Maia Travels: Day 1 - Arriving in HK Disneyland

We planned this trip for almost a year. Our not-so-little girl had picked to go to Disneyland instead of hosting a party because "I'm not a party girl, Mommy". Much to my delight, this decision of hers. So we proceeded to book our plane tickets (lucky for us on one of the piso fare sale of a local airline) and started saving for this trip.

Despite our excitement for this milestone trip (her first out of the country trip), we rarely talked about it with her because we wanted to keep the excitement at bay till a few days prior. The day before we left, she was more worried about the classes she'll miss. They just got back from a week long semestral break in school so she sort of miss her classmates and teachers. Gladly, we got permission from her teachers and she was allowed her to miss 3 days. Guess what, all those worries were forgotten the minute we stepped out of the plane and boarded the MTR to Disneyland Resort. She was just ecstatic, sporting a grin any parent wouldn't dare wipe off.

We dedicated 2 days of our 4 days, 3 nights in Hong Kong for Disneyland alone. My husband bought the tickets from klook.com and opted to just claim the tickets on the ticket counter at HK Disneyland upon our arrival. We checked a few options to buy the tickets and klook.com came out the cheapest. We saved (if I remember correctly) about HK$30 for each 2-day ticket. Sign in as a member and you get additional discount as well.

Got tickets! Ready to rummmmmbbbbbble!

We didn't get lost from the airport to Disney, yay! Despite the language barrier, we didn't encounter any trouble during the train rides. We arrived in the resort at around 10:30am. We decided to take the shuttle bus to Disney Hollywood Hotel (where we spent one night)  drop our luggage first. We booked 45 days in advance and got a discounted rate for our one night stay. We weren't sure where to leave our luggage but took the chance anyways and fortunately for us, the hotel had a designated baggage drop for early arrivals. We didn't have to worry even if our check in was still scheduled at 2pm. We settled our hotel reservation and headed back to the park by 11am. We decided to just grab a quick bite at the park in case we get hungry. We were still full from the brunch we had earlier anyways.

Our Disney adventure just about to start (and those tired faces were replaced by delight when we got into the park!)

Since we arrived close to opening time, there wasn't a lot of people yet at the park. We got maps (got extras too for friends) and other informational fliers at the gate and got into the park.

We're here!!!!!

Happy to know that the park publishes a weekly schedule of activities so it was easier for us to manage our 2-day trip. The little girl couldn't wait to plan her day!

We decided to walk around first while we plan our two day park itinerary. We wanted to get as much autographs as we can (the little girl made an autograph book for characters to sign during meet and greet time). But we also wanted to take our time at each stop as well.

Let me indulge you with photos for the remaining part of this post. We spent 11am-3pm walking around and trying out some of the rides. By 3pm, we were really beat so we decided to head back to the hotel and rest. We wanted to have plenty of energy for the Night Parade (no expectations. Our goal then was just to experience what it feels like at night in Disney).

Several things I would like to note in here as well:

- We regret not taking the opportunity to have photos taken with the toy soldiers, Jessie and Woody in Toy Storyland because we didn't get the chance to meet them anymore in Day 2.
- We wish we brought more snacks for the little miss since it was allowed anyway. Best to pack light sandwiches for your little kids to munch on. Bring lots of water if you can. We were there November so we were expecting colder season but had to contend with a hot and humid afternoons instead. Winter came late for HK in 2015.
- Make sure to check the weather forecast a week before your trip so you can pack appropriate clothing.
- Our daughter can already handle long walks. But the park also rent outs strollers so you don't have to break your backs carrying toddlers and babies if you're with one.

Main Street, USA. Most of the shops are found here.

Her first ride was here. Via the Slinky Dog Spin.

The Toy Soldier Parachute Drop.She rode this with her dad.
"Parang sakit ng tyan ko, Mommy! Pero ang saya saya!!!"

See that mine cart on the left? She rode that too! Was too much for me but for her, it was just gut-wrenching fun! Haha.
I think we have one adventurer here, Daddy! Get readdddyyyy!

