Borrowed Senses

My son loves all the food that I grew up loving. It's really amazing to see how we have so much in common when it comes to food. 

Ever since Scott was old enough for solid foods, I have always cooked for him. I remember his first solid food was baked salmon with creamy leek mashed potatoes. I cooked a batch and froze them in little pots. 

In all honesty I don't think I had any intentions of getting him used to Filipino food since I hardly ever cook them for me and James doesn't like Pinoy foods one little bit.  I suppose one of the days I'd miss home, I would cook my favourite Pork Sinigang just to ease my longing for home. It must have been then when both Scott and I discovered his keen taste for Pinoy foods. I remember assuming that he only liked the pork stewed in tamarind because he really has a strong preference towards citrus-y and tarty food. There is another food he really loves: fish. One time I thought, what would he make of paksiw na tilapia? (Fish stewed in ginger and vinegar). To my surprise, he liked it and ate a whole tilapia, de-boned of course!

Bistek, nilaga, adobo, tinola, tortang giniling and boneless tinapang bangus with toyomansi are also amongst his favourite. 

The simplest things are the best things. Little moments forever etched in my heart. 

You Just Gotta Try

While my son would rather play with train and train tracks or play catch with me or his dad, he likes to watch Dora. We have started recording all episodes as soon as he learned to ask for what he wants to watch, and you can just imagine how many times Dora has filled our TiVo and how many times we've had to delete her and somehow she keeps filling it in no time at all.  To Scott's delight, Dora is also available to watch on Amazon Prime so he can watch it on the computer and on his iPad if we're travelling. Dora is a good babysitter when I need to do chores so for that I don't mind him watching a bit of cartoons. His favourite part of any cartoon is the counting bit. When Jake counts his gold doubloons, when Umizumi counts how many steps they should take to get to the next level and Dora when she counts how many coins she needs to buy an ice cream

cone. Just by watching those three cartoons he has learned to count from 1 to 25 which I think is quite astonishing for a 2-year old. Ok, so he usually misses 16 and 23 but that doesn't make him less awesome!

Yesterday I sat down with him once I was finished doing the washing up. He asked for paper and pencils (which is what he calls his colouring pencils). He handed me a pencil and turned the notebook so that one page was closer to me and the left to him. Then he said 'mummy draw Boots'.  After telling him I can't draw about a dozen times, he gave me another pencil and said 'mummy draw Dora and Boots'. I thought I'd better humour him before he asks me to draw the whole cast of Dora the Explorer. 

I googled Dora and Boots and started copying the picture on the iPad. I have never seen anyone so impressed with my drawing. I mean the pure interest in his face whilst I was drawing and then the satisfaction once the drawing was complete is simply priceless. The only problem now is he keeps asking me to draw! From rocket ships to rainbows to trains!   

This might sound completely pointless to some but to me it's everything. 

I can keep telling myself I can't do something, but my son, so innocently and unknowingly, can prove me wrong. It is because of my son that I finally learned to swim and I'm still learning to be good at it. Just good enough to save him if he gets into trouble with water. Another reason is because he absolutely loves swimming even before he was 2. He just loves the water and I'm so excited that next year he will be old enough to take up swimming lessons. We live very close to the canal and reservoirs so I really want him to be good at swimming. When I was 10 I drowned in a murky river. Fortunately someone pulled me out just in time.  My son might not be so lucky that's why I am arming him with a life saving skill that will not only save his own but perhaps another's, too. 

You Are Pure Love

How much have you grown!

If the rainbow won't appear, create it.

My son is nearly three years old now and every time I look at him, I see all the goodness that I have ever imparted to the world during the years I am fortunate enough to exist. I must have done a whole lot of good things to deserve such a happy little lad. His smile says "the bad days are well and truly over". 

 It really is the little things...like baking! He likes to lick the spatula covered in buttercream or ganache. He makes my cakes a whole lot sweeter. 

