After the disaster at Disney World yesterday, I'm hoping Christian isn't too emotionally scarred. I got out of kama and went into Christian's room to wake him up. He was already awake and watching TV. I sinabi "good morning buddy" and took him out of bed. I shut the TV off and he started shrieking. I sinabi "okay then; I won't shut the TV off.”

I brought him downstairs and brought him some cereal. He pushed the bowl away and I asked "what's wrong? You don't like this kind?" He climbed out of the chair and walked over to the countertop. I turned around and asked "what?" He pointed to the cookie jar and sinabi "those." I stood up and sinabi "you can't have cookies for breakfast silly!" He looked at me and sinabi "yes!" I sinabi "not this early" and he repeated "yes!"

I picked him up and tried to get him focused on something other than the cookies. I brought him back to the mesa and sinabi "here's your cereal." He sinabi "cookies" and I sinabi "let me check to see if there's a different kind of cereal." I turned around to look in the cupboard and then I heard something hit the ground.

I looked behind me and noticed that Christian's bowl of cereal was spilled out all over the floor. I walked over to it with paper towels and started to clean up the mess. I looked up at Christian and asked "you didn't throw your bowl on the floor; did you?" He sinabi "I don't want that; I want cookies!" I sighed and sinabi "look at the mess you made Christian!" He sinabi "I want cookies daddy!" I sinabi "I told you no Christian."

He didn't like the idea of me telling him no and when I came back into the kusina his facial expression showed his irritation. I picked him up and cheerfully sinabi "someone's grumpy. We can have cookies later; I promise!" He asked "why won't you give me a cookie?" I sinabi "because I don't want you to have a cookie. Do you want an apple?" He crossed his arms sinabi "no!"

When I went to kama that night, I couldn't believe how out of the ordinary Christian was acting. I'm hoping a good night’s sleep will put him in a better mood. I definitely wasn't expecting what happened today. That's not like him at all.

***

I was just walking through the door after a long araw of work, when I saw Christian and my mother in the living room. I walked in and my mother didn't look happy. I sat down susunod to her on the sopa and asked "how was your day?" She sighed and sinabi "Christian hit me today." I almost didn't want to believe her because the idea of Christian hitting anybody seemed so crazy! I asked "what did you do about it?" She sinabi "nothing; you're his father. Enforcing discipline is your job; not mine Michael. I'm going to head tahanan now; see you after the weekend."

She shut the door behind her as she left and I just stared at Christian with a blank look on my face. I didn't know what I should say or do because I didn't think I would be faced with something like this. I ilipat myself closer to him on the sopa and we sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes. I quietly sinabi "it wasn't very nice for you to hit grandma. Why would you hit her?" He didn't answer me because he was distracted sa pamamagitan ng the TV. I asked with an unsure tone of voice "you don't want to have to be put in timeout; do you?"

The segundo I sinabi that, he burst out into tears and ran out of the room. I immediately chased after him and caught up with him at the end of the hallway. I knelt down in front of him and sincerely asked "what's wrong?" He uncontrollably shook as he continued to cry and sinabi "no hit me daddy please don't!!!" I asked "hit you? Why would I do that?" I was about to pick him up when he pulled away and I felt terrible.

He ran upstairs and I walked into his room to see his feet sticking out from underneath the bed. I crawled underneath the kama and sinabi "hey; it's okay Christian." He asked "you won't hit me?" My eyes started to water and I sinabi "I would never hit you; EVER!" He sinabi "mommy hit me when I was with her!" I pulled him out from underneath the kama and sinabi "that's not what a normal mommy or daddy does Christian! You don't have to worry about her anymore buddy! I don't think it was right for you to hit grandma either though." He responded "I call her and say sorry." I sinabi "I think that's a good idea."

We went downstairs and I dialed her phone number. I put it on speaker phone and she sinabi "hello." I sinabi "hi mother; it's Michael and Christian has something he'd like to say to you." Christian sinabi "sorry grandma" she sinabi "thank you for saying you're sorry. I hope daddy told you that it's not nice to hit." I sinabi "I think we've come to an understanding. We'll let you go now because I have to get hapunan started; bye." She sinabi "goodbye; see you Monday."