She passed up on this. Because we can hear the "screaming" from manor entrance.

This was her at 3pm. Sooooo tired. We decided to head to the hotel first for a quick rest.

Read Part 1 here.
Read HK Disneyland at Night here.

Review of the Disney Hollywood Hotel, Breakfast with Chef Mickey and Day 2 of our Disneyland experience here.

Read about Maia's HK Science Museum experience here.
Exploring TST and Mongkok here.

Milestone: First Time To Vacation On Her Own

Our dearest Maia,

I hope you take time to read this letter every day while you are vacationing there. We miss you already but we hope you are having a great time out there.

LISTEN, OBEY, RESPECT. Please remember always, okay?

Eat your veggies. Drink lots of water.

Say please and thank you, all of the time.

Don’t talk to strangers. Stay with lola and your cousins all of the time. Please do not leave the house unless you are with Lola.

Put baby salve on your allergies.  

Play outdoors! Don’t spend too much time on TV, phone and computer.

Answer mommy’s calls. Keep your phone near you every time.

Say your nighttime prayers.

See you on Saturday!!! I hope you grow taller and bigger by then!

Love you very, very much!

Daddy and Mommy

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Our little miss is spending a week with her Lola and cousins. Our Ate Inday is away on vacation for a week and the best option we have right now is to have the kid spend the week away from us. Luckily, she got really excited when we told her about it. 

I wasn't though. 

And most parents could probably relate. But at some point, I know we'll be experiencing this every summer. It's just starting a little bit sooner that we'd expected. 

My nephew recently spent almost a month with us and his Nanay (my sister)sent him a couple of letters while he was here.I really thought they were sweet and very thoughtful gestures so I wrote Maia one too (albeit an advanced letter hahaha, talk about atat) and printed it out tonight. I secretly inserted it in one of the notebooks I packed for her to doodle in. I asked her if she can write a note for me on that notebook every day to let me know what she did every day. 

She hasn't left yet and I miss her already. Sigh.

Goodbye, Kindergarten! Hello, Grade School!

Twenty years from now, she probably won't have the faintest idea of how her moving up day went but to me and her dad it was a milestone that will be forever etched in our memory.

Moving Up Day fell on a Tuesday. Both me and my husband have work. But we knew when it was going to happen, just a few weeks after the school year started so we have no excuse to miss it. Well, I still ALMOST missed it. It fell on pre-close week and my boss was coming over for just a week. With all the things I needed to iron out, missing a day seemed really bad. But my boss (who is a family man himself, thank you J for understanding!) told me a story about a parent who missed her kid's kindergarten graduation because of an important meeting and yet 20 years after, the kid never forgot about that day (because probably of the missing parent) while she could not even remember what the meeting was about. "You wouldn't want that to happen to you, do you?".

Time to pay it forward.
These secondhand uniforms are going to a new home come school opening.
Ate Inday made sure they were well taken cared of and would still be deserving of a 3rd chance.

Mommy, sabi ni teacher wear bright, shiny shoes!

Of course not. And yes, I always know where my priorities lie. So I stuck to my decision. 

And yes, we didn't go home with any award but the kid was just so proud to be called a graduate and share that moment with her parents. THAT is more than enough.

Did I cry? Almost did. After all, we are not just saying goodbye to kindergarten. We were saying goodbye to being overprotective, controlling parents. We are saying goodbye to our "baby" (and yes she reminded me to not call her baby again today). But cuteness was just overflowing that today and the tears of joy decided to take the back seat.

I never figured I bore a performer but today proved to me I did! She was having so much on stage I could almost hear her voice even if I was a couple of meters away. She was jumping, singing, dancing, reciting with pure, unadulterated joy. And that to me is what performing always ought to be.

Her class adviser for SY 2013-14. The very patient, Ms. Jas.
We will miss her stories about you!

Post by Faye Pachoco-Paras.

Summer is Here! (Pre-elementary edition)

The kid is a week away from officially bidding preschool goodbye. I know it's just a moving up ceremony but this is the first time I am going to see my kid actually go up a stage as a culmination of something she signed up for the long haul.

