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Bela's Milestone at 22 months

Posted by abie on 12:36 AM in

Oh, I just want to post this.

Bela was reading a book with her Tita Aliah (my 7 year old cousin). Nabuksan nila ngayon yung book sa page na may picture ng maraming flowers.

Mom: Bela, can you count the flowers
(Bela, pointing to the flowers one by one)
Bela: Wan
Mom: One
Bela: Tu
Mom: Two
Bela: Ti
Mom: Three
Bela: Or
Mom: Four
Bela: Ive
Mom: Five
Bela: Ix
Mom: Six
Bela: Babble something which I think she meant Seven…hehehe
Mom: Seven
Bela: Eyt
Mom: Eight
Bela: Babbles again something
Mom: Nine
Bela: En
Mom: Ten

Bela: starts clapping her hands while mom follows.

I was really shocked and amazed. My baby can count 1 to 10 (or at least most it) at 22 months. We often hear her pronounce eyt (for eight) and ti (for three) kapag nakikita nya to sa books, sa plate number ng car, sa elevator, etc. But I never realize that she can say all of the numbers in their correct order.

Madalas kse, tinuturuan na namin sya mag count from 1 to 10 bago kami matulog. Kasabay ng pag review namin ng letters, colors and shapes sa mga Pre School charts nya na naka dikit sa wall sa room namin. So na pick up na din nya siguro yung counting from 1-10 after several repetitions. Effective pala talaga ang Montessori method…hehehe…

Oh, I’m just so proud of my dear little Bela.

Some of her other milestones:

  • she knows the color red, black, white, green, pink and yellow. Every time we tell her “Bela, can you show me something that is black” She will go look out for something with the color that we ask her.

  • She already knows almost all the pictures in her English Alphabet Chart (ex. xylophone, zipper, yarn, car, bus, truck, key, eyeglasses, umbrella, violin, hat, map, fish, etc). She can also pronounce most of it, like hhhat (hat), tuck (truck), kar (car).

  • She now knows how to pack away her toys. After playing, she would wave bye-bye to her toys and will start packing it away. I think she got this habit from Gymboree and Little Gym

  • She will ask us to help her remove her shoes after entering our house. I will then tell her to put her shoes in our shoe rack and she will obediently follow

  • She always says ayyy (hi) and wave her hands every time she meets other kids or grow ups when we’re outside. I think nakatulong din ang Little Gym in helping her build her confidence and socialization skills
  • That’s it for now. Tulog na ako at tulog na din ang mag ama ko


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    I'm a true Elliott fan

    Posted by abie on 11:45 PM in ,
    Elliott Yamin, one of the finalists from American Idol Season 5 is here in Manila until tomorrow.

    First time I saw Elliot performed at American Idol, I already fell in love with him (next to my hubby of course…hehehe). He didn’t win the title as the American Idol for Season 5 but I’m pretty sure that he will make it big because he’s really got the talent.

    If I have free time at the office, I would google his name just to look for updates about what’s going on with his career. So I was really very happy when I found out that he already release his album. I even have an entry about it in my blog.

    So I felt doubly happy when my friend Pizzie, texted me (because she knows that I’m a true Elliott fan) to inform me that Elliott is coming to Manila. So I informed my two officemates, Angel & Paul, and my cousin Tessa who also is a big Elliott fan. And so we set a date to watch him perform at Glorietta on Sept 22.

    Sept 22, 2007

    We initially agreed to meet at Glorietta around 12:30 so we can line up early since it is a free concert. But because I have to bring Bela to her pedia for her follow up check up (she got sick kse the week before that), we agreed to meet around 3 PM na lang.

    3 PM and Howell and I is still at home. Nakatunog ata si Bela na aalis kami kaya nag lalambing sa akin and ayaw nya talaga humiwalay sa akin. Akap pa ng akap at kiss ng kiss sa akin parang nang uuto para huwag na ako umalis. Buti na lang she fell asleep around 3:30 PM, kaya nakatakas din kami ni Howell (bad mommy…hehehe).

    We arrived at Glorietta around 4:30 PM. On our way there I received a text from my cousin, and informed me that we have to get a stub from the customer service in order to watch the show. Pero when we inquired sa customer service, ubos na daw yung stub before lunch pa lang. But we can still watch the show pa naman, yung nga lang wala kaming upuan.