***

My bodyguard Tim was excited to introduce me to his sister and niece because they are in town for the weekend. I told him that he doesn't need to come into work so he will be able to spend time with his family; but he insisted on at least coming in for an oras because his sister is a huge tagahanga of mine.

Tim, his sister, and his niece arrived at around 10 o'clock in the morning and I sinabi "you must be Jessica; it's nice to meet you!" She hugged me and sinabi "I've loved you since I was a little girl! I pag-ibig the new album! I saw you on the tour at your Louisiana show!" I sinabi "thanks for supporting me; I hope you enjoyed the show!" She sinabi "of course I enjoyed the ipakita Michael!"

I looked at the little girl she held in her arms and asked "how old is she? What's her name?" Jessica sinabi "this is my daughter Sarah; she turned two a few months ago." I grabbed Christian from the mesa and sinabi "this is my son Christian; he turned three two weeks ago."

I put Christian on the ground susunod to Sarah and he immediately hid behind me. I sinabi "I bet Sarah would like to play with you Christian." He clung to my leg and Jessica asked "are you shy?" I chuckled and sinabi "yeah he is." Sarah sinabi "mommy bathroom" Jessica asked "can I use your bathroom Michael?" I sinabi "of course you can. It's right over there."

Afterwards, I asked "she's toilet trained already?" Jessica asked "yeah; isn't Christian?" I sinabi "no; I wasn't even thinking about that." Just as we were getting into the conversation, Tim sinabi "Jessica; we don't want to miss our lunch reservation." She picked up Sarah and sinabi "thank you for letting me meet you Michael!" I sinabi "I'm glad I got to meet you too; have fun this weekend Tim." He sinabi "I will Mike; thanks for the time off!"

I was getting Christian ready for kama after getting him bathed and decided to hint at getting rid of the diapers. I sinabi "maybe it's time for you to be a big boy." He looked at me like I was crazy and I asked "you don't want to learn to use the potty?" He whispered "no" and quickly tried to change the subject. He sinabi "I want a snack daddy!" I quickly sinabi "I'll get you a snack in a minute. You really don't want to be a big boy?" He didn't answer me and I sinabi "well; I'd be glad if you did! I don't think you want to be wearing those anymore; do you? Those are for babies; don't you want to be a big boy?" He whispered "no" again and I decided to drop it to think about it for a while.

***

I was woken up sa pamamagitan ng a knock at the door. I came downstairs and answered the door. I was shocked to see Rosemary standing there. I immediately asked "you're not going to take him back are you?" "She laughed and sinabi "of course not Michael; I'm just required to make a surprise evaluation to make sure I made the right decision with letting you adopt Christian. I'm supposed to give you an in-depth background of Christian's history. I figured I would come stop sa pamamagitan ng unexpectedly early enough in the morning; so Christian isn't awake yet. I only need to ask him a few tanong when he wakes up and until then you and I can have a conversation about his past."

I got the two of us some coffee and we went into the living room. I have to admit that I'm curious to hear about where Christian came from and how he got to the point of being in foster care. I passed her the cup of coffee and she looked like she was about to cry. She sinabi "first of all, I can't thank you enough for taking Christian and giving him the tahanan that he deserves because I have a feeling he would've been at the orphanage for a long time if it wasn't for you!!!" I hugged her and sinabi "you don't have to thank me! I pag-ibig Christian and I don't regret pursuing adoption.

Rosemary cleared her throat and sinabi "alright; I will warn you that some parts of Christian's past are going to be hard for you to hear; but I think it's important for you to know just in case he asks you tanong one day. I took a deep breath and sinabi "okay; go ahead."

She sinabi "Christian's mother had him a few months after she turned 18 and she was living with her mother at the time. Melissa was always in and out of trouble with the law. Her mom kicked her out with Christian and she decided to ilipat into a three-bedroom place with a guy who would later become her boyfriend Adam. Everything was good for the first six months of Christian's life; but then Melissa seemed to get sick of being a mother." I asked "what about Christian's biological father? I saw the picture of him in the folder of all his information." Rosemary sinabi "that picture was the only thing we were able to find of him. We don't know where he is. We don't know if he's alive or dead. We don't know if he's a good man or if he's like Melissa. We don't even know if he knows that Christian exists.

