the two year old karol

karol is now officially a boy and not a baby anymore. barely a week after his birthday, he moved to his very own bed. and a few days after, his clothes were also moved to his very own wardrobe. there's almost no trace of him ever being in the master's bed room at all. he moved out on us *sniff!* :D

big boy karol has become a funny little character. he loves to say pleasantries in his own funny little ways:
* "here you go!" (hee-yu-go)
* "thank you/thanks!" (tee-kyu/teenks)
* "you're welcome!" (yu-we-kam)
* "sorry!" (so-yee)
* "please!" (peease)
even in his impatience, he still screams please out of habit. then i ask him to be nice and he changes to his pleasant tone with an added trying-to-be-cute-smile.

likes to play:
* with cars, trucks and trains
* tickling games with mommy and daddy
* chasing games and all other games/toys with ate alex

enjoys swimming and loves eating corn a lot. he likes sweets too, specially cakes.

given all these, there's still a little bit of baby in him. he loves his baby bottle and drinks milk and everything liquid from it. drinks milk in the morning and before going to sleep at night. we cannot go anywhere without juice (doos) in a bottle. his favorite line is "ayaw, dink doos na peease!" (read: i want to drink juice now please!). additionally, he's not yet potty trained.

let's face it, diapers and bottles makes for great convenience to mommy and daddy. and let's just say it's our little way of keeping the little bit of baby in him. :D

statistics: 90cm high and weighs 12kg

three parties for karol

as if to make up for his first birthday. karol had three celebrations this year :D

thanks for all the love and the gifts! :*

(a) dedko (digger & cake); (b) ate, mommy and daddy (train set)


(c) babka (digger); babicka (book);
tita naysa and tito noli (thomas train set)


(d) julinka (fork lift); (e) risko (thomas clock/shape sorter)

a week before two

it's been almost two months since karol started sleeping in the children's room. we thought him safe inside the crib. boy! oh, boy! we thought wrong.

every morning, we got used to alex waking up karol (or vice versa). sometimes alex runs to our room. most times, we just hear them talking, playing and exchanging toys while karol was inside the crib. this particular morning, we heard not one but two sets of tiny footsteps approaching. :O

yes, karol has learned how to climb in and out of the crib!

this day he also enjoyed the freedom of swimming in a knee-deep pool by himself with just the help of arm floaters (watch the video).

how to eat cheerios

karol is not eating so well lately. he cannot stay in his seat at all. then i discovered the way to do it is to keep him busy on the table by giving him a spoon and letting him eat by himself. the problem is, he always wants to use the spoon :D

step 1: pickup cheerios from bowl

step 2: put cheerios on spoon

step 3: put spoon inside mouth (oops! if it falls down then pick it up :)

future _____ (choose the best answer)

when alex was smaller and younger, it was clear that she will be a singer. with karol, it is a bit tricky. his most probable career paths are:

(a) actor; he pretends to cry and tells everyone he's crying. or calls on someone with big eyes and open mouth saying he's scared :))

(b) dancer; unlike ate, this one has a bit of rhythm in his bones. although, much more unlike ate, he cannot carry a tune at all (but, he tries).

(c) voice talent; he likes to call animals more by their sounds than by their names. his favorite animal sounds are: elephant, cat, dog, frog, horse, sheep, etc. he also likes to imitate sounds that he hears around him (e.g., the windows bootup sound :D)

or,
(d) athlete; the almost two year old karol is really active with amazing motor skills and has a very strong built. he can grab a ball with just one big hand of his. very long reach fit for a boxer. strong legs that's already attempting to jump.

well, he's all these things and more. karol is really a charmer. you just have to see him for yourself and you'll know what i mean. :)

the pinwheel story

ready... inhale! (big breath)


...and blow! (foooo!)


hmmm?!? what seems to be the problem. it didn't turn?!?


ok, take two!


wow! it's turning!


see i told you i can do it!

