Updates

Julia learned a couple of new baby signs the past weeks. She knows how to do book, potty, please and butterfly. She's picking up alot faster now. If I do the sign once or twice she's able to imitate almost instantly. I try to take videos but she doesn't cooperate with the camera on.

So far, potty training has been a pleasant experience for Julia. Though this isn't formal training yet, it's amazing how well she responds to it. She has never resisted sitting on the potty. In fact i'd say she's happy and comfortable being on it. Whenever she sits, we give her a book, and 4 out of 5 times she does her business :) I hope we can sustain this until it's time for the real thing. Now that she knows how to say potty in baby sign, I'm hoping she'll be able to associate it with the feeling of having to "go."

Oh and just recently Julia started using a booster car seat! We borrowed the one Char left in BF. When she outgrew her infant car seat we didn't use anything else for months. So I just carried her on my lap whenever we were in the car (and I actually prefer that since I always nurse in the car) but lately she's becoming really rowdy... pressing buttons, standing up, picking up just about everything within her reach, pulling out the car keys from the ignition and insisting on being on the steering wheel. So now (hoping it's not too late) we're starting to train her to sit on the car seat. Anyway, I think since the seat is front facing and upright, she feels more at ease. She just hates being buckled tight. Well, no choice. Safety first.


It's almost her 1st birthday (according to my ticker it's 23 days to go) and jeez, we don't even have plans yet. I'm really leaning towards having a simple lunch or merienda without games or kiddie activities, just a good meal with family and close friends but venue is the biggest question mark. Alot of people are suggesting to just have it in our house, but with the limited space and all... I just don't feel like setting up tables at the garage where people passing by can see everything. I wanted something like a function room or clubhouse of some sort. But then again, since I am officially unemployed, budget is our biggest problem. So as much as I would love to have it at The Palms Country Club or some fancy restaurant, we'd have to settle for something more affordable. Anyway, i'm sure we'll figure something out. Gulp.

Last friday we went to the Panaderia Pantoja branch in Mother Ignacia, QC to attend what my Mom liked to call "media blitz." People from various food related magazines came to interview my parents about the bakery. They also had a product photo shoot. Ok lang, it was boring. Buti nalang we brought Julia for entertainment. She was such a goofball :) And there was plenty of food! At one point the photographers took a picture of all of us and a couple of pictures of Julia. Though I doubt it's gonna come out in any of the magazines since my Mom just requested for the pictures to be taken. It was probably not part of the plan. Pressure!


And yesterday, Sunday, we went to Tagaytay with Tatay, Santi and some relatives from tatay's side. We just had lunch, took a couple of pictures and headed back home.

Another Video :)

Finally

Finally! I was able to upload a video :)(see the post below). This was taken last month during our vacation in Biliran. Char, this is for you! (this is the result of the Baby Signs learning kit you gave us :) Ate Jill, thanks for the tip on uploading videos :) It wasn't so hard :)

Baby Signs and Tricks

11 months!

Almost a year old! :) Hay... how fast time flies!

A new addition to the family

Isn't she gorgeous? :)

Congratulations Archie and Kristin! :)

Today I...

finally decided to cut my long, lustrous, silky hair... (haha!)

went to Fun Ranch again with Julia and my niece Mia

and took Julia to Town Center to hang out at Brazil! with some friends.

Here are some pictures taken today:

Late afternoon at Brazil

at The Fun Ranch

Julia, master of camouflage (where's Julia??)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my sister, lola, mama, char and all moms and soon-to-be moms out there! :)

Potty and Papa

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Babies' Day Out!

I've been wanting to bring Julia to Active Fun/Fun Ranch ever since I heard it was going to open in Westgate Alabang. And today we finally had the chance. We brought the two girls, Julia and my niece Mia. It was just Me, Drago, Julia, Mia and Mia's yaya. For the soft play area, they charge P140 for 30 minutes, that's already for 1 child and one adult companion. Oh, and you gotta wear socks (both kids and adults) and since yaya and I didn't have any, we had to buy them for 50 pesos a pair. Drago wanted us to go for 1 hour since we just had to pay P35 more (P175/hr, 140/30 mins). But since it was our first time I decided 30 minutes would be fine. Oh boy, I didn't think 30 minutes could be so exhausting! I'm glad we didn't go the whole hour! 1 hour would have been way too long especially if you had to carry a 10 month old baby around the whole time. They had fun mostly with the plastic balls. It was difficult to stay in the ball pit for a long time especially with younger kids so what i did, i got a few balls and let them play on the mats instead. Julia ended up chasing a precious blue ball which she got so frustrated with. She was having a hard time getting it with just one tiny hand (she had to keep her other hand on the floor to keep herself stable since she's just crawling. Unlike Mia who was already having more fun walking around and picking up balls on her own---she's already 1 year old).
Anyway, the place was really cool! I was thinking Maddie and Mick would have tons of fun there. There's a giant slide for bigger kids and alot of small ones for younger kids. There's a trampoline, ball pit, hoops and balls for shooting, tunnels and alot more! The whole area was padded which makes it really safe even for younger tots. I think I was the only mom inside the play area. All the rest were yayas. And i was the only one with a camera (bakit ba first time ko eh!)

Here are some of our pictures:

Before going in... can't quite explain her emotions :)

Drago with the babies

Crawling contest

The precious blue ball

Emoting

Inside the ball pit

Happy Birthday Lola!

My Lola is the most thoughtful person I know. She pampers us like crazy sometimes :) She regularly sends us food, groceries and other supplies as if we were refugees :) She remembers birthdays and gives Christmas presents like we were still 6 years old. Whenever she's in Manila for a doctor's appointment she would always, always treat us to lunch, merienda or dinner. And if one of us couldn't make it, she would always order something extra to take home. It's as if her sole purpose in life is to make sure that we never ever starve.

Well, today is my lola's special day. I wish her all the best... good health, happiness, and the little things that make her life worthwhile :) Happy birthday Lola Cely! We love you!

For lola's b-day lunch, we ate at Tonya's Restaurant in Dampa Seaside Market, Macapagal Ave. Here are some pics taken earlier.

That's my lola beside me wearing sunglasses. Groovy diba?? She doesn't look 81 at all!

My mom and dad with Julia

The rest of the gang

Julia and Lola Marilyn

Big girl na, wearing collared shirt and khaki pants!