It was stunning to me to find out that there is so little known information about Christian's biological father. I asked "how did Christian end up in the orphanage?" She sinabi "the neighbor susunod door to Melissa's house reported hearing crying for hours coming from the house. She sinabi she thought she had seen Christian looking out the window and crying. She alerted us and we went over there. We had to get a paghahanap warrant to get inside the house because Melissa wouldn't let us in and that's when we realized she had locked Christian in the bathroom while she got drunk to the point of disorientation! We estimate that he was stuck there for close to 24 hours. We think she got fed up with taking care of him and totally forgot about him."

Tears streamed down my face and I sinabi "that's horrible! That woman is so demented! I can't believe she would do that to her own son!" She sinabi "okay; enough about this! Why don't you take me to Christian's room to see if he's awake yet; so I can ask him a few questions." I wiped the tears away and walked upstairs as she followed behind me.

I walked into Christian's room with Rosemary and she sinabi "wow Michael; this is the coolest room I've ever seen! Christian is one lucky kid!" I picked Christian up and whispered "wake up buddy!" He opened his eyes and looked at Rosemary. She sinabi "hi Christian; do you remember me?" Christian sinabi "hi" and I put him down on the floor. He started playing with his toy racetrack and I sat down on the floor susunod to him with Rosemary. She asked "do you like it here with Michael Christian?" He sinabi "yeah; he's my daddy." She asked "does daddy take good care of you?" He sinabi "yeah; he does!" She asked "what's your paborito thing about having a daddy Christian?" He leaned in to give me a halik and sinabi "kisses and hugs!" Rosemary laughed and I asked "what's so funny?" She sinabi "I honestly can't believe that he just gave you a halik Michael! Never in 1 million years did I think this shy little boy would ever be open to a parent's affection; let alone just walk up to you and randomly give you a kiss! His speech is getting so much better and whatever you doing is working. He's come so far since the last time I saw him and that's all because of you! I'm madami than comfortable with my decision to let you adopt him permanently!"

Rosemary got off of the floor and sinabi "I better get going now because I have to catch my flight back to London." I asked "will you be checking in again?" She sinabi "no; I trust you Michael. I guess this is the last time I'll be seeing you or Christian." Both of us gave her a hug and I sinabi "it won't be the last time; we'll visit you one day!" We waved goodbye to her and started our day.

***

I had been dreading the araw when Christian would need a haircut because I have a feeling he's not going to like the idea of scissors near his face. I invited my hair stylist Karen Faye over because I knew I would need her help. Christian was watching TV in the living room and moving his hair out of his face.

Christian was sitting on the floor with his back up against the sopa and I gestured for Karen to slide onto the sopa and try cutting his hair without him noticing. She was a few snips in when he realized that she had scissors in her hand. He ran behind me and I sinabi "it's okay; I just want you to have your haircut!" He looked at the scissors as if they were daggers and I picked him up.

I sat down on the floor with him on my lap and sinabi "just cut his hair as fast as you can Karen.” He started squirming in my arms as I sinabi "it's okay buddy!" I felt absolutely terrible as I had to hold him down so she could cut his hair. I only did it because I didn't want him to get poked in the eye.

Once she was done cutting his hair, I looked at Christian and sinabi "you look so cute!" That wasn't so bad!" I don't think Christian was very happy with me because he didn't say anything to me until after Karen had left. I was sitting on the floor in front of him while he sat on the sopa and watched TV.

Out of nowhere, Christian smacked me on the back of my head! I turned my head to look behind me and sinabi "that wasn't nice Christian! You need to say you're sorry because I told you it's not nice to hit." He crossed his arms and sinabi "no!" I sinabi as I continued to look back at him "you need to say you're sorry Christian!" He sinabi "no" again and I really didn't know what to do.

