Weekend Snapshot 5

It was indeed a happy weekend for my girl! Last weekend we went to Malaysia and there she met her Cousin TImo. They played all day and all night. She was indeed so happy to finally have someone her age to play with since she doesn't have any playmates her age here in Thailand.

Baby Sister

The other day, I was complaining to my Hubby with my weight gain (after I just delivered our second baby ) and stuff. ' Look at my Tummy, doesn't it still look so big?", I asked him. But before my Hubby could answer, a small voice from behind me bewilderly asked, "Is my baby sister there inside already?" I didn't even realized that she was listening to our conversation. Aiyyooo!! And she's still wants to have a baby sister!!?? So, as always , I answered. " No more na lang baby sister, Trish please." "But I want a baby sister!!!", she whined and began to cry. That's how serious she is to have a baby sister. Haayy..All I could tell her is, " Ok, just pray". Her answer? "But I prayed already! " Uh, oh!! Delikado! hehehe!! I don't know if I would want another one. For me Two is MORE than enough. Hahahaha! But I can't say that's the final decision yet. We'll wait and see what God's plan for our family.

Word for the Day

Our Li'l girl never ceases to amaze us. I'm sorry for being redundant, if I've said this before.

We were all in the car and on our way home. Tricia, baby Lyle and I were seated at the back. Lyle was already so uneasy as we were in Tesco for quite a long time for we did our monthly grocery. Tricia was playing with Lyle, while Jesu and I were talking. Suddenly, Tricia said, "Amma, Lyle looks 'fe-rious' . " I was not so sure of what she was saying , if it was 'serious' or 'curious'. So, I asked, "What's that Trish?" "Lyle looks fe-rious!", she repeated. Still not sure, "Fe-rious? What does that I mean?", I asked her. I wanted to check whether she meant serious or curious. I know she knows the word serious, but not curious. Then she said, " Fe-rious, Amma, means Angry. Oh no! Jesu and I were shocked, she meant FURIOUS!...hahahah!! Such a big word for a small girl. Then I wondered, where she got that word when we rarely use that in conversations. Then I remembered that word comes out a lot from her storybooks. Wow! We could never underestimate the 'power' of books. I could really see Tricia's vocab widened because maybe we've been reading to her since she was 5 months old.

Haay.. speaking of books, I'm still thinking a lot of the books we saw last weekend. I hope we can get the set of Grolier Books. The 'Words, words,words" set where kids can get up to 6,500 useful words, I Wonder Why Series, would just be in time for her curious mind too (and oh not to forget our future chatterbox, Lyle), and the Children's Enyclopedia.

WHY why why???

We were having worship last Sunday and we sang the song " Shout to the Lord" where there's a portion there that says.."mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your Name."

THen, after the worship we all sat down and saw my daughter, Tricia thinking deeply...and asked, "Why the mountains bow down Amma?"..." Because the mountains worship God too" , I managed to answer but somehow I knew there will always be a follow up question. With her eyebrows crossed from thinking, she retorted, " But the mountains are hard Amma, they can't bow down!!" Good the Pastor was already starting his sermon so I told Tricia to keep quiet and listen to the Pastor..hahahah!! Nakalusot!

That's the challenge now of having a 3 yr going to be 4 year old child. THe questions are never ending, the reasons , excuses are limitless and at the end of the day I just get tir ed trying answer all the questions, listening to all her reasons and excuses. Hahahahah! I can't imagine if my Li'l boy will be like his Ate, maybe I'll grow old fast...LOL!

Ms. Lonely

My heart just breaks for my Li'l girl.

I think aside from the fact that my Li'l girl is sociable ( like her Appa) she must also be in the stage now where she wants to play with kids her age. For many afternoons now, we've been going outside the house for her to 'play' with other kids. Everyday she will be looking out in the window and wait for her 'friends'. Our neighbor's kids are mostly grown up (age 7-12 years old) and they're all usually outside during the weekends.

So yesterday afternoon, a few kids were biking outside the house and my Li'l girl asked me if she could go out and ride the bike with them. Baby Lyle was sleeping so, I told her she could'nt go out because I couldn't watch her outside coz Lye's asleep. It's dangerous for her to be on the street with her bike because cars and motorbikes come and go. "But I'll just go to the side when there are cars and motorbikes, Amma", she reasoned out. Yes, my Li'l girl is very good in reasoning out, it's like I'm already raising a teenager when she's barely 4 years old! "No, Trish, it's still dangerous", I repeated and gave my reasons. "I'll be careful Amma.", she reassured me. But I remained firm and told her "NO". Then she started to cry. With tears in her eyes she said, "How can I have friends Amma if I don't go out?"..then it hit me, she badly wants to have friends.

