Ma Crèche Privée

End of School Year 2010-2011

2011-07-14T12:05:00.006+02:00

Finally! Louna ends her preschool year with good grades (Maternelle - Grande Section). Though she needs to be stimulated from time to time since she seems to be easily distracted, not paying attention and off to dream land most of the time, the big girls seems to do exercises correctly once explained clearly. I think she improved a lot when we told her to listen carefully to her teacher. Sometimes, simple instructions from parents could do the trick.
Kyla on the other hand started to express herself more freely at school. At first, the teacher and her assistant were eager to hear the sound of her voice since she didn't utter a single word at school. I'm proud that she made it up to school end - she's not even 3 years old!
The girls were particularly proud during the school festivities, they've got special visitors ;)
Next chapter would be in the Philippines. Louna's already inviting everybody to go to Manila telling them that's it's so easy to go there: take a taxi, then the train, then the plane, another taxi and you're there. She also has her own plans now, she told her aunt that during short vacations, we will stay in the Philippines. And during long vacations, we will visit other countries. This girls, while playing, is actually listening to her parents' conversion, no doubt!

The Preschoolers Love School!

2011-01-29T14:46:00.002+01:00

Kyla who started preschool early this year is now well adapted to school routines. In the morning, upon arriving at school, she would remove her winter coat and hang it on its designated place. Then she runs (yes, not walk, run!) to the school room, takes her name and picture card and hangs it on the dashboard. All that without a goodbye kiss and without looking back at her mom.

Louna on the other hand is gathering a lot of "smiles" at school. She still is innocently inloved with Adam and is stealing him a kiss in every occasion. Louna was promoted to "grande section" in her English class so she now takes her lessons with kids from 6-8 years old. With this change, she's obliged to leave Adam behind but the proud girl is just too proud that she ignores Adam at school and the poor Adam just contents himself by looking at her at the corner of his eyes. Kids!

The Little Preschooler

2011-01-13T21:22:00.002+01:00

Early bird catches the worms. Kyla understood this saying early. At 2 years and 3 months old, she bravely starts preschool!

Call Center Louna

2010-12-19T21:24:00.001+01:00

Louna always loved talking on the phone. Here's a collage of videos of her at 20 months old and now at 5 years old.

The Girls' 2010 Encounter with Santa

2010-12-19T18:12:00.000+01:00

Kyla's First Day at School (Adaptation Period)

2010-12-19T17:53:00.005+01:00

>We received a great surprise from the school last week. The preschool teacher informed us that Kyla could finally start school next year, January. Last Thursday was her first and only day of adaptation at school. But unlike the daycare where she used to go, Kyla was prim and proper, almost like a big girl at school. She took the teacher's hand and stayed with her without crying.

Conclusion? Kyla's ready for school. Next rendez-vous will be on the class opening this January.

Kyla's First Approach to English Language

2010-11-06T18:44:00.001+01:00

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Louna's 5th Birthday

2010-10-31T20:34:00.004+01:00

Louna had been talking about her birthday since... well, I can't even remember. Since long time ago, for sure. She had been warning us to be kind to her so we could be on the list of her invitees. She had been dreaming about celebrating her birthday at Mc Donalds but unfortunately, we were not able to reserve the date chosen. We held her birthday at Jungle Kid instead, and not to my surprise, to all the kids' delight! The pictures say it all!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
PS: Louna's birthday is on November 8 but we held an advanced celebration as I'll be out on a business trip on that day.

Kyla's First Run

2010-10-31T18:26:00.008+01:00

It was a sunny October afternoon. The whole family were bound to Dole for Papa's 10-km run and Louna's fun run. But during the registration, Papa learned that kids born on 2008 are allowed to run.. so I guess you follow the story. Now, here's the evidence. Have fun!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Summer Vacation with Goals

2010-08-18T15:31:00.007+02:00

First is to get Kyla potty trained before she enters daycare on September (tho it's not an obligation). So far, so good. It seems that she definitely said goodbye to daytime diapers since a week now. She gets to control her "needs" better now. No more accidents!Second is to teach Louna how to bike. Allow me to show you the evidence and appreciate it yourself.

Summer Vacation at Lac du Carouge

2010-07-18T22:03:00.009+02:00

We had a week vacation to spend 2 weeks ago and to please everybody, we decided to rent a mobilehome at a camping site in the mountainous area of the Savoie Region - that is to please Papa who's a bike fanatic at the moment, to please Mama who hates too much hot weather, and to please us, the little girls because there's a tiny lake just at the gate of the camping site and because we're staying in a "rectangle house"!

The camping site had a Mini Club so I got to spend some mornings with other kids while Mama and Kyla had fun at the playground or at the lake and while Papa's out biking. Mama said I progressed a lot because I was less shy and I participated in kid activities at the camping site. In fact, I went alone at the club just after breakfast when we had no planned activity in the morning. That's how big I am now!

Nights are spent watching football (it was the world cup finals that week!), or listening to karaoke or simply playing with other kids - of other nationalities! That's camping life and I love it!

One morning, my parents had a surprise for Kyla and I - a donkey ride! Its name was Galopette and it stayed the whole day with us. That was really a fun ride and I wish I could do the same again next vacation. Kyla would surely love to do it alone on her own donkey.

We did a lot of child-friendly trek and even Kyla walked with us. Mama said I could really do long distances now and that she was proud of me. One itinerary included a 350m climb (3 hour hike) but we took the wrong way on our way back so we continued climbing and some passages were really dangerous. Papa said that we were out of the child-friendly loop and we needed to take extra care in climbing. Good thing Mama didn't forget our magic lollipop that gave me extra power to climb. Kyla was comfortably seated on her baby backpack but she needed the magic lollipop anyway to give her extra power to stay calm.

Look at that, the magic lollipop worked wonders too to keep me smiling after such an effort!

Check the pictures and have fun with us!

Photoshoot June 2010

2010-06-20T16:35:00.004+02:00

Mother's Day

2010-06-16T14:52:00.005+02:00

Papa told me one afternoon that we needed to send some pictures to his parents because it's been a long time they haven't seen the girls and one of the main reasons is, the blog is not updated! Errr, is there any message somewhere? *scratching head*

Ok, alright. How many times did I say that I need to be more active on blogging, at least on this one? Hmmm, probably on all my previous entries, lol. Facebook is probably the IN thing of the moment and since all my siblings and a LOT of my friends and relatives are there.. and not to forget, the girls' cousin Louise is also there - that I unconsciously neglige this blog thinking they get an update and get to see pictures of the girls there.

But ok, due to Papa's insistent demand, here I go with none other than my gift on mother's day! As you can observe, the little artist has improved a lot on cutting and painting objects + on writing skills as well.

Below is a video of my mother's day poem this year. Louna's not in the mood to recite it, but due to insistent public demand, she gave way without much enthusiasme, lol. Here's a link to last year's poem.

Here are some picture updates.
And a video update showing how they love to feed the animals.

Kyla's Spring Update

2010-04-28T13:45:00.009+02:00

1 year and 7 months old! And yet, she just started walking 2 months ago, at 17 months old. But then, she's got all her baby teeth and she eats on her own. Each kid has his own developmental milestone and I vowed to respect my kids' time.

She's got other talents too. She can drink from a cup/glass on her own - without a drop, take note.

She tries to run. Climbs up the stairs. She knows when she does her potty thing (she says o-o), even sits on her trainer without her diapers but still couldn't do it. In fact, she informs us when she's actually doing it. There's a problem of synchronization but I'll seriously start training her this summer.

Communication is probably the highlight of this season. She starts to pronounce words and form sentences. She loves to repeat words so I take advantage.

Kyla's First Words

Mama - that's music to my ears especially when she wakes up in the morning and yells Mama!
Papa -
Siser (Dessert) - while pointing with insistence on the fridge
Shosho (Chaussures, chaussettes ou chaussons - shoes, socks or bootee) - while pointing on her feet
Ato (Gâteau - Cake/Cookie) - this pertains to all kinds of food!
Shisho (C'est chaud - It's hot) - generally to refer to her soup followed by blowing to cool it down. Below is a vid showing how she pronounce c'est chaud.

English Phrases She Understands

Go to bed - she sure understands this because she cries each time I tell her
Go upstairs - she generally doesn't like this because it's almost synonymous to 'go to bed'
Go downstairs - it means it's time for breakfast
Let's brush your teeth - she wants to brush her teeth herself
Time to eat - she would stop whatever she's doing and run direct to the kitchen
Outside - she loves to stay outside

Now that she starts to catch some words and understands them, I also start introducing English DVDs so she assimilates another language easily. Did I say she's watching Dora?

Kyla's Walking

2010-03-27T13:59:00.002+01:00

Since 3 weeks now. And she's lovin' it. Here's a video taken before Louna's Carnaval at school. Of course, Kyla's got her own costume too.

Philippine Getaway 2010

2010-02-27T13:41:00.014+01:00

It was winter vacation at Louna’s school but we had better plans than battling the freezing cold here in France. The whole family geared off with summer outfits and off we went to the Philippines!

Kyla’s Christening

When my mother-inlaw asked how many visitors we will have on Kyla’s baptism. I told her “100 minimum”. She didn’t budge to react, I think it’s not because she didn’t care but simply because she was shocked! For Louna’s baptism, we did it the traditional way here in France. We were a total of 12 persons around the table. Exclusive to family members only (Louna’s godmother is her cousin). No extended family. No friends. No neighbors. No friends of the friends of our neighbors.

For Kyla’s baptism, it was rock-n-roll! We live in a small barrio and everybody knows each other (we didn’t officially invite tho because the number could grow exponentially!), my parents are retired teachers but they stay in contact with their friends, our family alone (mother and father side) represents more than a hundred already, multiply that by 2 if they’re all present! And 3 if all relatives living abroad go home to the Philippines!

Enough with the numbers but I’d like to insist that it’s simply impossible to plan for a “small” banquet. It’s just simply not possible. Party preparation is part of the fiesta though. As usual, my aunties and cousins were there to help prepare whatever there is to prepare. Most of the time, it ends up with a lot of reminiscing, a lot of laughter and a lot of bonding time with the family. That’s part of the Philippine culture I terribly miss.

So on with the fiesta. Kyla was feisty during the celebration because she was tired, it was hot, and we waited too long before the celebration started. Pictures were quite impossible to take. She was knocked off on our way home. But once awake, she loved switching from one arm to another. She never saw as much willing nannies, ready to cuddle and carry her day in and day out as in the Philippines! No wonder, she didn’t learn to walk there, she just needed to raise her arms and she’s carried!

Louna on the other hand had a blast. She played with her cousin, uncles and aunties. The language barrier didn’t seem to disturb her. The Christening celebration became a kiddy party of some sort since I wanted Louna to experience partying Filipino style.

Rural Life

Though Dijon couldn’t be considered a big city, it’s far from being rural either. And I personally prefer that my kids play outside than playing with their Nintendos inside their room. Louna fortunately shares the same point of view. She loved staying outside (we even took our meals outside! Under our caïmito tree!), picking bananas, mangoes and caïmitos direct from the tree every morning, living life without the stress of our daily routine.

Beach Lovers

White sand + Sun + Clear water + Isolated island = Paradise. Potipot island is just 10-15 minutes boat ride from the mainland. The girls loved the getaway. They forgot about their jetlag!

End of the Year Updates

2009-12-20T15:31:00.011+01:00

Did you know that Louna missed 3 days of school because she had chicken pox? Nope? That means you need to be updated. The girls are growing up too fast. I hardly get a chance to update this blog: Primo, because I don't want to miss on their education. Segundo, because these girls demand a lot of time and attention from their Mom.

