My Reading List

I’m not a bookworm but I enjoy reading. A few novels to awaken and excite my imagination but mostly informative or inspirational books. Reading does take time so I prefer to spend my time, especially now that I’m a mother, to read books that will essentially feed my mind and soul with learning. So my book storage is filled with titles from Christian authors with themes ranging from  spiritual life, relationships, work, parenting and the likes.

But I have this lousy habit of buying books and not reading them. I have a tendency whenever I visit a Christian bookstore to browse through the shelves and get my self a book or 2, which will end up collecting dust in our house, untouched. In fact, a  few months ago, I went book shopping at the CCF Bookstore and brought home with me about 5 books. Apparently, I’ve only read one which until now, is still unfinished. 😀 And a few years back, I also got myself some books which remain, well, sitting lonely in my book storage, all patiently waiting for their owner to grab them and read. I’m such a perfect book collector!

Despite my fascination with “collecting” books, I want to have even more (see, I’m seriously taking my title as a book collector! 😀 ) and hopefully more time to read them all as well.  I just haven’t gotten the time to go to a bookstore with the purpose of buying books and not craft stuff, but I wish to have the following titles which I heard about when hubby and I attended the CCF Counterflow Conference last year:

1. Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

Paul Tan-Chi, one of the workshop speakers at the Counterflow Conference mentioned about this book on how to discipline our children from a biblical perspective. I’m personally still struggling on disciplining my 2 kids and I hope this book could help me shed light on it.

Via Christianbook.com

2. Raising a Modern-Day Joseph by Larry Fowler

The author of this book himself, Larry Fowler, also spoke at the conference and discussed the main point of the book:  how parents can raise their children like Joseph that even though he was far away from his family without spiritual support, he remained obedient and faithful to the Lord.  Though he enumerated some points during his talk, I’d like to get into more detail on the strategies for raising a modern-day Joseph.

Via Parable.com

3. The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

I’ve heard about this book a long time ago from someone I can’t remember who and also saw it from a celebrity Christian mom, Cheska Kramer’s Instagram post. And during the conference, one of the speakers, Francis Kong used these love languages as reference when he talked about reaching out and bridging the generation gap with our kids today. The love languages actually apply to every relationship and I think it’s important to understand another person’s love language in order for us to know how we ought to respond and these expressions of love.

Via Refreshedbiz.com

Hope to get hold of (and read!) all these books in the next couple of weeks months. 🙂

The Big Boy’s Superman-Themed 1st Birthday: Party DIYs

When I was planning for the Big Boy’s 1st birthday party, I knew I wanted to do a lot of DIYs on top of the inevitable spending for party suppliers, because one, we had a limited budget and two, I wanted to put personal touch on the party and put into practice some creativity I believed I have. 😀 Though the ideas were mine (yup, I couldn’t rely on hubby for DIY stuff. Not his cup of tea. 😀 ), I don’t take all the credits because some God-sent souls in the persona of my MIL, SIL, brother, uncle, parents and our helpers lent their hands in order for me to execute all the DIY ideas for the party.

Here are the products of all our DIY team’s time, effort and sleepless nights. 🙂

Invitation

We “spread the news” about our Big Boy’s 1st Birthday and Baptism Party through a Daily Planet inspired invitation. I dug my “journalistic skills” and spent until wee hours of the night thinking of the content to put in a 4-pager “newspaper” and asked the help of my brother in laying out the invite in MS Word. The first page consisted of the headline announcing the details of the birthday and baptism event in a news fomat. On the second page were some fillers — map to the venues and commuting directions, gift registry information, and some “ads” with the Big Boy as the model which also served as gift ideas. 😀  The third page contained the “news” about the Godparents of the Big Boy for his baptism. And on the fourth and final page, I just put some facts about the Big Boy. I printed the invites on a letter sized specialty paper and quarter-folded them a la newspaper then put a sticker label bearing the name of the recipient on a space in the front page resembling a delivered newspaper in the neighborhood.

