Continue reading »]]> My Dearest Son,

Congratulation on your birthday!!! You’re now 5 years old but it was like only yesterday that you came out to this world and now I have to answer all kinds of questions and we can discuss a lot of things. I love it when you say I’m the best mother in the world and you always tell me that you love me and even shout out loud when you see me. I have to admit that sometimes I want to freeze the time that you will always my little baby but I know that’s impossible.  But I hope you will still tell that when you grow up and have a lot of friends.

In the morning when you wakes up you always smile and kiss me and say “Good morning Mama” which makes my day complete. We sit down and we eat our breakfast together and talk while watching your favorite program in the TV, the Disney channel and your favorite videos in The Voice. We always wants to stay but then I have to deliver you to the Kindergarten and that’s when sometimes we have disagreement because you want to play more. On the way to the Kindergarten and we talk about the garbage truck or the cars along the way until I have to kiss and wave my hand and I’m not sad because I know you love to be there.

I’ m very proud of you at very young age you can do a lot of things like writing letters to me and a lot of things. You are so smart at a very young age but I’ always tell you and I pray that you stay humble and be patient if others can’t understand you. And you will always count on me to support and guide you along the way.

I thank God that you are a healthy and a happy boy who always makes me and your father happy. We can not shower you with material things but you know that we are always have time for you and we cherish every moment we spent with you. We love you and Happy 5th birthday “Anak ” God bless you always.

With love,

Mor

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This month my son turned 4 years old and it went smoothly. We usually hold a party because he happens to share the same birthday with her aunt, my youngest sister either on our place or down her aunt’s who used to live just below us. But now my sister had move out and I was busy preparing for my school exam so I though it will just be quiet and simple just the three of us my husband, me and the birthday boy.

I just bought 50 different fruits for the kindergarten for 30 adults and children and the teachers thanked me because it was healthy and keep the young ones calm unlike the usual ice cream and cakes that the parents brought when somebody celebrates birthday at the kindergarten.The day started smoothly upon seeing his name and the flag besides it he knows it his day lucky he was the only celebrant that day. The boy was so happy with the attention where they sang a lot of birthday song and received a little book and a monkey, a noisy monkey.

At home we continue the celebration by buying an ice cream cake so he can blow 4 candles and gave him a garbage truck which he loves.

It seems like yesterday that he was so dependent of me but now he has his own mine and he can beat me to some games in the computer, yes he has his own laptop to and he knows how to use it but he’s only limited to games like on Disney and other preschool  programs on the web.

Now let me see his development based on the Great School Org

Milestones: 4-Year-Olds

A. Motor Development: Gross Motor Skills:

* running is more controlled; can start, stop, and turn
* turns somersaults; hops on one foot; gallops
* can easily catch, throw, and bounce a ball
*can brush teeth, comb hair, wash, and dress with little assistance

He can all everything except the dentist suggest that adult should brush his teeth until he old enough to brush his teeth properly.

B. Motor Development: Fine Motor Skills

* copies crosses and squares
* prints some letters
* uses table utensils skillfully
* cuts on a line

He was once good in using table utensils when he was 2.5 years old but since he started in the kindergarten he is a little backwards he don’t like using knife and fork maybe because he left-handed so kind of confusing.We will see to it that he should use the table utensils more often.

Language and Thinking Development

* uses a 1,500-word vocabulary; speaks in relatively complex sentences (“Mommy opened the door and the dog ran out.”)
* understands words that relate one idea to another — if, why, when
* continues to learn through experience and the senses
* understands, mostly, the difference between fantasy and reality
* understands number and space concepts — more, less, bigger, in, under, behind
* thinks literally; starting to develop logical thinking
* begins to grasp that pictures and symbols can represent real objects
* starts to recognize patterns among objects — round things, soft things, animals
* grasps the concepts of past, present, and future but does not understand the duration of time

In this area he’s advanced than most children in his age because by 1 1/2 years old he knows all the colors, he can count, can tell the difference between big and little and can even sing several nursery rhymes. By 2 years old he can recite and read the Danish alphabet and numbers up to 50, can recognized patterns and forms.names of animals and his vocabulary was really amazing. So when started in the kindergarten at 2 & 7 months he was actually like a 4 yr old except the last one; grasp of the concepts of time. Now that he’s 4 he can memorize telephone numbers and some common words he often reads  and master the remote control which even I sometimes forgets. He can say the days and the tomorrow and the future and when I say you only have 10 minutes he will say no 100 minutes. Amazing

