Before the Holidays went full blast, we all got down, boogied and celebrated DW’s 3rd birthday with his classmates. DW is with the 2s and 3s class at Books and Blocks. I can’t believe this little guy is three! He was just a wee babe yesterday huhu.

Milestones

Pre-School – This year is a big one for DW (and for us too). This was the year that DW started pre-school. He goes to school everyday for three hours with nap time and snack time in between and it has been very good for DW. He’s come home with a lot of projects and he’s picked up so much from his lessons. We love Books and Blocks because the classes are small and the teachers are really nice. In his class, DW has two teachers and an “ate”. We also love the newsletters the school sends every quarter with pictures and stories of the major activities the kids have done.

We also love that DW is with other kids. Having adults around him 24/7 has made DW a little manong. He really speaks like an adult with matching “yata” and “diba?!” at the end of of his sentences.

Example: Mama, Ferris Wheel yata yan! (while pointing to a Ferris Wheel). He wants me to confeerm so that he can then say, “I want to ride the Ferris Wheel!”

He’s also learning how to share, take turns, play with other kids and just be around other people!

Potty Training – The little dude is not yet fully trained but we are getting there. We are almost ok with the peepee it’s the poopoo that we need to work on. DW only says poopoo when he’s done the deed already! He doesn’t like sitting on the potty because he gets bored. Do you know what he does now while sitting on the throne?! He flosses his teeth! haha

Teeth Brushing and Dentist – Brushing his teeth by himself and a visit to the dentist – the dude has been brushing his teeth by himself since last year but this year was the first time we made a trip to the dentist. He was brave and did not cry at the chair even when the dentist was poking around his mouth and gave him a good cleaning! The dentist said that she did so much with DW with just the 1st visit. DW went home with a Good Patient Sticker and a free toothbrush hehe I’ll post more about our visit soon.

For his birthday, DW celebrated with his classmates. I ordered Devil’s food cake from Chocolate Kiss in blue icing and lola cooked spaghetti, cheese sticks, bbq and chicken wings. DW had a lot of fun (and a lot of gifts!). All the kids knew that it was DW’s party and so when we came everyone was excited. I loved it. I was so happy seeing DW celebrate with his friends. I was so proud of DW. I was thisclose to crying I tell you but I had to suck it up. I might scare the kids and I still had pictures to take

Happy Birthday dear DW. You are awesome. When you’re all grown up and you get all cringe-y with my kisses and hugs in public, let me just say for the record that you are the cutest, the sweetest, the silliest and the funniest! We love you sooooo much! MWAH! MWAH! MWAH!

We got the “looks ” from other shoppers but BDW and I couldn’t care less and we kept on talking to and reasoning with DW to no avail. So we told him, “remember Santa Claus? He gives gifts to good kids during Christmas so if you behave and be a good little boy, he’ll come and visit.” So there, I did something I thought we would never do. We told DW that if he behaves, Santa would give him a gift this Christmas. It was a moment of weakness brought about by the lack of sleep and compounded by the absence of caffeine during breakfast.

But it worked. DW stopped bawling and told us “Good boy ako”. Hala ka (Hala kami!), the Santa Claus excuse worked.

I was dumbfounded. So will this little boy actually expect gifts now for good behavior? Have we made material rewards important now?! I wanted to blame the blatant consumerism for this holiday but we are in the middle of buying gifts when this happened. It’s a vicious cycle no?!

I’m trying to figure out what my next step is. Santa Claus, I thought is a symbol of sharing and giving and all he asks is for kids to be nice. This should be a teaching moment, a way for me to let DW know that we act in accordance with how we want to be treated and that at certain moments we need to make the right choices.  It was a chance for me to tell him that giving and receiving are very special things and that most of the time giving is already its own reward.

But then again, we have a three year old. Meltdowns and tantrums are THE RIGHT THINGS for him at the moment. His “acting accordingly” is bawling when he doesn’t get what he want. So for now, when DW has a meltdown, we look at him straight in the eyes  and tell him that he can’t do what he wants all the time because there are things that should be done first and that waiting is actually a good thing. That works too although the effort required is much greater than just pulling out the Santa card.

So, uhm, Santa, I think BDW and I have been well-behaved parents this year, do we get gifts on Dec. 25?! Thanks for the help with our little boy though ho-ho-ho!

Pic of  Santa is from here

they were pulling this guy and his sleigh around…

and he was followed around by Elves and other Santas and Mrs. Santas (Clauses?). Suffice to say, NALOKA AKO. The first thing I said was “Ang Hirap Kumita ng Pera Ngayon” (“It’s so Hard to Earn Money Nowadays”) (Yes may English translation). But then again, this is typical for Landmark. They always had gimmicks and their employees are in costume the whole year round! I have to say that I found the whole thing fun and charming. It gave shoppers a good reason to smile and take a break from all the shopping frenzy.

And yes, I took a pic of DW with the Santa. I cannot resist.

And then they all went down the escalator. Santa had to get off  his sleigh and rough it like the rest of us. Ho-Ho-Ho!!!