21 months

in two and a half months, karol will be a full-pledged two-year-old boy. although sometimes, i already think he is. :D

* asks for milk the moment he wakes up. "ayaw miiiilk (milk)!" he still says "ayaw ___" if he wants something.
* the next order of business is "ayaw watch!" right after alex and daddy leaves for kindergarten. loves watching playhouse disney's little einsteins, mickey mouse clubhouse, handy manny, and junction jungle; and jim jam's thomas and his friends, and mio mao.

couch potatoes

* still likes to play with his cars and trucks

beware! no one can touch the aupark train when karol is driving

(notice the boy in the background)

* likes to scatter all the books and look for pictures of cars/trucks, balls, etc. and call out their names
* knows a lot of shapes (e.g., circle, oval, star, heart, triangle) and can put most of them in the shape sorter
* likes to eat cakes. he thinks all desserts are called "cupkeks" (cupcakes).
* talks more in full sentences. sometimes asks questions and answers them by himself. "whey (where) is cay (car)?" looks for it and then says, "ah, dey (there) ay (are)!"
* is a very good actor/comedian. he speaks with such animated expressions. does a fake cry when he doesn't get what he wants, comes to me and says "is caying (crying)" or says "whoa! biiiiiiiiig tuck (truck)!" in his big booming voice and wide eyes.

* alex's number one fan. does what ate does; follows alex everywhere.

made his own bed on the floor; exactly just like what ate did

* goes to sleep by himself. either he falls asleep while drinking milk in the crib or he finishes the milk and just lie with open eyes until he falls into dream land :)

we already moved his crib in the "kitty" (children's) room. alex was so happy with the move and said, "i will sleep with karol every time." we just decided one night to do it, after lola viela went back to PH. karol didn't mind the move at all. he slept quite well the first night. the following day at nap time, i told him to go to bed and he immediately went to his new room.

likes to pick flowers :D

caught in the act

we had our first sunday lunch of the year with babka (matej's mom). as usual there was yummy dessert -- honey cake. just as everyone was getting ready to leave, karol sneaked away. he was the first one to get dressed as usual. then, when everyone was busy dressing, there he was eating alex's honey cake.

poor alex was crying. we had to cut her eating short, because she was too sleepy and we needed to go. we packed new slices of the cake for her. however, she didn't know it and still thought karol was eating her cake. :D

caught in the act

the one and a half year old karol

updates on the one and a half year old karol. he weighs around 11kg (not gaining :-/, but eats a lot), and is 84cm tall.

his daily routine:
* wakes up around 6am and drinks his morning milk. most of the time goes back to sleep and wakes up around 7am.
* eats at least 5 times a day: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. sometimes there are in betweens with cookies or some fruits.
* takes milk and nap after lunch. nap time is from 45 minutes to 2 hours.
* takes a bath before going to sleep.
* drinks milk and goes to sleep around 7pm

serious drummer (at residencia de allego)

other things:
* likes to play with cars (or anything that has wheels or is turning), ate's kitchen, drums, xylophone, books and balls.
* watches tv from time to time. his favorite channel is bebe tv.
* likes to practice new skills by doing it over and over again (like climbing, sitting on chair by himself).

climbing up and down the steps practice run

* repeats a chosen word over and over again before going to bed.
* doesn't want to be by himself even when watching tv
* likes to play chasing and peek-a-boo games with ate
* wants to eat what we are eating even if he has his own food. even if it's the same food, still wants to take from my plate.
* four molars are showing, and upper left incisor is on the way

talking karol

karol's motor skills have been developing so fast that i didn't expect him to catch on his verbals so early. but, surprise! surprise! karol can, most of the time, communicate what he wants, with real words.

* favorite word is "ayaw" (filipino word meaning "i don't want")
* can say daddy, ata (ate, referring to big sister alex), mama/mame
* commands you to "come!" (pick him up), "watch!" (when he wants to watch tv), "sit!" (if he wants to sit somewhere with/without help)
* can sometimes put together words to make an intelligible phrase like "i don't want... outside" (he said this inside elevator knowing we are going out for walk, when he didn't even want to dress into his winter clothes)
* says "papa", "pasta" or "na na" (i figured it means in filipino "wala na," meaning no more food in his mouth) when he wants to eat
* says "uh-oh" when something falls (meaning him or his toys), sometimes even goes as far as to say "it fell down" (in baby gibberish, sorry i don't kow how to spell what he says)
* he can also say things which he likes or likes doing like: cook, star, book, sun, ball (boy), "choo-choo" (train), etc.

the car fanatic

* most favorite word is "car" (read: kay). really likes all sort of cars, toys or otherwise. sometimes it's the first word that comes out of his mouth when he wakes up in the morning. like, "is kay?" (read: where is car?) ;))
* likes it when i dress him in long sleeve shirt/sweater/jacket and says "is it?" (read:where is it?) referring to his hands
* lastly, he repeats everything that he hears

he has more words and phrases than i could write about. not to mention the pointing and other body language he uses to get us to do what he wants. he's simply amazing! and i'm the proud mame! :)

response to "karol, are you sleepy?" question