Social and Emotional Development

* takes turns, shares, and cooperates
* expresses anger verbally rather than physically
* can feel jealousy
* may sometimes lie to protect herself, but understands the concept of lying
* enjoys pretending and has a vivid imagination

Socially compared to his peers he’s just needs more help because he can sometimes too dominating like he knows everything although he plays with other children but the concept of playing like fighting he’s still a baby he don’t like it. But I’ve seen him in the parlor games and he acts normal and enjoyed being playing with other kids outside his circles.

According to the About.com

As the parent of a 4-year-old, you should:

* Encourage and provide the necessary space for physical activity
* Instruct the child on how to participate in, and follow the rules of sporting activities
* Encourage play and sharing with other children
* Encourage creative play
* Teach children to do small chores, such as setting the table
* Read together
* Monitor both the time and content of television viewing (preferably less than 1.5 hours of TV, no more than 3 hours maximum)
* Expose the child to different stimuli by visiting local areas of interest

We are guilty of letting him watch too much TV sometimes more than 3 hours when he’s home and now his computer which sometime he spends 2 hours. Although he watches program and play games for his age it’s not good for eyes so we  should limit it max 3 hours for both TV and computer. He already helping me set the table and small errands and he loves it. We love going out to the park but we should encourage or invite friends for overnight to encourage him to learn to share his toys and share his territory.

He can talk like a TV journalist and very observant and one time he asked me while ” Why the girls sits when they use the toilet while the boys just stands” and lot of questions and when I don’t know the answer I say “because it does,” that’s what he always answer whenever I ask him something although it more funny in Danish.

I will congratulate my self as a mother and as a parent as I together with my husband is able to meet the challenges of raising a super active boy without any problem considering he is our first and hope not the last.

And nobody is prouder when he always say “Jeg elsker dig Mor og Du er det bedste i hele verden” I love you and you are the best in the whole world.

And we love you also. You are the best thing that ever happen to us.

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Happy Birthday Magnus & Cristina

Today the 13th is a special day my son’s 3rd and my sister’s 30th birthday. I wish both of them a Happy Happy Birthday. I love you. The photo above was taken last year because we will celebrate it this Saturday.

Happy birthday to motherhood. I also congratulate myself for being a mother because in my opinion it is the most challenging yet the most fulfilling part of my life right now. I once managed almost 100 men without any problem but having a little man is like managing a 100 man bundled in just one little package called Magnus. He is so energetic and full of questions. He is always up to something.

3 years ago he came to our life big time! 55cm long and 4.1 kg

Now he's like this!!

At 3 he can read the Danish alfabeth just give him any words he can spell it. He started to read when he was 2 1/2 year old and he can also count 1-55 and read the numbers 1-20 when he was 2 years old. I thought that he just memorize it but ask him any number then he will say it even count backwards ok just the first 20. But now he can say it in Spanish, Filipino and English. I don’t know if it is normal in his age but comparing him to others in his kindergarten he is smart. I don’t force him but he loves reading I introduced books ever since he was a baby then He was so fascinated with colors when he was 1 1/2 years old that he can recognize all the colors . So the car became the blue car then big blue car.

Well this is supposed to be mommy blog so just bear with me. It is so fascinating to see how he progress and hear the amazement in his eyes when discover something new. His laughter and hugs and kisses vanishes all my problems and be grateful for each day.

Thank you Lord for all your blessings and continue to shower us with good health and give me strength physically and mentally to guide my son and tackle day to day challenges.

Once more to my son and sister. Happy Birthday and I LOVE YOU .

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My son today cycle all the way to the day care around 300m. We crossed some streets and two stoplights. It went smooth but of course I have to be very fast. We bought a 2 wheeled without support bicycle for him because the 3 wheeled bicycle was too easy for him. It will improve his balancing ability which will prepare him when he will use the real cycle when he turns 4 or 5 years old. It will also train him to use the brake and the important thing

This is actually good choice because it is too light only 3.1 kilos so when I can carry it anytime when he’s tired or carry it home in the 4th floor. There is also a pedal kit that you can install when he’s older enough to use the pedal but unfortunately the dealer don’t have any stocks. It took me while to choose between two different German made bicycle which is around 1200 DKK (@220 US$) but this one I chose was cheaper only 600 DKK but it looks more like small version bicycle and I like the color.