So on with the updates. Kyla, luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you see it) wasn't contaminated with the chicken pox virus. Strong little girl. To think that we didn't take any effort to separate the two. Better luck next time.

Louna, on the other hand wasn't really disturbed by the virus. She had the same appetite and energy. I just hope there'll be no scars especially on her face, because this girl's not listening to her Mom. She just can't stop herself from scratching!

On with the developments. Kyla, at 1 year and 3 months old hasn't taken her first step yet. She prefers to walk with somebody than pushing a toy stroller or pushcarts alone. Hmmm. But she's got talents tho. She can eat her yoghurt on her own. In fact, she wants to eat on her own now.

Louna's development now is more on learning letters and numbers. She's got a lot of smileys from school which kind of motivate her. But that talent is rarely shown at home. She prefers to play teacher at home, she's giving me smileys too!

She's quite active tho on extra-curricular activities which is good in learning to respect others and how to connect with other kids.

Louna doing rock climbing (okay, she's too slow! but she's the youngest among the group and she's the only girl too).

Louna doing roller blades.

She knows how to take care of her sister too (when she's in the mood, of course). Look at them playing with the snow.

Merry Christmas!!

Will She Walk Before Christmas?

2009-12-02T20:45:00.003+01:00

Kyla, the lazy walker. We have been trying to introduce different push-carts, toy strollers, mini-buses, toy trolleys, walker, name it.. none of those motivated her to take that first step without whining. This morning, I dealt the problem with a lot of patience... and look at the result! Kyla pushing her stroller! With a smile at that!

If she doesn't walk on her own before Christmas, I'm not the impatient kind of Mom, I could still wait till our Philippine vacation next Feb.

Kyla, no stress girly ;)

Louna est Amoureuse!

2009-11-20T21:40:00.004+01:00

Louna is inlove! She's been talking about one boy. Only one boy. Everyday. His name is Adam.

One day, she asked me to fix her hair. She told me that Adam would surely say "Oh ma princesse. T'es belle!" (Oh my princess. You're beautiful.) And true enough, Adam was looking at her when we arrived at school that morning.

She's been refusing to use her green coat. The reason? Adam told her that her coat wasn’t pretty.

I asked her to write names of other kids at school. You now know the answer. The only name she knows by heart apart her name is: Adam!

She hates Leo, Joshua… and all other kids who play with Adam.

I think it's too early to be inloved. But kids are kids. Let them be!

But Louna is quite advanced in this topic. She starts to teach her adolescent cousins the art of kissing. According to her, a kiss on the cheek is a friend's kiss. A kiss on the lips is a parents' kiss. A kiss on the lips with the head a bit tilted is a lover's kiss. My, I think she has to stop watching Disney Princess stories!

Louna's First Official Run

2009-10-11T22:09:00.002+02:00

It's Kyla's 1st Birthday!

2009-09-27T16:08:00.002+02:00

It's Papa's Birthday!

2009-09-02T20:21:00.002+02:00

And look at what the girls prepared for their Papa...

She's Crawling!

2009-08-17T22:01:00.005+02:00

And oh, the lady behind just woke up. So please don't mind her, lol.

Check out Louna's first crawl here. She crawled when she was 10 months old, just like Kyla! Aren't they tracing the same developmental curves?

Summer Activities, Updates and More

2009-08-12T15:01:00.009+02:00

The problem about leaving on vacation is that I get loads of laundries to wash, tons of pictures to upload and lots of stories to tell that I don't even know where to start. To make my life simpler, I'd start off with non-vacation-related stuffs and these pictures from our vacation. Let the pictures speak for themselves.

First off, Louna's out to the pool the whole day with the other kids at the center. Yes, she's enrolled at the community center's summer activities. This would allow her to be in contact with other kids and to avoid getting bored at home. This week's theme is around Pocahontas so more on water activities like swimming and fishing. Next week, the group will camp in a small village 15km out of Dijon. Their main activity would be to visit the village and the countryside riding a poney. Ain't that great? That would be Louna's first time experience to camp with other kids so I'm quite impatient to get her feedback and at the same time worried about mommy-exclusive-anxieties, lol.

Louna's been quite active on different activities like babygym and music classes last semester and I find it really rewarding not only to her development, but also on her relationships with other people, respect of rules, etc.

She's also gaining a lot of independence like dressing herself up, setting the table and washing the dishes (it's her new game now!) that I hope it would continue and she grows up as a fine woman in the future.

All that sounds perfect, ain't it? Not quite. The big girl's not that interested on school activities yet but got some talents nevertheless. She could now write her name and could copy quite a lot of letters pretty well.

Back to negative vibes, she's also fond of sequestering all toys of Kyla (which are by the way her old toys!) and is capable to close the door of her playhouse to avoid her sister from entering. Poor little sister!

The little sister on the other hand is growing remarkably well and is now just a light year away from removing her bib for forever. (well, I hope!). Her vomiting is reduced to almost the minimum level so I'm really happy to take pictures of her sans the bib.

She's now extending her arms ready to crawl but the first 'real' crawl is still much awaited. The girl moves though, by turning and pushing backwards while sitting down. She now knows how to clap her tiny hands, to wave goodbye and to play hide-and-seek by hiding behind her eyes with her hands (left picture). Well, as much as she could, of course.

She's sending signs of wanting to stand lately. So the eager mom asked papa to check the storeroom for the walker and the toy car. Well, I think she'll need more time to understand how the walker works. The toy car seems to have more success but I'm afraid she'll just bump her head on the floor.

So that more or less completes the summer update. I think I just heard myself promising to myself to update more often. Okidoki. I heard myself!

Bonne Fête Papa!

2009-07-19T12:03:00.003+02:00

This is a late post, of course. But it's better late than later, lol.

Kids Say the Darnest and the Sweetest Things

2009-07-15T21:41:00.000+02:00

Louna regardant tendrement sa sœur prendre son bain a dit Ah ma petite princesse.
***
Un après midi, en voyant le voisin qu'elle appelle Papy, elle m'a demandé Pourquoi Papy a une tête cassée? Mais pourquoi tu dis ça? Mais pourquoi il a des cheveux là et là (en montrant les 2 côtés du crâne) et pas là (le haut de la tête)?

Oppps.. fait attention Papa, bientôt Louna va s'inquieter aussi pour toi.
***
Comme la coquine est un peu trop gourmande, on essaye de contrôler ce qu'elle mange. Un soir, son Papa lui a interdit de manger beaucoup de gateau. Et quand son Papa est sorti de table, elle m'a dit Maman, fait plaisir à Louna, quand même. Tu me donnes un peu de gateau. Bon ben, comment je fais? Tu peux résister à ça, toi?
***
Quand elle joue aux personnages:
Maman, c'est la reine.
Kyla, c'est la princesse Cinderella.
Louna, c'est Arielle (la petite sirène).
Papa, c'est le sorcier.

MDR!!!

Fête de l'Ecole

2009-06-29T20:03:00.006+02:00

My family would never miss a special occasion such as this. *Childhood memories rushing down memory lane now*. End of school ceremonies had always been something special. It's the time when kids are dressed beautifully, when children dance and sing and when all their work is being paid off. In the Philippines, students who do well at school are awarded with medals and certificates. And of course, Maman had always been the best in her class ~~that is to motivate you girls, and to boot, your cousin Nikki has just been classified as a gifted child~~.

And since you're all far from us, here's presenting you Louna dancing the Greek goddess ;)

Another Star is Born

2009-06-18T21:35:00.004+02:00

And who says my scrapbooking career is over? It was just on standby mode. Gear yourself for more fun pictures ;).

Mom, I blew up the kids!

2009-06-04T22:02:00.023+02:00

It’s been over a month now since I updated the blog and I feel a bit guilty for not taking the time to chronicle each tricks and milestones as they arrive. So to recap this month’s progress...

Louna’s been excelling on her speech development. She’s been talking a lot using correct grammar, a rich vocabulary and sweet phrase constructions which surprise me each day. Just a second ago, she told me while showing her book ça, c'est mon livre adoré (this is a book that I adore). She could have contented herself by telling me that it's her book but adding the word adoré made the sentence extra special.

She's singing quite a lot too. Not with the correct phrases but it's sweet nevertheless. Hear her sing here:

Kyla on the other hand is not really gaining a lot of weight, hardly going over 8kg at 8 months old. So I thought giving her spinach instead of her toes could solve the problem but no dice. Not a gram more.

Kyla had been learning a lot of skills tho despite her regurgitation problems. She now knows how to sit on her own, to roll over and to hold her bottle. She’s been babbling tatata, bababa, mamama and papapa most of her waking hours. She also plays with different sounds and since her sister shouts a lot, she could sure imitate her sister no problem.
Since the girls are growing up too fast and the little girl in me had been wanting a playhouse, the whole family engaged in an ambitious project - a playhouse.

It all started with this layout:

Sorry, I don't know what this picture has but I can't turn it!

Then off we worked.

PS: It’s Mother’s Day today in this part of the globe and aside from the handmade picture frame Louna prepared for me at school, she also recited a nice poem for me. Watch out:

Translation: Knock, knock, knock, Is it the sound of rain on the floor?
Knock, knock, knock, Is it the horse running?
It's nothing at all.
It's my little heart Mom.
Happy Mother's Day!

Ain’t it nice to be a Mom?

Ainsi Font

2009-04-19T11:03:00.002+02:00

Today's Weather Report

2009-04-13T17:50:00.002+02:00

Check out Louna's version here.

A Four-Front-Teeth Smile

2009-04-11T11:43:00.001+02:00

Il Fait Déjà Noir, Maman.

2009-04-06T21:04:00.006+02:00

Translation: It's already dark, Mommy.
Louna's notion of darkness is always associated with a particular task like:

Eating Time

One night, the meal was already prepared and while waiting for Papa to arrive, she asked me:

Louna: Il est où Papa, Maman? (Where is Papa, Maman?)
Me: Il est encore au boulot. (He's still at work.)
Louna: Mais. Il fait déjà noir. Il faut manger! (But. It's already dark. We have to eat!)

Bed Time

I always try to prepare Louna "psychologically" when I ask a certain task. That cuts down negociation time considerably. So around 30 minutes before bed time, I already tell here that it's soon time to go upstairs and go to bed.

This evening, at 8:30pm, I told her the routine Il est bientôt l'heure de se coucher (It's soon time to go to bed). She immediately looked outside and told me: Mais. Il fait pas encore noir? (But. It's not yet dark?)...

So how will we force her to go to bed on summer time? When daylight stretches up to 10pm?

School, on the other hand has taught her a lot of things. She's got better command of words. She expresses herself no problem. She even has this method of talking to us like a teacher, honestly!

Yesterday, after putting Kyla on her favorite swing (My, she loves it!), Louna pulled my hand and asked me to "play'. Seeing her Papa run on a regular basis made her think that running is a game.

So run I did.

*Catching my breath* Darn. This little girl will never stop. Strategy, strategy..

I told her: Louna, ça y est! Maman est fatiguée. (Louna, Maman is tired. Let's stop).

Louna, looking at her Dora watch while running: Pas encore Maman, encore 1 km! (Not yet Mom, another 1 km)

What? This little kid is tiring me. Strategy, strategy...

*Ding - lightbulb open* I ran after her and tried to touch her butt. She suddenly stopped and looked at me intently:

Mais arrête Maman. Je t'explique. Il faut pas toucher les fesses. Sinon, elles vont sentir mauvais, tes mains. (Stop Mom! Listen to me. You shouldn't touch my butt. If so, your hands will smell bad!). Ngek!

