Thank You. Yes, You.



Gabe's still too young to understand that he got really sick (which scared the living bejesus out of his folks) so in his behalf, we'd like to thank all you guys who prayed for his safety and quick recovery. Thanks too to everyone who visited and brought food (which unfortunately Gabe couldn't eat, but it's the thought that really counts anyway) and texted words of comfort and encouragement. Just so you know, he's good as new now.

We're still a bit shaken by the entire thing, which explains why this follow-up post comes so late, but we're all okay now.

For those who still don't know, here's what happened in a nutshell. Gabe pooped a lot of blood (about two full diapers' worth) the night we got home from vacation, so we brought him to the ER. He lost a lot of blood so he got a blood transfusion, and the diagnostic exams done showed that the problem was that he had a Meckel's diverticulum. While waiting for his scheduled surgery to take out the diverticulum, he bled again, which eventually led to an emergency surgery. The operation was fast, and so was his recovery. The only real pain Gabe felt aside from the immediate post-operative pain (about 6 hours) were the hunger pangs during the three days after the surgery that he was not allowed to eat or drink anything.

More details later. I'll also be sure to post some pictures of our trip to Hong Kong and Macau. Check back soon.

Gabe Gets Haircut And Lives!


Gabe got a haircut today, and unlike previous times, he did not cry. Woohoo! Breakthrough!

Today, Gabe sat ALONE in his race car-shaped barber's chair (he used to sit on Jean's or my lap before), did not fuss, and actually spoke to the barber a couple of times to ask if he was done with cutting his hair. Let's hope this isn't a one-time deal!

Gabe Attempts First Pick-Up Line!


Okay, so it was more like "Gabe Attempts To Strike Up Conversation," but that doesn't sound as exciting.

Anyway, at the pool today, Gabe found a new playmate in a girl who was at least a couple of years older than he. She seemed to like playing with him and didn't mind that he had limited conversational and playing skills.

Soon, Gabe started to strike up a conversation, but didn't really know how, so he just started blurting out his favorite words: pizza, Zagu, Dora, Boots, Swiper, squirrel, etc. The little girl humored him and just repeated whatever he said. I told Gabe to ask her what her name was, and he did. He said "your name?" and she said "Dana."

Later when it was time to go, I told Gabe to say goodbye to Dana and he waved good-bye to her, but instead of saying "bye," he said "wanna come?" Not the best pick-up line in the world, so obviously it didn't work.

Gabe's Playground

As promised, here are some shots of Gabe in the new building playground. It's good to see that the money we pay for the association dues have somehow been put to good use, as in addition to the playsets, the entire playground was blanketed with blue foam padding. Now we don't have to worry about Gabe falling off the slide, as he can be clumsy with his feet sometimes.


So why is Gabe playing alone in such a nice playground? Because he was the first kid in the building to do so! Building security allowed us to use the playsets even if the place was still cordoned off, so Gabe got to play with everything ahead of the other kids, with no competition in sight.

Nowadays, the place is swarming with bigger kids all the time. I guess now Gabe will learn how to play with them instead of alongside them.

Photos taken with the 2 megapixel camera of a Nokia N70. Not bad for a phone cam.

Gabe Learns Prepositions!

For the first time yesterday, Gabe used a preposition in his sentence and said "wait for me" instead of his usual "wait me." He sounds really funny saying these sentences without prepositions--he still says "look me" (for "look at me") up to now, but it's just so cute.

He also still says "dark it" (for darken it) when he turns off the lights (which he calls "darking"). We'll be happy when he finally gets it right, but we'll be sad to say goodbye to these cute little mistakes.

GabeeGoo Recommends:

Books for Less bookstore at the SM Mall of Asia.

Kids' books can be quite expensive, and in Gabe's case, short-lived as he sometimes rips some pages off books with thin paper pages (especially when he was younger). But Gabe loves books (reading them, not ripping), and that's a good thing. So it was a happy accident when we found this bookstore which sells cheap second-hand books that look almost brand new. We got a copy of The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (Gabe loves trains) and Ha! Ha! Giraffe by Caroline Repchuk (about a crocodile with a toothache and a giraffe with a sore throat--funny!) for 99 and 129 bucks respectively. Good deal, I think.


The children's books section is actually quite small, and the rest of the shop is filled with all sorts of books. I wasn't able to browse through them though; maybe next time. Some books have dedication notes in them ("enjoy! - love, grandpa and grandma") and may appeal to collectors of the nostalgic. Me, I just look for good stories in books in good condition. The giraffe book looks practically brand-new.

Maybe we'll get that dinosaur book next time.

The Mouse



After a short afternoon walk with his mom at the mall, Gabe came home carrying a small toy mouse, which I have decided to name "Jerry" for him, as he apparently still does not have a mental database of names to choose from. Jean, however, appears to be more partial to "Stuart," as in Stuart Little, a movie Gabe is already familiar with. But on second thought, both names seem a bit inappropriate, as the toy actually looks more like a rat. Be that as it may, it's Gabe's current favorite toy.

It's About (Play)Time!

So the folks over at the building administration office finally gave in to parent pressure and replaced the dilapidated old playground set near the pool. It's about time! We normally don't allow Gabe to play with the old set since the cracks in the plastic could give him some nasty cuts. Now we don't have to bring him to Gymboree just so he can have a decent place to play at anymore. Yay!

Early this evening, we brought Gabe down to the pool for an after-dinner swim, and were pleasantly surprised to see not just one, but several new playhouses lined up for assembly! There are a lot of little kids in the building, and they probably have been waiting for these for a really long time now. Of those that had been assembled already, Gabe enjoyed playing with the pirate ship playhouse, which came complete with a telescope which he likes ("telescope" having been a fairly new addition to his rapidly expanding vocabulary). There was even a new slide and swing set! We can't wait to see the look on his face when he finally gets to play with the fully assembled playground.



Here's what some of the playsets look like. More pictures of Gabe in various stages of playtime nirvana to come in the next few days.