Tokens for the Godparents

The tokens I ordered from Thought of You were originally packed in a small ziplock bags with printed stickers in Superman logo shape. I wanted the gifts for the Godparents to look more special so I individually wrapped them in blue (for the Ninongs) and red (for the Ninangs) Japanese paper and placed them inside small red and blue drawstring bags which I bought in Divisoria for P7 each. I added shredded blue, red and yellow Japanese paper inside the bag to make it fluffier and look more creative. 🙂 Then I printed tags in Superman logo shape and stuck them on the bag. 🙂

Baptism Candles

I also incorporated the Superman theme at the Big Boy’s baptism where I, with the help of our DIY team, “dressed up” the candles like Superman. 🙂 I cut rectangular pieces of blue Japanese paper and wrapped it around the candles like a cape. Then I taped printed superman logos in the middle of the candle. Voila, Superman candles! 😀 Easy peasy! 🙂

Party Decor

Hiring a party stylist was already way beyond our budget so I just tapped my uncle, Tito Ricky who is also experienced in styling events to decorate the area with blue, red and yellow. We bought the balloons and other materials where else but in Divisoria (my first!) and Tito Ricky, assisted by my mom, dad and one of our helpers, made the venue look more festive with a Superman feel. 🙂 I liked that my uncle no longer hung balloons and swags in the ceiling as it would make the area appear small and cramped. He just displayed colorful paper banner to complement the table set-up. He was also the one who prepared the balloon center pieces. What he actually decorated with a lot of balloons was the stairways to the 2nd floor to welcome the guests to the fun party. Too bad I couldn’t find a photo of this decorated area. 😦

Candy Buffet

For the candy buffet, I wished I was the one who styled but I had no choice but to leave everything to my uncle because it was the Big Boy’s baptism right before the party and I didn’t have time to set it up. I had a different picture in mind on how the candy buffet would look like but I was very thankful anyway to my uncle for taking over. 🙂 We bought the treats from Divisoria and supermarkets and put them in blue, red and yellow bowls and plates which I bought from the mall and in Clark Dutyfree. The plates were supposed to be built as a 3-tier candy holder with plastic glasses as the base but my uncle thought it wouldn’t work so they just simply laid them down on the table. I lost track of how much we spent for this but I’m sure it was much lower than hiring a candy buffet stylist.

I also prepared candy buffet labels, with the help of my SIL and our helpers, in a call-out, comic-like design but they were not placed on the table. 😦 The labels might not stand up on crumpled table cover per my uncle and they were probably also running out of time to stick them on to the bowls and plates.

Our DIY crew also helped in cutting and pasting the candy buffet banner that read “Joshua’s Super Treats” made from blue, red and yellow cartolina. It was oddly displayed again as it extended up in the kids’ food table instead of just the candy buffet and choco fountain table. 😀

To complete our DIY candy buffet, I also printed a candy buffet table label and put it in a Superman photo frame which I bought from National Bookstore.

Stage Backdrop

Fancy, themed backdrops rented from party planners cost a fortune so I decided to use a 6 ft by 4 tarpualin instead for the Big Boy’s party.  My brother designed the backdrop which I had printed at a printing shop. We just spent around P500-600 for the printing instead of around P8,000 just for backdrop rental. 🙂

Photobooth Backdrop

I know I was just supposed to comment or approve the design but out of frustration with the lack of creativity of the photobooth supplier, I personally took charge of designing the photobooth backdrop. It was just simple and easy to create even in MS Word. 😀 I made the backdrop comic-looking by putting action texts like “Zap!”, “Pow!” and “Kaboom!” and adding “Happy Birthday” and “Happy Baptism” call-outs as if these were being said by those standing at the photobooth. 🙂

Guestbook

To make the party more memorable, I prepared an unconventional  Superman-themed “guestbook” using a 20×16 (if I’m not mistaken) poster paper adorned with the Big Boy’s picture and handpainted by yours truly with the party details (date and venue).  Upon arrival at the venue, we requested the guests to write their well wishes for the Big Boy using a paintbrush and blue, red and yellow poster paints.  I intended to frame and hang this on our wall but it got lost when we moved in to our new place. Huhuhu! 😦 At least I have a photographed remembrance of the “guestbook”.

Pre-party Activity

While the kids were waiting for the program to start, I had some coloring materials prepared — Superman-themed coloring pages which I downloaded from the internet and printed on a bond paper and small boxes of crayons — so that they would have something to color or doodle on.

