Friends

Friends

153/365

9 February 2015

©JReyes

What to do on a Snow Day?

Well, make snowballs and throw them at your father!

Snowball Fight

141/365

27 January 2015

©JReyes

Washington Auto Show 2015

I took Juancho (and mom of course) to the Washington Auto Show 2015. This experience just reinforced his love for cars! As we were entering the Washington Convention Center, There were signs and banners of exhibitors featuring different car brands. From then, he never stopped naming each logo. Then he quickly shouted: "Daming cars!" From that point on, I figured he'll have one hell of a great time.

And as expected, when we reached the second floor exhibit, he never stopped mentioning the car brands. He normally rides the stroller when we go out, but this time, despite the big venue, he didn't mind the long walks. He just cruised through the exhibits, naming each car logo along the way. He did test drive some of them too! And of course the photo ops. :)

To the little one, this could very well substitute for Disney World, at least for now.

The Driver

NASCAR Pacer from Toyota

Fords

Mustang

Between two Audi's

Audi R8's behind

Audi - the first brand he loved

Acura

Nissan GT-R

Beetle Convertible

Walk

Washington Auto Show 2015

138/365

24 January 2015

©JReyes

Juancho's Collection

He simply loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates. :)

Collection

136/365

22 January 2015

©JReyes

Let's check 'em out

Little boy checks out the gifts day after his party. :)

Let's See

132/365

18 January 2015

©JReyes

Juancho Three

This post is dedicated to the little one's third natal anniversary.

Happy Birthday Juancho! Don't grow too fast please.

Cheers!

Juancho 3

131/365

17 January 2015

©JReyes

Bookworm (?!)

I just thought of taking his photo in with the messy pile of books he created when he unloaded them all from his red wagon.

Why oh why did he make this mess? Just to mimic a youtube music video of "Mary had a Little Lamb," of which the lamb was on a red wagon being pulled by Mary. And yes, be wanted to be the little lamb so he took his wagon, removed everything on it and rode it while I played Mary, who pulled the wagon to school...

Bookworm

129/365

14 January 2015

Santa came in early

We needed to make the gift-opening in the house a bit earlier because we needed to travel to New Jersey to be with my aunt and cousins for Christmas. Then Juancho was happy. :)

Santa came in early

365-day challenge, Day 107

23 December 2014

©JReyes

Juan and Ben

Little boy occasionally checks out our "library" to look at pictures of hardbound book covers. Sometimes I would be amazed to see him browse through pages as if he was actually interested in reading the book. One of his favorites is Benjamin Franklin, biography written by Walter Isaacson. 

And just by stroke of concidence, Juancho and Ben share the same birthday, 306 years apart. :)

Past and Future
365-day challenge, Day 77
23 November 2014
©JReyes

Boys' Night Out

Occasional dinners out with this little fellow is pure bliss. This boy's an early sleeper and for him to be up and out past 9pm without tantrums is just a blessing. But then maybe he's just beginning to grow up.

Don't grow up too fast buddy. :)

Boys' Night Out
365-day challenge, Day 75
21 November 2014

Bongo Brothers

It's great to be surrounded by kids playing, running and dancing around. Makes you feel a lot younger.

And also it's good that Juancho has a buddy he can get along with. At a very young age, I think they are a good tandem. They seem to compliment each other.

Let's do this again next time, Matt! :)

Bongo Brothers

365-day challenge, Day 69

15 November 2014

Halloween costume(s) 2014

You know that your kid is growing up right when you start arguing with him. :) And one of these instances is this Halloween.

Bubbles and I have decided one day to pick Juancho's costume for Halloween at a nearby Target. We initially thought of characters that Juancho is fond of lately, and we instantly remembered Elmo. He's currently into Elmo these days, thanks in particular to his duet with Adam Sandler for a Song About Elmo. That song and many other Elmo duets help us get through the morning rush without him getting in the way of our morning rituals. Elmo has become our morning babysitter.