    So tumambay na kami sa activity center since maganda na yung na pwestuhan namin. At 5 PM, madami na ding nakatambay sa Activity Center and they’re all waiting for the show. The show started at exactly 7 PM. Imagine, 2 hours kami nag intay don. That’s how much I love Elliott…hehehe…He sang all the songs in his album. Men, I was really in heaven while watching him perform (OA ba?). Basta sobra love ko talaga sya love. Syempre meron na din akong copy ng self titled album nya.

    There was a Meet and Great after the concert pero syempre para lang dun yun sa mga may green stub (mga VIP)…hehehe…Hope he’ll be back here in Manila and sana next time yung paid concert na para may guaranteed seats na kami in front of the stage...hehehe

    So go check out Elliott’s Self Titled Album. I assure you guys, you will love it.

    Some pictured of the concert that i grabbed from http://www.rickey.org/?p=5549. Sorry we we're not able to get a decent picture kse medyo malayo kami from the stage:


    gosh, I love it when he does everytime he is performing


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    RECAP, RECAP, RECAP

    Posted by abie on 7:22 PM in , ,

    Haven’t had the time to blog lately so I’ll just make a bulleted list (tsaka ko na I post ang full story. That is pag naka time)

    • We went to Boracay last Sept 1-3 and visited my friend Malou and her kids, Sarah & Ryan who lives there.

    • We had fun at Bora, super negra baby ko pero super enjoy nya ang beach. One thing bad happened though – Howell lost his wedding ring (huhuhuhu). I'll post my kwentos and pictures soon.

    • My grandfather passed away last Sunday.

    • It was a difficult time for us but I know he now enjoys his time with his Creator. He is now free from all the physical pain that he is experiencing. You will surely be miss Tatay and we love you very much.

    • Bela got sick from Tues – Wed.

    • My husband and my mom brought her to her pedia today. Good thing it’s just a simple cough & colds, nothing to worry about. First time kse nagkasakit ni Bela ever since pinanganak sya kaya medyo panic kami ni Howell. But she’s feeling much better now.

    • It was Bela’s 2nd week for the new quarter at Little Gymlast Sunday.

    • My husband and my mom brought her to her pedia today. Good thing it’s just a simple cough & colds, nothing to worry about. First time kse nagkasakit ni Bela ever since pinanganak sya kaya medyo panic kami ni Howell. But she’s feeling much better now.

      More post later…kain lang kami ni hubby

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    Get paid for Blogging

    Posted by abie on 9:34 AM in
    I’ve joined the bandwagon.

    Most of my n@wie friends are now into paid blogging. I was inspired by their stories and testimonials and since I’m online most of the time, so I said to myself, why not give it a try.

    I signed up at Blogvertise. It’s so easy to join. Just register your blog with Blogvertise then sign up for an account. After signing up, your blog will then be reviewed for approval. Once approved, you will receive an email from Blogvertise listing tasks that you need to write about in your blog. You just need to mention the advertiser at east three times in your blog, and the after that you get paid.

    Good deal right? Well wish me luck guys.

    4

    Our HK Trip: Aug 2-4, 2007

    Posted by abie on 12:58 PM in

    Finally, I was able to finish our HK trip kwento. It’s the first time for our clan (clan kse 19 kami lahat, lahat – 13 Adults + 6 kids) to go out of the country together.

    I started planning for the trip as early as May because I have to book in advance with Cebu Pacific to get the cheapest fare. After booking the flights, I started doing research for hotels in HK. I opted to stay in a hotel but all of my companions wanted to stay in a hostel. I got the website of HostelBookers.com, from my former classmate and co-n@wie, pheng. We booked the hotel with the highest guest ratings.

    Through the help of another n@wie, Dick, I was able to find a cheaper service for airport transfers. He gave me a number of a Van-for-Hire service where we can rent a van, which can accommodate 5 persons per van. I also did some research and found a Bus for Hire service, which is also the same price as the van-for-hire service, recommended by Dick. My cousin left for Manila, 2 days ahead of us and so I just asked her to book the Bus to pick us up at the airport.

    So after all the planning, finally last Aug 2, we left for HK.