In two months, we officially begin the elementary phase. I still am a little overwhelmed by the thought that I already have a kid in grade school. But yes, we are also very excited to start that new chapter of our family life.

Before that excitement starts though, there is two months that I will need to fill with activities. Activities that would require longer that 15 minutes to complete since the kid has a longer attention span now. Thank God (as always) for Pinterest, I can easily plan ahead. I haven't really gotten down to serious planning but this morning, while she was showing me her latest doodles, an idea popped in my fuzzy head. I didn't realize she still is having a hard time spelling the word "party" so I thought of coming up with 7 new words every week (of her summer break) to add to her vocabulary and help improve her spelling skills as well. I plan to give her a short quiz every Saturday morning as a review as well. I do think that will ward off boredom and will also help a lot in keeping her interested with learning and "studying". I don't really plan to make this serious so I hope I can find a way to make this project interesting.

I had her pick the 7 words on this first week.

And while we are on the subject of summer, we welcomed the hot season today by spending the entire afternoon in the pool. It was fascinating to watch the kid plunge into the big pool by herself and try her hardest to swim her way from one point to another by merely kicking her feet while clinging unto a beach ball.





Lastly, yesterday was an extremely fun-filled day as well. WE learned how to make royal icing, how to make sugar cookies and frost it. I might just add this to the kid's summer activities with her neighborhood friends as well. I do hope I get enough energy to put enough activities together in two months.

For now, I'm just really excited and so looking forward to what this summer can bring. Last year was a crazy one that I really didn't get to spend with my family but this year, I do intend to make up for that this year. Mind museum, Fun Farm's Balik Bukid, Beach with fam, Roadtrip with friends! Can't wait!

Making Faces And Being In Touch With One's Emotions

When did you start introducing the idea of emotions to your kid?

When Maia was younger, one of my dreams was to raise her as a child who is very in touch with her emotions. I wanted her to be very expressive of her feelings. I wanted her to also know that it is okay to tell me how she feels anytime. But my dilemma then was, how do I first introduce her to the different types of emotions? 

PHOTO SOURCE

I thought of buying those shirts that were quite popular (mga katropa, you remember? hahaha) before which made use of smileys (i don't think emoticons or emojis were already invented then) to illustrate the different kinds of emotions. 

BUT. I never got around to finding that shirt. Or teaching her about emotions in one sitting. What I ended up doing was telling her (as they happen) what I am currently feeling every time she 'does' something. So she's pretty much aware of what happy, sad, angry, tired, proud looked like. 

Yesterday, I was reminded of this project because one of the little miss's activity book had an exercise on drawing facial expressions. And I was a little amazed by how she illustrated the emotions required on each empty face. Sleepy cracked us up since the ZZZZZZ's were unexpected. But kids do have very photographic memories and she probably remembers that most of her books usually illustrate sleep with an accompanying 'Zzzzzzzz'. 

dearest maia,

i really wish you will be as expressive of your emotions as your drawings are to me and to daddy. right now, your are most expressive when you are angry. you really growl when you are. also when you are happy. we love it the most when you are happy because we get tons of hugs and kisses. 

stay in touch with your emotions little girl. soon you will learn about frustrated, disappointed, guilty, embarrassed and every thing else in between. i hope you will continue to open up to us about all your new discoveries and learnings. it is always a fun and enlightening experience for us and we would want to be part of it as long as you would allow us to.

love you always,

mommy (and daddy too!)

Train 'Em Young - Helping With Household Chores

This past week kid has been showing A LOT of interest at helping with simple household chores. And who are we to reject her offer for help?

Apart from the never-ending downpour of  hows and whys and the occasional tug-of-war on who gets her way, I am really loving this stage in her childhood. She's starting to show signs of real independence. And by real I mean, she can now play on her own for instance. We only need to watch from a distance but she doesn't bug (and insists) us anymore to play with her. We're lucky to be surrounded by kids (most of whom are within the same age range as her) who are ever-ready to jump into a play invite anytime of the day. Our home is always a mess. But I've always embraced kid's mess as a happy mess so there's no issue there.