Ergo, we decided to pick Elmo as Juancho's costume this year. When we got home, we showed him the costume, and he instantly said on the top of his lungs, a big definitive, NO! I thought maybe we could convince him eventually but then after a few tries, we realized that all attempts to turn Juancho into Elmo will be futile.

We eventually gave up with Elmo and decided to just have a costume-free Halloween for Juancho.

Then came October 31. I suddenly decided to take one more trip to the costume store to find Juancho a costume. Then I found what I think would suit him. I instantly bought it, brought it home for Juancho to try.

Juancho did not take it immediately. Thanks to that star, relented to first wear the vest. Then I coerced him to weat the shirt, then the pants. When he looked at himself in the mirror, I said to myself "well, well, I think I found the one costume for this year's Halloween." He was happy. I was happy. :)

Thus, Juancho's costume is my POTD. He used it on Halloween, and again during the Halloween inspired baby shower for a friend.

Woody 2014

365-day challenge, Day 55

1 November 2014

©JReyes

I am also sharing my own Halloween costume.

Breaking Bad

Day 20 -- Ramen Day

Lunch out at our favorite DC ramen place Sakuramen. This time, Mom-mom is with us to witness how the little boy adores that Japanese art dish. Indeed, Mom-mom was so amazed at how much Chashu (pork) and noodles he can consume. Then, I asked for a souvenir photo.

Ramen day

©JReyes

September 26, 2014

Any Given Sunday (Day 15)

I am keeping up to this task! :)

We are Redskins fans by proximity. I got acquainted and fascinated by the sport upon moving to the District. 2 Superbowl halftimes after, I decided we should support the city we're in.

POTD nod goes to... the fan. :)

Any Given Sunday

©JReyes

21 September 2014

365-day challenge - Day 2: Scooby Snacks

I chose this subject to remember how funny it was when Juancho saw his ol' pal stuffed toy Scooby Doo to be bagged and ready to be donated. He asked if he could play for it one last time (well he didn't say one last time, but he asked for Scooby to be let out of the bag)...

Buh-bye Scooby. It's been a good two years. Someone else will enjoy you now.

Scooby Snacks

©JReyes

September 8, 2014

Of Spraygrounds and Water Parks

Summer, for me, is the best season ever, especially here in the DC Metro area. It's when you get to see real people in the streets! Lots of fun and free activities open in the district, including free outdoors movies, county fairs, concerts and outdoor sports. One of my little boy's favorites is playing in free spraygrounds and water parks. 

It's fun and relaxing to see my son and other kids just enjoy hours of splashing water. I actually envy them... Watching them makes me want to be a kid again. :) 

Georgetown, Washington, DC

Alexandria, VA

Pentagon Row, Arlington, VA

Pentagon City, Arlington, VA

Polly want a cracker?

January 9, 2014

Nikon D3100 

ISO400 50mm  f/1.8 1/20sec

My favorite subject: Juancho

My favorite subject... In only 7 months of existence, I must have already taken at least 1,000 pictures of this boy. I don't want to miss a milestone.

This photo is one of his life's milestones. He was able to sit unaided, though still supported by his arms. :) 

Happy 7 months, Juancho! 

Photo taken on 12 August 2012

17 January 2012: Father mode. :)

And I'm loving every second of it.

Before the dendrites in my brain gets burned by wear and tear, I need to chronicle the details of the day that changed my life forever. We were blessed with a beautiful and healthy little boy on Juanary 17, 2012, at around 11:42 pm.

From this experience, I realized that it really takes a team to build a family, including pregnancy. As for Bubbles and I, we are forced to become the super tag-team champs, since we have no support group within 5-mile radius. :) With God's help and of each other, we pulled this off very smoothly.

Okay here's how our day started on January 17th. We did the usual thing, woke up early, got ready for work, had breakfast. With the natural instinct, Bubbles felt like taking all the D-day (a.k.a. giving birth) stuff: Bag with our clothes, car seat, stroller, food, etc., "just in case." Little did I know that she was feeling bits and pieces of contractions since dawn. She did not mention and did not mind since it was too mild to be alarming.

