Anecdotal Report - Nov 28, 2008

I can’t remember the last time I posted Bela’s Anecdotal Report here. I think the last one I posted was months ago. So here is one of the latest reports that I go from Bela’s teachers for this month.

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TODDLER’S UNLIMITED
Anecdotal Report

Child’s Name: Bela
Teacher/s: Maica and lei
Date: November 28, 2008
Class: Jumping Joeys

We thought you might like to know:

It’s great to have Bela back in school! She seemed to enjoy the new books that we put like “Color Zoo” and “Where’s my Mother?”
We’ve also noticed that Bela is a very observant girl. When Teacher took out all the animal marks on the floor, and Teacher asked everyone to line up outside, Bela said “Where did all the animals go?” It’s good to know that she remembers the things we have in school! She has a very good memory.

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Every time I read Bela’s anecdotal report, it really makes us feel happy with how Bela is growing up and I know part of her development, we owe to Toddlers Unlimited. I really like their progressive way of teaching kids as I can see how effective it is to Bela.

Bela will not be enrolling to a big school yet this coming school year and we plan to enroll her again to a progressive school. If I have a choice and if only Toddlers is just near our place, I will not hesitate to enroll her again here. But for next school year, she will have to go to school 5x a week so the travel time will be too much for Bela.

Hopefully I will be able to find a school in the QC area which is as good as Toddlers Unlimited. Otherwise, I really don’t know where to enroll Bela next year.

Our Xmas Gifts for Bela

They’re here:


Our boxes containing toys that I ordered from Amazon arrived last Friday. These will our Christmas gifts for Bela.

I’m so excited for the robotic lion stuffed toy as it looks really real. I bet Bela will have a great time playing with and pretending that it is her pet.

Bela is into Nickelodeon channel now and yesterday, while we are watching she saw the commercial of the Baby Alive doll. She said “Mom, I like a baby doll. She is so alive.”

The Baby Alive doll is one of my options when I was selecting the gifts that we will give her but hubby said that Bela is not into dolls so I decided not to buy it. If only I knew that she will start to like dolls, I would have bought it instead of the Little Einsteins dolls since the price of the Baby Alive at malls here is more than double compared if I will but it from Amazon.

Oh well there is always a next time. But I have to get back to work now and look for life insurance quote because I might get tempted to check the Amazon site and order the doll for Bela. LOL.

Christmas Shopping almost done

We went out yesterday and did some Christmas shopping. I have a long Christmas shopping list and I am glad we were able to start with it yesterday as I am pretty sure that malls will be packed starting December.

I was actually quite a bit surprise since Robinson’s Place is not that busy and I was able to finish buying gifts for all my god children and hubby’s god children yesterday. We even finish buying gifts for all our cousins.

I was also able to buy nice Mickey Mouse club house educational toys for Bela’s classmates. Actually I just bought one kind of toy for all of them as it is much easier.

Now all that is left in my list are my adult relatives and hubby’s relatives and Bela’s teachers at school. Actually I already have something in mind on what to give them. I saw a site that sells promotional pens, mugs and all kinds of personalized stuffs so I am thinking of getting a personalized gift for them like a personalized calendar or stationary set. But I guess if I want personalized items for our gifts, I better start ordering now as it is just a few days away before Christmas.

Anecdotal Report - Nov 14, 2008

I can’t remember the last time I posted Bela’s Anecdotal Report here. I think the last one I posted was months ago. So here is one of the latest reports that I go from Bela’s teachers for this month.

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TODDLER’S UNLIMITED
Anecdotal Report

Child’s Name: Bela
Teacher/s: Maica and lei
Date: November 14, 2008
Class: Jumping Joeys

We thought you might like to know:

Bela enjoys playing with different materials in the Yellow Room. She likes playing with puzzles, blocks and most of all the animals. During Free Play, Bela saw the egg shaker and sat on it. Then suddenly said “look teacher, I am a chicken, you try!”

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She really has a wider vocabulary now and she is constructing real sentences every she talks. And she does ask a lot of questions that sometimes I ran out of answers for her. She enjoys reading books now and every night, she will ask us to read books for her before she goes to sleep. She is also showing interest for arts now as there are times that she will ask us for some paper and crayons and she will start to draw or doodle. She also likes to play with play doh and create different kinds of shapes.

The Venetian

So you think this is one of the hotel las vegas like the famous Venetian Hotel? How I wish but, no. These pictures were taken during our last vacation in Macau.