And then these came along - volunteering to help assemble sandwiches for snacks, stepping in to slice the cheese while Ate or Mommy is cooking spaghetti, moping occasional spills on the floor, washing the dishes, sweeping her food crumbs off the dining floor area, watering the plants, folding her clothes, packing away her toys without being told. (As I type this, I find myself amazed with how this list has grown)

And I hope to add here soon - doing her homework independently. But I'm in no hurry. I am more than willing to wait. The thought of it just excites me (just a little bit).

Happy news we received from her class adviser too - she was picked to be one of the two students to represent her class to a sandwich-making contest next week. We are the proudest parents.

fixing herself some easy breakfast.
she does this without help from anyone in the household.

refusing to sleep yet,
i told her to go and help ate inday fold newly laundered clothes and she didn't hesitate

first thing she said after saying her morning prayer, "I'll make you coffee Mommy!"

volunteering to wash the dishes after breakfast this morning
(i came out of the bathroom and saw her propped on a chair, already soaping the plates and mugs)

washing her *Babbie's clothes with her cousin (*current fave doll)

I can see that the two summers she spent in St. Michael has indeed made a big impact on how she views chores. Seeing all this development really makes my heart swell. It makes me feel like I am doing things right. Because my first goal really before she learns all the complicated stuff in school is to see her being able to take good care of herself. To me the way to achieve that is to encourage kids to do their share of chores at home (it's messy, but to avoid stressing myself I view that mess simply as part of their learning process). And we do seem to be heading to that direction, don't we?

Run, Maia, Run!

You ran your first race yesterday. Did you have a blast? I honestly think you did even if you didn't run the entire course. Had you not gone bored the first hour that we have been waiting for gunstart, you would probably have not wasted half your energy warming up with your dad. That was a headstart of about 500 meters for you and in retrospect, 1km on itself does seem like a tough distance already. 

I was bent on achieving a milestone myself yesterday. Admittedly, stage mothering took second priority yesterday as I tried my best to prep myself up for my goal realization. I forgot to take photos of you. Documentation was the least of my priorities. I just wanted to get that sub-1 that I have long been wanting to achieve. You see, dad and I have decided to push through with our full marathon training. And we're supposed to take things seriously now. All things related to running that is. And to me that sub-1 matters a lot because that will somehow validate my claim that I AM READY. 

Several lessons were learned yesterday though, albeit rather painfully. One - I should never, ever aim for a PR when racing in a low-budgeted fun run aimed just for (yes pun intended) FUN because a lot of factors can get in the way and you most likely would start racing not on your optimal form. So really, it's a lost cause to begin with. Two - when you are encouraging your kid to think of pursuing a certain activity the best thing to do for you is just focus your energy on him/her. The mere fact that she took on your challenge should be enough for her to deserve your full attention. This was the part I really regretted the most. I should have looked after you myself.

But well, at least, I did manage to hold your hand at the first few meters. You kept pushing to get me and daddy to run alongside you despite our firm hesitation initially. We were really stubborn at first choosing to (unfairly) force you to gather up the guts to run without us amongst the company of kids majority of whom were double your size. I should have knelt to level with you and looked at the current environment from that perspective. I would have understood your overwhelming emotions then. 

Oh well good news for me as there's always a next time for things like this, my little miss. An opportunity for redemption is still very possible. And I am giving you my word now that the minute that comes, you can count that we'd be 100% present for you then. 

You are one brave, headstrong and determined little girl, Maia. I look forward to witnessing the many adventures that you will take on soon! And great job for reaching the finish line!

you always, always never fail to make my heart swell with pride.

Goodbye Long Locks!

