one month old!

You are now one month old, dearest Little Pebble.

Mommy was astounded to wake up one morning to hear you talking! Daddy who thinks that you’re an accelerated child was not a bit surprised.
 

 

 

                                                                                  Daddy and Mommy have been working this week to get your legal documents in order. We’ve been able to get your Certificate of Live Birth from the City Hall and we will be submitting documents this week to jumpstart your acquisition of a passport.  As we’ve told you before, little one, you’re a child borne from much travelling and your passport will be the beginning of wonderful adventures to come. We’ve taken you to a studio to have your picture taken and you looked smart in your photo, appearing all set to take on the world!

 



You’ve become a chick magnet in our building, Anton Lee Thomas! The ladies emit squeals of delight when you in your stroller pass them by in the morning on your way to get your morning sun. A couple of days ago, a Korean girl held the elevator door for you and followed you all the way to the swimming pool. On another day, two ladies approached you and said that you’re going to become the next Fil-Aussie hot sensation in show business! Mommy is not impressed with these.  You can’t have these adulations go to your head, young man. Mommy is telling you that looks fade but what the vagaries of Time will not be able to take away from you is a kind heart, a hearty sense of humour, and an unwavering faith in the Divine Providence. And no courting girls, until you've finished college, is that clear?
 

Daddy and Mommy are getting to know you better, Little Pebble. We know that when you are not fed on time you get so upset that you turn red all over, clench your fists, and it takes a while before you unclench your hands and return to your normal colour (Mommy wonders if watching all those boxing matches have any bearing on your behaviour).

You have also learned to amuse yourself and you make all sorts of funny sounds while you’re looking at your toy zebra or just studying your high contrast black and white panels.

Mommy is happy this week. She’s been able to have you sit attentively on her lap and you’ve finally paid attention to the book she has been reading to you.

But you know what’s been the best so far? It’s  those quiet moments after your bath in the morning, you looking content, and you staring at Daddy and Mommy as if assuring us, "Hey, you're not doing too bad a job."
 

rock baby rock!

You're awake now in the mornings, little pebble. This means more play time with Daddy and Mommy!

dragon boys

Daddy's discovered a better position to clean your bottom!

ANTON LEE THOMAS: (Noisily passing gas and making a reverberating explosion to signal the commencement of his toilet business.)

DADDY: (Embarrassed by your lack of manners.) You’re so shameless. You’re a little piggy.

MOMMY: You can’t call him a piggy. He’s a water dragon boy!

DADDY: (Without missing a beat while changing your nappy.) You’re a water dragon lechon.

Daddy is not only getting more efficient with changing nappies but he’s also improving with his Filipino language and cuisine.

(Note: A lechon is a whole pig, skewered and roasted over charcoal. It is a national favorite in the Philippines.)

three weeks old!

You are now three weeks old Anton Lee Thomas.

We went to your paediatrician yesterday and oh my, how you slept calmly while waiting for our turn.  Everyone gushed how absolutely behaved you were.

You have grown, Little Pebble. You now measure 19.8 inches and weigh 6.8 pounds! The paediatrician checked your lungs and heartbeat, all good.  She said that you’ve also lost that yellowish tinge three weeks ago. Mommy thinks your doctor looked very impressed with your clean navel.

You didn’t seem quite taken by your paediatrician though. Mommy became quite alarmed when she saw you shedding tears while the doctor was examining you. “What to Expect the First Year” says it is not until near the end of the first month of life that the fluid that bathes the eye (called tears) begins to be produced in the lacrimal glands over the eyeballs. So imagine Mommy’s consternation when she saw you really and truly crying when the doctor flipped you here and there while examining you.

Daddy and Mommy learned this week not to speak too soon.  Last week, Mommy kept asking Daddy if you were all right.  You did not seem to cry at all and just continued to sleep on and on. A few days after, you started keeping Daddy up almost all night with your inconsolable crying.  Mommy then asked Daddy if something was ailing you. Guess it looks like Daddy and Mommy will worry about you no matter what.

 What’s happened:

       1. We gave you your first full bath this week. You loved it!

       2. Mommy has trimmed your nails.  You were born with quite longish nails and we’re concerned that you might scratch yourself with those nails. 

     

       3. You’ve now discovered how to put your thumb into your mouth. Uh oh, your lola will not be very happy to see this.

4. You love taking the koala position on Daddy’s chest.  Seems to calm you in the middle of the night. 

Most often-used verb of the week: Regurgitate (in Daddy’s parlance, “throwing up”). Anton Lee Thomas, you have to slow down when you’re feeding. You have been regurgitating quite often lately, it’s alarmed Mommy. We asked your paediatrician about this and she’s advised that we burp you more in between feedings.  When you feed, Mommy sometimes can’t help laughing because you keep looking around with your round eyes seemingly checking out possible competition. Looks like we’ve got a competitive spirit in you, young man!

election season



Anton Lee Thomas reacting to news that
 Jinkee Pacquiao is running for Vice Governor

Mommy is aghast. Splashed on the news are reports that our favourite boxer’s wife is running for a Vice Governor position in the Philippines. That’s not all.  Pacquiao’s brother has also been said to be eyeing a seat in the House of Representatives.

