more on the four-year-old-karol

there are many sides to having a son. a lot of people keep telling me that boys are the sweetest. and, they may be right.  at four years, karol still acts very much like a baby.  he likes to be babied in every way. he even sometimes does baby talks when he wants to be noticed. well he does a lot of things, good or bad, just to be noticed.

routines

for example, we know very well that he can dress by himself.  however every morning, when we tell him to get dressed for kindergarten, he would always tell us he doesn't know how to do this or that, only so that we would dress him.  it has become a routine. sadly, it doesn't always end well.

at night, he also has a lot of amusing routines.  from bed time stories to tucking him in... 

* after a bedtime story or two, he almost always asks for another one. even if you agreed from the start how may stories/books you would read.

* "i want you to pray for me," the words he uses to make you help him with his evening prayers.

* "i want you/mommy to put on my blanket." is self-explanatory.  but mind you, the blanket has to be as straight as a ruler.  

* "bye-bye! good night! see you! have a nice day!" the last words he speaks plus unending number of kisses.  take note, kissing him is different from him kissing you. and there always has to be a flying kiss/es.

lights out!

wait, what's that sound?! *footsteps in the hallway*  uh-oh, it's not over yet.  after all the routines, he suddenly realizes he has to go to toilet and then you have to do again the bye-bye and blanket routine.  repeat these until mommy or daddy gets angry. sigh!  luckily, the number of repeats are getting less and less.

he really used to wee-wee like every 5 minutes. at first we thought he just wanted to make an excuse to get up from the bed. then i got worried and had his piss tested, which luckily was negative for infection. so it was really the former.

but on a funny note, there blanket story that i just have to share. after daddy put him to bed, he still got up and came to me:

karol: mommy, can you please put on my blanket.

mommy: you know how to put on your blanket. so you go back to bed and put it on.

karol: i know. but, i want YOU to put on my blanket.

so, what else can you say to that. *wink*

accidents

the sad part of having a boy is that they get into accidents. about a month ago, he had another chin injury, just about half a year after the first one. he got four stitches this time.  i don't know if i will ever get used to this kind of heartache.  i was not in the emergency room when they were doing the stitches. hubby had to stay with him while i watch the other two piglets.  at that time, i still didn't know they are going to give him stitches, but when i heard him cry, i knew and i almost cried myself.

emotions

i'm not sure if it's being a middle child or being the only son that makes him so emotional.  well, maybe it's both. he's a real cry-baby. he cries about almost everything, from frustration about some toy, to us saying no to what he wants.  well he either cries or throws fits of tantrums.  but then he easily gets placated. you really just have to let him cry things out most of the time and then he's ok.  i just wish he outgrows this stage sooner than later.

oh well, that about sums up my one and only karol.  the sweet, routine-loving, babiest karol. no wonder men are so complicated yet simple... because they start young. :D

the boy who loves toys

a very late post indeed... andy just turned two, that means that karol will be 4 years and 3 months in a few days.

at four years karol hasn't changed much.  he still loves to play cars, trains, and anything with wheels. as expected, he got a lot of cars for his birthday.  the curious boy that he is, not one hour after he received one, he broke the side mirror. and a few more minutes after that, the window broke. i don't know if i will be disappointed with him for breaking his new toy, or just be happy knowing he really plays with his toys.  and when i say really, i mean REALLY.

having three kids, of varying ages and interests, we have lots of toys.  we could open a kindergarten and not ran out of toys even if each child would take home one.  i think one of the most frustrating things to parents is when you buy kids toys but they never really play with them.  well, we never have such problems with karol. it doesn't matter whether it be expensive or cheap, small or big, he is happy. he gets to have a favorite for a day or a week. but then he really plays with all of his, and even her sisters', toys.

whenever he is home, he is always busy taking things in and out of the toy boxes.  changing one car in favor of another. i just know that if he has a new one, it will be the favorite for a few days. but soon after, he goes back to some older toys.  it's a real mystery to me what is his criteria for choosing his toy of the day or the cars/trains he gets to take to his bed.  yes he sleeps with his cars.

lately though, i noticed that he is getting more and more interested with things he can take apart and put back.  he also started to get interested in drawing.  well he needs a lot of improvements on that department. but at last, he can hold a pencil! still, just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes. lol!

well, that's my boy!

photos from august

graham crackers

i use graham crackers for cheesecake crust. it is however very hard to come by here in bratislava. so the last time we were in philippines, i bought a tub of it. for a long time, i haven't made any cheesecakes and so i started giving it to the kids for snacks. it was instant love, specially for karol and andy.