With the goal of crossing one more to-do from our school-opening-preparations-list (whew) in mind, Maia and I trooped over to the nearest salon from our place yesterday to get her wild, curly hair neatly trimmed. At first, Tibs was hesitant and wanted me to do the cutting myself. But after failing for the last 2 attempts, he finally relented and agreed to have it done by a 'professional'. Having been blessed with a lot (and I mean lot) of hair since birth, a haircut is something that seemed compulsory for Maia even for at least once a year because it's really a big effort for us to keep it in place. The little girl isn't very fond of headbands or clippies or pony tails. So a haircut being a yearly requisite, you can very well say that she's no stranger to having scissors sliced through her locks. She only cried the first time. The rest of our hair salon trips were all pleasant experiences. 

First time's always a pain. 

Second time's fun!

Yesterday however was sort of a milestone for us because that was the first time she went to a grown up salon. The previous ones were all done in kiddie salons where she was kept preoccupied while sitting in little 'car' chairs. But she was fine with it. She although expressed her wish to retain her long hair because princesses have long hair (thank you for the stereotyping Disney!). I told her though that a shorter one would make her look really pretty and so she simply just complied to Mommy's wishes. The hairstylist thankfully turned out to be quite used to trimming little girl's locks. She moved fast and we were done after 10/15 minutes, I guess. Georgie and I kept the little girl amused so she kept still almost the entire time that she was on the chair. When the hairstylist was all done, she took a moment to admire her new look (yes like adults do) in the mirror. 

Sadly, the little girl refuses to have her picture taken with her new trim. She probably wants to keep some moment with her new look all to herself for now . Most of the curls have been trimmed off and what's left of it were just the waves but I'm sure she'll grow back the pretty curls soon. I just really wanted to chop them off for now because they've all become very dry and had mostly split ends. (makes me wonder, how do we prevent kids from having split ends anyways? esp kids with tangly, curly hair?)

Thank you for being such a good girl Maia! You're almost ready for school!

I was able to steal a back shot of her while she relished her reward from yesterday - an order of Jollibee spaghetti!

Maia, The Kikay

I was born with no kikay bone in my body. I didn't learn to be one either. My mom was a busy working woman who despite having 4 girls never ever attempted to sit down with us and teach us how to be kikays. To be honest, I didn't mind really. I was happy being nerdy and just drowning myself in alternative music. I guess I could say my sisters felt the same way. Not till we were all grown up anyways and make up was something that became inevitable. Many times we had to pretend to be real adults and come out of our anti-social worlds. I actually learned to do my own make up (nerve-wracking as it was) when I was already starting to work. To date, I still don't know how to properly use eye make up. I'm lucky I usually get away with experimenting (probably because I put on a very thin layer of make up you can hardly tell anyway I had anything on) as I've never gotten to the point where somebody had to come up to me and tell me I look ultra pinkish or very reddish or too brownish hahaha. 

But with kids nowadays, make up is no stranger than cereal (sorry weird analogy. but that's the first word that popped in my mind hahaha). Last night, Maia's five year old cousin Ghab took out her eye make up and while me and my mother in law get busy fixing our dinner the two girls kept themselves busy talking all things make up. I didn't catch what exactly it was they were discussing but they definitely were engrossed over the topic.

And when I came over to help them clean up and get ready for dinner, this is what I saw.

i know the photo doesn't look cheery at all (not with the darkish background that's making the photo more eerie than cheery wehe but that's the best effort my phone cam can deliver for now)

Little girl found it amusing as well, having eye make up on. For the longest time now (since she saw me put on my own make up, I guess) she's been wishing to try it on herself so I  she's just delighted she finally got away with coloring her face. She just couldn't stop laughing. And me and her dad couldn't help but laugh along. I'm happy she's turning out to be more interested in girly things than me. And wherever this takes her, again, I'd happily support it as long as it won't do her any harm **inject drama** (sorry can't help it lolz).

Climb A Tree And Make Some Memories

I never learned to climb a tree. But I grew up surrounded by different kinds of trees to climb on to. I guess when you're around something a lot, you really tend to take them for granted (and then maybe let your fear get the best of you). Then you grow up (I would like to mean the real growing up process and not the literal one but well it can be both) and you realize how much you've missed. You chide yourself for letting a great learning opportunity pass. Oh well. 

