She's Sitting High!

It's never too late for anything! :D

We were at the mall today to have lunch with my family (Dad's in the country for 3 days) and while waiting for our orders to be served Jai and I went looking for an Angry Bird plush at the department store. Passing by the baby stuff section, I invited Jai to check out the high chair displays and found something I never expected to take home on the same day. A beautiful mocha/white/red schemed high chair with very nice features and marked with a reasonable price! We were impressed immediately and I knew it was the "one."

We decided to skip the plush and went back to the restaurant. Everybody was surprised to see Jai carrying the brand new high chair in a folded state and I was all smiles. They had no idea-- but hey, neither did we!

Why I didn't think of getting a high chair sooner? I don't know. Maybe it just wasn't our priority. But now that I realize how important it is to own one, I couldn't be happier that we got one!

It's now extremely important that I make her understand what mealtime is, that it's not playtime aka running around with minimal interest to eat. I want to establish a routine in her and make her understand that she should be sitting down whenever it's time to eat.

Another advantage of getting a high chair is that it can also be a playtime tray, art table, and it can also serve as a "big girl" chair to use with a dining table when the tray is flipped back. It's a great investment not only for the baby but for the parents as well.

So here's a clip of Iaine at dinnertime tonight. No more chasing her around anymore. She's quietly minding her own business, "feeding" herself using a plastic bowl & spoon (with some food) and being allowed to make a mess, while I spoon feed her with food from a separate bowl. It was a success. Meal time used to last an hour or more but now it's cut down to an average of 30 minutes!

Thank you Jai for being such a great husband and a wonderful father. Thank you for being so hardworking--this wouldn't be possible if it weren't for you. I love you!

My Sister's Pre-Graduation

Yesterday was my little sister's Dedication, Pinning, and Ringhop Ceremony (a pre-graduation/clinical gradaution thing) and I stood in as parent. Daddy's not coming home til Saturday so I had to fill in. Couldn't take Iaine with me so she stayed home with her nanny and a family member. Here are a few photos of the event:

▲me and my beautiful sister Lindsay

▲L-R: my aunt Ninang Ruby, my mom, me, my sis, and our cousin Monique (Ninang Ruby's daughter)

▲waiting in line to march

▲ in our seats

▲ parking lot (program started at 12noon and ended at 7:30 pm. really hungry now!!)

▲ Ate out and PIGGED OUT! This is me, my sister, and our cousins having a chat.

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Tomorrow, Friday, is going to be her graduation (in a toga) and and I'm attending too. So til then, you guys.

Ciao!

Fourteen Months

I'm not a fan of counting by months but just so we're [almost] accurate, on April 6th Iaine turned 14 months old! Isn't that amazing? 2 months have passed since her first birthday. And she's acting like a big girl more than ever.

Iaine walks and runs like she's three, and knows how to "pull" me and tag me along headed for who knows where--the bathroom, for example, where she's seen the bathroom weighing scale and has become obsessed with it. She also likes to take me (or whoever's holding her hand) to the kitchen. Back home she does it and here at my parents' house too. She always comes in the kitchen as long as the door's open so she can open my mom's dish cabinet that's sitting on a low table. This isn't our house so not everything's actually childproof .

Iaine is a smart girl and a sweet, sweet girl. Gives hugs and kisses even we least expect it. She knows how to play with her baby dolls (feeding them, hugging them), knows how to sing along and dance, calls us Momma and Poppa, and knows the people around her. For example, when I ask her where her aunt is, she looks at her for a while, signaling that it is her. She points at stuff she's interested in and sometimes she just points at anything when she feels like she wants to be pa-cute. One of her quirks.

And how can I forget the number one thing that describes her? Iaine is beautiful.

She's getting so big too. Literally! She's quite tall for her age. Here's what happened recently:

Stranger: (talking to Iaine) Hi baby! What's your name?

Jai: Hindi pa po yan nakakapagsalita. / She doesn't know how to talk yet.

