Wordless Wednesday #76 | Outstanding!

Congratulations to my little man for being one of the Outstanding Pupils in Kindergarten! :)

Wordless Wednesday #72 | Graduation Photoshoot!

In just a few more weeks, my little man  will be saying goodbye to preschool!
Here's a sneak peek of his graduation photoshoot! :)

Wordless Wednesday #56 | Happy Birthday Maggie!

Happy Birthday to the prettiest niece in the planet! :)

Oh My Gulay!

July is Nutrition Month in the Philippines and every year, schools celebrate this occasion with activities related to food, good health, and proper diet.

The theme for this year's Nutrition Month celebration is "Pagkain ng gulay ugaliin, araw-araw ihain!" and its main focus is to encourage Filipinos to increase their vegetable consumption. By doing so, micronutrient deficiencies can be addressed and non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes can also be prevented.

The Learners' Academy (aka my son's school) celebrated Nutrition Month last Friday with various classroom activities. Take a look at what my son's Kindergarten class did at school.

Huge smile from my eager beaver.

Teacher Love shows the kids what they need to do.

Yue's turn to do it.

The kids prepared vegetable salad and calamansi juice for their snack, with the assistance of Teacher Love and Teacher Erlyn, of course.

Getting ready for the good stuff. :)

A blob of mayonnaise here... 

some carrots there...

Yue has so many questions in between, lol.

Mixing the ketchup...

Mix, mix, mix!

Now my son was never a picky eater, and making him eat vegetables has never been a problem. But his reaction to the carrot was epic.

The face that can ignite a war, lol.

He dipped the carrot in the ketchup-mayo mix, and the taste he found revolting. Haha! He's not too fond of either ketchup or mayonnaise, which is kinda ironic since I love mayo while the husband loves ketchup.

A-aaaa!

He has no complains about the apple, though. 'Round here, he's the Cookie Monster of apples, lol.

And when Teacher Love announced that it was time to make their own juice, the little man was more ready to pounce on the calamansi.

Check out my son's hair, inspired by Siwon of Super Junior. But of course. ;)

More of squeeze, actually.

Left hand...

Right hand...

Both hands in action! Haha!

This was one activity my son really enjoyed. He loves Elmo's Magical Cookbook a lot and he seems to have developed a liking for Gordon Ramsay and his bad-ass, don't-mess-with-the-chef attitude, so it's great that he had the chance to take a stab at 'cooking' like Elmo and Chef Ramsay.

And don't be surprised to see the moms hovering in the photos. We usually stay outside the school premises during class hours, but Teacher Love allowed us to enter the classroom so we could take photos of the kids. 

Thank you, Teacher Love and TLA for letting us capture these precious moments. Can't wait for the next school activity! Anticipating August! :)

Sharing with Green Monday, Oh, Snap!

My Shining Star!

Proof of the little man's amazing memory. And speaking skills.

Way to go, baby! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!  ♥ ♥ ♥

Sharing with Mommy Moments, Mellow Yellow Monday, and lots of Wordless Wednesdays. 

He's a Small Wonder.

A few days ago, I heard my son singing this out of the blue, "Naega jeil jal naga... naega jeil jal naga!" This means "I am the best", which is the chorus of 2NE1's hit song, I Am the Best. I was astonished, of course, because as far as I could remember, he heard this song no less than five times before. 


And then the other day, while we were at Bench shopping for my Super Junior shirt, the little man began belting out, "I love you, Baby I'm not a monster, Neon al janha ireoke kajima!" 
That's from the chorus of Big Bang's Monster, with the Hangul part meaning "You know me so don't leave like this." While he hears this song quite often - from the MYX Daily Top 10, at Arirang's Pops in Seoul, and from my 'Still Alive' CD - I never thought he'd be able to decipher the lyrics considering it's a Big Bang song.


My son has a pretty good memory - something I discovered even before he turned two. But I never expected his memory to be THIS amazing. 

He could already be working on his undergraduate thesis for all I know, lol.

Today, I came across an article from Austega, which gave me a better understanding of giftedness in my child. Looking at it from a broader spectrum, a gifted child exhibits exceptional ability in terms of the following:

• general intellect
• specific academic aptitude
• creative thinking and production
• leadership
• psychomotor
• visual and performing arts

A detailed list of characteristics can be found in this article.