I remembered a few nights before when we were outside. Our neighbors had children visiting them and Tricia went to the group to play with them. When she started to talk to them, they all ran away and tried to avoid her. Actually, this happened a lot of times with other kids too. Anyways, their Mom told me that they're shy to speak English. She was encouraging the kids to still let her join their play even if they could'nt understand or speak to her, but still the kids did't want to include her.

Then there was also a time when one of our neighbor's kid tried to mimic Tricia in a jest. Of course, it was okay for Tricia but as a parent I didn't like it that she was making fun of her just because she doesn't understand her. It's good that they are some kids who still try to 'talk' to her and include her in the group.

I don't know if it's just age gap ( as I said the kids in our neighborhood are much older than Tricia) or mostly language barrier.... But anyways, from yesterday afternoon I realized that I have to do something for my Li'l girl. We've already set up actvities for her so she won't get bored but most of these activities are with us or with her Teacher Jun ( read: all adults) BUT I think what she needs most is FRIENDS her age whom she could play with and have fun.

I'm still going to let her play outside with our neighbors kids (coz maybe then she could pick up the language).We've thought of letting her have Thai lessons. Our neighbor is willing to teach her but I'm not sure how long she'll last. But then we'll still have to give that a try and see. For her to truly assimilate in this place and make Thai friends , she must learn the language. But for now, I think I'll have to seriously set a weekly playgroup with other foreigner kids for her to fully play, be herself and enjoy.

Stage MOM

Yes, I admit it. I am a certfied stage Mom and I just can't help posting videos, photos, updates and blah blah blah about my kids. hahaha!

Before I got married and had children, I couldn't relate with some parents who talk endlessly about their kids' seemingly 'significant' developments, their milestones, how cute they are, what they can do and etc.and etc and etc. Yes, I would listen to them still but at the back of my mind, I would say, "so, what's so special about that?" hahaha!

And now, here I am a member of the club...hahaha!

Anyways, enough of the long introduction. Let me direct you to the latest videos of my kids. hehehe!!

Check it out at My Li'l Princess Diary and My Li'l one.

I hope you'll have fun watching and be amused as I am..hehehehhe!!

The Future Athlete

As part of our new year's resolution to be fit and live a healthy life, last night we all went to the stadium for a jog. Yes, all of us went, even Lyle. :)

It was our second time to be there since, we came the day before to check out about Tricia's gymnastic classes (more on that later).

I didn't jog since I wasn't properly attired, so I was only the official babysitter and photographer. Here's a photojournal of that night.

The track.. it's all rubberized so it's safe for kids too.

First, they did some warm up exercises.

Tricia's so excited to RUN. Yeah, this is the place where she can really be her 'langas' self.

Ready, get set,GO!! Tricia did her first round with Appa and Ninong Jun2. Surprisingly, she ran all the way with them without stopping. WOW!

But then, after running for 1 round, she got tired and decided to stay while her Appa and Ninong Jun2 continued. But, I think she wasn't really tired. She was even still doing some stunts! Getting ready for her gymnastic classes next week?

And after seeing one man doing some push ups, she also followed and said, " Look at me Amma! I can do like the Uncle."

And when her Appa and Ninong Jun2 came, she asked me to take her picture with her wonderwoman pose....and then....

She said, " Okay, Amma will run now!". She just immediately left. We thought she was just kidding when she said that. But she was serious and ran, all the way ( one big round!) by herself!!! At midpoint, I was a bit scared that maybe her legs will get tired and she might fall, so I asked her Ninong Jun2 to follow her discreetly ( just in case). And we saw her from afar, running like a pro. She just ran, and ran, and ran without stopping. My Hubby and I can't just believe our eyes that she's running the oval (400 m) all by herself with such determination. We were just giggling and laughing to see how cute she looked from afar...the smallest and youngest runner in the field.

And as the official photo/videographer, we of course documented her winning moment in the finish line..

