My Little Boys are Learning Tagalog!

No words, honestly, can ever express how happy and proud I am of my little boys, Kai and Kaden! Not only are they learning Tagalog words, they can now sing two lines from a Tagalog Christmas song that they just heard playing on YouTube.  The amazing part is, I really didn't teach them the words of the song. They learned them on their own. But of course, I would correct them if they said the word incorrectly, but that's about it.  I'm teaching them the "Bahay Kubo" song as well.  And it's so cute listening to them singing with their little American accent. (Hehehe.)

Our boys taken at the outlet store in Oklahoma City in July during our trip

Teaching my children how to speak and understand my language (Tagalog) has been my goal, too even before we had them.  And it will be an accomplishment for me if I end up being successful.  No offense, but as much as possible, I don't want my children to not at least understand or speak a few Tagalog words like the other kids (half Filipino half American, or even pure Filipino) here in the US.  I have met some and talked to them so I know.  I don't have anything bad against them.  All I'm saying is, it would have been better if they knew how to talk in Tagalog and can actually understand it, too at the same time.  I mean, after all, they're still Filipinos.

Perfect example is, my cousin.  He was born and is residing here in the US.  My mother told me that when they went home last May, he often would get bored because nobody would dare talk to him because of the language differences.  He couldn't understand Tagalog, and my cousins could not really speak English fluently.  So most of the time, he was left all by himself while the rest hung out together and were having fun.  Now, that's something I would not want my kids to go through.

A Weekend-like Tuesday

May 8, 2012:  My husband came home early from work, and since it was so gorgeous outside, we both decided to take the whole family out for a walk, then bring the kids to the nearby park so they could play and run around.  We put the boys in their wagon, the little girl in the baby carrier, dogs on their leash, and we walked a good mile for about 30 minutes, then we took the kids to the playground.

I called it a weekend-like Tuesday because we got to do stuff that we only normally do during weekends.  With my husband's ever-changing schedule at work and him being the only afternoon Chief in-charge, most of the time, during weekdays, he gets home usually at around 6PM, or later.  So we don't get to do much during work days.  But every time, like that last Tuesday, he gets off work earlier than usual, he always makes sure to spend time with us.

The boys had a blast, running all over the place, climbing up the slide and sliding down, and above all, they met a new friend.  Unfortunately, we never got to ask for her name, but she was so friendly and nice to the boys the whole time.  Not to mention that she was so pretty as well.  How I wish I could've at least asked her what her name was.  But it looks like she lives around the neighborhood, so there's a pretty big chance that we'll see her there again.  And if we did, this time, I won't forget to ask what her name is and how old she is.

 

Papa, too, had fun -- chasing after the little ones ;)

Anyway, we only stayed there for about 40 minutes, then we decided to walk over to a small restaurant called, Standing Only to grab something to eat before we headed back home.  We all had dinner together, then I got the kids ready for bed.  They definitely got so tired from playing and running around that they went to bed early that night.

They've Got Their Own TV!

Finally, we got our boys their own TV in their bedroom! Thanks to Black Friday for the great deal we got on TV wall mount. A 90-dollar worth of wall mount that we got for like $30. How cool is that?! Now, the boys get to watch their own TV shows whenever they want.

We already got them a couple DVDs for kids like, Barney and Friends, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Thomas, and some movies for children their age. We still are planning on getting them more especially the Baby Einsteins, which they say is a good one for little kids. I'll start looking for that online to see if we get a better deal than buying it from the store. Sometimes, it's better that way. Or, I wouldn't mind getting second hand DVDs as long as they're in great condition. Anyway, it's not the label of it being new or not that matters. As long as the kids get to enjoy and learn new things at the same time while watching is the most important thing.

But of course, we still set a limit on how long they can watch TV in a day. That's also an important thing. We don't want the kids to get hooked on watching TV all day and not do other activities at all. Right now, we let them watch a maximum of one hour a day. And usually, we turn their TV on at right about nap time. So when they get tired, they can just take their nap and then we turn it off.

I'm glad that the kids are happy and that they won't ever get bored just being in their room playing with their toys. And above all, I'm so happy that in a short amount of time, the little boys already learned a lot. Kai sings the Barney song all the time, while Kade imitates what his brother is doing. They're learning their ABCs and they're starting to count now, too. And to think that Kai learned his ABC all on his own, to me, is something amazing. I thought I'd be the one to surprise the kids with new things we teach them. But it turns out to be the other way around. They definitely know how to surprise us with little things they learned without our help. And I cannot be more proud of them than I am now. God indeed blessed us with three beautiful and amazing kids!