karol used to refer to it as "cookie with holes." so then, i told him they are called graham crackers. earlier today, the biglets woke up before andy. they had cupcakes for snack. the cupcake was too sweet for andy so i figured i'd just give her graham crackers instead. besides, it would be time for dinner soon.

as we were putting on shoes on the way to the mall for dinner, i saw that andy dropped her graham on the carpet. so i picked it up, gave it back to her, and said, "andy, you dropped your graham cracker." karol then interjected, "but that's not a grayham cracker. that's a brownham cracker."

what a smart guy he is! :)

accidents happen :(

been meaning to update this blog for a long time. just never thought it would be on a dreadful note.  our dear karol had an accident yesterday. :(

it was right after the mom and me playgroup gathering. a sort of family day barbecue at zelezna studienka.  it was time to go home and karol was riding his bicycle (the one without pedals).  mommy was looking after alex who fell from her scooter while daddy went off to get the scooter.  karol went ahead on his bike and went sliding down hill.  he could already balance himself but was probably going too fast and fell.  nobody saw what happened. our friends just saw him sitting on the ground, crying, and blood trickling down his chin.

he got some nasty cut on his chin and we brought him to the ER.  it was a horrifying sight.  but by the time i caught up with hubby and karol in the waiting area, he was already calm.  i couldn't believe they kept them waiting. in my mind for sure this required stitches and needed immediate care.  alex had an accident a few months back which required three stitches and karol's was definitely much worse.

finally we just went inside the clinic ahead of the others the moment they called for the next patient. the nurse and doctor were very calm about it.  i didn't understand them, but from the tone of their voice they didn't think it was serious.  no stitches. they instead put lots and lots of strips and covered it with a bandage, then sent us home. he's under observation for 48 hours for concussion.  and the strips should be kept for 10 days.

so far he's doing ok.  he's having a bit of trouble talking and eating. he doesn't have so much pain, but i think he can feel the strain every time he moves his chin.

earlier, i was still feeling worried. i can't shake off the image of seeing his jaw (from the inside). :( so far this is the worst accident we've had with the piglets.  no amount of information from the internet was enough to calm me.  i felt that a bunch of strips are not enough to fix my little boy.  then hubby told me to read about steri-strips.  as it turned out, these are better than stitches.  works like stitches but doesn't scar as much.

so hopefully, after 10 days his chin will be back to normal.  i hope it doesn't scar his sweet little face. sigh!

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i don't want to end this post with a sad face. so here are two of karol's vocabulary antics.

one day we were talking about members of the family.

me: so you see, alex is our daughter and you are our son.
karol: i am not your sun.  i am your moon!

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this morning, he didn't feel like eating.  i knew he likes sweets, so i offered him some banana cupcakes.  at last he agreed and said, "but i want to eat it with comb."  due to his injury, he speaks very softly, afraid to open his mouth fully.  i thought i must have heard him wrongly.  it turns out he meant he wanted it with frosting.  he probably thinks frosting is similar to ice cream.  and now i realized, he calls ice cream a cone and when he says cone (a.k.a. comb) he means ice cream. :D

a family of cars

karol will be having his name's day on the fourth of november. today, we had lunch at dedko's and he got his advance presents. he got an rc car from dedko, and his first ever lego set from tita lucia and tito peter.

at first he didn't want daddy to put batteries on his rc. he really didn't enjoy rc's that much before. he likes to "drive" (karol's own words) his cars on his own. that means pushing it around on the floor. he almost started crying when mommy tricked him into giving the car back to daddy. luckily, the car has flashing lights when activated and he was later on convinced to operate the rc. at last, he was fully enjoying the rc experience.

we only have duplos at home but karol likes playing lego when we visit babka. today he received his very own first lego set (which means we would have to graduate from duplo sooner than planned :D). anyways, as you may have guessed already, it's a set that comes with wheels. he wanted to open the box the moment he got it. naturally, mommy had to convince him not to. he agreed, but didn't let go of the box, not even when we went to cemetery and until we got home. he first had to take a nap. then, as promised the moment he woke up, we built 2 cars and a gasoline station.

one of the lego cars looked like a pick up truck. when i mentioned it to him, he had to run and get his car that looked like the lego car. incidentally, his old car is smaller, so then he explained to me that that one is a "baby car" and the lego is a "daddy car". i was surprised since he usually refers to bigger things as "mommy." apparently, cars are male. or, so i thought! because when i pointed this out to him, he immediately brought the rc and said that that is "mommy car." hihihi!!!