Party Accessories

I wanted the kids to have a total feel of a superhero party so after gathering ideas from the net, I asked the help of my mother-in-law to sew 20 pieces of red cape using Geena cloth and 20 pieces of yellow Wonderwoman headband with matching cufflinks. I downloaded the headband and cufflink patterns from the internet and my MIL graciously sewed everything! (Really blessed to have a very supportive MIL! 🙂 ). We also added red masks for the kids but they were not in the mood to wear them. 😀

Name Tags

Instead of using regular rectangular name tags for the kids, I personally designed in MS Word (I love MS Word! 😀 ) a Superman logo-shaped name tag for the boy which says “Hi! I’m Super _______” and Wonderwoman for the girls that reads “Hi! I’m Wonder _______” and have it printed at a shop (because we already ran out of ink 😀 ) to complete their superhero outfit!

Loot Bags

We bought the lootbags and their contents from Divisoria for a wholesale price of I think P20 per piece.  The boys received Superman zippered backpacks while the girls got drawstring Barbie bags. We tried searching the corners of Divisoria for a superhero backpack for girls but nada, so we just settled for a generic girly bag. We put Superman and Barbie themed puzzles, crayons, pencils, wallets, stickers and blowing bubbles along with some chocolates, candies and lolliipops purchased from the supermarket.

Game Prizes

I went gaga buying game prizes in Divisoria! 😀 Because I felt our first visit was bitin, I was able to convince Daddy J to go back and complete our shopping. 😀  We bought toys amounting  from P50 for the minor prizes to P100-150 for the major prizes. I didn’t realize we got a lot! Even our host said the prizes were too much! 😀 So we ended up giving away the excess to the guests especially the kids who enjoyed them a lot. 🙂 Early Christmas presents! 😀 Also got some prizes for the adults like foldable fans, spoon and fork to name some. I segregated the major and minor prizes and instructed our helper to display them accordingly but it got mixed up at the prizes table! Tito Ricky did it! 😀 The host just picked up whatever prize he felt giving to the game winners.

Piñata

A children’s party wouldn’t be complete without a piñata!  We filled the Superman piñata we got from Divisoria as well for I think P180 with treats like chocolates, candies and lollipops. Plus, to make it more fun, I put 5 pieces of Superman logo-shaped cards labeled with a special toy prize. However, the winners were not able to get their special prize because they were given away as game prizes. Hehe!  We just let them pick which toy they want out of the many that were left. 🙂

That completes the documentation of the Big Boy’s Superman-themed 1st Birthday and Baptism party. I’ll find time to write about his succeeding birthday parties though these were much smaller and intimate celebration but with a lot of DIYs still. 🙂

The Big Boy’s Superman-Themed 1st Birthday: Party Suppliers

It’s the Big Boy’s birthday month and I’ve got a small, intimate themed party I need to prepare again. The Big Boy said he wants rocketship for his party theme so his wish is my command. 🙂 But, before I get busy conceptualizing and researching for DIYs for his coming birthday, I promised myself I will document the party preparations I did for all of his birthdays since his 1st for my personal reference and for other people who would like to get some ideas for their parties. Let me start off with his Superman-themed 1st birthday and baptism which ignited my interest for parties and DIYs.

A DIY Superman party is actually manageable to put up. The key is to plan everything ahead of time, as early as 4-6 months before the party, to be able to scout for the most cost-effective party suppliers and book them on time and save your self from all the cramming and hassle especially when you are doing DIY stuff. We only had a budget of maximum P50,000 to work around way back in 2012 so I just hired myself as the party planner free of charge and used my research skills and some creativity to come up with ideas. My Big Boy’s 1st birthday was a mix of outsourced and DIYs through the help of my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle, brother and our helpers. For the ones we needed suppliers, I’ll try to remember how much each costs but I’d probably be giving just a rough estimate just to give you an idea.

Let me take you through first the party stuff we hired/rented.

Venue:  UP Balay Kalinaw

Our requirements for the venue were 1.) easily accessible for us and the guests, 2.) can accommodate at least 100 guests and 3.) within our budget. After checking the rates of several venues, I was able to convince hubby to consider UP Balay Kalinaw whose rates were half lower than the others I inquired from. There was bias I guess on his part being a UP alumni himself. 😀 After doing an ocular visit of the venue, hubby and I decided to book the place for an afternoon event from 3pm-6pm. I think the rate was around 4,400 for 3 hours but since hubby and I are UP Alumni, a discounted rate of less than P1,000 I think was given to us upon presenting my alumni card (one alumni card would actually merit a discount). The rate was merely for the venue rental though, additional minimal costs ranging from P50-P150 was applied for anything that would require electricity use such as the sound system, chocolate fountain etc. There was also a corkage fee for non-accredited caterers for every 50 guests. All in all I think we paid around P4000+ for the venue.

