First, was a surprise from "some bunny" which he made at school and couldn't wait 'til Valentine's Day to give it to me. Thank you my Roand!
A very cute bunny if I may say so myself. :)
I promised to make him a card too but I didn't have the time to make one so to make up for it, I made him his second favorite breakfast, which is french toast. In case you're wondering what is his favorite, it's oatmeal - which he eats almost everyday so french toast it is.
Later that afternoon, the mister surprised me with these!
Finally...! Macarons that I didn't bake...! Gone in seconds...!
And our little miss got her very first bouquet of flowers...! How cute is that tiny bouquet?! Loved it!
That evening, we went to Sen Dai for our Valentine's Day dinner date, with our kids tagging along of course. Honestly, I'd be happy with takeout food at this point but it did feel nice to be out too.
Since I've been slacking on blogging, I will just put everything in one post now that I have the time...Uhmm, no I lied. I really don't have time. I have two huge piles of clothes waiting to be folded next to me... but anyway... On with the blogging. :)
With all the excitement over the newest addition to the fam-bam, I can't believe I missed on sharing Roand's achievements at school. I'm one proud mother so yes, I feel bad if I don't get to share anything special going on with my kids. (Wow...! Did I just say kidSSS?!!)
First off, Roand was awarded Student of the Month last December 19th, 2014 and I didn't even know until I went over his stuff from school. But I do remember that he was telling me that he was Student of the Month, but I thought he was still telling me about how he was Superstar of the Week. I know, I know... Student - superstar.. Month - week, huge difference..! I guess I was half-listening that time... Sorry babe! You do know I am proud of you right?
Speaking of being Superstar of the Week, after that little stint I pulled off during the Parent-Teacher conference, Roand was chosen to be the Superstar of the Week. Usually, a student is chosen randomly, but Roand was specifically chosen to go next. Being Superstar of the Week means you get to be the star of the class for a week and the whole class gets to know you better. The student that gets picked gets to bring home Bella the Bulldog and play with her and tells all about it on Bella's travel journal.
The student must also complete the get-to-know-me poster.
And then last January 26th, 2015, Roand's class celebrated their 100th day of school by making a hat made of ten strips with ten stamps on each strip and a necklace made of 100 pieces of cereal. And they get to practice counting too. So cool!
At home, we've been practicing counting to 100 and if he was able to do it without any mistake, then he's allowed to use his tablet. I guess it paid off because weeks ago he told me he was "on the tippy-tippy-top of the tree" because he can count up to 30 and made it to 100 too.
And just today, I got to talk to Mrs. Barth and she told me about Roand being the class leader. She said that Roand is good at listening and following instructions and so sometimes she would ask his classmates to follow what Roand is doing. Good job babe! Now if only he would do the same thing at home, I definitely would be the happiest mom..!
Five years ago, on this day, I have received the greatest blessing that changed my life forever. My Roand.
Taking a look back to Roand's first year to celebrate his 5th birthday...! I love you my Roand, even before I met you, I have loved you with all of me. From the first sign of you, to the first time I heard your heartbeat, to the first quiver and flutter inside my tummy, the first cry, your first smile, your first step, your first everything, I made sure i didn't miss anything as time flies really fast. You've grown so much and you're now 5 and having your own little adventures without me. Sometimes it bothers me that I might be missing important milestones and events while you're at school. But when you come home and tell me about your day, I know you're still my Roand. And seeing you having fun and making new friends and accomplishing so much makes me happy and proud. Yes, we're starting to have arguments, you are a handful most of the time, but you're still my sweet Roand who knows how to make me smile and sings love songs for me and says "I love you Nanay" randomly throughout the day. Looking at how much you've grown makes me sentimental so let me take this moment to remember our first year together and to thank you for every smile you put in my heart, for the lessons in life, for all the experiences and memories... Happy 5th birthday my Roand! Happy 5th year to us!
I'm definitely a stage mom now! Guilty as charged!