Well, Louna has become a great help at home (well, when she's in the mood). She cleans the floor when Kyla regurgitates (yes, her vomitting could go that far!), she sets the table, she searches diapers, my pullover, Kyla's toys, etc.

This evening, she tried to help me peel potatoes. Look at it after Louna's intervention (right side). Errrr. Not that much left. But well, at least there were no more skin!

It's the gesture that counts dear. Lol.

Weight Gain Problem

2009-04-05T14:14:00.005+02:00

It must be in our genes. My Mom told me that I never gained weight when I was the age of Kyla (until now actually). I still remember how me, my sisters and my Mom would exchange tips on how to gain weight. And the scenario's the same when my Mom meets her sisters.

Now, on to Kyla. The transition between breastmilk and formula has not been that fluid, me thinks. Kyla's weight should follow the same curve but visibly, it started to shift starting December to January - taking but a mere 200g/month for a normal 600g/month weight gain for her age. The major changes at that period are none other than - Kyla's switch to formula and me getting back to work. Poor lil girl.
She already underwent some examinations like x-ray and allergy test but those tests revealed nothing. The prescribed medicines didn't improve anything either. Her pediatrician started to worry that he prescribed Kyla a two-page diet to be followed religiously in the next three months. On the menu are some spoons of meat and fish, a scoop of butter here and there, 2 servings of yoghurts for each meal, illimited doses of fresh fruits and vegetables, boudoirs, etc.

Now Kyla, if you don't exceed that 200g weight gain mark on your 7th month visit, can we just consider that we have the same genes and that you could eat whatever you want, regardless of sugar and fat quantity in it? And all your life, all your friends would ask your secret on how to keep a svelte figure and you would answer exactly the same as Maman? - That is, you eat a lot to maintain your weight. Deal?

Max

2009-04-04T22:30:00.001+02:00

I always wondered where Louna got her toys' names. She calls her Barbie Jeanne. She calls her dog Max.

Last night, we were watching The Little Mermaid for the nth time, and there, I finally knew where she got Max.

6th Month

2009-03-25T11:39:00.002+01:00

Wonder what a 6 months old kiddo could do? This! Wohooo! Taking into account that Louna did it at 5 months old, we could only blame but the weather and Kyla and her covered feet.

Semi-Marathon Nuit-St Georges

2009-03-25T10:39:00.004+01:00

Who could beat this? A 3-year old doing the 21-km run in Nuit-St Georges!

You didn't believe me, did you? You haven't called any association on child protection, I hope? Lol. Louna joined her Papa at the start and at the end of the marathon. The announcers and spectators were in awe!

Kyla, 5 Months Picture Update

2009-03-15T19:19:00.012+01:00

I could hold my head upright. It's not really my favorite position but Maman said I need some exercise.

I could now grab and hold my toys. No trick!

I tried spinach but visibly, that was a messy experience.

I prefer this piece of bread they call boudoir. My two front teeth are in action each time I have one. I could finish a boudoir in one shot.

No, I'm not scratching my ears. I'm giving a call to Mamie and Papy.

Belat. Lol. Just showing that my toungue is clean and I finished the boudoir up to bits.

This thing calms me. It accompanies me to bed. It wipes my tears. And it soothes my toothache whenever I need it.

No, this isn't a jacuzzi. This is an improvised bathtub in Mamie's place. Louna used it. Now it's my turn.

I'm a confirmed traveller. I could stay in a car for 4 hours without a fuss. I just need a boudoir, some toys and Maman beside me.

PS: Here's a bonus. I sleep through the night no problem. Meaning I could sleep 10 hours at a stretch. My schedule is 9pm to 7-8am, non stop. But I'm already in bed at 7pm. My Maman just wakes me up at 9pm to give me the bottle (she says it's important since I don't gain weight), then I continue in my dreams till 7-8am. My first bottle is at 9am and since I wake up early, I just play and babble paaa and baaa while waiting for breakfast.

Ah, baby life is such an adventure. More of me next time ;).

5 Months 2 Weeks Old

2009-03-08T18:41:00.000+01:00

I Need a Teether!

2009-03-03T22:12:00.008+01:00

My little Kyla lost her lovely smile..
to this...
look closer - she's got two teeth!
.. and I thought I still have time to buy chamomilla vulgaris from the pharmacie. I had been touching her gums since last week. The Mommy in me felt that those tiny teeth are on their way but didn't expect that it would be this soon and not two teeth at a time. This evening, at exactly 5 months, 1 week and 2 days old, the tiny teeth surprised me. The little girl's ok - no fuss. We were obliged to pinch her so she'd cry and open her mouth. I took the pictures right away. Bad parents.

On other developments, she starts to have a good control of her hands - she grabs everything infront of her. She particularly loves papers which she puts directly in her mouth. She still regurgitates a lot inspite of the medicines prescribed by the doctor. As they say, if symptoms persist, ~~insult~~ consult your doctor. So this Friday, Kyla has another appointment with her pediatrician. I hope he'll give us something more effective - changing Kyla's shirts and bibs all the time to keep her dry starts to be real tiring. Add to that the fact that Kyla smells like a stinky milk after a day. But well, I start to love that smell anyway.

Kyla's Forced Laughter

2009-02-18T22:51:00.004+01:00

One of the favorite moments of Kyla is diaper-changing time. It's during this particular time when she wiggles and giggles. If she thinks I'll forget the smell of her diapers because of that, she's surely right. I love this moment!

The Little Frenchy Sings ABC en Anglais

2009-02-18T22:49:00.002+01:00

Louna was trying to catch my attention while I was changing Kyla's diaper. She wanted me to take a video of her too. She too has talents. Which I don't doubt even a second. Aside from ABC, she also knows how to count 1 to 10, in English and in French. She starts to master the different colors and shapes too.

What she likes doing right now is to read her books. After I tuck her to bed, I often hear her talk alone in her bed. That started to annoy me since she needs to wake up early the next day. Last night, I approached her room discretely and what did I hear? Louna reading her I'm a Big Sister book with her own version of the story. Of course.

Patay na Kuko

2009-01-31T16:10:00.002+01:00

Louna approached me this morning and told me while showing her toenail Mon pied est mort Maman.

Translation: My foot is dead Maman (but I think she meant toenail because she's pointing on it).

I'm just wondering how she knew the word mort (dead) and how she interprets it.

Louna Writes, Kyla Laughs

2009-01-22T22:00:00.006+01:00

Louna. She's 3 years and 2 months old but look at how she writes her name! But hey, don't be fooled, she's just tracing the lines I wrote which formed her name. But that ain't bad for a 3 year old, right? I could be proud!

Kyla. 4 months old. Errr, I'm playing stage mom. I joined her picture in Kiabi casting so if you have time and you think she deserves to be on the billboards, go vote! Here's a sample of Kyla, the star ;)
But before that, hear her laugh on this video.. Enjoy!

And before I leave you, here's a funny picture of the two girls sleeping. Real sisters, aren't they? They've got the same style!

Kyla 3 Months 3 Weeks Old

2009-01-17T18:39:00.002+01:00

I'm a lazy blogger mom. My mom asked me to update the blog so my family could see how beautifully this little girl grew up. She reminded me how regularly I updated the blog at Louna's time and how happy Kyla would be when she's older and could read what I've written for her. Oo nga naman.

So. She still has plenty of hair. This little princess laughs when somebody talks to her. She's eager to communicate. She tries to lift her head when laid on her back, to grab and hold toys infront of her and to suck her fingers. She still regurgitates quite a lot and often cries after feeding. The medecines she took didn't do her any good so her pediatrician asked us to undergo xray examinations on her stomach in the next week. I hope it's just nothing. She had her second set of vaccin shots. At 3.5 months, she weighed 6 kg and measured 66 cm. Big girl!

She's now taking 4 bottles of 210ml a day and sleeps longer hours at night. She could stay from 9pm to 9am now but still irregular. If I want to have uninterrupted nights, I need to give her the last bottle later in the evening, like 9 to 11pm.

Well, aside from frequent regurgitations, this little girl grows up wonderfully. Never been sick since birth. Smiles when she wakes up. Wets and soils her diapers regularly (oh yes, even that could mean happiness to parents!).

T'es sûre, il va pas revenir?

2009-01-04T11:59:00.007+01:00

Louna's fascination to Père Noël (Santa Claus) is so innocently sweet but is tainted with a bit of fear and doubt. Each time she sees Santa Claus hanging on windows and roofs, she gets excited and would sing:
Last Christmas, Papa decided to disguise as Santa Claus so Louna could continue with her fascination to the Père Noël story. She was pretty surprised when she saw Santa knocking on the window. Her first reaction was to sing Petit Papa Noël (see video) but when she realized that Santa was the real one, she started to sing in a low voice and move backwards. Gift distribution was fun and ended without Louna crying. She had what she asked for - a blue plane in a blue gift. She hesitantly approached Santa though, and was even more hesitant to give him a kiss.

After Santa's gift giving, during our Christmas lunch, we again asked her to sing Petit Papa Noël. But before singing, she asked me: T'es sûre, il va pas revenir? (Are you sure, he won't come back?). Lol, she was happy to see Santa in person but she preferred not to see him again.

Last night, she told her Papa: En fait, le Père Noël chez Tatate, c'est Papa (In fact, Santa Claus in Auntie's place was Papa) - with an air of confirmation. Oh, that little brain starts to analyse things. Do you think she now knows the secret of Santa Claus?

Update Update

2008-12-14T11:49:00.011+01:00

Louna, 3 years and 1 month old

- She believes in Santa Clause but quite afraid to approach him. She met him twice - at school and at the company party. The only motivation for her to approach him was when I told him that Père Noël would give him candies again.
- They celebrated Christmas party at school last week. They sang a song but Louna wasn't singing, only observing. She was happy when she saw me among the crowd but that didn't motivate her to sing. It was quite difficult to take a picture of her because even if she's one of the youngest in her class, she's one of the biggest too. She's positionned at the last row.
- She watched her first movie, Madagascar 2 last week. She cried at the end of the movie, not wanting the film to end. Now, she can't wait for the next film to watch at the grande télé (big TV).
- She could form longer sentences right now. Like Papa n'est pas gentil. Il a tapé le visage à Maman. (Papa is not kind. He slapped the face of Maman.) That was when Papa jokingly slapped my face because Louna said there was a fly. But Louna didn't get the joke. She thought it was real. She's been repeating that sentences over and over. I just hope she's not telling that to her teacher or to other person. We need to be careful at home now, lol.
- She can do a 15-piece puzzle easily, even with her eyes closed, lol. So we bought a 45-piece puzzle which she can do with a little help from us.

Kyla, 2 months and 3 weeks old

- It's more agreable to get into conversation with her now. She's responding with sweet smiles, tiny laughs and some boo and coo. In fact, she loves to communicate with the person infront of her. She could stay calm for 2 hours like that.
- She takes 5 bottles of 150ml a day. But the best part is that she's got rhythm now. She takes her bottle almost always at the same time - 11am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm and the last one at night varies from 4am to 6am.
- She has discovered her hand and she's fascinated by them. I would oftentimes catch her looking at her hand intensely then try to put it in her mouth. She even tries to suck it. She also tries to hold everything infront of her but she's not ready yet. She's able to grab a toy sometimes but it's more accidental than intentional. But that milestone is not far from now. A week or two from now and she'll be able to hold her toys. I can't wait!
- She's calmer now and could even sleep on her own after an hour or two of playtime - provided that she's got clean diapers. Playtime means conversing with me, observing her toys and her hand and grabbing some toys.
- She loves to look at the telly when Louna watches her favorite DVDs.
- She could hold her head erect for a few moment when sitting down and lying on her tummy. She tries to lift her head when she's lying on her back, like she's doing crunch exercises, lol.

