31. aunt chiu taught g to make sounds the indian way; g 'clapped' her cheek instead! or was it g telephoning "hello? dad?" early dinner at del monte with gramps and the rest! g enjoyed mamu's chicken soup. we spent the evening at malinta. g awoke when the firecrackers banged and boomed. i held her in my arms and sang closely to her ears. softly whispered "daddy loves you, gillian girl" many times and she went back to sleep without a fret or sound, zzzz.... happy new year, dadski!

30. the stariray strikes again! g had a visitor-studded afternoon playing with sooo many people and being carried around by sooo many people! tuloy, she suddenly cried and woke up at 10pm and didn't get back to sleep till 1am! it has been pretty hard putting her to sleep now--she'd wriggle, toss and turn; sometimes she'd ask to be put back on the crib but she couldn't sleep still. sometimes she'd rather you sway her while seated on your lap and her head crooned in your arm. and in between all these, she'd play, whine, cry, crawl on the big bed, stand up and laugh! my, my, my.

29. so many new faces greeted g today! the guests from japan all arrived this afternoon and each wanted to carry g around. when ki, danz and gab finally settled down in my room, the two biggies sang some chinese song and g sang with them, too! she sang, "mama! mama! mama!" at the top of her lungs! whenever the two biggies get in some 'blabbermouth' sessions, g stares at them with a frown and mumbles like she's saying, "don't fight. give love."

28. a new fun game g invented is throw and pick. she throws objects on the floor, laughs and squeals ("aaaayyyy!") and wants you to pick it up for her. expect that she'll throw it again and for the nth time! she's been practicing letting go of the support after she stands up. she can stand without any support for about 5 seconds!

27. g's got stuffed nose and some rashes on her cheek and nape. g doesn't fret too much when she takes her meds now but be sure you clap your hands and shout hurray! and jump up and down whenever she swallows each time because that make her happy!

26. i drove down granada st. today and found all the pampanga parol gone. there was no trace of the rickety stalls they put up. g had loved that portion of the street; the lights were christmas to her. i realized how much those were for me too. i was heart-broken. but we will not put down the lights in the house (and the neighborhood) just yet--we still have the chinese new year to wait for. i'll continue to enjoy those with g...

25. christmas day lunch at marina's. g tried some new foods but didn't eat plenty because this teeny weeny bit of pork got stuck in her mouth--g doesn't take in another spoonful of food until she swallows everything (marunong na ng etiquette!) she was fascinated with all the huge fishes in the aquarium, the christmas tree and the christmas balls she tried to touch and hit. a pine cone fell and she kutkot it till the scalelike leaves fell off.

24. g is sooooo funnyyyy!!! in her lazy or playful moments, she gets into this "kiss me" routine: she purses her lips, points it forward and says "mmm...wahhh!" we're not sure whether she knows it's like kissing but she seems to have imitated us kiss her. so now we reinforce it by saying "kiss". sometimes, she just points her lips forward in a very amusing and cutie way! ki laughs her lungs out!!

23. g attended the party at malinta tonight. she watched the people eat lechon, BBQ, sweet&sour pork, pansit, etc. she watched them play the games. she must've felt kinda warm outside and became irritable already at one point so off she went upstairs for bedtime. it took some time before she dozed off on her 'new' bed. we reached the QC house around 11pm.

22. g's first visit to malinta...and to aldrien boy, patchi boy, the big silvery fishes, the wooden kalabaw figurine, and...the girls' room, attackkkk!!!!

21. g attended the birthday party of gramp's ate in ongpin. it's her first time in this place filled by now with red lanterns on posts and castanets for sale on sidewalks. i have wonderful memories of ongpin in september...anyways. g didn't seem to mind the loud karaoke sound in the resto. she enjoyed looking at the hito and lapu-lapu in big aquariums. she tried the birthday misua and enjoyed the hong ti pao (pata with sauce placed inside the dough)! stariray na naman ang prinsesa!

20. g still hates the meds! it's a daily struggle to let her take these! by now she pushes or blows these out of her mouth, hmmm!

"...i can't imagine you being 78cm long now, squirt, you're growing too fast, too fast it would be hard for mommy to keep up with you. in dad's heart and mind, you will always be that little baby he first saw in september."

19. g snuggled and tumbled with ki and danz. she's becoming too heavy and too active for them to handle, hehe. we enjoyed few minutes on the roof deck in the evening. wow! the moon was bright! and i earnestly pointed it to her. she watched zack and all the christmas lights from atop. different view!

18. g watched ki, danz and steffi bake choco chip cookies tonight, then she went to zack's play room to 'mess it up', hehe. she enjoyed pushing a cart and walking with it (with little support from yaya). hey, the squirt's getting ready to walk on her own!

