My 3 Year Old Gave Me a Pop Quiz

I am so over quizzes, especially surprise ones, but last Sunday's pop quiz was a surprise I welcomed.

At 5 am, Jared woke me up with...

Jared: (whispering into my ear) Mommy, what's the sound of the goat?
Mommy: (groggy) Huh?
J: What's the sound of the goat?
M: (finally getting up) Mee, mee
J: Very good, mommy!

Mommy prepares to go back to sleep

J: What's the sound of the lion?
M: grrr!

J: What's the sound of the train?

and it went on an on

Then, the lesson turned to his current favorite: opposites

J: What's the oppop (it sounds like oppop when he's saying it quickly, otherwise he can say opposite fine) of short?
M: Long
J: No, what's the oppop of short?
M: (thinks... hmm, di ba long naman?)
J: Mommy, the oppop of short is tall
And on it went... he already knows a lot of words and their opposites, and he understands their concept as well. I'll blog about that soon.

I get to answer his questions until this last one which got me stumped.

J: Mommy, what's the oppop of sheep?

Hehehe.

The Best of Us

I have a terrible voice. But I make up for it with my strong stage presence. Hahaha. I can follow dance steps fairly easily though.

My husband is the world's most lousy dancer. He is always one step ahead... or one step behind. Never with the groove. But he can hold a tune.

So, as a mom, I am wishing that my son sings like his dad and follows mommy's grooves on the dance floor.

But this early, he's leaning more towards daddy's dancing and mommy's singing. Ack!

Lately, he's taken to borrowing the microphone from the friendly sales people manning the Magic Sing areas at malls. That mic fascination started last month during our family outing.



His song? The oldie but goodie, 500 Miles.

If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

Lord I'm one, Lord I'm two, Lord I'm three, Lord I'm four,
Lord I'm 500 miles from my home.
500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles
Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home.

Not a shirt on my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way
This a-away, this a-way, this a-way, this a-way,
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way.

If you miss the train I'm on you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

How Tall Will I be? Check this Height Predictor!

pardon this photo again. this is also a teaser to the upcoming blog post: Jared Goes to School

I’m just 5’ 2” but I look taller than my actual height. I’m actually a picture of the average Pinay. Medium built, sample size clothes and sample size shoes. I need not ask for my size when trying to fit shoes because those on the racks fit me to a T.

Now, Jared was born small and so very fragile. It was only when he turned 1 that he started gaining weight. At two and a half, he was hefty and carrying him the times he’d demand to be “like a baby” would mean back and arm ache that would last a day or two.

So we stopped buying him the probiotic drinks and the sweet treats he loves so much as what his pediatrician suggested. The doctor said he was at the 95% percentile with his weight, while his height was at 50%th percentile only, making him a bit overweight.

Looking at him last night, I became worried he looked kind of lean—too lean for me. His daddy suggested check his height.

It came as a surprise that be shoot up at least 2 inches from two to three months ago. We were kind of worried he was stuck at 4 ft, so we skipped checking his height every month and just let him be.

Here's the link to the height predictor. According to this, Jared will be approx 5 ft 11 inches.

Building Friendships

I just read at Babycenter over the weekend that kids Jared's age are just beginning to understand the concept of friendship.

I agree with this. A few months ago when he was just two, even if there are other kids around, he would just look at them and will proceed with his own play. They have a term for this at babycenter and that is parallel play. It means playing side by side with another child but not really playing with each other.

When he turned 3, I got so excited to see him interact with other kids and this summer at play school, I believe Jared made his first ever friend.

The boy's name is Miguel. He is a few months older than Jared and although Jared always says "Midel (for Miguel) pushed Jared", I've seen how fond he is of his playmate. He shares his toys with him, calls his name when Miguel wanders around in class, and during their culminating activity, he actually saved a seat for his friend.

Ay anak, I hope you'll cultivate beautiful and lasting friendships as you grow older.
Miguel and Jared with Teacher Kate


Jared (in orange) probably asking how Miguel is

My Little Picasso

This was his very first artwork. This was done less than 2 months ago. Now, all the colors in his set have disappeared! I think some are under the sofa, some on the side of the bed. Have to look for them or buy new ones soon so my little artist can get his art fix again.