ATE?

I did a favor for Create and substituted for a teacher yesterday. (I'd eat fire for those people if they asked me to, but that day covering for a sick teacher was enough.) Sophie's Yaya Chari told me that while I was gone, Sophie stared at a black and white portrait her ninong Jace had taken of me a few years back. She sat and pondered over my picture in silence, probably with her funny serious face that makes her nose look as if it were a growing mushroom. A cute button mushroom at that. After a long, drawn-out moment she finally opened her mouth and said, "AAaaaaa-te."

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

I don't know what my sentiments will be twenty, thirty years down the line. I suppose one day it will be incredibly gratifying to be mistaken for your daughter's older sister. But right now, I don't want her - or anyone else in the world for that matter - thinking of me as anything other than her mother.

Hear that Soph? Say it. MA-MA.

:)

This is a picture my Tito Jun took during Sophie's first birthday party. I think the flash was too bright so the picture came out as such. But I love it! Call it a happy accident :) I love how our fairy wings appear as white silhouettes. The picture is a perfect image of what she is in my life -- an angel who has given me a taste of heaven :)

LESSONS FROM A FOUR YEAR OLD FREE SPIRIT

I took Sophie to a birthday party at Create (the preschool where I teach music, movement and drama and where I hold my Make Believe Theater Workshop) yesterday afternoon. She had so much fun hanging around with the kids. She was grinning from ear to ear, babbled to the kids, walked around the school and happily explored her environment, and clapped during the singing of Happy Birthday. I can't wait for her to go to school.

We had the usual birthday fare of pasta, hotdogs with marshmallows, chocolate ice cream. However, due to time constraints, there wasn't any more time to cut the rich, delectable chocolate birthday cake and distribute it amongst the kids. I watched in amusement as the children slowly trickled out of the school, but not without gazing longingly and wistfully at the cake. (The great thing about being a teacher is that you partake of all the spoils after dismissal.) That was until River came. River had been my student in theater last summer. At four years old, she was quite a character: frank, inquisitive, and an unapologetic go-getter. She marched up to the parents of the birthday celebrants (identical twins Justin and Julian) and indignantly asked, "Why didn't we eat the cake?" Mommy Maila laughed and said, "Oh here, I'll cut you a slice." She proceeded to get a paper plate. River raised her hand to stop her and said, "Wait. I have a container here." She then pulled out an empty tupperware from her bag and handed this to Mommy Maila. "You can put my cake in there." Mommy Maila then cut a generous slice for her and placed the cake in the container. With a nod of her head and a polite thank you, River sauntered off with the chocolate treasure in her bag. The little girl had gotten her cake.

We were all laughing at her apparent gall but I learned a thing or two from watching her:

1. Do not be afraid to ask for what you want. So many times we hesitate to go for what we want out of fear, pride, embarrassment, dahil diyahe tayo. Why not take the plunge and just try? There certainly isn't any harm in doing so. River wanted the cake, so she asked for it. It was that simple. Not only did she get what she wanted, but she charmed the socks off the person from whom she had asked it. Why can't we do the same?

2. Come prepared in case we actually get what we want. River had placed the plastic tupperware in her bag before even coming to the party. So when she asked for the cake before going home, she was darned ready. Same should be true for us. Like when we are entrusted a good job or position, we should have the necessary skills and prior experience that will allow us to succeed and perform well. Or when the right person comes along, our life and our heart should be in the state to fully receive and love this person. Too many times we are unhappy not because we didn't get what we want, but because we weren't prepared and ended up losing it.

So there. Gems of wisdom learned from an innocent four year old. Thanks River. May I have the balls to apply this to my own life.

Welcome to my blog. In this you'll get glimpses of my life and my adventures with the sweet, girlish, wacky, funny, crazy, wee bundle of joy who rocks my world. Not all entries will be about her, but she will be in them all the same, as her being fills each and every one of my experiences and gives them a greater meaning.

Besides, she is getting older and there are so many things I want to remember about her and tell her about when she get bigger. Like how she always wakes up before I do and proceeds to effectively rouse me from my slumber by sticking her fingers up my nostrils. Or how she reverently whispers the word "dede" upon beholding a bottle filled with warm milk. Or how she gyrates up and down when one turns on the music and says "Sophie dance!" Or how she went livid with anger, turned a deep shade of maroon, and shouted angrily when her ninang playfully strangled her papa. Or how she climbs on top of me and rests her head on my chest when she is tired. So many funny, quaint, wonderful memories. All at the tender age of 1.

Read about this and more. Learn about thousand sweetnesses I experience day to day --

Meet Sophie :)