17. kuya miguel: "pupunta ako, ate, sa party ni gillian!" ate lolit: "sasabihin ko muna sa mama niya" kuya miguel: "o sige, si gillian nalang ang pupunta sa birthday ko, ayaw niyo naman akong papuntahin eh!" ate lolit: "kailan ba birthday mo?" kuya miguel: "sa april!"

16. g inside her crib: pokes small holes, inserts her hand in between the wooden bars, pulls herself to stand, drops down to sit, buries her face onto diapers, stands up again, loosens her grip on the rail for some seconds, shakes her crib till it squeaks!

15. start of meds taking. g didn't like this routine...hope she gets used to it in the coming days. imagine how much struggling we need to do for 9 months if she doesn't?! to offset for that, i let g join the neighborhood's christmas party tonight. she enjoyed palabok!

14. squirt had dinner with us at alexIII. she liked miso soup! and ate some spoonfuls of rice with gindara teriyaki. she slept with me tonight on the bed because the neighbors at atlanta have their christmas party with an emcee filling the evening with blasted ('di naman croaking) voice singing christmas carols and love songs throughout!

13. dinner at del monte again! squirty had rice with mommy's lengua sauce (ehem). gramps and gran say g is mabait (referring to her temperament), much like me daw!

12. doc demi said g tested + for TB/primary complex. squirt cried as doc pen-marked her skin and measured the pink spot. it's close to 10mm. g then had to be x-rayed. she cried so hardly, lying down on her back and side on that cold, steel plate. the first shoot wasn't satisfactory. she cried again on the second take. i was obviously agitated and the rad tech was very apologetic. the doc looked at the results and told me g's take of the trachea wasn't good enough so she'll have to be taken again! my gosh, g was so kawawa na!

11. g's been using her pointer so very often now. she switches the lights on and off; she presses the ballpen's top. she practices these every day for minutes and minutes! another thing she loves to do is lift herself up halfway then dives onto her bed! she enjoys clapping especially if you sing to her, "this is the way i clap my hands..."

"what's with all the pointing little dear? do you get tired staying in one place? i know little babies like you are curious about everything, but dad has this thought about all these... and you know what that is? i think it's a sign that you will be like dad, ever restless :) and it could be a sign that you will be like mom, ever wanting to see many places :) either way, it's just me hoping to see us in you, ever a part of your personality. and i think that is cute."

10. the princess has been noticing details and small things like specks on her crib sheets, holes and fine blade of leaves. she pokes at these, tries to hold it but not with a pincer grasp yet. she walked around and around the living room today, much to the hingal of lola who volunteered to watch her! she couldn't baby-proof the area as fast as g's steps! hehe

9. g walked around the kitchen area on her walker. she looked funny and cute holding a sitaw on one hand and opening cabinets with the other hand. she peeped in but couldn't get the objects inside. she walked forward many times but still went sideways sometimes. she tiptoes like zacky boy!

8. another full sunday with g alone. ang takaw niya, dad! she eats her regular meals, plus some more new ones when she joins us at the dining table. less milk intake though. she slept 3 hours in the afternoon. she woke up once, crying in her sleep. she must've dreamt something...one big teardrop flowed down from her eyes. i put her back to sleep.

7. g enjoys being put on the crib more than she's being carried. she keeps pulling herself up to stand, then slowly sits herself down. she's got more control now! sometimes, she varies the exercise by pulling down mga sinampay sa kama niya. dadski, i think g will be a good laundry helper, hehe. and wow! g can now step and move forward on her walker!!!!

6. yehey!!! i finally saw my girls again! g was in her stroller in the driveway when i came home. she smiled sheepishly, as if she was too shy to see me again :) she snobbed everyone else when i carried her and didn't want to let go. i put her to sleep tonight. and she kept me up instead from 11.30p to 2a! she took only 1 oz milk (so that's why her face seemed smaller) and played a long time with her balloon, bouncing it while holding diff parts of the stick. hey, that was a good science activity! :)

5. ...she hasn't come back yet. at the wee hours of the morning, i kept yaya lolit awake for an hour and a half as i played! she placed mommy's shirt in my crib.

4. mommy's off to masbate, dad...

3. it seems like g knows her routines, most especially those parts of the day where she's strolled outside :) when she's bored inside the room, she asks to be carried and points to the door with outstretched arms, pointing finger and her whole body!

2. in the early evenings, i carry g outside to look at all the christmas lights that are hung on doors, balconies and windows here. g loves these so much! the neighbors' househelpers are kind enough to turn on their lights earlier whenever they see g and i walking around already. there's a santa claus statue with a bell on his hand. g likes listening to the bell jingle.

1. g's got 4 baby teeth above and 4 baby teeth below. two of those below are just coming out. no wonder g has been biting cloth diapers and hankies so often.