How did she know?

I opened a can of liver spread for my morning sandwich. I know it might seem weird for some people, especially for those from another country, but here, it's just a sandwich spread.

As I was feeding my little missy, she sees the bowl where the spread is and starts saying "Pâté". I was so shocked to hear her say that. I never taught her that. The only time I remember using that word was when I was pregnant with her and we ate in this fancy restaurant. Me and my hubby were with my mom, grandma and aunt and I remember them hating the stuff (duck liver).

So where'd she learn it from? Yes my little missy may be a bit advanced but I don't think it stems from things she heard in utero, right? I guess she must have seen and heard it from the TV or something.

Now I got to watch closely with her. If she can mimic and remember that, and that's not something that's shown everyday, what more about the things that are played over and over (and over). Don't take me wrong, I watch with her all the time. The only time I leave the room is when I need to make a personal break.

Studies did say that infants/toddlers absorb things like a sponge. I love the fact that she can read on her own now, and that she interacts with Team Umizumi or when Mickey asks a question. I don't mind that at all, but maybe there are some things I'm still not ready for like her ability to retain words and images in a short span of time.

I see I still have lots of stuff to read on. I never knew being a first time parent would require so much learning. I am loving all of it and I'm thankful that we now have the internet.

Thanks for reading. Happy Tuesday!

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Just 2 more months!

Just 2 more months and it's my little missy's 2nd birthday! Time flies sooooo fast!

Since I'm still in the planning stage of what were going to do then, I excited about something I saw online. Their souvenirs were like bag tags printed on ID cards. Picture on the ID card and a short thank you note on the badge holder. I think it's awesome.

If I could find a cheap portable ID printer and badge printer that I can rent for that day, I think I'm liking the idea. The picture on the card would be my daughter and the guest (you wouldn't want to use it as bag tag or bookmark if the picture was somebody else right?), taken on the day itself, and our short thank you note at the back of the badge. Don't you think it's neat?

I'm liking the idea because of the following factors:

1. It's personalized, whoever is there on THAT day gets to have one.
2. I don't need to buy so many pieces and then have a lot of leftovers. I don't think I can use that again for her next birthday.
3. I don't want to buy a lot of pieces before hand because her birthday falls during typhoon season. Last year, I had to postpone her birthday 3x because of the super typhoons.

Sounds good? Now I have to find resources for this. I have no idea if there are ID and badge printers for rent but it's worth a shot. The only thing I might have leftovers of at the end of the event are the unused ID cards. I guess I have to find myself a good deal, probably on consignment if I can so I can return the extra ones.

Aside from being unique, I somehow think it's also economical.

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Such a big deal

First off, my grandmother is 86. She has never worked in her life which means she never applied for her own tax identification number. She is not an SSS (Social Security) member so she's never filed a claim for anything. Also, she has never driven a car, ergo no Driver's License either. With all of that said, selling her stock certificates is a major problem.

My grandmother wants to sell her stocks now. She thinks it may pose a problem for everyone if she expires before they're cashed out because of all the requirements. She wants me to handle it.

I got in touch with my friend who is a stock broker and he says she needs 2 valid government IDs. Two! Not one but two! Seriously? How can my grandmother, at her age, still have 2 valid government IDs! So I start googling for the easiest ID she can apply for, a postal ID. Seems okay but when I saw that a birth certificate was needed, we're back to square one. She doesn't have a certified true copy of her birth certificate, nor is it in the National Statistics Office database. Records from her birth year were not encoded in the system. The only way they'd accept a copy from her is if she gets it from the Municipality where she was born and they certify it. Easy right? Wrong! All the records in the municipality were burnt when they had a huge fire decades ago!

After much research, I decided the best way was for her to apply for a Senior Citizen's ID. I had my aunt help her with it and it didn't take long. The only issue was that we had her get it using her married name and she wasn't too happy about it. When my grandfather died in 2002, she changed her name back.

She said it wasn't hard to get one but there were lots of things to fill up and that they had to wait a long time for the IDs to be manually typed. Yep, using a typewriter, seriously. Not an electronic typewriter, a manual typewriter. I wish the government would just invest in some good ID card software that they can just input everything right away and then print the card in seconds. I think that would be a great investment as well as great relief for our elderlies. Oh well, at least she got her ID. Now all I need to do is ask my friend for consideration if they can accept just one proof of identification.

We'll see what happens.

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I think She's a future chef

Ever since my niece brought her cooking toys here, my little missy can't stop asking for them. She uses her puzzle pieces as food and hand fans or boxes as pots and pans. Not to mention all our remote controls and pens as ladles, stirrers, etc. I think I just may have a future chef in my hands!