So, I guess we have a future athlete in the making. At least she'll have an output for all her energy and "kalangasan". I guess she really needs it. I can't wait for her to start her gymnastic classes. Tricia's very interested too. And guess what?! She'll be having her gymnastic classes for free! The assistant coach is very keen to teach her for free. He has two sons (age 7 and 10) whom he's training and has represented Thailand in a lot of competitions. Wow!! Do you think we'll have a future gymnast in the making? But what country could she be representing then? Thailand, Malaysia or Philippines?? Of course Philiippines lah! hahaha! OKay, enough of dreaming, first we'll make it a point to make some of our evenings free so that Tricia can start her classes.

Weekend Snapshot 3

Everybody loves weekend, it is the time for leisure, recreation and other religious activities. And when everyone is having a grand time, you want to capture it and share it with others. That’s why Weekend Snapshot is here for you. Come and join the fun here.

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, so we were just at home and it gave my li'l 3 year old girl a chance to just be outside and play with our neighbors and our neighbor's puppies which she just loves.

Such a cutee...It's a mixed breed and only 1 month old but it's huge!

It's such a pity for the puppies. They put them anywhere, from their bicycle baskets...
....to letting them ride their toy cars

Presenting my BIGGIE BOY

My baby is now like a big boy!

More updates in Baby Lyle's Blog. Check it out!

The Christmas Story

When I was putting my li'l girl to sleep, I read to her the Birth of Jesus from Favorite Bible Stories by CLiff Richards. It was the first time I read the story from this particular book to her since it has been missing for quite sometime.

Anyways, the book was very well written and the birth story was described well that while reading to my girl, I was also touched and teary eyed. It brought me back in time.

What would have God felt when His only Son was born in a smelly, stable with no people to witness but just the lowly animals?

What would have God felt, entrusting HIs only SOn to 'inexperienced" parents, Mary and Joseph? Mary was very young at that time.

What would have God felt knowing the future of this baby, His Son, the King of kings and the Lord of lords to be ridiculed, tortured, and crucified 33 years later?

As a parent, I somehow felt what could have been the natural feeling of a parent. With a two month old baby, I couldn't imagine my baby being born in a smelly stable with just the animals, I couldn't entrust my baby in the care of inexperienced caretakers, I couldn't bear even the thought of my children being hurt or be in any pain. Of course, God could have felt all those feelings as a parent. But what did He do? He sacrificed His Son, Jesus. It must have also been very hurting for Him to do this. But He did it. He gave His ONLY, begotten Son, because He loves us. So that you and me might have eternal life if only we BELIEVE. Amazing love.

What is man that You are mindful of him.

And the son of man that you visit him?

For you have made him a little lower than angels.

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands

You have put all things under his feet. Isaiah 8:4-6

I'll forever be grateful to you, my Lord, my GOD.....

Weekend Snapshot

My li'l girl attended her 1st Christmas Party at the church. It was fun but as usual she couldn't join the games because of the language barrier. She kept asking me what the MC was saying. Pity her! But anyways, overall she had fun and I could see the excitement in her face.

So, here is my first entry for the weekend snaphot.

Tricia in the midst of the Thai kids.

Tricia with her church buddies!

The 2 boys are 'luuk krung' (Thai ) which in English literally means Half Child (heheh! funny!) . Their mom is a Thai and Dad is a New Zealander. They're great buddies since Tricia is a 'luuk krung' too ( half Filipino and half Malaysian-indian)

Tricia with Jaime. Isn't she cute? She's only 4 months older than Tricia but she's big and tall.

Is this a Christmas Party or a Masquerade Party? :)

Friday Night

We had a 'Fun Night' with friends this evening. It was good, the kids ( including the adults) watched videos, while we were just chatting and eating.

BUt had to leave quite early since we have to do shopping at Tesco for the Kids' party in the village. It'll be next week and I'm so excited.

Look at this...

and this.....

hehehhe! they all look so serious with their mouths open..
They're only watching....THe Grinch

Tricia and David. Showing each other their scars. ;)

THink Tricia enjoyed the night more than we did.

Did you notice that haven't posted any of my pictures lately? hhehehe! Yeah,these days, I'm not so much fond have having my pictures taken or posting my pictures for that matter. It must be part of my postpartum blues.

Have to sleep now.. I'm a bit tired. I was up the whole day because I also baked Choco Moist cake on top of doing all the chores and taking care of kids. Maybe I'll write longer tomorrow. Good night! Have a blessed weekend!

Children are a real blessing

The stage mother in me has surfaced again..heheh! So, if you're tired of moms continually babbling about their children, then you know what to expect from this entry. :)..so better make a slow move and hop to another blog.

