Rocco tours Tacloban for the first time!

As if naman madami mapupuntahan :) Because there was a storm from December 25 to 26, we had no choice but to stay home and enjoy the cold weather and enticing bed. Thank you kay Papa God and Mr. Sunshine decided to show up by the 27th.  Since we had no itinerary at all, I made a last minute decision to tour Rocco around Tacloban. Kill time lang before we die of boredom :)

What's a Tacloban tour without stepping on the majestic San Juanico Bridge? Still as beautiful as ever but we were also freaking out because the bridge trembled everytime a big truck would pass by.

We also went to Palo to visit the McArthur Park and the new Oriental Hotel, but first, we had a stopover at the coconut stalls and sipped fresh buko juice.

As usual Rocco was his active and hyper self. Hindi kaya ng powers ng isang tao lang ang magbabantay sa kanya.

Of course we had our group shot taken with Lolo McArthur and his gang.

We then headed off to the newly renovated Oriental Hotel to kill off time while waiting for my side of the family. We planned to visit the Christmas lights in Palo before having our dinner at Ocho. Here's a nighttime shot of the Oriental pool area.

Rocco didn't get tired for a bit even if it was already night time.

 Thanks to Mama Flor, we were able to visit the Saboren Christmas House ahead of everyone else. We were granted a special viewing before the public gate was opened. Ang ganda!

 Here's our group shot. Those two cute girls are my nieces, my kuya darling daughters.

Papa was also with us (the guy in red) though he didn't go inside the house because he was looking after our cars parked outside.

After our mini tour, we headed off to a yummy and sulit dinner at Ocho. By that time, pagoda na kaming lahat, especially me kasi wala akong bitbit na yaya for Rocco, kaya no more pictures.

It was just a mini-tour but it still turned out to be fun, especially because we spent the day with our families :) Till our next vacation!

I'm Back! Backlog Posting before 2012 bids goodbye!

And we're back in Cebu! We've been gone for 9 days. Sa Tacloban lang naman ang dayo namin at hindi kung saan pa. It was a very laidback holiday vacation. Sobrang laidback kasi bumabagyo at ilang sikat ng araw lang ang tumama sa aming mga katawan. I wasn't able to blog at all kasi busy ang aking diwa kakahabol kay Rocco. Kaming lahat, actually. Sobrang likot ng batang ito. Hindi na talaga sya baby!

We arrived in Tacloban last Dec 21. We almost didn't make it to our flight. Pag naiisip ko, nasstress ako kaya lessoned learned talaga. When you have a baby with you, be at the airport 2hours before the flight.

Because both of our families are from Tacloban, we had to plan out where we would sleep on each day, and how much time we would spend with each family. Oo, ganyan talaga ang buhay namin sa Tacloban, parang Nomads. Palipat lipat lang. Pero equal treatment naman para lahat masaya.

After 9 days, we travelled back with 83kilos worth of check-in baggage. Wala pang mga hand-carry yan. NKKLK! Kalahati ata puro stuff ni Rocco. He has a lot of gifts!

I'm still sorting out our things. By tomorrow, everything should be spic and span because we're welcoming 2013 with a bang!

More pics to come!

How was your weekend?

Mine was fun yet tiring! Hubby was and is still sick with flu so he is in isolation from the rest of the family. Mahirap na kung si Rocco ang mahawa because it will be really be hard for him, and for everyone.

Since hubby couldn't substitute for me, I spent the whole weekend running after and playing with my little boy. He is Mr. Energizer! From the moment he wakes up, play agad. Breakfast time is messy and chaotic with food sometimes flying around. I can't be too complacent anymore leaving Rocco in the high chair on his own even if he is strapped because he can still escape and stand on his high chair. Spell D-A-N-G-E-R. During bath time, it's still a riot! Our little boy super loves the water, kahit cold water pa! Kami na ang aawat sa kanya because he might catch a cold being exposed to too much cold water. During changing time, pahirapan! Ayaw palagay ng diapers, ayaw pa tooth brush, ayaw magdrink ng vitamins. Gusto play play play! Gladly though, I just take it all in stride and haven't lost my patience pa naman. Cute kasi! :)

We do have yayas who help us out but I still prefer taking care of Rocco as much as I can. I just hand him to them when I'm taking a bath, or eating. The rest of the time, he's with US. I think this is the reason why despite me being a working mom who is out of the house for 12-13hours a day, but the moment I am in the house, Rocco clings to me. Jelly na nga ang daddy sa sobrang pagka mama's boy ni Rocco :)

Going back, Saturday and Sunday just breezed by, and even if I am trying to be a super mom, I am but human, and I actually heaved a sigh of relief when my son finally fell asleep last night(after a gazillion attempts!!!). Because hubby was sick, he had to stay in the sick room so we won't be contaminated. Rocco must have missed his daddy so much because he kept on calling out PAPA PAPA PAPA non-stop. Napagod nalang ata kakatawag kaya natulog nalang siya :)

Next weekend, we're heading to Tacloban for the Holidays! I'm so excited!!!!