Today we baked a rainbow cake for my friend's daughter's 17th. This we did, from start to finish, in three hours. Not too shabby considering I have never made this cake before. I'd like to make it again when I am not pressed for time and I think next time I will let my son drop the food colour into the cake batter. No harm in believing magic exists, even in home baking! 

Find the recipe on my other blog. Http://foxyallen.blogspot.co.uk

Something To Ponder

When you grow up, I wish you never have to be or choose to be in either of these queues. 

My Little Funky Monkey

Life Without Facebook

It's such a cliché when people say time flies, but indeed there is no other way to express how quickly time is stolen from you. I say stolen because my time is mine, and no matter how much I try to hold on to it, it is taken away, never to be had again. That's why I am captivated by the fact that you can capture a moment, in a photograph and you will have it forever. These days it's difficult to have something that stays just the way they are. Memories don't change no matter how much the people do in photographs. Sometimes I tend to have a selective memory, depending on what I want to feel towards a person. Photos are good reminders of how you truly feel for a person and that is why I will never tire of taking photographs. 

Over a month ago, I decided it was high time I quit Facebook and so far I am loving that decision. I don't take less photos just because I don't have anywhere to post and share them anymore. In fact I take more because I have specific persons in my head whom j would like to share those photos with. Take for example, my mum. I take more little video clips of my son because I know I will send them to her through iMessage or email if they are too large a file. But the best part of not being on Facebook is I got to savour the moments and stay 'in the moment' for a lot longer. Looking back now it was quite sad to think that I would 'check-in' at every place I go to and feel the need to share every second (literally!) of my holidays and day trips with my family and so-called friends. I still don't know how I accumulated over 700 friends because in the real world I am sure I don't have nearly as many. I only really have a few real friends that I consider friends. I have trust issues, I have this massive wall that was self-built and even after that is surpassed, there is a fine sieve waiting at the other end. It's not a bad thing. In fact I think it's one of the key reasons to my happiness. Don't fix it if it's not broken. 

If you want to know who your real friends are, get off Facebook. And if you're not on it then lucky you, it shouldn't be that hard to filter out the fake ones. 😃

As for me, it turns out that the ones that matter to me the most are not even on Facebook. Three of my closest friends are men who are not even on Facebook. And now I have more time to get in touch with them, as much as I am a lazy emailer, but I found out a few other ways to keep in touch. 

So far life without Facebook has allowed me to do the things that I have always loved and kind of lost time on. I have read two books since quitting FB and I have started to write my novel. God know if I should ever actually finish this one as I have started a few books before that I never had time to finish. All have died with my old PCs. Both of my parents are novelist and editors and I have always enjoyed writing so I thought why not give it a go? 

But the best thing about not being on Facebook is getting to spend more time with my family. My little boy is growing up fast, even faster than time flies. I worry about his future sometimes and I reckon that the more time I spend showing him I love him now, the less I should and have time to worry about the things that may never even happen. 

My light at the end of every dark tunnel. 

Your First Easter

Today we went to attend Sunday mass together as a family for the first time. I was not well enough to get out of the house on Christmas Eve so I didn't get to take you then. I was quite surprised at how well behaved you are. I had to stand at the back fifteen minutes into the service because you don't like being rocked sat down and you were about ready for your morning nap. As I rocked you to the land of nod, you stared at an image of The Sacred Heart on the wall and started babbling at it, so loud that you attracted a few glances and smiles. Ten minutes later you fell fast asleep and woke up just in time to light a candle with me and daddy after the mass. I can't wait to get you baptised and our local catholic church didn't look like a bad church to be baptised in.

It's going to be a real challenge bringing you up to be a Catholic boy in a non-Catholic country around Atheist extended family but if I am half successful then it is every bit worth it. My faith has silently, but very strongly, carried me through all kinds of trials, each time allowing me to emerge stronger than ever. I want you to have some kind of Faith and you will never be truly alone. Happy Easter my son.

Night night :)