Seriously, I'm just so blessed with my little girl. Here are her stories for today:

This morning, we went to the Center to send Annie, who's been a volunteer at the Center (for 5 months) to the train station. Before we left for the station, all of us ( 9 of us) gathered together to pray for Annie. My Hubby asked one of the staff to pray. And while he was praying for her, my daughter whispered in my ear, "Amma, I want to pray for Aunty Annie too." So, after our friend's prayer, I told Annie that Tricia wants to pray for her too. " Sure, Trish, thank you!" was Annie's reply. Here was Tricia's prayer. " Lord, I pray for Aunty Annie, Lord. Bless her Lord. SHe miss her Amma and Appa so much. Her home is far far away. I pray that as she rides the bus , she will be fine. In Jesus' name, Amen!" Wow, it was just so sweet of her that Annie ended up with tears in her eyes. As Tricia's mom, I'm just so blessed with her that as young as she is, she already knows how to pray publicly. I think prayer has already been ingrained in her because there are times too that I overhear her praying aloud by herself. Like the time I was at the kitchen washing dishes and she was bathing inside the toilet and I heard her pray aloud, "Lord, let me not have bad dreams anymore..."

The team with Annie (the one with the yellow bag)

Then this afternoon, I told Tricia that our activity for the day will be to sort out her toys. I asked her if it'll be okay for her to give away some of her toys to the kids in the village. She thought long and hard and said, "Okay". So, I told her that I will go through her toys and she decides what toy to give or not. While I was saying this, I was thinking, " Oh uh, maybe this is a bad idea because she might end up keeping everything I show her". But anyways, I gave it a try. I took her basketful of toys and went through her soft toys first. She has lots of soft toys mostly given as gifts to her and most of them are her favorites. So, I put out her toys (oh and bags too) one by one and asked, "Do you want to give this away?". Surprisingly, she said "yes" to many of the toys including her favorite Barney which sings everytime you press the tummy. Well, maybe she has outgrown Barney by this time. She only kept her very favorite ones like Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga and etc. She even helped me rummaged through her basket and offered to give away some of the other toys and bags. She actually gave quite a lot! One big plastic bag full of toys. Her basket is not overflowing anymore. She also asked me at one point, " Are we giving this to the T---- children, because they don't have toys?" I'm just blessed again because material things don't have much hold on her and she has a heart to give to other children. I expected that as a child, she would want to keep all her toys because in the first place it's hers, but not my little girl and it's a great blessing for her to have such generous heart.

Okay, I think it's enough babbling for now about my li'l girl, if not I could just go on and on and on until no one would want to read my blogs anymore because it's already boring. :)

I'm just blessed and I thank God for my li'l girl. He has given me the privilege to take care of such beautiful children.

Price Shock!!!

No, we're not planning to put up a Toy shop. These are the toys we bought from Tesco Lotus. Can you guess how much these toys cost?

We saw these toys a few months back when Tesco was having a 50-80% clearance sale in the toys section. That was the time we bought Tricia's Toy Castle, which originally costs 300 plus baht but with 50% discount, came up to about only 150 Baht. She liked a lot of the toys there that time including this Cleaning set and wanted us to buy everything she liked. But we told her she can only choose one. She insisted quite a long time to choose two, but we have to tell her as always that she can have one and pray that next time she can have the other toys...So after soooo long of thinking verry hard and deciding which toy to choose, she finally chose the Castle set. By the way, the cleaning set was originally 150 Baht, plus the 50% discount, became only 75 Baht.

Then last night, when we went to Lotus and there at the stock clearance section we saw many toys on sale too. This time we saw the Cleaning set again and a Tea Set...and guess how much it cost? only 37 Baht!!!...So, we thought of buying one for Tricia and asked her again which one she wanted, the Tea Set or the Cleaning set. She said she wants both( as usual). But even if we think it's okay for us to buy both (imagine it was only 37 baht each!) since it's still affordable but we really try to practice not to give everything she wants. I mean, she might make it a habit and think that whenever she wants everything, she can have it immediately. What if a time will come when we won't be able to afford the items anymore? So, that's why even if we think we can afford to buy 2 or 3, we only buy one ( the one which she thinks is best for her) for her to know that she can't have everything she wants at once. Are we cruel parents or what? hehehe!! Anyway, she settled for the Cleaning Set, since she wanted that one too a few months back. Amd she was happy with her choice. Well, God must have answered her prayer a few months back to have the Cleaning set. Children's prayers are really powerful as they pray in faith.