The Venetian Macao is owned by the Las Vegas Sand Corporation which is also the owner of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The Venetian Macau just opened last August 2007 and is pattered to its sister hotel, the Venetian in Las Vegas. It is a luxury resort hotel with 3000 suites and is considered the biggest single building construction in Asia.

I am still not finished sorting and resizing the thousands of pictures that Howell took during our last four day vacation. We only have one day free to go to Macau but we really see to it that we would be able to check out the Venetian Hotel in Macau. Almost all of us were able to visit the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and the Venetian in Macau is indeed bigger compared to the one in Las Vegas.

We were really not able to check out all the shops but we really see to it that we try the Gondola Ride along the Grand Canal. It was a very relaxing ride especially we are being serenaded by our handsome gondolier, Allisio.

Hope next time we are in Macau, we will have the budget to at least stay overnight and experience a luxurious vacation in Venetian Hotel, Macau.

Look Alike

Do you think they really look alike? And I don’t think we would need DNA testing to prove that Howell is Bela’s dad.

They always say that if your first born is a girl, she will almost always end up looking like her father. I never really believe that especially when I was pregnant as I really want my baby girl to look like me. LOL. But I was proven wrong as you can see in the picture since Bela looks like a little Howell.

All our friends are saying that they can never really deny that Bela is Howell’s daughter. Almost all of Bela’s features, from her eyes, nose and even her complexion, she got from Howell.

Oh well, as some of them say, this only reflects how truly in love I am with my husband since he is the one that is always on my mind when I was still pregnant that is why Bela looks exactly alike like Howell. I guess I have to agree to that!!

Bela's 3rd at Toddlers Unlimited

Bela had her first 3rd birthday celebration with her classmates and teachers at Toddlers Unlimited. The decision to have a party for Bela at Toddlers was a last minute decision as I initially want to just invite her classmates and teachers to her party at Kidz Republic. But since Iall of her classmate celebrated their party at school, I thought that it will be a great experience for Bela to celebrate with her classmates and teachers too. At least this way, I will have a much better chance that all her classmates and teachers will be present to celebrate with Bela which I know Bela will really love.

I just ordered the Happy Meal at Mc Donalds with the Madagascar toys for the kids and Bunch of Lunch from Shakeys for the adults. I also ordered caramel apples from Sanfo Treats for the yayas and the teachers.

I initially want to order balloons from Oriental Trading as it is much cheaper compared to getting it from a party planner but then I thought that I don’t want to go to all the trouble of setting up everything so I ordered the cakes, the cookie lollies and the balloons from a party planner. But we ended up doing and setting up everything as we have to meet with our supplier the night before to get the balloons and cakes and we have to set it up ourselves on the day of the party. But maybe that is the norm for party planners since I only ordered cakes and balloons.

I also ordered backpacks and director’s chair from Sheila, the bag supplier at 168. Honestly, I did not like Sheila’s customer service and how our final order turned out but like what hubby said “Pwede na din” since the kids enjoyed Bela’s souvenirs anyways. The contents of the backpacks, I ordered from Oriental Trading.

Bela was so happy after the party and she keep on telling us stories on how her party went. I was really glad that I made a decision to have a party for Bela at her school.

Wordless Wednesday # 9 - I Love Jollibee

3 @ 3

I told hubby that this is the last time that I will ever be thinking of having three parties for Bela but he just smiled and looks like there is no way he is going to believe me.

But I swear I was so tired after our last party last Sunday that even I was complaining on why I ever thought of having three parties for Bela. LOL. Well like I said before, the party at the orphanage is something that I can’t give up so that is already a given fact that Bela might have a party every year. Then I decided to book Kidz Republic when we checked it out and then decided to just invite Bela’s classmates at the party too. But then I realized that if I really want all of Bela’s classmates to celebrate with her (which I think Bela will really love since I know how much she enjoys her classmates and teachers’ company) then I should just have a party for her at school. So that’s how I end up having three parties.

But by Sunday evening, I was really so tired and I did not even have a decent meal on all those three parties (and so I thought I will need Apidexin to burn my excess fats after pigging out on all those three parties).

Oh well. I really have no right to complain as I am the one who plan for all of this. LOL. And nothing can be better than seeing my daughter had a great time celebrating her special day with all the people that is important in her life.

I will post pictures and stories for Bela’s party at school and at Kidz Republic soon. And you can view pictures of Bela’s party at the orphanage here.