Our Little Guitar Boy

Hello guys!

I feel so bad because I've been neglecting my blog for the past few weeks. I have a lot of stories especially about by favorite son (of course, my only one--for now), but I've been caught up with project releases, last minute shopping, and hubby is a bit sick too.

The other night we attended our Company Christmas Party. Our HR invited my husband and son so I had them join our party. It was so sweet of my presentation group mates because they prepared a special part for Rocco for our group presentation. Too bad, the program extended till past 10PM and my little boy was too sleepy and coughing already so he didn't play his part too well. Hubby had to bring him outside to calm his down because he started crying. Hahaha.

Oh well, not bad for a first attempt. Baka sa next Christmas party namin, may solo part na sya, at mag cooperate na. Good thing Hubby was able to take a video of Rocco while he was still in a good mood.

Brush brush brush!

Hello guys!

I've been tending to a sick baby the past week. Rocco caught a bad cold from his visiting cousin, and though the cold went away quickly, it progressed to a hard cough. We had him checked by his pedia in time for his 1st year checkup, and thank God he responded to his meds. As much as possible I don't want to give meds to the little boy, but he was having a hard time coughing out his phlegm and it resulted to sleepless nights and loss of appetite, kaya I had no other choice. He actually lost weight.

But...but..but..

He's now OK! Back to his old malikot habits and surging appetite. When he got well, his appetite went uphill too! Lahat ng ipakain, he will gladly take, plus milk pa! He got back almost immediately the weight that he lost, plus more. Sobrang laki na nga ng tummy!

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I used to brush Rocco's mouth using a washcloth, but when his teeth grew and started biting me, I started to use a tiny toothbrush. We introduced the new concept of brushing to him by showing him how we brush our teeth. Also during brush time, we sing the "Brush Song", which is imbento ko lang.

This morning, he decided to take matters on his own hands.

 Caught the mischievous look on cam! 

 He started stroking the brush to his teeth, imitating me at the same time.

 Rocco is showing signs of very early independence.

It went on for a few minutes until he started playing with the toothbrush and poked it deeper to his mouth. Naku naku naku! Delikado!

The Where Is Game

Since Rocco turned a year old a few weeks ago, his development sky rocketed. He is more talkative now, can point at objects and people properly when being asked, can walk, and sometimes even run without support, among others.

Last night, while killing off time because of power interruption due to the storm "Pablo", we played the WHERE IS game. We ask him to point to where a person or object is. The goal is to measure how well he can associate names with objects.

Where are the plants?
    He points to the plants in the garden outside the sliding door.

Where else?
    He turns around and points to outside the main door. There are plants in the front garden.

Where is the ball?
    He looks all over until he spots the ball hiding beside the crib.

Where is the car?
    He points to his toy car parked under the stairs.

Where is Ate Alen (his yaya)?
   He glances at his Ate Alen (without pointing) and smiles.

Where is mama?
   He grabs my shirt and nozzles his nose to it.

Where is papa?
   He talks out loud "papa papa" and points to his daddy.

Where is Mama Mary?
   He points to the altar.

How about Papa Jesus?
   He continues pointing to the altar.


Where is Rocco pogi?
   He smiles his super pa-cute smile and points to his framed picture in the console table.

Where are your angels?
   He points back to the altar where two figurine angels are displayed.

In fairness, we were all amazed! And to think that we did this game very fast, so had less time to think of answers. Good job, anak!! Keep it up :)

The First Haircut

Rocco's hair is really fine, and grew long even before he reached a year old. There were times already where he would be irritable because his hair would touch his nape and ears. Most of the time, I had to tie his bangs so it would not prick on his eyes. I was itching to cut his hair, and actually did cut a teeny weeny part of his bangs, but refrained from doing more damage because of the folklore that a baby's hair shouldn't be cut until he turns a year old. Whatever the reason is, I don't know :)

We actually planned to have Rocco's hair cut before his birthday part, but his Grandma Flor requested us to postpone is because she wanted to see Rocco's virgin hair. We moved his haircut trip to the weekend after his party instead.

Since wala naman Cut for Tots sa Cebu, we settled for adult salons. Buti nalang di maraming tao sa Salon de Rose when we dropped by last weekend. The first thing I asked the receptionist is "Are your barbers trained to cut a baby's hair?" Kasi malikot sila and might throw a tantrum, so they should be able to handle that also. Marunong daw kaya go na kami.

