What Our Toddler Did This Summer

It rained twice today and the drops are fat enough to make me wipe off the wet on my arm. Even though it's still mostly hot this month, I think the rainy season has decided it's time to shine...which is a contradictory thing to say. 

To cap off the summer, and since I don't think we'll be hitting the beach soon, I'm posting all of Miggy's summer pictures. It's also my way of backing up his photos so that when this darn laptop crashes down at least it's here, and I'm supposed to post weekly so... yaaaay!

Went to a Playgroup
Miggy has a lot of energy to spare and I have a lot of work to finish, so 2 hours of free time benefits us well. My husbun and I enrolled him to a playgroup which gave me some breathing space and Miggy some social experience.

It's great that we enrolled him because he's getting used to other kids now and not so shy around other adults anymore. Read about our experience with the Mind Planet here!

Yelled at The Neighbors to Come Out and Play With Him
We have a habit of going out in the afternoon to take walks. Of course, that lessened this summer since the intense heat makes people lazy. Not Miggy, though.

Whenever we give in to his pleas of going outside he'd run next door, grab the gate bars and just shout, "Kurayeeeen! Ditona si Miggy pePlay tayo sa car, kurayeeeeen!" Our neighbor has two kids aged 8 and 3, named Ren and Sephi. Kurayen roughly translates to Kuya Ren.

They play really well together, most of what they do involves playing with cars and action figures by the curb. Sometimes Miggy pretends to be a Zombie or a Dinosaur and his playmates just runs around laughing while he "scares" them around. Meanwhile, Mako and I have a small badminton practice nearby. I love these afternoons.

Built a Record-Breaking Tower with his Papa
One of the best things my husbun and I bought for Miggy is his wooden building blocks set. He keeps stacking the wooden shapes to make a very tall "binnding" (building). It's a wonderful and more affordable alternative to LEGO.

The dad enjoys it too, and manages to make impressive towers while the little toddler tries to bring it down through intense blowing and  powerful "Rarrrs". The tower topples over, eventually, much to Miggy's delight.

Started Riding His Bike for the First Time
Miggy only just recently learned how to work his bike. He hasn't made full pedal rounds yet and travels across Macaria Village with one foot pushing down on the pedal repeatedly. It doesn't affect his enthusiasm in any way. He even keeps shouting about how fast his "motorcycle" is and speeds up so quickly I have to brisk walk to keep up. Gad, I feel old for saying that.

This week I accompanied him on his training for a possible cross-country sometime this year. He'd take his bike out to travel to the farthest corner store to buy a Pinipig Ice Cream before doubling back to the opposite corner store to buy a "Triangle". It's the flat triangle bread with a violet stripe that has some ube flavor in it. Having had his fill, Miggy would return home, park his bike and ask the dogs how they're doing before bothering the fish at the pond.

Beat the Heat
He swam, he got wet, he sprayed the dogs with water and practically washed his feet in the fish pond. Miggy drank lots of water this summer and was not shy about swimming around and getting himself wet.

He enjoys water and he even partied at Ayala Alabang Town Center's fountain beside the kids' playground. Yes, we let him and we always bring clothes for changing. You can read about what Miggy did to keep cool this summer in my post: A Toddler's Guide to Beating the Heat.

Had a Pedicure
For some reason, my son has taken a liking to getting a pedicure from his dad. I don't know what my husband did or promised my son, but he enjoys it! He would even sit on a chair and point out his toes and tell his dad, "Gugupit tayo sa kuko si Miggy. Papa, gugupit sa kuko ha?" He talks in bits and pieces but you know what he means because he points at his toes then wiggles them.

Sometimes I think that Miggy is more self-conscious than I am. I mean, he ruffles his hair when I comb it because apparently he looks too "proper". He can't even stand having something sticky in his hands, even though it's his idea to smudge the clay into water!

Had an Ihaw Party
My husbun loves to barbeque stuff, and so does our toddler. It's a great way to pass the time or do something different for dinner. There are days that you get bored with cooking, especially when you don't know a lot of recipes.

 Miggy enjoys it particularly because he gets to hold the tongs and make "paypay" the "Payerr" and stand in front of the smoke, feel like the God of Fire and run around. He doesn't get hurt or touch the grill, he knows enough that it's hot but he likes to roam around, to see if the potatoes are done.

Miggy's favorite grilled food is potatoes: grilled potatoes lathered in butter and salt. Yep...I'm drooling and will probably ask my husband to grill our dinner tonight. Liempo and vegan kebabs! Mwuhihihihaw!

Pursued the Arts
Miggy is more musical than artistic, but he's still interested in the arts, "painting" mostly because he sees me doing that and he likes to imitate loved ones. Yeah that's right my son looooves me! MUhahahaha!

For some reason Miggy thinks his artwork is either a firework, a car or "baha" (flood). It amazes me how his imagination brings him to that conclusion. Last June we made 4 Father's Day cards. Here's my pre-Father's Day post about Making a Father's Day Card for Your Dad. Miggy mostly painted and I did the lettering.

Miggy insisted and preferred that I trace his foot on the inside of the card. He probably feels that a hand print was too "conventional" or "modest" now that the world is more modern and he's a liberated, independent toddler. Whatever Miggy.

Had Adventures
This summer, Miggy walk around Ayala, went to the Ayala Museum, sa entrance lang po, Greenbelt where he nearly ran over Daniel Matsunaga, fed fishes and road a boat at Nuvali. Come to think of it, he's traveled a lot for his age, as I'm sure other kids have trotted the globe little by little, 'coz you know, little globe trotters. . . ..fine. it's not funny.

He's been to Batangas twice; once when he was barely 2 months old and the 2nd time when he was 2 years old. At 7 months he vacationed in Davao and Zambales. He's been to the Mind Museum twice and once at the Manila Ocean Park. He has had several trips to Caloocan, went malling at Ayala and Alabang plenty of times and has strolled through Taguig thrice now. This year he'll be visiting Baguio, and possibly Batangas again.

Wow... I don't know what to say now that I've listed Miggy's adventures. He's barely 3 years old and he's doing a better job living his life than I have in 26 years- DEMMIT!

..but that's good, because the World is New to him, and beautiful...nothing like how it is for us adults now. I hope exploring and seeing places gives him an adventurous heart. The kind that can look back, not just forward.