SHE dropped a suggestion just before she said the last characteristic she can remember about her second child when it was two-years old: “May pa’g e interview ko nimo about sa twins. (You should have just interviewed me about the twins.)”
Joy C Moncada, 36, is referring to her female twins she just gave birth last Oct 21, 2011. She is now a mother of four. She had Jericho Josh C Moncada, 9, first and her second Shekinah C Moncada, 6.
The latter, the subject of the interview, will turn seven on November 18.
Joy recalled that Shekinah, which is Hebrew for presence of God, was not that responsive during her first three months because her vision is still blurred. In its effort to focus its vision on something, the child has the tendency to be cross-eyed. Threatened by the said tendency, I asked her what she does when this happens. Accompanied with a nonverbal gesture, she said she puts her palm on Shekina’s face and slides it downwards.
Shekinah responds though to what she hears, for instance a voice, by moving her eyes to the side where the voice comes from. Joy was quick to recall, being a Psychology graduate in Xavier University herself, that the sense of hearing is the first sense to be developed.
Extremity-wise, the child’s grip was not strong. And it made sense that Joy did not buy any toys during this period yet. Shekinah could not handle her feeding bottle yet through which she feeds from milk.
No solid food yet for Shekinah.
Apparently, the child needs to be held, to be carried. The child cannot walk. She was dependent on Joy.
After 3 to 6 months from birth, Shekinah now responds when somebody talks to her. She opens her mouth, Joy recalled, as a response. It is as if saying Hey, I can talk too! It is the baby’s language.
Other than that, she now has a clearer vision as manifested by the baby’s attraction to colors. Joy said, in an uncertain voice, she bought a big dice with colors on all sides. Her niece, Ashley, who was around, confirmed. And among the colors in the dice, Shekinah was attracted to Red and Green the most.
Not only did Shekinah have the dice as a stimulus but, as advised by the doctor, Joy bought a color wheel. It was not a glance the child was giving to the wheel. Joy observed that Shekinah stares at it.
During this period, Shekinah started to take in solid food, porridge, in particular.
Curious, I asked: Is it given three times a day?
Once in a day is enough, she said. The rest, Shekinah takes in milk or mashed fruits, like apple or banana.
Joy also noted that the baby’s grip is now stronger as compared to the previous months. Shekinah can now lift her feet. Joy demonstrated as she sat in a chair in front of me.
When laid in her crib, Shekinah is now able to turn sideways. She is able to do a prone position –lying face down – as she turned six-month old.
Shekinah learned fast how to walk. This was a highlight during the child’s 6 to 11-month period.
It started with crawling. At 11-month old, she now knows how to sit. She then started to walk all by herself, Joy narrated.
“Pero mas bright pa ko niya (I am more intelligent than her),” Josh, the first child, interrupted as her mother compared Shekinah to him.
Joy continued to recall that Shekinah started to baby talk with words dada and gaga. This she cannot forget, she told me.
As we moved into the next set of months after Shekinah turned one, she paused. She pondered. She almost forgot. But not long after, she said with a sweet smile: Shekinah learned to say Mama.
Joy was a full-time mother then as she is now. She commented: Kaya man diay. Nag full-time mother man ko ato. She is referring to her success in training not just Shekinah but as well as Josh in going to the toilet all by themselves when they feel like peeing or doing number two.
In effect, “dili na siya mangihi sa bed. (She does not pee in bed.)”
Akong ganahan lang sa akong mga anak is wa nako nag diaper sa ila (What I liked about my kids is that I did not use diapers anymore, particularly Shekinah, when she was 1 year and 5 months), she beamed.
Another development Joy observed of her child Shekinah is that she was ngulit. As we both groped for the dialect’s English equivalent, she cited an example: Shekinah pronounces her L as N, so that the word Loloy becomes Nonoy.
Children really go through this stage. They have a difficulty on this part but cute man sad paminawon, she justified.
The chinky-eyed Shekinah came in while her mother continued to cite changes she has observed of Shekinah during the child’s 6-month-to-2-year period, among those she mentioned are: She can now really walk; she was still bald; and she is talkative.
Shekinah then reported to her mother that the pillow of her maternal cousin, who lives next door is tsada and that the child is like a Barbie doll because she is white-skinned.
It was a case in point.
And oh, not only that, Shekinah also dances well, Joy added.
To which we reacted saying “char!”
Then the kid recalled, “Ah katong wala ko naulaw Ma nuh? (Ah, that time when I was not shy)”
Her mother agreed and said, “Gi itsahan ka ug kwarta sa imong mga Tita. (Your aunts gave you money for that.)”
Josh stole the attention of her mother asking “Ako sa una ma? (How about me?)”
Joy faced Josh and quipped, “Baga man jud ka ‘nak. Dali raman ka in everything. Ikaw man ang original. (You were really a show off. You’re fast in everything because you’re the original.)”
She faced back to me and remembered one important aspect of every child’s life: Play.
Play is in every stage in a child’s growth, Joy said. Shekinah likes to have a playmate around. She’s not the loner type when she was two years old. She enjoys the company of others. She’s friendly. “Dili na siya gapangaway,” Joy stressed.
And lastly, with the kind of toys she plays with, Shekinah, when she was two, can easily be identified as a girl.
“We all have tendencies, right?” Joy asked.
She does not enjoy playing toys cars. She does not play with her kuya’s toys.
Not knowing what else to say, and perhaps because hungriness has taken its toll on her (and on me too), she dropped the suggestion then remembered one last thing about Shekinah when she was two:
Shekinah was and is close to her father than me.
“Where is uncle now?” I asked.
“Their ship is heading to Saudi Arabia,” Joy answered.