Yesterday I cooked some stir-fried vegetables. I carried her to the kitchen and told her to mix it. She did such a great job but I couldn't get a picture of her as I was carrying her in my arms! I have to get one of those stools for her so I can capture it next time.

Just my opinion, but I think the fact that she's been playing on a writing slate since she was young helped her motor skills. I thought at first she wouldn't be able to mix it because the steel wok turner was kind of heavy, but she did. She also mixed in a circular motion right away instead of just pushing the veggies around.

I guess this is one of the advantages of giving her learning toys since she was young. I really didn't think that it would manifest the result in cooking but I'm glad it did. Now I know that most of what she's doing at her age is probably because of what she had learned when she was still an infant. I often ask myself nowadays, "How is she able to do that?" Now I know.

I'm glad that even if we, her parents, weren't able to give her what most kids have (you know, those big colorful toys that has lots of sounds or move a lot, you get what I mean?), I think we made a good choice on what we DID give her. Even though she only had 1 or 2 toys that were out of our budget, I know now that it was all worth it.

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This is our earth

Ever noticed how people take much interest nowadays in everything being eco-friendly? I, for one, never knew that dams can lose so much water and render lots of people waterless. I thought those dams never, ever get to that critical level. So when I blogged about us getting some rain yesterday, getting more water in our dams was one of the few things I was praying for.

I just read the news this morning and my wish came true, well partly true. But it's such good news to everyone. The Angat Dam water level has risen by 70cm which can provide an additional 158 million liters per day to water consumers. Since it's still predicted to rain or drizzle in the coming days, this will surely help more people. I just wish though that more people try not to waste it.

Also, in almost all the supermarkets or groceries I go to, they seem to be selling these eco-friendly bags. Some even have extra freebies if you use them like extra points towards a card membership, etc. I think it's great that we're moving away from using too much plastics. There are times when we really need to use them, but at least there will be less of those that clog up most drainage in the streets.

Another way I can think to help our Earth is to buy wooden toys instead of plastic ones. They're much more kid-friendly (with all the lead and other chemicals reportedly going around) and I love the idea that when the kids grow older, they seem "vintage". I saw some wooden blocks for sale the other day and told hubby about it. He said he had those when he was a kid too. Sad thing is, he doesn't know where they are now. Imagine if they were able to keep it, it would've been an "heirloom" he could pass on to our daughter from 30 years ago.

Thanks for reading. Happy Friday!

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Here comes the rain!

So I blogged about loving the weather yesterday and I was anticipating the rain on Friday. Lucky me, the rain came today... it's raining hard!

I know I'm supposed to hate the rain because of what it brings, like power being cut (again for 2 days), or heavy traffic for hubby when he comes home among others but still, I'm happy. When it rains, it's more comfy at home and I'm loving the extra cuddle and snuggle I get from my little missy.

Good thing we didn't set up or imaginary camping equipment today. It would have been such a disaster camping outside the house and then hard rain coming down on us fast. I don't even think there was a drizzle right before the rain came. But the real lucky one was my mom. She lives like 20 minutes away. She was asking how we were and I told her it was raining. It wasn't raining where they are but since it's most probable that we got rain first, she had to run and get her laundry which still hung outside. I called her back, and yep, right in the nick of time, she got all the clothes.

So now that we're stuck outside, my little missy decides we should just keep watching the TV. I sit beside her; she snuggles, and then falls asleep. Thank you to the sound of raindrops and cool weather. I wish it would be like this forever.

Let’s see what the weather has in store for us tomorrow. The forecasts are usually wrong but I’m hoping that once again, it rains a bit in the afternoon so we all get a break from the heat, as well as replenish the needed water in our dams. More rain equals better water supply in Manila.

Thanks for reading. Hope your weather is great!

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From the grapevine

Since my college days, I've been a fan of Asus. Asus products are so reliable and sturdy, honest.

Now... what's this I hear from Asus Philippines, Eee Pad? Ooooooh! It's definitely something I'm saving up for, unless I get or win it for free! Check this out.
Now, wouldn't you want to have one too? If you want to know the latest about this, leave me a comment. I promise I'm keeping tabs on this one. Heard it might come out around the 4th quarter of 2010. Just let me know and I'll let you know when I hear more.

If you already know about this and want to share your thoughts, feelings, suggestions or comments (just no violent reactions please), do leave a comment below and I'll be thankful for learning from you.

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Loving the weather

I am loving the weather. I love this in-between period of summer and the typhoon season. It is humid yes, but the sun doesn't burn your skin like the months of May and June.