From the Christian Post:

Maria Geraldine "Jinkee" Pacquiao, the wife of Filipino boxer and congressman Manny Pacquiao, is reportedly filing for a certificate of candidacy for vice governor of Sarangani, Philippines.

The decision for Mrs. Pacquiao to run for office reportedly came one hour before her husband decided to file his own certificate for candidacy for Sarangani representative. Malapatan Mayor Alfonso Singcoy reportedly said that the suggestion for Pacquiao's wife to run for office was made by Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez, according to Sun Star reports.

The suggestion was reportedly made after several mayors disagreed over the decision to have another candidate, Juan Domino, running with Vice Governor Steve Solon. Pacquiao's mother, Dionisia Pacquiao, agreed that her son's wife should take on the responsibility of being involved in the politics of her country.

"She should no longer be shy in public," Pacquiao's mother said in the Sun Star report. When Mrs. Pacquiao first met her pugilist husband, he was a struggling boxer while she worked in sales and promotions for cosmetics at a department store. However, her husband has grown to take on the responsibility of being a civil servant for his country and she may be following suit.

While Pacquiao is known for his boxing skills worldwide, the congressman said that his political role is equally important. Before the town of Glan in Sarangani was declared to be under a state of calamity due to the flooding of several villages last week, the boxer said he was passionate about improving the lives of his constituents.

Don't be surprised, Little Pebble, if Mommy won't be in such cheery mode today. While Mommy was not ecstatic when Manny Pacquiao ran for public office three years ago, she did not join the ranks of Pacquiao supporters who scoffed at his political ambitions. But Pacquiao's wife and brother joining the fray in 2013 is another matter and smacks of nepotism and traditional politics which have have taken repulsive proportions in this country.

 

Too much, too much, Manny Pacquiao.

Shamzz & I

Thank you Sanger5 for my first teddy. We've decided to name him.... Shamzz.

                                                                                    - Anton Lee Thomas



Anton Lee Thomas trying on his "toughie" stance

two weeks old!

You are two weeks old today, Little Pebble, and you’re turning out to be a guwapito (of course, Mommy and Daddy are biased in this department).

The past 14 days have been humbling. Mommy thought she was ready with all the guidebooks she has read but she had to go through each and every one of them again and again after little mishaps.

In one of Mommy’s panic reading sessions (very similar to cramming for an exam), Daddy asked her, “Don’t you get confused with all these things that you’re reading?” Mommy said that she does not completely trust the advice she’s been getting from some of the hospital personnel and she’s doing her own research. Lest you think that we’re building you a Time Machine, the questions Mommy and Daddy have grappled with the past few days may sound surprisingly mundane to you. Examples: how to check if baby has jaundice; how much sun does baby need; how to sponge bath the baby; what to do about a colicky child; or how to clean the umbilical cord).

You’re asleep most of the time during the day we hardly had time to socialize. Mommy’s Infant Stimulation Program has flown out of the window past two weeks and has been substituted for the Parents-on-the-Job Training Program.

Q: How many people does it take to bathe the little pebble?
A: Three, and they're still not doing a very great job.           

We’re getting better though, little one. Yesterday, we’ve been able to wash you properly without making the whole procedure seem like a major surgical operation or absolute mayhem. Mommy and Daddy have asked for a demonstration on how to bathe you before we left the hospital but it seemed much more complicated to do at home. On our first try, Mommy forgot to wash your face. On another day, you pooped all over Daddy’s hand just as we finished washing your behind.

 

Am cool!

We’ve also been able to get you out of the flat and give you your sunbathing sessions (You look so cool lounging by the pool, Anton Lee Thomas with nary a care in the world). We’ve also managed now to get you into a schedule which has allowed Mommy and Daddy seven hours of sleep last night, interrupted only twice to feed you and clean you up.

What’s happened:

1.       On your first week, you could track your black-and-white checkerboard by 45 degrees! Not bad, little one, not bad at all.

Look! No more umbilical stump!

2.       Your Baby First Year’s Journal says that the umbilical stump generally falls off between the second and the fourth weeks. Your umbilical cord stump has fallen off by the end of your first week! 

3.       You love your head and face being washed but it’s quite another story with the rest of your body.

4.       By the end of your first week, you’ve been smiling a lot in your sleep. “What to Expect the First Year” says that most babies don’t smile in the true social sense before four to six weeks of age.  So most of your smiles now are just gas or may be signs of comfort and contentment.

5.       You can hiccup quite a lot (there is no known cause for a newborn’s hiccups; these are not bothersome to the baby but if its bothers the parents can be addressed by nursing the baby).

6.       When you do your toilet business, you make it sound like the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. “What to Expect the First Year” says that these movements and sounds are normal, the result of gas being forcefully expelled from an immature digestive system.

7.       The skin on your hands and legs are starting to peel. Your Baby First Year Journal says that this is a natural process that makes way for a new layer of skin.