Zia and iPhone

Zia has been using my iPhone for the past two weeks. Everynight once I arrive at home, she will get the phone and play with it. She uses these applications: Bubbles, Blowhorn, Moo, Preschool Adventure, Koi Pond, Sketch, Kaleidoscope, Piano, Drum, and recently iZoo wherein she chooses an animal from the list then as she taps the picture of the animal, she would listen to the sound of that animal.

At first, she chooses the animals randomly, then when we tried to have her look and select certain animals, me and Judith were amazed that she can pick the correct animal. So she has memorized some spelling of these animals. Early stage of reading, YES!



Yun nga lang, si Enzo di makagamit, laging yung ate lang niya. Bili kaya ako ng isa pa?

Comics

I have been a comic book collector since 1991. So for the past 17 years, I have been reading, buying and collecting comic books. Previous to that I would just read comic books from the shelves of bookstores or from my friends collections.

When I was in elementary (maybe grade 3), my Tatay would subscribe to Liwayway magazine everyweek. That was one of my early exposures to the wonderful world of comic books. During this time as well, my Tito Ely and Tita Luz who were then living beside our house in Olympia, Makati, had numerous tagalog comics in their house, Aliwan Komiks, Tagalog Klasiks, Wakasan, etc. During weekends, I would be reading Funny Comics in their home.


Every Sunday morning after Mass, our family would go to Makati Supermart in Ayala. After eating spaghetti in the Coffee Shop, we would proceed to our grocery shopping. While Tatay and Nanay are busy shopping, I would just go to the comic book aisle of the supermart. I would just read the comic books there until they would pass by me on the aisle notifying me that it’s time to go home. By that time, I have read around 5 comic books there.

This practice would go on for many years. I would just read the comic books week after week. In Paco Catholic School, we have comic books as well in the Library. I discovered there Tintin Comics and Asterix Comics. If I had some free time then, I would just read all the issues of these titles.

Of course during high school, priorities changed. Comic books were just there but not really tweaked my interest as much as other interests during that time.

This changed in 1991 when I read the series The Infinity Gauntlet. The story was about a super villain (Thanos) against all, I mean all the heroes of Marvel Comics.

I was hooked. If I remember it right, I read issue Number 1 in a friend’s house, after finishing that issue, my next instinct was to go to the nearest bookstore to buy the whole series (which eventually I did). I was a 2nd year college student of UP Diliman then.

That was also a good diving point, a good exposure to the different characters of Marvel Comics. Because all of their heroes were in that series, the reader has the chance to see how they act, how they perform. Thus the reader now is intrigued and would be eager to buy the respective titles of these comic book heroes. I was intrigued then with Wolverine, thus my first exposure to the X-men.


After nearly a month since I read the Gauntlet, I was buying around 5-10 titles a week. Most of the titles I was buying were from Marvel Comics, basically the X-men, and their previous issues or back issues. Since I was in Diliman then, I would go to Filbars Store in New York, Cubao to buy my books. If some of the issues become out of stock, I would go to Greenhills or Goldcrest Mall in Ayala or in Robinsons Galleria.

1991 was also a golden year for comic books. This was the time wherein the big names in Marvel, formed their own comic book company – Image Comics.


All the gimmicks for comics were there, multiple covers, gold covers, glow-in-the-dark covers, etc. I was collecting nearly 15 titles a week then.

I usually save my allowance money for comics. During that time, a comic book is around P30-P40 per issue. I have no vices then, this was my vice.

At present, I have more than a roomful of comic books. I store them on hard plastic containers, each book individually wrapped by plastic sheet with cardboard. I have also prepared a computerized database for my books. Am I stopping? Definitely not, it has become a part of my life. I have a regular store now in Robinsons Manila wherein the moment I enter, they give me the prepared weekly titles I have pre-ordered via email with their owner. Hopefully someday, one of my kids will get my interest for these wonderful comic books.

37

Last year I posted here my thoughts of being 36 years old.

Well, I just turned 37 a month ago, and another year of wrinkles, white hairs and aching back were added to my body.

Socially, quite a lot has transpired since last year. I've been to Singapore for the 3rd time, been to Ilocos and Bangkok for the first time. I'm still in PGH, working as an administrator for the hospital (my 5th of 6 years) and a consultant for the Department of Ophthalmology. Our group in Eye Republic is still doing good. We might have a new clinic by early next year in St. Luke's The Fort. I still need to finish my thesis in my Masteral degree in Informatics.