I thought about it for a few segundos and got off of the floor. I sinabi "alright then; I guess it's time for a timeout." I picked him up and once he saw that I was actually bring him to a chair in the kitchen, he sinabi "I'm sorry daddy; I'm sorry!" Part of me wanted to believe that he was actually sorry; but I knew deep down that he was just saying that because he didn't want to have a timeout.

I pulled the chair out from the mesa and placed him in it. I looked at him and sinabi "it's not nice to hit people Christian!" He started crying and I felt awful. I started the timer on the microwave and sinabi "three minutos Christian." As I stood there at the counter a few feet away from the table, Christian cried "daddy; I'm sorry daddy! I pag-ibig you daddy! I be good!" It took all the willpower I had to ignore him because I was on the verge of tears!

When the timer finally beeped, I walked over to the chair and asked "do you know why you're in timeout Christian?" He sinabi "it's not nice to hit daddy! I'm sorry daddy!" I hugged him as I picked him up and sinabi "thank you for saying you're sorry. Do you still pag-ibig me even though I put you in timeout?" He sinabi "yeah" and kissed my cheek.

***

I heard Christian walked downstairs this morning and sinabi "come here buddy." He walked into the living room and I had shopping bags in front of me on the floor. He sat down susunod to me on the floor and I sinabi "wait until you see what I got you!" I opened one of the bags and asked "what would you think if I told you that I threw out all your diapers? He sinabi "no you didn't!

He went to the place where I usually keep them and when he noticed that I was serious, he looked at me with a blank look on his face. I took some of the Mickey mouse underwear out of one of the bags and sinabi "look buddy; Mickey!" He just looked so distraught and I picked him up to comfort him. I know because of his past I can't make this into a negative thing if it's going to work.

I sat him on my lap and sat down on the sopa as I sinabi "it's okay buddy! I promise you that it's not going to be the end of the world! Look, don't you want to be a big boy?" He started crying and I sinabi "look at how cool these are!" He shook his head no and sinabi "diaper!" I excitedly sinabi "big boy" and he sinabi "I'm scared daddy!" I asked "of what; these?"

I picked up the underwear and sinabi "these aren't anything to be scared of!" I put them on my head and he started to laugh and I joked "what's so funny?" I brought him into the bathroom and explained to him that there wasn't going to be any madami diapers and he didn't want to hear that at all. It was hard enough to convince him to wear the underwear; I don't think I really know what I just got myself into.

There was a knock at the door in the midst of all this; so I went to answer it. It was Frank and he sinabi "I brought the book cover for your book Michael; so you can see what it will look like! Why do you have Mickey mouse underwear on your head?" I reached my hand up to the tuktok of my head and realized that they were still there. I laughed and sinabi "it's a long story!"

Christian came into the kusina and sinabi "diaper!" I sinabi "I told you buddy; you don't need those anymore!" He started crying again and Frank sinabi "on that note I think it's time for me to get out of here; good luck with that Michael." Just as he sinabi that, I noticed that Christian was soaked. Frank chuckled and sinabi "I told you that you weren't cutout for parenting Mike" as he shut the door.

I sinabi "uh –oh; that's why you're supposed to tell daddy when you have to go! It's no big deal buddy; we'll try again susunod time." He sinabi "I don't like this daddy!" I sinabi "like I said, that's why you have to tell me susunod time!"
***

I invited my sister Latoya over for lunch because she hasn’t gotten a chance to really get to know Christian. I had ordered lunch because I didn't want her to have to wait for me to cook anything. Christian was just coming downstairs after taking a nap when Latoya finally pulled into the driveway.

I let her inside and she helped me set the mesa for the Chinese pagkain that I had ordered. I sinabi "Christian; time to eat buddy." He slowly walked into the kusina and asked "can I sit on your lap daddy?" I lifted him onto my lap and moved his plate of pagkain in front of him. He looked at Latoya and I sinabi "this is your aunt Latoya Christian." He waved at her and started to act shy.

He was barely touching his pagkain and I sinabi "you have to eat Christian." He sinabi "I don't want this." He dropped his fork on the floor and Latoya got up to grab him a new one. She brought it back to the table; but Christian was still refusing to eat. I tried feeding him because I want to be a fun dad; I don't want everything to end up with him being in trouble. I've only had to put him in timeout once and I don't really want to have to resort to that again.