So, when we put her cleaning set in the trolley, my HUbby had this brilliant idea. Why not buy these toys instead and give them as prizes for our Kids party at the village? Our Center has this outreach in the fishing village every saturday and we'll be having a party next week. Wow! yes! The kids will really be very happy, imagine, they will be receiving big boxes with beautiful toys inside as prizes! So, we got 8 more boxes and went back home.

And when we were home, we were so happy with our GOOD buy and realized we should have bought more. We're expecting more than 80 kids to show up for the party so we'll need more toys to give as prizes. So this evening, off we went to Tesco again..heheheh! And to our relief, there were still some left. We were afraid that maybe the toys must all be sold out since it's really a great bargain. And then to our surprise, the 37baht toys now became...........................................29 Baht!!...hahahah! It's much cheaper now..hahaha! so, we bought all that was left behind, 6 boxes of the cleaning set. They still have other toys on sale the but they cost 60-80 baht..it's still a great bargain since its orginal price was from 255 baht...but we're already satisfied with out 29 baht toys...heheh!!

So, that explains the stock of toys in our living room. Isn't it great?? As we were buying the toys we were saying , how the Village children will just be so blessed with all nice toys, food, games, party bags and etc during the party.

THE END...:)

Tricia is so busy 'cleaning' our house these days.

Everday surprises..

Earlier, I planned to hang Christmas stockings for my little girl and give her small gifts each day. But after I read about the Advent Calendar from Janet and her friend's blogs, I liked it's concept and decided to use it instead. It's a unique kind of Calendar where in there'll be small surprises attached in each date until Christmas Day. I found it a great idea so that Tricia will have some idea when is the 'real' Christmas Day because ever since we put up the Christmas Tree, she's always been asking, " Is it Christmas already?Is Debo Ate coming now?". She's also looking forward for that day because we told her favorite Ates are coming for Christmas.

Anyway, Last night I made my own Advent Calendar too..hehehe! it's kinda primitive since it was already the 5th of December so, I just have to make whatever I have at home. It's a good thing I found something a green and red bag from Myanmar with strings. Since it's green/red (Christmas colors) then I decided to use it. Then I realized the strings are convenient since I could just hanged the gifts with it.

This morning when Tricia woke up, I read to her the The Birth of Jesus (Christmas Story).I'm sure she was surprised why I'm reading to her a story after she woke up ( I only read to her before she sleeps) but I guess she was still too groggy to ask. Oh but before that,I asked her, "Why do we celebrate Christmas, Trish?, and she said, " Because we have a Christmas tree!"..hehehe! Ok, so I thought, I really have to explain to her the real reason for Christmas. So, I started out with the Birth of Jesus and why it's very important and significant to us. Of course I used words that she can understand but somehow I'm not so sure up to what extent a three and half year old kid can understand (about sin, Jesus taking our place for our sins and etc.) but anyways, I continued my explanation and she was listening intently. Then I ended my story that God gave us a GIft and that is Jesus and because God gave us a gift, so we must give gifts too! Then, I showed her the Advent Calendar with all the gifts hanging. Her sleepy eyes suddenly widened and asked, " Is that all for me?"

Tricia with the primitive Advent Calendar ( looks like a sari-sari store)..hahaah!

See her eyes??? so BIG ...excited!

She was so happy to see all the gifts and I told her that she can only open one gift everytime she wakes up in the morning. With this explanation, I got in trouble later in the evening because she was begging me to open another gift. Then I told her again "Only when you wake up tomorrow". Then she retorted, " Amma, I'll sleep and then wake up, and then sleep and wake up again ....so I can open ALLLLL of them!!" (with expression pa gyd na ang ALLLL) TOINK!!

Anyways,I think I'll make this kind of a ritual everyday to start with a story about the birth of Jesus ( different versions/ aspects of course so she won't get bored) first before she opens her surprises. Because as a parent, there is no greater joy for me than to know that my children will learn to trust in Jesus as their Saviour when they're in the age of accountabilty. I don't want it to be just something in their 'minds' and retort the 'correct' answers to every questions when it comes to spirituality, but I want them to really EXPERIENCE the life changing power that Jesus gives. That's my prayer and my hearts desire. :)

The Mark on the Forehead

Many have already asked, what happened to Tricia's forehead?" and I'm sure more will ask after seeing the video I just posted coz it's really clear there.

