home is where alex is

today is our first day back here in bratislava, after over a month of vacation from philippines. alex learned a lot of new tricks over this period. most of them, if not all are not really unexpected, but are pretty amazing.

when we were about to fly to philippines, the first thing i was worried about is how alex would be able to take naps. she was hard to put to sleep before we left. every little sound she hears startles her into wakefulness. so i was wondering how she could fall asleep in a tricycle infested town. having a corner lot would make the matter worse. or so i thought...

by some weird turn of events, she slept through the sounds of the motorcycles passing by our humble home in san pablo city. it was like just yesterday that she was born into these city sounds. she even likes to watch motorcycles and other vehicles passing by, following each and every one of them, and anticipating which street they would turn to. it's home.

alex was passed the stage of getting anxious with strangers. however, she would stare (embarassingly for us, and for the one being stared at). she would study each and every corner of a strange, but maybe somewhat familiar, face. she doesn't cry even if she's picked up by a total stranger. in 15 minutes she would be smiling and laughing like she had known them all her life. everyone is captivated by her and she was at home with everyone.

now, daddy went home 3 weeeks earlier to go back to work. it's quite a long time in adult terms, so i wondered what more for our little angel who lived on this planet a mere 7 months. i wasn't concerned that alex would feel estranged when she sees her dad after such long separation, but it didn't stop me from getting so amazed at her. she instantly smiled (a smile that seems to say, "it's you!") at her daddy the moment he spoke when he picked us up at the airport.

in our apartment, she looked around curiously. however, the moment i put her down on our bed, it's as if she suddenly remembered every patterns on our sheet and started rolling around happily. she's home again!