Grapes & Laundry

Swe-cha has been doing his own laundry for the 2nd week now. Still supervising him with how much soap to put in and the dryer settings, but so far so good.

Meanwhile, he's also been washing his own grapes now before he eats them. Today, he rinsed his grapes and asked for salt (we soak it in salt water), he asked:

Sean: "how long do I soak it for ?"

I told him 10 minutes and he took a timer and set it for 10 minutes.

Was pleasantly surprised that he asked. I expected him to not say anything and just wait for me to give him the signal.

Ant

 Last night, I was laying in bed on my stomach, watching my drama on the tablet.

Swe-cha, meanwhile, was sort of laying on top of me and kept fiddling with my ponytail, moving it back and forth. 

Curious, I asked him what he was doing with my hair.

Swe-cha: "What to do when there is an ant on your mother's shirt ?"

Haha.  So that was it.

I asked him to catch it and squish it but he refused. He eventually got a tissue and swiped at it.

Eating milestones

So tonight, I made fried shrimp and Swe-cha paid me the ultimate compliment.

First, as I was cutting up his shrimp and scooping rice / shrimp onto the spoon for him (note: he only started eating rice recently so he's still not used to eating by himself), he points me to my chair and says, "Mom, sit there, I will eat by myself".  

I watched him finish the food on his plate all by himself. Afterwards, he asked, "can I have more rice and shrimp please ?" Both daddy and I had to eat less shrimp,... but it's okay :) Buti na rin, nagsaing ako. We still had leftover rice from earlier and my initial plan was pagkasyahin na lang, thankfully I had second thoughts.

It took us a little bit longer but we're getting there. 

Do you like Paw Patrol ?

Today, as I was picking Swe-cha up from after school care, we met a boy who high-fived him. Said boy was wearing a Paw Patrol shirt.

Swe-cha: hey, do you like Paw Patrol ? (while pointing to boy's shirt)

Boy: Yeah.

Conversations

I was sitting on the floor when an insect - a huge silverfish - came out. I chased it and flattened it with my slipper.


S: Don't bang, Mommy.

Me: It was an insect. It's scary.

S: Don't scare the insect, Mom.

Me: (under my breath) ... Sorry po.

Milestones

Hubby / S dropped me off to pick up a takeout order and Hubby drove the car around. I picked up the order and then met them in the other street...

Swe-cha: Daddy, you found Mommy, yay!

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Taps me on the shoulder....

Swe-cha: Tap, tap, tap.... mommy, can you play with me ?

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We lost power around 5pm last Friday,... at some point, I found S shining his flashlight all over the house and I asked him what he was looking for, ...

Swe-cha: The internet...

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Dressing up after a bath,...

Swe-cha: I need socks, Mommy

I rummage around in the basket of clean laundry which I haven't sorted/folded yet and found 1.

Swe-cha: Thanks Mom, I need another sock!

I rummage around some more and found the pair...

Swe-cha: Thanks for the socks, Mom.

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Observations & Artwork

These days, S blurts out things that tell me that all these years where he's been non-verbal unable to communicate, he's been absorbing things all along.

For example, he brings out a Dr Seuss Green Eggs & Ham book and asks "who gave this book ?"

"Tita Me-----", I said.

and then he follows up with "Who is Ma----'s Mom ?" Ma---- is Me-----'s daughter. We meet them once a year on average.

Then later, he says to me "A, A and R are girls. They are sisters".
Actually, they're not. A and A are sisters, R is not their sister but they're always together whenever we see them so I can see why S would be confused.

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I'm also taking the chance to post today's artwork.

Can you guess what it is ?

Parang last year lang, all I could teach him to draw was a balloon, a lollipop or a kite.

Conversations

I've been hearing suspicious sounds from my car and had switched vehicles with the husband so he can observe.

When I picked up Swe-cha from school that afternoon, he sees his Dad's car instead of mine....

     S: What's that ?
   
     Me: It's..

     S: (interrupts me) NOT DADDY'S CAR!! (and he starts laughing)

He then runs to the car and takes a peek through the windows

     S: That's not right! (while laughing hysterically)

and then, as we're buckling ourselves into our seats...

     S: Where's Daddy ?

     Me: Daddy's at the office, he is driving Mommy's car.

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I cannot imagine how far he's come since last year. I remember that the last time hubby and I switched cars, perhaps half a year ago, I knew that S wanted to ask and/or make a comment but he didn't know how and what to say.

Conversations

Swe-cha and Mr R call Ms B on Facetime...

Ms B: Hi S! I like your shirt
S: Thank you.
Ms B: What color is it ?
S: (looks down at his colorful, tie-dyed shirt) rainbow!

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While practicing conversations w/ Mr R...

Mr R: Tell me something about Ms B.
S: I talked to Ms B on the phone
Mr R: Good.
S: I'll call 201-xxx-xxxx (Mr R's phone number)
Mr R: That's amazing S, how do you still remember that ?
S: I don't know.

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On the phone with A-i...

A-i: Hi S, what's your favorite toy ?

S: Jenga

A-i: can you teach me how to play Jenga ?

S: First you put in, then you stack it and then you crash it, yay!

Peter Sam

So I got Swe-Cha a Peter Sam train today and when I took it out of the bag, he immediately exclaims, "PETER SAM!".

Now, he's been very good at remembering the Thomas & Friends trains. He could identify them by their pictures long before he can even communicate his basic needs to us.

I asked him, "How do you know this is Peter Sam ?" I didn't really expect him to answer a "how" question yet but I was curious and I thought I'd ask.

He points to where the packaging says the name, "See ? P, E, tersam" as he pointed to the letters P and then E and then the rest of the name.

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He looked out the window this afternoon and saw snow falling. He says "Oh, it's snowing!".

Conversations

I've always tried to engage Swe-cha in conversation and we're getting some progress lately. Katuwa because he used to just ignore me when I ask follow up questions but these days, he really makes an effort.

Scenario 1:
Swe-cha: Potato Sticks please mom.
Me: Why do you want the potato sticks ?
Swe-cha: I need eat!

Scenario 2:
Swe-cha: Florida, Seaworld
Me: What will you do in seaworld ?
Swe-cha: the shamu ride
 Me: What will you do in the shamu ride ?
Swe-cha: do you want to scream ? ahhhhhh! (and raises his arms the way people do on roller coasters)

Scenario 3:
Swe-cha: Coke, Mom
Me: (I pretend to misunderstand) Okay, what do you want Mommy to cook ? Do you want egg ?
Swe-cha: Coke!
Me: Yes, I'll cook for you, what do you want to eat ?
Swe-cha: I drink the Coke, Mom.
Me: How about you just drink milk ?

Milestones

A few seconds ago, Swe-cha came to me with an iPad. He had paused the video he was watching to a particular scene and as he showed it to me he said, "The little ladybug is holding a number 5". This is the longest sentence he has composed ever! =)


Yesterday, while Daddy was still prepping to paint the MBR and hindi pa ready "magpatulong", Swe-cha kept wanted to enter the room already and help. Daddy eventually had to raise his voice in asking him to step out kasi hindi nakikinig. Swe-cha runs downstairs to me, points to the direction of his daddy and "Daddy yell". He's starting to tell a story/talk about something that happened already.