Dancing Diva

Time really fly so fast. Our then tiny baby is now a toddler and is starting to show her interest even at such a young age. When we have occasion to celebrate here we noticed that our DD love to dance. Then my friends, whose kids are 5 years old, told me that the dance school their kids go to have a program for toddlers. So in October I enrolled our DD to that program. The program runs only for six Saturdays so I let her tried it. She completed the first six weeks already and she is supposed to go back last Saturday. Unfortunately both of us here got sick so I decided to enroll her back again after six weeks.

She liked going to the class but one thing she is scared of doing is the somersault. She will start to position herself but when you urged her to finish the act she will just go stiff. I think she is scared of hurting herself :-) The instructor said that in time she will overcome it and do the somersault. I asked her why she won't do it and she said "hurt head" :-) Maybe when she's already three she will do it on her own accord.

Aside from dancing, she is also into music. When we had the party on Nov. 7 she was also joining us dancing and singing. Even though she can't pronounce the lyrics she also sung to her hearts content. She even copied my friends dancing that they called her their star dancer :-) She is not shy at all. I hope she will still continue to show interest in dancing and singing. Right now her favorite song to sing is My Bukas Pa and the new ABS-CBN Christmas station ID song. She love hearing it over and over through youtube.

DD's first dance trophy (tiny trophy) given by their instructor for completing the first six weeks of the program.

Summer Pictures

I have lots of pictures of our DD that I haven't uploaded yet to our computer. Last night I tried to upload but it took so long to download. I think I need to allot more time to it and find a way to upload faster.

The above pictures were taken in summer. I am not a professional photographer and I'm only using a regular digital camera so pardon the captures :-) I will also do my best to post recent pictures of our DD more often coz my family back home are asking me for it.

Missing Her Daddy

It has been a month since our Daddy left for his third tour overseas and our DD is missing him everyday. Almost every night she is looking for him. There were nights that she woke up crying and asking for Daddy. It is heartbreaking seeing her cry so I just keep telling her that Daddy is at work and we will see him soon.

When hubby thought of using the military program United Through Reading, wherein deployed soldiers can make a video of themselves while reading a story, he took advantage of it. While they were in Kuwait he was able to made three videos of himself reading a story for our tiny one. Now that we have the videos when she misses her Dad she will request to watch the videos. I also made sure that she watches it before we go to sleep.

Now, when she asked for Daddy and I tell her he will not be here soon enough, she will just asked to watch the video instead. Last week she wasn't feeling well and she woke up around 2:30am. She kept telling me to watch daddy so I stood up and turn the DVD on. We both watched one video of hubby three times before she went back to sleep. I am thankful that Daddy did it because it helps our DD in dealing with Daddy's absence.

Trying to be Independent

Our DD is now 28 months and she is a handful. She now tries to be independent in whatever she like to do. When we go places, she don't like to be in her stroller but want to walk. She won't hold my hands or her Dad's because she want to walk by herself and fast. It's very funny because her Daddy will introduce her as 'our 2 year old going on 17' :-)

When dressing up, she will tell me she want nice and like to pick out her own clothes. She will let out a big NO if she don't like what I pick for her. Sometimes I like it when she acts independently especially when eating and playing but when she become stubborn it's not good anymore. I know we will just be there to support her so she will know what she is allowed to do by herself and what's not.

Lately, because we have new friends around here, she also gain friends. What I noticed when they're playing is that she really know how to share and don't get offended or will not cry if other kids took her toys. When I say share or borrow she oblige. I am hoping that trait will not change. She don't fight with other kids too. She love having them around. I guess she expects that everyday she will see them that is why every morning she will ask about her 'ate and AJ' (her new friends). When afternoon came and she still don't see them she will drag me to the door and point outside to go to our friends apartment unit. I can see now a "laagan" in the making :-)

Our DD with My Sis and Her Hubby

My sister and her husband is trying to complete their family. They have their own house already and they are ready to have a child but they are not blessed with one yet. When we got there in the Philippines, my sister told me that we can leave our DD there and they will take care of her. Just for the time that hubby will be away and so I can do whatever I need to do here in the US. But of course it's not that easy to do. I don't want to be away with her. My husband also won't allow it. I know they kind of make it a joke but hoping we will allow it. It would be very hard to be away from you child. Even when I go to school and I leave our DD with hubby I am still worried how much more if she's half way around the world :-) I know there are cases wherein families have to sacrifice too much to include separation of family members but I am hoping we won't resort to that. I am happy to know though that my family back in the Philippines are very supportive and are willing to take care of our child.

DD's Second Dental Visit

Before we left for Philippines in July I brought our DD to her 2nd dental visit. She had her teeth cleaned and just like the first time she did not cry. She's acting like a big kid already. She is more relax visiting a dental office than when we go for her baby well check appointments. I asked her Dentist if I can take picture while she's doing the cleaning and she gave me permission. I am hoping that she will stay the same not afraid of dental check ups.

She was asked to open her mouth big and she complied as told. Good girl indeed :-) She got a Tigger stuffed toy afterward being so good during the process. She will have another appointment in January 2010.

Meeting the Grandparents

Lolo, Lola, DD, ate Karen, Hubby, and Me

For the first time, my husband and our daughter met my parents on our recent vacation to my home country Philippines. It was a surreal feeling seeing my parents hugging and kissing our DD and their son-in-law. My father was even tearful when he hugged hubby which touches my husband a lot.

Before we plan for this vacation, my parents were always asking us when they can see hubby and their granddaughter. I did not promise them any time since I did it before and it wasn't pushed through. I don't want to disappoint them again. With hubby's impending deployment, I figured that there's no other soonest time to visit them than having it before he leave. So we decided to have it on July 26-August 10. It was a short one but the important thing was we were able to visit them.

My Mom was with the group that met us at the airport. She carried our DD inside the van and sat on her lap from the airport until we reached our town. It was a 3 and a half hour drive and our DD did not cry but peacefully slept in my Mom's arms. I was thinking she'll shy away from the rest of the family but thankfully she didn't. She was hugging everybody and go with any one who wants to carry her. My sister jokingly asked hubby if we can leave DD in the Philippines while he is on deployment. Of course it's not possible :-) I won't be at peace here without our DD. Now that we are back here my Mom told me over the phone that they misses DD very much. I know it will be another year or two before we can see them again.

Our Sweet Baby

Now that our little girl is growing up I can see that she is also getting very sweet. When she thinks I am mad at her she will throw me a hug and kisses. I think it's very sweet of her to do it. Sometimes when she won't listen to me I make a fake cry and if she sensed that I am upset she will give me a hug :-) It really brought a smile to my face when she fall into my trap :-) I am not using this trick all the time though coz I know she may sensed too that I am only making it up and she will not fall for it anymore. I am just glad that we don't have an episode yet of yelling and uncontrolled tantrum. She is still very easy to calm down and hopefully it will always be like this.