There is an 80% chance of rain on Friday so maybe that is the reason why it is not as sunny today. This weather makes me want to bring out our imaginary camping gear and head to some open area in Tagaytay. I would love to be able to let my little missy experience life outside the home. She is probably too young to learn from the experience yet, at 21 months but I think it would still be good for her since she loves nature.

I have only been to Tagaytay, Baguio, and Subic, but I would love to try out some other places where we can just camp out. It is actually one of our (me and hubby) dreams for little missy, that she be able to explore more places in and outside the country that we have. It would be so interesting to see new places for the first time with our daughter, as we say, through her eyes. Yes, I have dreamed of going to Disney land, and Disney world when I was younger, but now I am glad I did not have that chance back then. It would me so much more meaningful this time around. As a family, we will all have the same degree of excitement and a sense of adventure!

Oh well, we'll get there. But for now, camping is the way to go since we only have mostly sun and rain here. If this year is too late, since typhoon season officially started, I am hoping we get at least one chance next year, then more in the years to come.

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Baby Powder? Where are you?

My mom left her small 30g baby powder container at my house yesterday. She wanted little missy to play with it. I have a 500g baby powder (same brand) container they my little girl calls Mommy Powder, so by default, my mom's powder became Baby Powder.

When I was fixing the bed, I was absent-minded and put baby powder in my drawer. At first I thought my daughter was singing. She's in the stage now where she loves making up lyrics to her own songs. But as I listened closely, she was singing in a singsong voice, "Baby powder? Baby powder? Where are you?" (But she pronounced it as "Baby power, baby power, whe a you?")

I didn't directly look at her, I was observing and waiting what she would do next. She turned over all the pillows, looked under the comforter, scaled the side of the bed if it fell in between the bed and the wall, looked behind the headboard, but no baby power.

I slowly stood up and got baby powder and so that she wouldn't notice, I very gently put it near the edge of the bed, just a small area peeking out the edge of the comforter. After about 5 seconds, she squeals, "Baby power!! They you a!"

I couldn't help smiling. She's really grown up! I can't believe she'd do this already because she's just 1 year and 9 months! I didn't anticipate that it would be this early that she'd be able to make up her own songs, feed herself using her own utensils, and decide for herself (food, clothes, what to watch, etc). Wow! Time flew by me so fast!

To my little baby, please don't grow up right away. I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeed to treasure every single second of your being a baby! But I'm so proud of you with everything that you are and everything that you do. I love you Baby :)

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Car Power

We live in a busy street, a main road that's one-way actually. Hubby and I have been used to the sounds since we've lived here for almost 4 years. However, I heard a peculiar sound last night... a sound that again took me down memory lane.

It was a car with modified exhaust valve. I first found out about them 15 years ago when hubby was still my "friend". I wasn't into cars much but when he offered me a ride home one time, I was amazed. I loved how it sounded. He was a car enthusiast in his younger days so I enjoyed the new experience. Loud cars with loud bass sounds. We'd be able to make any car alarm sound when we passed by.

When he changed cars, he took me with him when he had the exhaust valves modified. He usually went for the Butterfly effect, but the owner of the shop was gracious enough to provide additional exhaust tips. I couldn't remember what the others were but to me, they all sounded cool! I told myself (then), that when I do get my own car, I'd love to have that strong, throaty sound too whenever I pass by.

Now that I have a baby, do you think I'd have a change of heart? Nah.. I'd still love to have that if I had my own car. It's how responsible the driver is, that makes the difference. I learned too that you can control it, so if you're cruising along a quiet village, I don't think it's proper to just rev it up. Privacy should always be respected anywhere. But, if we're off on the highway or on a commercial road, I'd love to show that sound off. Then after we park, people would see me and my baby come out from the car. Sounds cool right? I don't think I've ever seen a woman, and baby for that matter, come out from a monster sounding car. Then again, it's just my fantasy.

Thanks for reading! Hope you all have a great week.

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AH1N1 again. It's house arrest all over again.

So there are 6 children with AH1N1 again in Ilocos Sur plus 15 more under observation. I pray that they get well soon, and that the virus doesn't spread.

The thing is, this kind of news really scares me. Not just for me and my family but for everyone. Imagine all the helpless children, who just unknowingly play like they always do everyday then bam! They're sick.

When news of AH1N1 broke out last year, I literally didn't go out the house unless I needed to. And if I did take my daughter out, I'd have 2 bottles of alcohol with me, one in my pocket, the other in her bag. I know I'm probably paranoid but I couldn't help it. Hubby and I had lots of problems getting pregnant, lost 1, then here we are with a perfect daughter, and in a blink of an eye, there's a chance that she can get severely sick.

