Took this photo yesterday when we got home from the mall. You can tell that she’s been playing kasi ang gulo na ng hair (lol). I love it when I get to capture photos like this one, with a toddler it is a challenge most of the time. Sometimes I do get lucky and I get to capture a beautiful smile like this, perfect timing is what you need.

Technorati Tags: Photo

Conversations with my two year old…

The scene: Mommy and Iyah in the living room after her breakfast.

Mommy: Did you finish eating your bread?

Iyah: Yesss (busy playing with her piano)

Mommy: (Very happy that the little girl now knows the word YES) That’s good. Did you like your breakfast?

Iyah: Yesss (still busy playing with her piano)

Mommy: Would you like to have more bread?

Iyah: No no no no! (took her piano and went to our bedroom).

Well looks like she still loves NO more than YES but we’re making progress.

Technorati Tags: Baby Iyah, Baby Talk

Oh I didn’t forget Iyah’s Birthday Contest, I’m just busy these days. Well I’m always busy but I seem to be more busy now that I’ve added designing (digiscrap kits) on my plate that is already quite full. It’s fun though, a lot of work but still fun. Okay I’m rambling, on with the contest winners…

And now for the winner of the Birthday greeting prize. I said I will choose the best two birthday greeting and I did, only it’s from a Mommy and her darling son…

I scrapbooked greeting, Mai sure knows what I like and when Iyah  saw Asher’s face and pointed to the “beybie” I knew he’s a winner as well.

Congrats to Aggie, Zanne and Mai. Email me your paypal address so I can send your prizes.

Thanks again to everyone who joined the contest and greeted the little girl on her birthday. I will post about her two birthday celebrations soon…

Technorati Tags: Blog Contest

from Babycenter….

A young preschooler wears her heart on her sleeve — and in her voice, her fists, her stamping feet, and her crocodile tears. You seldom have to guess about a 2-year-old’s emotional state. Expressing emotions is healthy, even when they aren’t happy ones. So don’t feel you have to rush in to placate your child at the first pout or sad sniffle.
Let your child know that it’s okay to be unhappy sometimes — it’s simply part of life. Swooping in to vanquish the unhappiness sends the wrong message — that it’s not okay to feel sad or mad. Solving every problem for your child also robs her of the opportunity to work through her feelings on her own.
What you can do: Label her feelings for her. “You’re so mad at Mommy because she said no park today!” Let her know you have the same feelings, too, sometimes: “It makes you feel sad when we say bye-bye to Grandma. It makes me feel sad, too.” If your child screams or hits when she’s angry or upset, show her acceptable ways to vent her emotion, like punching a pillow or stamping her feet.

Your life now

If you find yourself bracing for those fabled “terrible twos,” relax. It’s the second year of life (the one you’ve just passed through) that’s among the more challenging developmentally. The actual “twos” tend to be a bit calmer and even more fun. Now your child can move about with confidence and play with less assistance. She can make her wishes known better than before and understands even more than she can say. And her boundless curiosity is balanced at least a little by an increasing understanding of rules. Two-year-olds do test limits and disagree with parents, of course, but they’re also developing more of a desire to please you. They want to be good! They want to help! Routines and consistency in your responses help your child learn the ropes and keep everyday life running smoothly.

Technorati Tags: Baby Development (Articles), Babycenter

Yes we finally got rid of her pacifier, it’s been one week now. This didn’t happen overnight, this little girl loved her pacifier a lot. For the past couple of months ( I think six months ago) I’ve been trying to wean her from her “paci” as she calls it. I knew it won’t be easy to I tried doing it slowly. We started by not taking the pacifier with us when we go out. Then after that I lessen the number of times in a day that she gets to have her paci. She would still ask for it when she remembers and sometimes we give in when she cries. I knew I wanter her completely weaned from her paci before she turns two so Tuesday last week I took both her paci and put it away when she was busy playing. It wasn’t easy for the first two nights, she would cry at night even when she’s already sleeping asking for her paci. I just comforted her and whisper to her ear that she can’t have her paci anymore. After those two nights eveything was easy. As of today she doesn’t ask about her paci anymore, except last Saturday when she saw a picture of a baby with a pacifier then she remembered. The next thing I want her to learn, potty training…wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: Baby Iyah

The little girl received quite a number of gift cards and cash gifts on her last birthday. I’m thinking we should set aside the cash gifts and use the gift cards instead to buy some of the things she’ll need like new sets of bottles (we change every six months) from Avent. If we were back home we’ll definitely need a new baby car seat since she’s now a toddler. The last time we went home she was on an infant car seat carrier but now she needs a forward facing car seat if we want to take her for a ride.

I’m browsing online of course and I found several brands that are reasonably priced and seem quite sturdy as well. I wouln’t buy anything just because it’s cheap especially when it comes to child safety. Strollers and car seats should be sturdy enough to hold a child, the price can be compromised but child safety can’t. We’re certain on things we wouldn’t scrimp on when it comes to our daughter and this is one of those things.

I shop a lot for the little girl and I know that I can buy clothes on sale and as many shoes as I want as long as the price is discounted but when it comes to big ticket items we think carefully and do our research first. I read reviews and checkout different online stores before considering making a purchase. It pays to know tha product you are buying.

Technorati Tags: Toddler Car Seat

The little girl was busy playing with the balloon while the adults were busy setting up the table for her little celebration here at home. I loved this photo my husband took, she looked at him and he managed to click the shutter fast enough before she moved on and went back to chasing her balloons again. Ahhh photos like this make happy. Of course this will be on my scrapbook to do list (which is piling up) this week.

Technorati Tags: 2nd Birthday, Baby Iyah

We were at the mall last week and while we were at the bank the little girl kept looking and pointing at something. As I was busy filing up a form I didn’t notice her right away and she got a bit frustrated with me (lol). It turned out that she wanted me to look at the security cameras. There was one directly above us and another not so one a few feet away. I don’t know why it caught her eye though. The food fair was over and I kinda missed the tacos and the mango strudel, I hope there will be another one next month.

I want to make a separate post about Iyah’s birthday cupcakes because we loved it so much. Since the little girl’s real birthday and her birthday bash is so close together I only ordered 24 cupcakes (she’s 24 months old) because we will have a big cake two days later. I ordered from the same supplier we got last year. Only this year I chose a different design. The price was reasonable and they do home delivery which was great. If only I could find cheap t-shirts at this price that would be really helpful come Christmas.

More photos here.

It arrived an hour late but it wasn’t a big deal. Each piece looked really nice. The little girl kept calling it ice cream and wanted to have a piece even before her candle blowing. If I decide to have cupcakes for Christmas and not a log cake I will surely order from them again.

Technorati Tags: 2nd Birthday

Thank goodness the parties are over. Both were a huge success and I couldn’t be happier (but I’m so glad it is over). I have lots of stories and pictures to share but that has to wait a while. I’m exhausted and I still have a lot of things to do and I don’t even know where to begin. I have a headache right now and I think I’m just gonna hit the sack other than do anything else tonight.