    DAY 1: DEPARTURE AND THE PEAK

    Our flight is scheduled to leave at 8:00 AM so we left the house around 5:00 AM. Buti na lang talaga maaga kami umalis kse sobrang tagal naming mag check in. We reached the airport around 6 AM. Wala pang masyadong pila but it took us 1 hour to checked in. Nag group check in na kse kami para walang problem sa mga excess baggage pero parang confused yung Cebu Pac staff in charge sa luggage. After I-weigh yung mga luggage namin, we proceeded to the check in section. And just the same, confused pa din yung staff sa pag check in sa amin.

    After an hour, we we’re able to check in na. But we have to pay pa pala ng Travel Tax before we can get our boarding Pass. So we have to line up again sa Travel Tax booth ng DOT. After getting our boarding pass, we went in and head straight to Immigration after filling up all the Immigration forms. Nakapsok ata kami sa boarding area mga 7:45 na.

    The flight was on time. We left Manila at 8 AM and arrived HK airport at 10 AM. We we’re picked up by the bus that my cousin contacted. From the airport, we head straight to USA Hotel to checked in our luggage. Actually, I was a bit disappointed with the hostel. Medyo maarte kse ako pagdating sa ganyan eh. The building is old and medyo madumi yung corridor nila and I don’t like the smell of the place – amoy luma na talaga sya tapos ang dami pang Middle Easterner sa lugar, kaya nakaka-add sa baho.

    And when we checked the rooms, mas lalo ako na dissapoint. Binabaan ko na nga yung expectations ko since it’s really cheaper compared sa mga hotels sa HK (it’s only 1/3 of what I will pay if we opted for a hotel), pero na disappoint pa din ako. The room was really small and some rooms walang window. Yung una nga namin na room, ayaw pumasok ni Bela kse baka na cla-claustrophobic sya.

    Lilipat na lang sana kami sa hotel kse mukhang di din type ng brother ko and ng dad ko yung mga rooms but when we told the manager about our plan, he said that we still have to pay for 2 nights for all the rooms that we booked since cancellation should be made 48 hours before the check in date daw. This is the first and last time that I will try a hostel….hehehe…

    So after checking in to our rooms we looked for the nearest Mc Do to have lunch coz it’s almost 2 o clock and gutom na kami lahat. After lunch, the oldies decided to go back to the hotel to rest together with the kids, while we (my brother+ his gf, my 2 cousins, my sister, me, howell & bela) decided to go to Park Lane Road. We did some early shopping there.

    We met with them around 5 PM to go to the Peak Tower. After reaching the Peak Tram terminal, we we’re greeted by a long queue of tourist buying tickets for the Tram. The guard said that the waiting time is approximately 2 hours. So as much as I wanted them to experience the The Peak Tram ride, we opted to take the cab going to the The Peak.

    We reached The Peak Galleria, around 7 PM and we have to do some walking to go up Victoria Peak. My dad, my mom and my aunt was too tired already (because we just walk from the hotel to the Peak Tram Terminal – around 15 minutes walk) so they decided to wait for us at the Peak Galleria na lang while we went up the Victoria Peak to get a good view of HK. We just had dinner at CafĂ© Coral and we call it a night after that.

    DAY 2: DISNEYLAND

    When Bela saw the Disneyland welcome arch, with Mickey on top, her eyes grew big with amazement. You can easily see that she was happy to see Mickey. She was dancing with joy and even humming together with the background music being played. Sobrang init that time pero deadma si Bela sa init, she was just very happy.

    We went inside after buying our tickets and we saw there’s already a line at the gazebo for Mickey and Minnie’s meet and great. We immediately line up but we saw there’s another line for Pluto so we line up also and we just left my cousin to line up for us for Mickey & Minnie. Since Pluto was the first character that Bela met at Disneyland, she was a bit apprehensive at first during her picture taking with Pluto. May blooper nga pala ako kay Pluto. During the picture taking with him, I always refer to him as Goofy. Sabi ng ng kapatid ko, buti di ako binatukan. Kse noong nakita ko lang yung dog tag nya, doon ko lang na-realize na di pala sya si Goofy…hehehe

    Then we proceed to line up again for Mickey and Minnie naman. 30 minutes siguro kami sa pila pero nag tyaga pa din. We we’re finish with the picture taking around 12;30 so we decided to check the Disney stores na lang instead of going to Tomorrowland since the parade will start in 30 minutes na lang.

    Bela really enjoyed the parade. Who wouldn’t enjoy seeing all the Disney characters live? She really is a Disney fan kse kaya na appreciate nya talaga yung parade coz she knows most of the characters.

