Family Bytes

My wife and I were having a chatter one day when out of nowhere our Ryle blurted what seemed like “Latin” words to us.

We listened to him for a moment as we persuade him to repeat what he just said. And our faces contorted, stumped as we cannot make out a coherent understanding to what he is saying.

So we asked him what’s he talking about. And he said they are the moons of Saturn. “Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Rhea, Iapetus and Titan”, he repeated.

I let him repeat for the nth time while I opened mister dependable google and voila! I was laughing my heart out as I listen to him while browsing through the listings of Saturn’s moons!

It’s the day we found out our baby’s gender. We were 100% expecting to be a girl but the OB said she’s 1000 and 1 percent sure it’s a boy! Well, Ryle will have a playmate after all while mommy and daddy needs to re-think baby names again. Be it a boy or a girl, he’s a wonderful blessing which we are truly thankful. The more important thing is that he is a healthy baby.

Our big boy on his way to school.

Ryle busy at work. He sometimes refer to his school as his office. Because that’s where mommy and daddy go every weekday so he must also has his own.

Summer vacation is over. Today is Ryle’s first day in his new school, Child’s SPACE. It’s a progressive type preschool. He call it the solar system school because that was their theme way back when we had a seat-in class. I hope he won’t be disappointed if the school changed to a new theme this school year. He is coming in Kinder I.

He’s quite cranky this morning but we have to wake him up because his class starts at 8:00. I do hope he’ll enjoy the first day, with his new classmates and new teacher.

Another worry-week for us. Ryle had fever last week. It had us worried because the fever reached as high as 40 degrees C (104 degrees F). It was a week of restlessness and sleepless nights. We took turns giving him sponge bath every time the fever surges.

Scary Moment

The scariest moment was when he threw-up the Advil that I gave and I wasn’t sure if he ingested it or not. When his fever wasn’t subsiding, I followed it up with paracetamol as per his pediatrician’s advice. It came to a point where he muttered, “Please help me.” And it crushed our hearts because we can only do so much to help him. But thank God, he responded well to the medicines.

Please let it not be Dengue!

The next thing to worry about was the underlying cause of the fever. The doctor’s initial diagnosis is viral-caused. We were deeply worried that he contracted Dengue fever. Living in this part of the world where dengue is prevalent, we really need to be certain. There were reports that dengue cases have risen up even though it seldom rains. On his third-day the pediatrician recommended CBC platelet and urinalysis. Both were negative.

Fourth Day

On his fourth day, his fever subsided and was completely gone in the afternoon. Then we noticed that some rashes started to appear on his face. The pediatrician ruled out dengue because he didn’t appear sick and is playful. We decided to go to the hospital anyway just to be sure. He had another CBC test and again it was negative. The rashes continue to appear on his face, his back and tummy, but then faded two days later. 

Thank God it was really viral.

Ryle has been clamoring to go to the beach all day. He says, “Remember we rode the mini van. Remember we rode the boat and then we swim like this,” (then flexing his arms and hands like a butterfly swimmer). “And then I build castle in the sand". Of course, he was talking about our summer getaway last year in Grande Island, Subic. We would persist that we can always go and swim in a swimming pool. But he answered back, “No! Not in the square swimming pool.” With his very young mind, everything is fresh. Now he has left the burden to us to find  where  the nearest and the cheapest beach getaway, because, financially, this is not in our schedule. (sigh)

Happy Mother’s Day to my lovely wife, to our mommy and nanay who are always there every time we need motherly care. We had a simple celebration at Shakey’s (a pizza restaurant that has seized to exist in some parts of the world but still popular here) and availed of their Monster meal promo. The meal was deliciously superb and had plenty of leftovers after.  

Scooter or bike, scooter or bike, he self-debated between which one to choose and eventually he settled for both. Of course, he can’t have both at the same time. These things come as a result of consequence. Because he did good in school, he got the bike first. It’s kind of a reward every time he does his best or as the fulfillment of an erstwhile promise. He loves riding his bike, racing with older boys at times. The scooter can wait. 

Good morning! It’s a beautiful day today! Is that your mantra when you wake up in the morning? Do you smile and thank the Lord for giving you another wonderful day? Or do feel so sluggish and almost drag yourself to do your task? Do you almost curse this day for you picture a terrible day ahead—unmet deadlines, failing grades, lay-offs, zero sales?

What you have in mind right now is what is going to happen. Maybe not today or the next day, but surely it would happen when you conceive that thought and believe with all your heart that it will happen sooner or later. The universe will conspire to make it happen and your strong conviction will push you to act towards the realization of your thoughts whether it is negative or positive.

Your negative thoughts, your worries, your fears, your apprehensions would not be that bad if you just let it pass and combat them with positive thoughts and actions. However, if you invite them over dinner and feed all these to your being day in and day out, it would work like a magnet and would wreak havoc to you life. And in no time you would find yourself paralyzed—your growth is stunted and you will never rise above any challenges that you would encounter.

On the other hand, meeting a brand new day with a grateful heart, looking forward to a wonderful day ahead, and being open to God’s graces and blessings are surely the best ways to make your day. No amount of financial crisis, recessions, lay-offs, would dampen your spirit when you have decided to always look at the silver lining in the face of any adversities.

