Sunday, April 20, 2014

Ginikanan

Ginikanan is Hiligaynon for parent. Having been the first-born child to parents who have lovingly nurtured me until I was 38, I never thought it would be so hard. Of course, this realization came when I became a parent myself on the day I turned 38.

It has been two years and six months. My son is now a toddler and as expected, he's almost always all over the place!  At this particular stage of his life, his goal is to move around, to jump up and down, to run and run, to climb stairs and everything else in between, to throw objects and see how you react, to cry when he sees you getting dressed up and ready to leave. But this is also the time that he could talk coherently, sing with gusto, dance like Daddy, draw on paper and not on walls, play with sand and water, and he helps out in the garden and carries the pail and watering can like a pro! Now that he's a regular part of the Maya Playgarden Parent-Child Program, he has since learned how to socialize with other children his age group and has done activities with the other children and their parents/caregivers. He talks about sharing and borrowing but I'm not sure if he really gets it yet. But he is just adorable just the same!

Time flies so fast indeed.

Tonight, Easter Sunday 2014, I was playing with him at bedtime, singing our circle songs and just laughing together at some silly story, and I looked at him and I almost cried. How he has grown! I still remember the time I used to carry him in my arms and breastfeeding him. Now, he eats on his own and loves rice, fish, and soup so much! I also remembered the time when he couldn't hold his head up yet. Now, he's an acrobat! Wasn't it just yesterday when his Dad was so worried he couldn't walk and talk yet? Hah! He can run fast like the wind and oh how he talks, sings the Hiligaynon lullaby "Dandansoy" while strumming his guitar, and  reports everything from how he got his bump to how he got scared when a relative suddenly picked him up without warning and how his Manang Nana, his 5-yr-old first cousin, would always tell him to "go out" whenever the former would have tantrums. 

My child is growing! I took his face between my hands and kissed him and said, "I love you, Baby!" He looked at me funny but said the customary reply, "Love, Mommy 'Day" (contraction for the Hiligaynon female nickname Inday), which I know he doesn't comprehend yet. And we proceeded with our regular nightly ritual with his current favorite "read," "Alice Through The Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll with illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. He knows all the characters' names and imitates their actions as illustrated. His fascination with the book is pinpointing where an identical illustration can be found elsewhere in the book. 

He never ceases to amaze me. I love discovering him every day. No rush.