Maia is not as lucky as me. Trees are not as abundant at where we live now as compared to where I grew up in Antique. There are no fruit trees to climb. Trees are grown here mostly for shading purposes. And now that she's getting more physically active as days go, I start wishing she was growing up in the same place I did. 

Tibs and I agree, tree-climbing is one childhood experience that Maia shouldn't miss. I'm just glad we still get to go home to Antique even if just once every year. So today while waiting for Maia to wrap up her playground time in Legaspi Park, Tibs saw an opportunity to introduce Maia to tree-climbing.

At first, Maia was really scared. It was quite understandable given the fact that the little miss has recently developed a fear of heights plus of course, the idea is something really new and unfamiliar to her. She refused to be lifted. We almost gave up thinking it was a lost cause and that maybe we should just wait a bit. Then another light bulb moment hit us, we suggested she let Georgie climb instead because for sure he misses climbing trees.

And so she did.

you go first Georgie!

Just a little more Georgie --

Hindi na abot ni Georgie ang taas Mommy!

When she couldn't get Georgie up to a higher branch, Tibs got the stuffed monkey and placed him comfortably on a branch. Little miss found it really hilarious and the rest is history. She just got so excited to join her baby monkey up on one of the tree branches.

Andito na ako, Mommy!

When Maia comes home to Antique this summer, I can already tell how different this year is going to be from the past year's she been vacationing there. And now I'm the one who's overly excited about it.

Success, Mommy! Sali ka?

Look Mommy, I Know How To Brush!

She has been attempting to brush her hair on her own for sometime now but all she usually does is mess her already messy hair up. But last weekend, she actually managed to brush her hair properly (well at least for about a minute she did!). It was fun to watch so I'm bookmarking the video here so she can watch it when she's older. Hehehe. Stage momma alert!

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Maia's Bedtime Prayer

I was never good at keeping rituals. Ever. I've always been the spontaneous type. But when I became a mother, rituals were one thing that I paid extra attention to. Motherhood can really turn a woman's life upside down, no (mine was a 360-degree turn but it was the best 360-degree turn i'd probably experience in my lifetime)?

I'm not very religious but believing that there is somebody greater than me EVEN greater than people I admire keeps me grounded. So I wanted to teach my daughter that too.  And for now what seem to be an effective teaching medium is through prayer. We started a bedtime prayer ritual when I became pregnant with Maia (well actually when I was put to bed rest and was drowning in fear, I found solace and peace through prayers) so we kept at it even when Maia was born. As much as our schedules as working parents would allow it, we try to be with her during bedtime so that we can all say a prayer together. Tibs and I would take turn saying our prayer of thanks for the day and we would say it as if Maia is saying it. Now that she's able to say a prayer herself we would always encourage her to lead it.

Favorite position when she was still an infant. Was she praying?

Last night I started a prayer of thanks. Since I just came from a battery of tests at the hospital, I had this compelling urge to talk to Jesus. I started with Hello Jesus, Maia says thank you for helping her mom to get through all the needle pricks today. She thanks you for letting mommy bring home meryenda. (Then I felt sleepy so I paused fto gather my wits) Out of the blue, she blurted - thank you sa Daddy ko. Kasi daddy ko sya eh. Thank you sa drawing, sa laro sa computer, sa mga kiliti, sa mga songs kasama sya, sa mga pinapanood namin, sa pagsama pag matutulog na ako. thank you sa Mommy ko. Kasi mommy ko sya eh. Thank you sa paintings, sa laro sa labas, sa mga pancakes, sa mga pasalubong, sa mga sayaw. Yun lang naman. Thank you Jesus. 

I was stifling a laugh while listening to her finish her litany of thanks. More than the  stifled laugh though, I was fighting tears. I was on the verge of crying because I remembered this video and I realized how important those ordinary days were for my little girl. And I was just so happy that I was there to hear her affirm that those moments really did matter to her. I am glad to know that we imprinted (and will keep imprinting) good memories onto our daughter. And I'm super delighted because my daughter now prays with her heart. 