He just kept pushing the fork away and I looked at Latoya as she sinabi "I think he's adjusted to having a daddy Michael." I asked "I know you don't have kids; but do think it's normal for him to act like this? He only acts this way when he wakes up from a nap. It's definitely not like him to be like this." She sinabi "I think he's just getting used to having a daddy and I have a feeling he wants to test you to see what he can get away with. It's just part of being a three-year-old Michael. Every three-year-old challenges their parents’ authority over them at some point. I don't think he's going to act like that for very long because if he's as sweet as you say he is he won't want to frustrate you."

Christian grabbed the fork out of my hand and started eating because I think he realized that he wasn't doing what I wanted him to do. I sinabi "thank you for eating buddy." Latoya asked "what's your schedule like this week Michael?" I sinabi "I have an interview with 'Jet’ magazine tomorrow and then I'm heading to New York for a couple of days sa pamamagitan ng myself because I have a meeting with a publishing company to talk about my autobiography." She asked "what is the magazine interviewing you for?" I sinabi "I'm hoping that it's just a small interview because I want to introduce Christian to my fans and I want the tabloids to stop harassing me. They all want to get a picture of Christian because word has gotten out that I've adopted him and I figured if I let the magazine feature the two of us on the cover they'll leave us alone. I just want Christian to have a normal life and I want the paparazzi to stop harassing him because he's just a kid." Latoya asked "who is going to watch Christian while you're in New York?" I sinabi "mother is out of town for a buwan because she and Joseph went on vacation; so my hair stylist Karen is going to watch him for me." Latoya asked "how do you think Christian's going to handle being away from you for two days? He hasn't been away from you overnight since you adopted him." I sinabi "I don't know if I'm going to tell him until after I'm in New York because I just can't handle hearing him cry! He should be fine during the araw because I usually don't see him until I get tahanan from work every araw around 5 o'clock. When it's time for him to go to kama at night he might be a little worried because I won't be there to tuck him in like I always am. Karen will know that I'm only a phone call away if she needs me! If she needs me to come back I'll be on the susunod flight back here as fast as I can."

***

I looked at my watch because I was worried that the "Jet" magazine journalist and photographer would arrive at the ranch within minutes. I was in the middle of debating with Christian. I sat on the bathroom floor and Christian just looked absolutely terrified. It's all his mother's fault that this is so difficult for him. I think my approach of trying to be extremely positive about toilet training him isn't going to be enough. After pagbaba some parenting books, they say that if it doesn't start to work within the first few weeks I should probably take a break. I hate to say it; but I think it's time for a break.

Christian started crying and sinabi "don't leave me in here sa pamamagitan ng myself daddy! Don't lock me in here!" I sympathetically sinabi "sweetheart; I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying right here and I promise you that I won't lock you in here like your mother did!" He sinabi "I'm not ready for this!" I sinabi "okay, okay, but you have to promise to tell me when you are ready."

I had a feeling that something like this would happen; so I didn't end up throwing out the diapers like I had told him I did. I was hoping that if he didn't think they were there he would be madami prepared to use the bathroom instead; but I guess I was wrong. I quickly changed him back into them and he reassured me that he wasn't ready sa pamamagitan ng saying "not a big boy yet daddy." I sinabi "that's okay Christian."

The journalist and I photographer from "Jet" magazine knocked on the front door and I opened it up. One of the men introduced himself as he sinabi "hi; I'm Andrew. I'm so glad you decided to discuss Christian for the first time publicly with the interview in our magazine Michael."

Before we started the interview, the photographer took a bunch of pictures of me with Christian; so there would be a lot to choose from to use in the magazine. Christian was surprisingly patient with having his picture taken so many times in a row. I didn't expect him to be okay with these two people that he never met before because he’s usually so shy.