Bela’s 3rd Bday @ Hospicio de San Jose

Yesterday we had a small party at the Hospicio de San Jose to celebrate Bela’s 3rd birthday. It is a Thanksgiving celebration as how my husband puts it.

I just ordered food from Jollibee for a simple merienda and I hired a magician this time to add entertainment for the kids. Of course, Jollibee mascot (who never ceases to please the kids) is present in the party also. The magician performed first then the host from Jollibee conducted some games for the kids before serving merienda. Then all the kids joined in to sing the happy birthday song for Bela. Two kids performed a song number and Bela joined them in singing. The party ended with the thank you song sang by all the kids who joined the party.

This is our second year to celebrate Bela’s birthday at Hospicio and I am glad to see familiar faces that were present during Bela’s party last year. My heart was full of joy upon seeing the kids having a great time. I was deeply touched while I was watching one 9 year old girl who was helping a younger kid eat before she ate her food. I even offered to help her feed the younger kid so she can eat but she said that she is ok. Moments like this makes me really realize that there are still unselfish people out there who would think of others first before themselves.

I was glad while looking at the pictures since I think they really enjoyed having us visit them. If only I can bring all of them home…

We survived

We survived three parties. I never thought that having three parties three days in a row would be this tiring.

We had a celebration at Bela’s school last Friday then a second one with our friends and relatives last Saturday then the final leg of Bela’s 3rd birthday celebration was held today at Hospicio de San Jose. It was indeed very tiring but we did this all for our dear Bela.

After three parties, Howell end up with 2 GB of pictures from last Friday’s celebration, then another 8.7 GB of pictures from the Saturday party and 6 GB of pictures from today’s party. I am not sure now when I can start looking at these pictures, sort them and resize them so I can post it on my blog. LOL. I guess I have to postpone my search for car insurance online and start to take a look at all the pictures that hubby was able to take during those three parties.

Breakfast in Bed

That’s what we had this morning. Bela was so tired from her party yesterday that even though she went to bed early last night, she is still sleeping like a log until 9 AM. Howell and I woke up early today since we have a lot of pending tasks to finish before we start our busy day. And so we when our orders from Jollibee arrived, Howell just brought it upstairs so we can work while we eat.

I have been working really hard as I need to earn extra money since I am saving for the following things:

1. Pocket money for our upcoming Davao trip
2. Donations for the Christmas party that my friend is organizing for the children cancer patient at PGH
3. My LV bag (if ever I decide to finally get one this week).
4. tv lifts for our room
5. Shoes and clothes for Bela for Christmas
6. Budget for my Christmas shopping for all our friends, relatives and god children

I have a long list that is why I really have to work double this because looks like I need a big budget especially for the coming holiday season.

Happy Birthday!!

To our dear Princess Bela,

Happy, Happy Birthday.

We love you very, very much!

~ Mom & Dad ~

My Friend

Yesterday, I got a phone call from my good friend who is now living in Indiana. She made a long distance call so she can greet Bela a very happy birthday.

My friend moved to Indiana with her family a few years ago when her parents decided to migrate there. She was not really that thrilled when she learned that they will be moving since she already have a stable job here. But good thing she found her new passion. She decided to enroll in one of the beauty schools in indiana where she got good training in cosmetology. And after graduating, they even helped her got a job in one of the famous salons in Indiana. And now she is enjoying every bit of her new found career.

To my friend, I am glad things are really turning well for you and you’re family there. Thank you for remembering Bela’s birthday and hope to see you soon.

Tired

The princess is still sleeping like a log. She was so tired after partying, after playing at the play area and after opening all her gifts last night. But we know that she really had a time of her life.

This afternoon will be her thanksgiving party at Hospicio de San Jose so more party pictures to come….

Presents

Bela opened all her gifts last night and she was ecstatic and was really excited for all the gifts that she received. She asked us to open all the boxes and she played with each one of them and she tried on all the clothes that she got before opening her next gift.

Howell took a picture while we are opening the gifts but as usual, I haven’t sorted the pictures yet. I promise to post all the pictures and stories soon….

Thanks to everybody for celebrating with us. We really, really appreciate it. Till next year!! (LOL).

Supplies

We were so tired yesterday after Bela’s party at Kidz Republic in Mall of Asia. So after having dinner we are so looking forward to bed time. But when I was preparing Bela’s milk, I discovered that her can of milk is already empty so even though my husband was twice as tired as I am (as he was also the photographer for the party), he has to run to the nearest store to buy milk for our daughter.