I love you Maia! I can never say that enough. 

I'm A Grown Up Now! (and some yaya rants)

I called her baby this morning and she told me: "I'm mad at you Mommy!" then stormed into our bedroom to disappear from my sight.

I asked her back, "Why are you mad at me?" and she replied, "You just called me baby! And I told you I'm grown up already! I'm not a baby anymore!"

Oh Maia, it felt like it was only yesterday when I was holding a 7-pounder baby in my arms and rocking her to sleep (singing broken lullabies because I never learned to sing one before you were born) and now look at you! Why are you in such a hurry to grow up?!#$!

Sun-bathing at 2 months

Taken just last weekend. Sometimes we would stare at her when she sleeps and  would be filled with awe.
"see how big those thighs are? and these feet? oh and these hands"

Side story: We are again yaya-less and I had to break the news to her - "Ate Belen is not coming back anymore". I found it surprising how unaffected she was with my news. It was as if she was already expecting it to happen.

Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Maia, hindi na daw babalik si Ate Belen. (Maia, Ate Belen is not coming back anymore)

Maia: Okay lang Mommy. Si Tita Lingling (her dad's cousin) na lang kasama ko dito sa house. (It's okay Mommy. Tita Lingling will keep me company)

Me: (speechless for a moment) Ah okay anak. That's good. Pero si Tita uuwi na rin sa Sabado. Pano na tayo nyan? (then a light-bulb moment but now feels like an inappropriate conversation with a toddler) Hmmm, papayag ka ba na ikaw na lang dito mag-isa sa house? Di ba sabi mo parati kaya mo na sarili mo kasi big ka na? Iiwanan ka na lang ni Mommy food for lunch sa table tapos maglaro at magbasa ka na lang no habang antay mo kami ni Daddy dumating? Bawal ka lang lumabas ng house hanggang di mo kasama si Mommy at Daddy. Pwede ba yun? (Oh that's good baby. But Tita needs to go home this Saturday. Hmmm, would you be alright if you'd be all alone in the house? I will just leave your lunch on the table and you can just play and read while you wait for me and daddy to come home. You can't go out on your own though. You will have to wait for me and Daddy. Will that work?)

Maia: Oo. Pwede naman Mommy. Kasi big girl na ako eh. Kaya ko na yan. (yes mommy, that can work because i'm a big girl now. I can do it!)

This conversation made me tear up - with me  at the height of being hormonal and the stress that this yaya mess is giving me - I wasn't able to contain myself anymore. I hugged the little girl and stood up to cry silently in the bathroom. It is during these times that I really wish I have the flexibility to just give up my job and stay at home with my daughter. 

I can do this, Mommy!

Tibs and I always try to be hands-on during weekends. We bathe her, feed her, play with her, read, talk, share stories. We feel we owe her that much undivided time so we try our best to free up our weekends for her. On days that we can't and had to leave the house, we bring her with us as much as possible. 

I am happy we still get to be hands on parents even for just 2 days. It is during those times that we get to witness milestones first hand. They may be exhausting most times but the rewards well, they're just really priceless.

Like this weekend for instance, I was helping her into her pajamas when she stopped me and told me to let her do it because she already can. I thought to myself, oh wow, our little girl has indeed graduated to little miss independent.

Moments like this are bittersweet but I'm sure most parents can relate when I say they're also joyfully overwhelming. Milestones like this make you realize how your kids have grown and makes you realize for the nth time how fast time flies. 

Maia, the Photographer

Despite having a doting [stage] mother, my little miss remains really shy around people. She doesn't like being the center of attention.  She doesn't like to dance nor sing like most kids her age. She doesn't like to be photographed and always just smile in photos to give in to my relentless coaxing. 

What my daughter really loves doing though is to tell stories usually thu drawing and painting. I couldn't rave enough of them as several of my posts would attest to just like in here and here. Of late, we noticed another activity she seems to be having so much fun doing. She has bid her addiction to angry birds goodbye and now prefers the camera app once she gets her hand on my phone.

