?”

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing
Ding-dong-ding, ding-dong-ding.

He missed two words in the third line, though, "morning" and “bells.”

Of course, his nanny clapped. And, of course, Mommy was proud.

We’re training our son Justin to become bilingual. We teach him both the English and Filipino versions of words. He knows that “hungry” and “gutom” are one and the same thing, for example, and he uses them interchangeably. This way, he understands quite well what we or others tell him or show him, regardless of the language it’s spoken. Below is a list of some English words and their Filipino translation that Justin knows by this time:

water; tubig
umbrella; payong
ball; bola
chair; upuan
car; kotse
light; ilaw
spoon; kutsara
fork; tinidor
mirror; salamin
pillow; unan
get; kunin
ride; sakay
write; sulat
sing; kanta
dance; sayaw
change; palitan
hide; tago
throw; itapon
spank; palo
wrong; mali
open; bukas
closed; sarado

Justin has yet to learn the Filipino translation of the following English words, though: paper, pencil, slippers, table, read, borrow, skip, hop, jump, run, walk, bow, clap, slide, stop, park, wash, dirty. But he knows what these words mean, and he uses them every so often.

My son is 2 years, 2 months, and 18 days old today.

I was planning to write this piece the very same day I heard my son Justin sing this nursery rhyme, but I wasn’t able to because I was working in our bedroom, which was right next to the living room where my son was singing this song over and over again much to his yaya’s delight. He, too, was proud of what he’s now able to do.

At two years old, this is actually the second song he can sing completely. The first one is ABC. And he can recite numbers 1 to 10. Blame it on the Barney and Baby Genius CDs he watches day in and day out. Because he watches them too often, he knows what each CD contains and he even knows what song is going to be played next. When he’s playing, he sings bits and pieces of the songs he hears on these CDs.

Even before he turned two, he already knew how to say his complete name. Before, when you asked him what is his name is, he would say: “Is Justin Edward Figuerres.” Now, he’s leaving out “Justin” from his name, finding it too long to say, perhaps. But Mommy’s all too keen on reminding him.

He now knows how to say “please” and “thank you.” He forgets to say these magic words sometimes, but all it needs is a little coaxing to make him say them, especially when he’s asking for milk and food.

He now enjoys riding in an elevator. He used to cry when he’s inside an elevator, but he’s now getting the hang of it. He actually enjoys going up and down the building in an elevator, even imitating the voice prompt that says: “Sorry to keep you waiting.” But of course, he’s only able to say the last word.”

He knows the difference between Yakult and Chamyto and can distinguish water from milk from juice to chocolate drink. He even knows Coke Zero just by simply looking at the bottle. This may seem such trivial facts, but I’m amazed at how much his little mind works.

He can distinguish a circle from a square from an oblong, which he calls “ombong,” by the way. He’s still learning about the triangle and the rectangle, though.

He can identify certain personalities he sees on TV, like Sarah Geronimo, President Arroyo, Manny Pacquiao, even Oprah. He calls other celebrities he sees by their names in soap operas they starred in. He refers to Marian Rivera as Marimar and to Robin Padilla as Joaquin Bordado.

He can perform certain tasks if you ask him to, like getting his slippers/diaper/toys, etc., closing the door, brushing his teeth, combing or messing up his hair, and choosing what clothes to wear (he knows what he wears in the house and what he wears outside the house, like when we’re going to the mall).

He also eats by himself using his own mini-spoon and fork and drinks on his own. He even knows how to use the straw when drinking. He announces when he is hungry or thirsty or when his diaper needs to be changed. He is yet to be potty-trained, however.

He occasionally speaks in full sentences, well, not completely full sentences, but words that make sense, like last night when his Daddy was turning off the PC, he said, “Patay Daddy computer” or the other time when he finished drinking Tropicana orange juice, he said to his yaya, “Bili Mommy juice.” A few days ago, when we passed by the convenience store at the lobby of the building, he said to the cashier, “Kuya, bili lollilop.”

And the list goes on. I guess it’s true. Children really absorb things around them. This reminds me I need to be careful of what I say and do, especially when around my kid, as he may imitate what I am doing, believing that Mommy is always right, in his eyes, at least.