I’ve been on both sides of the coin at one point or another. I’ve experienced living in pessimism and I tell you, it seems like I had a taste of hell. Happiness then was ever elusive. My cynicism prevented me from enjoying life to the fullest and from seeing the beauty and the gift of life until that one providential day that I found balance. The beacon of light shone upon me and introduced me into the world of optimism. My life has never been better since then. I still have bouts of skepticism from time to time, though, for I am still a “work in progress”. But now that I have a taste of heaven, I’m pretty sure that I would never want to go back to the other side.

Based on my experience, I could say that the quality of our life depends on the quality of our thoughts and the product of our actions. Our life is what we make it—it is what our thoughts and actions make it. Our circumstances do not define happiness, rather, it is our attitude towards life and what it brings that draws the line between happiness and despair.

Life is what you make it. The choice is yours.

Ryle’s interests switches again from solar system to dinosaurs. A week before, he was so engrossed with the planets. He played and replayed his solar system video every now and then. And then all of a sudden, triceratops gets in to the picture, then stegosaurus, T-rex, and the rest of his dinosaur toys. He requested one day to have another triceratops, a much bigger model than the one he already has. We wanted to fulfill his request but, couldn’t find a bigger model from the toy shops. Well we hope he’ll shift his interest to another subject so he’ll forget his long overdue triceratops. 

Have you ever wondered where your friends are? Have you ever wondered what happened to your friendship? I used to have delusions about friendship. When I was younger, I thought all my friends back then could still be my friends until the day I die. I would say I was blessed with so many friends. I was able to build friendships from all the offices and organizations that I’ve been. Now that I’m in my 30’s, I can count my true friends in my fingers.

Would you judge me that I am not a friend keeper, or would you agree with me that as we grow older, we’re no longer concerned with the number of friends that we have, but with the quality of friendship that we build. It matters not who came first, but who stayed until the end.

Upon reflecting the friends that I have and once had and the friendships that we built through the years, I’ve realized quite a number of things. Let me list down ten of those realizations. I realized:

1. That betrayal of trust is the number one reason that breaks the friendship.
2. That sometimes friendship falls apart for no major reason at all. You just simply outgrow each other.
3. That distance is not a hindrance to a friendship if you really love and treasure each other.
4. That you can have more than one best friends.
5. That when you’re down in the dumps, a word, a smile, and a hand from your friend can bring you back to life.
6. That common values and interests between friends make the bond stronger.
7. That a true friend will always be happy and proud of your accomplishments and will always share with your joys as well as your sorrows.
8. That a true friend will never be tired of saying a prayer or two for you.
9. That even in friendship, it takes two to tango. Both must exert the effort to keep in touch and update with each other’s lives.
10. That when you made mistakes and make a fool of yourself, a friend will not walk out on you. A true friend will be with you and will support you while you’re in the process of picking up your broken pieces.

I have realized a lot more, but the best realization that I will forever be thankful for is that in this time and age that we seldom find true friends, God blessed me with genuine ones.

A few may have not stood the test of time, thanks for the friendship that we once shared anyway. No regrets, we had good times. Hope you’re all happy as much as I do.

And for my true and best friends, who continue to share the friendship with me through thick and thin and until all our hairs become silver gray (you know who you are. Labs, you’re one of them) thanks so much and I love you! You are indeed my angels here on earth.

To beat the summer heat, the gang went for a splash in Daza Plaza swimming pool at Camp Aguinaldo. Ryle was so loving it. The kiddie pool is chest-deep relative to his height but he was not terrified at all. There were a number of times when he slipped underneath which caused him to submerge and taking a gulp but that did not worry him instead he kept on having fun. We had fun. The swim was a relief from the scorching summer heat which reached a record 38 degrees at times.  

Ryle stayed on the pool, playing with his cousin and the other kids for nearly three hours. He just doesn’t want to come out of the pool. Because he loves the water so much we are planning on enrolling him to a swimming program this summer.

Ryle has been clamoring for an Easter egg hunt but we didn’t know a place where there’s one. So mommy said to make him Easter eggs and let him hunt in the house. So I made the eggs, painted them with different designs complete with a map which he can follow in order to find the eggs. He did find the eggs reading the map, following the arrows and the clues. Maybe next time we’ll try to find a place that provides such event. Happy Easter everyone!     

Ryle graduates from nursery.

We thought he was not yet ready for school but we put him in a big school anyway and not the usual playschool for tots. Problem is he was too playful and really wasn’t that attentive. Its either he was too bored or the teacher just doesn’t know how to approach the behavior. Anyways, he managed to grab the 6th spot from a class of 14 so he was included in the Ten Most Outstanding pupils of their class.

The school’s method of teaching was really traditional and very academic. They did focused too much on books and curriculum. Teachers doesn’t adapt to the student’s needs unlike the progressive approach in which the teacher adjusts to the student’s development. In a way, we were not satisfied. We think that he’s missing a lot from the traditional type.

Come next school year, we will be enrolling him to a progressive type school. We already sat him in on one of their classes and surely he was more attentive.

He did have fun from his first school. His teachers were very fond of him. He made friends. For sure he’ll miss his old teachers and classmates and pretty sure, they’ll miss him too.

We are very excited! We have planned for this and we’re half-expecting every time my wife has delays. And then one day, she felt something, kind of a woman’s instinct,  and the test showed it all. We got it confirmed from her ultrasound. She’s now on her fourth week.

We’re expecting a fourth member of our family. My wife is crossing her fingers, hoping that it will be a girl. In fact she has been thinking of girl names and very excited about it. I hope too that it will be a girl but whichever God will bless us, I’m cool with it.