Candle Blowing Expert

The second birthday of Louna was marked by an installment of candle blowing activities to which she obliged with gusto. Blowing has became her expertise because she just can't wait till her food cools down. She does the blowing to accelerate the process just so she could start with her meal.

The first candle blowing was with the family a week before her actual birthday. At first, she was quite surprised when everybody sang the Happy Birthday song when the cake was brought to the table. For her, it was simply mam mam. Then everybody asked her to blow the candle and she did. And she was proud. Now, she wants to blow every candle she sees.

On the D Day, we didn't really thought about celebrating it with the candles and all. The idea of a little family dinner in a cozy restaurant on the weekend following the D day seemed to please to everybody, even to Louna, so we settled to that plan. Of course, Louna just can't say Non, it's mam mam!

But hey, somebody else was thinking otherwise. A birthday is a birthday and should be celebrated as it is. Her Nanny celebrated it with the other kids at the children's center (picture below). What a star!

And she wasn't contented with that. It has to continue at her place with a Dora-themed celebration and a home-baked chocolate cake! And now tell me how my daughter could resist to the charm of her nanny - and to the mouth-watering cake! Louna is a spoiled brat.

And no, the celebration doesn't end there. Louna also received a set of Dora gifts - a Dora pajama holder from Noah (Nanny's son) and a Dora scooter from her Nanny. Merci Nannou et Noah! Je vous aime.
I know, you're jealous now and you want the same Nanny for your kids. Nah. Louna's keeping her Nanny till she gets to school.

So, want to see Louna and her trotinette at home? Well, she just loves this new toy that she keeps it near her, on the sofa, while watching her favorite DVD? She even dances with her scooter. Watch the vid!

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And watch her blow her candle here (her 4th candle blowing session):

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Louna's Blahblahs

She's got her list of words now. Conversation starts to be more exciting and we, as parents, have to take extra careful on what we say because this little sweetie understands and repeats what she hears.

The words or phrases listed are written as she pronounce them, followed by the real words or sentences which are mostly French, then by their English translation, if needed.

A-don - Pardon - Sorry. She utters this word each time she farts or burps. Polite little girl, right. But hold it, this seems to be the hardest word to say. And true enough, she would resist to pronounce this word after a tantrum or anytime she throws a fit.

Ya plyu - Il n'y a plus - Nothing anymore. We, as parents should understand Can I have some more?

Dotr - D'autres - Another one. Well, if we happen not to understand the previous phrase, this is her back-up sentence. Smart.

Ah pe - S'il te plait - Please. She knows how to get what she wants, don't she?

Awut - Yaourt - Yoghurt. And she definitely knows what she wants!

Ongkor - Encore - Again/More. And more!

Pa - Pas - I don't like. In fact, the complete sentence is Je n'aime pas. She starts to impose what she likes and dislikes during mealtime with pushing the dish away. Did you say, terrible twos? I guess you're right.

Sa ye - Ca y est - It's/I'm done. We of course, appreciate whatever our daughter accomplished, without moderation - be it a scribble on a piece of paper or finishing her pot of yoghurt.

Av yu - I love you. How sweet!

Atoh - Gateau - Cookies/Cakes. She loves eating, no doubt about it.

Why - Bye. Well, she was correctly saying Au revoir before but she was trying her English skills lately.

Lo - L'eau - Water. Even lakes, she calls them lo.

Lu - Vélo - Bicycle. She would certainly love to play with it, but we bought a big one. She still can't reach the pedals, lol.

Sa va? - Ca va? - Are you okay?. She would oftentimes ask her dolls if they're okay.

BackPack. Well, she's got her own backpack like Dora.

Wowie - Oui Oui - Noddy. Since she saw the Noddy DVD, she would claim for it more than Dora. It's just funny that she watches it in English but calls Noddy in French.

Ay. Sa pik - Aïe. Ca pique - Ouch. That hurts. Careful, bearded men. Shave first before asking a kiss from Louna.

Aret - Arrêtte - Stop. She hates nasty kids, so she says stop before they mess up around her.

Bobo - Wound/Cut. I was surprised she knew this word. She's learning a lot at her Nanny's place.

Pang - Lapin - Rabbit. She's got a lot of stuffed toys, that's why.

Bak - Beurk - Yuck. Oh, she knows when it's yucky!

Whew. After writing all that, I just realized how she progressed a lot from the last time. And I'm sure, I forgot to write down other words she already know.

Two-rific Louna

Our little darling is blowing her second candle today, November 8th. She's at the height of her development - playing between her terrible and terrific twos syndrome. Tho 2 years might not seem that long, it is just enough to make us addicted to her and make life without her unimaginable.