Here is the story; No, she's not a battered child..hehehe! but she hurt herself last Friday at the Center. That day, She went up to Simon ANne, Elvis Anne and Kuya Junjuns room and there inside the room were double bunk beds. When she saw the double bunk beds, she just sat quietly on the side and did not do anything. Not!!hahahha! That's not Tricia, it will be a miracle is she stays put..heheh! Anyways, of course she went up the bed through the ladder and maybe played there a bit. And then on the way down, she tried to get down (using the ladder) but it seems her feet can't reach the floor. THe last step of the ladder must be quite high. So, she jump (!) and let go...and then she hit her head on the ladder itself which was made of iron....haaayy...kids! So, it's already 2 days now and the mark is still there..I hope it'll go away soon.

Ang Bisaya na Tricia..

As we are planning to go to our home country next year 2008 for Christmas (that's still a long way to go..I know that's what you're thinking now ) But nevertheless I'm just so excited and preparing my little girl for it by teaching her "Bisaya" (our dialect) .

Here's a sample of what she's been learning for the past days...I'm amused because her accent is just so 'bisdak" as if she's been speaking it for a long time.

"Dalaygon and Diyos!"

Keeping my girl occupied

This blog was supposed to be posted last night ...

_____________________________

I think I have a 'bored' kid in the house and I'm the one to be blamed for it. :) Before Lyle was born, all my attention would be with Tricia, we would play together, do some coloring, writing and other activities. But after the birth of my 2nd baby, things have changed. My 100% attention for her has only become like maybe 40%?? And I ended up just letting her watch cartoons ( not good!) while I take care of Lyle and do other things ( not to mention, internet..hehehe!). Sometimes, she goes with her Appa in the office which is good since there's a lot of toys in the children's room and there is this volunteer who likes her so much and really is so patient spending time with her and playing with her. But most days, she's just in the house looking bored (pity her!) .

It was just yesterday that I just realized that she must be so bored in the house. I saw her daydreaming and staring blankly on the wall. When she's not daydreaming then she plays and talks to herself, imagining Mowgli or Alladin with her. So, finally I decided that I need to keep her occupied again and let her do some activities. And today is the 1st day for such..:) Even if it entails more work for me since I'd be juggling between the 2 kids, but it's for the good of my daughter and maybe me as having a bored kid in the house isn't easy to take care too.

So, DAy 1 is baking day! After her short nap I told her she's going to help me bake some brownies. And immediatly her eyes widened and said, " I like that, Amma!"..then on the way to the kitchen she was hopping and said, "I'm so excited!".

Good thing I still have some cake ingredients left and even the butter was barely enough. So, I tried the Brownie Recipe from Hershey's kitchen. When we were baking she said, "Thank you amma for letting me help you". Hmmmm...so sweet of her and made me want to do more for her. Then, I just prepared all the ingredients and let her do the pouring and mixing. She was quite good in following instructions but...as curious as she is, as soon I turned my back from her she would do all the other 'illegal' things like licking the cake mixture and experimenting on her own. Hmmm,, have to always keep watch as things get messy real quick when she's on the 'loose'.

After we mixed all the ingredients together and put the brownie batter in the oven, she also helped me clean up and wipe the table. Hope she'll be this helpful even when she grows up. Then,we waited for the brownie to be baked but she was just so excited to see 'her' work that she asked me every 2 minutes, "Is the cake, finished already?", "Is the cake finished, already?", " Is the cake finished already?" Arrghh...help!!

Tricia bringing the used bowl and utensils to the kitchen.

Yes, she can wipe the table nowntoo. This isn't 'illegal' child labor, ok? :)

Frosting time!.As if she really knows what she's doing..

Eating time!

Our brownies...

looks yum but I think my sister's brownie recipe still taste better.

So, there goes my DAy 1 Activity for her. Tomorrow we will all be in the office for a meeting so, it'll give me a chance to do some lessons for her (when Lyle is asleep) as there are a lot of kids' materials available there.