At around 10am, I got a text from the Missus saying she was feeling some contractions every 15-20 minutes. From our birth class, Doctor made it very clear that any contraction interval longer than 5-6 minutes is a "false alarm." So when I got this, I just replied, "Ok, just keep on monitoring. Let me know if it worsens." And it did in a few hours. She did not feel the pain yet, only that she already had "bloody show." She called her OB, Dr. Jane Piness' office, telling them about this development. They instantly instructed us to proceed to their clinic. At around lunch time, I rushed to Bubbles' office. Thank God I was only a mile away.

On the way to the clinic, the contractions became more significant, more frequent. But according to Bubbles, it was not that painful yet. We went to the clinic, were received by the friendly Claudia and Shadi. They led us to an observation room, where they connected some monitors to Bub's tummy. Now she's feeling a bit more pain than the previous contractions. Dr. Piness came to see us and checked whether it was time. Cervix was only dilated 4cm, still far from the 10-centimeter full dilation. She asked that we stay for a few more minutes so she could monitor the contraction intervals. Based on Bub's count, she was contracting every 10 minutes, still a "stable" contraction.

Few excerpts of our monitoring:

After a few hours in the observation room, we were told that: we won't go home that night. Dr. Piness' office instantly called the delivery room and told them we are coming. They did some paper work, gave us a copy to show the delivery room, and we were officially in labor at around 2:45pm.

After giving us the papers to give the delivery room, Shadi bid us good luck and showed us the way. Showed us the way!! No wheel chairs for Bub, no cart for our stuff! Just me, Bubbles, our stuff and Juancho ready to eject!

For Bubbles, the way to the delivery room felt like forever. With increasingly painful contractions and no wheel chair, we needed to stop from time to time so she could wait for the throbbing pain to stop. All I could do was give her words of encouragement, stroke her back, and wait for her to get back on the groove. I felt helpless seeing her in pain.

Finally, after what felt like 300 kms. of walk, we arrived in the Labor and Child Care area. We stopped at the lobby to submit the papers. This is not our last stop. We needed to walk further to the delivery area. At this first stop, finally, we were offered wheel chair and cart. We instantly said "of course!" After a few minutes, the nurse came back without anything on hand, telling us that all wheel chairs are used, no carts as well. So we again walked for a few more steps, shorter this time, more like 100kms.

We finally arrived the delivery area, we were assigned a room, and immediately, Bub changed to the usual hospital gown, while the nurse connected all monitors.

There were idle times in the room. Most of the time, we just waited and watched TV. Contractions got stronger, and I have never seen Bubbles in that much pain. That was around 4pm. I asked her if she wanted epidural already, and she said no, not yet. She wanted to feel the labor pains. She was very brave.

A few minutes later, contractions came incredibly stronger than usual. Bubbles could no longer speak when it struck. And it was more frequent than previous. I then commanded that she be given the epidural.

The next time the nurse arrived, we mentioned that she was in pain and wanted the epidural. The nurse then got the paperwork for her to sign. Feeling the sense of urgency judging from the pain that Bubbles is enduring, I asked the nurse how long before the epidural is administered. She said epidural will be connected after blood exam and some paperwork, which will take around an hour.

AN HOUR?! I sensed Bub couldn't wait for another hour. We then asked how do you know if it's time to push? The nurse then said "Is this your first baby?" We said yes. She then said, "Normally labor is about 14-21 hours for first-timers. You know it's when you feel like you want to move."

Bubbles then shouted, "That is what I have been feeling for the past hour!" After saying that she checked Bub's cervix. After which, she hurried out to immediately connect the IV and to call the anesthesiologist. She found out Bub is now 9cm, just an inch away from full dilation. They suddenly felt the urgency.

The nurses immediately attached the I.V. The first nurse tried, and after several attempts to get to Bub's vein, she gave up, leaving drips of blood on the bed and on the floor. The second nurse came in, and finally, the IV was attached.

Bub felt the urge to go to the bathroom. Catheter was not connected yet, so she either needed to use the bathroom, or use the bedpan. She tried the bedpan, but she couldn't take it. So what we did was to give her a trip to the bathroom in between contraction intervals. Success!

