Giving birth to Lex Ian

Baby Lex Ian Gloria Cabasag was born around 9:41 a.m. on January 3, 2006 at St. Mary Hospital, Iligan city. He is the son of Brian M. Cabasag and Violeta M. Gloria. His horoscope is Capricorn.

Unlike his contemporary babies inside the nursery section who were quietly asleep, Lexi was gazing at posted pictures, 24 hours after his birth.

In his first month, he liked to sleep with instrumental music. He responded to sounds by startling, blinking, and crying. He fixated on human face; responded when able to recognize parents’ face and voice; moved all extremities; slept at 3-4 hours; and felt consoled by being talked to or held. 

At two months, he coos, vocalized and smiled a lot when interacting with parents. He got some head control when lifting his head, neck and upper chest with the support of his forearms. He can manage his head steadily; made sounds and reach familiar objects at three months. His first word was “broom—broom,” probably sourced from the sound of Papa’s jeep which he rode whenever brought to his pediatrician for regular check-up. His smiles and innocent laughters while asleep were amazing. He watched television and smiled at heard singers—-- the Champions of ASAP and MYMP Band. He had spontaneous social smiles at his fourth month. He started to reach objects; opened and closed his hands; and slept for 6 hours straight. He squealed and laughed a lot.

At fifth month, he started to imitate vocalization; sat with support; transfer objects from one hand to another; inspected his toys; shook them, hammered his toys and threw them. He knew the word “mama”. Learned to poke with index finger. And, importantly, he responded to his own name. He knew the word “papa” at 6 months. He was good at rolling over; stood and bear his weight; grasped and mouthed objects; showed differential recognition to parents; and became sensitive to sounds. He practiced his few steps with supports. 

At seven-eight months, he became expert at crawling; fed himself with crackers; walked with stroller; and moved into a sitting position. He played peek-a-boo whenever his clothes were changed. He walked with hand held. In his ninth and tenth months, he can walk eight to twelve steps alone. He clapped his hands as he blended with Revillame’s “boom-tarat-tarat.” 

He loved to watch tv advertisements, especially those relating to child care and growth. He imitated child tv-models’ actuations like stepping up on stairways; grasping and rolling a plastic fluttering bumblebee. Ah, he fought for the purchase of this toy at Gaisano Mall of Cagayan de Oro after seeing it at a stand. Tsk-tsk…that Anchor milk advertisement really got his head. He asserted that baby must have this big toy to roll for. This was his first “assertion” which Ma conceded, else it will be trouble at a crowd. Indeed, he did this at the mall with such amusement later for such concession.

His favorite TV faces are KC Cuneta Pangilinan and Heart Evangelista. He gazed at them whenever Palmolive shampoo and soap ads were shown. There is something in KC’s advertisement which caught his attention no matter how busy he was with toys. Whenever he hears the advertisement’s lead statement – “I’ve changed”, his eyes are automatically glued on tv. Lexi also travelled with Ma to attend meetings and seminars at different venues. He had a special interest in eloquent speakers. He responded to them by fixing his attention on them. He liked to be in a crowd. He squealed and blabbered at anyone. He liked to get everyone’s attention by raising his voice to the utmost. He also liked to put on the light’s switches; increased tv’s volume; and wanted to keep the house’s main door closed.

He got his first twin teeth in his tenth month. It discomforted him a lot. He later learned to rub them with the third tooth in his upper gum. He also ensured that Ma, Pa and his tita are around before he will sleep at night by name-calling all of us—like checking an attendance, eh? Most of the time, Ma explained that Pa was at work and assured him that Pa will be home. He learned to say “yuck” to dirts, courtesy of his Tita Ging. He would also raise his point finger and says “ha a ka…” (his slang of hala ka.) He liked to scatter all papers and whenever scolded, he scattered more. He liked playing with water, too. When dipped in a bath, he won’t stop bathing. If warned not to touch the cat (Mingkoy), he just stared back and held the cat in such quick grasp. It’s another way of declaring “there’s nothing wrong if I’ll touch the cat.” Is this stubbornness? A display of resolute will?

At his pediatrician’s clinic, he wandered around, grabbed any object, and blabbered about it. When doc is up on him, he would stare at his physician and immediately hold his left thigh. That’s where most of his immunizations are injected. “He is no longer a baby. He grew faster than expected,” his physician declared. His tita Ging said, “he is now a citizen—a senior citizen.”

At one year old now, he walked around and wanted to get everybody’s attention. He is a child with a regular sleeping time at 11 p.m. Sigh, such a brat. With God’s blessings, may this child grow with Christian faith, unending hope, love, right choices and the ability to share his innate abilities and talents with his family and friends.