Anyway,she took several photos this morning using my phone camera. I made a collage of my 3 favorites photos. I was really just amazed when I saw the photos. Nobody prompted her to start taking pictures or taught her which object to shoot. She just really picked subjects to focus on and clicked away. And they were mostly single shots, mind you. Not trigger-happy, random shots of 20 or so frames where I had to choose which ones were the best. 

I love these three most.

These two are runners-up.

I hope her enthusiasm to learn never wanes. And if she does develop a passion for the arts  or music we will gladly support it. Actually, whatever your heart desires to pursue in the future Maia - Suportahan ka gid namon! 

Meanwhile, expect me to flood this blog with overwhelming photo posts in the coming days :)

Maia Draws Toodles

We came home to this last night:

It was strategically placed on our sofa. Ate Belen, our yaya, said Maia placed the drawings there herself to make sure they immediately catch our attention when we arrive from work.

Amazing, right? (Or Am I really just an uber-proud Momma?)

My parents (Maia's grandparents) found Maia's drawings interesting and well, amazing (sorry that's the only word that stuck on my head). My dad would say he couldn't remember any of us making drawings of faces at Maia's age (well, none of us grew up to be good illustrators except of course for my sister Tips who paints really well). Maia does hers with facial expressions already. And her drawings often come with a story. Like the ones you see in the center and the rightmost portion of the photo above.

Almost Three, Barely Three

You are almost three today. And the past year was definitely far different from the past two years that we've experienced together. You now speak your mind. You know what you want and say it. You can now tell what's right or wrong. You devour more food than I do. You are now officially a kid indeed.

You're barely three but you speak in complete sentences already. You never fail to keep us entertained by your witty remarks. I know most people would say, it's not that amazing because I am such a talker so you probably took after me but at almost 3 you just deliver the most unexpected monologues, you always leave us dumbfounded. I could only pray that God blesses you with the wisdom to someday put that gift to good use. Who knows you might grow up to be a great storyteller!

You're barely three but your imagination just blows me away. There is no need for fancy, expensive toys for you. Because in your world, every thing is just perfect as it is. There are no boundaries, you just simply let your imagination fly. You can transform scratch papers to flying carpets and wings; bottle caps to fancy cups; sticks to electric guitars! I don't even have to do anything with them. You give them life on your own!

Stick House (with some help from Daddy)

You're barely three but you already come up with such beautiful drawings sometimes they're so intricate we have to step back to see what they really are. You can create a full story out of your drawings as well. Amazing, little girl.

Left: Car (was probably remembering her Manong Gogol's drawing)
Right: Self-portrait (wearing sunglasses)

You're barely three but you can already write a few letters of the alphabet. You first wrote H and your dad thought it was just something you did by accident. But no, you had to disprove your dad and you did another one. I feel so proud. Now you can easily do your E's, F's, O's, T's, I's, L's (and a few more I cannot remember them now). Letters like P, B, M or A you can also do but you always want Mommy to guide you (but honestly baby, you're the one doing them. I never controlled your hands). 

You're barely three but you now understand why rules at home exist. And you try your best to follow them because you know you're breaking Mommy's and Daddy's heart if you're not obeying us. You do not hesitate to say sorry when you know you did something wrong (and you say it is such a sweet way, you make us feel it's a big sin not to forgive you). 

You're barely three but you can fix your meals already. If we even let you, you can make your own warm milk. When we're too pre-occupied you'd grab your little mug and put milk on it and attempt to put warm water on it just to test if we are paying attention to you (but remember we said the red button on the water dispenser is not for kids your age yet so thank you for listening to us).

You're barely three but you have such a big heart. You are never short of hugs and kisses. You say I love you more often that we do. You say I love you not just to us but to every one you care about. Keep spreading the love, little girl. You always make people smile when you do that :)

You're barely three but you've taught me so much already. And I'm still learning so much from you day in and day out. You brought out something in me that I never expected I had...one of them is PATIENCE. I never thought I can be this patient but you showed me how to be. Thank you for that. 

I thank God everyday that you came into our life, Maia. We love you to bits.