07 June 2010

All aboard!

It was a long-time agreement that when we had the chance to visit Nanay (A's maternal grandmother) in Sampaloc, we'll ride the LRT. We told him that it was going to be a big train and he asked if it was like the one in Festival Mall *LOL* We told him no, it's bigger than that, it would make the train in Festival Mall seem really small.

From time to time, on our way to Marikina, he would get a glimpse of the LRT and I would always point out that that was the train that we would ride.

So yesterday, Ethan had the chance to ride a real train. Side kwento muna. He didn't want to eat nor drink milk yesterday morning so I told him that he had to eat or drink milk because empty stomachs were not allowed to enter the train station. LOL, talk about blackmail. Expectedly, he drank the milk. *Ooohh, bad mama*

Anyway, on to the story. So we took the train from Legarda station and got off in Cubao. Unfortunately, that particular trip was quite passenger-full so we didn't have the chance to get seats and have Ethan look out the window. Needless to say, the little boy got a bit impatient - I had to ask him to count the number of stations that we passed through. But he did say that the train was "nice train, papa" and that it was big.

In Cubao, we went inside Fully Booked and he had a grand time browsing the books. He saw a book about a train engineer, another one about builders, and went gaga over the Thomas the Train books. We bought him a Thomas the Train ABC Book and bought another Angelina Ballerina book for his cousin Sabrina.

By the way, when we ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he answers, "I want to build tall buildings, trains..." That's why he loves Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train. On our weekend rides to Marikina, he's always on the lookout for builders - cement mixers, backhoes, bulldozers, and cranes.

But I digress.

After our trip to Fully Booked, we bought a Double Cocoa Fudge milk shake from Dairy Queen. It was good that we bought the 16oz one because between Albert and I, Ethan kept on reaching for the straw! He loved the shake so much that when we finished it, he pointed to the DQ stall and asked us to buy more! LOL. But we had to tell him no because it was too sweet and cold and his throat might hurt (and our pockets too LOL).

What's really nice about Ethan is that it's easy to make him understand stuff like that and we don't have to get into a wrestling match. For now. Hehe, hopefully never. I believe it helps that we make him understand and sometimes reach a compromise with him. And if we came to an agreement, we make it a point to fulfill our part of the bargain. That way, it would be easy to reason out with him the next time we come to a similar situation. Another example would be when we go to his pedia for a vaccination. He already knows the routine so when he is asked to lie down, he starts to cry and say "Sakit". Instead of telling him that it wouldn't hurt, I tell him "Oo anak, masakit nga. Pero sandali lang naman. You need it to fight germs. Mama and Papa will hug you na lang." In that way, we didn't discount his feelings because what he feels is true - it does hurt. It's better to acknowledge that fact and just assure him that it wouldn't hurt for long.

So okay, I digressed again :P

We were luckier on our trip back because we were able to sit by the window so Ethan was able to watch outside. And so, he enjoyed the trip more. Every time we stop by a station, we told him, it's time for some people to get off and more people ride on the train. And just as the train is about to leave, he tells us, "Mama, no more peoples." Hahaha. And he makes these sound effects *hado hado hado choo choo* LOL.

I'm really glad that we were able to bring Ethan on this "adventure" and I feel very blessed that we were able to provide for it - sabi nga ni A, mas mura pa ang round trip ticket namin sa LRT vs the train ride in Festival Mall :)

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