 Manong Barber said kailangan ko din daw maupo. Sana nagpa hot oil na din ako. Nakakaloka na ang aking buhaghag hair :)

 Rocco kept looking at the Barber. Nastress si Kuya at napasabi "Tantiyahan nalang ang paggupit daw". Sabi ko hello huwag naman, ayusin nya noh!

 Jack the Penguin is Rocco's comfort toy. When all else fails, Jack is always to the rescue! Hehehe

Taddaaaah! Mukha nang bata ang aking anak. I got a bit teary eyed talaga. Emote lang ang mommy.

The before and after photos. Haaaay my baby is growing up to be a fine young boy.

Rocco's Fab Birthday Weekend, Part 3

After Rocco's Jollibee Party, our troop wasn't ready to call it a night yet. Where else to go for some night time sight seeing overlooking the city but to Mountain View Nature's Park. The place is around 15-20minutes drive from the city, but once you reach the top, it's like being in another magical place that's just so relaxing.

 It was very cold when we arrived. May sumpong na din ang anak ko because he fell asleep during the drive, and was irritable when he woke up. Initially, I didn't bring him outside the car because he didn't have a jacket, but since he refused to go back to sleep, pinasyal ko na din. Sadly, dito ata sya nagka colds. We stayed for about an hour, and decided to call it a night. Mga pagoda na kaming lahat, at literal na bagsak patulog when we arrived home.

The next day, my side of the family were headed back to Tacloban already, except for the Santos fam who extended their vacation for a few more days. We heard mass and had lunch at Cafe Laguna before heading to the airport to drop them off.

 Ganyan kahaba ang table namin sa sobrang dami namin. We enjoyed a really sumptuous lunch! 

 My little boy enjoyed his food as well. 

With our ever supportive parents.

From hereon, we weren't able to take any pictures. Read on to know why...

After dropping my family at the airport, we made an impromptu decision to go to Danasan Eco Adventure Park. I asked our van driver if he knew the place, and how far it was, and he said it was OK to go there and would just take an hour, so we proceeded. Little did we know that the trip there was going to be an adventure itself. 

An hour passed since we left the city, and we weren't at the place yet. It was almost 3PM that time, when we saw the sign in Danao, Cebu that said it's still a 25km ride to Danasan. Ang layo pa pero go pa din kami. Then the road started to get rough because we were driving through a mountain pala. Hind rin namin alam na ganon ka rough ang terrain pero go pa din kami. Then Ed (Ate Dynah's husband who's an expert driver) observed that the gas meter was getting low. Hindi pala nagpa-gas ang driver, and we were in the middle of a mountain already! Buti nalang gas ang kinakarga, and we drove by small sari-sari stores who sold gas by liters. 

At around 4PM, we saw another sign that said 12km pa daw to Danasan. I told Ate Dynah that I was getting  anxious already and I wanted us to stop the trip and head back to the city. I was worried it would get dark and we had 2 kids with us (Zach and Rocco).

Thank God Ate Dynah decided that we return back to the city. It was around 4:30PM that time. A few minutes after we made the U-turn, biglang umusok ang van, and it started to rain hard as well!!! Nasa itaas kami ng bundok! My gosh, naloka ako!! The smoke was starting to fill the van and masusuffocate kami. We immediately transferred to the back of the van and binuksan namin lahat ng windows. Akala ko katapusan na namin lahat. I really mustered all my strength not to cry at baka umiyak din si Rocco. Buti nalang talaga Ed and Sieg were super calm because they knew what was happening. 

Naubusan ng water ang van kaya nagoverheat sya. The driver said nilagyan naman daw nya ng water, pero hindi sya nagdala ng spare. I really think that throughout our ordeal, God was still with us because  if not for the heavy rain, we would not be able to collect water to replenish the van. Salamat sa Diyos din at tumirik kami beside a creek, because there was a gush of flowing water because of the heavy rain.

We were stranded for around an hour, and just in time na nareplenish ang water sa van, ay tumigil na din ang ulan. GOD IS SO GREAT! Hindi nya kami pinabayaan. After nagcool down ang radiator, we proceeded with the drive out of the mountain. Siguro alam din ng kids that something was wrong because surprisingly, there were well behaved the whole time. Si Rocco na super likot, biglang tumahimik, at natulog nalang.

There were a lot of lessons learned after the trip. On the positive side, we were able to go down the mountains safe & sound. Sa sobrang stress namin, napakain kami ng madami sa Zubuchon! :)

The next day, we swore we would just relax. Good thing, my sister and her fam checked in to a Mactan Resort kaya swimming nalang kami.

It was really a fun and memorable birthday weekend for Rocco. Everyone enjoyed and had a great time, and best of all, they were around to witness our little boy turn one year old. Nothing beats that!

Till the next birthday, I'm sure it's gonna be a blast again! :)