The Circle of Moms simplifies this with an easy-to-understand checklist. The '20 Signs of Giftedness' are listed below:

1. Has early interest in words and reading
2. Has exceptionally large vocabulary for their age
3. Learns rapidly, easily and efficiently
4. Is curious about objects or situations, asks provocative questions; enjoys exploratory activities
5. Has an unusually strong memory, but is bored with memorization and recitation
6. Is flexible in thinking patterns; makes unusual associations between remote ideas 
7. Is independent
8. Has a wide range of interests
9. Demonstrates unusual reasoning power
10. Likes structure, order and consistency
11. Show unusual degrees of originality, concentration and persistent hard work on projects that capture their interest and imagination
12. Is perceptually open to his or her environment
13. Has an advanced sense of humor
14. Is sensitive to the feelings of others
15. Shows more interest in creative effort and new activities than in routine and repetitive tasks
16. Shows an intense interest and aptitude in an artistic activity, such as drawing, singing, dancing, writing, or playing a musical instrument
17. Is intellectually playful, interested in fantasy, imagination 
18. Acts as a leader among children of their own age
19. Tries to excel in almost everything she does
20. Senses when problems exist; always trying to adapt or improve things

*Note that no one gifted child exhibits all of these characteristics.

Highlighted in bold are the traits which we have observed in my son so far. And by 'we' that means I, my siblings, Yue's kindergarten teacher, and even the school directress.

Feel free to refer to this list as you discover and nourish the giftedness of your own child. As for me, I'm looking forward to being further amazed and astounded by my little progeny. :)

Hanguk Saram + Nihon Jin?

In her Facebook page, my Mum stated that her grandchildren are 'foreigners'.

One is Korean (referring to my son),

while the other is Japanese (referring to my niece).

She meant that in jest, of course. :)

Sharing with Pink Friday, Pink Saturday, Insta-Friday. 

My Little Kinder Kid.

The little man is now officially a student, as classes at The Learners Academy began last Thursday. It's been almost a month since their Summer School Readiness Program ended, and my eager beaver has become even more eager to go to school.

Yue enjoyed his summer class a lot, and was extremely fond of his teacher. It's a good thing that Yue will be under the care of Teacher Love again for the next ten months. I can't wait to see how my spoiled brat will turn into a fine young man once he finishes Kindergarten. Yes, he's in Kindergarten. And he's only 3.5 years old.

While I am looking forward to all the neat stuff that Yue will be bringing home (ergo, an artwork or a crafts project), the little man is anticipating more new toys from my brother.

His Ninong Joey (that's what he calls my brother) promised to get him the rest of the vehicles in this truck collection, provided that he behaves in class and brings home lots of stars.

That toy he's holding is actually his reward for bringing home all the stars plus a ribbon during the School Readiness Program's final week.

So far, we've successfully breezed through the first two days of school. Two days down, ten more months to go, lol! :)

Now excuse me while I wolf down this Mushroom Burger. I think I need to pull off an all-nighter with all my pending product reviews and sponsor spotlight articles. Thank goodness it's already the weekend! I can sleep late and wake up late if I want to. :)

Shared with Insta-Friday, PhotoStory Friday, Pink Friday, Pink Saturday, Food Friday, Food Trip Friday, and Yummy Sunday.

The Story of Dirty Tom.

Because I won my first speaking contest at age 2.5, I knew there'd be pressure on my little man (hello, stage grandmoms, lol). But it seems like Yue really takes after me when it comes to stuff like this. (Stubbornness included, haha!)

Here's Yue, now at age 3.5, reciting 'The Story of Dirty Tom'. This kid's got a pretty sharp memory so our next project will be... The Gettysburg Address. Hahaha! :)

Sharing with Wednesday Whites and Wordless Wednesdays all over the blogosphere. :)

Starry, Starry Summer!

My little man's summer school stars!

At this rate, I'll be able to form a constellation by the time summer school ends. :)

Shared with Wednesday Whites, Rednesday, Orange Tuesday, Color Connection, and lots of Wordless Wednesdays. 

The Age of Wonder.

Good morning, Moon Angel!

"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million." - Walt Streightiff

A Wordless Wednesday / Wednesday Whites post. :)

Genius at Work.

"Mommy, mag-drawing tayo," (Mommy, let's draw) Yue said to me this morning as soon as we were done having breakfast. I heaved an exasperated sigh. Not that I don't want to help him, it's just that my ability to draw can be described in two words. I suck.

My skills (or the lack thereof) pale in comparison to my brother (who is a graphics designer and web developer) and my sister (who has the knack for designing dresses, such as her wedding gown). Both of them obviously took after my Mum, who could have pursued a career in Fine Arts had my grandfather allowed her to. And that is why my stick figures and I, suck. Har.

Handing over some paper, a box of crayons, a drawing board, and a drawing board marker, I told Yue, "Ikaw muna mag-drawing, ha. Hugas lang ako ng plates natin." (You go ahead and draw while I clean the dishes first.) Not sensing that this was my escape route, he willingly obliged, settled down in his study table, and began to draw.

