Maya at 17 Months

28 August 2011

I think this is one of my favorite months of Maya yet. She has reached a lot of milestones in a span of a few days. It's amazing how one day makes a difference.

She loves to cuddle and hug now for longer than a couple of seconds. She puts her arms around me and squeezes when I ask her for a hug. It warms my heart every time especially when she does this without being asked. When I'm having a bad day, she stays close and cuddles with me a lot more than usual. She mostly kisses my face and pets my head, too. She is so attuned to me that she picks up on my emotions a lot; it's scary.



One time while I was cleaning her up in the shower, she headbutted me hard on the chin - and it hurt a lot. So I kind of screamed "auw!" and cupped my chin with my eyes closed. It really did hurt that bad. When I opened my eyes, she gave me this look of such genuine concern I didn't know children her age are capable of expressing that I felt my heart squeezed I almost cried. I hugged her then and said that Mommy is alright. She looked up at me with the same expression that I couldn't help it; a few fat tears rolled down my cheeks. She understands more than I think she does. She's my little grown-up baby.



She is even more talkative now. She has recently learned the word 'flower', only she calls it 'souwer'. Since we have a lot of flowery things and plants around the house, we constantly hear that word, like every five minutes when she isn't distracted by something. She also says it a few times before she falls asleep. I think it's her favorite word.

The other words she says are water (wally), Maya (manny), Mommy (sometimes mama or manny) hug (haka), love (av), ball (bal), side to side (sa to sa), calm (ka), wow, sleep (slapuh), eat (eten), kai lan, hi, juice (sap), milk (pap), up (appa), no/nee, yes (ja), cap/cup (kappa), shower, (shawah) iPad (apad), shampoo (sampoo), girl (guh), hello kitty (I can't spell how she says it; she says it very fast), bird (ba), cat (ka), apple, shoe (sa), baby (bibi), ice (ijs) and a few more I can't remember right now.

'What's this' is her favorite thing to say, too. So when she sees something she doesn't know or just anything really, she asks "what's this" while pointing at the thing with her cute chubby finger.



Her favorite food is spaghetti or anything pasta that has tomato sauce. It's our go-to food when she gets picky or doesn't eat enough. But basically, she eats anything we eat. If we serve her something else than what we're having for dinner, she won't touch her food at all unless it's pasta.

She loves to play with her tea set, building blocks, books, and hand-me-down mobile phone and iPod which she loves carrying around in her little tote bags. Tonight, she got her Daddy to let her play with his netbook. I think he might let her keep it too. She already has him wrapped around her pinkie.



She is growing up so fast. She is getting less like a baby. There are times when I scold her for doing something she wasn't supposed to, she argues back to me in her own baby language. I can't help but laugh because she always looks so serious, so I always engage her even though I don't understand a thing she says. She probably said, "I think my Mommy is nuts" and I agree with her all the time.

My Baby's Growing Up

22 July 2011

Only a year ago, we used to carry her around and she was content on being held.

Now, she walks and runs around like she owns the place. She won't sit still for longer than a minute unless she's reading her books, eating and watching her favorite DVDs.



She is strong-willed, charming, funny, talkative, energetic, clever, and smart. She knows what she wants. She loves to dress up and will wear her shoes all day if it's all up to her. She loves to listen to music and watch music videos. She enjoys eating ice cream, cookies and all the bad stuff. Yes, we let her eat them once in a while. We are not that strict as parents but we put our foot down when it is necessary.



She is a darling when in a good mood. She loves entertaining people with her baby babble like she understands everything that's being said and she wants to voice her own opinions too. There were weeks when she was constantly walking around with a thing against her ear because, for her, they are all phones. Even her hand. But when handed a real phone, she would look at us like we're stupid for handing her something that, for her, wasn't a real phone.

She is a huge suck-up, too! And, I try, I try so very hard not to melt when she looks at me all innocent, eyes squinting and with a huge smile on her face, because I shouldn't give in to her cute manipulations. But, sometimes, I let her get away with it because I can't help myself, you know? Because she follows it up with small smacking kisses on the lips and her baby giggles. How can one resist that?



She also loves attention. Whenever she does something right and good, she claps her hands and looks at us for approval and recognition. She was so happy when she got to stack all 12 blocks straight up without it topping over. But not as happy as we were. It felt like an I-just-won-a-million-dollars moment.

She is in the phase now when she imitates sounds and gestures. Almost everything we say and do, she does. She can say a handful of words but still talks with her own baby language. Occasionally, I hear her say a full straight Filipino sentence which is kind of amusing since she says it at the right times. It is quite interesting how she will pick up the languages later on because we use all three around her. She understands them but speaks mostly English and Dutch. I have been talking to her in Dutch more whenever I remember to. But, most days, I don't even notice what language I speak. I mix them all up in one sentence and she still understands me. Or maybe that's what she wants me to believe.

It is amazing to watch her grow into the girl she is now. It is a gift that I am very grateful for. To marvel at the new things she learns and the milestones that she reaches; it is very precious. Sometimes I look at her and think, where did all the time go? She used to be so tiny and fragile. Now she does a whole lot of things, communicates what she wants and doesn't want, and falls and trips more times than I can count.

