new and old buddies

we're always so happy when we get visitors. (ahem... hint hint, people). it gives me the chance to call in "sick" and enjoy parts of the city that i usually only see when friends and family come up. my good friend nick, his wife joyce and their son koa decided to take a last minute mini-vacation to sf. the last time they were in san francisco, koa was only 5 months old, and gani was still in my big pansa. and the last time the kids saw each other was at chuck e cheese, where gani was rather frightened and overstimulated. so this time around, the boys had plenty of time to hang out, run around and play. they really get along so well, and it's rare that gani gets the chance to play with other boys around his age. thanks, auntie joyce, for sharing the pictures! (i really need to get batteries for my camera. this is ridiculous already!)

it's 11 pm and i'm at union square! i'm a rebel!

the weather was beautiful so we were able to enjoy the outdoors and do some sight seeing. usually rare with all the rain and fog. we went to crissy field with the intention of taking a long walk, but we only really got 50 yards in the hour we were there before we were exhausted from chasing the kids away from the water.

long hair is cool!

after a long day, we went back to the house so the little monsters could make as much mess as they wanted with little worry.

somebody's in trouble in this picture, but i can't figure out which one.

then we called up auntie karen and had a hawai'i 2000 reunion. i met both karen and nick in our "study abroad" program at UH. by the way, if you ever intend on actually STUDYING in hawai'i, a study abroad program is not for you. but clearly you meet cool people who will be your friends for a long long time. karen just recently moved back from australia after living there for about 4 years. now she works down the street from me, which is great because now i have an h&m shopping buddy just a phone call away when i want to (again) ditch work. i can't believe i haven't been fired. anyway, we ended the day with yummy salvadoreno food. and the boys sadly said their goodbyes.

mmm.... lollipops and pupsas. what a way to end a day.

a-sorray!

man. we've been gone for HELLA long. sorry. we moved to a new place in the excelsior since our last post, and with no internet access and this ancient imac that i have to use at work, i have very little opportunity to blog. posting pictures takes an eternity, and given that i'm only at work around 25 hours a week (hahaha!) the blogging hasn't been happening. apologies.

i also don't have a working camera. so thanks to wonderful friends and family who've taken pictures of my kid, i do have pictures to share!

here are some pictures taken by auntie melissa (who's expecting her little girl in march!) at thanksgiving turkey bowl in san diego.


thanks, maloos! and here's a picture of PEP taken for the PEP resource book that is in the process of being published. it will include lesson plans on Filipina/o American experiences written by PEP teachers, past and present, including yours truly.

pumpkin madness

take a look at the little pumpkin head... and the jack-o-lantern too. fall is officially here. about a month ago, the san francisco weather suddenly changed and now has that crispness in the air that signals the new season. this weekend, for some reason, was an exception. it was close to 80 degrees with really bright, intense sun. it's crazy how the weather here changes in a snap. literally. this morning, i dressed gani in shorts and t-shirt for school. came home, ate lunch, and hopped into the shower. got out of the shower and it's foggy! what the...?

since fall has begun, gani's developed this obsession with everything pumpkin. on one outing, papa bought him a tiny pumpkin that started it all. gani was rummaging through our pantry and busted out this year-old pumpkin bread mix, demanding to bake it. he was SO EXCITED to bake it, but less excited to eat it. he kept saying, "iss-too-hot!", even the next morning when i tried to give it to him.

then this weekend we visited the pumpkin patch. we are horrible at remembering the camera, dammit! and it was so so adorable, i have to admit. gani saw a field of orange pumpkins and didn't know what to do with himself. so what did he do? he walks up to a batch of pumpkins and layed down on top of them. like he wanted to just swim in pumpkins. he couldn't get enough. then we went on a funny little hay ride. the pumpkin patch people wanted to make it disneyland-like, so they put these big stuffed animals here and there in the brush. so as we were riding, i'd be like, "look, gani! there's a tiger in the brush! and look! a tweety bird... in the bushes? and a pink panther in the tree? and a white gorilla... in the pretend cemetary." interesting.

so gani picked out two big pumpkins and two little pumpkins to carve when we got home. auntie pam, thankfully took these pictures of gani after he and papa carved one of the little ones. then we put a candle in it, and gani wanted to sing, "happy birthday, pumpkin" and blow out the candle. i brought out the guitar and we sang about 10 rounds of happy birthday, pumpkin. i love fall!!!

note to melon: perci experienced the same itchy hands thing that you have with cantaloupe! only he gets itchy carving pumpkins!

arlene and rod's kasal part II

here are more pictures of arlene and rod's wedding that friends shared. again, we had so much fun, everyone looked fly, and we're so happy for our wonderful friends!