    After the parade, we met with mom & dad and my aunt for lunch. We just ate at one of the fast food stores there. After lunch, we headed straight to Tomorrowland to try out some of the rides. Unfortunately there is always a long queue for almost all of the rides so kaunti lang talaga na try namin. Good thing they have a fast pass system. So what we did, we just get fast pass tickets and just go back an hour after so we don’t have to wait that long.

    At Tomorrowland, we we’re also able to have a picture taken with Buzz and have him signed Bela’s Signature book. Some of the rides that we we’re able to try at Tomorrowland were: Buzz Ligthyear Astro Blasters, Autopia, Orbitron & Space Mountain.

    Then we headed to Fantasy Land to watch the Golden Mickeys Show. Oh my, my daughter was in heaven while watching the show. Imagine watching all your Disney characters performing. Kaya kahit in Mandarin/Chinese yung most of the shows (yung mga songs lang kse ang in English), happyng happy pa din ang mga bata, specially si Bela.

    The attractions that we we’re able to try at Fantasyland were: Mickey’s Philhar Magic (one of my favorite), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and the Cinderella Carousel .

    After the Golden Mickey Show, we then went to Pirateland. Bela was already tired by this time because it’s almost 5 PM na ata and di pa sya nag na-nap. So while the kids were waiting for their picture to be taken with Goofy & Pluto, I gave Bela her milk and nakatulog na agad sya. After the picture taking with Goofy & Pluto, we tried the Jungle River Cruise ride. The kids and even the adults enjoyed the ride.

    After this ride, we met with my mom & dad and my aunt. While my brother with her gf, my sister, and my cousin went back to Fantasyland to try the Space Mountain ride. While waiting for them, Bela and the rest of the kids tried the Cinderella Carousel and we did some last minute shopping too for souvenirs.

    Then the last part of our trip to Disneyland was the spectacular fireworks display. It’s something that you really shouldn’t miss. After the fireworks, we just have dinner and head back to the hotel and call it a night again.

    LAST DAY: OCEAN PARK & LAST MINUTE SHOPPING

    We spent our last day at HK at Ocean Park. Mom & dad didn’t go with us to Ocean Park because my dad is not feeling well.

    The first thing that we did is watched the Dolphin show. The first schedule is at 11 AM so we headed straight to Ocean Theatre. We had lunch na din there while waiting for the show to start. Di gaanong maganda yung show (not like yung napanood namin ni Howell last time we we’re at Ocean Park.)

    After the show, we went to the Shark Aquarium and Atol Reef. Kahit madaming tao, mainit, at antok na si Bela, enjoy na enjoy sya seeing all the different species of fish.

    After Atol Reef, some of my cousins wanted to try the trill seeking rides at the low land level. So we decided that we part ways and we will just meet them at the waiting area for the Cable Car Ride.

    Everybody enjoyed the Cable car experience. Including Bela. Ako, takot na takot kse I’m really afraid of heights pero sya, sumisilip pa sa window to get a better view. Mana talaga sya sa tatay nya. And also my tita na di na maganda pakiramdam - feeling daw nya mag co-collapse na sya sa init. High blood kse sya. Pero after the ride, aba nabuhayan ulit at enjoy na enjoy sya. After the cable car ride, we went shopping again for souvenirs then head back to the hotel.

    We only have one hour left to shop before kami sunduin ng bus namin so we we’re only able to shop sa mga shops na malapit lang sa hotel namin.

    The bus picked us up at 7PM and we headed straight sa airport for our 9:55 fligth. Efficient naman ang mga staff sa HK airport so there was no problem checking in even if we checked in as a group. Doon na lang kami nag dinner sa waiting area sa Gate 42.

    At 11:55, we’re in Manila na. Mas mabilis na kami ngayon sa Immigration, Customs and sa pagkuha ng mga baggage. After 30 minutes lang we’re already out of the airport.

    It was really tiring and sobrang gulo to travel in big groups – syempre maraming intayan, matagal mag desisyon coz you have to ask everybody, etc,. Pero grabe, sobrang enjoy talaga sya. Undeniably, all of us did had fun during our 3 day trip sa HK and hopefully we can do this again. Actually, they’re asking me to plan na for our next trip – SG naman daw. Sana matuloy if budget permits. Buong clan ulit kami…hehehe


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