A Smile A Day Keeps Worries Away

2008-12-06T22:38:00.002+01:00

Louna's View of Us

2008-12-04T17:51:00.005+01:00

I asked Louna to draw Kyla and she ended up with this:

Then I asked her to draw Papa, Mama, Louna and Kyla and look at how she drew us:

Pedia Visit

2008-11-25T10:04:00.011+01:00

The 2 girls had their pedia visit this morning. Louna for her 3rd year, Kyla for her 2nd month. Louna hates to see her pediatrician, traumatized by the vaccinations she had when she was younger. No matter how we explain to her that her doctor won't inject anything, she nevertheless started to cry upon arrival at the clinic till the doctor finished his usual examination. It was almost impossible to do the check up, Louna was battling against the 3 of us! Anyhow, the essential is that, nothing is wrong with the mademoisselle. She measures 1 m and weighs 16.5 kg at 3 years old.

Kyla had 2 vaccins today, Prevenar and Infanrix. She measures 61 cm and weighs 4.9 kg. The 2 vaccins knocked her down, she'd been sleeping since an hour now. On development, the little girl started suck her hand and show us her real smile on her 2nd month.

She normally starts her day right - with a sweet smile for her mom.

Louna, on the other hand, starts to take care of her sister ~~under my supervision, of course~~. She's still jealous I think but she knows how to manage now. Or should I say, we know how to manage now. Most of the time, she would say Maman à Kyla, Papa à Louna which I correct at once by telling her that Maman and Papa are both for Louna and Kyla. I don't want her to have in mind this unhealthy division between the 4 of us.

She plays a lot with her doll now, often placing Kyla and her doll next to each other. She uses most of Kyla's stuffs like shoes and diapers for her doll. It's funny to watch her sometimes because when her doll cries, she sings and rocks her baby in exactly the same manner as I do. I have to catch that on film one of these days. It's really cute.

Her behaviour at school has apparently improved. She re-started to participate in class. Her teacher finally told us her worries about Louna when Kyla was born which lasted for about two weeks as she said. She didn't tell it to us before to avoid adding problems and anyway, she was sure we were aware of Louna's change. Thankfully, everything turns back to normal now. Louna and Kyla are healthy and happy kids. That is all that matters.

Opps, by the way, I asked Louna to babysit Kyla this midday while I prepare lunch. This is how she takes care of her sister..

Louna's Bday & Kyla's Milestone

2008-11-08T09:24:00.008+01:00

It's Louna's 3rd birthday today and it's also the 3rd time she blew her candles for this special day. She celebrated her birthday with the family last week. Then with her teacher and classmates yesterday. Today, she blew her candles with her nanny.

On her 3rd birthday, she promised to be kind because otherwise, Santa Claus or Père Nöel as they call him here won't be giving her gifts this Christmas. Good deal. Let's see if she could hold her promise till Christmas.

Kyla on the otherhand had been sleeping straight since two nights now. At the first night, she was able to hold 7 hours without asking for milk. We woke her up at 6am to nurse her. Even second time parents are still afraid of leaving their kids sleeping that long for the first time. At the second night, meaning this night, she was able to hold for 9 long hours! Whoa! That, is a milestone! Congratulations Kyla!

So what's the trick? Well, I have started mixing between breast and bottle feeding, right? I introduce bottles once or twice a day since she's a month old. But since two nights ago, I give her a bottle at around 10:30pm and that knocks her out till sunrise.

Another change is that, I let her sleep in her bed now. Since she arrived at home, she always slept with me on our bed as she's being breastfed. It's more convenient for everybody. I nurse her twice, around 3am and 6am without waking up even Papa who sleeps in the same bed as us. I think we're synchronized. We wake up at the same time so even before she cries and claim for her milk, the boob is already jacked in her mouth, lol.

So who says she'll get bad habits in sleeping in the same bed as her mom? She didn't say anything when I tucked her in bed last night.

Kyla Turns 1 Month Old

2008-10-24T09:29:00.005+02:00

Kyla has turned 1 month old this week and yet, it seems like nothing has changed in her behaviour. She still cries quite a lot and claims her milk almost every 2 hours during daytime. The thing is, she sleeps once she's breasfed inspite of the constant stimulation I do to wake her up. As a result, she's not taking enough milk making her grouchy all the time. It's really hard to lie her down on her bed without waking her up after breastfeeding.

Night behaviour is another story tho. She sleeps 5 hours straight after her feeding at around 10pm. That, is a good point.

She had her appointment with the pediatrician yesterday. She now measures 57.5 cm long and weighs 4.2 kg. Everything is normal, as what her pediatrician confirmed.

Jealousy is one thing we had been dealing with difficulty since the arrival of Kyla in our lives. Louna had apparently changed behaviour at school - from a joyful toddler to a pensive child. She seems to be lost and thinks about something else all the time, giving less focus on school activities. We had observed a certain change at home too. She became demanding and dependent - a real change from a totally independent Louna who wanted to do everything on her own.

It pains me to see her being scolded by me and her Papa. Never in her life had she cried and been scolded this much. If only I could take whatever suffering she has right now, I would certainly do.

With this, I just decided to start mixing between breast and bottle feeding so I could have more time to take care of my Louna. It will allow them to participate in rearing Kyla as well. I hope this decision will bring back my joyful and independent Louna.

Class picture 2008. Louna is the only kid with a sad and serious face. This is taken a day after the birth of Kyla.

At 2.5 Weeks Old..

2008-10-11T11:53:00.002+02:00

I can be...

2nd Week

2008-10-06T12:56:00.010+02:00

Kyla turns 2 weeks old today ~~what tha! time flies!~~ but geez, I still look pregnant. I lost 7 kg after giving birth which means I still need to shed off 9 kg. I haven't started any post-partum exercise yet as I'm not yet in my best form. I prefer to wait till I regain all my energy and I'm sure there won't be any complication if I do. Quite traumatized with my recent hospitalization.

Changes are a-bounty when a new baby is added in the family. Louna finally got her new bed and she's really proud of it. She was the one who chose the bed cover design and is happy each night when it's time to hug Winnie the Pooh. She's becoming more jealous tho, asking for more attention from us.

The big sister is taking her new role to heart too. She helped us with the preparation of the baby announcement cards which we sent to family and friends in France (those who reside outside of France and those with email addresses received the e-card below). I'm glad we're done with that task which was quite hard to finalize because of the chaos at home.

The little girl on the other hand starts to have her own rhythm ~~that's why I could update this blog ;)~~. She's being breastfed 100% and her autonomy between 2 breastfeedings becomes longer, from almost every hour to almost 3 hours. It's even longer at night, up to 4 hours which gives me ample time to rest in between 2 feedings. She seems to be calm in the morning and more agitated at night, just before bedtime.

Since we arrived at home, I have been co-sleeping with her which is really beneficial not only to her but to me and L too. She seems to sleep longer when we sleep together. L jokingly says that the umbilical cord wasn't cut yet. Talking about the umbilical cord, it fell down yesterday, barely two weeks after her birth. Bathing is easier now.

Kyla is developing quite a funny habit at home. She prefers to stay on her car seat or on the sofa rather than her baby seat or the platform we specially made for her. Well, okay, we can't oblige her to like everything we offer her, right?

She's full of energy too. She could already move her head left and right and she could even lift it when we hold her against our shoulders. But well, Louna was the same at that age too. No surprises!

So that's it for the 2nd week update. The whole family is glad with this new change and is adjusting at our own rhythm. No rush. Cuddling time is our priority at the moment.

Louna’s Baby Sister Is Here !

2008-10-01T11:06:00.008+02:00

The long wait is over. Kyla finally decided to join us on the 22nd of September, 2008. She weighs 3.7 kg and measures 54 cm. Yes, as big as Louna, just 200 grams lighter. She’s being breastfed so she requires Maman’s presence almost every 2-3 hours. She had been monopolizing our time since we went home last Saturday but she’s more cooperative today, allowing us to do other chores than taking care of her. She’s currently sleeping so I have the time to gather my scattered thoughts and put them into writing.

Kyla’s Birth Story

We had a short walk around the park the day before. Louna was with her bike and I jokingly told her that at the speed she’s taking, it will never induce my labor. Then arriving at home, I helped L to fix our wallpaper. It was on purpose to induce labor naturally.

At 6:30 am the next day, I woke up with an excruciating, almost unbearable pain. I woke up L and told him that this must be it. We counted the regular contractions and in less than 10 minutes, we knew it was D Day. He hurriedly took his shower and busied himself preparing the remaining necessary stuffs to bring at the maternity clinic. I took my shower during that time, with a lot of difficulty of course.

At 7 am, Louna was already awake. We took our breakfast together and explained her that she will take her lunch at school and stay there the whole day. The school nursery opens at 7:30 am so a few minutes after that, Louna was already at school. It was the nanny who fetched her from school that day. She then stayed at the nanny’s place for the night.

We arrived at the maternity clinic at exactly 8 am. I was hurriedly examined and surprise! I was already 10 cm dilated. I was then transferred immediately at the delivery room. They asked me if I still wanted the epidural but since I was already 10 cm dilated and I knew that actual giving birth is nothing compared to contraction pains, I finally declined that option. I chose the side-lying position as I was too tired and too much in pain to try the semi-sitting position. Well, at least that was what I felt during that particular time.

At 8:40 am, my water bag was pierced. I pushed at each contraction and I could actually feel the baby coming. There was a little pause once the head was out since the umbilical cord was around her neck. The OB cut it at once and the delivery proceeded normally afterwards. I was even the one who took her out completely from my womb, taking her out and putting her on my chest. Isn’t that lovely?

At exactly 9:15 am, Kyla was already out and I didn’t suffer from episiotomy. Talking about fast and effective delivery!

A Delivery That Was Almost Perfect

Minutes after delivery, after they cleaned and examined Kyla, they brought her back to us so I could start breastfeeding. But the little girl wasn’t really hungry. She was calm and quiet – so adorable and looked remarkably the same as Louna.

I, on the other hand continued bleeding and my uterus refused to contract. They did a series of massage but each time they stopped, the bleeding continued forming blood clots inside my uterus. They then injected anaesthesia so they could examine if any part of placenta was left inside. Nothing.

They continued massaging my tummy making it real painful, as painful as the contractions. They also added 2 more perfusions, one to induce contractions, another for supplements, I think. They explained that if bleeding continues, they will be obliged to transfer me to the hospital for further interventions.

True enough, at 4 pm, I was transported to the hospital by an ambulance. They again examined me, checked my uterus, massaged my tummy and injected God-knows-what. At that time, I was already too tired and hardly conscious. I wasn’t allowed to take not even a drop of water.

After their intervention, I was again transported by an ambulance to another department, Radiology department. There, some veins of my uterus were apparently plugged to stop bleeding. The worst consequence of this kind of problem is the total removal of the uterus to which I was luckily spared.

At 2 am, I was transported back to my room, allowed to take dinner with the help of L and drink gallons of water. Whew!

That day, probably more than 20 people saw that most intimate part of me at its most unglamorous state. But I didn’t care. All I wanted was to get over and done with it so I could be with my family the soonest possible time.