"and here, isagani is sporting the youth barong,
accessorized with herbs for the fall look..."

hmmm... i wonder where he got that expression

pep guys looking sharp

with auntie rizalene and uncle simon.
party crew reunited.

and the night begins...

gani sandwich (with aunties michelle and nikki)

so innocently holding hands with jaylyn and mahalaya

aaaaand end scene.

madaldal na...

prior to us leaving sf, we set appointments with an audiologist and speech therapist to see if there were any serious problems causing his delayed speech. so after we got back from spending two weeks with his cousins, aunties, lolos and lolas, gani just decided, "hey, i want to join in!" and now he's talking up a storm. the audiologist confirmed there's no hearing problem, and the speech therapist was like, "uh, do you think he needs it?" apparently because speech is a fine motor skill, it makes sense that his speech is delayed, given that he crawled late and walked late too. so he's basically taking after his parents and takes his time with everything and will most likely be late to everything in life.

thanks, cousins, for bringing him up to speed!

"they teach me everything, i tell ya!"

joie instructing him very carefully

"the crew" investigating kalamansi skin

some of his new words are "an-tho-ny" from the wiggles (and is his longest word too), purple, yellow, blue, "kan too" (thank you), "i want...", apple sauce, and "wa-wee" (sorry). "wa-wee" he is saying more often now that he hits MORE than before. how did that happen? and he pretty much repeats everything you ask him to repeat, the things you DON'T want him to repeat, and can complete the last line of rhymes on beat. for example, this is the way we sing the "muffin man" song:

mama: do you know the muffin
gani: man!
mama: the muffin
gani: man!
mama: the muffin
gani: man!
mama: do you know the muffin
gani: man!
mama: who lives on drury
gani: LAAAAAANE!

it's adorable. i had to call melon to show her. call us, and i'll make him sing it for you too!

where have we been?!

man, talk about a hiatus in blogging. fall came and just took over! back to school, back to work, back to life and the stressful things that accompany it. booooooo!

we were in west covina for a little over two weeks, and we had such a wonderful time!!! gani got to spend a lot of time with his cousins... marley, jill, joie, jackie, johnny and chamina... his titas (who he refers to so rudely by their first names) "mal" and "ah-mi", his ninang chamina, and his "LO-LO!" and "MAAAM!", as he even more rudely refers to lola. gani had a blast swimming, visiting, playing in a yard, running around in the sprinklers, jumping on sofas, enjoying the heat, and just being his natural naked self.

typical snack time mess at lolo and lola's

gani and his ate jill
"MAAM! feed me! my mom's still asleep and it's 11 am!"

"sister" marley and tita mel

b-day celebration with the cousins!
lola accidentally bought "magic" candles

during the last saturday we were in so cal, our friends arlene and rod were married. we know arlene and rod through sf state, but they're both from riverside and long beach. i went through my MA program with both of them, and i was so relieved to find two people from so cal living in sf. rod is a TDB, a fraternity that i was a little sis for in college, and arlene and i used to work together at the agency i'm at now. we've grown really close, and it was so great to be able to witness their union.

mr. and mrs. daus-magbual and their boys

gani was the herb bearer for their beautiful ceremony. we were worried about how he would do. i was sure he'd throw a fit and refuse to go down the aisle. when arlene asked for him to be in the ceremony, gani was only a year old. at one year old, we didn't really couldn't see his personality just yet, and i warned her then that he might not do it. sure enough, right before he was supposed to go down the aisle, gani was pulling hysterically at the neck of his barong, screaming and crying. perci quickly wisked him away, and when the ceremony started, he became this magical angel walking so calmly and adorably down, pillow in hand. apparently all flower girls and bearers around 2 years old were throwing fits and just held it together long enough to make it down the aisle!

yes! he did it!!

lavender for health and sage for protection

we had a wonderful time! trump national golf course will never be the same. the crazy filipinos were off the hook and made it a par-tay! arlene and rod brought fabrics, materials, paper and alcohol from ilocos, and incorporated it all into their filipinana theme. our friend/mentor/ate allyson performed the ceremony, which went perfectly. rod and arlene shared their emotional vows, and then everyone was off to the open bar!

playing kulintang with mahalaya

more pictures to come in the next post! just wanted to get a little something out there to share!

