Being Thankful

Mama & Baby

As the year's end approaches, this happy Mama and Little One think that it's a good opportunity to remind ourselves to be thankful (Also, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so... this is as good as anytime, one supposes)

And so we are thankful, not so much for this great person I am proud to call my daughter, for she is, indeed, absolutely wonderful.

But we have a whole blog dedicated to that!

But we would like to be thankful for all the other things that made our lives so... beautiful as it is now.

:: for a Daddy who is so understanding for this Mama's need for expression

:: for families at home, with their emails of appreciation, words of encouragement, gifts of delightful stuff (such as the dresses, the soft toys, the sheer excitement of receiving something from the mail)

:: for a Dog who is so tolerant of the Little One's antic

:: for an indispensable help, provided by one kind soul by the tittle of Tita, for keeping our house clean, our laundry ironed and this Mama sane (for all the time away from home/Little One that this Mama really needs, to study, to write, to think, to shop!.... for groceries, I tell you. Seriously!)

:: for new friends, in this alien land, even amongst people of so different backgrounds 

:: for old friends, for keeping in touch

There are simply to many things to be thankful for, from the mundane (the weather) to the profound (the meaning of life. ha!).

But we are grateful.

And for all the readers out there, for rooting for this blog to go on, thank you.

We do hope you will stay around, and continue with your support.

Wishing you a Happy, Wonderful, Hopeful, brand new year!

Ladder obsession

Didn't I promise you in this post to post more pictures of the Little One with the ladder?
And so I did, and here they are, the Little One and the ladder, sans clothing.

Little One on the ladder

As to the lack of clothing... well... let's just say that she is now able to shed her clothing with relative ease.
Hence, from time to time, she would do it.
I think it keeps her in practice. Especially since she can't quite do it with some of her more complicated/fitted clothing.

Of course, with or without clothing, she's forever looking for mischief around the house, using whatever she finds around the house as something to her liking.

Little One blooming out of a stool

Yeah, like the stool.

Queen of the Playground

Little One on the See Saw

Even back in her younger (read: shorter, smaller, slightly less mobile) days...
(look at her hair! It wasn't curly then, and so short. And the shoes! She has long outgrown them)
the Little One had loved going to the playground.
Well.. I guess what kind of kid doesn't. At the very least, it breaks the monotony of home, right?
And since there was one barely 5 minutes walk away from home, she started learning to play in the playground pretty quickly.

It helped also that the Little One got to watch other kids playing using the stuff, so she was motivated to learn to use the stuff just as the other (bigger) kids.
See saw used to be one of Mama's favorite. Now that the Kid is bigger (and heavier)... ahem.

So now that she is bigger (with curlier hair, faster feet, nimbler reflexes, better coordination and all that jazz), the Little One has 'graduated' to other playgrounds further away from home.
Oh, she still loves going to her old playground, the one nearest to the house, but the other playgrounds are now also included in the must-visit list on our daily walkies.
In fact, I do believe that the word 'walk' for her is not so much 'walking the dog' as it is 'visiting her friend or the playground or both'. Hmmm....

Anyway, along the way of her 'graduation', she has gone to conquer greater heights:

Little Girl coming down from the slide

Oh yes, she's conquered the slide all right, then she moved on to climbing slides again... from the other direction.

Climbing up ON the slide

And then naturally, she has to conquer the climbing thingy on ALL sides

 

 

Climbing the vertical ladder

On top of the structure

Oh, and by the way, did I mention she was fast?
You see that's why when it gets to this climbing structure thingy, I can only get pictures of her from the back.
Here's what I got when I tried to take her photo from the front:

Her royal shoulder

Yeah. You see, the combination of a nimble kid and a slow camera simply do not mix very well.

Now as for other things in the playground...

On the yellow 'horse' with my 'saddle bag'

She's finally tall enough to climb on these things unassisted!

On the swing... sitting

And of course, what playground would be complete without a set of swings?

Then, do you still remember me mentioning about bigger kids in the playground?
Yeah, then one of them actually stood on the swing. So... what a Little Copycat to do?
Why, try to stand on one as well, of course!

(She really did, but this Mama didn't get the photo quick enough, so she was already squatting down)

On the swing... copycat-ing

For safety, there is a wall separating the swing set from the rest of the playground. But with holes like that, perfect for little hands and feet, how can a little girl resist the urge to climb and conquer the wall?

Climbing the wall

(Not to worry, this Mama kept one hand on the camera and the other just beyond the view to prevent the Kid from falling. At ALL times)

So after congratulating myself for not letting the Kid fall off anything, may I present you then, the Queen of the Playground

My Queen of the Playground

(the Kid was certainly humoring me. But I am fairly certain I can hear her thinking : Stop talking nonsense, Mama and come along, slide with me. 
So... yes, Kiddo. Mama will be there shortly)

Merry Christmas!

Putting up decoration on her newest 'toy' requisitioned from Daddy's storeroom

A happy Christmas to all of you. Thank you for following the Little One's stories so far.
May this Christmas also brings you simple joys that makes the everyday life so beautiful, countless blessings that makes all your effort worthwhile, and wisdom that recognize the good things for what they are.
Just as this Mama is blessed to learn new things from the Little One, may you also be blessed by such delightful teachers in your life.