I was back at the maternity clinic the next day, free from any complications. With the amount of blood I lost, I was lucky not to take any blood transfusion tho my hemoglobin count went down to 8 (normal is 12 – 16).

I was separated from my daughter for about 24 hours. Everybody in the clinic commended me for my courage to continue breastfeeding inspite that experience. I was supposed to be tired. The sole inconvenience I have right now is an allergy I got from one of the medicines they injected to me during the operation – my arms, back and tummy are itchy!!

And Life Goes On…

Louna is happy to have her little sister, even asking to hold her and give her the bottle. There are bouts of jealousy here and there but not at a worrying level. We take extra careful tho not to focus all our attention to Kyla. Balance is something we need to master at this particular moment. L is on paternity leave this week which helps a lot especially right now when Kyla has no fixed schedule yet. Organization at home starts to be settled little by little. It will be a long journey till we get back to our normal schedule. Nights are shorter and nap opportunities are too rare to be grabbed.

And all that .. is part of parenthood. These angels worth all the efforts and sleepless nights.

34th Month Update

2008-09-12T15:13:00.007+02:00

Yay! Time flies. When was the last time I updated Louna's milestones? Since time immemorial? Can't even remember when. But that doesn't mean nothing interesting is happening to this active toddler. Or should I say, pre-schooler?

She's attending pre-school since two weeks now. Aside from the shy tears she shed on the first day, everything is going impeccably well now. She's excited to go to school everyday - you can't hear her complain. She already knows the direction going to and from her school which is just 2 blocks away from our place. She's attending morning classes now, 8:45 am to 11:45 am, while I'm on maternity leave. Then we will switch progressively to whole day classes as I approach the end of my leave which would be by the end of December. Teacher B remarked how disciplined she is and how attentive she gets when she's reading a story. I even witnessed it once when I arrived earlier to fetch her and watched the kids by the window. Louna was actually imitating Teacher B's geste, even doing hand movements even before her teacher executes.

She's talking quite a lot too, forming short but complete sentences with subject, verb and complement. But that's when she's in the mood to talk clearly. Because there are a lot of moments when she's in the mood to talk like a baby. She hadn't even mastered talking perfectly that she already starts to deteriorate her level, lol.

She likes helping with the household chores when she's in the mood (Well, in fact, she likes doing everything in just one condition - when she's in the mood to do a certain task). She likes staying in the kitchen with us so most of the time, she's the one arranging the utensils in the dishwasher then arrange them in their proper place afterwards.

Eating habit starts to be a little tricky. She starts to have her preferences, eats slowly but leaving quite a lot of mess on the table, doesn't like certain food and takes a lot of time to finish her glass of milk. She also likes to display her independence all the time, wanting to do everything on her own including cutting meat on her plate.

Well, so far, I have not much complain about her. She stays to be a model child to some friends who have hard-to-manage kids. She's also impatient to have her bébé soeur with her I think, basing on her reactions when she sees other babies around. Well, I hope it will be the case when the baby is physically around.

Picture attached is her first ID picture for school.

First Day of School

2008-09-04T19:27:00.004+02:00

Today is Louna's first day at the pre-school. The night before, we were able to let her pronounce her teacher's name which is Barbara. The next day, everybody was up quite early, too excited maybe to prepare ourselves for the first day. Even Papa took his morning off to experience this special milestone with Louna.

Arriving there, some kids already started crying while Louna stared at them, holding our hands, quite teary-eyed herself. She was probably thinking if crying was SOP. Does she have to cry too? Then she started to try the new toys around, then moved from one table to another. She was even able to talk to another girl and asked her if she could take the toy camera. Then she started taking pictures till it was time for us to leave.

Teacher B took her hand trying to assure her that everything will be alright. She cried silently when we left. But like a spy, we peeked on the window before we left. There, she was already mingling with other kids. She in fact stopped crying in no time.

She was already smiling when we went back to fetch her. First day was a promise of a fruitful school year. Parents had worried faces when they brought their kids to school. But all those worried faces were replaced by happy faces, excited to know how their kids fared. My, still can't believe I'm one of those parents.

8th Month Visit

2008-09-01T13:36:00.006+02:00

Almost there. Reaching the finish lane is the ultimate challenge. The road to D Day, especially now that I'm but a month away must be the longest and the hardest obstacle that I need to brave. Could you imagine a 14-kg balloon, the size of a football that I need to carry everywhere 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? That's exactly me nowadays.

I met my OB Gyne this morning and I expressed my worries about my bulging tummy which seems to be bigger than the first pregnancy (based on the graph, at 8th months, I already gained more than what I gained in 9 months during my first pregnancy). So she checked and re-checked but confirmed that the baby is just the normal size at 3.1 kg (well, more than the average but smaller than Louna). She did all the routine check afterwards then adviced us to wait and try to do it naturally since everything was A-ok - which I prefer by the way (Louna was induced at 38th week). She nonetheless told us that if at 38th week I feel exhausted and my tummy really starts to disturb me, we could then set an schedule.

Knowing that this must be my last pregnancy, I would prefer to experience giving birth the natural way. You know, natural effacement of the cervix, losing the amniotic fluid, having regular contractions, and all the other symptoms till the baby finally decides to move out.

Organization must be tough tho. We don't have any family nearby (unlike in the Philippines where my whole clan could be around me even 2 months before D Day) so we need to check on some friends who would be willing to take care of Louna in case D Day falls on a midnight. There are some volunteers but night-time organization doesn't stop there. Who would take care of Louna the next day (almost all our friends work)? Who would bring her to school? Would she understand all these urgencies and changes in organization?

I know that we will find the best solution. Induced labor is not yet out of the game in case organization deems to be really tough. That would be the most comfortable way out.

In the meantime, I need to wax my stretch-marked mega-tummy with a cream which I hope would work. My, these stretch marks had even attacked above my navel. I think I need to bid my final goodbye to two-piece swimsuits, really.

But well, these stretch marks would be the most beautiful scars I could have in my entire life. A loving souvenir of my two girls which I would keep with me for the rest of my life. So no complains ~~(but well, if you have a miraculous solution to get rid of them, just let me know~~ ;).

Summer Vacation 08

2008-08-19T18:22:00.004+02:00

I'm still on vacation with my grandparents and my cousins for 2 more weeks. Just getting a long break before I start pre-school. Even toddlers need to unwind from everyday life, right?

But prior to that, I was already on vacation with my parents. We were at my uncle's house near the seaside where we enjoyed playing in the sand, riding a boat and eating ice cream. Maman's preggy condition didn't stop me from discovering new activities. First, a ride on a pony named Nougat. Oh, he was calm and gentle. I enjoyed the ride especially that I was able to chat with another girl who did the same adventure as me. I was too proud!
Next, I tried accro-branche - a monkey adventure I really loved! I was able to glide from one cord/path to another with just a little help from Papa. That was a really great experience for a pre-schooler like me!
Take a look at our vacation pictures here.

7th Month Update

2008-08-01T10:16:00.007+02:00

7th month! That means only 2 months to go and I change my status from first-time-mom to mom-of-two! Life is beautiful.

I was in my birth class with two other moms yesterday. I had the biggest bump and yet I have the farthest due date. My tummy is a lot bigger than my first pregnancy, I feel a bit more tired and I experience quite a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions lately. So when my OB Gyne told me that my cervix is not at all dilated, I was assured to take my vacation this weekend.
At my 31st week of pregnancy, I already gained a disturbing 12.6 kg. It didn't seem to alarm my doctor though. She just told me that since it's my 2nd pregnancy, my belly has been stretched already so it's normal to be bigger. My baby is a bit bigger than the normal size but a bit smaller than Louna, so that's already a good thing. She is currently 2.137 kg with a heart working at 140 bpm. If she continues to follow the same development curve, she could be around 3.7 to 3.9 kg at birth. She's in head down position now. That explains those almost-painful jabs under my ribs.

Well, baby. Stay stuck till D Day, okay? Ate Louna will be patiently waiting for you.

Tu n'as que des Bonbons dans ta Tête

2008-07-25T22:13:00.002+02:00

Translation: You always think about sweets/candies.
Word-by-word translation: You only have but sweets/candies in your head.

Scenario:

We were having breakfast and Louna only had her fruit juice and wouldn't want to finish her milk nor her bread so I asked her what she wanted. To which she answered: Bonbons (Candies). So I told her Tu n'as que des bonbons dans ta tête.

She immediately touched her head and looked at me with an inquisitive regard and said: Il n'y a rien. (There's nothing.)

Ngek. Oo nga naman.

Innocently Sweet

2008-07-16T21:17:00.004+02:00

I have been wanting to chronicle those sweet and innocent phrases our little girl is saying lately but the burden of pregnancy started to hit me. Backache, fatigue, shortness of breath, laziness.. name it. Add to the fact that I need to translate each of them without losing their essence - because yes, she's expressing herself 100% French. So there, I finally found a little courage this evening. Read and laugh with me.

Scenario 1: Louna wanting to ride the lift. Papa asked her to call the elevator (that's the word by word translation of manually pressing the lift button). Louna then shouted, calling: Ascenseur!

Scenario 2: Papa exclaming aïe (ouch!) after seeing the euro-dollar rate on the evening news. Louna's reaction: Ca fait mal? (Does it hurt?)

Scenario 3: We were at the pool when suddenly, Louna asked me to accompany her to the toilet. Once there, she didn't even pee a single drop. So I asked her where her pipi was? To which she answered: Je ne sais pas où il est. (I don't know where it is.)

Scenario 4: She inverses the names of objects/people on purpose. Like she would say I'm her Papa, and her Papa, her Maman. Or fork instead of spoon, and vice versa.

Scenario 5: She just can't control when she farts. And she finds that amusing. And worst is that, she would broadcast that she just did it to everybody! She would say: J'ai pété (I farted) followed by a contagious laugh.

Scenario 6: Whenever somebody farts, belches or coughes near her, that person would surely have his life's lesson from a 2-year old. Louna's reaction: Pardon, on dit. (Sorry, we say.)

Scenario 7: Once on the table, I asked her if she already washed her hands. She answered: Louna, elle fait la douche. Main propre. (Louna, she takes a bath. Hands clean). Evidently, she's got no notion of past tense yet. But that's not the main problem. That night, she didn't take a bath so her hands were of course, dirty. Laziness striked her.

Scenario 8: I was showing my bulging tummy to her and asked her to talk to her baby sister. She then started talking while caressing the bump. After a while, she looked at me with a tinge of sadness and said: Elle ne parle pas. (She's not talking.) A bit disappointed.

Scenario 9: Papa preparing breakfast. He accidentally spilled milk on the table and forgot to close the cabinet. Louna, playing the tidy little girl said: Papa, partout partout. Pas fermer la porte. (Papa, everywhere everywhere. Didn't close the door.) while pointing on the table and the cabinet door. Look who's talking. She's not arranging her toys either.

Scenario 10: She wants to do everything on her own. And if you're in a hurry, better not help her. Otherwise, the task would be doubly long. Because she would surely redo it. Or else, she would sulk and wouldn't move. Like, if you already put on her pajama and she decided Je vais le faire (I will do it), she would then remove and wear it all over again. Did you know that patience is a virtue? Especially with a toddler?

So that's it folks. More of Louna next time. ;)

Le Tour de France Candidate

2008-07-05T22:22:00.003+02:00

She finally understood how it works. She loved it and she's proud of her new skill. She had her first bike long time ago and I think we really bought a big one for her. She loved staying with her bike but she just couldn't play with it. She sometimes ride on it and we stay at the back to push her but that is quite a tiresome activity.

