And just like that... Cassandra's TWO.

I'm sure some may have heard these from our elders...
​
​"Enjoy your kids while they're young, pretty soon you'll realize that they're all grown up"

​Yes, they're right.

It was a quick two years... probably because of the series of life events that happened... or just plainly how life works.  This year, we celebrated Cassandra's 2nd birthday with our closest relatives and friends at Jollibee.  It's amazing how they designed his face to appeal to toddlers.

Funny thing about Cassandra is that she tries not to smile whenever we're taking her pictures.  It's one of the greatest challenge for us as a photographer couple as we're able to make most kids smile except her.  During her birthday, there are even scenarios where she was super happy but when we focused the camera on her, she tries so hard to cover her smile.

Looking at our rare family picture, I just can't imagine a decade ago that God would bless me this much.  Now our youngest turned two, I look forward to how can God even bless us more.

Some say that we have to watch out for the TERRIBLE TWO.  But I would rather think of it as her TERRIFIC TWO.  Just adding up a dose of positivity in this world enveloped by negativity.  As a parent, I know that it'll be another milestone of always running after Cassandra so she won't fall while running, or prevent her from sticking her tongue in the power outlet, or even stand up on her high chair... but nothing would beat seeing her light up and laugh about all these tiny discoveries she will experience on her life as a two-year old.  And with these simple joys, more terrific adventures await us...

Speaking of how time flies fast, seeing Ate Amanda on this shot made time fly faster.  I know that no matter how I want them to stay as Daddy's Little girls, soon they'll be adults and will be making a good difference in this world.

Cassandra's birthday reminded me of three things:

1. Masks cannot cover feelings.  Before the party started, we overheard the man behind the Jollibee mascot talking someone on the phone and was shouting at the top of his voice.  He's upset to something or at someone.  In short, he's really angry just before he wears that Jollibee costume.  The result, when Jollibee showed up at the party and tries to hold Cassandra's hand, she said... "NO!"  Maybe kids have this sixth sense. That no matter how happy and jolly Jollibee's face, they can feel the negative aura of the person wearing it.  Take note that we chose Jollibee because this red happy mascot always light up her face when she sees one in the street.  We were quite surprised she acted that way when she saw Jollibee in person.
2. Presence not presents.  We were touched by the people who made it to the party despite the horrible traffic in C5 during that time.  One of Cassandra's Lolos was there despite recovering from an operation. Some came all the way from Cebu. And others despite their busy schedules, freed up some time just to be there. Truly, the best things in life are not things... but people who invested their time to be with you because they love you.

Last week, we celebrated Amanda's Fifth birthday.  Our first itinerary was her request long time ago during their field trip.  She wanted to go back to Kidzania.  So we took the morning session as we assume there will be lots of kids in the afternoon as this was a Sunday.  And true enough, there are only a few kids which means she doesn't need to line up that long when taking the make-believe jobs.

To start off her experience, she had a bonding time with mommy at the lounge to create bento boxes.  A creative way to entice kids to eat.  While they are busy preparing their lunch boxes, me and Cassandra went into the toddler rooms.  

After the bento making sessions, Amanda went to her first job at Cebu Pacific as a pilot.  Hello there Captain Amanda!

Then she went on to the hospital emergency room to become a paramedic.  Below is Doc Amanda to the rescue.

After the quick briefing, they hurriedly went to the ambulance as there was an emergency call.  Someone is in trouble.  Hope they could be there on time.

At the accident site, they found the patient.  Doc Amanda applied what she learned to help him out.

She then went to Holiday Inn to be a housekeeper.  I think this is the task she can readily do at home.

I found an article before about Navy Seals why they make sure they fix their beds at the start of the morning. It's the first accomplishment a person can achieve so she can complete bigger tasks throughout the day... a good way to jumpstart any day.

After the job hopping,  it was time to finally unwind and be kikay...

Can't believe that it's been five years.  There were a lot of unknowns when Amanda was in Mommy's tummy.  But God prepared us so we can overcome our fears and help raise a beautiful, smart, loving, talented and God fearing girl.

Happy Fifth birthday Amanda. Mommy, Daddy and Baby Cassandra love you so much!