Take a look at this cute videos of her at 2 years old:

Louna savouring Burgundy grapes. We were actually taking an afternoon walk at the wine field but Louna couldn't resist to the inviting grapes left after the harvest. She had to stop every 5 meters to grasp for some grapes.



Louna on a bad mood. She's irritated over her cousin Martin for all and every reason. Hear her say BAD and NON 'TIN.

How She Spent Halloween 2007

Cousins Louise (the favorite) and Martin (the bad boy) were at Dijon to spend the 4-day weekend with Louna.

Take a peek:

Here's my favorite:

Here's some picture updates of Louna - the model ;).

She Said Goodbye to Daytime Diapers

Oh yes ! The trick is, we have to remove her diapers at daytime for her to tell us it’s time to do the potty. When she’s with her diapers, most of the time, she won’t even bother to inform us that it’s poo time. So here are the tricks which worked for us:

- No to diapers during daytime. At first, she refused to remove her diapers and it was a real tug-of-war between us. She in fact understood that without the diapers, she was obliged to remember (because she tends to forget when she’s busy playing) and inform us (most of the time, it’s one second too late, thus the accidents). Practice makes perfect. After repeated accidents, she understood that, well, she had to think about going to the toilet sometimes.

PS: This strategy is coupled with the questions Pot Louna? Non. Sûr? almost every 30 minutes. Yes, we have to think for her sometimes.

- Let her know that accidents are not acceptable. She has to have the notion of what is good and what is not. Time-out corner, when used moderately, doesn’t hurt.

- Encouragement. Kids love to be applauded and praised – and know what, this doesn’t cost a thing. Louna is just so proud when she does it. There was one afternoon when she wanted to keep her potty because Papa hadn’t seen it yet. And Papa was still at work! So I tried to negotiate to keep the potty chair inside the toilet, without 'flushing’ the content, but she wanted it to be near her inside her playroom. She doesn’t trust Maman when it comes to potty matters. Imagine the odor propagating everywhere inside the house! Panic! I called up her Papa and explained the situation. They talked over the phone and Papa said Bravo Louna. After then, she took her potty chair and headed to the toilet. It was ok to flush her business. Whew.

It’s been almost a month now that she’s doing her potty business without any accident. She could even control herself now. Hope this progress continues.

Another milestone is taking into form right now. Last Monday night, bad Maman as I am, I told Louna to Go do your potty on your own. You’re a big girl now. when she started to say Pot. That was because this bad Mom was busy watching the telly. But… before criticizing me, read this:

Louna went to her potty chair, pulled down her pants and diapers, then did her business. She then went back to me, pants pulled up correctly with some bumpy thing inside. I checked on it and it was in fact her diapers (it was night time – diaper time) which she wasn’t able to pull back up with her tiny hands. That was really cute! Papa and I was laughing our hearts out, followed by Louna who equally giggled on her own. We were really proud of her.

We’re not into systematic rewards each time she does something good. But that night, she had her Kinder chocolate for a job well done.

Louna hiding, ashamed of what she's doing in her little potty corner. Her potty corner is just outside Papa and Maman's own potty corner.

More On Her Habits..

Bisous

She's developing a cute daily routine at her Nanny's place. She would knock on the door. Once inside, she would give a kiss to everybody in the house - then to Maman. After saying Au revoir Maman, she would take her slippers, remove her shoes, then wear her slippers. Just after then that it's play time.

She would take the same routine in the afternoon. She would wear her shoes, give a kiss to everybody, take her coat, then wave A demain to everybody. All in that order. She's so cute.

Wipey Lil Butt-y

Doing the potty starts to be a regular routine. If it's pee time, then I just give her a toilet paper and she'll do the wiping on her own. She throws the used toilet paper in the toilet bowl like a big girl. If it's poo time, then she would bow down for me (or Papa) to do the wiping. She would then accompany me to the toilet to flush her business and says au revoir pipi/caca.

She starts to raise her panties too, not perfectly tho. Her bottoms are always left uncovered because her tiny arms just can't reach the butt part, yet.

Bébé Massage

Oh, this is an excellent bonding time between us and Louna (whoever gives her a bath). She's a willing client. She would even turn her back so we could do the job efficiently.

It's NON Time

Louna, go to bed now. NON.

Let's go do the potty. NON.

Drink your milk. NON.

What happened to my sweet, ever obeying little Louna? Oh, not a big deal. She's simply growing up.

The terrible twos stage is not a new phenomenon. I knew that it will come and I'm prepared for it. The oppositional behaviour that she sports at the moment is simply her way to stress out her choices - her first approach to independence.

