Manila Zoo

There are two books you quite enjoy these days: a book on baby animals and a spiral book on zoo animals which Kent gave away at his 7th birthday party.

Mommy has thought some time ago to take you to the zoo so you can see what these animals look like in real life (so, so much bigger!) The trip was brought forward as there have been newspaper accounts that Maali, the resident elephant at the Manila Zoo, might be transferred. We had to pay Maali a visit just in case the reports turn out to be true (Not true, said the new Mayor of Manila who is the Philippines’ ex-President who was almost impeached from office but was not because the procedure was aborted but he had to leave his office anyway, because of People Power. And they call the United States the land of opportunity? Bah, as you see, in the Philippines, even ex-Presidents who’ve served detention time can be re-elected to public office.)

Sorry, Mommy digressed (digress means to go another way or to take a different path; this is similar to us going inside the bookstore when we are supposed to be doing our grocery).

Anyway, back to our zoo story.  Last Sunday, we went together with your friend Alon (of course Alon’s nanay, tatay, and yaya) to visit Maali.  Hmmm... Did not look like you boys were impressed with Maali’s long trunk nor Maali's flapping ears!

Two not so excited little boys with Maali in the background


We went to see the rhino, monkeys, a school of fish (now, Alon perked up on this one!), tigers, cockatoo, peacock, and a zebra (You have to remember this Anton Lee: In the Philippines, you pronounce “zebra” as “zee-bra” but “zeh-bra” when you are in Australia.  This is because the Philippines follows the American-English pronunciation while Australia follows the British-English pronunciation).

 

 Do you remember what quite impressed you? It was the… Giraffe!  He was sooo tall!

 Sadly, the Giraffe wasn’t real (Can’t blame you though. He looked real enough to Mommy).  Daddy has promised that you’ll get to see a real one in two weeks’ time.

PS:  There are interesting things we’re learning from your book on baby animals.  A baby Monkey is called an Infant; a baby Elephant is called a Calf; a baby Zebra (don’t forget what Mommy has just told you about the pronunciation!) is called a Foal. Oh, a baby Vulture is called a Chick (fancy that!)

PS2:  Mommy doesn’t like name-calling as it shows a total lack of imagination and an inability to intelligently defend your position. For example, if you’re losing an argument, you cannot say, “Hey Monkey-face, go back to your cave!” It is so wrong. But if you must resort to name-calling (this is really reserved for extreme cases), you can perhaps say, “You’re such a Jellyfish”.  You know why that’s extreme? A jellyfish does not have eyes, ears, heart, or a brain. Ha.

PS3: This trip to the Manila Zoo goes to show how much you’ve changed Mommy.  Mommy’s been living in this metropolis for more than half of her life, has been working in an office which is practically next door to the zoo for more than seven years, and has managed to see this same zoo only four days ago.  Because of you. And not because Maali might be leaving.

anton lee @ 11 months (part 2)

Oh, at 11 months you can

. . . pick out your bedtime book from the shelf

 

. . . entertain yourself

 

. . . can (most of the time) make your wants understood by pointing and using hand signs (your  favourite being the hand sign for “book” [show by flipping both hands, palms up])

But you know what’s best of all about you turning 11 months?
We’re getting a lot more cuddles and hugs from our belloching!

 

how we announced your arrival

Daddy and Mommy were married on 11 November 2011 in Australia.  One month and a half later, you came to us.  Can you imagine how excited we were of soon becoming a happy threesome?

Mommy and Daddy kept the news to themselves for several weeks until they were able to check with your doctor that you were truly on the way.  Ten weeks later, when the ultrasound test result confirmed you, that was when Mommy and Daddy decided to announce your arrival.

It was a beautiful day.  Mommy and Daddy solemnized their wedding vows in Church (you see, because of the concept of separation of Church and State, even if a couple gets married under the laws of the State, they have to go through another rite to be considered married before the Church, and vice versa).  About 120 relatives and very close friends came to witness Mommy and Daddy say their vows. Mommy’s former workmates in the real estate company she used to work for helped Mommy and Daddy to be able to get married in this chapel in the Philippines.  It was previously not allowed to have marriages celebrated in said chapel because of certain Church regulations on jurisdiction (oh yeah, you will be meeting these words "regulation" and "jurisdiction" often as you go through life, but let this not be your concern for now, little one).

 

The priest blessed Mommy and Daddy and told them to become good parents (the Priest must have had superpower vision to see you inside Mommy’s tummy!).

 

 

 Then we all proceeded to the hotel nearby for dinner.  Your Ninang Menchu and Mommy’s former workmates in this hotel ensured that we’d have a really nice time.  Your Tita Blessy even lent us her nice, white car!

 

An elegant quartet provided us music all throughout. But it was the numbers given by your Tito Ian, Tita Maimai, Ninong Matt, and Kuya Julian which made the evening quite special.  Your Ninang Cristine and Tito Frank also gave touching messages.

Towards the end of the evening, that’s when Mommy and Daddy announced your arrival.  As the saying goes, "we saved the best for last". Your Daddy raised his champagne glass and proudly said that you were now 10 weeks inside Mommy’s tummy. Everyone broke into loud cheers! Then the quartet played some more music.

