Day 1 of 2015

This marks our second year all together.  Christmas are for relatives but New Year is for your own families.  Since we cannot completely join my parents, I opted to stay in our apartment where the three of us can spend time together.  

Last night was the first time that Via enjoyed a regular new year's eve celebration.  It was her first time to encounter fireworks up close. She was scared holding those Dragon sparklers especially when the light is near her end (however, we made sure those were really harmless - painless even).   She was so excited to join the other kids in our building.  And they were all having a great time just by looking up and waiting for the big ones to explode in the sky.  

They were so excited, it was contagious.  I was even running around with them.  It was truly nice.  This was how I knew New Year's Eve when I was as young as my daughter unlike the quiet ones we have in our gated community in her lola's home. 

One for the books.        

Family Christmas

The celebration is all over and we have gathered enough to remain in our memories.

It was one whole day of Christmas cheers.  The kids were up earlier than usual.  And trying to look out for gifts already.  They've been waiting for this day for the promise of Santa dropping by and leaving gifts for them.  

The best thing about letting Via visit her grandparents' house is that there are other kids around.  Unlike in our apartment, I would be her one and only choice as company.  I've turned into her bestfriend.  She says so.  It's the best thing when you hear it. However, I'm always not around.  Here, she can run around and not get stuck with the gadgets that I hand to her when I cannot attend to her.  

Here, she plays with other kids, the way she's supposed to.  

That makes her one happy kid this Christmas.  

At a young age, I'm not expecting her to find happiness in the company 

of her parents.  Kids are supposed to play with other kids.  I think that's 

what's normal.  And I want nothing for her but normal.  

Never mind extraordinary.  I'm not aiming for that.

 

I've given her a bubble maker (???) for Christmas with her favorite Princess Sofia character on it.  It was a hit for her and other kids.  It cost me P147 only!!!  It was worth more than what I paid for since they enjoyed it.

Family get togethers are always welcome in this house.  It might be a bit tiring if it happened often but since it occurs only once a year, it becomes real special. The kids might not even remember these days and that is why it's important to take pictures for them to see in the future.  Four generations are in this picture.  I would say that this could be one of the priceless possession this family has.   

Hope you had a meaningful Christmas!

Kids Gather Round

We're staying at my parents house for Christmas eve.   My grandparents were there first before my daughter and I arrived.  It was a big surprise because they travelled all the way from Bicol.  It was a good sign since they seem really healthy to travel that far.  They also brought with them my little cousin, Andre.  That means, he is Kuya Gab and Ate Via's uncle.

Making my daughter eat her meals gets a bit easier.  For her, everything is a competition.  I guess she gets it from Kuya Gab who yells "I win!" all the time.  I think they meant "First!".  My daughter now does the same thing.  She even says it to me in a grammatically incorrect singsong voice "Haha! I win. You're the lose one!"

There are days that the cousins go along well.

But most of the time, my nephew, three years older

than my daughter loses his patience with 

his cousin who don't play by the same rules that 

he follows.  And so, play time ends with an argument.

However, it doesn't matter that they part ways not in good terms, they still look for one another whenever one misses the other.

 The day before Christmas, the adults bring out the old toys to divert the kids attention from the wrapped gifts that we tried hiding from them only to be found out soon afterwards.  I guess they can sniff a new toy in the air.

It seems that the great grandmother wants to join the fun too. 

Movie Reveiw: Big Hero 6 - Cool San Fransokyo

How would like to be watched over by a humongous gentle inflated balloon that only thinks about your well-being?

One of the movies this year that was really good to watch with the kids is Disney's Big Hero 6.  I went inside the cinema without expecting anything.  And that probably was a good thing.

It was Via's third movie,  I think.  There were times that she went on her own with my sister's family so I couldn't really know exactly.

Eastwood Cinemas was full packed that time and I had to pay twice for one seat just because my daughter and I would be sharing one chair.  At that moment, I thought it must be a really good movie.  There was nowhere else to sit.  I resorted to seating on the aisle since I chose the aisle seat.  My daughter gets to seat in the reclining chair.

It was all about family loss and putting all your talents to good use.  I'm not sure if a four year old would appreciate the meaning of it all.  I guess it's okay to let them learn those as early as now.  Besides, it's about making a superhero out of ordinary kids.  That's good enough for her.

Breathe Easy. Squeeze in Some Cold Remedy.

My daughter cannot get enough rest when she has the colds.  Not being able to breathe through your nose is difficult especially for someone who isn't trained for mouth breathing.

I have one solution for that stuffy nose without the use of a systemic medication.  I squeeze a couple of drops to at least one of her nostrils.