Maya Turns One

03 March 2011 Dearest Maya,

I can't believe it's already been a year. A year chock-full of laughter and tears and sleepless nights and love I didn't know was possible until you came along.

A year ago today, you were born.



Watching you grow this past year is a wonder. It's amazing how you learn to do things by yourself and to see you change everyday.



You fill our hearts with so much joy. Sometimes I can't believe you came from me. You are so beautiful.



You are such blessing to us and I'm forever grateful to have you in my life..



I can't imagine my life without you in it.

Happy birthday, Baby.

I love you so very much,
Mommy

My Beautiful Family

13 January 2011

Maya just woke up from a nap and we dressed her up quickly for a mini photo shoot before my father-in-law came to pick us up.

Coming right up!

06 September 2010 So my new blog design is in the works and will be done as soon as my free time doesn't consist of finishing chores and catching up on sleep. I'm so excited to have the new layout out and the many possibilities of good things! I'm really looking forward to this.

I'm currently waiting for the last load of laundry to finish before I head to bed. Fortunately, it's been a rather quiet night for Maya so I'm taking this time to update. It's been a couple of weeks of almost sleepless nights and full days of looking after Maya alone while also doing my job as a housewife. It's tough but I'm getting the hang of it. We have established a routine that works for us and it's getting easier everyday. It's new for me to have a structured routine since I've been used to living without one for years, and being consistent is a challenge. I find myself liking the predictability of the day, though. And, surprisingly enough, I am more motivated to do things that I always tend to put aside for "tomorrow". I don't leave things unfinished when I can have it done before I retreat in the comforts of my bedroom unlike before. No more dirty dishes in the sink or laundry in the washing machine. I tidy up the living area so not to be greeted by chaos in the morning. I like my mornings clear of clutter.

I've been talking about sleep or the lack thereof in my Facebook status as of late. Maya is teething and has reached many milestones in her 6 months of life. Her erratic sleeping pattern is driving us crazy for the past two weeks and there's nothing much we can do about it. She wakes up every half an hour, sometimes fifteen minutes after we put her down for her bedtime, leaving us no room for rest. This goes on until morning and the cycle continues again when the day ends. I dread the evenings/nights since then. I have now officially become a morning person.



Her sleeping issues aside, she is a very happy baby. She can sit up straight by herself for a minute. She mimics sounds. She can crawl backwards, roll over and back, pick up and hold things in her tiny hands. She loves sucking her big toe. Sometimes she stuffs her foot in her mouth. She sucks her thumb rarely. She laughs a lot, too, even at times when I'm not trying to make her. She eats solids now and loves fruits and carrots. She gags and make a face when we feed her beans so we alternate it with fruit just so she finishes it. She's still breastfeeding and won't take the bottle. We're teaching her to drink from a sippy cup now. She only chews on it but it's only been a week. She mumbles when she cries like she's telling you something. A series of "M" sounds like mommy, mama, mmmm and a whole lot of other nonsensical syllables only she understands. She's a talker, I'm pretty sure of it.

Anyway, the laundry is done, finally! So this is it for now.

Two Happy Months

22 May 2010 Dearest Maya,

This letter is two weeks later than usual because I didn't really have much time to write these days. You require much of my attention that, whenever I catch a break or two, I do something else to spend that time.. like iron clothes, clean, wash dishes, go grocery shopping or take a long hot shower. Mommy is learning to juggle housework and taking care of you that I make the best of our time together now that you're still so young. I won't have this back until your brother or sister, if we ever decide to have more kids that is, comes along but that won't happen any time soon.

You've gained 1.3 kg (!) from your last checkup and that's all from Mommy's milk, while prior to your monthlies, I was constantly worrying if you've been getting enough milk. You also grew 5 cms and don't have much room in your portable bath if you stretch your legs out. Just promise me you won't outgrow me in height before you're in high school, okay? Because that would make me feel like a midget compared to you and your Daddy, and I'm not that much into wearing heels.

You are quite the morning person. Just like your Daddy. I think that will be my constant mantra and you'll read and probably hear it a lot from me. But what can I say? You are... just like your dad. You smile a lot in the mornings.

You are now responding to our voices. You smile an awful lot when we talk to you. And what do you know, you talk right back! I heard you mumble at least two syllable sounds for a week now besides the usual "eh" you like to say. If only I can record it every time, I would, but you blurt it out of nowhere so I don't get to capture the moment on a recorder.

And you're growing stronger and stronger! When we lay you on your tummy, you can lift your head and manage to turn it to the other side. Just today, you supported yourself with your arms and lifted your shoulders for a few seconds and let your head stay lifted for a bit. I wanted to clap my hands because I'm so happy to see how strong you've become but I didn't so not to startle you.