So we attended a parent-teacher conference and I dragged my husband to come, and Roand, because I had a secret agenda in mind. They didn't have to come but I insisted. The mister and I had a twenty minute talk with Roand's teacher while Roand was busy at their mini-library in their classroom. So first, we were going over Roand's report card and grades and his performance at school. It was like the teacher was describing a totally different kid! I know that he behaves well at school, I know because every time I drop him off to school and the teacher isn't around yet, he is his usual self. Either he's running around, or jumping or talking nonstop. And no matter how many times I tell him to stay put and stay in line or not to swing his lunchbox around or to stop running, he wouldn't listen. But once he sees his teacher, he transforms into this well-behaved kid, who stays in line and is waiting for instructions. At least I know that he knows he's supposed to listen to his teacher. But what surprised me was when the teacher told us how attentive and alert Roand is when it comes to following instructions. At home, Roand has this tendency to zone me out sometimes when he's busy with something, it's like he couldn't hear me at all. But at school, teacher said he is very attentive even when the teacher isn't talking to him directly. Like when the teacher asked somebody to stop wiggling around and to sit down in "pretzel" position on the carpet, Roand actually listened too and corrects himself and does what he's supposed to do without being told. I actually couldn't believe what I was hearing. Teacher also said that he has the right kind of assertiveness, not aggressive, nor is he passive. Like during choice time and he was the first one to get a certain toy and somebody wants it, he firmly says "I got it first." Not aggressively, but just with the right amount of assertiveness, which is a good thing, the teacher commented. He knows how to handle conflicts and compromise and if he can't resolve it himself, he lets the teacher know. She also asked if Roand attended preschool and I said he didn't. She was a bit surprised and congratulated me for whatever we were doing at home, because it shows at school. Just imagine how my heart is welling up with all that I was hearing. Husband was feeling really proud of Roand too. So I guess, we were both doing something right after all. There is of course, a lot to improve, but teacher reassured us that there is nothing to worry about because Roand is right on track and is where he is supposed to be, and is quite advanced in some areas even. As teacher was wrapping up the meeting, I put my "agenda" into action. She asked if we have any questions and I "casually" asked about Roand's performance during Career Presentation. She said Roand did a great job and that he had the most adorable costume ever. About the Career Presentation which was last month, Roand's class was assigned different jobs to portray and talk about in front of the whole class, and Roand was assigned to be a reporter. They were supposed to explain their job and what tools they use and what clothes/uniform they wear so props and costumes are welcome. Well of course, I had to make him a costume and a mic to go with it, complete with their school logo. I still have leftover felt from making his Jake the Pirate costume enough to make a vest. Then we found a tutorial on youtube on how to make a mic prop.
Aside from the costume, I also prepared a line for Roand to say. And to help him memorize it, I recorded a video that he can watch again and again until he remembers all the words. He remembers most of the words after watching it one time actually but I had to guide him and say the first words to every sentence before he could continue. I knew he can do it because I can see he was interested in memorizing his line. So we got to work. We would say it together during mealtime, while I'm giving him a bath and before going to sleep. After a day, he remembers all the words and even recorded himself saying his line. I knew he was ready. So when Career Day finally came, I asked him one more time to say his line in his costume and he did a great job. I was confident he'd be awesome... (stage mom right there, yep!). After school, I asked him how it went, and he said, teacher told him he did a great job and everybody gave him a round of applause. I pressed in and asked if teacher said anything else and he said no. I had this hunch that he didn't say his line the way we practiced it so I asked him exactly what he said in front of the class and he goes "My job is a 'reporter' and one of my tools is a pen." Needless to say, that isn't what we prepared and just imagine the stage mom in me very disappointed. I asked him why didn't he say what we practiced and he goes "But Nanay, that is what everybody else did! Say your job and one tool, that's it!" I had to calm myself but couldn't help but get into a But Roand - But Nanay argument. I had to remind myself that I might be causing more harm than good because I was showing how disappointed I was before I could calm myself down and decided to let it go. But clearly, I wasn't able to let it go because when I learned about the parent-teacher conference, I knew I had to let the teacher hear Roand's line, which he still remembers after all this time. So back to the meeting, again, I casually said "Oh because we actually prepared a line for that but Roand said he didn't use it..." And then she asked Roand if he still remembers his line and he nodded. With his teacher prompting him to say it, without hesitation, he delivered his whole line, I was smiling the whole time. And when Roand was done, his teacher exclaimed how he just made her day and that it was awesome and that he should do that in front of the class next time and show Ms. Barth, the other teacher. She said we should let him participate in a school play or a community play if there was one because he was good at memorizing a long line. She had more to say but I'll stop myself here before I sound like a bragging mom, but really, I was very proud of Roand. Mission accomplished! Stage mom status achieved..!
