My three-year-old daughter Nicki has a body clock set to “Wake Daddy Up As Early As Possible.” She gets up at around 4:30am and starts padding around the second floor looking for toys to play with and things to do. Now if we lived in a Makati condominium, maybe it would be easier, but we don’t, and so I find myself getting up to ensure she doesn’t hurt herself in the course of her play (or worse – step outside of the house).

Yesterday, it kinda hit me to do something different. I took Nicki on a Daddy Date to a 24-hour McDonald’s! I knew the Banawe branch was a 24-hour establishment, but on the way there, she and I found the Retiro branch open too. I decided to go there, and we ended up having a pretty good time. We ordered hotcakes and a Happy Meal Chicken variant, and she ate them all. She was also quite pleased with the toy that came with her Happy Meal, so there was a good time to be had by all, even at 4:50 in the morning.

I’ve been praying for more opportunities to spend time with Nicki, and God has revealed Himself so faithfully. I’m starting to see already how, in the next few weeks, God is moving things so that I’ll get more time to be with my children and wife, and this excites me tremendously. We can honor God with our work, with the number of people to whom we’re reaching out, and all that, but we also honor God with the quality of our own families, and I’d been sorely lacking in this department. Hopefully, this is already the turning of the tide. It’s amazing to see how I can see this happen with a simple McDonald’s breakfast!

Nathan and I are going to the Nido Science Discovery Center at the SM Mall of Asia tomorrow. I’m place-saving so this post will be available soon enough. Yahoo for father-son bonding time!

Oh look! Our little buttercup’s turned one! Happy birthday, sweetpea!

Just five days from now, Nicki’s going to be 10 months old. Time flies so fast, doesn’t it? It seems like just yesterday when Cathy was giving birth at the Las Pinas Doctors’ Hospital, and now, our daughter’s ready to hit one year of age, just like that.

Until about four months of age, Nicki had a significantly different temperament from her older brother, Nathan. Whereas Nathan was always affable and pleasant, Nicki refused to smile. She was fussier, and more difficult to put to sleep. There was a point sometime in her sixth month when tempers between Cathy and myself ran short, thanks to lack of sleep, thanks, then, in turn, to Nicki’s odd waking habits of 2AM and 4AM. (I ended up taking care of her for most of that period, because if Cathy wakes, she has a hard time falling back asleep.)

We chalked Nicki’s rather short fuse to the superstitious belief that she inherited the cantankerous temperament of her grandfather, my dad, after whom she was named. (Yes, I apologize for allowing myself the cheap thrill of blaming a baby’s disposition on anything other than her own inimitable personality.)

Luckily, she outgrew that temperament – and those unusual waking hours! – and is now blossoming into a jovial 10-month-old baby girl. While she occasionally exhibits behavior similar to Nathan’s when he was her age, behavior that includes romping around her crib and cooing nonstop, which are all actions expected of kids that small, she also has her own nuances that makes her distinctly different from our firstborn.

Now that she’s almost a year old, what’s staring Cathy and me in the face has to be dealt with sooner or later: where will we hold her first birthday party?

Last March 20, Cathy, Nathan, and I went to the Manila Ocean Park along Roxas Boulevard. The way the ads and the press releases were buzzing, Cathy was expecting it to be better than Sentosa, which she had actually seen. I knew how diverse our marine life was, and while I wasn’t expecting the Ritz, I was hoping that Manila Ocean Park would offer an experience truly worth the PHP400 they charged per head.

It was a big disappointment. There weren’t that many fishes on display, the fishes that we were expecting to be gigantic weren’t, and the place was hot. It was very underwhelming. The highlight of our visit was a manta ray that was relatively large, but I’d seen bigger rays off the coast of Amanpulo. At least Nathan was able to enjoy himself somewhat. And he looked so handsome in front of the sign, don’t you think?

Cathy’s thoughts on Manila Ocean Park here.

Yesterday, I joined Nathan and his nanny Edna at the 4PM service of the church in Greenhills we attend. I say I joined them because I don’t normally get to worship with them; I’m usually up onstage as part of the worship team. That day was different, and boy!, did I have a blast!

Nathan really threw himself into the praise. For most of the songs, he was standing on a short ledge with me right behind him to support him, and he was jumping and dancing with the song. At many points, he grabbed my hands and clapped them along with the beat of the team. I was so happy my son enjoyed the praise and worship, and I do hope that he will grow up to be a phenomenal worshipper in his own right.

Picture taken before the start of the Sunday service at Victory Greenhills church.

This morning, on the way to work, Cathy and I talked about a lot of things, when it hit me yet again: I’m so blessed to have an intelligent, beautiful, God-fearing wife whose passion for excellence extends to wherever she may be. Yesterday, at church, she got a little perturbed because she lost a pen. A pen! To some, it’s just a pen. But to my wife, the little things – even a pen! – matter in terms of proper stewardship. You lose one pen a week at PHP20 a pen, that’s almost PHP900 a year!

I tell you now, it wasn’t until I met Cathy that I knew anything about proper stewardship. Everything I learned about proper resources management, I learned from my beautiful wife.

There are days when I can’t believe I have a beautiful, loving wife, much less two beautiful children.

This morning, I awoke to Nicki’s kicking my shoulder. At seven months, she always wakes up before we do, and with this wide grin on her face. She laughs too, a breathy, hearty sound that is just such joy to my ears.

Isn’t she lovely?
Isn’t she wonderful?
Isn’t she precious?
Made of love

Last night, Cathy told me Nathan asked her when we were going to the ‘Greenhills church.’ I was thrilled because I took it as a sign that Nathan was enjoying Sunday school. (Cathy may have doused those hopes by saying he was enjoying the ‘Mommy time,” because he and Cathy have to walk around while waiting for me to finish singing. I still think he enjoys Sunday school.)

Regardless, I do have my own little vision for my four-year-old. Nathan’s naturally bubbly personality easily makes him a great kid to have in Sunday school. I imagine him welcoming new kids to Sunday school the way he usually does, by greeting the child “Oh, HI!” then offering him a share of whatever is in his hand at the time (crayons, chips, a toy, whatever). He’s cooperative and funny, oh-so-funny!

My son is old enough to engage kids his age.

Cathy and I claimed Nathan for Jesus the minute we knew she was pregnant, and I will do my best as his Dad to be a good role model so he’ll have someone to emulate. I know Jesus will use him when the time comes. Nathan’s gonna be a world-changer, by God’s grace!

“Come play with me!” Nicki seems to be saying. She has two teeth now.