Tatay and Nanay were here last year (almost half a year) and they did a lot of things - fix the house, buy a new car and sadly, to bury my Tito Ben, Tito Toto and Lola who all passed away the last year. Some uncles and aunts were also able to visit us (Tita Josie from New York and Tito Francis with Wesley, Jeffrey and Tiffany).

Zia and Enzo are growing fast. Zia is currently enrolled in a special school to further train her speech and social development, while Enzo is becoming more of me. Most of my nights are playtime with my wonderful children.

Judith is becoming busy. Most of her clinic days, she has even more patients than me. She has hired a driver to accompany her, making me less worried when she is out working.

Hopefully, this next year will be as much as fun and more productive than the previous one.

37, tsk tsk, I'm getting old...

Bangkok

Last month, I was in Bangkok to attend an ophthalmological conference, together with 5 other eye doctors.

It was my first time in Thailand, and my experience was a very good one.

Judith should have been with me, but some problems came up thus she was not able to come. It could have been her second time around there, and she was quite excited to return sana.

Our group stayed in the Millennium Hilton Hotel, it was located along the Chao Praya River. The view from my room was quite good, overlooking the skyline of Bangkok. Upon arrival, our group headed straight to the shopping areas. Our itinerary was quite hectic so we have to really maximize our time.



Thailand is very similar to the Philippines in terms of weather, landscape, people's appearances; the main difference is their culture. They are very nationalistic, very proud of their heritage, and very proud of their monarchy, especially the king. In almost every nook of the city, the picture of their king is very much visible. Unlike here wherein huge billboards of politicians and movie stars adorn our streets. Doon sa kanila, yung hari lang nila, wala ng iba.



Food is great, spicy and very tasty. Streets are full of people, and traffic is almost similar to Manila. We visited the Grand Palace which is very majestic. I was in awe with the different temples and its designs. Truly a must see if you are in Bangkok. We also went to some discount markets (Chatuchak) wherein a wide variety of products can be bought. Their shopping malls are quite similar compared to ours. I also had a Thai massage (sarap). Of course, we went to the infamous PatPong district wherein exotic dancers perform exotic things from their exotic private parts. IBA!

Because of the limited time, we were not able to visit the other parts of Thailand, hopefully the next time I'll be there, I would be with Judith enjoying the beaches of Phuket.

And yes, the ophtha convention was good, too.

Lola, 96

My Lola, Placida Perez, died last May 16, 2008.

Her wonderful heart finally failed her. She would have been 97 years old on October.

She is my Tatay’s mother. She had 8 children and she outlived not only Lolo but also 5 of her children.

She has been sick since 2 weeks ago, I facilitated her transfer from Ospital ng Makati to PGH so that I can monitor her better. She has been fighting pneumonia and winning, but her heart just gave in.

I and the other apos and in-laws were tasked to oversee the funeral services because all of the anaks are abroad at present - my Tatay is in Canada, my Tita Madre is in New York and my Tito Nonong is in Chicago. So we are facing the prospect of a long wake because we have to wait for the 3 to arrive. The wake is at our home in Makati.

She is Lola Payat to me when I was a kid, to differentiate her with my Nanay’s mother who was Lola Taba. I grew up with her in Makati. She and Lolo raised me when I was a toddler because Nanay and Tatay were both working so they would leave me in Lolo’s house. They spoiled me a lot. I remember that they would always ask me what I would want to eat, and that will be the meal for the day (during that time, I would always request fried bangus - everyday!). I remember they would also take turns in giving me bath. I still do what Lola would always do to me when the water is too cold for bath, sprinkle little amount of the cold water all over my body so that it would acclimatize with the coldness and not immediately be dosed with the whole cool water.

They would boast me to all their neighbors, telling them to look and marvel at their cute apo. We live near a market, so just try to imagine how many people are passing-by our home everyday, and they would extol these people to look and marvel at me.

She is also makulit, she would always insist what she wants. One funny memory I can’t forget is when we were visiting Tito Toto in their house in Pateros. During the 70’s, to reach that house, we have to cross a wide rice field walking over elevated wooden planks approximately 500 meters long and winding thru the field. Lola was so adamant that the wooden planks were not secure to walk upon that she crawled on all fours! Imagine an old lady crawling over a ricefield in the middle of the day. Even in her latter years, if she is in a mall, she would not ride an escalator. She thinks they are dangerous.

