sillychili

cool it

6 weeks in Manila and i’m just as guilty for being a bad blogger here as i was in Berkeley. i could go on about how bad I feel but, you know that i know that what you really want to hear is how maia is doing. in a sentence: she’s having the time of her life! space to run, kids to play with, toys galore from her grandparents and constant adulation from everyone in the house (and there be plenty of people around all the time!). 

it was hot and muggy yesterday so i decided to initiate maia into the classic filipino way of cooling off: take a wide-rimmed low bucket out into the garden, throw in some cool water, a few toys and you have an instant hit with your child. the downside of this wonderful cooling technique is that it’s excruciatingly difficult to get child out. really, all maia did was wail with utter displeasure for around 5 minutes. i was briefly reminded of myself at around age 3, when my frustrated nanny stormed off leaving me in the tub in our backyard. enraged, i went charging and bit her square on the butt. she was still crying when my parents got home later. i'm now hoping that that incident doesn't come around and bite me, well, on the butt. maia's a mere 20 months and she's already a feisty little one. oh dear.

oh the things you'll do!

it was a horrible, long week when maia got a nasty stomach bug. she couldn't keep food in and halfway through, she was so weak she didn't stand up once and slept through most of the day. her usual buddha belly deflated to a mirror of its usual self. so in desperation for her to eat, dan and i tried pretty much everything... down to forcing little elmo -with his wonder magnetic hands- into a rather compromising situation with a banana. it didn't work in the end, but it sure put some smiles on all our faces, including maia's!

princess for a day

try as i may, it's an uphill battle to keep baby maia away from the clutches of pink princess-dom. the other day we went over to a friend's house, layda, where we had a work meeting. her darling 6 year old daughter maryan had a friend over and they were playing "princess". and because maryan loves maia, she had a princess skirt prepared for her. i confess that i did find maia cute in the outfit, in an absurd misfit kind of way. but trouble brewed at one point amongst the older two girls because one did not have the right princess shoes and hair, and cried because the other was "more pretty" than her. maia didn't care at all, but give us a few years down the line and we'll probably be dealing with the same drama. frankly, i can wait...

maia sleeps

in the last few weeks i've started taking photos of maia napping. her sweet little face contorts into these funny expressions that can only look cute on people under the age of 3. plus, i've realized that because i choose comfort over aesthetics, she naps in some pretty funky combinations. here is the first of a series, for now.

to be or not to be

i am officially a bad blogger. but in my head i defend that by telling myself it's because i'm a GOOD mother. more blogging = less time with baby maia. but all the super moms i read online are able to do both. so i decided, i will try to be a spontaneous blogger. you see, i do "think" about what am going to blog for days and days (like when i'm watching maia, or cooking) but most of the time, i never get to it. so here's my very first spontaneous blog. i got the idea from a blog i just read.

Rules:
1. Take a picture of yourself RIGHT NOW.
2. No makeup, no primping, no nothing.
3. Load up the picture onto your blog. No editing!!!
4. Tag some people to play along.

ok, i confess this was maybe the 5th shot i took but i didn't do any primping nor run to push molly (maia's horse on the floor there) out of the shot. anyhow, that's me at my computer, obviously, and that's usually the position i'm in while reading my blogs. dan used to think it was a waste of time, but i had to explain to him that blogs are like my "social life". people are pretty open about stuff online so my favorites become like my virtual fave friends. sad, you're thinking, but then you probably don't read blogs. i'm not sure how i'd tag people, seeing as i don't spend enough time on my blog to work out more technical stuff.

so now that you're tired of seeing my mug, i should probably go ahead and post a few of maia. i've got sooo many cute photos i've been keeping from all of you. tita jane swears she gets cuter each time she sees her, and as a mom, i have to pretend that i'm humble and don't know it. but really, you know i'm screaming in my head, "damn my baby's cute!!!"

imitation

is supposed to be the best form of flattery. try telling that to the makers of louis vuitton. but that's not the point here. if you wanted to see what my life is like in berkeley heaven, you need not look further than my little worker bee.
maia spent the last winter just looking out through the sliding doors so she was thrilled when i decided one day last week to pot a few succulents that we had received as giveaways from a wedding last january (it's not like i normally know what they are, i had to look it up). so if you do the math, the potting was long overdue.
maia was busy, busy, busy sweeping, putting tita jane's diet coke cans on and off the little table, moving things around and eating soil when i wasn't looking (i'm relaxed writing this now because one week later she seems ok - naturally, i freaked out when i spotted specks of dirt all around her grinning mouth)... it was a good afternoon on the whole and subsequent visits to the balcony have been just as fun for the little one. she loves rearranging the plants although they don't always make it from point A to B in the pot. spring has started to slowly show its colors and needless to say, we can hardly wait!

all you need is love

sometimes life stops us in our tracks and leaves us gaping in disbelief. last friday a little 5-year old boy called zachary was fatally hit by a truck on a pedestrian crosswalk in berkeley. a beautiful, charming little boy who no doubt brought so much joy to his parents, he loved sports and the beatles. his favorite song was "all you need is love". he had a vinyl collection! part of me has made sense of this event by thinking of the love he is now inspiring in others, beyond the people who knew him personally. as a mother, i have learned that the greatest gift we can receive from our children is their love, and their ability to teach us the depths of our own love.

on zachary's memorial site i was moved by this solemn poem left by a friend:

My love, my saving grace,
your eyes are awfully blue.
I kiss your funny face,
your coffee-flavored mouth.
Last night I slept with you.
Today I love you so
how can I bear to go
(as soon I must, I know)
to bed with ugly death
in that cold, filthy place,
to sleep there without you,
without the easy breath
and nightlong, limblong warmth
I’ve grown accustomed to?
–Nobody wants to die;
tell me it is a lie!
But no, I know it’s true.
It’s just the common case;
there’s nothing one can do.
My love, my saving grace,
your eyes are awfully blue
early and instant blue.

so while we may not have known him, zach's parting brings us together in love. although his life was short in years, he touches the lives and hearts of people in a way that others may not ever do in a lifetime. we wish you and your parents peace, zach.

10 things...

you were dying to know about maia!!

1. She eats... all... the... time. She would live off cheerios if we let her.
2. Her stomach grows exponentially throughout the day and by nighttime, she looks like she's got a beer gut. By morning time, it's back to normal.
3. She'd rather run around naked than wear clothes. When we take off her clothes, she runs out the room with such glee, rubbing her tummy at the same time.
4. She's vegetarian.
5. She can understand 3 languages - French, English and Spanish - but she's not speaking any of them yet.
6. She's really good with names. She knows the names of ALL her stuffed dolls (she has at least 10) and can correctly point out a lion, giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus and elephant.
   
7. She loves to watch youtube videos on my iPhone - there's a wealth of Sesame Street videos that she could watch all day long! (plus we don't own a TV so this is her guilty fix)
8. She loves books so we've put them all around the house so she can pull one out for us to read to her at anytime.
9. Her weird comfort habit is eating my hair. It puts her to sleep or comforts her when she's feeling blue. I have to keep my hair clean all the time.
10. When we lived in Manila, Maia wore diapers imported from the U.S. Now that we live here, she wears diapers imported from... Manila! Somewhere out there is a diaper paradise waiting for me.

Maia and friends on a picnic in the kitchen.

mama...

there's a coconut tree on top of my head and i LOVE it!
(this photo was too cute not to post! plus, i need to show proof to tita jane that i've found a way to keep maia's hair out of her eyes so she can STOP BUGGING ME to cut it off!!)

learn to speak body

sometimes i wonder if i talk too much. this video has opened up new possibilities for me. thank you, mitchell rose!