ate alex

when karol and i came home from the hospital, alex was asleep on our bed. so we put karol in the playpen and i laid down beside alex. after a few moments she woke up and started talking as usual.

ia sked her if she wants to see "baby brother," as she fondly refers to him. then, she stood up and went to the playpen. she always says that that's baby brother's bed and where to put him, etc. she continued with her monologue then got tongue-tied the moment she saw karol. she wasn't expecting him to be there already and was so surprised. it was really funny. she just froze. well, she went on talking once she regained her composure. :))

it's a big change for her. the first few days she was having a hard time. until now she's still adjusting. sometimes, she would throw some tantrums or do things to get our attention. it might take some time still for her to fully adjust. but we are slowly getting there.

the good thing is, she doesn't reject karol's presence. she even helps us when we change his diaper. she also kisses him on the head to say bye-bye or good night. i think she will be a very good ate*.

*ate (a-te) in philippine culture, it is a title used to refer to an older sister.

alex's second 2nd birthday

i know, i said we just had a simple celebration on alex's 2nd birthday. but i thought we owed it to alex to have a real children's party. she didn't have such on her 1st birthday. we have lots of filipino friends in singapore with kids of their own. so, i grabbed the opportunity. :)

the slide

see-saw, up and down
you go up and i go down

it took some time to plan, but it was well worth it. everyone enjoyed the gymboree activities, including the mommies and daddies. dora and diego was the main theme. i even dressed up alex in dora's colors, pink and orange, complete with the purple backpack :)) we had nice dora cupcakes, designs and some balloons too.

the wheels on the bus go round and round

happy birthday to you... foo!

thanks to our friends and loved ones for helping out. this wouldn't have been possible without your help. muah!

and of course, thank you for the gifts...

alex turns 2

this is long overdue, but here it is...

alex turned 2 years when we were in singapore. but i measure her weight and height only when we came back to bratislava. she weighed 12.5kg and was 91cm tall. for long time she stayed 12kg at 86cm. so imagine my surprise! she's really a tall girl.

anyway, we just had a simple celebration of her birthday. we went with inay and tatay to meet daddy at suntec. had lunch at a japanese restaurant, which mommy and daddy really likes.

for dinner, we had a few guests: inay, tatay, tita sharon, and ninang ganet and ninong romy. had shrimp, garlic mushroom , chicken (from carrefour), rice, and of course the bengawan cake. mommy also had some nice balloons inflated which she enjoyed, much to our delight.

lastly, the birthday gift...

breakfast conversation

mommy: alex, ninang jenny is coming here next week. do you remember her?
alex (nods head): mommy, do you remember tita gail also?
mommy: of course. do you remember her? and her babies?
alex (continues to nod head): ye-ees!
mommy: do you miss them?
alex: i think so! i miss them...
mommy: how about tita sharon, do you remember her?
alex: ah, ye-ees! ahtatata light blue.... tyatyatya.... (etc., etc....)


hehehe! that's our little conversationalist. she really can communicate, almost like an adult. however, she makes up some words and sentences when she doesn't know what to say anymore. to her, she thinks she's still making conversation. quite cool really! :)

phrases

alex's language skills has really improved a lot and i think is quite advanced for her age. she likes describing everything that she sees. most of the time she can understand what she's told. and even with her childish speech, she can be understood. these are some of the things she commonly says:

* i don't want!
* what is it? (even when she knows the answer)
* let's go to [name/place].
* it felled! or shoe is felled! (talk about past tense)
* it's toyning! (loves electric fans)
* it's stop! (still loves electric fans)
* it's (so) funny! (everyone and everything is funny to her)
* um angee! ("i'm angry!" with matching scowling face)
* no, no, no! do not touch!
* it's sleeping (embarrassingly describes sleeping people)
* it's boken (broken)
* mami fikkit ("mommy, fix it")
* heyo!
* bye, bye [name]! (even to inanimate objects, like tricycle)
* good night [name]! (Mama Mary, Jesus, daddy, mamika, etc.)
* alex, rocking the chair.
* alex is walking/sitting/etc...
* mamika/daddy, it's odj odj odj ongkin (well, this beats the hell out of me :))

two months to go (at 22 months)

i know i keep saying this, but it's really true that time flies by so fast. in just two months alex will be 2 years old. i can't even put into words how she's grown up so cute, so funny, and so smart over the months. we love watching how she enjoys her new experiences. we see that she understands more and appreciates more the things around her. oh, such great joy!


"swim to sea/ocean!"

we have been in philippines for 3 weeks now. the first week went to boracay. alex enjoyed the sea and most specially the sand.

unfortunately, her very exciting experience Was tainted by her very first scratches. on the last night she fell while running and she scratched her left knee and right hand. how that happened i don't know. worse, when she woke up the following morning, one of her eyes was totally swollen from some insect bite. poor one-eyed-alex, it lasted for 3 days.

"swim to pool!"

the holy week is really good time not just to reflect o the passion of the Lord but also to spend time with family. alex was able to spend lots of time in the water with her cousins. once we went to some local resort, and another time, the kids had fun waddling in an inflatable pool. it was a bit chaotic but really fun :))

"let's go to out!"

there were also lots of other non-water activities that alex enjoys, like going out for a walk. every morning we go out for a walk. although during the first few times she asks to be picked up after a few steps. then she started seeing the flowers, the butterflies and the birds. she even likes the air conditioning unit sticking out of the neighbors' walls :)) but the trip is not complete without "touch the coconut." which of course she couldn't reach because it's too high, even for me.

she also likes visiting other cousins who live around our neighborhood during the afternoons. she's starting to become an "outdoor" person. she doesn't even want to go home anymore. the moment she sees that we are heading towards our gate, she goes the other direction saying "i don't want! i don't want!" what a very clever child... :))