Afterwards, I sat down with Christian on my lap and Andrew across from me; so he could ask me tanong for the interview. He asked "how did you come to the decision that you needed to permanently adopt Christian?" I sinabi "I just felt like I was meant to be his father and I couldn't leave him with his mother; she was just awful!" Andrew asked "what's the best part about being a father?" I sinabi "being able to make him smile and when he just randomly walks up to me to give me a halik and hug out of nowhere; for no reason at all!" Andrew asked "what did it feel like when he called you daddy for the first time?" I sinabi "to be completely honest, he brought me to tears when he called me daddy for the first time." He asked "why did he make you cry?" I sinabi "I didn't cry right away; I waited until he was asleep. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and reality just hit me. I sinabi to myself 'I'm officially his daddy now!!!' I just burst out into tears because I knew I didn't have to worry about wondering if he was okay. I had no idea if his mother was even taking care of him when I had to give him back to her. When I finally did get him back, I felt terrible because he was in horrible condition." He asked "how would you describe your parenting style Michael? Are you a strict dad?" I laughed and sinabi "no; I've only enforced any kind of discipline with Christian once so far and that was tearing me apart! I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I disciplined him for every little thing! Plus, he's a really well behaved little guy. I don't really have to deal with him giving me issues. He has the occasional moment where I can tell he's thinking 'oh; I wonder if he’ll let me get away with this.'" Andrew laughed and asked "have you mastered the 'you better not do that’ look Michael? Do you do the 'I'm going to give you until the count of three and you better not let me get to three’ thing?" I chuckled and sinabi "no; I don't do the whole counting thing! I'll definitely have to try that look you were talking about one day. I've always wondered if that actually works!" He asked "if you had to pick the worst part about being a father, what would it be?" I sinabi "that's a hard tanong for me to answer because I enjoy pretty much everything about being a father; but I’d probably have to say it would be having to leave him for any amount of time. I always miss him so much; even if it's just for a few hours a araw while I'm working." Andrew sinabi "thank you so much for letting me interview you Michael!" I sinabi "you're very welcome. I think they're going to leave now Christian; I'll make you something for lunch because you must be hungry! That took a lot longer than I thought it would."

***

I leave for New York tomorrow and I'm just enjoying some quality time with Christian. I had bought some double stuffed Oreo cookies and they were on the kusina counter. Last night, I was up pagbaba parenting books in hopes that I would find some madami toilet training tactics; but I guess I'm going to have to figure out something on my own. I know I'm supposed to be giving him a break and I think he's glad that I'm not asking him every five minutos if he has to go; but I know that he's madami than ready. He will literally tell me that he needs to be changed before he even goes; which in this case isn't a good thing. I just wish his mother never locked him in a bathroom! Why would she do that to him? She's the reason why he's still wearing those diapers at three years old!

Anyway, Christian had just finished eating hapunan about 20 minutos nakaraan and I was doing dishes in the kusina when he walked in. He walked up to the counter that he can barely see over the tuktok of and saw the package of cookies sitting there. He asked "can I have cookies daddy?"

I put the dish I was washing back inside the sink and looked over at the cookies. I looked at Christian and sinabi "I'm sorry buddy; you can't." He asked "why not?" I picked him up and sinabi "because those cookies are only for big boys." He looked like he wanted those cookies so much and I felt like maybe this might work. I lightly teased him as I sinabi "oh; it's too bad you don't want to use the potty because I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy these cookies all sa pamamagitan ng myself." He stuttered with a look of shock on his face as he sinabi "but, but, but that's a lot of cookies daddy; you can't eat all those sa pamamagitan ng yourself! Maybe I could just have one!" I had to hold back my laughter as I sinabi "I'm sorry; these are only for big boys Christian. You could go use the potty so you can have some." He sighed and sinabi "no; that's okay daddy! You can eat them!" I put him down on the ground and he walked back into the living room.

I stood there at the counter and sinabi to myself "come on Mike; that almost worked!” I thought for sure the cookies would work. I sinabi "time for plan B; it's not considered teasing him with the cookies if I'm doing it for a good cause." I poured some of the cookies in a bowl and walked into the living room.