After less than an hour, the Anesthesiologist, Dr. Roland, arrived with the epidural. At this point, Bubbles could no longer take the pain. I assisted Dr. Roland by making myself a step stool to Bubbles as she bent her torso to show her spine. The procedure was swift and Dr. Roland did great.

The next few hours were a bit stable. Bubbles could still feel the contractions, but this time, very lightly. She even managed to sleep for a few minutes after the procedure. We just waited for the right time, ate a few snacks, received a phone call from Ate Kat in Oregon, connected with Bubble's twin sister Petite in Skype. Thank God for technology, we were joined by Petite during the last three hours of labor.

We were visited regularly by Dr. Holly Masel, the resident OB for the night. Bubbles' doctors, Dr. Jane Piness and Bridget Casadaban were both out that night so labor was left in the hands of the doctor-in-charge for the night. Dr. Masel was nice and very accommodating.

At early evening, Bubbles was again checked for dilation, and found that she was 10cm. However, contraction should be stronger and more frequent in order for Bubbles to start pushing. She needed to be induced for faster and stronger contraction. They gave her a dose of Pitocin.

At 11pm, Dr. Masel found that it was time to push. There were only three people in the delivery room: Dr. Masel, our nurse for the night, and me. I took the right leg, the other nurse took the left. I helped in the pushing by giving the 10-second countdown every push. Bubbles exerted all her energy for the push.

After around 40 minutes of pushing, at 11:42pm, I was able to see the most beautiful thing: Juan Santiago Apostol Reyes was out, belting out the loudest scream. He was taken by the nurse to the cleaning area, along with the resident Pediatrician to check on his vitals. He weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz., and measured 21 1/2 inches.

Some newborn photos:

Every night I thank the Lord for the safe delivery and for the greatest, most beautiful gift. :)

This experience proved that we have a formidable, super tag-team. And for that I love you more. :)

I just love being a husband and a dad. Yahoo!

On Fatherhood

Less than two months to go and I am officially embarking on a new road called Fatherhood. Fatherhood, a path I kept on imagining but could not fathom. A journey too complex that no perfect formula exists to go through it smoothly. Since Bubbles conceive our little boy, never was there a day that I ask myself if I am up to the task. I sometimes ask Bub if I am up for it. I always end my reflection with a sigh and a phrase of encouragement, "Of course I can." Amidst the incomprehensible bliss and excitement for little Juancho to come, there is an underlying nervousness, often fear for the task at hand. The last time I got nervous this much was when I was graduating college, thinking about how I could succeed in the "real" world and make good money. This, I think is a hundred times more daunting. Now, a life will depend on me.

While the mother provides the love, the serenity, the order and the light, the father gives the guidance, the direction, the courage, the wisdom. This partnership among shapes the child. I sure hope I give my fair share. 

Am I ready? They say that a person has some sort of an auto-responsibility mode, that when you know someone depends on you, you automatically step up. Am I up for it? Can I wake up in the middle of the night not just to take a bathroom break, but to feed my baby in 3-hour intervals?

When Juancho grows up, am I a role model? Would he be proud of me?

While his mother teaches him how to read, write and be an outstanding student, will I be able to teach him how to be a street smart, how to get things done, how to be a good leader?

Will I be able to teach him what's right and wrong? Will I be able to discipline him in the manner most effective? 

Will I have the strength to wake up in the morning and take him to school? Will I have the patience to wait for him during dismissal, or fetch him when it is late and he needs a ride home? 

Will I be able to provide for his tuition? Will I be able to provide for the college of his choice? 

These are only few of the questions that are yet to be answered. Amidst all these concerns, there is only one thing I can promise my boy: I will try my best to give him the best, to shape him to be the best that he can be. Can I do all these? Of course I can. Am I ready for this? I am and I will be...

I have personally witnessed this daunting task successfully done. Thanks Dad! I'll make sure I emulate all the good things you and Mom have shown me with Little Juancho.

Can't wait to see you Juancho! :)