Baptism Venue:  Sta. Maria della Strada Parish Church

Daddy J wanted a Catholic baptism for our firstborn. Since we had already booked Balay Kalinaw as the party venue, we scouted for churches near the area. Our first choice was the UP Chapel which is just a stone throw away from Balay Kalinaw but they only hold mass christening on Sundays and Daddy J does not like that idea. He, and I also, preferred a private, intimate event for our first baby’s christening so we visited other Catholic churches near UP. We went to Teacher’s Village at the Claret Church but I think they required that both parents are Catholic if I’m not mistaken so we crossed it off our list. Then we proceeded to Sta. Maria della Strada Church along Katipunan which thankfully did not have strict requirements and we found a suitable schedule at 2pm. There was a P2,000 fee for exclusive baptism.

Caterer: Verleo Catering

I’ve read good reviews about Verleo Catering so I considered them in my list. I was surprised to find out that they offer budget-friendly rates so I computed for a P230/head for 100 pax and P150/head for 30 kids and it actually fitted our budget! I got hubby’s approval who was the financier so I closed the deal. 🙂 The representative assigned to me was also easy to deal with and accommodated my requests for the color theme and all the additional tables for the gifts, prizes, etc. For a merienda event, we got Garlic Rice, Baked Macaroni, Chicken with Lemon Sauice, King Dao Spareribs, Mixed Vegetables with Quail Eggs and Mango Crepe for Adults and for the Kids, Baked Spaghetti, Chicken Lollipop, Hotdog with Mallows (1 stick), and Choco cupake with Sprinkles. The food was good and did not disappoint and I’m actually considering getting them again for future events.

Chocolate Fountain: Choco Bliss & Fairy Cakes

I personally love choco fondues so I made sure we had one at the Big Boy’s 1st birthday party to make the event more enjoyable as guests would have other food to munch on and other stuff to get busy on at a children’s party. 🙂 The most affordable one I found online was that of Choco Bliss & Fairy Cakes. We got their Baby Bliss package good for 80-100 pax with 3 hours dipping time worth P3,000 plus P350 transportation fee. I liked that they used good-tasting premium chocolate which defines a chocolate fountain regardless of how many dips are available. The Choco Bliss team was at the venue an hour before the event and even assisted in setting up our DIY candy buffet. 🙂 I also had an easy breezy transaction with them.

Cake and Cupcakes: Swell Sweets

When I saw the beautiful and creative product portfolio of Gel Colet of Swell Sweets online and found out that her cost was more affordable than the other cake and cupcake bakers I inquired from, I immediately booked her and paid the downpayment to bake and create a Superman-themed cake and 24 pieces of cupcakes for my Big Boy. The total package costed P3,940. We communicated via email and I was confident that we were aligned on the details of the cake and cupcakes. Come party day, I was expecting to see a 3D building cake with flying Superman and a Daily Planet globe but what was displayed on the cake table was a round yellow 8×3 cake with a patched with blue stars and 2D superman, globe and building  toppers. Also, the cupcake toppers were supposed to be Superman’s logo and the Big Boy’s name stamping similar to the ones in her portfolio but what was prepared were below my expectation. It seemed like the cake and the cupcakes were done last minute. I never placed an order from her again even if I was offered a discount for future orders.

Host: Butch Gonzales

The original host that I booked for my Big Boy’s party was Chayno who I got through Jacque of Partyboosters. But due to some miscommunication, Chayno accepted another booking for the same date and cancelled mine (which was actually irritating given that I was the first one to book!). Jacque looked for a replacement and recommended Butch Gonzales who I read positive reviews about so I approved her reco. I was expecting Butch though to come in an outfit related to our theme but Jacque wasn’t able to inform him about the party theme. I just let it pass because what was important for me was how the host would lead the party and handle the crowd and Butch was able to deliver! 🙂 The kids and the adults alike enjoyed his games, magic show, balloon twisting and ventriloquism. There was never a dull moment. The P8,000 was worth it! 🙂

Face Paint: Groove Paint Party Needs 

Our budget could no longer afford a lot of side entertainment so we just settled for face painting for the kids. I read about Groove Paint from a blog and the review was positive so I decided to book them. Besides, they were the ones that suited our budget. For the P1,500 package that I got, they provided 2 face painters for 2 hours. Thankfully, I had no problem dealing with them except that the people they sent to the event sounded unprofessional via text because when they were asking for the direction to the venue, the SMS was “jeje” (you know what I mean :D) and there was a missent jeje text to me with foul language which prompted hubby to ask me where I found them. 😀 Other than that, no complaints as they were able to deliver on their service.