Tita Madre wrote to me in one of her emails that the tables are turned that I now took care of Lola in her most difficult time, and she was thankful that I was giving Lola the best attention I can have. For me, it’s the least thing I can do.

I will surely miss her. My only regret is that I failed to show Enzo to her when she was still alive. Very big mistake in my part.

She is quite a lady and she has been a big part of what I am today.

Thank you Lola!

Zia at 3 years old

My baby girl Zia is 3 years old!

We went to The Fun Ranch in Alabang. Judith, me, Zia, Enzo, and the 2 yayas Jen and Kris all had fun in the play area. Even though Zia and Enzo are still recuperating from a viral respiratory infection, they had fun running, playing, tumbling, sliding through the giant play area for almost 2 hours. We also had our dinner there.

Funny how fast time flies. I can still vividly remember when Judith was giving birth to her, the first time she cried, her first smile, her first crawl, her baptism, her first word, her early steps.

At present, she is still as cute as ever but with few quirks. As mentioned from my previous blog, she has some difficulty expressing some sentiments, so tantrums are part of her daily activities. If her “routines” are not followed, she would resort to crying, shouting, arm stomping, punching until she calms down.

Some of her quirks:
- she should be the one who will remove the cover of her feeding bottle, if somebody else does it, tantrums will ensue
- she would endlessly climb the top of each couch, terrifying all people who will see her that she might fall any minute
- she doesn’t want to watch the credits after shows, if she sees the names scrolling down, she would cover her eyes and begin to cry
- if Enzo is being given something that she also likes, she would try to insinuate herself



Although these quirks would stress me and Judith, she would rectify herself by doing these:
- upon my or Judith’s arrival at home, a ready smile from her will be surely received (on my part, starting once I honk the car’s horn, I would surely see her peeping from the window to see me going inside the driveway - everytime!)
- kissing Enzo if she’s nanggigigil with him
- by reciting the words of books previously read to her (her memory is quite amazing)
- by singing her favorite tunes (from her baby Einstein videos, from TV commercials)
- by pulling my hand when she wants to go up in the bedroom, so that I accompany her going up the stairs and counting all the steps at night



Me and Judith are still hoping that her language delay is just a minor bump, and eventually she would be at par with her age group with regards to language.

Zia's Development

Last Tuesday, May 13, Judith and I accompanied Zia to a Developmental Pediatrician in Medical City. She is Dr. Jackie Navarro, referred by our pediatrician friend Dr. Ces Alinea.

Zia can speak words but we still think that she is not at par with her age group in terms of language development. Her tantrums are quite increasing maybe because she cannot express what she wants to convey.

So off we went to Medical City, I and Judith have to scrap our usual schedules to be able to visit Dr. Navarro. Developmental Pediatricians usually have long queues for appointments so when we were informed by her secretary that an opening is there, we took it immediately.

Zia is horrified in riding elevators. She would cry endlessly, would scream and would struggle inside the elevator until the ride would finish. When we parked our car in the basement, we had no choice but to ride a short 3-level elevator ride going up to the hospital lobby. As expected, struggle galore ensued. When we alighted, there was still a nine storey elevator trip going to the clinic. So being diligent and understanding parents, we took the stairs going up. PGH's highest floor is 8th, so I went up to a level even higher than PGH while carrying a sobbing Zia. Pogi points for me and Judith as parents. Of course, upon reaching the ninth floor, both of us were already dead tired.

Anyway, Dr. Navarro was very thorough with her evaluation with Zia. She performed a test called Griffith Developmental Test. It is a series of tests wherein the child does simple tasks, identifying various objects, shapes, colors, sizes. The test is quite extensive, almost an hour. Judith, after the test, told me that she was quite anxious while Zia was doing the test. Parang gusto niyang i-cheer si Zia na "Kaya mo yan , anak! Tinuro ko sa yo yan kanina!" I was quite impressed with Zia. She answered all questions, no tantrums. Even if she did not know the answer to some questions, she would still try to answer, sometimes just murmuring words.

The test revealed Zia has a borderline language developmental delay. For her present age of 3 years, her language development is at 2 years and 2 month stage. Good news is that she has no autism. Dr. Navarro's advise is to enroll her to a speech therapist, a hearing test, and more stimulation at home.

Of course, before going home, we have to do the compulsory visit to Jollibee. She adores that bee. And of course, anything that she likes, we tend to give. Hay...