So how do we deal with it?

Bedtime - If she's watching her favorite cartoon movies, then we ask her to say goodbye to the characters because her Tetite (her fave stuff toy) is already waiting for her.

Potty time - Instead of imposing it to her, we ask her if she wants to go to the potty or not. We also tell her to inform us if she feels the need to go. The strategy seems to work.

Mealtime - We teasingly check her cup/plate and tell her Oh, there's still some on your plate so she's quite challenged and finish her meal.

In fact, at this age, toddlers have this need to disagree with their parents to express their choices independently. Some parents would force their kids to obey them without considering this important behavioral change their kids are going through. Toddlers would resist the more you force them. I think the best compromise is to find the best strategy that would work with each kid.

But wait, I'm no saint. She still gets her dose of Time Out Corner if needed.

Some people would seem to concentrate on this bad changes their kids are undergoing. I find it sad because there are a lot of other exciting changes and discoveries at this stage. I'd rather call this stage the Terrific Twos. Here's why:

She's expressing herself more clearly now. She starts to form sentences which is a joy to hear.

Il pleut (It's raining). Rainy days are back and she knows it. She touches her head at the same time when she says this phrase. Most of the time, she says it just because she wants to wear her raincoat.

A demain (See you tomorrow). She barely pronounces a 'main, with her hands waving. But well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Martin. It's the name of the other boy in her Nanny's place. She only pronounces 'Tin. Coincidentally, it's also the name of his cousin. This morning, she saw a picture of Martin, her cousin and she pointed at it saying 'Tin.

Bonbon (Sweets/Candies). We discovered that she's getting bonbons in her Nanny's place because she said the word the first time she saw one at home. Oppps.

L'eau (Water). This goes to all liquids - water, milk, fruit juice, chocolate drink.

Her favorite phrase, as usual, is Il est où (where is it)? But this time, it's taking more precision. It could go from Il est où, le pain (where is the bread)? to Il est où, Papa?

On to the English language, she understands quite good but only have one word for now - car, which she pronounces as cah. She knows where her nose is, for example, but she would say nez instead. Funny because I'm playing nose-to-nose with her, but when it's her who request for it, she would say nez-à-nez.

Other joys of the Terrific Twos are the cute tricks she discovers each day.

Playing Maman. Nope, not the imitating part. I mean, she would take my bag, wear my shoes, give me a kiss and say Au revoir, maman (goodbye, maman).

Cache Cache. She loves playing hide-and-seek. She would count tee tee tee (her version of 1 2 3) and would appreciate it if you hide. One dinner time, Frenchguy and I were busy talking when she started saying Il est où main, Il est où main? (Main = hand, but she was actually asking where is the stuff she had in her hand = her spoon). We started searching for the lost spoon (under the table, at the sides of her chair..), her pretending to search too and was darn serious! After a few minutes, there she was, showing us her spoon which she hid under her legs. Clever girl!

Now, would you still call this stage Terrible Twos or Terrific Twos?

22 Months Update

My little girl's growing and it's quite hard to realize that she's nearing 2 years old and she'll start playschool starting February of next year. She's mastered a lot of skills and tricks now that makes her more adorable. I'm sure you're excited as me to unravel her cuteness.


Vocabulary Check

Mamie and Papi - the French words for grandma and grandpa were a hit this summer, especially that she stayed almost two week with her grandparents. She calls her nanny's mom Mamie too. And mind you, she could exige Mamie's attention with matching stamping of her feet. What an authority!

Pain - French word for bread. She's quite addicted to this word as much as she is addicted to the actual bread. And the way she wipes her plate with her bread, or the way she dips her bread to her cup of milk, you would know that she's a real Frenchie.

Tchin-Tchin - Here in France, if they don't say Santé (to health) to say Cheers, they would say tchin-tchin. And my little girl would ask for a tchin-tchin everytime she drinks her glass of water.. so careful if you serve yourself with wine.

Main - Hands. Of course, she knows where her hands are and she knows how to wash them. She would take one chair near the wash basin, climb the chair and ask help from Maman or Papa by shouting 'main main' with her hands held up high.

Moo - it could be Nemo when she wants to watch the movie or a cow if she sees one.

Oh Men - Have you seen Dora the Explorer? Do you know Swiper the Fox? And do you know what Swiper says? Oh men!

Back Pack - Still with Dora the Explorer, now with the Back Pack. Louna has some collections of Dora band-aids (which her Maman bought of course) and I caught her one time at the playground telling her playmate about her band-aid - she was singing the Back Pack song while pointing on her knees with the band-aid.

