Saturday, September 26, 2009

...another milestone

this is definitely a momentous occasion for me.. tsug finally slept on his own tonight! no dancing and swaying for 30 minutes, no breastfeeding 'til my nipples are raw (eww).. he was breastfeeding as usual, then he unlatched, and played the hairbrush i left on the bed.. he usually does this every night.. latch and unlatch, sometimes he'll even go down the bed and play on the floor, then go back up to the bed to latch again until he falls asleep.. this night however, he just played with the brush, and i was reading my ebook from pangs' iPhone when i realized he wasn't moving anymore.. he has fallen asleep on his own!! TY God! At 16 months, this might be late for everyone else, but i've swayed and breastfed tsugtsug to sleep since birth so this is super exciting for me. I hope this is not a fluke, and am wishing this will be our new habit. Who knew the forgotten brush would be the key to my happiness? (and relief for my aching back)

On another big boy news.. we just enrolled tsugtsug on his very first playgroup! He won't be starting just yet as the minimum age is 18 months, (plus we'll be coming home to Manila for the holidays) so he'll start on February, when we get back from Pinas. This daycare, (Just Kids) which is just across our street held an Open House so we decided to check it out. It's a newly opened center so all the equipment and rooms look awesome.. and the cutie toilet, with all the mini toilet bowls, so cute.. too bad wasn't able to take a photo.. (forgot to bring our cellphone.. we were just on our way to the wet market when we detoured there)

It's just for 3 hours, and the timeslot we selected is 8-11am.. they'll serve breakfast too.. so tsug can go there as soon as he wakes up.. when we were there talking with the teacher, tsug just walked around and played at the indoor play area (they had slides and stuff..) and he had a teacher follow him and he was content in the 15minutes we were there.. i have a feeling he won't experience any separation anxiety.. he was pretty happy as soon as he saw the little tikes stuff.. I am the one feeling nervous, as early as now.. i wonder how he'll behave for 3 hours.. and I wonder if they'll be able to make him eat.. he's a pretty cheerful baby, until you try to put food on his mouth..oh well..we'll know soon enough.

will take a photo of him on his uniform on my next post. that's all for now.. gotta watch F1 qualifying race!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

...bitten (updated)

..by all the vampire hoopla going around. i've been reading a LOT of vampire themed books.. been reading so much, i sometimes forget which vampire goes to which novel harhar.. like i would confuse one power with another, or i'll be wondering "why doesn't this vampire use 'compulsion' (force humans into action)" then realize of course, he couldn't.. that's from another friggin series.

i'll start with my favorite so far.. it's Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, which is where True Blood, the kick-ass HBO series is based from. First off, i love the series. so i naturally read the books. the series doesn't really have the same plot as the book, but both are equally good. The series has a total of 7 books so far, and it revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic southern gal who finds herself knee-deep in the vampire world and all the supernatural beings who are either enemies or friends of the undead. In the beginning it was just her and her vampire BF, Bill but come 2nd and 3rd book, the other vampire Eric has entered the picture. Whereas Bill is serious (and boring), Eric is fickly, sarcastic and as endearing as a bloodsucking creature could get. (I am definitely, on Team Eric!!) He is unscrupulous and doesn't deny it. I luuuurveeee his character. More so because i can imagine the definitely hawt swedish actor playing him in the series.

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scorching hoooot. vampire Eric. my favorite line:"Do I have blood in my hair?"

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Sookie (played by Anna Pacquin) and Bill (boooo! lol). Anna Pacquin really rocks as Sookie.

Some of the books by Charlaine Harris:
deadandgonefromdead alltogether


the next set of books i've read is the Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. This so far is the most unique group of vampires I've encountered.. the story revolves not on vampire themselves, but on a girl bodyguard of some sorts to the vampires.. because vampires here are categorized in 2.. the undead and alive (strigoi and moroi) .. basically the undead are evil and the 'alive' are good, .. but the vampire morois are weak in combat, (and have i mentioned, they actually DIE?) therefore in need of bodyguards against the evil undead. Has a total of 4 books so far, i'll rate it as passable. The series has its moments, but mostly i skip through the narratives and go straight to the action stuff.

The books
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I almost forgot the first set of vampire books i've read.. the House of Night novels. I have no idea why I still read this. Its really juvenile, and I'm not a fan of the protagonistS, a bunch of freshmen vampires with different powers who talk like gradeschoolers. I mean, really.. they put American teenagers in a bad light.. Its written by a mother-daughter team (PC Cast & Kristin Cast) , and the daughter is supposed to make sure they sound like teenagers.. but what i'm reading sounds like a whiny, petty bunch of teenagers in need of some proper language lessons. I think I read this just so I would know what would happen in the end.. so I guess the storyline is okay, since I got hooked nevertheless. The book cover caught my eye in the bookstore, with the intricate tattooes, but that's pretty much what's awesome about this series. (and they say Don't judge the book by its cover.. HOW TRUE! lol)

at least the covers look nice.
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41BFvlZ+j7L._SL500_betrayedhunted


The last one i've read (and still reading) are titled Blue Bloods.. i like this one better than Vampire Academy, but mainly because it's set in New York. (i love New York books.. haluuu, Gossip girl hehe). think Gossip Girl but they're all vampires. so cool. haha. makes me dream of living in the Upper East side. my only peeve is that each book doesn't really have an ending. (hate that, they should at least solve ONE conflict right?) Anyway, there are 3 (i think) so far, and i've only read 2.. can't wait to start the 3rd!

Blue Bloods
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p.s.
i forgot to mention another series, which i actually stopped reading just after 2 or 3 chapters..The Vampire diaries by LJ Smith,
for the following reasons:
1. the main character, Elena, is blonde, beautiful AND popular. so her parents died in a car accident. boo-friggin-hoo.
2. When she sees this new guy at her school, she suddenly decides this guy is for him. "I must have him" I quote. then goes about her plan to get the guy. She sounds like a manipulative b*tch to me.
3. The new guy is a vampire.. who can walk in the sun via a special ring. How cheesy is that? (I can't explain why shining like a disco ball seems more authentic. lol)

Anyway, i just got interested because the books are now a CW TV series by the same name.. also didn't help that the actors held zero appeal for me. plus they made Elena a brunette in the series! as in Bella brunette. I knew i wasn't the only one with a problem of liking Elena. Maybe the TV execs thought being brunette upped her likeability factor or something. The pilot aired last week, and it was more or less what I've already read. (3 chapters equals 1 hour TV time) Still don't like Elena. (but I might be biased by the Blonde Elena) Maybe as the storyline continues, she'll endear to me. But as of now, I'll stick to the TV. I actually have low standards when reading books.. nothing too heavy, must have a bit of humor (genuine or sarcastic, doesn't matter) and main character must be likeable.. so the Vampire diaries not passing these measly criteria,... i'd rather sleep.

the books:
awakeningstrugglefurydarkreunion

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the actors playing Stefan, Damon and Elena. the plot is about 2 vampire brothers in a love triangle with Elena who they think is a reincarnation of their past love, Katherine.