Most parents watched out for their kid’s first steps, words etc but I got really excited when Kenzo made his first written letter when he decided to leave a note to Aunt Ting about how she left her Ipad in our house.
I thought after the early milestones during the toddler and baby years there are nothing more that can bring as much excitement but I just realized that a first hand-written letter can also makes me jump in happiness from being just too proud.
After about 3 years I went back to the Land Down Under but this time it is in Brisbane-Gold Coast. It was a travel incentive from Pru Life UK and I am lucky to grab two seats for me and Mum. Last month I also qualified for Singapore-Maldives but opted not to go and decided to just have it converted to cash.
Before leaving we have to make sure Kenzo would all be aware of the set up t that he have to stay at momsie’s house but we knew that he will violently react knowing that his mum will leave him for a few days. Goodthing we found a good alternative for him to enjoy while we are away and that is by booking him for 3 days, 2 nights at Crimson hotel in Alabang. At least there he can kill time swimming and getting a load of good time than staying in the house waiting for us.
We traveled to the airport and we are supposed to park there but like in any Government operated in the PH it is all in shambles. We got a scare because the whole facility in jammed and fully parked and we spent close to 1 hour before we got a spot and we just got lucky because we almost got stuck there looking for a space that is not available.
We took off from Manila around 7pm and arrive close to Midnigt in Singapore to take our connecting flight to Brisbane. the layover was a short one but to me it was a scary layover because I experienced a horrible case of ear pressure to the point I thought my eardrums were to explode.
After 7 hours we arrived in Brisbane at almost 11 am (QLD time) the bus took us and that was the time I first encountered the Brisbane Heat and It was punishing like Manila. From the airport we went to get our lunch in a cliff point resto the food was not good but the view was really nice. We left the resto after 2 hours and headed to Gold Coast but due to the rush hour traffic it took us 30 minutes longer to get to our hotel as the road is a bit jammed.
Our Hotel is Grand Chancellor in Surfer’s Paradise it is not extraordinary, in fact it is a bit old, but it is in the middle of almost everything nice in the area. The beach is near, Woolies is just downstairs, Mcdonald’s, Hungry Jacks. Aporto, Subway, 7-11, Ben and Jerry’s, Starbucks, KFC etc are all a stone throw away. All is almost perfect but then minutes after arriving in the hotel i realized I dropped my wallet in the bus (good thing AUS is a honest country I got it after 2 days ). The only complaint I had in the trip was the humidity and heat, there are a few trips I missed because I cannot stand the scorching Brisbane sun and I just opted to stay indoors.
First dinner was in a fancy resto in the area, seascapes and that is where I first got a good taste (again ) of australian steak. Sooo tender and really delicious. The first night would have been perfect if not for the lost wallet that grabbed a bit of cloud on our trip.
2nd day was the Photo Op day and shopping day, of course it a punishment on my part but an exciting one for mum. Since I just lost a wallet I was forced to just stay in a corner and read a book, great thing Harbour Point has a tourist lounge where we can wait and it is aircon, served cold water, coffee and tea. I spent about 2 hours there. Next stop is the mall and again I was bored for 2 reason, I dont like shopping and I dont have my wallet. Again I spent most of the time tagging along and just sitting in a corner. The night that day was the appreciation night and we were asked to wear something close to a business suit or smart casual. It was a nice party but food came out late and we were all hungry when they called us to line on the buffet. I walked earlier that everyone that night and spent about an hour walking along the beach and it was really a nice one.
3rd day was a shopping and Warner Bros day but due to the heat and I was expecting queue on the lines will be long I decided not to go to run away from the heat. I spent the morning sleeping and I took a good long walk along the beach area of Gold Coast-Surfer’s paradise. I also grabbed a lunch at KFC and enjoyed really long walk back and forth along the area. The cool ocean breeze somehow makes the burning sun tolerable I enjoyed that alone time but it would have been better if the weather is not that hot. I went back to the hotel and walked back there again mid afternoon. When I reached back my hotel mum was already inside our room at around 4 fixing her stuff that she bought that day. The night was spent meeting up with everyone ( Angie’s fam, marvin, claire and kianna) for dinner and shared some good funny stories.