The lady thought Iaine was 2 or 3 years old. LOL. Such a big girl :D

Yes, a lot of good stuff are happening right now. Well, except for two things:

1. Her appetite isn't getting better. A few spoonfuls and she's done. Sometimes I even need to trick her into opening her mouth just so I could feed her. It's also hard chasing her around during mealtime.

We are SO getting a high chair.

I've been taught a method and I see moms do it everywhere. I'm putting Chibi in her chair and I'm putting whatever food I make for her on her table--with or without a plate (don't worry I'll make sure it's squeaky clean). That way, she can figure out how to eat by herself. According to my uncle who has 3 kids, that method taught his children how to eat on their own at an early age.

We'll see how that works out for us before the month ends. Jai's not coming home til next Saturday and I don't plan on purchasing a high chair by myself. I'm in no hurry anyway.

2. She has a cold. She's sleeping next to me and her upper body is elevated on a big pillow to help her breathe. She's been fussy all day and her being sick didn't help her appetite at all.

But generally, all is well. Iaine, or Chibi as we like to call her, turned 1 year and 2 months old and we're so proud. (No fancy celebration. After her first birthday we were done with that monthly feast tradition. So, we just stayed home so I can work on new layout projects and then we had some webcam fun.)

So many pearly whites!!

But I did have some 'presents' for her month-birthday week. I downloaded a couple of Dora episodes and 2 Barbie movies. Aside from her Baby Einstein educational videos, she loves them!

Her personality is definitely showing each day. I'm always looking forward to having new adventures with her. I love you, Chibi!

Burnout

I'm staring at my screen trying to think of something good to write about because it's been a while since I last made a real entry. So maybe I'll just try to fill you in on some deets until something huge comes along.

1. My sideline biz is moving up. I really grateful that more people take interest in my work everyday and they put a huge amount of trust on my aesthetics.

2. Iaine is getting more clingy. Sometimes I couldn't even sit down to eat by myself. When she wants me to pick her up I just can't say no. Iaine crying out "Momma" gets me everytime.

3. Jai and I are going on a strict budget. We've already chosen a place to spend our 2nd wedding anniversary and we just agreed on seeing a concert in May. Plus, we're saving up for a brand new high chair.

4. My mom and my little sister are having a vacation in Vietnam. My dad works there and I would I could come back to visit. I loved HCM.

5. I feel like shit nowadays. No happy sunshine motivation. Just plain ol' Foxy sulking in a corner. PMS? *shrug* I don't know.

6. I'm pretty close to firing Iaine's nanny.

7. I think I found a place to live but I think we need more options.

8. I replaced my pink egg mouse with a white Imation mouse. Nothing fancy. I just really wanted a mouse that works. And I'm not a fan of the trackpad.

9. I really really wanna hit the beach soon. I had a ripe yellow mango today and it reminded me of rice, mangoes and barbecue at the seashore. I miss having family outings to the beach. But right now I don't have a bathing suit (one piece please) and I'm still working on my summer bod so I'm putting that on hold for a while.

Jai, where have our wild and wacky adventures gone?

10. Some of my friends are pregnant, engaged, and married. Some are promoted (my husband, yay) and some are fired (Iaine's nanny is aaaalmost there). Some are moving on, some are heartbroken. But all of this still falls under the category of #NEW. As for me? This is me. --> x_x

So now what?

I'm not looking for a sense of purpose. I live for the people I love. This life is an adventure itself and I'm thankful for everything I have, but please don't judge me if I'm trying to find a way to loosen up, tear the box apart, and lift my spirits.

That is all.

Ridiculous

I'm not at all for politics because I know what a dirty business it is, but this time I need to speak up about something. There are 3 Filipinos who were scheduled for death penalty and as of right now it has just been announced that they're already killed. I can still hear the muffled wailing of the families as background to a reporter's update.

The issue has something to do with illegal drugs and I couldn't care less about that, but to make the long story short they committed a crime and pissed China off real bad and so they were punished with a death sentence.

It's sad, really. But is it at all acceptable to protect criminals?