I suddenly remembered about Allegro Medical where my friend buys duocal for her daughter. It is an online store where they sell all kinds of medical stuff and home health care supplies. What she is doing is that she has set an auto order system so the milk of her daughter is being delivered to her on a regular basis automatically. So she doesn’t have to worry since everything is done for her.

I told my husband about this and he immediately checked the site and set the re-order system for our daughter’s milk supply as well.

Bela is a winner

We attended the 2nd birthday party of Bianca last week at Shakey’s in Katipunan. Bela was able to take a nap so by the time the party started; she was really in the mood.

The first game was we have to look for eggs that they hid and whoever finds an egg will get a price. Since we arrive early (because hubby is the official photographer), Bela was able to roam around the restaurant and she pointed to me all the eggs that she saw as she wants me to get it for her (although I don’t have an idea that the eggs are for the games). So even before the game started, I already know where they are hidden so when it is game time already, we easily got an egg and won a prize.

She also joined the Pass the Balloon game. We were seated when the host is calling the kids to join and when I asked her if she wants to join (after I briefly explained to her how the game goes), she quickly said Yes. She was so excited and she had so much fun passing the balloon around. She was the first one to get eliminated but I was really laughing since she got all excited when they gave her a consolation prize for getting eliminated and she kept on shouting “Yes, yes, I got a prize. Bela is a winner!” while she jumped in joy. She got a Dora activity book and when she saw it, she asked me to take our seat and she said “Mom story time.”

I can’t wait for her party this weekend. Hope she will enjoy it too.

Xmas Gifts

I made a post here about my Christmas shopping wish list for Bela. And here is what I end up ordering from Amazon:


This will be our Christmas gift for her. I just checked and the WowWee Alive Lion Cub Plush Robotic Toy in Tan already arrived in Virginia last week so we will probably receive it this week or early next week. While the Little Einstein toys are already in transit. I was only planning to buy the Leo and the June doll but hubby said to complete the whole set since it is only cheap ($8 - $10 per doll) and it is not available here in Manila so I ordered Quincy and Annie doll too.

I’m pretty excited for the lion plush robotic toy since I know how much Bela adores animals. And since it is the closest thing for a pet lion (LOL) that we can give Bela, I know she will really like it. I showed her the video that I found in youtube and she got all excited when she saw it. I told her that it will be her pet and she named it Alex (from the movie Madagascar).

Capsule of Hope

Thirty years and counting with the good five years of that have helped me tremendously hewn and reaped the fruits of professional fulfillment and the gaiety of motherhood. Throughout those years my life was focused on family and career, so busy and occupied that I failed to notice that I am already gaining weight.

My closes peers who like me were equally a mother yet the vanguard of glamour continue to live in their bodies and make their exact age simply hard to tell, all deeply concerned came to my rescue. They engage me into some serious tête-à-tête conversations and introduced me to the wonderful world of diet pill, their secret that keeps their symmetry looking good and feel beautiful. They let me understood that when it comes to weight loss it’s the best diet pill that matters and formed part to a small decision that adds up and works well to eventually win over unwanted pounds without compromising the health of its users.

As the conversations end its where my voyage begin and start my daily intake and became the newest member of the best diet pill supplement which has become the premier choice among women who wants to bring some heft back to pulchritude. I found out it is formulated with health friendly ingredients that melts and burns my accumulated fats and ubiquitously work by regulating the amount of fats calories intake and speeding its passage through the digestive track preventing my body to take excess and unwanted fats which is the main cause of weight gain without making me feel deprived and down. After just a few days I could feel and see the wonders of this pill worked in my body by the lower numbers register on the scale. About a week, I have to buy new sets of clothing as the former were so loose. This is indeed the true best capsule that I have discovered.

First Time without a Nappy

Last Wednesday, Bela went back to school after their 1.5 week of semestral break. Since we no longer have a free weekend before her birthday, we decided to drop by at Robinson’s Place to buy Bela’s birthday outfit.

On our way there, she made poo-poo and so we decided to not let her wear her nappy after washing her up. I was a bit hesitant to that idea as I am afraid that we might make a mess while inside the mall but I said, what the heck, she will never learn if she doesn’t commit accidents.

We were inside the Guess shop and I was asking her to try on some clothes when she said:

“I’m making wee-wee mom!”

