Dear J,

Will you remember this boardwalk? Will you remember this whole trip?

Love, N

Dear Jaco,

Your first boat ride was so much fun! We couldn't stop smiling and we were singing/shouting too. You couldn't wait to get home just so you could ride the boat again. I'm glad you liked it. :)

Love, N

Dear Jaco,

This is a time when you were fearless, and you enjoyed it. I hope you keep on trying new things (but be smart about them!). The world is your oyster!

Love, Nanay

Dear J,

The first time we saw a waterfall, in between photo ops, I asked you to sit with me on a rock, dip our feet in the water and to look around. Remember that story about the guy who time travels? Look around. :)

Love, N

Dear J,

That's Hagonoy Island, one of the many white sand islands in Britania Islands, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur (Grandpa's hometown) and the best beach we've been to so far (or maybe, ever)!

Dear Jaco,

Tatay left a couple of weeks ago, and it's already summer vacation for you. So aside from piano and swimming lessons, I did my best to fill your time with random, semi productive things: I made you paint, make paper airplanes, and for today we went to UP so you could take pictures and fly your paper airplanes. These are pretty cool.


Love, N

Dear Jaco,

Tatay's back! It's only a few days but it's the best two weeks of the year. I'm so glad that although he's been away for a long time, you guys seem as close as ever. I'm sure Tatay was happy too. Soon enough, we won't need these two-week vacations anymore, soon enough we'll be together (forever! hahaha)

Love, N

Dear Jaco,

Suit up! We went to a very pretty wedding (of Tito Yogi and Tita Tere) in Tagaytay hence we had to be pretty too. :)

[Too bad I didnt have a vid of you Harlem Shaking at the after party hahaha]

Love, N

Suit up!

Suit shopping with the boys was awesome! I'm sure you guys will do more of this in the future. :)

Dear Jaco,

Happy 8th birthday!

I don't know where you got the idea, but you got your wish! A hotel weekend with the boys, swimming and pizza! You guys sure look like you're having fun!

Love, N

Dear J,

Aren't we clever and resourceful? This is the reprise of your Rizal--only now dead in time for Pangaluluwa. I bet when you grow up, you'll remember and talk about wearing tons of homemade costumes made by moi. :)

Love, Nanay

Dear Jaco,

We lived at Ninong's for half a year, and this is what I wake up to:

You guys were so difficult to wake up! But then, we had this:

And these:

air jamming!

random shots of fun! (kuya sting's 1st instagram photo)

And, I leave you with this:

Love, N

Dear Jaco,

You did a lot of drawing in second grade. Robots, comic strips, and even your "essays" in your journals have visual rep. Keep on doodling!

Love,

Nanay

Dear J,

New apartment with our favorite neighbors, ever! Tita Raqs and Oyayi sure made living in Fernandez extra fun. Look at you two jamming in our first week there! I hope you do find music friends when you grow up, like we did.

Love, N

Dear J,

We spend New Year's Eve every year at Grandpa's and my, there's always so much food there. Here you are with this year's spread and a worried look on your face that says "Am I supposed to finish this all?"

Love, N

 

 Dear Jaco,

We spend every Christmas eve at the Balaans and Christmas Day at Sweetheart's, which means... the mall!

You guys took really good pictures, especially when genuinely having fun! Merry Christmas, honey. :)

Kisses, N

Dear J,

Do you remember watching your first real soccer game? You're part of the school varsity, and one of the parents is the manager of the Azkals so we got free tickets to their game with LA Galaxy! Honestly, it was pretty boring (I'm sorry! I really thought soccer was boring, it just gets fun when people start cheering which is what, once every 30minutes?!). But you kids were having fun cheering, and that's what I loved watching.

I hope you get to be interested in team sports when you grow up. It builds a lot of character, discipline, teamwork and a lot of different values that we'd want for you. What do you think?

Love, N