More Tricks

She basically mastered all the animal sounds in her book, almost all her principal body parts and is becoming more and more sensitive to music. She could sing Frere Jacques / Are You Sleeping song with her own lyrics hehe... but you could actually recognize the song, that's essential, right?
She's trying to use her left hand for eating lately and she's doing it great. Check the videos below, at the last entry.

She also loves patterns - you know, she had to follow the trail when we do hiking. Look at the picture attached, she walks on the green lane.

On potty training, optimist-me says we're almost at the finish line. She says caca or pot when she feels like doing it and would say non if it's no, of course. The problem is, she only informs us in the morning and evening.. and during daytime, she would finally forget informing us because she would be busy with her baby life. I try to ask her every so often and it works, she would say oui (yes) or non. The problem is, when I start to get busy with everything else except Maman life, I too, forget that I have to ask her for a pot. A friend told me I have to use an alarm clock and I swear, I'll use it this weekend.


She hates Mamanrazzi

When is the age when kids adore posing infront of the camera? Mine still hates it at 22 months old. She hides from me! .. Or is she hiding because she's eating something?

Spot the Difference

Taken Saturday, July 7, 2007

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Taken Friday, September 7, 2007

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Do you spot any difference?

New Tricks and More

You must be wondering how am I and what I'm doing. Maman had been quite busy lately and now she's sick so I thought, I might as well update my own blog. I've heard that Daddy (my grandpa from the Philippines) was asking about me non-stop and was disappointed to see my Maman in the Philippines alone, sans me. So okay, I'm taking the situation myself. I can't wait for my parents. I'll update you of the latest developments, latest tricks.. everything latest about me!

So where do I begin? Well, I'll probably start with an activity in a playground which I found beneficial and I could use in my everyday toddler life. Look at the picture below:

Me climbing the rope at the playground, then the stairs at the hotel, then trying my skills on rock climbing. I'm learning really fast!
During our vacation, we had a stopover at a zoo and the challenge was to imitate the animals to realize, well, animal-life what else.

With the pictures above, I was trying the tyrolienne bébé-style and the exercise bar wherein I stayed 9 long seconds to imitate monkeys. The 3rd picture shows how good I am to imitate pink flamingos.

Aside from good experiences, I also had my share of bad experience during our vacation. We were in a parking area at La Mongie preparing for our magnificent ride to the Pic du Midi when this cutie little donkey approached us. Maman rapidly took her camera to take a picture of me with the donkey while Papa held it to prevent any accident. I tried to caress it but the donkey thought I was giving something to eat. There you go. Maman captured a great picture of me, my hand inside the donkey's mouth. Papa said donkeys are kind and it didn't mean to hurt me.. but I was nevertheless hurt! Bad donkey!

Oppps, by the way, I finally said goodbye to my feeding bottle without the fuss. Drinking my milk from a bowl, just like my parents do, is really cool. I actually overheard them say that it shows where I'm interested into by checking on which skill I develop first. I eat excellently well for my age. Now, I drink from cups and glasses and I could proudly say that I never broke one.

Well, I don't know why they make it big of a deal that I have a BIG appetite for my tiny stomach when the little boy with me at the nanny's place had to be pushed just so he swallows something. Parents! They never know what they want for their kids.

More 20th Month Tricks

When spoons aren't enough anymore to scoop her food, she's got plan B.

Yoghurt Sharing, Louna-Style




Phone Conversation - Papi Singing with Louna





Playing in Style

More videos here.

Photo and Video Essay

Today is Louna's 20th month. As usual, I need to come up with a monthly update but this time, I'll try to talk less but show you more evidence. You might think that I brag about my daughter non-stop without even knowing if 50% of what I write is true or not. So here's Louna at 20 months old.

She's playing Mommy.

She's a Green Thumb. Well, she's watering the plants and loves to smell the flowers.

She eats on her own. Look at how coordinated her movements are, and how clean she eats at her age.

She loves chocolate. In all forms.

She could remove the seed of a cherry fruit. Oh yeah, direct from her mouth. That's my 20-months-old.

She's a Dora the Explorer fan. She's afraid of Swiper the Fox tho. She was watching Dora yesterday when I suddenly heard her cry. I rushed to see what's wrong with her, but in fact, she was just afraid that Swiper might swipe the ribbons of the three little pigs (To the Rescue edition). So I told her to raise her hand each time she sees Swiper and say, 'Swiper no swiping' three times. Well, she's raising her hands now. Not a bad start.

She's a webcam princess. - Here is one of our webcam conversations while I was on business travel.

