Livin high and takin it easy

Last Sunday, the family gathered to celebrate my only nephew and godson’s 5th birthday. Since my sisters’ kids and mine are all spaced two years apart, we will also be celebrating my niece’s 3rd birthday in three months’ time. Everyone in the family was there except for my brother and his wife who flew to Connecticut last week. My brother is starting his second masters degree in Yale University on a scholarship this fall.

I love this photo of the kids with the grandparents,

for it is actually a repeat of the photo from last year.
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The only hair salon for kids nearest to us and that I know of is the one in Sta. Lucia mall, and so that is where I took little Trellia for her very first haircut ever. The haircut costs P240.

Just like any other eager mom, I brought my camera with me and took documentation: photos, videos and such.

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My Mama was told that we should come at 4pm, but I had to take my nap and all that, so we left the house at 5pm and arrived at the exhibit some time before 6pm. There were still a lot of people. There was a registration booth where my Mama had to write her name down and this pretty lady behind the table gave me this Western shape pack of Silly Bandz.

I had a nice time running and walking around the exhibit.

There were a lot of people. Some girls were walking around with platters of food. One of them even offered me some chocolate cake squares but I was too busy with my silly bandz pack to get one. My Mama said no too because she was busy taking photos of me and running after me.

While walking around, there was this tall pretty lady with the beautiful smile who talked to me and showed me her silly bandz bracelet!

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Lia, fresh from her visit at the Luneta Park and the Japanese Garden, came to see me at CCP, right after I was done shooting VLF6′s Set D. We decided to have dinner at Harbor Square before going home. Katte and other friends were also there to hang out and have dinner.

Lia and Katte were instant friends.

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These days I find it hard to leave Lia at home with the maid after I caught the maid twice on different occasions and different days sleeping while watching over her. Another reason is that Lia needs a lot of activities and supervised play time. She is so interested in a lot of things and gets bored easily that I have to put a lot of effort in channeling her energies and her curiosity into things that are somehow developmental and educational.

So every time I have to do something outside the house, if it will not take a lot of time, like an errand to the bank a block away from the village gate, I do it while she is asleep. Every time I have to be away for a longer period of time, I try to take her with me.

Like Monday this week, I took her to U.P. with me, to the DUP office, Cashier’s Office and U.P. Shopping Center. In going home, we did a side trip to CDR King in Robinson’s East, had dinner at Jollibee and passed through Sta. Lucia East.

My day-to-day schedules and activities are basically governed by Lia’s schedules.

Friday this week had us going to Sta. Lucia again to pay our water bill, buy more DVD-Rs at CDR King, do the groceries and get her a new shirt, a new pair of walking sandals and a few pair of socks.

We did a little side trip to National Book Store where Lia had a grand time admiring books. She wanted all sorts of books! I had to take her away before she made a fuss.

On our way out the mall, I got her a little chocolate ice cream cone and she slurped at it like she was older than one year. It made me laugh to see her bob her head to the music blaring out of the speakers right outside Odyssey store, one hand holding mine and the other holding her little dripping ice cream cone, while her face was all splattered brown as we were passing by.

Sure, taking her out zaps all the energy out of me, but it makes me totally happy.

Weekend is always family day so Saturday saw us driving over to Cash & Carry mall over in Makati to supposedly look at this little shop for kids that carries pretty little dresses, a shop I found on Multiply. When we got there, I was happy to see that the dresses were really nice, the look and feel of it, but was saddened by the fact that there weren’t any in Lia’s size.

We ended buying her a toy and a nice Hello Kitty pen that lights up when you write and even has nice pink little feathers on it. We also bought presents for kids having their birthdays this month.

This Sunday, we took her to a kiddie birthday party in Fun Ranch in Tiendesitas.

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The Multiply ads work… because that’s how I got to this nice (very new!) little site on curtains, beddings, pillows and such.

I have been looking into having curtains made for the house. In the almost three months we hav been living here, I have left the old blinds from the apartment stowed away and the windows completely bare. I am waiting for some inspiration on what to do with the windows. I am on the look-out for a signage along Felix Avenue that says “Curtains” (along the lines of upholstery) or something like that.

I found this today, and I’m seriously considering having my window treatments done by them, if only they’re not so far away. In San Pablo, Laguna no less!

Let’s start off with the cushions then the beddings before finally moving on to the curtains and window treatments.

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I don’t think I’ve ever been a party person and I would never describe myself as an extrovert, but I think, for Lia, I will go to parties, kiddie parties that is, because she loves people and she finds parties fun.

The Mayfield Park Residences clubhouse where Kria was having her first birthday party was jam packed when we got there. For someone who only goes to family kiddie parties, I’ve never seen so many kids and adults of all ages at a party. It was just Lia and I and we didn’t see anyone we knew when we got there so the first thing we did was look for Abet, Hash and Euan.

Euan, whom we fondly call “anti-social”, was already enjoying himself, playing with his mom at the playground by the pool.

Little big boy Euan looking like his mama in this photo

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My mother, looking good despite the chemotherapy sessions for the past eight months, celebrated her 61st birthday last night with her husband and all four of her children and her children’s children.

My brother bought this cake but we didn't have anything to light the candle with so my mom is just pretending to blow the candle..

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Abet, Hush and Euan as well as Lia and I were at Vanny and Jay’s daughter Kria’s first birthday party at the Mayfield Residences Clubhouse last Sunday, July 11. I felt what is probably how it is to be a single mom at that party, since my husband only dropped us off at the clubhouse and then took off to bring our shih tzu Ewok to Tiendesitas for a smear. We want Ewok to have little pups as she is almost three years old this year.

Ewok, our shih tzu, December 2008

This was Lia and I having our photo booth time. It is quite funny. She put the funky glasses on me for the first shot. We were both unprepared for the second. We were kinda prepared for the third and it looks like she has got a nice expression on too, but its too small to see. We tried to have a solo shot of her on the fourth by having her stand on a stool but well, there wasn’t enough time.

Lia and her mama at Kria's Bday party photo booth

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Saturday is supposed to be my family day. That is the reason why I did not go to CCP for the labfest; the second reason being that on weekends I can expect that there are more audiences and I did not want to take one more seat since I don’t pay. I say “supposedly” because actually, I worked til the wee hours of the morning for my other project and went to sleep at seven in the morning. I woke up at ten, in time to get ready for Lia’s check-up at the pediatrician. I scheduled a check-up because Lia has had colds for the past three weeks and she now has coughs at night. I have been giving her Cetirizine but I didn’t think it was doing the job. I also slept in the afternoon after we came home, and worked all night last night. (So much for the supposed “family day” hahaha).

So we went to Marikina where her pediatrician’s clinic is located. Lia’s doctor said she has bronchitis and More