New Year Blues

...I mean 'blue' literally!

Isn't little Miguel Santino Fernandez just adorable? Here he smiles for photographer Ralph Alejandrino in Tumble Tots, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave. Libis QC. For a more in-depth retelling of the story of Santino's shoot, click here.

We had quite a lot of fun making this issue (and we even saw the actual printed copies before the Christmas break began!). The editors gave me the fun assignment of interviewing the Alejandro siblings, the artsy folks behind Papemelroti. When I set the interview, I got all five of them to sit in a circle and share stories. (Most of what I recorded was laughter!) Days later I learned how RARE it was to get all five of these busy bees in one room! Because when we tried to pool them together for a shoot, we couldn't find a suitable date! To make the visuals possible, we asked the youngest, Tina, to illustrate for that story--and what a good result! I guess it takes some limitations to test the bounds of creative thinking.

This issue, as you can see on the cover, is all about toddlers. There's so much to do to prepare for your child's 'terrible twos'--but let's not focus on 'terrible,' shall we? Because toddlerhood is a terrific time for both parents and their tots to learn and grow together.

As an ending let me share a more recent photo of Santino. He's with his mom Ruth here. We met in Trinoma again last month. Just too bad the event we were going to attend got postponed!


Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama, Shoppesville, Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall. The January issue, though, would be late in SM stores this month for reasons beyond our control.