Then we thought of this old bike. This is somewhat a heritage thing in the family. Her cousins rode and learned how to pedal from the same bike. And look at how Louna fares. She's biking like a pro!

The Little Mermaid

2008-06-29T21:58:00.004+02:00

I have been boasting about our little girl's love for water - how she jumps without fear. She's been learning more and more tricks each passing week - without us teaching her. Here's a new one..

and another one..

A real copycat, right? Oh my, she's too proud of her new tricks!

The Gymnast

She's been attending baby gym classes with her nanny and here's another trick..

That's when we were waiting for her Papa to finish his 10-km Run for a Cause. Notice those people wearing pink shirts? All of them supporting the fight against Breast Cancer. I had the same shirt too! Louna had a Mickey Mouse stuff toy and she's happy for it.

This afternoon, we visited an Agricultural Fare not far from Dijon. Louna, the animal lover had a grand time caressing the rabbits. She had the luck to ride a tractor too!

6th Month Visit

2008-06-24T19:40:00.011+02:00

I have this impression that this pregnancy goes faster than my first pregnancy. Or am I just a little too inattentive? My gynecologist asked us to get an appointment with the anaesthetist at the maternity clinic. Then with a midwife for my childbirth preparation courses. My reaction was - Déjà? That sounds too soon.
Well, I'm not really preparing myself on giving birth yet. I'm still focused on something else. It might sound unfair to my second daughter but it's true that I talk a lot less about this pregnancy than what I did with Louna. Not that I ignore it but first pregnancy is a whole new experience so I had a lot of new stuffs to share. Whereas the second pregnancy is a sort of déjà vu. Well, sort of. I nonetheless savour every minute of this pregnancy, though it always ends up comparing it with the previous one.

So for a quick update, the little girl is moving a lot more than Louna at this stage of pregnancy. Louna was a sleeper and the hiccup girl. This little girl is a kick-boxer. She's pretty active and basing on the echography results, she's a bit bigger. Sleeping has been an ordeal these past two weeks. The baby bump is becoming heavier each day so I wake up each time I change sides and she's also able to wake me up in the middle of the night because of her kicks. So imagine when she's out.

She's weighing 1.10 kg now and the bulging Maman gained 9 kg since the start of pregnancy. So far, I'm practically following exactly the same weight gain curve as that of my first pregnancy so this doesn't really worry me a lot.
I feel more tired though. Probably because I have a toddler to tend to and life has to move on as usual. I could hardly stand staying infront of the computer so excuse me for not bloghopping. Yesterday, I had my first incident of hypoglycemia at work. I was on training and it was probably over an hour that I was standing up while listening to instructions (infront of a machine so it was quite hard to take a seat). Then suddenly, I thought they stopped the airconditionning. I felt hot, started to transpire, wanted to vomit and go poop, had difficulty to focus on what was being said, my vision got blurred, and then... total blackout. Within that few seconds of malaise, I had the reflex to slowly glide on the wall so I could sit.. on the floor - in the presence of the supplier training us and few colleagues. I didn't care anymore about what they would say. I was pregnant anyway. I had the excuse. If I didn't do that, I probably fell directly on the floor.

With that incident, my gynecologist required me to eat salty breakfast instead of my regular café au lait and toasted bread topped with Nutella. So okay, I think I'll shift to Filipino breakfast starting tomorrow morning.

Aside from that one minute discomfort, everything else goes impeccably good - a little backache, a bit of fatigue, a moment of hormonal imbalance here and there.. life is good.

This update wouldn't be complete without a word about Louna, right? Oh, this talkative little girl could handle a conversation now. Errr, I mean, she could go monologue. Listen attentively and you'll know all about her.

Last weekend, we were again at the pool because Louna starts to claim for it. She loves being in the water. And more precisely, jumping from the edge of the pool. She also mastered turning around and swim from one end to the other (~10 meters) with the bicycle movement (she saw me doing aquagym).

At one moment, she tried to catch the attention of a lady with her sweet smiles. Once the lady looked at her, she said Louna, deux ans et démi (Louna, two and a half year old) with her hands raised showing her two fingers. Then she started to move out of the pool, looked at the lady and said Régarde (Look.). She quickly jumped onto the water, less than a meter away from the lady. After jumping, she immediately looked at the lady to make sure she was being watched and said Plouf dans l'eau (jumped onto the water). She continued by pointing at me and said C'est Maman, ça. Bébé, pétite soeur. (That's my Mom. She's got a baby, my little sister). And so on and so forth. In less than 5 minutes, there were already 4 adults around her listening to her stories and watching her jump.

It was the same scenario when I brought her with me in a bar (bars in France are now entirely no-smoking areas). She started to present herself and talk about what happened during the day.

Well, I try to explain to her that she sometimes need to wait till other people ask her. But that sounds too complicated to comprehend to a talkative toddler.

Father's Day Special

2008-06-15T13:57:00.007+02:00

Bonne Fête, Papa!

We're supposed to go to a theme park today but since it's raining outside, the plan was cancelled and we just stayed at home like couch potatoes. Good thing my parents anticipated a bit so we were nevertheless able to celebrate Papa's day yesterday.

I painted this picture frame with my Nanny and gave it yesterday morning to Papa. That was his breakfast treat. He was overwhelmed to notice that I could be an artist at my age. I was too proud when he said he would put it on his office table.

This gift was accompanied by a letter written by my Petite Soeur (Little Sister), with my approval and with the help of Maman, of course. I asked Papa if I could blog it here and he said it's okay. So here it is:

Dear Sir,

I wrote you this letter because I am in big trouble and I strongly believe that you’re the best person who could help me with the problem I face right now.

5 ½ months ago, I moved to a comfortable and spacious apartment owned by a charming lady. The contract was all inclusive – food, heater, etc. Everything I needed to live an ideal and stress-free life was cheerfully provided by the owner. I was actually starting to really love this cozy place until this problem.

Lately, I was apparently taking more and more space and my daily activities start to disturb the owner. I talked to her but as much as she wanted to keep me, she informed me that I needed to relocate on or before October 3 of this year for reasons too hard for me to comprehend. She also informed me that proper authorities would intervene in case I stay beyond this date. Not that she wanted to get rid of me. Apparently, we could get ourselves into big trouble if I don’t move.

The lovely lady was too kind though. She told me that she would watch over me till I finally settle down and get my independence and that I could always count on her.

This is the reason why I call your precious attention, Sir. I badly need a place to relocate and I’ve heard that you have rooms available. I would certainly need a lot of help and attention at the beginning because it’s always hard for me to adapt to new environment and new people. But I’m confident that you would help me deal with this situation. I promise to be a good tenant.

If it’s okay with you, I plan to pay you on a daily basis. Will a daily dose of love and happiness suit you? I know it’s not too much but I could add a lot of smiles which could surely help you forget your worries.

Hoping for your favorable response.

Love (oh yes, I already love you),
Your Future Tenant

PS: The girl who gave me your name is Louna. She’s been a friend since I moved to this place and she fondly calls me PETITE SOEUR. She’s been staying with you for two and a half years now and she highly recommends your place. Two thumbs up, as she describes it. She also told me that I need to call you PAPA. She also advised me to greet you HAPPY FATHER’S DAY today!

See you soon.

Papa read it with full attention. Maman told him that it's a letter she saw in the mailbox that morning. At first, he was like shaking his head, thinking how could somebody he doesn't even know could have the nerves to ask such help? And we could even put ourselves into an unknown trouble if we do something (he read the first 3 paragraphs 3x, asking Maman if she knew the sender). Then, not really understanding the first 3 paragraphs, he continued reading the rest of the letter. As he went through it, a smile started to dawn on his face, looked at us, and told us how lovely the letter was.

After that beautiful breakfast, we went to centre ville just to hang out. To each his own interest. While Papa was checking on laptop chargers and Maman on Ipod Speaker Systems (her gift to Papa), I was busying myself to other stuffs.

I then had a ride at the merry-go-round. yes, you read it right. One ride! Life isn't fair :(.

We then went to the market to buy some local produce. Maman was craving for some grilled fish, so grilled fish we had. It was supposed to be a garden lunch but the weather was too unstable so we finally had our lunch inside. We just picked some Cherries and Blackberries from the garden for dessert. These fruits are just too irresistible that I already ate a lot before even starting lunch.

After lunch, we headed to the swimming pool and look at what I could do now:

In fact, I saw a lot of kids doing the same so I tried. Maman was surprised I did it. I really had fun and did it a lot of times. Maman told me that we will surely go back especially that she could practice aquagym. She said it's good for her and my Petite Soeur. Yipeee! In fact, I could imitate her too. I was doing the bicycle exercise inside the water and Maman said that I finally understood what equilibrium means. I was doing great. She just reminded me not to jump into the water without my flotter.

That evening, Papa's friend went over and stayed with me while my parents went out for dinner. They said it's their anniversary, for whatever that means. It was my first time to stay alone at home with another person but I didn't really mind. This morning, they said they were proud of me for being a cool toddler. Oh well, I know I'm cool. And so what?

5th Month Visit, Mother's Day, etc..

2008-05-25T12:13:00.011+02:00

So it's confirmed. The lil bunny is a little girl. She's weighing 530 g at 22 weeks of pregnancy. I had the second echography last Friday, May 23, and everythings seems to be A-ok. Here's her first portrait:
She's becoming more and more active lately, kicking here and there and turning upside down. I saw the culprit. Look at that long leg kicking Maman non-stop.

It actually became an everyday routine to wait for her to kick me. That's a sign of life. I start to know when she's awake or not. She's particularly busy just after every meal, she's a gourmande in the making too.

I start to feel her weight too. Or should I say our weight? Sleeping became difficult as I wake up each time I change position. I start to have backaches too! I think the inconvenients of the 3rd trimester start to weigh on me. Poor me. But hey, only 4 months to go and I'll be with my lil girl. Louna's getting excited too.

Look at how round I am! Oh by the way, to those Mommies who wowed me on my 4th month portrait for not having any stretch marks, I actually have them. Not that visible yet, but I assure you, I'm not spared!

Bonne Fête, Maman!

Today is Mother's Day here in France. Louna arrived with a gift which she bought with her Papa last night. After greeting me Bonne Fef, Maman (that's how she pronounced it), she immediately asked Il est où, bonbon, Maman? (Where's my candy, Maman?)

She's apparently bribed to greet me on Mother's Day!

The picture above shows another gift which she gave me this morning. She did it with her nanny.

Link: Louna's pre-natal check-up at the same period.

Salad Eater

She loves tomatoes and she likes eating salad with me (for my dose of vitamins and folic acid!). Oh, and she loves salad sauce too!

Deux Ans et Démi

2008-05-17T23:01:00.007+02:00

She Utters Thoughtfulness

Attention (Careful) Papa/Maman - She always reminds us to be careful while driving especially when we suddenly break or swerve and she feels the impact.

Ecoute (Listen) Maman - We were in a department store when suddenly, the song New Soul was aired. She stopped and told me Ecoute Maman while pointing on her ear. It's our ritual to listen to the radio inside the car every morning on our way to the nanny. And when it's my favorite song on air, I tell her Ecoute Louna, c'est le favoris de Maman (Listen Louna, that's Maman's favorite). She in fact registered my favorite songs.

Calin (to give a kiss and a cuddle to somebody) - She claims a moment of tenderness every now and then. She's becoming sweeter by the day. And that's not exclusive to us, she does calin to her toys and even to her rabbit bootee.