Merry Christmas 2010!

Soundbite of the day

Overheard in the house:

Honey, aren't you worried about the 'off-spring' turning into sheep? The four-legged one wouldn't stop grazing while the other one wouldn't stop bleating? BAaaa baaaaa Baaaa....

Hmmm.....

The Dog grazing

Can't quite capture bleating in picture. So... as for other aspiration... a witch?

expressions!

Such thoughfulness...

There are two inspirations for this post. One is a similarly title post I did long time ago, which you can find here.
The second is the photo above, in comparison with the rest of the photos.

There was a time between the plan to move and the actual move itself when neither Mama or Daddy was available to take care of the Little One. Of course, she was received with abundance of enthusiasm by grandparents from both sides. But there are times when we wonder if there was some effect to that separation from Mama and Daddy.
We thought that for a while, she lost her careless cheer, her natural thoughtless joy.
And in place, there is that slight insecurity, some deep thought hidden deep inside, which was captured in the picture above.

After more than a year with Mama and Daddy pretty much constantly around, we like to think that she is very much back to the happy baby she was, even if she can hardly be called a baby anymore.

You be the judge. The photos below are her most recent expressions as captured by StudioMama. Enjoy!

Still thoughtful, but looks more like thinking some naughty things to do!

On her current favorite 'toy', if you can ever call a step ladder a toy.
But then again, she make such beautiful subject on that ladder. I think you should be prepared for more pictures of baby on the ladder.

Here's another one....

Absolutely adorable

I guess the next picture might explain her 'obsession' for ladders. After all,  the girl goes absolutely gaga over slides in the playground.

Climbing the slide

I am quite proud of that one, I have to say. It was not an easy one to take.
You would understand once you realize that part of the reason why she's smiling so happily is because of the prospect of pushing Mama down the slide.
Yeah.
Of course, Mama is also to blame for providing incentive for her to do that by giving such theatrical performance of sliding down. Oh well... anything to amuse my child.

The budding stylist

But then again, for a child with such sweet smile? Why not?
Do note the way she wore the shirt, though.
It started one day when I put her in a shirt that is slightly too loose. She found out that she can actually move her hand from the proper hole to the neck hole. Now she loves to do that on any shirt that would give.
The budding stylist indeed. Wonder where she got the 70s outlook though.
Asymmetrical tops. Good Lord!

Toys

I have written before about this Baby's lack of 'real toys' here.
As you can see, there is no obvious lack of toys, really.
This Mama is still having the same reluctance to buy toys indiscriminately.
Especially given that the Little One has the tendency to use anything and everything as toys, not just limited to softies and 'real toys'.

For example, given our daily walks with Penny, there is no lack of opportunity to stop at the nearby playground and use the facilities.
Of course, her highness' current favorite is the slide. Just look at that happy face.

 

And then of course there are the odd stuff that we pick up for the house. Like these pinwheels.

(by the way, the pink one is already broken. Courtesy of the Little One. Who else?)

Of course, when there is nothing else, even the empty water bottle will do. As for the swimming goggles on the floor.....

 Let's just say she loves playing with them, OK? Apparently it's more interesting, more fun or whatever with the clothes off.

She's gotten quite attached to the baby stroller, especially after the trip to HongKong where I guess the stroller became a sort of security blanket in a practically alien new surrounding.
This picture was taken after I washed the attachment. I was trying to put it back on the stroller but someone already got it first.

This 'hobby' to use stuff in the house for toys is not a recent one. In fact, the picture below is taken when she was smaller. (Check out the hair, it was still so short back then. Plus, that set of clothes still fit then.)

Apparently not so many people actually realize that she is so Little she can squeeze into that cabinet. But the first time she did it, she did almost give me a heart attack. One because I couldn't find her, Two because the door suddenly moved by itself (or so I thought).

Of course nowadays she has 'graduated' to the bigger cabinet. Although there are still times when she would go back to that corner cubicle.
By the way, given the cabinet's position right next to the toilet, I actually have to block the cabinet when the Little girl says Wee wee. Otherwise, instead of going into the toilet to do business, she will hide in the cabinet.
Well.. at least she has no accident so far in the cabinet.

Well it's been a long post. I hope you enjoy reading it. There are still a lot of photos pending editing and finding content. Let's all pray for the creative juices to flow well, especially during this holiday season.

New Dress from Mama

The New Dress

A post for a dress? This Mama must be running out of ideas, you said.
But hey! This is a special dress! For one, it was modified from Mama's own clothing.
Two, ha! it's Mama's first try on such modification (DIY handsewing, no less!)

Well... I did write a bit on the 'history' of the 'new' dress here. But if you are not inclined to read such a long, winding story, the paragraph above should be sufficient reason for posting it here.

The reception?
The Little One apparently loves it. Even Daddy looked somewhat in awe. So.. this Mama is happy.
I believe there are still quite a few unused garments at various corners of the house. Now just need to find the inspiration and the time to make something equally awesome. Hahaha!

Here's some pics of the Little One with her new dress:

New dress, new dress!

Perfect for outdoor wear

Not too long

Perfect for running around

It even matches the dog!