She's not really happy whenever I do that.  There's a lot of resistance and crying, in that order.  And so I have to improvise.  I have to do it when she least expects it.  And that chance only comes when she's already asleep.

I know.  I know.  Why would I do that to her when she's already getting her much needed rest?  It's because I know that during the span of time she's supposed to be sleeping straight until morning, she would be waking from time to time and crying at that for reason that she cannot breathe easy.  

Whenever I use this, I have to quick, a bit aggressive, firm and kind all at the same time.

My husband don't get it.  He cannot take it when my daughter is crying.  But I'm doing them a favor.  They would be getting their sleep throughout the night (unless I wake him up to make our daughter a bottle of milk every now and then).  

Terror Mom

It's that time of the year again when parents are cramming for their children.

I have to say that I am one of the irresponsible mothers around when it comes to my child's education.  I spend the whole day at work 5 to 6 days a week ( and sometimes, it extends to 7 days a week) and when I get home, the only thing I could make myself do is teach my daughter with the Homer App or To Do Math app in the iPad.  And that comes after playing with her Peppa Pig/Sofia The First/Toy Story action figures.  Her bedtime is 8pm and so from the time I get home, I get to have only two hours for her.  I don't want it to be so gruelling for her, for both of us.

Because I wanted to avoid grilling her, I ended up doing the same thing yesterday.  I decided to stay home and concentrate on her pointers for review.   The challenge was keeping her interested in what was in front of her.  There were so many distractions.  She wanted to drink, eat, sleep, pee and everything else except read the words in front of her.

I have to say that to teach oneself from scratch is hard but to teach a little one how to read and write is a lot harder especially when they are not that interested.

I was trying to save up on the tutor fees that is why I was trying my best to do this for her.  Besides, it's a chance to bond with my daughter.  I didn't know that crying was going to be part of it.  She now prefers her father over me after yesterday.

I thought I can handle it but I lost my temper especially when she was doing something else.  One episode took really long (according to my husband).  The whole time I was shouting already and I was failing at containing my anger to a minimum.  All my patience was gone.  I even gave her a spanking.  It was a brief one but something she was going to remember for a long time.  

I scolded my husband afterwards saying that he should have stopped me when I was just starting to scold her.  My husband tried, according to him but I don't remember.

However, we made up saying last night while in bed and hugging her that I will not get mad after yesterday ever again over school work.  I'll give her the breaks that she wants as long as she promises that when she comes back to her seat again, she's going to pour all her attention.

Right now, she's having her time with the other neighborhood kids downstairs.  She's been complaining that they were noisy.  I knew she was just envious of them being outside rather than inside the house being grilled on the written words in front of her.  Now, she's making her noise of her own outdoors.

We'll try again later.  It's still early.  We've got time.

Ballet Recital

This is what I've noticed about my daughter: she loves to dance.  And so, when I saw that there was a dance school nearby, I didn't hesitate to enroll her.  I knew she would enjoy it very much.

However, every first day is the hardest.  It took her some time to get used to the teacher, the mirrored dance rooms and the pink-tutu classmates.

She enrolled late this year and so, the recital just came too quick for her.

Today, she showed that it didn't matter.  I think she handled it well.  

The kids had some kind of Kris Kringle in the dressing room while they were waiting for the show to start.

It started late than scheduled because (from what I heard), the ballet teacher had to wait for a parent.  I was afraid that the students, particularly my daughter, would be so restless and tired already.

I guess they were having so much fun together, no one was complaining.

The teacher fixed everyone's hair when there was a need for fixing.  And I just had to take a picture of the teacher putting some lipstain on my daughter's lips.  Via has this some kind of affiliation with make-up at this early stage.  Too bad her mom don't wear any on both regular and special days.

The ballet teacher, teacher Kat, did her own number for the invocation.  

It was pretty impressive.

Watching ballet this close, I could see how hard it was.  Jumping and landing perfectly on toed shoes.  This was a real sport.  Ballet dancers seem fragile but I think it would take a lot of effort to keep that grace intact while under some sort of pressure - the balancing act while holding your head up high.  I'd like that to be instilled in my daughter.  

There were a lot of grandparents there.  And everyone was rooting for somebody in the stage. It was a nice family day.  Via was constantly peeking through the curtains to wave to us.  She saw us once and she just couldn't stop to look and see if we were still in our seats.  She used to cry whenever she performs in front of people and see me among them.  But these days, she just smiles happily knowing that I'm there (along with her grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousin.  

Next month she will be seeing me and her father in the audience rooting for her.  I can't wait until then.