Our second full day together as a family and we spent it at the beach! These two boys are going to be so bored when we actually get home!
In just these couple days we've been learning some fun things about our son, Tope.
*He is a joker! He loves to play pranks, such as hiding in the room or shining us with a flashlight. He will often put his finger to his mouth in a "shhh" and with a glint in his eye point to whomever he is ready to play a prank on.
*Tope is also a HUGE eater. He has eaten everything we've put in front of him, but he definetly prefers pancit (asain stir-fry type noodle), fish dipped in soy sauce, and chicken dipped in gravy. He really loves his dips!!! He also likes sweet things such as juice and bananas.
*His speech is slurred, partly because of the language barrier, partly because of a speech impediment due to his cleft lip/palate. He will often talk in his native language, but he also knows some english and seems to understand at least basic directions. He always knows what it means to Eat! And he understands when it is time to put on shoes, find Mama or Daddy, find his superheroes, and go to the CR (aka. Comfort room, Aka. bathroom). He can count to 20 in english! We haven't gotten further than this yet. He loves to say the word "oi!" which would mean "hey!". He loves the little superhero figures I had brought along. He has them with him everywhere he goes. His favorite is Batman and we get a kick out of him saying it, because they don't use their a's like us, their a's are all ah's so he will yell over and over "bAHt-mAHn, bAHt-mAHn!!!" One of the hardest things of us to remember is not to say "Uh-oh" when something is dropped, etc. In Cebuano, "Oo", pronounced just like our "Uh-oh" means "YES" - so I'm sure we've confused him a few times. When Jon read to him tonight he was copying every sentence Jon was reading, so he is very observent and seems to want to learn more words. I feel he is already picking up a couple new words in just these couple days.
By the way, I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but this is the coolest time of year for the Philippines! Yes, that is right - the coolest. Meaning it gets down to 75 at night and warms up to about 88 during the day (but feels like 95 with humidity most of the time). Glad we are here during the cool season!!! Although, it only gets about 10 degrees higher during their hot season, but the humidty is even higher so it feels like it is in the 100's.
Now for our day at the beach. We took a taxi to the ferry that would take us to Samal Island. We had told the taxi driver Paradise Island which is a resort on Samal, but he didn't take us to that direct ferry, so without knowing it, we ended up on the public ferry. So the adventure began without me really knowing it. We ended up taking the public ferry that loads people, cars, busses, and motorcycles. The locals definetly were curious about us! Two gals even took pictures with me - I'm guessing I'm on some Facebook feed somewhere - hopefully they are saying I'm lovely or something instead of making fun of me! lol! Once we got off the ferry I realized we were not by the Paradise resort and had no idea how far away it was. We were immdiately asked if we wanted to take a motorcycle or bicycle. I thought the "motorcycle" was the one with the enclosed taxi type sitting so I said that... WRONG!... they wanted to put ALL 4 OF US onto a Motorcycle!!!! Yikes!!! A younger man was very kind and helped us out and made sure we got onto a "bicycle" of which probably wasn't too much more safe, but nonetheless it got us to our location. The resort has a hotel and the paid beach space with a restaurant setting. We sat in the sun for about 5 hours (us mid-westerners have some red skin to prove it, even with sunscreen) and we ate a very traditional and yummy lunch full of pancit, lechon (pork), and fried chicken. We even got to see a circus type act full of balancing, tumbling, and juggling. At the end of the day we found the direct ferry from the resort, which was actually more of a boat, and we went back to Davao City, got in a taxi where the boys promplty fell asleep, and went back to the hotel. We ordered our food to the room as I knew the boys would not want to sit still. It was a hit! And I'm wondering why I haven't done this sooner! It was an adventurous day full of many firsts, especially with our transportation. It was a great day!
In just these couple days we've been learning some fun things about our son, Tope.
*He is a joker! He loves to play pranks, such as hiding in the room or shining us with a flashlight. He will often put his finger to his mouth in a "shhh" and with a glint in his eye point to whomever he is ready to play a prank on.
*Tope is also a HUGE eater. He has eaten everything we've put in front of him, but he definetly prefers pancit (asain stir-fry type noodle), fish dipped in soy sauce, and chicken dipped in gravy. He really loves his dips!!! He also likes sweet things such as juice and bananas.
*His speech is slurred, partly because of the language barrier, partly because of a speech impediment due to his cleft lip/palate. He will often talk in his native language, but he also knows some english and seems to understand at least basic directions. He always knows what it means to Eat! And he understands when it is time to put on shoes, find Mama or Daddy, find his superheroes, and go to the CR (aka. Comfort room, Aka. bathroom). He can count to 20 in english! We haven't gotten further than this yet. He loves to say the word "oi!" which would mean "hey!". He loves the little superhero figures I had brought along. He has them with him everywhere he goes. His favorite is Batman and we get a kick out of him saying it, because they don't use their a's like us, their a's are all ah's so he will yell over and over "bAHt-mAHn, bAHt-mAHn!!!" One of the hardest things of us to remember is not to say "Uh-oh" when something is dropped, etc. In Cebuano, "Oo", pronounced just like our "Uh-oh" means "YES" - so I'm sure we've confused him a few times. When Jon read to him tonight he was copying every sentence Jon was reading, so he is very observent and seems to want to learn more words. I feel he is already picking up a couple new words in just these couple days.
By the way, I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but this is the coolest time of year for the Philippines! Yes, that is right - the coolest. Meaning it gets down to 75 at night and warms up to about 88 during the day (but feels like 95 with humidity most of the time). Glad we are here during the cool season!!! Although, it only gets about 10 degrees higher during their hot season, but the humidty is even higher so it feels like it is in the 100's.
Now for our day at the beach. We took a taxi to the ferry that would take us to Samal Island. We had told the taxi driver Paradise Island which is a resort on Samal, but he didn't take us to that direct ferry, so without knowing it, we ended up on the public ferry. So the adventure began without me really knowing it. We ended up taking the public ferry that loads people, cars, busses, and motorcycles. The locals definetly were curious about us! Two gals even took pictures with me - I'm guessing I'm on some Facebook feed somewhere - hopefully they are saying I'm lovely or something instead of making fun of me! lol! Once we got off the ferry I realized we were not by the Paradise resort and had no idea how far away it was. We were immdiately asked if we wanted to take a motorcycle or bicycle. I thought the "motorcycle" was the one with the enclosed taxi type sitting so I said that... WRONG!... they wanted to put ALL 4 OF US onto a Motorcycle!!!! Yikes!!! A younger man was very kind and helped us out and made sure we got onto a "bicycle" of which probably wasn't too much more safe, but nonetheless it got us to our location. The resort has a hotel and the paid beach space with a restaurant setting. We sat in the sun for about 5 hours (us mid-westerners have some red skin to prove it, even with sunscreen) and we ate a very traditional and yummy lunch full of pancit, lechon (pork), and fried chicken. We even got to see a circus type act full of balancing, tumbling, and juggling. At the end of the day we found the direct ferry from the resort, which was actually more of a boat, and we went back to Davao City, got in a taxi where the boys promplty fell asleep, and went back to the hotel. We ordered our food to the room as I knew the boys would not want to sit still. It was a hit! And I'm wondering why I haven't done this sooner! It was an adventurous day full of many firsts, especially with our transportation. It was a great day!
 |
| Can you see our little crab friend? He was smaller than a dime. |
Comments
Post a Comment