COMMUNITY BAZAAR AT CREATE

Create was transformed into a veritable market street as each of the classes plastered colorful signs on their doors to advertise their goods for sale. Sophie's class sold ice drops and judging from these pictures, I suppose Sophie is still EXTREMELY far from becoming the consummate business woman, as she ended up eating what she was selling!

ZOO VISIT CONTINUED!

Here are more pictures from our fun trip to the zoo: Sophie and Lolo by the zebra, which she kept on calling horse, the hippo, Sophie walking excitedly towards the playground, and Sophie on the swing. Of course, the trip wouldn't be complete without a mini-picnic of cupcakes, cookies, taho, and chicharon. Guess which food item she liked the best? You got it -- the chicharon!

SOPHIE AT THE ZOO!

Thanks to Lolo, it has become a ritual for Sophie to go to the zoo every Sunday morning. Her excursions have allowed her to become very well acquainted with animals such as turtles, crocodiles, zebras, and her favorite -- the elephant!

SCHOOL BUS, WHERE ARE YOU?

Well, the pink dress from Tita Bing finally fits - it was touching the floor more than a month ago. Just took these pictures this morning, while Sophie and Gabriel were waiting for the bus. Gab rises to the occasion with his toothy grin, while Sophie is her usual squirmy, I-don't-want-to-stay-put self. Oh well. I have a long time to teach her to be vain just like her momma is :P

WHERE WAS SOPHIE LAST SUNDAY?

At Festival mall celebrating her cousin Asia's 5th birthday! Her gimmick of course would not be complete without the requisite visit to Pixie Forest, where she rode the carousel, the flying dwarves, and the train. Her favorite was the carousel, which she rode about four times straight! She exclaimed "Arriba, arriba!" (Up, up!) as her horse went up and down. (Thanks to the cartoon Dora, she knows so many Spanish words!) We ended the day with a leisurely ride on the train, where she quietly rested her head on the panel and watched as we passed through the various sights -- a waterfall, pond, and kiddie race car tracks, among others. She dropped off to sleep shortly after we got home, happily tired and surely dreaming of carousels, bright lights, and colorful planes flying through the sky :)

KNACK FOR NOODLES

It's usually difficult to make the energetic little Sophie stay put for anything, including her meals. But put a bowl of noodle soup or pancit in front of her and she will stay glued to her chair until the very last bite has firmly settled into her heartily satisfied - and bulging - little tummy :)

Sophie and I see each other at Create every Friday, when I come over to teach music, movement, and drama to all the classes. Funny, because she already seems to understand the distinction between Mama and Teacher. When I enter her classroom, she is the first to greet me with a "Hello, Teacher Lesley," and refers to me as such throughout the whole session. As soon as I arrive home Friday afternoon, she breaks into the sweetest smile and says the words I've been longing to hear since teaching her in the morning -- "Hi MAMA."

:)

THE BABY LADY GOES TO SCHOOL (MY BABY IS A NERD)

Every morning for about four months now, Sophie saunters out of the door to go to the gazebo to wait for her school bus. If it is not there by the time she goes down, she will run from corner to corner of the gazebo saying, "School bus, where are you? Where are you, schoolbus?" in a poetic, very dramatic fashion. Once her beloved blue school bus comes into view, she will jump and clap her hands and squeal, "Yaaay, school bus!" Entering the school bus, she happily greets her busmates, then turns around and sits down in quiet anticipation. The bus breaks in front of Create Learning Center, and at this precise moment, she shrieks in delight, "SCHOOL!"

What can I say? She's a little nerd (and drama queen, YES!) in the making :)

Photos above include her birthday chart and a sample of her artwork in school.

It's been almost a year since I last wrote! Bad mommy? (Or I'm so busy and harrassed mommy, you decide!) So, what is up with the princess? She is in her beautiful, nerve-wracking, wondrous and terrible two's! She is a fireball of energy bubbly enthusiasm and runs, nay, bounces all over the place. She is convinced that she is Tigger; it was only fitting, then, that she had a Tigger party to celebrate her entry into Toddlerhood! She and her classmates (yes, she goes to play school now, at Create) bounced on the trampoline, blew bubbles, and giggled as they were rained with confetti. We ended the party by gathering around her Pooh and Tigger cake and singing Happy Birthday, then sitting down to eat all of her UNHEALTHY favorites: instant pancit canton, cocktail hotdogs, chicken nuggets, mini cupcakes, popcorn, and chocolate ice cream. We stayed in the classroom after her classmates had left and she busied herself, throwing up the loose confetti on the floor, as if they were stray leaves on a windy autumn day.

I'm only now beginning to understand why, when I was younger, my parents would oftentimes comment on the unstoppable and speedy passage of time. They sighed over how fast we had grown from mere babies to independent grown-ups (and oftentimes crabby grown-ups at that). I remember everything so clearly from the day she was born. So many moments I had spent with her had felt so beautiful, so perfect, that I wished that time would just stop, that we could stay that way forever. But I know that if having those wishes granted was a real possibility, I would miss the gift of watching her and her life unfold, of watching her become all the wonderful things that she was meant to be.

The wheels of time are in motion. She is two years old. Always in motion, and always causing joy - and much commotion, as two year olds were certainly meant to do :)