The Philippine government is acting like those guys were innocent and needed a "chance." I don't know why their sentence got rescheduled but they were given a few more months to live. To me that's alright, because they have families to say goodbye to. I do understand how it feels like to lose somebody.

But here is my honest opinion: They deserve it. They knew it was a crime in the first place. Justice HAS to be served. It's just too bad that it's how it rolls in China and they needed to die. They crossed a line in another country and they got what's equal to the crime they committed.

Sorry if I'm crossing anybody, especially the suspects' families. It's just ridiculous that they're wallowing in despair about wat's over & done. If it helps, they should just pray for their loved ones.

I hope this government stops protecting criminals. To give attention to Filipinos overseas is a good thing and of course, deaths of Filipinos out there shouldn't happen. But in this case, those three knew what they were in for. They knew there were going to be consequences. They did it because of poverty I'm sure, but that's not an excuse to be off the hook and be led to think they're special.

The only people who could have prevented their own deaths for happening were themselves. I'm sorry for their deaths, I'm sorry this had to happen, but it's justice.

Let's just call it a wake up call to everybody who's in illegal drug trade, and a lesson to everyone else.

Party Party

Party time!

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My baby cousin's Christening. May 26, 2011. Jai was a godfather.

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My cousin's son Schyler's 1st birthday.

March 27. 2011

And there's another one coming up on April 3rd. Fun fun fun!

My Take on Sucker Punch

Jai and I saw Sucker Punch yesterday not because he's been begging me for days, but because I wanted to see it since I knew about it. This is a quick surprise review for y'all (and a bigger surprise for him I'm sure) so here it goes.

The story is plain and simple. Girl's mom dies and leaves her and her sister to their evil stepfather. He takes her to a mental institution and she's determined to find a way out of there. Take out the action scenes and I doubt it would last 15 minutes.

But I enjoyed it!

Some people wanna read too much between the lines but what they should really be doing is take it for what it is and meet it halfway. First of all, it's a fictional motion picture and it centers on a girl's imagination. How hard is it to understand that the sky is the limit with these movies? The film isn't perfect but it made an effort so I forgive its flaws.

Sucker Punch is like 90% CG but even so, real production design is still there and it's visually stunning. Costume and make-up are awesome. The girls looked great (except Vanessa Hudgens who looked like a real prostitute--STDs, zero class and high on a truckload of meth) but my personal favorites are Sweet Pea's warrior style that comes with a hoodie and Baby Doll's sailor style that was simple (her make-up was so intense that I guess they didn't wanna overdo her outfit). A bit whore-ish, yes, but I guess that was necessary. They could have worked a bit more on the script because it came on as mediocre and not too thought out, but the storyline is mindbending mindfuck. It will blow your mind which makes the movie's tagline "You will be unprepared" ever so fitting.

I don't wanna give too much away, but here's my 3 favorite parts of the movie:

1. Opening scene. I swear I was leaning forward in my seat and almost forgot Jai was sitting next to me. That hasn't happened to me in any theater before. That first part was grabbing and hard hitting. You never see something like that everyday.

2. First imagined fight scene. It was so badass and well done. Intense but smooth.

3. WWI (map). I especially liked Abbie Cornish and Jena Malone's sister act. That definitely stood out and I like their stance. Looked authentic, unlike the rest of the girls'.

The soundtrack is unbelievably GOOD. I've never been a fan of any of those artists, but now I am. Bjork, anyone?

There's a lot of debate going on about what is imagined and what is reality, but these movies leave that up to the audience. It's not the best film in the world but it certainly isn't the worst, so I would recommend it. If you would like to see 300 with a twist of Alice in Wonderland, I guess you would wanna see this.

A little tip: don't just watch, listen. Relax and enjoy it. There are some things to think about, but don't stress yourself too much. It's a fun ride.

score: 8/10

ps.

Vanessa Hudgens was so worthless in this, and so was her character. She deserved her fate. And YES I hate Vanessa Hudgenxxx. And that sobbing/leaning against a wall/sliding down to the floor thing? God, woman! Take some acting lessons or something. I loaaathe youuu.

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