October 2009

My daughter now responds to Sabrina. I have been calling her Sabrina and she seems to like it better than Andrea. Yay.  She’s growing up so fast. I am now trying to be more strict in terms of disciplining her but it’s getting harder. She’s becoming as stubborn as I am.

This morning I heard screaming and crying. I went to the sala where Sabrina was and she ran up to me crying. She was wailing and saying “Nian (that’s her yaya’s name) said NO”.  Now this is not a rare conversation between Sabrina and myself, she hates it when we say no and ends up upset specially when it’s her yaya saying no. Usually I don’t interfere cause I don’t want to undermine her yaya’s authority. I believe that for Sabrina to be disciplined everyone has to be on the same page. I usually tell her “You’re sad because Nian said no? Why don’t you talk to Nian and tell her what you want”….this way she knows that she has to talk to the person who’s upset with her and she won’t get out of trouble just by running to someone else. This morning was different though, I had to interfere. Sabrina took her blue crayon and scribbled all over the floor of the sala and her bedroom. I’m not talking about small lines but I’m talking about major graffiti!

I sat her down and explained in a very angry voice that crayons are for papers only (oh and trust me we’ve had this conversation before). I then told her that yes, Nian is mad because she’s not supposed to do what she just did. I then took her with me and told her she can’t play anymore cause she has to help Mommy clean the crayons. She followed! So there we were holding wipes while scrubbing away on the floor. Thank goodness the doodles came off very easily.

I know that this is partly our fault. Why would you leave a toddler with a crayon and without any paper. Of course she’s going to doodle. I just really wanted to teach her about consequences…she needed to know that when she does things she’s not supposed to then there’ll be uncomfortable events after.

TRUST ME, no toddler was harmed during the entire thing. =)

So speaking of Sabrina I am loving her at this stage. She’s becoming independent and quite funny. Here are some random things about her:

- She can be quite OA…she says things like “How will we ever find it?”…OA di ba?

- She’s so headstrong. Aaarrrgghhh

- She’s like me, she ignores everyone around her when she’s not in the mood.

- She loves me sooo much. hahaha. YIHEE! I’m her favorite. =)

- Knows her ABC’s, planets, colors, shapes (thanks to my mother-in-law she knows trapezium, sphere, oblong, etc) and can count from 1-30 in English, and 1-10 in spanish. She can also count backwards. 

- She can count things in her head. Ask her how many balls are on the table she can look at it very quickly and tell you how many there are.

- Sometimes she will give you the wrong answer because she likes it when people say “Noooooo” …

- She drinks one cup of fresh milk a day, one cup of choco milk then she eats yoghurt. That’s it. BYE formula!! Can you imagine the savings?

- She hates brushing her hair. We have crying fests everyday because of it. Crazy!!!

- She likes choosing. She chooses her breakfast, her snacks sometimes even her lunch or dinner. When we’re in the grocery and I can’t decide which brand to take I just ask her and she happily chooses for me. =)

- She’s a very simple girl with very simple likes. She doesn’t go crazy over toys. She likes books.

- She only watches a couple of shows on TV (Blues Clues, Olivia the Pig, Dora, Pocoyo, Mickey Mouse). She’s starting to sound like those shows she watches…her expressions are priceless. From “Oh my”, to “Oh dear”, to “Oh my goodness”. Hahaha

- Despite being stubborn like me she’s still a very well-behaved girl. Ruy and I have been trying really hard to make sure she doesn’t end up becoming a spoiled brat. She’s the first grandchild on both sides and you can just imagine how much she’s doted on and so the risk of becoming spoiled is very high.

All in all, Sabrina’s doing well. I know Ruy and I will be faced with more challenging years in terms of discipline but I really believe that if you start the discipline early then the next couple of years will be easier for everyone.

Saw this in Leah’s blog. It looked interesting and I haven’t done anything like this in a while so I thought I’d give it a try.

A- Advocate for: beating mediocrity in life.

B- Best Feature: physically my nose (I can’t believe how petty that sounds)

C- Could do without: fats!! wahahah

D- Dreams and desires: more security, another child, a house that doesn’t get flooded

E- Essential items: FOOD and chocolate. I just need to point out that I had to single out chocolate because I believe chocolate is above and beyond FOOD.

F- Favorite past time: reading, playing with Andrea, talking/chatting with friends (the smart ones, hahaha)

G- Good at: strategizing…

H- Have never tried: drugs, and I don’t intend to try it ever.

I- If I had a million dollars: I’d be happy…oh and I’d be helping people. Heaven knows how many people I know need help

J- Junkie for: chocolate

K- Kindred spirit: Ruy

L- Little known fact: I can remain expressionless during meetings but not during conversations with friends.

M- Memorable moment: Giving birth to Sabrina and the flood last September 26

N- Never again will I: be flooded in….please God!

O- Occasional indulgence: Ninyo =) a restaurant Ruy and I both adore

P- Profession: ahmmm…talk to me again in a couple of months. =)

Q- Quote: “It’s better to be boldly decisive and risk being wrong than to agonize at length and be right too late.” ~ Marilyn Moats Kennedy

R- Reason to smile: Andrea’s developments, my relationship with Ruy, my relationship with my family and my very young relationship with God.

S- Sorry about: hurting the people I love most. I have done this several times either intentionally or unintentionally…why do we do this?

T- Things you are worrying about right now: The coming typhoon….the future

U- Uninterested in: anime

V- Very scared of: another flood

W- Worst habits: Errr…I don’t know. Annoying people?

Y- Yummiest dessert: I love my choco chip cookies and the truffles Ruy got me for my birthday.

X- X marks my ideal vacation spot: Greece.

Z- Zodiac sign: Leo

I don’t have a lot of books at home. I probably have 10 pieces, tops. I left all my books in my lola’s house and what do you know…her house was also waist deep in flood. I know I lost hundreds of books from textbooks to novels to coffee table books. I can’t remember all the books I lost but these are some which I remember.

- My psych textbooks
- Complete Harry Potter Collection. All hard bound, all first edition.
- Twilight…
- My self-help books.
- My business and management books….ulk. These are so expensive!
- My Jane Austen books. I have over 15 of these. You see I love Jane Austen so much I would buy the same book as long as the publisher and/or the cover is different. Sigh.
- A coffee table book featuring the best art works from the Louvre.

=( I know these are all material things but I can’t help but feel bad. Maybe this is the first step to my simplifying my life.

There was a time when my biggest problem was how to get rid of acne or what to wear to school. A few weeks ago I was faced with a devastating problem — Ondoy.

In hindsight, I know Ruy, Andrea and I were very lucky. Our homeowner’s association really took care of us, We received more relief goods than we knew what to do with (I gave them to my former driver and one of the janitor’s at work) and we were all alive. I didn’t feel so lucky when it was all happening though. I seriously thought we were going to die. It reached the point when I was already trying to figure out how to make sure Andrea would stay alive if ever Ruy and I died.

I know it’s over, I know we’re lucky but I still feel my heart pounding at the slightest sign of rain. I always wonder what if…what if we’re not as lucky next time?