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!

Mulching 2017

We've been partially neglecting our yard since last year.

I say "partially" because the grass does get mowed by a neighbor, same neighbor also trims the front shrubs a couple of times per season. He does not trim the bushes in the back yard, unfortunately.

Our backyard had vines creeping in from next door, thorny bushes growing in tight spaces and several weed trees ("Tree of Heaven") have rooted and grown into trees with trunks several inches in diameter, we decided to get the place professionally cleaned and landscaped.

I am a bit disappointed with myself that I didn't get "before"pictures.

But here is a picture the day after did the cleanup.

I've asked them to remove the perennials I planted in the area around the lamp post. When I planted them years ago, the idea was to attract butterflies but all they attracted were bees.

Today, we spent the better half of the afternoon in our front yard.

We replaced the edging material in front - the original edging was already broken and torn in several places so we dug it up and installed a new one.

We also installed red mulch - 9 bags all in all (each bag has 2 cu ft.)

Now, hubby and I have both showered the dirt off and are resting. I have to note that the mosquitoes have also feasted on us so we're full of bites as well.

We've run out of mulch so we didn't get to do the backyard today.  Hopefully, our old bones will still be up for it yesterday.

This is hard work.

The only person who is happy with today's activity is Swe-cha, he got to ride his Razor up and down the driveway and sidewalk while we were working.

What is that Cloud ?

These days, Swe-cha has been showing a lot of curiosity.

If he sees something unfamiliar, he would ask "What is that ?" followed by "What is it used for ?".

So far, he's asked these questions about:
- my fins (used for diving), his response was "let's go race in the water!"
- my BCD (used for diving)
- the fish tank thermometer

Last night, I decided to grill some steaks for dinner. I fired up the grill, threw 2 steaks on it and then forgot. I didn't remember until Swe-cha points to the library / family room and asks "Mommy, what is that cloud ?"

Sure enough, smoke had come in through the door I had left open and it was collecting and hanging like a cloud.

I quickly rescued the steaks and they were still edible, despite being slightly charred on the edges and being very well done.

Supercuts

The first time I went to Supercuts was over 15 years ago.

It was winter and I just needed a trim. I went to Supercuts because it was near and the place always seemed pretty busy so I thought it would be good.

So I sit in the chair and the stylist wets my hair. She asks me how long I want my hair and I point to a certain length and she combs my (wet) hair till it's really straight. She then takes her scissors and makes one straight cut from right to left. Then she takes off the cape and tells me that I'm done. She was going to let me go with my hair dripping wet.

WHAT ?

I asked about them drying my hair and apparently they charge extra for that.

It was night time and I was just going to take a shower when I got back home so there was no point in having my hair styled but I figure, it was winter, it was night time and I came in with dry hair. Wasn't it just proper that they send me home with dry hair too ?

So I asked to use their blow dryer and I worked on getting my hair reasonably dry (i.e. not dripping wet). That was the worst $7 I'd ever spent in my life.

Needless to say, I never went back....

.... until yesterday.

I had accrued the maximum amount of vacation days at work and had been losing them so I decided to file for a day off yesterday. I had been looking forward to that day off and had my heart set on getting my hair trimmed but I learned one important thing yesterday - MOST SALONS ARE CLOSED ON MONDAYS!

My desperation led me to Supercuts, I did my research and found a stylist that was mentioned by name several times in their reviews. It must have been my lucky day yesterday because said stylist was available. I went and now, I've since slept and washed my hair and I am still happy.

I don't know if I plan on going back next time but it's definitely a possibility if I find my favorite salon/stylist out again.