Happy birthday Mommy Cali!

Just would like to thank and honor you for always taking care of us.  I know it's super difficult to stay sane with all the demands of motherhood and our growing Peek 'n Click business, but you stayed stronger and more beautiful than ever.

​To my #OTL, I love you and happy birthday!

This is Amanda when she was about six months old.  Last April 17 we celebrated Ate Amanda's fourth birthday.  Time flies (I think I'll always say this for every birthday blog that I'll write for my kids)

#LatePost

To celebrate her birthday we planned on surprising her as soon as she wakes up in the morning.  So while she was sleeping last night (she was fully asleep as early as 6pm since she got too tired on her first taekwondo class), Cali fixed the balloons in the room, while I got the special cake we ordered from her Tita Sharon.

Four things that make me feel she's growing 
too fast:

1. Her English vocabulary is getting bigger. - Well it's not only English but she's able to talk straight in Filipino now.  Thanks to her cousin playmate Edan, as she was forced to talk in Filipino everytime they play at Mama's house.
   
2. Imagination is at an all time high - It's only now that I begin to appreciate that lego blocks really help in developing a child's imagination.  Although there were instructions in the box, she often builds a different structure after making the default one dictated by the instructions.
   
3. She chooses what to wear.  She has her own fashion already, and mommy cannot dictate her what to wear anymore :)
4. She composes music on the fly.  When she's playing pretend, as she acts, she makes her dialogues musical.  It's like watching a broadway play when she's playing.

April 27, 2014 - Caliwag, Pasig

Irregardless of age, financial status or gender, everyone can share something for those who don't have enough.

As a rookie dad, I wanted Amanda to learn the value of living not just for herself but to have the genuine concern of loving others.  I believe that it's one of the ways to live life to the full.  And hopefully starting her young even if it seems that she doesn't understand is a way to expose her that not all kids experience the same blessings as what she has and that it's perfectly ok to aim to have more than enough blessings so that she can share them to others.

So starting on her first birthday, even though she's just barely walking, we coordinated with our SFC brothers and sisters serving in Caliwag to celebrate a simple birthday with our kids there. The same went on last year and on Champee's third birthday this year, it was pretty amazing since she's able to participate in some of the activities already.

Three things I've observed: 

1. Kids are highly engaged on music - There's lot of dancing and singing at the start and end of the program.  Pretty much the same with all of any of our community activities as we use song and dance as a prayer.  Thinking about it, when you put melody on words, it's easier absorbed by our subconscious and easier to infuse on our habits as well therefore transforming lives easier.  Consequently, aside from actions... if you're having a hard time teaching your kids about anything, try to make a simple tune out of the instructions you want them to follow.  For example if you want kids to cleanup after playing, maybe you could say "Clean up, clean up... " to the tune of "Bahay Kubo?"
   
2. Kids need special nourishment on both the body and spirit.  The kids' regular activities consist of the opening and closing dancing/singing prayer, games which helps them interact with each other and encourages cooperation for the seniors and story telling plus arts and crafts for the juniors to hone their basic skills.  It was a complete package to feed their spirit and intellect.  The second portion was the feeding program.  And this is where Amanda and other sponsors in the past greatly contributes into nourishing these kids physically through providing them food.  What's different about this year was that Amanda is now old enough to participate in the food distribution and was assigned as our juice girl :)  In her own little way, she's able to actively participate in nourishing tummies of other kids.
3. We could do more.  I know the committed brothers and sisters serving the kids could have spent their time resting on a Sunday afternoon.  But they offer their time, talents and treasures to make a difference in these kids' lives every week to teach songs, games and introduce God in their lives hoping that when they grow up, they'll grow up as loving and responsible adults.  Having this once a year Champee birthday helped them just for this week, but i do hope that we could also raise funds for them to make their venue accommodate more children and encourage more volunteers to keep this activity going,

I would like to honor the brothers and sisters who helped us with Champee's birthday at Caliwag:  Jhoan, Vince, Julius, Dave, Fidel, Sarah, Zaldy, Bojo, Tita Dorie, Tonton, and Jack hoping that someday, Champee will also get the same passion for serving underprivileged kids