I guess it's the time of the year again for hubby to go grocery shopping. Last year, he was the only one who regularly did it, he said it's too "lessen the exposure to the virus." Then before he'd come up to our room, he'd make sure he disinfects himself with alcohol.

I never knew I would be like this. I guess Motherhood really can change you. Because then, your first priority is to protect your loved ones, especially the little ones since they're helpless.

Virus, virus go away!

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Supernatural

Any of you out there fans of Dean and Sam Winchester? Me and hubby just did a Supernatural marathon last night but I can't, for the life of me, remember the season ender! It either bored me to sleep (not likely) or I was too cozy in my position. Hubby on my left, hugging from behind, while I was hugging my littly missy from behind, she was on my right.

I loooove bonding, cuddling, snuggling... I just wish sometimes I don't fall asleep too fast. I may have even fallen asleep BEFORE my little missy hahahaha :D

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My First Deliverable

I just submitted my first deliverable!

I was so scared to hit the submit button but I had to do it. I've been pondering whether to submit it tonight (or early morning since it's past 12am) or later when I wake up. Oh well... better early than late.

Cross your fingers with me that I did a-ok for the first time. Looking forward to more work, work, work!

Hope you all have a great day!

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You are Hired!

I love it! I got my first positive response in one of the online workplaces I've been bidding on. It doesn't pay much but at least it's a start, and I am very thankful. I am very much grateful to the person who hired me because I have no experience whatsoever (in that work place), and she considered my bid solely on my cover letter and blog posts.

I am so happy to have been given this opportunity. I really would love to have a career from home.

How about you? Do you know of any opportunities from home available for me? I'm based in the Philippines so the options are not as many as those based in the US and Canada. If you do know of any, I hope you can share them with me. I would appreciate all the help I can get.

So... gotta do my research and start working :) Thanks for reading and see you later!

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Mailbox Monday July 5th

Once again I'm joining Mailbox Monday! Looking forward to subscribing to more marvelous bloggers.



Hosted by Simply Stacie, This Mama Loves Her Bargains and A little of this A little of that…

Join me, add your linky below:

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She sang!

It's my brother-in-law's birthday today. He's 30. I can't believe how time flies, he was just 15 when hubz and I met. Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty old now.

I called him on the phone to greet him and even though it was his birthday, he sang the full birthday song for me. He's such a sweet kid, really. Kid because he's a special child and we love him so much. Even though he's like 5 foot 7, he will always have this aura of innocence in him.

Anyway, while he was singing, my daughter comes up to me and starts singing too. I didn't know she could sing the birthday song so I was really, really, surprised. She just suddenly sang Ha-be-be to you.. Ha-be-be to you..

I couldn't resist and just grabbed my phone to record it. I hope I find a way to upload an audio file on here so I can let you hear her. I'm so proud of my little girl. Can't believe she can pick that up on her own at her age of 21-months.

Wish me luck in finding a way... please do check back in a while :)

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July 2 - My second blog award!

This month of July seems to start out with a bang for me. Yesterday, I was sooooo excited about my first award, and now, I'm excited all over again for my 2nd blog award.

Amy over at Marvelous Mommy has passed on the Versatile Blogger Award to moi! I really am super happy! Thanks so much Amy! If you haven't been to her blog yet, please do visit. I love a lot of things about her and her blog. I absolutely love Natalie! I love the layout, I swear it's so neat (she does admit to being borderline OCD lol)! And... I love that she has lots of informative stuff on there all arranged in tabs, yummy recipes, memes, giveaways and more! So make sure to head on over there and help her reach her 1000 fans :) Incidentally, Happy belated 1st year Anniversary. Amy celebrated her 1st blogging anniversary last June 25th. So make sure you give her some bloggin love -- click HERE to take you to her blog.

Back to the award. The guidelines for accepting this award require the recipient to (1) thank the person who gave it to you; (2) tell 7 things about yourself; and (3) pass the award on to some marvelous bloggers, whom you have recently discovered and think are fantastic.

