These Days

We had a very low-key Thanksgiving day this year. We did not even plan for a special meal, but we did venture out in the afternoon to test the new drone at a nearby park. And of course, some pictures.

Neil's school had the third grade school play on November 17. It was entitled The Presidents, which is about the first 16 US presidents. I think The Nutcracker play from last year was more enjoyable but it's always a treat seeing Neil perform on stage. It doesn't matter what they perform, it will be a big deal to me. =)

Neil's karate school had a Halloween trunk-or-treat/party at the end of October. We initially signed up to host a trunk but I had a meeting at work which would make us late for set up, so maybe next year. We drove straght to the dojo from my workplace and true enough, the festivities were already under way. This is our first time in three years to participate and it was more fun than we anticipated. It has a lot to do with familiarity among the kids and families (friendly atmosphere) plus the staff made sure everyone was fed and entertained.

It's the last 2 weekends of the summer season at Six Flags White Water so we made sure to go for one last visit last Sunday. We went to church first, grabbed a quick lunch then drove to the waterpark. There were fewer people compared to our first visit so it was more pleasant. Sharing this short video from our fun afternoon.

Neil had his karate testing for blue belt last Tuesday. We've been through several of these events but to me, each one is a big deal. We see him improve day by day but these tests confirm that he's ready for the next level. He did really well on this test. My favorite part is the recitation of the 9 principles of respect (later part of the video). Only four volunteered to recite and he did it the best, my unbiased opinion. =) Congratulations, Neil!

If I kept a bucket list, I would have checked off  a big one last Monday. I saw my favorite band, Counting Crows, perform live! It was a double header with Rob Thomas, which was great because Matchbox 20 was also a big part of my college soundtrack. I learned about the concert on Facebook. I got excited but realized I probably can't go because Rich and I can't take the kids and I didn't know who else I could go with. Still, I clicked on 'Interested' and it turned out Anne and Sally wanted to watch, too. So I bought our tickets and we made it happen. Counting Crows sang many of the songs from the old albums, basically the ones I listened to a lot in college. They are awesome live, definitely a night to remember. I took very few pictures and videos and went old school most of the time, just watched and listened.=) I compiled the video clips I took. Rob Thomas in the background. Set list, from Counting Crows Fb page. With Sally and ...

Last Friday, Neil had his rank testing in karate for purple belt. He has shown a lot of improvement on his coordination and balance. Congratulations on your promotion, Neil! I made a short video of the session.

Last week was Ela's 1st year well visit. Her current stats are: Height: 2' 5" (60th percentile) Weight: 18 lbs 5 oz (25th percentile) Head circumference: 18" (75th percentile) For the first time, she was weighed sitting and not lying down. She was tested for anemia and received 3 shots. She's doing well physically. Some other interesting facts about Ela at 1 year old: She has 3 teeth now and she enjoys brushing. She likes to grab my hair and put it in her mouth. :S We have packed away all her bottles because she has transitioned to the cup. She still breastfeeds but I've stopped expressing milk at work because she's drinking less milk during the day. She has learned spit out food. She's not averse to anything really, it's more of when she's full or wants more variety. She's not walking yet but can climb up and down the sofa with ease. She's very alert and social. She cries if she does not see anyone around. We c...

Neil had his karate testing last month. He was selected to do one of the drills solo and was asked several questions afterwards. It was precious. You can see the exchange in the video below. It's my favorite karate moment so far.=)

Neil had his promotion test for karate last Tuesday, from orange to camo belt. I'm sorry to miss it but it was on the same day as a work conference I attended at the Gorgia World Congress Center. Rich took a video though, which is the next best thing. Congratulations, Neil!

We enrolled Neil for swim class last month April.  Lozada had summer swim classes in many venues but A.Venue on Makati Avenue was closest so that's where we enrolled him.  The class is for 10 sessions that go from 7:30-8:30AM.  It was too early but we made it work.=) I was present for most of the sessions, being the excited parent taking lots of pictures and videos.  Neil was confident and unafraid in the water and he enjoyed the classes a lot, even if he was shivering from the cold. He missed the last 2 sessions because he got sick but it still turned out for the best because they gave make-up sessions.  The first one was with 2 kids, second one was just him so he got 100% attention from the Teacher Justin. Here's a video!