She loves to accompany me buy a baguette or a pain.

What more can a Mom ask for? This budding little princess is a concentrate of pure happiness. Happy 20th month, ma coquine.

Frenchier by the Second

She’s a Frenchy. I have been trying to instill Filipino values by dressing her up Divisoria-style but aside from the Zambal song Popo Talobo she’s requesting each time I change her diapers and her morena color, no other traces of her being half-Filipino have blatantly marked her developments. She’s growing frenchier by the second. It’s inevitable. She’s growing on a French ground.

Language and comprehension skills are the important milestones this month. Aside from the words and phrases already listed two entries ago, she’s got new additions to her vocabulary. All French, of course.

Aïe Aïe Aïe (Ay Ay Ay) – Could be translated to Ouch, to Oh boy! to Oh dear! depending on which situation she employs the word. But hmm, she’s quite abusing this word.

Là – There. Ask her to search for something and she’ll answer you with là.

Coucou – Another way to say Hello.

Coin (pronounced as kwang)– Corner. Remember the Time-Out Corner when she does something bad? She knows it by heart now. She even goes there without being punished to practice her crying prowess. She pronounces it as khang.

This girl is a promising talkie-walkie. She talks a lot and she expresses herself so LOUDLY. And I mean loudly. She probably noticed she could get more attention by shouting all the time. How could I explain to a toddler that she could get what she wants even without yelling?

She’s now into Role Playing too. She plays Mom to her favourite doll. She feeds her doll, installs her on the high chair and attaches her with the security belt, puts on her shoes, dances with her, talks to her and cuddles her. Her doll has her own dose of khang too. Nasty doll!

Other toddler wonders she’s mastered right now are:

- Sending flying kisses and giving out real kisses with sounds.
- Playing with building blocks. She starts to pile up goods inside a grocery when left unguarded.
- Putting on her own shoes.

But this girl has two faces. She’s also a Bad Girl in the Making. She’s in the process of pushing our patience to the limits. She would refuse to arrange her toys. She wouldn’t oblige if we ask her to point on her different body parts. She wouldn’t concentrate when we want to teach her something. She would play when it’s bedtime.

Bref, she’s a growing toddler, with her highs and lows.

La Vérité Sort de la Bouche des Enfants

We were at my parents-inlaw’s place the week before I left, and as usual, we had lunch with the whole family, SIL’s family included. Family gatherings like that happen probably 3-4 times in a year. So like you, they also follow Louna’s development through blog – and phone calls, of course.

Proud parents as we are, we were ecstatic to announce that Louna understands quite a lot now, both in English and in French. You could ask her to throw something in the garbage, to go to the bathroom because it's bathtime, to wipe her mouth, to arrange her toys (understanding and actually doing the task is not synch yet), to get inside the house. Well, the list is actually endless.

SIL, a mom herself, knows that parents love to brag about their kids so she started to test Louna’s comprehension skills.

Louna, does Papa cook well? (Remember, I told you, we we're having lunch. And French culture says, we should talk about anything related to food while eating.)

Louna, sitting proudly on her highchair, aware that everybody was watching her, started to nod. Everybody applauded and said ‘Bravo’.

SIL, still not completely convinced, started to ask another question.

Louna, does Mama cook well?

Louna after seconds of hesitation, looked at me, and started to shake her head. Everybody laughed except me. I suddenly turned red.

PS: You should know by now what the title means.
PS1: But well, at least, they knew that she, indeed understands well.

Picture: Louna with her Mamie (grandmom) and cousins Louise and Martin. Look at how delighted she was in seeing the cake. Takaw!

My Little Frenchy at 19 Months Old

She starts to dream big...a lot. I mean she's got a lof of dreams. I was just wondering what suits her most. What do you think?

She dreams to be a Dancing Queen. So, supportive parents as we are, I taught her the first step (wriggly pampery arse), Frenchguy the second one (incredible hulk style). Hehe.

But me thinks she'll be a Future Engineer, like Maman and Papa. Look at her building the Eiffel Tower.


But well, her love for animals will also make her a good Veterinarian, me thinks. She not only gives them injections, she's also capable of giving them TLC - hugs and kisses.


She also dreams to be a little Imelda Marcos. She's a Shoe Advocate.

On developments..

Il est où? T'as vu? Literally translates to Where is it? Did you see it? Her first two sentences. No wonder, she's my cute little frenchy.

Au revoir (she pronounces it as ow-vwa). That means Goodbye. But she says that word to say Thank you. Baligtad.

Understands well (only when she wants!). Isn't life unfair? She understands us. But we don't understand her. She usually babbles a lot of sounds. She must have a lot of stories to tell. It must be interesting to know what's behind each uncomprehensible words.