Last night, we let you play in your car seat where we attached something with hanging toys in it. You were so mesmerized by the colors and lifted your hand to touch it. You couldn't stop smiling and watch in wonder as the toy swayed back and forth. I'm sorry we didn't buy you toys in advance. I feel horrible about that because I didn't think you need it yet. We should have had them ready but I'm new to this whole parenting thing that it didn't enter my mind until a few weeks ago. That and I didn't really have the time. You came to us with only one day's notice and I underestimated how time-consuming it is to have a newborn in the house. You are my first priority and I play with you with what we have here at home that are colorful. I don't dare go out with you entirely alone yet so that limits our shopping time. But we engaged you with other things. We show you the sky and pointed out trees and birds and other things when we're outside. We talk to you a lot and read to you out loud. You like it when we talk to you. It calms you down and brings a huge smile on your face that we love so much.

You are our pride and joy, baby. We are very grateful to have you in our lives.

With so much love,
Mommy

One Happy Month

03 April 2010 Dearest Maya,

I can't believe that you are now a month old! Where did all the time go? You are growing so fast it never ceases to amaze me.

You are getting stronger everyday, you know. You have quite active limbs. If your arms could only support your body, you'd be crawling by now. Your legs, on the other hand, are a different story. They can definitely move your body up when we let you lie on your tummy. When the Lady Doctor did your physical checkup, she had you walk on the table top while she held you under your arms. We were so proud of you. I was doing an internal cheering of "That's my girl!" I bet your Daddy did, too. But when she pulled you up with your arms without supporting your head, my eyes almost popped out of my head but then calmed down when I saw you were doing OK. Almost gave me a heart attack and I was ready to grab you and run out of the room.



You may feel embarrassed when you get to read this but I have to tell you that I have never been so happy about a fart and poop before in my life until now. For almost a week, you've been having tummy problems, especially with letting out gas. The first two days were a nightmare! You only slept well and straight after a warm bath which we only give in the evenings since my right hand/wrist can't handle doing that task alone just yet. You'd wake up every 5 minutes and cry whenever you feel like you had to fart, and it breaks my heart every time I see you in pain, face all red, trying to get the gas out of your body and nothing comes out! So whenever I hear you fart, it comforts me to know that it brings you relief. I don't even care that it stinks. I only care that you're not suffering so much. You still have tummy troubles but it isn't as worrisome as a couple days ago. At least now, you get to sleep longer and it doesn't bother you as much. You tend to fart a lot in your sleep, too, and when your Daddy is around to hear it, he'd always laugh. He thinks it's one of the coolest things you do.

You are currently in a growth spurt. I used to nurse you every 2.5 to 3 hours, but now you ask for it sometimes after an hour that I worry if I have enough milk. I was relieved to know that you gained the regular weight when we went to your first checkup a few days ago. This was my constant worry because I don't know how much milk you actually get to drink but you don't fit most of your newborn clothes anymore so you've been wearing the next bigger size for almost a week. It's difficult for me sometimes to gauge how much you've grown because I see you everyday and almost every minute. But your cheeks are becoming fuller that I started calling you Chubby Cheeks two weeks ago. It's far cuter than the nickname your Daddy came up with. Do you know he calls you Fatty? Yeah. When you're old enough to understand this, you can then tell him, "You're one to talk!" Although I think you shouldn't voice that out because you shouldn't talk to your Daddy that way.



I've noticed this past week that you've been seeking our attention an awful lot. You have this certain cry that lets us know you want to be picked up to sleep in our arms or chests instead of your bed. Since you do it while you're sleeping, I wonder if you have bad dreams. I wish I could see into your pretty little head to know what you're dreaming about or if you're dreaming at all. I hope, that once you start talking and understand certain things, you will tell me all about it.

One of the many things we've learned lately is multi-tasking with you in our arms. Since we came home two weeks ago from the hospital and birthing hotel, you're rarely asleep during dinnertime. For some reason, you manage to weasel your way into one of the few Mommy and Daddy moments we have. It's like you're saying, "Hey I want to eat dinner with you, too!" It's either you feel restless and don't want to be put down or you're hungry and want attention. I eat my dinner mostly while nursing you and, at the same time, watch one of our favorite TV series episodes. This has become our routine and it gives us a sense of normalcy. And once you're in bed later in the evening and we're not so tired, we try to spend more time to talk about our day and anything important or just cuddle on the couch, but then sometimes I have the sudden urge to pick you up because I miss you.

Your Daddy and I keep telling each other, "She got it from you," whenever you do something we recognize from the other. Like, you sleep like me with an arm on your face or over your head, the way you stretch and your facial expressions while you sleep. However, you make so much noise and kick in your sleep just like he does. So when you're old enough to want to sleep in our bed with us, I'll have to buy earplugs and hope that you both won't kick me off the bed.



You make me really happy even when I'm tired and all I want to do is sleep. You always seem to know how to make me smile and cry happy tears. On my birthday at 5 a.m., right before I was going to feed you, you gave me one big smile followed by your cute little giggle (first time I've heard it). You may not have consciously done it but it doesn't matter. All that matters was you made my day and that was one precious moment I will never forget. I kissed your face all over and told you that you are Mommy's best birthday gift ever.

I love you, Chubby Cheeks. Always and forever more,
Mommy