A Real Chatterbox

And she demands attention. During conversations with families or friends, she would catch our attention by going at the center then she would start singing Ta ta poisson dans l’eau, nage, nage, dans l’eau.

And notice how she switched the rhyme to Twinkle, twinkle little star, kulit!

Or in a funnier way. She would imitate the sound of a pig and she would say cochon.

She says her name and age too. But she says deux ans et demi now (2 and a half years old), the vid is quite obsolete. Just check on how she shows with her fingers how old she is. Now, she would voluntarily tell her age even if it's not her being asked but other kids.

She would voluntarily tell to a stranger (like the fish vendor in a supermarket, for example) that Maman, bébé, ventre (Maman, baby, tummy) while pointing to my tummy.

Now, she even goes further. I bought a Dora activity book where Dora presents her baby brother and sister. So that same night, I read the story to her explaining that she too will have a baby sister. The next day, she was already telling her nanny non-stop that bébé (pe)tite soeur (little baby sister).

This morning, she told bébé tite soeur again on the phone to her auntie (hope she didn't understand) and just this afternoon at the supermarket, to a vendor of hair dryers.

We can’t keep any secret anymore, me thinks.

She’s Independent

Je vais le faire. Toute seule. (I will do it. Alone.) That’s her favourite phrase now when she’s dressing up, serving a glass of water, washing her hands, etc. It’s great, alright. But morning rituals became longer because she wants to do everything alone!

She’s a Traveller

We drove quite a number of kilometres during our vacation in Italy but guess what? It was a breeze. She was sleeping most of the time or talking to our friend who spent a few days of vacation with us.

Visiting the city was not a problem because she likes walking or pushing her stroller around. She’s not picky with food. She’s not grouchy inside a restaurant. She’s got another notion of tourism though. She would rather feed the pigeons and run after them afterwards, or cuddle the dogs, or smell and pick some flowers, or collect eggs from the farm.

We wrote her name and contact info on her shoes though. There were just too much people and we didn't know how we could trace her back in case she's lost or we're lost. Writing on a piece of paper wasn't that handy as she didn't have a pocket all the time. We just explained to her that just in case, tell other people about her shoes. Thankfully, we never had to use it.

One funny thing though. She saw this ad and she immediately asked C’est Louna ça? (Is that Louna?). Taas ng ambisyon ng anak ko.

Magkamukha ba?

Ninja, The Bad Toy

During our stay at the seaside in Italy, she found a Ninja Turtle on the sand. And she decided to keep it with her. Disaster. Once it got inside the car, the Ninja started to bite the hand of one of her dolls (of course, she's doing it - putting the hands of the doll on the mouth of Ninja). The doll in return pushed Ninja. So Ninja and the little doll went to the corner alternately. Then Ninja started to bite Louna too. It was a bad toy.

And the role of the parents? We were obliged to talk to Ninja and the doll, plus bring them to the corner (in one part of the car) all the time during the duration of the travel. That’s pretty sweet at the start but it became tiring in the end especially when there’s Louna at the backseat being grouchy. She was taking her created story to heart.

Just funny that all her toys are kind and cuddly for her while her found Ninja has been tagged as a bad one. It’s resting somewhere now, with the agreement of Louna. It created a bad ambiance among her toys so better back off.

4th Month Visit

2008-04-21T18:58:00.003+02:00

Our visit to the gynecologist is always an exciting event. She's got a 3D doppler machine (or is it 4D?) so we get to see not only the black and white images, but the 3D image as well. She's even saving the images on a CD, great for sharing with family and friends.

The highlight for this month's visit is that:
- the risk for trisomy 21 is very low at 1/2308 so I won't undergo amniocentesis (risky at 1/250).
- they found the presence of nitrite on my urine analysis so I had ECBU analysis which revealed nothing alarming.
- we tried to peek on our child's gender and it seems to be a girl. Another one! To be confirmed on next month's visit. Though we preferred it to be a boy, the fact that maman and baby are healthy is more than enough to be thankful for.

Maman

Getting rounder by the day. Gained 4 kgs from the start of pregnancy, that's one kilo a month! Wow. Average gain weight at this point is 2 - 4.5 kg, needless to remind me that I'm on the borderline. I need to be more responsible. I probably need to stop sneaking on my M&M pack in my drawer. Ang sarap naman kasi.

Weight gain graph comparing 1st and 2nd pregnancy.

Baby

Heart busy pumping at 144 bpm. 17 weeks and 3 days.

So far so good. No nausea. Baby's starting to kick left and right. Papa, a bit disappointed, but supportive as ever. Louna, a promising doting ate starts to practice feeding and changing diapers with her doll.

Life is good.

Link to Louna's pre-natal visit at 4th month.

The Blabber

2008-04-19T11:19:00.002+02:00

I knew she's got the potential. I saw it. And I was quite sure of it. I talk pretty much. And so does Papa. An apple tree bears apple fruits, no mystery.

She's been trying to communicate at an earlier age. Though not clearly, she's nonetheless able to express what's in her mind and get what she wants most of the time. A mix of baby talk and body language are this girl's secret.

Here's some tricks and phrases of the moment:

Me trying to play Dora the Explorer DVD on my SIL's computer, but the computer was only able to read sounds without the images. Then there was Louna, playing narrator to her grandparents, auntie and cousins started:

Meow.. dans l'eau.. il pleure.. Diego.. il fait calin.
Meow (the little jaguar) .. fell on the water.. it's crying.. Diego.. cuddled him.

In trying to help her wear her shoes, or anything for that matter:

Je vais le faire.
I will do it.

In trying to accompany her to her potty, to her room, etc..

Reste là.
Stay there.

In trying to push her to eat something:

Aime pas ça.
I don't like that.

If she did a mistake:

Oh no! (With Dora accent please!)

In trying to help me or Papa finish our yoghurt:

Aider Maman?
Can I help you Maman?

The way she expresses herself just shows how independent she had become. My baby is a big girl now.

Oh Merde!

2008-04-09T19:42:00.002+02:00

Rule #1: If you want to effectively educate your child, don't forget to educate yourself first.

I thought I heard her say Oh men! (I think it was more like - I wanted to believe I heard her say Oh men!) Then I heard her say it again last night... after Papa said Oh merde! (Exact translation of Oh shit!)

Oh men!

4 Months On the Way

2008-04-05T15:10:00.006+02:00

My tummy's getting rounder and rounder since the preggy announcement and I hate that I needed to purchase some preggy clothes because the ones I used during the first pregnancy were summer clothes and that, obviously, were out of style.

Last night, I had this brilliant idea of getting Papa behind the camera and capture Louna and the growing bunny at play time. The result ain't that bad so this would become a monthly pictorial series till the bunny's out.

Our 29 month old little mademoiselle is a certified chocolat addict. In fact, it was hard to really capture a good portrait with her running around. So we bribed her with a bar of chocolate. Instantly, she was cooperative and the result was awesome. But just after the pictorial session, she was already claiming her chocolat.

We're slowly introducing her the art of partage (sharing) since she will soon share her Maman and Papa. Below is the scenario at lunchtime: An Easter egg to be shared between the 3 of us.

Louna dividing the chocolate, giving a portion to Papa, then to Maman and the biggest share infront of her (I was still eating some fruits). They ate their share of chocs then afterwards, Louna moving out of her chair walked to my direction. With a big smile, she asked me:

Louna: T'aimes pas ça? (pointing to the chocolate) You don't like it?
Maman: Non, j'aime bien. No, I like it a lot.
Louna (insisting, again pointing to the chocolate): T'aime pas ça? You don't like it?
Maman: J'aime beaucoup. I like it a lot, Louna.

The question and answer portion were probably repeated 5 times with her fingers getting closer and closer to the chocolate. Then she looked at me again and said Partage (Let's share) dividing the chocs into 2, one for her, another for me.

That T'aime pas ça and Partage conversation went again and again till I was done with my fruits. In the end, I only had 1/8th of what I was supposed to have.

Well, at least she understood the principle of sharing - and it always works to her advantage.

Pssst: please watch her dance We did it! with Dora and Boots:

Louna and the Bébé, Atbp

2008-03-30T09:20:00.011+02:00

When asked what's inside maman's tummy, she would answer bébé. Whether she understands what that means or not, I really can't tell. She would caress and give a kiss to the bébé every now and then. She calles her dolls bébé. She knows that little babies are bébés.

Will she be a jealous ate or will she be playing little mommy to her sister?

September. Transition time. The 2nd bébé will arrive. Ate Louna will start pre-school. She would probably change her nanny (but we're not sure yet). All complicated changes for a little toddler.

***

Louna's been waking us up at the wee hours of the evening lately. She's not wearing diapers anymore so she has to go to her potty or else, she would wet her bed. Even with diapers, she would wake us up anyway. So Maman and Papa thought of a wonderful solution.

They removed the protective bar from the bed and brought the potty trainer just near it. Result? Not working. She's waking us up anyway. She's actually half-sleeping when she's doing her potty at night.

The good thing about this solution is that she could go in and out of bed alone now. We're still hoping that she would do her potty alone one night, without asking Papa or Maman to accompany her, just like on daytime.

***

The fan.

Check out who's Louna's hero at the video below.

Ate Louna..

2008-03-24T14:13:00.011+01:00

...soon!
.. and the little peanut starts to be active inside playing hide-and-seek at 12 weeks and 3 days old (6.7 cm crown to rump with heart rate at 160 bpm!).

Louna will officially be called ATE on September 25, 2008.

***

*Ate is a title used to address an older sister as a sign of respect. In Filipino families, elder brothers or sisters are to be respected always - the notion of hierarchy is observed even among siblings.

*Até est un titre pour s'adresser à une soeur ainée comme un signe de respect. Dans les familles philippines, des frères et les soeurs aînés doivent être toujours respectés par les cadets - la notion de hiérarchie est respectée même parmi les enfants.

Then and Now

2008-03-10T19:19:00.006+01:00

The rules: If you still keep your baby’s first 3 days' photos, we would love to see them. Label them as 1st, 2nd or 3rd day. After that, please post the most recent one, one photo will do. You can post as much as you want though. I’m sure you will realize and tell yourself "seems like yesterday".

Thanks for tagging me Bochie, it was fun to re-discover the un-glamorous me at 1 day old..

.. then my Asian facette at 2 days old..

.. then the innocent me at 3 days old. Did you notice how my eyes grew bigger by the day?

And now, I know what fashion could do for me. A gumamela flower and voila!

8 Facts About Louna

2008-03-06T18:22:00.005+01:00

Deye just tagged Louna to reveal 8 facts about her. I think these two girls know each other pretty well, not physically, but through their respective blogs. But we will nevertheless join the fun. Here we go:

1. She slept through the night at 3 weeks old. Mellow and easy. She would then wake up with an angel smile.

2. She was never a cry-baby. She would throw tantrums every now and then but not the typical toddler who would cry out loud, kicking and biting all people around him, throwing toys at his parents and all those full action drama. She's the kind who would sulk for minutes. If you try to approach her, she would suddenly turn limp voluntarily and we end up finding our daughter lying on the floor. Not a sound. Not a look. Her I-dont-exist attitude. Then, after several minutes and after saying us sorry to her, and her sorry to us, everything goes back to normal. She only cries when she's being scolded and she knows that she did something bad.

3. She started walking with her toy stroller and finally got rid of it at 14 months old.

4. She could manage to eat on her own at 16 old.

5. She was weaned from the bottle at 22 months old without the fuss. She wanted to be like adults around her too early in life.