She knows her body parts, errr, limit that to the head, ok? Nose, eyes, head, ears, lips, hands. Of course, there's some mix up sometimes but that makes kid life funnier, right?

Don't touch me. That's probably what she wants to say to all those who want to touch her, kiss her or hug her. But at her age, all she could do is to scream. Better luck next time, folks.

Bookworm? She starts to love looking at pictures on her book. Her favorite is her Farm Animal book. And would you believe that she said hiiih to imitate goat sound when she saw one? This book is a marvel!

Oppps, one more thing why I hate leaving her with her Papa (see picture below). This public display of complicity starts to make me jealous. Grrrr.

Yummylicious

It's ice cream time at her nanny's place this afternoon. If you notice, Louna still doesn't know how to lick her ice cream. She was actually following procedures, tucking her tounge in and out through his new-found-friend's request. But well, if you again notice, she's a fast learner..

J'adore Mes Chaussures

My new found discovery. I could spend my whole day doing just that - removing and putting my shoes on.

Maman left me with apple slices but they were not enough. I wanted to move out of my high chair to find more apples but it was too complicated. Now I'm blocked.

17th Month Wonders

My little toddler is growing up at a lightning speed. Reminds me, I need to be on full focus. Suffice to observe her one minute and I'm on for endless sweet discoveries. When I saw her playing with the computer mouse, clicking left and right and scrolling the wheel with her index finger while holding the mouse correctly, I thought it was just a simple game for her. But when I noticed how she was focused on the computer screen observing the changes, it was different. She knew what that little thing was for.

Another wonder is how she maneouvre her toy stroller. She walks from one ramp to another with magnificent ease. To think, I've learnt this technique at 29 years old (by asking a mommy friend how strollers work at ramps, escalators, metros and buses).

Louna with her stroller at the park.

I know she's on for more discoveries and I'd gladly accompany her. I'd love to watch the world through her innocent eyes.

Nature Lover. The first thing she would do upon arriving at home is to smell the tulips at the back of our house. Then she would take her toy stroller and walk around the garden, spending more time on the steps separating the terrace. She loves to climb them up and down.

This weekend, she stopped on the first step of the terrace pointing on something while saying tee tee. I checked on what captured her attention and there, I saw some ants and a bug merrily crawling. I then pointed to the ants and said ants, then to the bug and said bug. She then followed suit, pointing to the ants and said tee, then to the bug and said tee. She looked at me with that delighted and triumphant look so I was forced to clap my hands and say Bravo Louna.

PS: I don't force her anymore to get inside the house. She's an outdoor person. She enters when I announce that it's bath time.

Come Maman. She's got a new style. Each time I tell her anything that has something to do with taking the stairs like bath, potty or bed time, she would take my hand and lead me to the stairs. She's over with the crawling episode and would prefer climbing the stairs standing up with the help of Maman or Papa. Her legs are still too short to climb them alone.

Stair Gates Down. We finally decided to remove the stair gate. Louna knows that she's not allowed to go downstairs alone, too dangerous. She would normally stop before the stairs and call up. She never tried nor dared doing it alone. She climbs up the stairs alone though, but she would close the gate as a security measure upon arriving upstairs. Smart little girl.

Funny anecdote. She would close the security gate of any playground after getting in.

Down to 2 Diapers per Day. The nanny already informed us that Louna is almost potty trained. It's either she would say po to say pot which is pronounced as po in French, or she would take nanny's hand and lead her to the potty chair. Last week, it was no success for us to keep her on her potty chair. I've tried every method possible but she didn't cooperate. This weekend, we tried leaving Tetite (her fave toy) with her. And voila! She did it and she was proud.

Tetite has always been her toy fetish. It helped her crawl and walk. And I think there will always be great adventures coming with Tetite in tow.

Bon appetit. She's an easy-to-please little eater. She eats just about anything we offer her and even ask for more. With that comes her determination to hold her spoon and eat on her own. And she does that tidily. Even picking those tiny little crumbs around her bowl, put them carefully on her spoon before directing them to her mouth. And she even takes her glass of water from time to time to quench her thirst. She also blows her food even when it's not hot. She's a grown up.

Eating in a restaurant is not a problem anymore. She even livens up the discussion most of the time.

Tender Louna. Imagine her on her Papa's shoulder, caressing Papa's head with her tiny hands. That's video perfect. Aside from that, she hugs and she kisses (with sound!). What more can a Maman ask for?

Co-Sleeping Advocate. Ask her where she wants to sleep and she would run directly to our room giggling.

