'PAPEN'

Gabriel is finally free from pacifier!!!! Or should it be the other way around? The pacifier is finally free of Gabriel!!! I didn’t plan for it. I wasn’t hoping to wean him even. They said he’ll just let go of it eventually. I wouldn’t deny feeling quite embarrassed about it, especially that he’s getting to be more and more talkative. Can you imagine him blabbering with pacifier in between his teeth? Urgh. What’s even more frustrating was he wouldn’t let go of his worn-out, faded, bruised, tattered ‘papen’ as he calls it. Even I already bought a new one, same model of course, he just looked at it as if it were some kind of an alien.

Until one unexpected night happened, his papen deflated! And, of course, he didn’t want that new one. I stayed up the whole night, till the wee hours trying to console him, entertain him, veer his mind away from it all. I went to work the following day feeling all used-up myself, like his recently retired papen. I was expecting for the ‘withdrawal syndrome’ to last for at least a couple of weeks but thank goodness it only lasted for two days, two nights. He became consolable with a gentle scratch on his back till he dozes off. The thing is (or maybe on his part, the bargain is) I just have to do the scratching each time he stirs in his pillow, lest he rouses and eventually just wake up and deprive me of rest till the morning comes. It has already happened, mind you.

Oh, the woes of being a mother. But above everything else, papen weaning, diaper rush, allergies, fevers, tantrums… I am one, happy mother. With Gabriel already able to give me hugs and I love yous, I get enough consolation. Reinee and I find strength just by watching him sleep.

DOMINGO's SONG

Hear the song in my heart… and sing it to me, when my memory fails…

I can’t remember exactly where I got these lines, but I especially dedicated this to my best friend back in high school. But recently these lines have assumed a different meaning to me.

Dom and I have been friends since college, him being one of my cohorts in our school organ. I must say he was one of my avid supporters. He was zealously following me to the point of joining an organization I was in, even if it meant affecting his studies later on. He too, became a campus activist. But activism didn’t obstinately get into my system, thanks to my father, a true-blue radical himself, who gave me sane advices. That is another story, by the way.

At first Dom and I had a mentor-student kind of relationship. He was hungry for knowledge; I was passionate in sharing what I knew. Until I graduated from college and heard nothing from him. One day, I got a short, precarious missive from him. It didn’t have his signature, but I knew it was his. I knew his handwriting by heart. He was asking for prayers, saying his life was in danger. That shook me to the core. The last time I saw him, he was in the streets holding up a megaphone, red scarf around his head, under the heat of the sun. He was a different person already. I didn’t expect he would remember to let me know where his principles had led him, though I was constantly half-hoping he would.

Several years passed. Every thought of him became a prayer. Needless to say I was guilt-ridden. I prayed and prayed and prayed. And believed. He’s safe. He’s finished school. His life was normal. These prayers were heard.

We’ve been seeing each other in Manila recently. He’s been such a darling for picking me up at the airport and letting me stay in his house, treating me to places I never thought I would go. I treasure the long talks that lasted till the wee hours. He’s more or less the same person, but different in a way that only I, and maybe a few of his friends, would know and understand.

Yes, the mentor-student relationship has gone past its stage. Dom became my friend when he told me all about the brightness and darkness of his life, all about its sweet and pungent odor. All about its seasons, its colors, its songs. And I sang along with him, not fully understanding what his heart was saying, but at least knowing the sadness it felt, the fears that went along with it.

From outside, he is a jolly person. Very positive, talented, promising. Some people and so-called friends can only scowl at his propensities. But I can only cry seeing through his ready smile. Because there lies a friend, so misunderstood, yet so endearingly beautiful.

Dom, I may not be around for you always, but thank you for trusting in me. I am eternally amazed by how you take life and its challenges. You are such a brave young man, forever believing in great possibilities. You will be heard. You will be well. You will be triumphant. In the end, what will matter is how you lived your life. And I am blessed I have been part of it. Thank you for letting me hear the song of your heart.

GABRIEL's VOCABULARY - Part II

ENGLISH

Sweet dreams: dif-dif
I love you very much: bo-mash
Papa Jesus: Papa Titus
Pray: pfrey
Table: tibon
Egg: geg
Monster: munter
Swimming pool: mimingpon
Lotion: owthon
Milk: miyek
Chicken: kiken
Truck: chwak
Rainbow: winbow
Barney: marney
Blues clues: booth-cooth
Airplane: epen
Birds: borts
Drawing: wiwing
Turtle: titon
Giraffe: gerf
Banana: manana
Train: twen
Nose: nowth
Angel: engen
Teddy bear: tidiber
Apple: apon
Sun: than
Star: thtar
Butterfly: fly-fly
Cookies: cookith

Computer: pututer

Button: batan

ILONGGO

Ligo: gego
Banyo: manyo
Tanga: nana
Itlog: gog
Abre: abve
Gin-ot: in-ot
Hilot: ilot
Hulam ko: nam ko
Saging: gaging
Biskwit: kwit-kwit
Likod: nikod
Katol: katon
Basa: batha
Tugnaw: nugnaw
Hilanat: nanat
Kalam: nam
Hadlok: dlok
Sulat: thulat

The ones above are just the words that he still cannot say right, and that I find really cute to listen to. These days, every day, he surprises me with words, phrases, and even sentences he already can say right.

During our last visit to his pedia, I was quite surprised, and really happy with his ‘performance’. The pedia’s secretary, who’s very fond of him, got him a book and without much ado, Abe started naming everything he saw in each page. Not contented, after he finished the book, he looked around and named the things he could see around the clinic. Star, sun, kite, teddy bear, rat, clock, clouds, balls, tree.. I could see that the rest of the mothers in the clinic were impressed. Later, one mother asked me his age and when I said he’s going two this coming August, she said he’s advanced for his age. What can you expect? I was swelling with pride!

Thank God I took up Child Psychology, even if I really never got to practice it professionally. I believe that God made me take the course, just for Gabriel and his future siblings, God-willing.

Nevertheless, if there is one great teacher on how to be a good parent, it’s God himself. His parenting style could never ever go wrong. That’s one thing I like Gabriel to remember always.