6. She said goodbye to daytime diapers at 23 months old.

7. With the powerful spell of Nefertiti, the most beautiful queen of Egypt, we went and came back from vacation with the same number of diapers. Yes, she said goodbye to night-time diapers at 27 months. After all, to be beautiful, she has to be diaper-free.

8. Some people around me starts to think that she's a late talker and that starts to annoy me, and more so, stress me out. So allow me a minute of venting please.

I've always believe that each kid follows his own curve of developmental milestone. A kid could be slower in some things than his peers and faster in others. To each his own timeline, no fixed schedule. Louna met her pediatrician a month ago. He asked several questions and she correctly answered them. His pediatrician has not expressed any concerns about her speech development and even thought that she's in the normal range.

Ok, alright. It's true that she's not really making a lot of effort to form sentences. She has her own way of communicating and most of it is physical. If she wants something, she would normally do it on her own (like taking her own yoghurt from the fridge and taking a spoon from the drawer, or even doing her potty alone). If she can't do it alone, she would try to explain it, and in case I don't understand her, she'll take my hand to show me exactly what she wants. So why bother? She could make herself understood anyway.

My assessment of her situation is that we never baby-talked to her and she's raised in a bilingual environment. She probably needs more time to be able to form conversational speech. I think that she's just much more laid back in this aspect than others and as a result will do it on her own time.

Louna talks. We just don't understand everything she says. I think that both parties need to add a little effort to make conversations more comprehensible. Albert Einstein started talking at 4 years old. Who knows, we might be raising a super-bright mathematician or a scientist.
And here's for the sweetest smile tag.

To Cane or Not to Cane

2008-02-14T18:14:00.002+01:00

This is a Tag from Mitch and I think it's good timing as Louna's on the Terrible Twos stage and bad habits are growing by leaps and bounds. Time out corners had been a hit but she's outgrown that now. She still knows the signification but would refuse to stay there or else, she would deliberately lie on the floor. Hitting the back of her hand is somewhat effective now, she would even hit her own hand when she knows she's done something bad. It doesn't necessarily need hard hitting, she knows when we're angry and hitting her hand is just a symbol.

The biggest challenge right now is for her to systematically arrange her toys after play time (though she does that voluntarily at the Nanny's place :(. Or she would even intentionally scatter her toys just to challenge us. Is that some kind of a power play between parents and kids? Who wins?

Pushing her to arrange her toys (or any other activity) has never worked. I just end up exasperated, at the verge of losing my temper. So I return the challenge followed by encouragements - Papa, do you think Louna could arrange her toys? Oh, does this belong here? I think it belongs to Dora. - Look at what Louna's doing Papa. She's a real good girl! - And yes, when she executes the challenge, there's a tinge of pride in her geste.

Well, the strategy doesn't work 100% of the time but is already encouraging. It depends on her mood.

Oppps, what was the question again? To cane or not to cane? Oh no. I'm not giving my last word yet but I don't really think so. I was never hit by my parents and I think I'm a good girl (lol). I believe in the power of communication and I believe I would use that without moderation.

Did I hear it right? My daughter is correcting me!

2008-02-06T18:29:00.000+01:00

One problem of being a working mom is that I only see my daughter in the morning where everything should be done at a lightning speed - and in the evening, where a good portion of that precious time is spent in the kitchen. She knows what's inside the fridge, where to find chocolates, how to arrange our groceries (she knows what to put in the fridge and what not to), how to set the table.. her vocabulary skills are somewhat focused on what's inside the kitchen too.

So you could imagine that most of the conversations evolve in that part of the house too. The conversation this morning came out like this:

Maman: Louna, fini ton verre, s'il te plait. (Louna, please finish your glass).
Louna: Non, non, non (while shaking her head). Ca, c'est lait. (No, no, no. This is milk.)

Well, okay. How in the world could I ask her to finish her glass?

And another conversation:

Maman explaining to Louna that what she's eating was cheese and it's like yoghurt but in a different form. (We try to limit her food intake as she has the tendency to exaggerate - did I say that she's a glutton?)

Louna opening the fridge then pointing to a yoghurt: Non, ça c'est wut (No, this is yoghurt. - that's how she pronounce yaourt for now).

Maman ended up scratching her head. How could I explain that both are made of milk and she could take either of the two but not both?

***

Ever wonder what your kid's doing with the Nanny while you're out? I know.

Louna and Camille with Nanou Guénaëlle watching a show at the nursery.

Little Bakers.

The Pirate, the Indian and the Little Kitten ready for Mardi Gras.

Independence

2008-02-01T19:20:00.000+01:00

What she could do alone:

- Wear and remove her shoes.
- Do her potty.
- Remove her winter coat.
- Wear her gloves and bonnet.
- Go up and down the stairs.
- Eat and drink alone.
- Help me bake a yoghurt cake.
- Choose her own dessert.
- Choose what DVD to watch.
- Choose the song she wants to hear inside the car.
- Peel off a clementine.
- Ride her trotinette (scooter).

What she could do at the Nanny's place but refuse to do at home:

- Arrange her toys.

What she couldn't resist:

- Any kind of food.

What she hates:

- Water.

She's becoming more and more independent. She's almost ready to go to pre-school. Where did time go?

26th Month Update

2008-01-20T14:44:00.000+01:00

Changes had been a-bounty. It's quite impossible to update this blog for each change, unless I work on it fulltime and blog everyday. First off, she finally had her ears pierced for her 2nd birthday, had her real earrings for Christmas and lost them last week - barely a month after she had them. Life is great. If losing her earrings will continue at this pace, we will surely need to invest on a gold mine!

Singing still remains her passion I think. Hear her sing at 1 year old, and now at 2 years old.

Louna singing Frere Jacques while arranging the computer table.
Playing has taken a different dimension too. In this picture, she's playing with the Dora house which her Nanny offered to her last Christmas. She's in fact playing her own scenario - Dora doing dodo (sleeping) while Swiper is looking by the window. It's also funny to note that Dora and Boots could sleep together on Dora's bed while Swiper sleeps exclusively on the sofa.

She's playing with shape-picture matching too. Watch the video.

This video is a good example not only of Louna's ability to match shapes but also of how she masters potty time (when she started to stand up and said caca, caca). In fact, when I wrote about her daytime potty habits two months ago, that suddenly changed when we went home to her grandparent's place for a weekend - change of location, change of people - and everything was forgotten when we went back to Dijon.

But now, at 26 months old (it even started earlier), she could go do her potty alone without us asking her all the time. She could remove and pull back her panties alone so all we have to do now is to flush her business in the toilet. In case of poopy business, she of course ask us to wipe her butty but that's all.

She's been catching and repeating a lot of words lately. I've just noticed in fact that she understands everything but would choose the easier word to pronounce. Like she would say shoes instead of chaussures or truck instead of camion. Do I have to say that my daughter is smart or should I accept that she's quite lazy? Lol.

Here's a video of Louna saying tête (head) and suso. Innocently sweet.

Eating habit remains the same, she's still a voracious eater to the point that she starts to worry us. Like she would stay with the adults during apéro (Frenchies drink alcohol and eat chips, sausages and what-have-yous before the meal) while the other kids play. She would eat fast that after her meal, she would start taking from my plate. But she found a trick which I start to appreciate. She wants to eat with her own cutleries (thanks Tita Chona) - look at how she neatly arranged them on the table. Even if I give her real spoon and fork, she would insist on using her own stuffs. Ok, alright (hands up). Now, we practically eat at the same speed. Great!

On to the bad habits now. Yes, kids develop bad habits too. It's balance. It's yin and yang.

Louna has this manner of shrieking out loud when she doesn't agree with us. I mean shrieking to the top of her lungs that it breaks our ear drums! And she would continue till she gets what she wants, or if it's not possible, till she gets to the time-out corner.

Another way of manifesting her anger is to lie down on the floor, or to hit her toys or even us. And now, she starts to bang her head against the wall too.

Poor parents.

Careful With What You're Saying

2008-01-09T21:48:00.000+01:00

The little girl starts to mumble words. And guard yourself, they start to be comprehensible. She could say aider (to help) or la lune (the moon) with the right French accent. She could even form simple sentences like C'est chaud Maman (It's hot Maman) or Il n'y a plus (Nothing anymore). Most of the time, she would talk too fast that newcomers might think she's not at all advanced for her age. But in fact, if you listen carefully, you could actually catch what she's saying.

She's at an expert level with her major body parts too - in English and in French. Too expert that she finds it boring to show her eyes or her head, nor ses yeux ou sa tête. She starts to be a bit curious with the other parts tho...

One day, during one of her baths, she started to look at her nipples and asked C'est quoi? (what's this?). Without really thinking, I said suso (Tagalog translation of nipples). To which she repeated chuchu. Then she raised her arms and pointed to her armpit asking C'est quoi ça?. Kilikili. She pronounced it in a very cute accent - kéké.

When her father arrived, she was proud to repeat her new-found words and repeated and pointed at them correctly.

Up to that, there's no big deal.

Yesterday, at her Nanny's place, she started to point at the breast of the Nanny's visiting friend and said with big smiles - chuchu. Oppps.

I tried to contain my laughter but it was just so cute and so innocent. The Nanny started to ask what that word meant but how could I explain that my 2-year-old's first Tagalog word is, well - suso. So I just told them that it's a Tagalog word without really saying what it meant.

Still last night, upon arriving at home, she saw this wall decoration and with eyes wide open, she called at me, pointed on it and said Maman, chuchu! - probably wondering how she didn't notice it before.

I just have this impression that since she learned that word, she could see but that - chuchu!

So, if you have any tips on how I could erase that word from my child's memory chip, please let me know. Promise, next time, I'd rather teach her Salamat po (Thank you) and other polite words.

My Christmas Update

2008-01-05T15:13:00.000+01:00

Hello there! Miss me? Maman and Papa had been too busy lately, they had no time to update this blog. I patiently waited (I know you did too) .. but it seems that they already forgot this blog's existence. So now, I'm taking the initiative.. Brace yourself to a long update from me!

Where do I begin? Okay. I stayed at my grandparent's place for 2 weeks while Maman was in Bangkok and Papa was in Boston. Poor me. But wait, don't get me wrong. I love being at my Mamie's place because I eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits from Papi's garden. Mamie is a really excellent cook and you know, food is still my greatest weakness..

For Christmas, we had big lobsters from Boston and exotic fruits from Bangkok. Add some fois gras and imagine how we feasted with these mouth watering delicacies.

Everybody was delighted to have lobsters on their plate for this special occasion. Look at them. They seem to be in a real American restaurant with their plastic apron. While me, hmm, I struggled to finish my lychee. Can I have a mango instead?

After that long Christmas meal, a bottle of beer is surely a wonderful treat. What do you think?

Well, okay, I thought I was in a good mood to tell you stories of how grown up I am. Everybody says I pronounce a lot of new words and I think I should believe them. Why? Because I get what I want faster than I was used to.

Oh, I really wanted to tell you more stories about me, but I think it's snack time.. see you next time!

Candle Blowing Expert

2007-11-18T21:34:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-10T15:50:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-07T21:56:00.001+01:00

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

2007-11-05T14:47:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-04T21:38:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-27T19:26:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-15T12:41:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-13T21:59:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-07T18:09:00.000+02:00

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

2007-08-03T22:25:00.000+02:00

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

Photo and Video Essay

2007-07-07T16:53:00.000+02:00

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

2007-06-30T10:12:00.000+02:00

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

2007-06-07T12:12:00.000+02:00

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

2007-06-02T13:10:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-26T19:30:00.000+02:00

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..