The Making of His 2012 Halloween Costume

I don’t want to buy a Halloween costume for Hugo that he won’t be able to wear more than twice. I’m cheap like that. Last year, he went as a football player, only because Hugo’s dad bought him a FC Seoul jersey. This year, my goal is no different.

I had several choices for Hugo’s costume but finally landed on one choice: the kid Russel from Pixar’s movie “UP”. 

From Pixar.com

To my mind, this is an easy “costume”. All he needed was a yellow shirt with collar, a brown sash with pins/ badges, a brown cap, and an orange handkerchief to tie around his neck. Because I didn’t want to spend too much, I had to choose which items to spend for. I bought a yellow collared shirt, which he can wear even after Halloween, and had a professional printer print out Wilderness Explorer badges (from here) on cardstock. Apart from these 2, I scoured around the house for everything else.

Here is the finished product:

A zombie from Walking Dead, the Amazing Super Spiderman, a flower gnome, and a Wilderness Explorer

I was asked most about Hugo’s sash and badges. I am very proud of this one, since it has stayed intact the whole time.  Again, I didn’t want to buy brown cloth just for the costume so I just looked for an old brown t-shirt and cut out the bottom half to make a toddler sized sash. I cut out the badges and stuck them on the sash using Elmer’s glue.

For Hugo’s orange "bandana", I deconstructed an old orange cheesecloth shoe bag (a corporate giveaway) and folded it around his neck like a scout's handkerchief. His old brown hat had a panda patch in front that we covered with left over cheesecloth and a glued on Wilderness Explorer badge.

Hugo looked so cute in his outfit and received tons of compliments. Best of all, Hugo looked comfortable in it. There were other elements of the costume that I chose to forego like the hiking boots (he might have a hard time walking) and backpack (too heavy) but I decided that with the yellow shirt, badges, sash, and cap, he will surely look “in character”.

I can’t wait until next Halloween. J

Hello again, blog!

We meet again. This time, I hope it's for keeps.

Months have passed since I last had an update on the star of this show. :) I don't even want to begin boring everyone about how he's grown (insert "leaps and bounds"), because I don't have the time. He has learned a lot in the last 6 months, and I want to remain a little humble (for now) and not brag about it (yet). He has become very, very makulit - repeatedly bugging the husband and I for anything ("Please please please, mama?"). Other than that, we really can't complain.

Yesterday, I found a way to benefit from his newfound counting skills: I made him kiss me 13 times. And since he can now count from 1-20 almost flawlessly, I got what I wanted, and more. You see, Hugo counts from 1-12 perfectly, and then jumps to "14" before going to "13". So, yes, I got my 13 kisses and (one) more. :)

Hugo and the first 18 months

This is a belated post since in a few days, Hugo will actually be 19 months. He has grown so much and even I am amazed by the things he knows and picks up on a daily basis. Physically, he has become so strong, climbing over everything that doesn't move (including myself, when stationary) or being always on the run. 

Intellectually, he has also grown leaps and bounds. The other week, I listed all of the words he says and understands, and the list is up to almost a hundred words. This does not include words he can understand, and the things he can say (but not comprehend). He has also started stringing words together to form sentences like 'Bye, Mama!', 'Thanks, ate' or 'Thanks kakers (thanks for the crackers). He follows instructions to a T too. I asked him to, "get Papa's slippers" one time. And he did! 

Our nightly ritual of reading books and going through his flashcards...

him watching his educational videos regularly probably helped in this department.

He has started showing that he can pretend-play too. A few weeks ago, I saw him line up all his toy cars of differing sizes on the floor, bumper to bumper. As soon as he got to the end, he said "choo choo!". Yep, it was a train. What amazed me was when he did that the second time, he put the driver of his Mega Bloks truck at the front most car, face down. Then Hugo started snoring! The "driver" was "sleeping"! 

Spot the driver

During the holidays, Hugo's Dad, Caloy also came home during his school's Winter break. I've mentioned that Caloy is studying overseas to get his Masters degree. When we picked up Hugo's dad at the airport, Hugo did not skip a beat and immediately went with his dad. I suppose our nightly Skype sessions helped Hugo remember. What's so curious though is when his dad left, Hugo seemed to be looking for him every so often. The night Caloy left, Hugo went walking around the house, wearing his dad's shoes, and knocking at the door saying, "Papa? Papa?". Another time, I arrived home from work and he exclaimed, "Mama!". He then looked behind me and said, "Papa?".  :(

Hugo and Caloy on New Year's eve :). The Pinoy-style firecrackers did not faze him one bit. 

A few days ago, Hugo woke up at 530am and sat on my tummy, waking me up in the process. He then said, "'la na Papa?" (Papa's not here?) while looking around our bed. He repeated this several times until he fell asleep 30 minutes after. At one point after I already thought he was sleeping, he stood up abruptly and repeated his question.

How am I supposed to explain how attached my son has become to my husband who has been with us for only a few weeks the past 6 months, and only an hour or so everyday? In  a lot of ways, while I expected him to develop physically and intellectually at a fast rate, I never expected him to develop emotionally this way. It's a bittersweet discovery.