Vocabulary Check. She's learning slowly. She always babble different sounds which are quite hard to decode till now, like walawalawala or gonong gonong gonong. Friends say she speaks Tagalog. She also babbles tatatata melanged to a certain melody when she sings.

Here's some words/phrases which I was able to decode lately:

Ta Tee Tee. Translation: One Two Three. That's when she wants to play jumps. We hold her hands and then carry her forward at the count of three.

Ya pu. Translation: Il n'y en a plus pronounced as il nyona plyu (I'm bad at this one) which means nothing anymore in English. This is accompanied by hand gestures (holding her hands up high and turning left and right).

Be. Translation: Birds. We couldn't miss one. She sees and hears them. Just this evening, she saw a fly on the window. She immediately pointed at it and said be. Now, everything that flies is a be. And boy, I didn't know that a fly could be that amusing!

Window-Shopping Toddler

Louna translated.

Look Maman, this one looks nice. I really think it is. Don't you think Papa? Ow, this one is nice too. Wow wow wow. Everything is nice. This one. This one. That one. I want everything. Heeee.

My First Haircut

Tantrum

The majority of my articles tend to highlight the positive side of Louna which explains her overall rating as a cool, easy-to-manage kid. Some friends even tease us that we have to plan for another child so we could feel the real parenting experience. But what is a real experience anyway? She's an ordinary child all the same, ready to express her anger and other emotional outbursts when need be.

Just like adults, kids need to evacuate these bad feelings for emotional equilibrium. It's healthy and normal. But unlike adults, kids lack self-control so they tend to express their emotions physically. I've seen toddlers who hit, bite, pull their friend's hair, throw toys, etc. Again, it's normal. When I was not a mother yet, I thought these kids are aggressive and violent, and get this, at a very young age! That's from someone who needs a course on child psychology or better yet, someone who needs to be a mother to understand kids. I'm learning.

As I've said, it's healthy and normal but it's not a reason to leave kids throwing tantrum on every occasion they get and hurt themselves or other kids. Careful, kids could abuse and consider it as a child's play (well, I guess I need to stop watching Super Nanny hehe, I start to be paranoid). Parents should be there to take control of the moment and explain the situation to them till they get the right self-discipline they need to master their emotions. You won't want to see your toddler alone at school because he's biting everybody, right?

Louna's method is quite brutal. She would cry and lie down on the floor. The moment I take her in my arms, she would hit me on the face. Merci (thank you). She's still a work in progress on this point. Before, I would try to calm her down at once but all I get are endless punches and louder cries. She won't even listen. So now, I let her blow it all out and talk to her later, after her tantrum. She sometimes continue to punch so she goes directly to the time-out corner (yes, we finally used this method). I guess she understood that corner means punishment so at times when she accidentally leaves her hand out of control, she would transform the gesture to a caress and lets out her sweetest smile. Smart.

Some tantrum moments:
- she doesn't want to enter the house
- she doesn't want to be taught how to hold her spoon
- she want's more baguette (french loaf)
- she doesn't want something in her possesion to be confiscated (like a big bar of chocolate, my mobile phone..)

16th Month Wonders

First time Mom, away from the family and living in another country are the perfect factors to feel lost. I've conditionned myself to rely on my instincts but there's just some situations that I feel the need to rely on something else. Since my pregnancy to present, I have been a grand devourer of books, magazines and internet sites. I've frequented Mommy and Baby bloggers around the net. I have learnt a lot of Mommy tricks, but the most important of all, I've learnt that there's no such thing as Child: User's Guide.

Every child has his own curve of physical, cognitive, social and emotional developments so no need to stress out over something because statistics say so. I have stopped worrying that my child walked later than her peers. I have stopped worrying that she just started potty training at 16 months old. I have decided to let her grow at her own pace, not worrying about statistics. I have decided to watch her grow without pushing. I have decided to savour the magic moments of her little discoveries without worrying.

She sees/hears the world. She stops when a dog barks and says 'waw waw' in return. She looks up in the sky when she hears an airplane and points at it. She loves observing birds and would stop walking just to see them fly. She would stop walking, lacking confidence, when she hears a motorcycle pass her way - like she's sensed danger. She would stare at someone and wait till he says hi and would smile and wave her hand in return.

She imitates. She cleans the toilet bowl with the brush (even if I say no). She puts toothpaste on her brush. She uses her toothbrush as a lollipop. She combs Papa's hair. She holds the (computer) mouse like a pro. We were once walking at the town center and some teenagers shouted. She stopped, turned to the youngsters, and surprised everybody when she yelled back at them. It's the time of parenthood when we have to be careful on what we say and do before her.