I sat down susunod to Christian on the sopa with the bowl of cookies and that immediately caught his attention. He watched me start to eat one of them and I sinabi "wow; these are good!" He tried to grab one of the cookies and I sinabi "I'm sorry Christian; you can't have these!" I could tell that he was debating it back and forth in his mind. He complained "I can't go daddy!" I joked "oh; that's too bad that you can't; because all it would take is a few minutos and these cookies would be yours. I think he was getting frustrated with me because he could tell that I was deliberately making those cookies seem amazing. That didn't work either because he just went upstairs to his room. He is definitely making this difficult!

***

I was just returning to the hotel after meeting with the company that's publishing my book and the phone started ringing as soon as I entered the room. I answered it and my hair stylist Karen sinabi "thank God you finally picked up Michael!" I asked concerned "why; what's wrong?" She asked "will you talk to your son? I can't get him to go to sleep. I told him you're in New York and that you'll be back tomorrow night before he goes to bed; but he keeps crying for you Michael."

I could hear her pass Christian the phone and he was sobbing. I asked "what's wrong Christian?" He asked "where are you? You're not here to give me good night kisses" I sinabi "I know buddy; but I had to do something for work! I'll be back before you have to go to kama tomorrow." He continued to cry and I started to sing to him the lyrics of "smile."

A few minutos later, Karen picked up the phone again and whispered "he's asleep Michael; thanks!" I sinabi "no need to thank me. I knew he would have a meltdown when he realized I wasn't going to be tahanan sa pamamagitan ng tonight. It's getting late; so I'll see you tomorrow when I get back. She sinabi "bye Michael" and I hung up the phone.

***

I walked through the door of the house and Karen sinabi "I just put him to bed; but he might still be awake because he wanted to wait for you." I sinabi "okay; thanks for watching him for me. Have a good weekend Karen." She sinabi "you're welcome Michael; I'll watch him anytime! I hope you have a good weekend too!" She shut the door behind her and I started to make my way upstairs with my bags.

After bringing my suitcase to my room, I walked down to Christian's room to see if he was still awake. When I walked in there, his kama was empty and that made me panic. I started looking everywhere upstairs and sinabi "Christian." I went back into my room and I could hear whining coming from down the hall. I exited my room and followed the noise down the hall.

It led me to the bathroom and I pushed open the door. Christian was standing at the sink and trying to wash his hands. I don’t think he saw me there watching him and I sinabi “hey buddy; what are you doing in here?” He asked “daddy can I have cookies?” I sinabi “I told you buddy, you can’t have those unless you use the potty.” He sinabi “but I did!!!” I walked over to the toilet and realized that he wasn't just saying that to trick me into giving him Oreos. I looked over at him with a stunned look on my face and sinabi "oh my God; you really did go."

I excitedly picked him up and sinabi "THAT'S MY GOOD BOY! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!!" He started laughing at my excitement and asked "I did good daddy?" I sinabi "very good; I still can't believe you actually went potty! What happened? I thought you didn't want to be a big boy Christian!" He sinabi "I wanted to make you proud of me and I want those cookies a lot!" I laughed and sinabi "well, I'm definitely proud of you! Do you know how long I’ve wanted you to do that Christian? I'm so proud of you! You have no idea how happy I am right now buddy!"

He loved having me be so ecstatic over him going to the bathroom. What he sinabi susunod completely shocked me. He sinabi "daddy I don't need those diapers anymore because I'm ready to be a big boy!" I sinabi "thank God; I was worried I'd never be able to get you to give those up! I'm seriously SO proud of you right now buddy! I didn't expect to come tahanan to you wanting to be a big boy! It wasn't as scary as you thought it would be; was it buddy?" He sinabi "no; but I missed you and I wanted you to be here daddy!" I sinabi "I know buddy; I can't believe I missed it! If you had waited about five madami minutos I would've been here. I won't miss the susunod time buddy! Let's go get you some of those cookies!"

After he had eaten the cookies, I brought him into his room and put him into bed. I covered him with the blankets and knelt down susunod to the bed. I sinabi "I know you were really scared to be in the bathroom; but I'm so proud of you for going potty!" He gave me a halik and he whispered "I did it daddy!” I shut off the light and sinabi "yes you did; big boy!!!" He sinabi "I pag-ibig you!" I responded "I pag-ibig you madami Christian" as I walked out of his room and into mine.