Months, weeks, days, hours, moments before he and his wife were visited by the stork, actor Zanjoe Marudo was already practicing how to cuddle a baby in his arms.
By the time Baby M, his wife Ria Atayde's first-born son, has seen the light of day and spent filial moments with them, Zanjoe will be a perfect cuddler and caregiver to his child.
Before anything else, why the new dad is a CALABARZON Kid?
Simply because Zanjoe's roots are both CALABARZON provinces--his mom, the late Osang Acuesta is from Calauag, Quezon while his dad Zosimo Lumbres Marudo is from Tanauan, Batangas, the same place where the actor has a farm.
On with the story.
Ria gave birth to Baby M on September 23, 2024, in a still undisclosed pediatric medical center.
In effect, everyone was already excited and thrilled by the coming of Baby M to the world primarily the first-time father.
"Eto na (Here it is!) Officially Zaddy ka na Z," captioned Zanjoe on his Facebook wall which he played on words, firstly, by contracting his given name to just Z, and secondly, by combining the first letter of his name with the last syllable of the word Daddy.
One netizen expressed a spiritual meaning to the occasion.
"God's grace that Zanjoe, Ria, and Baby M were born on the 23rd day of the month," the post noted with emojis of prayerful hands.
Marudo's birthday falls on July 23 while Ria's natal day is March 23 and their son's birthdate is September 23.
It was also Zanjoe who shared on social media a glimpse through a video clip of what and how his wife reacted digitally to their newborn baby.
Zanjoe and Ria tied the knot in a celebrated civil wedding at the Quezon City Hall officiated, no less, by Mayor Joy Belmonte herself.
In Marudo's earlier FB posted texts and photos, he was seen hugging lovingly on his shoulders like a human being his and Ria's pet a Siamese cat.
Atayde was off-cam but she was overjoyed, giggling at the caring gestures of her husband on their pets.
In a separate video shot in a gym, Zanjoe playfully put between his clasped arms a dumbbell, rocked it as if he were carrying a baby.
Those were the training of Marudo as a virgin dad to show to the world how he loves his baby boy M.
He was also the one who assembled the infant's crib.
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