Terrible but Terrific Twos

My little one has been acting up a lot these past couple of months. She loves to say "no" and "stop it", even when she means "yes". It has become quite annoying, especially around strangers or even relatives she is shy towards. I feel an early preview of the so-called "terrible twos".

She is like two different personas in one little body. Most of the time she likes to assert her independence by trying to do things her own way. She likes to feed herself and when I get the spoon from her, she would hold it really tight and wrestle it away from me. She tries to put on her slippers by herself even though sometimes they're on the wrong feet. She puts on a pair of shorts or pants or a t-shirt through her legs. But she bawls out, "I can't, I can't!" when she realizes she's put both legs in just one hole of the shorts and is unable to get out by herself.

Raine seems to have a fascination with lotions, creams and other beauty products. She has now mastered how to open most bottles and jars, much to my dismay. She's very fast too. Before I know it, she has smeared lotion all over her legs and her cheeks. I once caught her putting baby oil on her thighs. Another time she opened her grandmother's lipstick and started poking it with her finger and then applying it to her chin. I spend half the time taking her to the bathroom to wash her face and wipe her legs, then clean up the mess she left behind. An aunt advised me to be "lovingly tough" during times when she is naughty or misbehaves.

The little girl is indeed a curious soul She likes to open cabinets and drawers, rummage through what's inside until she finds something that catches her fancy. I think for my next baby I'll baby-proof our home a whole lot more.

The other night she was just one big ball of energy. She didn't want to go to sleep despite my stern warnings. She just lay in bed babbling away. I was typing on my laptop with my back to her when I heard her reach for a toy on the headboard behind the bed. When she saw me look at her she immediately closed her eyes while still clutching the toy. I put the toy back in its place and went back to the computer. But then I heard her get up again and reach for her Dora doll. I looked at her and she promptly closed her eyes, still holding Dora on top of her tummy. I wanted to laugh because she looked so funny, pretending to be asleep despite her awkward position. I firmly told her it was time to go to sleep and pried Dora from her hands. All was quiet after that but after awhile I sneaked a peek and there she was again, now with a book in her hands. She shut her eyes once again as I whirled around to look at her. It was the last straw, I let out a laugh. Raine is turning into a little comedienne with her antics.

Raine will be two years old soon. How time flies by! She can get on my nerves more quickly these days but just as suddenly, she gives me an "awwww" moment to treasure. I've been coughing a lot lately and when she sees this she will rub her hand on my back as if to soothe me and say, "it's okay mom." She sounded so grown up then! A few days ago she woke up saying "I love you" to me, although it sounded more like, "I loveoo." It made me smile from ear-to-ear.

Terrible twos you say? Bring it on!

Babyface

The other day I went to the hospital for a checkup. I've had a really bad cough and colds for the past few weeks and despite the antibiotics, they haven't let up. My mom thought maybe I had asthma so she sent me to see a pulmonologist. I never thought so many people have asthma, I was already the 19th patient for the day (the doctor holds clinic only for 2 hours). The nurse commented that I shouldn't have brought my daughter to wait with me since there were a lot of sick people around. Good thing I brought along a nanny so I sent them up to my mom's office instead. I was asked to have a chest x-ray first so off I went again.

As I positioned myself for the x-ray, the technician casually asked how old I was. I told him my age and he couldn't believe it. He said he looked even older than me. To me, he seemed about 25-28 yrs old. I'm 34 now. I'm not sure if he was just teasing me or trying to start a conversation, but it definitely made my day. I just had a birthday a few days back, you see. Modesty aside, I've always looked younger than my actual age. As far back as I can remember people always get my age wrong by as much as 10 years at the most. Lately, I've been feeling a bit sluggish because of coughing spells and I've gained some unwanted weight although I guess I could still pass for 28. Haha! Thank goodness for good genes, huh! Both my parents are in their 60s but looking at them now, you wouldn't believe it either.

I hope my little girl will also inherit that "young-looking" gene. Back in college when I was often mistaken for a 14 year old, it wasn't any fun, especially when going out with friends at night. But now that I'm oldER, I'm relishing the babyface comments. I'll take them as long as they come. The big four-oh is not exactly something I look forward to.

Nothing Comes Easy

Last week I started a part-time job writing for various websites. You know how most websites have testimonials or comments from their customers or readers? Well, it turns out that some of those are actually planted. A good friend of mine has been doing it for quite some time now. She found an ad in the paper looking for a part-time comments website writer. The owner is some sort of middleman for various foreign sites and needed a couple more writers because of the increase in orders from their contact.