Photobooth:  White Elements

The photobooth was not a priority given our budget but my MIL thankfully volunteered to sponsor it mid-planning so I took time to look for an affordable photobooth provider and stumbled upon White Elements via sulit.com. The 3-hour photobooth with unlimited shots in 4R prints and customized template and backdrop/tarpaulin costed P4,500. The owner was responsive, accommodating and provided good service pre, during and post event. I just had a little difficult time finalizing the template and backdrop design because they couldn’t execute well the design I had in mind even if I already sent the pegs. I had to render it myself just for them to visualize what I wanted. I think creativity in terms of design was something they could improve on. Also, the photos were not printed on photo paper and the print easily faded. I provided feedback and they were generous enough to send me another batch of good quality prints.

Party Giveaway:  Choclit Talk

Since we had a birthday and baptism party at once, we decided to give a souvenir to everyone. I wanted something personalized that can be used or consumed so the idea of chocolate bars came up after doing some research. I contacted Choclit Talk and booked my order of 100 pieces of medium sized personalized chocolate bars (P24 per piece) worth P2,400 via email. This supplier was really good to deal with — he was quick to reply and constantly provided updates, was able to execute the Superman wrapper design I wanted and accommodated some revisions I requested and provided my order on the agreed upon schedule. The chocolates actually tasted good and the guests loved the giveaway. 🙂

Baptism Tokens for Godparents:  Thought of You

Photo by Thought of You

Photo by Thought of You

I also incorporated the Superman theme on the tokens for the Godparents. Thankfully, I discovered Thought of You that creates handmade, personalized crafts. So I placed an order for personalized items made of polymer clay — business card holders for the Ninongs and Lolos and compact mirrors for the Ninangs and Lolas — and relayed the design I thought of. The owner was very easy to talk to and was prompt to reply. She provided a really excellent customer service when she made prototypes of the designs and showed them to me for my approval before proceeding with the rest of the orders. I was so amazed with how well she executed the design. 🙂 I actually contacted her again for the Little Princess’ 1st Birthday and Dedication last year but she was tied to a project at the time and couldn’t accept orders. Anyhow, the 10 business card holders and 10 compact mirrors amounted to P2,500, discounted P130 per piece for the card holders and P120 each for the mirrors.

Photographer: Gerard Aquino and Apa Bagawan

I got the kind service of my photographer cousin Gerard, who also took some of the photos on our wedding, for free and just requested him for an additional hand to help him shoot the event so he tagged along his photographer friend, Apa who we handed a friendly rate of P2,000. The photos were in raw files as agreed with them but my cousin was kind enough to edit some of pictures. 😀 What I loved about their shots was they were able to capture emotions even if I myself look weird in some of the photos. Haha! But nonetheless, the photos were filled with smiles coming from the faces of the guests. 🙂

That was our supplier list. I’ll be sharing about the more enjoyable part in the next post: the DIYs! 🙂

DIY Cat Costume

I previously mentioned that the Big Boy joined an Oral (or Silent 😀 ) Interpretation Contest in school where they recited The Three Little Kittens and this required me to prepare a cat or kitten costume. I went to 4 different malls to check available cat costumes and most of them carry only Disney or Marvel-themed. I was informed that costumes become widely available only during the Halloween season. Fortunately, the Gift Section of Market! Market! has what I was exactly looking for but for a whooping P1000! No way will I spend 1k for a costume that will only be used once!

After finally giving up from searching for an affordable kitty costume for my Big Boy, I decided to just do it myself. I searched the internet for pegs, scoured the kid’s closet and came up with the idea of a gray cat instead of the usual black cat using the following:

1. Gray hoodie. This is actually the Little Girl’s, obviously given the text color, which she hasn’t worn yet because it’s still too big for her. But it fits the Big Boy so I made this brand new gray hoodie a sacrificial lamb for the Big Boy’s costume. 😀

I handsewed gray ears on the hoodie to make it look like a cat. 🙂 Handsew because I don’t have a sewing machine and so that the ears can easily be unstitched by the time the jacket already fits the Little Princess.