A few minutes later he came running to the kitchen. "Mommy, ang galing ko mag-drawing!" (Mommy, I'm good at drawing!), he exclaimed. And then he showed me this.

Yue's artwork, 23 January 2012.

One look at his drawing and I knew this kid is really something else. "Wow! Very good! Ginaya mo yung mga alien!" (You copied the aliens!") I said. Yue corrected me matter-of-factly, "Hindi po ah. Ikaw yan, saka si Daddy, saka ako." (Of course not. That's you, and Daddy, and me.) I was so touched and impressed by my son's genius that tears were threatening to well up in my eyes.

Hello, van Gogh! Proudly showing off his artwork.

"Very good ka talaga anak," (You're very good, my son) I said as I ruffled his hair and scooped him up for a big hug. "Syempre Mommy, ang galing ko magdrawing parang ikaw!" (Of course! I'm good at drawing just like you) he beamed. My three-year-old's unintentional sarcasm then sent me into a fit of laughter.

My son's smarts and congeniality has earned him praises several times before. Most of them even come from strangers, or random people that we meet while we're out in public (ie, at the mall or at the doctor's clinic). A friend even encouraged me to have his IQ tested and measured because he thinks Yue is really a genius. I didn't take it seriously, but this drawing is now giving me the thought. Especially after I found these.

http://gleigh.tripod.com/gftskills.htm

http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

Must speak with Yue's pedia soon. :)

My Little Money Mogul | Talking Money with your Toddler.

A few days ago, my two boys had a very interesting conversation via Skype.

Yue: (asking out of the blue) Daddy, anong gusto mong gift? [Daddy, what gift do you want?]
Daddy: (seemingly dumbfounded) Aba bakit? May pera kang pambili? [Oh, why? You have money to buy with?]
Yue: Opo! Andun sa Juju ko. (He calls his coin bank Juju.) [Yes! It's in my Juju]
Daddy: Aba, madami ka nang pera? Pahingi naman. [Really? You have lots of money? Give me some.]
Yue: (shaking his head profusely) Hindi pwede. Dun lang yun. Ipon ko yun eh. [I can't. That's my savings.]

My boys, who are carbon copies of each other. :)

This took me by surprise too, but I was all the more pleased when I heard this. It seems like my little man is really starting to learn the value of money, which is something I had been taught at an early age. Who would have thought that a self-confessed shopaholic like me can be very frugal as well?

My mom has been working overseas since I was in grade school. She goes on vacation at least twice a year, and sends money home every month. Handling the monthly allowance used to be my grandmother's responsibility (those days, we were left under her care); when I turned 16, this task was turned over to me. I was then in charge of managing and budgeting our monthly allowance, which covers our school allowance, monthly bills, and food expenses. It wasn't easy, but I somehow managed to pull it off. After four years, I then turned over the responsibility to my younger brother.

Having learned a lot from this experience, I wanted my son to be money-wise even while he's young. And the simplest way to do that is by giving him his own coin bank, which he can 'feed'.

Juju, the cow bank. Because he's not a pig, obviously.

This cow is a picky eater, though. He 'eats' only 5-peso and 10-peso coins; denominations lower than that won't be accepted. Peso bills are okay, too. But it has to be at least 50-pesos. (Whoa! This cow really watches what he eats!)

I take Yue to practically everywhere I go, so he's pretty much aware that riding the public transport entails money. He knows that you have to 'give the driver money so you can ride' and sees to it that he'll be the one to do that. He feels a sense of responsibility that way. And will throw a fit otherwise.

He's been to the bank countless times, and he knows that it's the place where money is kept. And since we do errands and go shopping together, he knows that his clothes, his toys, his milk, and even his favorite chocolate bars are 'bought and not given free'. And because I almost always make a fuss over wasting electricity, Yue now has the habit of turning the telly off when he's done watching and turning the lights out when he's leaving the bedroom.

Ask him where his Dad his and he'll say, "In Korea." Ask him again why and he'll answer, "Work. To buy me milk and toys and shoes." That is the reality, after all. Nothing in this world is free, and money doesn't grow on trees.

Saving for a rainy day.

Earlier today, Yue gave me a lecture of his own. Running to me with an envelope in hand he asks, "Mommy, nagbayad ka na ng bill? Mapuputulan tayo ng telepono sige ka." [Mommy, have you paid our bills? They'll cut off our phone if you don't.]


Owkaaaay. I may have overdone this money-wise thing. My three-year-old nagging me over household utilities? That's a milestone.

And for the record, that was my credit card statement he was holding. And the telephone bill has long been paid.



Linking this to





Because life is about learning. :)
And to Mellow Yellow, because of Juju. :D