DA-LA-WAAAA!!!!

birthday boy with his lil' john tigger cup

if you ask gani, "how old will you be on your birthday?", he'll reply "tyoooo!" well, after practicing that and singing the happy birthday song and fake blowing out candles for weeks, he's finally TWO! we started the morning off with his best buddy lupita. our wonderful friends made a so so delicious breakfast of huevos rancheros, mimosas and topped off with tres leches cake and round one of the "happy birthday" song and two rounds of "las mananitas" sung by lupita. they are so precious together! once we got there, lupita was running endlessly up and down the hallway with excitement to see gani. while i know gani was so happy to see her too, he doesn't show his emotion quite as enthusiastically. he tries to play it cool and pretend like he's not phased, so instead, he takes her toys. it was a perfect way to start off his birthday, and mama and papa had a nice buzz going to carry us through the day.

(some funny pictures to come of this morning!)

after breakfast, we had to rush to the haight to bring our young women to a screening of an independent film "american blackout", which looks at the way the black vote has been suppressed in american democracy. it was a great film, and the girls left pissed off (but inspired) about what they had learned. the director, ian inaba was at the screening so they were able to ask him questions and share their thoughts. the girls really liked the film. gani wasn't so into it. he ended up just going up and down the aisle throwing tigger and ko-koy at random people and eating popcorn off the floor. gross. but he was generally pretty well behaved and patient, and let me stay long enough to make sure the girls would be ok to get home on their own.

at this point, gani had only taken a 20 minute nap, so around 5:00, i was contemplating whether or not to put him down before we had people over, or to just keep him up. after about three tantrums, he went down for a nap, which worked out perfectly for us. we cleaned, ran last minute errands, got all the food ready and he woke up just in time to greet people as they came. we had a "small" party this year for him. but being that our house is so small, it felt HUGE. it felt great to have friends over for gani to celebrate with. all in all, we had a GREAT time. a ton of food, lots of kids and just a really chill time was what we totally wanted, and it was perfect.

rizalene (visiting from ny), maricel, justin and baby miles

emalyn, ninangs ann & jaylyn, and mark

doing his "tricked you!" move on mileskii

another jaelyn! the pink princess

nesma, samya, sexy gael and a grown up rio

the mitchell's cake was the perfect re-energizer at 10:30 pm!

everyone went straight for the toys!

notice how in the above picture, gani looks like he's about to bash someone over the head with a frying pan. yes, there were many fights that broke out over balloons, bubbles, and random things like string and pillows. but those are always signs of a good party.

again, i can't say enough how wonderful it was to have some of our closest friends to share in gani's special day. it was truly a trip to see gael and gani hanging out. i had a moment where i was like, "whoa! this is weird!" as if time was supposed to stay still and gael was supposed to stay the age i saw him last. we haven't seen glades, marco and the boys for probably over a year, and the timing for a reunion was perfect. we also had never met miles (bad mama, i know!) until that day. he is indeed the most adorable little boy! those cheeks and his temperment are all that a mom could ask for. i PROMISE to have more playdates.

thanks to everyone who came and made it so fun. lola, auntie pam and uncle jr; rizalene; dj's celskii and jus; dj opus and jenita and baby boy ;); morad and mel; marco and glades; ann and werner; tina; jaylyn and mark; floyd; emalyn and collin; rommell... and of course the kids nesma, samya, miles, rio, gael, and jaelyn! gani monster had a blast!

the party boy the next morning,
after a night of over-stimulation, sugar and crashing at midnight

opening gifts and chillin with papa

and the birthday celebrations continue! once we figure out when we can go down to west covina, we'll have another small celebration with his favorite girls in the world, his cousins!!! he can't wait. he keeps screaming for his "lolo!!!" and points while grunting at marley's picture as if i can just make her appear. i think it's time to get party #2 started. he's been practicing the "happy birthday" song and blowing out candles twice a day to keep his skills sharp.