4th day was again spent for more shopping, while mum was out I decided to pay for another day in a room so I can be all lying down from 11 am checkout time to 6pm bus pick up time. Rather than spend tagging along mum shopping I decided to stay in the room and pay for a day’s worth (120 AUD). I spent the day as planned, by sleeping and walking along the beach. I again went to grab lunch at KFC, another alone time for me.
Around 6pm the bus picked us up and we headed to BNE Airport, after about an hour we are there lining up to check-in or stuff and also our last few hours to gasp the Ozzie air.
We arrived in SG at around 5am, initially I was quite scared on how we will kill time as our layover there will be for 7 hours, great thing SG airport has all the facilities to make our layover the beast one. The airport got free movies, electronic foot massages and really good hawker style food resto. We almost felt the 7 hour layover was not enough and it feels like wanting to stay longer.
Close to 1pm we are headed home. We are excited to see both of you and bring out your toys but also kinda sad that we are leaving a good nice, clean and safe place of Brisbane.
I am now quite worried that Liam is a bit slow on his speech, though he can fully understand instructions and when we talk to him but getting his words out is quite not we expect. I still blame the pacifier for causing him to delay his speech but sadly he still use it when trying to sleep but not during the day anymore. It has been about 6 weeks that he has stopped his pacifier during playtime, or daytime but previously that plug of his is just easily accessible to him and he often use it even at play or watching TV.
I think this delay it and we are now slowly weaning him away from it, though he still uses that when he is about to sleep as it helps him get to sleep better. I know we also need to stop that slowly but his mum said that we need to do it gradually or else he might be hard to get him to nap.
Liam is now a year and four months (almost five months ) but his words are limited to Dada, Mama, Elmo, bo (ball), yum yum (eating) Nana, Ja (Jolibee), Do (McDo), ish (fish), behrd (bird). I know kids delvelop in different stages and I hope his stage to speak comes sooner that later as I am getting a bit worried. But the good news is he can understand if I give instructions like “get diapers and throw it in a trash” , “where is Kenzo’s bag, remote, ipad, my phone , mama’s shoes etc” He understood us and I think that is a good sign that he is learning but sadly not yet talking. I knew it will come one day and I am sure will be exicited to witness it.
Introvertness are never a popular personality, the world welcomes extroverts with warmth and open arms. We all like extroverts in our group and parties. While introverts are the minority ( was estimated to be 1/3 of our populations are introverts) there are some good points to it. Being a parent to an intro, I observed that in a lot of cases they are easier to handle as they are more observant, not easily amused and dont quite rush to emotional decisions but rather rely on analytical thinking more ( not to generalize and it is just based on my experience and observation).
If for example ( simplified) there is a ball on the middle of the street, an Extro would be like ” Wow a ball. I want to get that! ” And rushed to the street to pick it. While an Intro would be like ” Oh a ball. That is nice but I got ball at home too. But wait maybe since I am not doing anything it might be better to kick it around or dribble it while I kill time. OK, I will get it, but let me first check if there are cars coming. Great road is clear!” then go to the ball to pick it.
I always say that the world is made for extroverts and introverts often have a hard time navigating around the world because of this. Intros are never the bad personality, yes they might be not as likeable and they often seen alone drinking coffee while reading something or listening to a music, doing long walk alone etc but there are surely a good side to being in soltitude with only your thoughts, imagination, dreams to entertain you.
Introverts delved in critical thinking and often sees things in a different perspective which makes parenting easier. Like with Kenzo I know he is an Intro I never got a problem with him with playing with electric cords, licking shampoo, eating lego blocks, washing hands from the toilet bowl, spraying aerosol cans etc. for some reason they know those are not toys and they are not just interested playing it. I think they know playing real toys are a lot better than household items. Kenzo grew up without getting trouble with it but Liam ( a classic extrovert) have been already been reprimanded from plugging electric cords, grabbing items from the grocery shelves, washing his hand on the toilet bowl etc. Liam is very curious like any kid while Kenzo don’t bothered himself with unimportant stuff.
Both Persoanlity has its pros and cons and in some days we prefer Kenzo to be more like an extrovert and Liam like his brother.
I still welcome that I got two kids that embraces the world in a different way and perhaps when they grew old they move towards good things though travelling in two parallel and different path.
everyday with my son 