She makes us laugh. She would swing from one foot to the other when she hears music and look at us with a smile. She would do something good and would clap her hands.

She understands. More than what we think she does. She shows where her nose is and if she points somewhere else but her nose, it means playtime. She would arrange her toys, put her diapers in the garbage, goes to her room when it's bedtime, bring something to Mama or Papa... but all that, exclusive when she's on play mood.

She drinks on her own. This one's a milestone! She holds her glass, ask for a toast (when she's on play mood), drinks what's inside, and ends the whole procedure with a cough. Chic!

She knows good from bad. It's either we applaud or nothing. Depending on the gravity, she would either give us a hug or a kiss or go to the corner. She would always try to push to the limits, of course, but kids will always be kids. I let her be. That's part of the gazillion joys of parenthood.

My First Book

Dear Louna,

I have been reading my past entries about your developments and I just noticed how it sounded like a technical report. They talked about your height, your weight and your latest developments and nothing more. They lacked emotions. I seldom expressed how happy and proud we are to have you as our daughter. Yes, we are really proud of you. Of course, every parent has the same statement for their children, you would say. But what if I tell you, most of the parents around me complain about their kids (they're French!) and I just cannot take their lead because I cannot complain about you. Here's why:

- Sleeping Patterns. You started having a whole night sleep (8h!) at 3 weeks old. I was told that most children establish their sleeping rhythm at 3 months old or later. I was so worried about you that I went to the health center to talk about your case. The other mothers were jealously laughing because it was their first time to hear a mother complaining because she sleeps well at night. I was quite embarassed, I'm a first-time Mom and it shows. The health center's pediatrician adviced me to wake you up for a feeding session every 4 hours because you're still too young and it's easy for you to fall on hypothermia. But a week later, your pediatrician told me that I should leave you in your slumber as you would cry if you're hungry anyway. From then on, everybody in the household slept a complete night, not tired at all.

For quite sometime now, your degree of comprehension (in english and in french) just amazes us more and more. Each time I tell you it's bedtime and that we have to go upstairs, you automatically climb the stairs and follow me. Last night, we we're busy watching TV and nobody wants to accompany you to bed (yes, it happens sometimes, bad parents you have), so I told you the ritual 'It's time to go to bed, Louna'. To our amazement (and I have to admit, I was so proud of you), you started walking your way to the stairs. (I told Papa to wait and observe). You then hit the steps one by one, and arriving upstairs, you started to close the security barrier and off you went to your room. You're really amazing! We were so proud of you.

- Crybaby ??. Not at all. As infant, you cried when you had wet diapers and when you're hungry. You really gave me an easy task there. When you're sick, crying is really the last option. You would just talk less or should I say babble most of the time. Your teeth didn't even disturbed your mood. You cry sometimes, ok, but just a matter of few minutes, then it's finished. How could I complain?

- Eating Habit. Oh, you love eating. The good thing is that you still eat even when you're sick. That helps to keep you going. You knew how to eat on your own at barely 16 months old. Holding your spoon is probably the skill you learnt the fastest. The bad part is that you don't know when to stop and you hate drinking water.

This would make you laugh I swear, but do you know that most of the time, you don't want to leave your high chair because you still ask for mam mam? And when I do shop, you become my mam mam detector because you know when it's food or not? What a skill!

So how do we manage to give you just the right dose without succumbing to obesity? - Fruits. And if it's really time to leave the kitchen, we move you out of your high chair by force. You whine a bit and stop just after. I tell you, crying isn't your strongest point.

If you read and understand this, I should congratulate myself as I set that as my objective - you as a multilingual child. By the time you read this, France must have probably changed, but for now, everybody around me thinks that I'll just confuse you with all these languages. And I just limit it to English and French. Remember, you're half Filipino and every Filipino speaks at least 2 languages. Now that's a challenge.

Je t'aime bébé.

PS: Strictly no sugarcoat added.

Animal Feeding

Credits: Backgrounds from Lyndsey Deeds, Alphas and Stitches from Free Digital Scrapbooking, Flowers from Petra Losbichler of Pc Scrapbooking .

We were walking around the park this weekend and my attention was caught by a group of kids crowding before the animals. I approached them and watched what they were doing. Wow, they were giving some foods to the animals. A little girl handed a slice of apple to me and I really thought it was for me. I was about to bite on it when Papa stopped me and showed me how to do. He guided my tiny little hands to the animals and two tiny goats started to bite on it. I continued feeding them and it was funny. I wasn't frightened at all. I love feeding the animals!