In Pajamas!

Inigo gets a new look!

It was bothering me during the last few days how Inigo looked. His curly hair is getting longer and he looked more like a baby girl than a boy. But it was difficult to find in this place a barber who would cut an awake baby’s hair.

So I decided to cut my own baby’s hair! Mommy played with Inigo while I shaved his head… and presto! Inigo’s new look!  Glad I didn’t cut his ears!

Children of Substance

Check this picture out! I’m sure you all know that it’s Inigo on the last frame. But can you guess who are on the first two pics? That’s me and my wife! You can see from our son the traits that he got from us. Life is such a miracle!

Inigo with Daddy

Some bonding moments with Inigo. Mommy is behind the camera.

Happy 1st Birthday, Inigo!

Inigo turned one year old! How time flies!

I just want to extend my sincerest gratitude to my friends who helped me organize my son’s birthday party last 19th. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.

Check out pictures from the birthday party in INIGO’s BLOG and INIGO’s FRIENDSTER ACCOUNT.

Stranger Anxiety

My wife and baby just arrived from Manila early this morning! I fetched them at the Dubai Airport late last night and we arrived in my flat around 2:30 am. This was a momentous event in our life as a family. The three of us are finally living together as one unit. In the Philippines, my wife and baby stayed in our parents’ house in Bulacan, although we have our own house in Antipolo. This was so that our families could help look after our baby, while both of us are working.

It was a great feeling to finally see them move around my flat – that I was not alone anymore. That I have a new reason to be home the soonest after work. That I have a new reason to spend my day offs at home.

There was just a small problem. My 11-month old baby cries uncontrollably whenever I try to carry him. He becomes so uncomfortable when I try to be near him. When he loses the sight of his mother, she starts to panic and cry. I very much wanted to look after our baby so my wife could rest after that very long trip, but our baby just won’t allow me. I think this is what they call stranger anxiety.

But what else should I expect? Suddenly, all the familiar faces he was seeing and familiar voices he was hearing were all gone. Now, he has to deal with living in a new environment – new house, new climate, new pieces of furniture, new bed to sleep in. He was in a stage of becoming familiar in his place in Bulacan, and all had to change at one time.

And here I was, trying to feel so close to him, when he have not seen me for some months. He could be saying to me “Who are you, by the way?”

I did not see my son for about three months only. And it took him only three months to forget that I am his father. What more if I don’t see him for a very long time? Will he be able to recognize me as his father? Will he be able to consider me as a father? I know he’s just a baby at this time and he does not have full memory retention as yet. But I just have this fear that I might lose his respect if I will always be nowhere to be found when he needs me.

I am glad my wife and son are with me now. I have the opportunity to make my baby know me more. I want him to grow knowing that he also has a father, aside from his mother, who will always be at his side.

I am sure that the stranger anxiety that he is feeling right now will be over very soon. I am with him now to help him overcome it.

On Being a Father

Being a father is something you just do as soon as the baby comes.

There’s no rehearsal.

I didn’t know how to become a father.

My father just lived his life

and let me watch him do it.

 

Happy Fathers Day, Tatay.

Iñigo’s 9th-month Photoshoot

(click image to enlarge)

Iñigo’s First Swim

 

Inigo’s first-time swim during YTI Family Day, last 18 April 2009, with Ninang Filma

(MOMARCO Resort – Tanay, Rizal)

Iñigo means “Strong-willed”

I was in a Filipino restaurant today around lunchtime, waiting for the take-out order I made earlier. The big TV in one corner was showing Karen Davila’s show “Wondermom” on The Filipino Channel. What hooked me to watching was their feature on a baby named Raphael Iñigo, a namesake of my baby.

Raphael Iñigo was a “blue baby” when he was born. That means he has a congenital heart problem. On his eighth day of life, he had to be operated on his heart. At the end of the operation, Raphael Iñigo started bleeding from everywhere – from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Two liters of blood came out. The surgeon have then decided to tell the parents that the baby had enough of the surgery, that prognosis was very poor.

But Raphael Iñigo survived the operation. And today, he is about 2 or 3 years old ( I am not sure coz it was not mentioned on tv). But as I saw him, he looked very well like an ordinary toddler. He was laughing and playing around, and he does not look like he had that much ordeal when he was born.

According to host Karen Davila, his name’s meaning actually defines his character. Raphael means “God-healed” and Iñigo means “strong-willed.”

When we chose Iñigo as our baby’s name, we didn’t know that this was one of the its meaning. I think we chose the right name.  Iñigos are the brave ones.