For nearly a week now, Justin has been sleeping soundly through the night. Gone were those days of both mommy and baby waking up two to three times more for his milk feedings after he’s put to bed at around 9 to 9:30 pm. Finally, baby gets to enjoy an uninterrupted 8-9 hours’ sleep. And mommy, too, gets to sleep a full 6 hours, which is definitely better than the amount of sleep I was getting since I gave birth to my son, and that’s been what, 20 months since then. I badly needed that. I’ve lost weight since I gave birth mainly due to sleep deprivation. I weigh even lesser now than I had weighed before I’d gotten pregnant. Not that I’m complaining. I’m actually enjoying that slight weight loss just a tiny bit. And why not? I get to wear pants and shirts one size smaller than I’m used to wearing. Now, that’s one good reason to smile about.

This is a rather late posting, but I'll post it anyway.

I can’t resist it. I really must write about this.

Last Monday, January 20, 2008 to be exact, while I was dressing Justin straight from his morning bath, I cooked up a little game. I called it the fill-in-the-blanks game. I just wanted to check how much of the things Justin already knows about he could remember when uttered out loud. This was how it went. I would say something that ended with a word Justin is already familiar with, and I would let him say the final syllable of that word. Here is a list of those words:

1. Manang bought tinapay (bread).
2. Mommy will drink coffee.
3. Ate Tin-Tin wants to have milo.
4. Do you want a glass of water?
5. Justin wants his dede (milk in a feeding bottle).
6. I think I’ll have a banana.

Not bad for a 1 ½-year-old, huh?

Two days ago (January 7, 2008), I am officially Justin’s mommy. Let me make that clear. Biologically, I am Justin’s mommy, but he doesn’t call me that term, not just yet, anyway.

Last October 2007, after I finished putting all of my son’s pictures in his first photo album, we asked him to name a few people in some of the pictures. When we pointed to my picture, he said “mommy,” to my delight, of course. But when we pointed to me in person and asked him, “Who is this, Justin,” he won’t say the same. So, the “mommy” word is just a spur-of-the-moment” thing. Sigh!

It was a different story, though, in November, as mother and son got to be really close. You see, Manang (Justin’s yaya and our house companion) had to go home to the province. This left me as the sole caretaker of my son. We really had great bonding moments, Justin and I. It was during these 13 days that he finally had an official term for me—“mee-mo.” I thought that was cute and quite unique, so I forgave my son for that slight slip of the tongue.

Finally, on January 7, as my opening statement goes, my son Justin officially called me “mommy.” It felt wonderful hearing him say that. And why not? He’s been saying “Daddy” for several months now. Why not “Mommy”? Talk about being jealous, huh! I’m still relishing this brand-new development in my son’s treasure trove of spoken words. Can’t wait to hear more from him.

Like most first-time moms, I made a journal of my son Justin’s monthly progress for his first year. This included not only what he was able to do each month, but other significant details, such as when he had his “infant measles,” when he was hospitalized first, etc. I hope he appreciates this when he grows up.

1st Month
Could lift his head
Could turn his head from side to side
Could roll to his side
Could hold on to Mom’s/Dad’s fingers
Could spit milk from his mouth
Could kick and shake fists when upset
Could snort

2nd Month
Could respond to people
Could push bottle away from mouth
Could lie flat on his stomach

3rd Month
Could open/close his hands
Could ride his walker
Was fascinated with letters

4th Month
Could stick out his tongue
Could shout when upset
Could identify his fingers and feet
Could shift from prone to supine position and back
Started to enjoy bath time
Was hospitalized for bronchitis

5th Month
Could wiggle his toes
Was fascinated with hair

6th Month
Knew how to hold hands
Knew how to shake hands
Could sit using one hand as support
Could differentiate between nose and mouth
Started eating cerelac, mashed vegetables and congee.

7th Month
Could sit without hand support
Could stand up on his playpen holding on to its rails
Could move his head forward as an act of kissing one’s hand
Could clap hands
Was fascinated by certain TV commercials
Could do a high-five
Could grasp object using both hands
Started on full diet
Had “roseola” or infant measles
Two lower teeth started showing

8th Month
Could shake his playpen like crazy
Learned how to kick
Could turn 360 degrees while sitting on your lap

9th Month
Could hop from one side of his playpen to the other
Could grasp an object with one hand
Could point using his finger
Could identify the letter “o”

10th Month
Had five teeth
Fell from bed and underwent CT scan (turned out okay)

11th Month
6th to 8th teeth started appearing
Could make more use of his fingers

12th Month
Celebrated his first birthday at Jollibee Shangrila Mall. By this time, he already knew Jollibee, so he wasn’t afraid when the mascot made an appearance in his party. And the rest, as they say, is history.

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.