2. Old white shirt. The shirt had dual purpose: aesthetically to make the hoodie look more like a cat and functionally to cover the pink branding in front. Remember it was going to be used by the Big Boy and his father would definitely give me a tiger look once he sees his Big Boy wearing something with pink. 😀

I cut 2 oval patterns from my old shirt, stitched them together and sewed the pattern on the hoodie.

3. Gray pajamas. I had to buy this one because the Big Boy does not have any gray-colored pants. I got a set of 3 pajamas in different shades of gray at Robinsons Department Store for P429.50. I didn’t mind shelling out money on this because they can be used as daily pajamas by the Big Boy anyway.

A cat costume needs a tail so I handsewed a gray tail on this pajama that can easily be unstitched.

4. Microfleece cloth. We have several of this lying around the house and good thing they are in shades of gray! 🙂 These pieces of cloth worked perfectly as the ears and tails of my Big Boy’s cat costume.

For the ears, I cut the corner of the fabric forming a triangle and folded and hot glued the 2 sides making it a little trimmer and forming a base that was sewn to the hood and make the ears stand up. I also cut 2 triangular pieces of white cloth from my old shirt that was hot glued to the gray ears.

For the tail, I just rolled the 12×9 inch microfleece cloth and hot glued the edges. I then closed the 2 ends by stitching then sewed the other end on the butt part of the pajama. The Big Boy super loved his costume especially the pants! He kept on saying, “Mommy, I have a tail!” 😀  The puyat was all worth it even if he did not recite! Haha! 😀

5. Mittens/Gloves. I found a cute pair of mittens at Robinsons Department Store but the designs are all girly with ribbons and crystals. So instead of mittens, I settled for a P54 pair of gloves in boyish color with a touch of gray, orange, brown and purple to make his hands pop out.

6. Red bowtie. This was a last minute prop to add a bit more pop of color on the Big Boy’s costume and to make it totally cute! 🙂

And now, presenting the complete budget-friendly DIY Cat costume of my Big Boy! 🙂

The Three Little Kittens

We’ve been pre-occupied with the school activities of the Big Boy lately and last February 13, he experienced another first in his school: joining an Oral Interpretation Contest. You heard it right. An Oral Interpretation Contest for Nursery. This is to allow the pupils to experience standing up on stage in front of a big audience to help build their confidence. The Nursery pupils were given a piece to memorize — the classic poem The Three Little Kittens which they recited everyday in school for several weeks.

Everyone who knows my Big Boy is fully aware that he is not a talkative and “sociable” child especially when he’s around new people. He is more of a shy type. One example of his shy tendencies is no matter how many times someone asks his name, he won’t answer because he is not comfortable being around a lot of people. Though he talks a lot and never run out of stories to tell when he is at home or with people he is familiar with, I know getting him to go up on stage and talk would be a challenge. And indeed it was.

In his kitten costume which I DIY-ed (more of it later on :D) and the poem he memorized well with tone and matching actions, the Big Boy who was the 9th to perform was not in the mood to recite! He wanted to play in the field instead. 😀 He was called by the emcee and he dragged himself to the stage wearing a gloomy face while being guided by his teacher. And there he did his “silent” interpretation of the Three Little Kittens. Hahaha! 😀 He opened his mouth only to play with his tongue then kept it shut after despite his teacher’s attempt to motivate him to speak.

After a good 2 minutes of mere standing up on the stage without any sign of interest to recite, his teacher just guided him down the stage. So that was my Big Boy’s first stage experience which happened to be a contest. Hehe!

I asked the Big Boy after the school activity why he didn’t recite on the stage and his alibi was “I’m sick kasi.” Hope he won’t use this as an excuse for missing school in the future! Hahaha! I’m still proud of my Nursery boy because he still went up on stage in spite of his shy personality and his insistent “I don’t want” tendencies and I know and have seen him recite the piece very well. 🙂 He may not be the “bibo” type that most people tend to become more fond of but I believe in my Big Boy’s knowledge and capabilities and his caring heart that manifests on how he treats others. 🙂