He’s very proud of it and every time he meet somebody he just say “See my new bike I love my bike”.

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My son is already 2 1/2 year old but I still have the same weight after I give birth. It’s been a off and on affair with the weigh scale. I lost 10 kilos while I worked for a few months but when I went back to school as so my 10 kilos.

A month ago I decided to bike to school but how about my son that I have to deliver to the daycare. We just bought child seat. We chose to buy this model from Bo Bike from Holland, it’s expensive but reliable. It’s fast and I feel fresh and energized whenever I arrive in school. Then I have at least 50 us $ extra per month and don’t need to go fitness center. In this time of high oil prices it will be a big help both financially and for the environment.

At first my son was afraid but two days after he’s already so ecstatic riding with me. I also noticed that he became matured when we ‘re going out, he takes his cycle helmet and go direct to my bicycle and wait for me. Before he runs straight to the playground or and doesn’t want to sit on his stroller. Maybe he feels thats he’s already became one of the big boys when he’s able to ride the bicycle. Another plus, we can just go anywhere except that he won’t fall asleep, then its hard to balance while his head is hanging sideways or in my back. Another disadvantage is I can’t shop while his with me unlike using the stroller theres a shopping net underneath. Or maybe it is good for me to control my shopping or buying sprees.

I read somewhere I think last year fromTv2 about a research with most obese women in Europe that Denmark lies No.3 among the least obese. This is due to the bicycle culture and the healthy eating habits of the danish women.

Heres a link to the UNECE.ORG STATISTICAL DATA ABOUT OBESITY

This statistics form UNECE includes men and women and Sweden which just 30minutes away from here are the least obese women in Europe. While USA and Uk are in the bottom.

Holland and Denmark are the biggest cycling nations in the world wherein the infrasture system includes the bicycle lanes. Maybe because these two countries are almost flat which is makes cycling nice and easy. In this country there a still a lot of old people in their 80′s still using the bicycle. I hope I can still manage to do it when I turn 80.

My first bicycle I was a mountain bike with 24 gears until I was 7months pregnant but my husband bought me a lower geared old lady bike the one in the pictured above and used it until 3 days before I gave birth. I miss my mountain bike which drives faster but this present one is much easier to use. And I love my bicycle and so is my son.

Continue reading »]]> My son loves to sing bahay kubo even though I don’t sing it to him very often like I did when he was still in my womb. This makes me very proud and he evens start to count in Pilipino with a little help yet he’s only 2 years old.  And I think it also makes him proud to be able to sing songs other than danish children songs.

Now the doctors and the health care nurses if I can call them that encourages parents with other danish backgrounds to teach and start to talk to the babies as early their mother tongue because this is seen as an advantages for children to learn to speak another languages. It makes them glad and proud of it.

I started to talk to him in Pilipino because I don’t want to deprived him of understanding my culture and the most important thing is he is able to communicate with my family especially to my parents. Most of the second generation children here that I know including my cousins doesn’t speak the language and now that they are young adult they blame their mothers why they we’re not taught of this language.

One time I was speaking to some children with Filipino parents if they know how to count or say something in Filipino and they are 5-7 years and a 13 year old. Nope not a thing while they we’re amazed my was singing and counting. I fell pity for them for not learning how wonderful language we have.

As I was in once was an audience of a Filipino lecture about understanding Filipinos in a workplace by Prof. Felipe De Leon Jr., commissioner of Culture and Arts. He explains that our languages has more adverbs and adjectives than any other languages where we can describe a lot of which I also find it difficult to directly translate to other languages, like danish and English in my case.

So maybe this is not a bad advise to all filipinamoms living outside the Philippines, give your children a chance to learn our language if you don’t like Filipino because is tagalog then your own dialect.  You can start with bahay kubo because it is a nice song and somehow you remember all the names of vegetables and then you will think of cooking pinakbet later.