So, I already planned out activities for her in the future. Next week, she'll have formal classes (twice a week) with Teacher Junjun. Then, we're trying to check out the cost of gymnastic classes at the public stadium (yeah, gymnastics, she just loves it! all the jumping, rolling and etc). Last year, we heard it only costs about 300-500 baht a month (unbelievable!) but she was only 2 years old then and they only accept kids from 3 onwards. She might have gymnastic classes once or twice a week. Then, I'll try to teach her piano lessons, twice a week (once she gets a small electric piano, the cheap one of course..hehehe!) . I've read at the Baby Center that once you teach the child how to play the piano as early as 3 years old, they will be good in maths and logic when they grow older. I was never good in maths even if I had piano lessons, but maybe because I was already about 9 years old (?) when I had my first lesson. Too late huh? So better try it out and start early with Tricia so, she won't be like her mom who cried in college coz she almost failed/dropped Math 11..hahaha!!embarrassing!

So, there goes the schedule to keep my 3 1/2 old girl busy. I just hope everything will turn out well; gymnastic classes will be cheap, we can get a good quality electric piano for a cheap price ( not the disposable one..I mean the one that gets broken after 1 use) and I'll have more time and motivation,( coz I can get lazy at times and just end up putting cartoons in the dvdplayer) to let her do some other activities. All the best for me and Tricia! :)

15 things that change when you have a baby

Found this from Baby Center and would like to share with you too.. this is just so true for me. Italics added are my own comments.

15 Things that Change when you have a Baby.

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms. - Actually the baby smells better than the sweetest roses..:)

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. - hahaha! so true!! that's why my hubby keeps on wondering why I could drive the Lapasan Hi way before with our 'kagang, kagang (worn out) jeepy and now i'm so afraid to drive and even just to park the car in the garage. Is there hope for me? hehehe!

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices. Everything is just so worth it.

4. You respect your body ... finally. - Imagine, God has given our body the ability to nurture and grow beautiful babies.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way. - yes, they've gone through a LOT taking care of us too. I wonder if we were babies easy to take care.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own. - Countless of times I've been teary-eyed or felt like crying too when my baby felt pain..like Tricia's first immunization.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily. :)

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day. - Yes, now, I have 3 ( hubby and 2 kids) people to think of 234,836,178,976 times a day. hmm...I have a very occupied mind.

11. Every day is a surprise

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!) -heheheh! I remembered , several years back when I was still in my teens, I swore that I'll never have to wipe poop for anyone even my kids as I really disliked it. My siblings asked, what if i'll have my own kids, who will wipe their poop. And I retorted, my husband will!. hahahha!


13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself. - This one, I can't relate much. I'm not so fond of looking at myself in the mirror. I can even survive without one. But what I know, I couldn't stop staring at my baby and won't get fed up staring at him.

14. You become a morning person. - no choice..

15. Your love becomes limitless. - abounding

Missing Z....

" Amma, when I close my eyes, I see Z's face. Do you see Granny your Mother when you close your eyes too?" Tricia once said and asked a few nigths ago. Z is Tricia's cousin, who was here just about 3 weeks ago. And I think she's missing him without her realizing it. From time to time she would mention his name and remember him whenever she eats the jelly they used to eat together. There were good times for them as well as bad times as it's normal for kids to fight. They'll fight but them be giggling again the next minute and are like bestfriends! This is the beauty of children, they never hold grudges like adults..hehehe!

Now back to Tricia and Z. I could still remember their reaction the first time they saw each other at the airport. They ran to each other, were so happy and immediatly held each others hands. They looked so cute! Then, they continued to hold hands from the airport's arrival area, crossed the street, ...all the way to the parking lot until they have no choice but to let go since they have to get inside the car. Then, on the way, Z was trying to talk to Tricia but in our dialect (Bisaya) . So, his mom told him, " Speak English Z kay dili man makasabot si Tricia" Speak English because Tricia won't be able to understand you". But as 'show -off' as she is she showed off her very limted bisaya and asked Z.."Unsa imong ngalan?" What is your name?" hahahah!

During the first few days together, we really didn't have any problems with them. There fights only started on the 3rd or 4th day. I think they were too bored also, as we adults didn't really give them any activities to do as we were also busy chatting and doing our own thing.

Anyway, here are more pictures of Z and Tricia. It's not just Tricia missing Z but all of us here too (even his Teacher jun2). I miss his cute, chubby hands tightly holding mine whenever we are in the mall. I miss his " whatever to you!' line whenever he rans out of English words or couldn't understand what Tricia is saying. I miss his curly black hair and pouting lips whenever his angry. But to Z, we'll see you at the end of 2008 or maybe 2009.