31. oh yes! g is starting to turn from tummy to her back already! only that it first happened with an accompanying thump!, her head bumped on the crib side. have to put those bumper pads to full use now!

30. g's feet have turned into her constant toys! hmmm, she looked at those with a puzzled look when i put socks on them. g turned 6 months old today!

29. we went to see doc demi for g's diaper rash. at the clinic was a toddler who babbled happily at us. g responded with her own coos of delight! poor g... she turned blue crying heavily when she saw the doc...

28. g's first trip to intramuros. she and the biggies accompanied me to the kaisa office this afternoon. hmmm, g liked aunt nancy and allowed meah to carry her but she cried when greeted by other adults. when some kaisa members were talking up front, g responded with her coos. at times she got rattled by the laughter and chatter.

27. gran insisted that i start teaching g to respond to "where's the light?". when we were standing near the piano, g kept looking up at the light. gran started asking her "where's the light?" and g kept looking up! wow, granny clapped! afterwards, even if g wasn't asked, she still looked up! tsamba lang pala! i laughed at gran...

26. g roars like a tiny tiger cub! that's how she sounds whenever she's excited and wants to "talk" about something. by now i have discovered that her angel friends from way back are actually the door hinges and knob, hmmm! but...who knows?

25. what could've g thought when she touched the sinamay bag i gave her? she looked serious, you see. and once, she even tried to taste it. she raised up her feet when i slightly rubbed the sinamay against her soles. i'd love to know how she processed that new info, hehehe...

24. hmmm, i wish g and i are in sonya's garden atop the tagaytay ridge today *sulk*... "happy berday, dadaaa, happy berday, dadaaa, happy berday, dadaaa...!"

23. g practices her turning-over-on-stomach stints. she's able to stay in that position for a longer period but not back on her back again! she also enjoys sleeping on her side, and i always love to watch her sleep that way.

22. so it wasn't her wheat cereals that caused her to move her bowels 3x a day last week! the culprit's the avocadoes! "daddy hinted that, mom..." i know now, hunny. if it's avocado then it has to be freshly blended everyday. also, kalabasa was another culprit for the back rash. i mixed a thin slice of squash with her carrots today and the same rashes came out!

21. dinner out again with the biggies and aunt janette at alex III. somebody'll surely miss the chicken barbecue there, hunny. g had three dinner dates in a row! she better rest this coming week...

20. g is back at tai woo resto despite the heavy rains, wearing her gap overalls and the disguised long-sleeved tie-side pajama tops under it. she became so sleepy i decided to let her go home earlier. nothing beats the warmth of her own crib.

19. dinner with granny, gramps and the gang, including zacky boy at katre. "you've got to taste their ice cold pandan tea, dad, and it's bottomless." g's got her eyes on the christmas lights across the street. it'll be surely nice to spend christmas somewhere else one day, far away from metro manila...

18. fever's off. grans visited g today and the little princess sobbed! zacky cried too, we heard. gramps joked grans about being panget, that's why! hahaha!

17. g's feverish since last night due to her DPT vaccine yesterday. she's still her happy self though quite lame. ki notices g's bashful smile. and aunt janette misses her sweet, sweet smile...

16. granny's back! and g enjoyed playing surprise and peek-a-boo! with her. you should hear her squeal in delight! gramps visited too, and zacks, and uncle terence, and aunt rosette. wow! g had a party! all of these after her visit to doc demi. i wonder why g gained 400 grams only from last month, hmmm...

15. the sun's finally out! basking in the warm sunshine, g enjoys observing the swaying leaves, listens to the birds chirp, watches the clothes move in the wind, swipes the wind chimes...ahh, even mommy loves a beautiful day such as this!

14. when g coos, she curls her tongue as if experimenting with the "l" sound. she usually combines this with the "u" when her lips form into a tiny "o"....gets? another evening rendezvous with mommy and the biggies at katre.

13. g was mesmerized by all the little lights she saw at tai woo seafood restaurant this evening. now that she's beginning to appreciate lights, the chandeliers were treats to the princess. and look at the big fishes in the aquarium! g feasted her eyes on these creatures, her first time! not to mention that she was also the darling of the toddlers in that part of the resto, awwww...

12. hmmm, it seems that g's allergic to kalabasa...she developed these back rashes that looked like bungang araw. i'd have presumed those were heat rash, only that it's been raining-cold these past days so it musn't have been the heat...or could it be?

11. g watched disney channel and cartoon network with danz. it's a funny sight to see her lean back on her seater as she watches TV and eat her food. by this time, her menu includes sayote, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, apple, banana, avocado, pear, and lychee. yummy, no?

10. wow! g's first out-of-town trip to malolos, bulacan! "not to historic barasoain church, dad! tho' mom's heart in places like that. we went to the hiyas convention center for mommy's meeting with the governor." she slept most of the way going there and was in a happy mood seeing all the new faces at the roundtable (discussion). she listened, smiled at those who talked to her, looked at the projector, ate her vegies, made u-u, slept, drank her milk, but finally cried and sobbed heavily at the end of the day. poor g, she must've felt uncomfortable already in the cold weather and strange setting (i was in another room). she slept in my arms all the way back to manila.

9. g's more familiar now with yaya lolit. i can leave them together though g occasionally "calls" for me especially when she's sleepy. i'm glad she's moving on finely. talk about infants organizing schematas and accomodating according to piaget, this is it!

8. okay...so any more crying today? hmmm...yes, basically, g still wants me to put her to sleep and play with her when she's awake. but she allows yaya lolit to feed her and only if i'm around or the two biggies are. she spent long moments with us up in the attic.

7. oh shucks, g's got stranger anxiety! every time she sees yaya lolit, she bursts into sobs! i haven't seen my baby cry as much and as often within a day! i didn't expect this at all; i thought she'll adjust easily to a new face just as she always does in new environments. now i know it's the presence of a trusted person that helps her though temperamentally, g is still an easy-to-please babe. hmmm, come to think of it, i ought to be happy because g is developing cognitively!

6. today is yaya tina's last day in the household. she'll be leaving for korea end of this month. sayang, g and i like her as a caregiver. she carried g for few minutes before she left and i was sure she'll cry again if she stayed on longer. her happy disposition and warm smile will surely be missed by the little one.

5. things that make g laugh out loud: peek-a-boo! in different versions. in and out of the mirror's frame. covering her face. covering my face. jerky movements. "when mommy looks like a clown, dad!"

4. g enjoys holding her feet when these are raised in front of her. she laughs when she's rocked while in that position. now that makes her look like an adorable ball!

3. it's fun time for g to sunbathe on the roof deck on early mornings when her bird friends fly, chirp and hop around the place. g also likes to watch at the plants sway gently in the morning breeze. for two days, i watched a wasp build its nest of soil on the window grills right outside g's crib but it was destroyed when the househelp opened and slid the grills. "ehem... mommy, this is my journal, right?"

2. wwooaahh! the girl turns ably from side to stomach and kicks and stretches from there. ki calls her a little mermaid. she'd much rather sit in her tub now than lean backward when bathing.

1. eye-hand coordination improving. g grasps everything in front of her--the bottle, the hanky, the fingers, the feet. but the movements are still gross and random at times. favorite action songs: "eensy weensy spider", "twinkle twinkle little star" and "tong tong tong tong".