the family of cars

karol's first cinema experience

last friday, mommy took karol for his first cinema experience... cars 2!!! it was a great experience for him; complete with popcorn. i think he ate more popcorn than me and alex combined. :D anyways, karol enjoyed it so much he even wanted to finish the ending credits. unfortunately, alex had to run to toilet. karol only budged when i told him he can watch it at home. good thing i downloaded the movie before hand.

this was taken after the movie. not so happy looking anymore. not even five minutes after the movie, he already picked a fight with alex. geesh! i hope he outgrows this crying stage soon... at least he let me take his picture. :D

Karol turns 3

sorry for the late post. karol turned three, three weeks ago. we just had a simple celebration at home, day after we arrived from the tatras mountains.

hmmm.. how will i describe the three year old karol? he still loves cars and trucks, etc., etc.. and is so makulit. always says no or i don't want to anything and everything. cries about everything which doesn't agree with him. but is still super sweet.

what can i say, being the only boy and the middle child can be difficult. i think he's trying to make a statement. hopefully, this phase will end soon. although most of the time, you can eventually talk him into doing things even if he says no. and eventhough he just repeats what he hears from alex, he knows very well when to use them. he says the funniest things and the things he says makes a lot of sense when he's in a good mood.

anyways, after our tatras trip, i realized he's not into hiking :))) and that it takes him some time to get used to new things. poor karol was forced to hike and live in an unfamiliar hotel. he was so homesick. the moment we arrived home, he run to his room and played with his cars. surprisingly he wasn't cranky even if it was past his bed time. i guess he was just happy to be back home at last.

(6 days) before and after

karol's haircut done by mommy :) most people say this new hairstyle suits him. but i still like his long hair better. when combed properly, he really looks more pogi :)

kinder karol (again)

karol is very active and likes to ride his motorbike everywhere. he likes playing in the sand with all kinds of cars and trucks. in the playground, he is most of the time by himself in the sand box. otherwise, he is sitting quietly in a corner, waiting for an opportunity to borrow other children's toys (read: cars).

last week, karol went back to kindergarten. we transferred him to alex's old kindergarten, vcielka (little bee). he is the youngest pupil and he seems to be enjoying himself as evident in the photo. plus, his teachers report that he is a very good boy. :)

sadly, it's a different story at home... karol is 2 years and 9 months old, and definitely in his terrible two stage. unfortunately, he tries to say no to almost everything and screams like a girl when angry. our only consolation is if you pack a lot of patience, he is actually easy to reason with. also, thanks to the fact that he's very sweet. but i still wish he gets over this terrible two stage quickly.

additionally, i also hope that he gets potty trained before he turns three. :D yes, he still wears diapers but we're slowly getting there. already more than once, he made weewee and "brown weewee" (read: poop) successfully in the potty. but he doesn't ask all the time. most of the time though, he will tell us right after he pissed in his diaper.

oh well, that's our karol! :)

it's all about cars

karol loves cars.

i don't know when karol started playing with cars. but i remember one of his very first cars was a gift from a kid in the playground. this boy has like thousands of them at home, that his dad decided to give karol one. unfortunately, we already lost it.

karol's collection has grown since then. he has all sorts of cars, trucks and everything wheels. he almost always never leaves home without one or two of them. however, no matter how many he has, he always ends up playing with other kids' cars; whether it be in playground or our friends' home.

one friend he remembers the most is kuya adrian. once in a while karol remembers him. sometimes, karol asks us if we are going to kuya adrian's house, and that kuya adrian has lots of cars.

in the morning, we told him that we will be going to the zoo. he got really excited and said, "yes! we will go to zoo's house. and we will play with zoom's* cars!"

karol loves cars!


*not a typo. karol is now mixing slovak and english. most of the time he adds the suffix -om to his words (e.g., autom (auto=car), bagrom (bager=digger)), sometimes even when it's not applicable :D

kinder karol

a couple of months before the new year begun, i realized that karol can jump on two feet. i never really knew when he learned it. he is growing up so fast that he already started going to kindergarten at the beginning of the year.

he likes kindergarten so much. the first day he didn't even notice us leaving if we didn't call him to give us a kiss (which he didn't give in favor of trains).

the almost two and a half year old karol still likes toys with wheels (cars, trucks, trains, etc.) and i know i said he couldn't carry a tune, but he started singing more lately. he even goes as far as making his own lyrics by combining two different songs. some of his favorites:

"jingle bells! jingle bells! pussy's in the well"
"twinkle, twinkle spider..."

kuya karol is now more fascinated with andy than the first few weeks since andy came home. karol used to ignore andy's presence. lately however, he is eager to touch her and play with her :)

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