Baby Talk #6: Atatata..., Adadada...

Although eh is the most overused baby word by Buchukoy, atatata... and adadada... are two of these additions to his vocabulary. Atatata... is not tita (or auntie). Adadada... doesn't mean daddy. He just speaks them to start a conversation or to reply. Sometimes, they can imply as he wants your attention. But oftentimes, he likes to use them to talk to himself.

Happy 1st birthday Buchukoy!

Baby Talk #5: Eh!

Iatotski, my two-year-old niece, is growing up so fast. She's not a baby anymore. So starting today, my posts would shift to Buchukoy, my seven-month-old nephew and my elder sister's first son.

The first word that I heard from Buchukoy a few days after he was born was "Eh!". Later on, his eh has created different meanings. He makes a laughing eh when he is happy. He produces a shrieking eh when he gets excited. A crying eh, which is sometimes with matching feigned cough, happens when he's hungry or irritated. A sleepy eh is accompanied with scratching his head or ear. There's also a chatty eh when he's talking to someone. Another one is a mumbling eh when he's playing alone. A biting eh occurs when he puts his fingers in his mouth. He also expels gas with a burp eh. And finally, if it's time to defecate, he lets out a forced eh.

Mama and Daddy

I don't know why we sisters call our mother Mama not Mommy, and our father Daddy not Papa. What I know is that Mama and Daddy are exact opposites.

Mama is a sociable type. She would always go out and chat with our neighbors. She's very familiar with most of them including their families, their lives and their problems, but she's not tsismosa. She would always attend birthday parties from young to old, weddings, fiestas, christening, lamay, and whatever-occasion-you-could-think-of. Daddy is a reticent type. He would rather read the Inquirer or the book by his favorite author, do crossword puzzles, or watch TV. He's only very talkative when inebriated -- he transforms into a different person and becomes extrovert.

Mama only made it to high school. They're so poor that she stopped going to school to work for the sake of her younger siblings. If given the chance, maybe Mama might be a CPA or even a physician. Daddy finished college with a degree in Business Administration. His being a CPA influenced my other three siblings to take up Accountancy in college.

Mama can't speak English well but you can fully fathom what she's trying to convey because she speaks from the heart. Daddy can converse in English fluently with a Filipino accent.

When it comes to money, Mama informs us daughters how much money she's got in hand. Daddy is very secretive. We don't know how much he has.

When shopping, Mama visits every nook and cranny of the mall. Daddy drops by only to limited places.

Mama doesn't eat beef. She says it's masebo. However, she cooks delicious mechado and beef steak without tasting them. Daddy loves beef, so he cooks nilagang baka every week.

Mama is very religious. Daddy occasionally goes to church.

Mama is a fan of noontime shows, Filipino teleseryes and Korean dramas. Daddy watches basketball, boxing and English movies.

Mama detests dogs. Daddy is very fond of dogs.

To Mama, texting is a difficult task. To Daddy, it is just a breeze. Oftentimes, they argue when Mama misinterprets texts she reads in Daddy's phone.

These are just some of their differences and they do not end here. I think their being opposites is what makes them complement each other.

Mama and Daddy first met at my maternal cousin's baptism. Daddy is Tito Celo's friend and godfather of his daughter, while Mama is my Tita Simeng's younger sister and her daughter's aunt. Daddy got attracted to Mama that time and the rest is history.

Both of their parents were farmers. They're very hardworking like their parents. They raised us five daughters well. None of us has gone astray. They didn't spoil us.

What we've learned from them are selflessness, sacrifice, honesty, hardwork, frugality and loving unconditionally.

We daughters are proud of our parents. We admire both of them and we are such very lucky to have them.

They're not a perfect couple. They have their share of fights over money, jealousy and dogs. But despite being opposites, we know they really love each other.

Happy 35^th Wedding Anniversary Mama and Daddy! We love you!

Baby Talk #4: Jobee

There's a recent rumor that Jollibee will have a branch in Singapore soon. My eldest sister's family is based in Singapore. If it's true, then my niece, who is my eldest sister's daughter, will be delighted. To her, Jollibee is "Jobee". She celebrated her 1st birthday with a Jollibee Kids Theme Party when they had a vacation here in the Philippines. She enjoyed watching the Jollibee mascot perform a very entertaining dance number. Since then, Jollibee is her favorite. And because she likes Jollibee so much, her paternal cousin was forced to give her his Jollibee talking doll. Adding to that, she also has memorized the outdated "Isa pa, isa pang Chikenjoy!" move which was taught to her by my youngest sister. 


Jobee happy!

Mama-speak #5: Shirimp

My youngest sister's favorite dish is sinigang na hipon. Hipon is shrimp in English. But my Mama insists on calling shrimp as shirimp. She can't drop the other "i" from it. Since that's the case, let's say it based on my Mama's pronunciation - shirimp sinigang, shirimp pasta, shirimp paste, shirimp barbeque, shirimp salad, shirimp rolls, and so on.

Baby Talk #3: Has Pat

It was Kuya Kim Atienza's Matanglawin episode that I was able to know about the Komodo Dragon. But my niece first learned about this giant lizard through her Daddy's A-Z video tutorial on his mobile phone. From A-Z, she tried to imitate how the example for each letter was spoken. It was the letter K for Komodo Dragon that was the most distinctive of all. She pronounced this Indonesian reptile as Has Pat. Ang layo naman, baby!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Mama-speak #4: Hohoto-hototay

Hototay is a soup composed of mixed meat and vegetables. It won't be complete without petsay Baguio or Chinese petsay. Because hototay has petsay as an ingredient, hohoto-hototay, according to my Mama's vocabulary, also means pepetse-petse, which I mentioned in my previous blog post.