Good thing that the restroom is just beside the Guess store so we hurriedly run there and she did it. She was able to wait until she is seated on the toilet bowl before she did her thing. This is the first time that we went out and we did not let her wear her nappy.

Today, she went to school without her nappy again and we were surprised when she went out of their classroom with Yaya Yenyen. Yaya Yen Yen told us that Bela told them that she is making wee-wee so she accompanied Bela in the restroom and she is successful again.

So I think we are almost done with Potty Training No 1. Now it is time to work on Potty Training No 2.

Fruit-Fully Delicious

Standing out among the prominent fruit bearing trees that typified the generosity of our dear planet earth for the welfare of mankind, Fig trees make a tangible example that had ever hit our soil. The fruits harvested from these fine trees that come in hues of green, white, black and black purple are posit packed with high concentration of vitamins like iron, potassium and fiber have long been recognized way back far beyond the ancient times and figured in one of the greatest biblical parables.

Despite the passage of time, the sting of the ethereal taste of the fruits that came from the trees of fig’s heightened even more and continued to porous universally. It’s a delicious handful of eating pleasure ripened or dried. Fig’s fruits without distinction on their colors as they are all known to be so sweet are a perfect choice to make for a good dessert. Nutritional values are not just what these fruits are made of they also provide medicinal effect to the consumers as the figs contain protein digestive enzymes that help relieved constipation. The leaves can be made into a fine perfume with a fragrant scent of aromatic wood so soothing for the smell.

No wonder why the popularity of these fruits never wane and always whistled and keep the market of its staple supply. They are truly fruit-fully delicious!

New Goal

How time really flies. I can’t believe it is already November and in just a few months it is already a start of a new year. I panicked when I had this realization as it means that it is the start of another fiscal year at work which means that another performance evaluation is coming.

I read my performance evaluation last year and I was reminded of the long term career plan that I wrote on my evaluation and I realized that I haven’t accomplished the major ones that I wrote there like finishing my masteral degree.

My husband has been reminding me that I should really take time to finish my masteral degree. But how can I do that if I have a full time work plus I have a job as a mother to Bela?

But I know that if I really wanted to, I will definitely find a means to finish my masteral degree. That is why I am really considering taking a degree online. I know this is the perfect option for working professionals like me since I can do everything online in my own convenient and preferred time. This means that I can still be able to keep my full time job even if I am studying.

Finishing a masteral degree is really a big plus for my job so I know that this should really be one of my top priorities. I will definitely not be able to finish it before the new evaluation period begins but I should really target to finish my Masteral Degree before the next evaluation period starts again.

This blog post is based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

Wordless Wednesday # 8 - Magic or Illusion?

Weekend Snapshot # 7 - On her Own

We bought our daughter a new bed two Saturdays ago and since last week, she started sleeping on her own on her new bed. But we are still not ready to let her sleep on her own room so we placed the bed beside ours.

On the first night after her dad assembled the bed, she was excited upon seeing it and she asked me to read her book while she lie down on her new bed. But when she got sleepy, she transferred to our bed. I explained to her that the pink bed is her new bed now but still she preferred to sleep beside us.

On the second night, she fell asleep on her new bed but then she woke up around 4:30 AM and she moved beside us again. But on the third night she started sleeping on her new bed and claims that the pink bed is for Bela only. She won’t even let us sleep beside her and she will tell us to sleep on our bed.

I can’t believe that she is sleeping on her own bed now. Time really moves so fast.

Kidz Republic & Mc Donalds: Booked

I am almost done for the party preparations for Bela’s party. Last week, we went to Kidz Republic to sign the contract, pay the 50% down payment and finalize the menu and the package that we will be getting from them.

Kidz Republic is just above McDonalds and before going to Kidz Republic, hubby suggested checking out their food package and just the perfect timing since the toy that will be included with their happy meal starting November 4 is the toy characters from the movie Madagascar.


Good thing hubby thought of inquiring about it so we decided to get the additional food for the kids from McDonalds so all kids will get to have the Madagascar toy. And hubby was able to make a good deal that we can get the toys in advance so we can add it in our loot bags. We also ordered extra happy meal package so Bela will have the complete set too.

Hubby will be picking up the toys on November 4. Hubby and I are so excited (I think we are more excited than the celebrant. LOL).

And we were also able to pick up our orders of director’s chairs and backpacks for Bela’s school party from Sheila last Friday. I posted my supplier ratings (or should I say rant) here.