So, 7 things about me you might not know yet:

1. I cheat. Well... only to finish a rubix cube. I can finish the top color on my own, and the 1st 2 layers of all the other colors, but I definitely use a cheat sheet for the last layer (which also arranges the bottom color)
2. I have scars. I have ugly scars all over my legs from my first pregnancy and miscarriage. The OB said it wasn't PUPPS (or something like that). I didn't get more of those when I got pregnant again the 2nd time, immediately after the miscarriage. It looks really ugly, like I have an infectious disease or something. They were big red blotches at the start, but are now turning light grey/brown (after almost 3 years!). Sorry for tmi, but let me tell you, I'm not ashamed of them. If you see them, hate me, think what you want of me, or be completely disgusted by what you see, but I consider them my battle scars. After 4 years of trying to have a baby, these scars can never equal the joy in my heart and life now.
3. I miss sports. I used to play golf and volleyball, and have always loved swimming. With my knee injury, I can't play vball anymore and I don't think I can stand an 18-hole walk. I don't know why, but I prefer watching hubby and my little one swim nowadays.
4. I love eggplant. I can eat eggplant all day. Be it fried, casseroled, grilled, omeletted, whatever. I love them!
5. I hated pink. I used to hate pink. I guess it was because I have always been a bit of a tomboy. But I love pink on my little one! Good thing she's growing up to be the girly-girly type.
6. I love orange. Don't know why but I love it, especially with browns. I know... I'm too boring lol.
7. I love where blogging has taken me. It's just been almost 4 months (on July 8th) but I've met the most wonderful, helpful, creative, thoughtful people through blogging. Thank you very much for following, reading and helping me hone my writing skills as well as make me a better person. Thank you for lots of great ideas, from crafting, to cooking and other DIYs. I am so glad I have found all you marvelous people, especially now that I have my little missy. I can go out of my comfort zone and try new things with her, through her eyes.

Now to pass on the award, I'm tagging:

• Linda @ Witchie's Cavern
• Josie @ Josie's Window
• Baby Bella (or mom) @ Bella Grace
• Dhemz @ My Life's Perception and Inspiration
• Pam @ The Chronicles of a Veteran Kindergarten Teacher
• Brittany Ciara @ Not Your Average Teen
• Pehpot @ Make or Break

Thanks again to Amy, and my sincerest thanks to all you readers and bloggers. My little missy and I wuvvvvvvv you!

Enjoy your weekend!

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July 1st - My First Award!

We had a pretty busy day yesterday so it was really late when I got to check my blog comments. I did a double take on Heather's comment because she had given me my first award!! My first blog award yipeeeee! I have only been blogging since March and I'm so excited for my very first award. What a way to start my July. I sincerely appreciate this award. Thank you for sharing this award with me. It's simply exhilarating when you know your hard work is appreciated by someone.

If you haven't checked out Heather's blog yet, please scoot over to her site Living on Love and Cents. She has great giveaways, coupons and even some posts about money making online.

Now I have to pass this along to 12 deserving blogs. I have met a lot of great bloggers and seen a lot of blogs in 3 months but these 12 were the most deserving of the Sunshine Award!

1. SLD Merchandise
2. Pop Ups of my Mind
3. Little Yaya
4. On this side of Town
5. The Rolly Marcial Blog
6. Life According to Amanda
7. Bree Bees
8. Ten Talents
9. Make More Money Online
10. Golden's Diary
11. That's what she said
12. Momma Money

What happens next? The rules are simple: You display this award on your blog, you thank the person who gave it to you by linking back to them and you pass the award on to 12 other deserving blogs!

Happy Thursday everyone!

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My "Tots" on today's hullabaloo

To President Noynoy: Thumbs up on your speech. I just hope you hold true to your word. Didn't like how ABS was all defensive on how "unexpensive" your Japanese lunch was though. It shouldn't have been much of a big deal if only they didn't keep on repeating that it wasn't the expensive kind. Oh, and I hope you gave some of that Phpxxx,xxx Malacañang Mansion cake to those who waited for you from the early dawn of the morning. I'm sure that wasn't part of an unexpensive meal.

Ex-president, now Congresswoman Arroyo: Thumbs up on holding your ground with poise. Perfect epitome of a President who is ready to step down. I just hope those 2 incidents when you didn't accept Noynoy's offered hand to help you up and down the stairs was just because you didn't see it (truthfully). Good luck to Pampanga.

Chief Justice Renato Corona: I applaud you for showing up. You truly show that you are well-bred and educated that even though Noynoy kept bashing your appointment, you were there to support him as President. My hat goes off to you.

To the general Filipino people, regardless of who you voted for, I hope we support the current President. If we don't work together, our country and it's people will never change, and will never prosper. You don't have to like him. We just all need to support him. It's for all of us anyway, and our little children and future grandchildren.

These are just my "tots" on things. Overall, this day turned out to be great. An additional day to bond with my family! Story on how that went, tomorrow :)

Have a good day everyone. Thanks for reading.

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