 

You see how proud we are of you, our dearest Anton Lee?

first flight, first holiday

In three weeks’ time, we will be flying back again to Adelaide.  This is the second time you will be doing an international flight, the first one being last Easter time, when you just turned six months. 

But do you remember when you took your first flight? This was in December 2012, when you were three months and one week. We flew to Tacloban City to spend the holidays with family on Mommy’s side. This trip was memorable for several reasons. 

It was the first time that Mommy’s family got to see you. They said you look like Daddy! Your lolo even kept calling you "Vinci"!

 

with Kuya Karl, Ate Kim, and Kuya Julian

That year, you were the newest member of Mommy’s big, happy clan.  As you grow older, you will see how fun it is being with this big, rowdy family. Mommy spent so many wonderful summers playing with her cousins (your titos and titas).

It was during this holiday that you started getting really interested in books.  This was probably because the books Daddy brought you were the ones that gave you your “a-ha!” moment.  The books were a three-volume set of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald’s Farm, and The Wheels on the Bus.  These were colourful, hard books with pictures that could be rotated. We’ve got your friend Jack to thank these for.

 

It was also during this holiday that you were able to hold your head.  At two months, you could already briefly hold your head but it was in this trip that you started to do this with confidence.  When we were on our flight back home, we had to use the tarmac to disembark from the plane. Oh boy, the tarmac was the type that we had to go down several steps. Mommy used her left hand to carry you and her right hand to hold on to the railing.  You dear belloching, bravely held your head up high as we navigated the steps.  The ground crew applauded when we reached the last step!



One luggage for Daddy, one for Mommy
and another for Anton Lee!

This is why Mommy and Daddy are big believers of travel. Trips are not only fun but provide vast opportunities for experiencing and learning new things!

Christmas day at the Leyte Park Hotel



 PS: We spent your first New Year at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.  This is a tradition in our little family. Each new year, we try to spend it in a new, different place.

 

well done, port adelaide!

Anton Lee: "Hmmmm.... hmmmm... I think I might now consider rooting for Daddy's team."

P.S. Sorry, Anton, this is actually one of the areas in which you do not have a real choice. Check out the word "pre-determined" in the dictionary. Even before you were born, Daddy said we had to be for Port Adelaide. As he has been for the past 42 years. Also look up the word "steadfast" in the dictionary.

anton lee @ 11 months (part 1)

Good morning world! I am now 11 months!

Daddy wrote this poem for you (yes, Daddy will give that bard Shakespeare some serious competition):

I’ve learned how to sit, stand, laugh, and squeal
Now I can “walk”,
It’s been almost a year!
The fun has only begun
Who would have guessed
I’m about to turn one!

There were two activities this month which you were so passionate about:

Looking at your books -

Anton Lee's indignant "do not disturb me" look at 10.25 months

Also interested in Mommy's book!

 

"What does the lion say?" "Roar!"

 

and learning to walk -

Thank you Abby for lending me your Moonwalker!

 

In between these two very serious, time-consuming activities, you’ve managed to make some new friends. As the great boxer Muhammad Ali said, “Friendship… is not something you learn in school.  But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”

Antonella's 1st birthday party

with Caterina and Matthew

"Hello Harold, glad to meet you!"



with Abby

with Nathan and first friend Alon

shout out to the www

A New York Times article recently came up with this question on whether posting photos of one’s baby on Facebook, constitutes a violation of the baby’s privacy.  This got us to asking ourselves whether this Blog violates your privacy, Anton Lee Thomas.

Your site is viewable by anyone who can connect to the worldwideweb (WWW). The photos we post and the stories that we tell about you can be accessed by the public.  If violation of privacy means that we share details of your personal life to people other than our close friends and members of our families, then yes, this Blog does to a certain extent infringe on your privacy.

But do you remember when we put up posters on the wall last week? You could not contain your joy.  You could not stop looking at the posters.  You only napped when we changed our sleeping position so you can continue looking at the wall.  One week after, you still get this big smile on your face when Mommy props you up and we “read” aloud the colours, numbers, and match the little boy’s body parts with yours. Your joy spills over and you squeal in delight.
 

 

Such is our joy in you, bello. When you came to us, we were (and still are!) struck with so much awe.  We can’t contain our delight in you.  We need to share this amazement and this happiness. Our joy spills over.

That’s why we put up a Blog for you.  One day when you can read this by yourself, you will know just how much love we have for you, how you've changed our lives for the better (which we thought was already pretty good before you came along!), how thankful we are that you’ve joined our family, how we try to be the best parents that we can be for you (it’s a trial and error thing belloching, Mommy and Daddy never had a baby before), and how we think you’re just about the most perfect little thing out there in the universe. 

You’re our most precious and we just have to make this shout out to the WWW.

PS. We make sure that there is nothing in this Blog that will threaten your security (we don't disclose  full names and addresses nor plans/locations of where you are going to be);  embarrass you; compromise  your chances of entering the university of your choice; or give your prospective employers a reason not to take you in.