It doesn't pay a whole lot but it's great exercise for my writing. Gets the creative juices flowing, so to speak. It's also pretty time consuming because I'm usually sent 7-15 websites at one time and I have to send 5-10 comments on each site by the next day. You have to read about the products in the website and write positive comments about it, as if you purchased products or availed of their services. Imagine writing 5-10 comments about one site as if you're 5-10 different people. My creativity and imagination has really been stretched to the fullest because of this. Just goes to show there's no such thing as easy money.

Now that we're back in Manila (for good, maybe) I'm looking for writing jobs I can do at home so I can still be hands on with my little girl. I'm thinking of applying as a freelance editor. I just have to update my resume. Wish me luck!

Blogging Blah

You'd think I would be blogging like crazy since we got back to Manila and have access to broadband internet but I've only written two entries from the time we returned here. I've been in a sort of blogger's limbo. I've been too lazy to write lately even though I've got lots of material. We've been busy catching up with friends, updating documents and what-not, blogging has gone way down my list. Maybe when hubby goes back to M.I. I'll get back into the swing of things. A new writing project I joined may just do the trick and get me out of the blogging blahs.

For the First Time

Nope, this isn't about the Richard Gutierrez - KC Concepcion movie but about my little Raine's first time ever to get really sick. Last week, as we were on our way to meet a friend for dinner, Raine threw up the milk she had just drank inside the car. She also seemed like she was running a fever so we headed back home.

My brother who's a doctor immediately examined her and said that despite her temperature, which went up to about 38 degrees Celsius, she seemed fine. No colds nor cough. Since she threw up maybe she just had something that didn't agree with her tummy. But all she had was milk, bread, cornflakes and cookies. We bought her medicine for fever. After a few hours she was already feeling better, then just as quickly her temp went up again, this time to 39 degrees. My mom, who's also a doctor, told me to bring her to the pediatrician in the morning if her fever didn't go down. We were also concerned with the rashes that appeared on her hands and legs.

Raine has never gotten sick before, save for the occasional cough and colds which never really dampened her spirits. But this time she was obviously weak and listless. She had thrown up 2 more times. My poor little girl. I gave her lukewarm sponge baths and placed an icebag on her head to cool her down. By morning her temperature had see-sawed from 37 to 39 degrees. The pedia prescribed antibiotics and medicines for high fever and a suppository in case she vomited again. She was to get a blood test in 2 days if her fever continued to go up.

We had to meet a friend for lunch to give her her husband's "padala" and Raine perked up then. But soon Raine seemed to feel sick again. We prayed hard that she would get well by nightfall so she wouldn't need to undergo any lab tests. True enough by morning her fever had gone down. She slept most of the day but sans fever.

Now I know why some parents wish they were the ones who were sick, instead of their kids. It's really hard to see your little angel ill, especially when they aren't able to fully express themselves yet. It makes it more difficult for you to really understand how they feel and pinpoint their exact symptoms.

Raine is well now. We even went to the beach over the weekend and looking at her it looks like she hadn't gotten sick at all. Babies are indeed very resilient and bounce back much faster than most adults when it comes to recovering from illness.

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

We're back in the Philippines. Whew! After a whirlwind two days of packing Raine's stuff and mine, we were on our way. Hubby's going back to M.I. to finish the project though, but we won't be coming with him anymore since he'll be returning in a few months anyway. He's been having a series of medical lab tests to determine the seriousness of his chest pains. We're crossing our fingers and toes.

It's SeptemBER! And Christmas is just around the corner. Being back home has got me even more excited for the holidays. We have a lot to look forward to. Raine turns two soon, my father-in-law will be celebrating his 60th birthday and my brother is getting married! Plus, Raine will be a flowergirl for the first time!

I love Christmas. The decorations, the happy carols and mushy songs, the cool night air. My first Christmas as a married couple was also our first with a little baby. Raine was barely two months old during her first yuletide and so that was prety uneventful since she slept through most of it. Last year, we were in Marshall Islands and had an intimate party for three. This year will be very different since my brother's wedding is a few day after Christmas, some dear relatives are flying in for the big day and we're all looking forward to the upcoming reunions and parties. Also, it will be Raine's first Christmas knowing about Santa. We didn't bother with the Santa bit the year she was born since she was too little. Last year we were in a pretty remote island so this time we plan to be more Christmas-y for the little girl.

The photo above was taken at my parents' house where Raine celebrated her first Christmas. Exciting times ahead, yipee!

Sudden Exit

We're going back to the Philippines earlier than planned. Two whole months earlier in fact. Hubby hasn't been feeling too good lately and his ECG results came back abnormal. Yikes! There are no cardiologists on the island so we have to go back to Manila for further medical tests.

I'm gradually packing our stuff since Raine and I won't be coming back anymore, just hubby to finish up the project here. So unexpected, yet totally necessary.

Gotta go back to my packing!