Family Bytes

   

 

Ryle's Tito Ninong Ronald and Tita Mai gave him a gift set of educational VCDs. Included in the videos were Math, Sounds, Colors and the Solar System. At first we thought that he will never be interested in such videos because of the manner they were presented. The videos were made way back circa 1990, so they lack the hi-tech graphics, animations and vivid colors and just came with simple narration. But then, Ryle was curiously stuck on the TV when we tried playing them. The video that caught his attention the most is the Solar System. He was very attentive to it. And instantly he was glued and played the video over and over.

That's when we decided to buy him science and astronomy books to boost his interest. And before long, he was able to enumerate the names of the planets from Mercury to the now demoted Pluto . He was able to distinguished the planets upon seeing them especially Jupiter and of course Saturn, his favorite because of the rings. He was able to identify sunspots, satellites, astronauts, space suits, rocket ship, orbits, constellation, craters, telescope and even Galileo. My wife pushed it further by letting him identify some of the prominent moons of Jupiter: Ganimede, Calisto, Io, Europa.

Because of that I was inspired to make him a Solar System Model made out of styrofoam balls which I painstakingly painted. He was so loving it naming the planets.

We were just mere spectators in tonight's Lenten procession. The last time we joined, Ryle had an asthma attack after. Maybe because of the candle fumes, dust and exhaustion. Ryle had a fun time mingling with the kids who were holding clappers called Clotarus by some or Matraka by others, not sure though which one is the right term. This as I learned replaces the suppressed bells of the church during this period of mourning. Little boys usually rattle them loud to announce the procession. It was a simple procession but attended by many. We will attend one next year, by then Ryle will be in much tougher shape. His asthma attacks has been declining. (My apologies for the not so vivid images. Either because I was a lousy shooter or my digital camera is not hi-tech enough to capture images in dark sceneries.)

Last night, Ryle had an accident. His ring and middle fingers got pinned by the door. The dumbest thing is that I was to blame.

He told me that he wanted to wee-wee. So I accompanied him to the bathroom and just let do his thing by the bathroom floor as always. Adjacent to the bathroom is another door going to our laundry area. I did not notice where his hands were and I wasn't looking at all when I slammed and closed the door.

That's when I heard his loudest scream he ever made as he cried in searing pain. My heart sank when I realized what I had just done. My wife quickly gathered him up, his nanny immediately took ice from the ref and I stood there continually cursing myself for being so stupid.

It was nearly an hour before his pain subsided and stopped crying. Thankfully, he was able to wiggle his fingers after, an indication that there was no fracture. It was an agony to think that I caused him such pain. And I cried with him while telling him daddy was very sorry.

That experience was one hell of a lesson in Child Rearing 101. Always make it a point to look where their hands are before closing anything be it a door, your closet or drawers.

Today is Ryle's exam day. My wife and I, are planning to get him his first taste of school this year. We first thought of bringing him to a montessori accredited school but the lack of it in our community hindered this plan. There was one actually which we checked but it did not meet our expectations so instead we'll try the traditional school first which is just a stone's throw away from our house.

Well, as expected he passed his test with flying colors. The first test was to observe him if he can go about with others without us being there. So the examiner sent us away for a moment while he stays and he did. He even said to the teacher, "I'll wait here!"

Next he impressed them with his thorough knowledge of various animals, shapes and colors. He expressed himself articulately and he wasn't intimidated at all. He'll be in nursery this coming June. Our baby boy is n ow a school boy. (sigh)

Ryle's inquisitive nature recently turned to our computer. So I installed Jumpstart Pre-school program (a very nice program for little toots his age) for him to work on. And almost instantly he was able to grasp the concept. He did take some time controlling the mouse but was able to master it after a few sessions. The only thing that he has hard time on is drag and drop control.

He loves to tinker around and click on things so I brought him to the Disney Playhouse site so he can explore some more. His instant favorites are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, BunnyTown and Handy Manny. He also loved Go Baby. It was in Go Baby where I saw him distinguished and associated different objects for every given scenario. Like objects found in the farm, in the bathroom, in space or in the beach. He's also very fond with Handy Manny's Carnival games and Pipe Puzzle.

Now we are the one controlling his time in front of the computer.