Bela Lakwatsera

Bela: “Mom, can we go on a vacation?”
Me: “Yes, when dad comes back we will be staying in a hotel just like last time.”
Bela: “No, I want to go on a far, far away vacation then we will go to the beach and I will bring Ody (her toy pet dog).”

The problem is I am seven months pregnant now so I can’t go to places with long distance drive. The nearby resorts that I inquired to, like the resorts in Subic and Batangas, are already fully booked for all weekends until June. How I wish we have an RV with a mechanical breakdown insurance (which I heard is better than warranties because it covers cost for parts and labor, freedom to choose the RV repair center and the other benefits not covered by warranties). At least we don’t have to worry on a place to stay for the night since we can drive to whatever place we like and we can spend the night in our RV.

But I don’t think we can afford an RV for now so Bela has to wait a little longer before he can enjoy the beach. But don’t worry my darling as daddy promised a Boracay trip either end of 2010 or early 2011 so just be patient.

Last PTC @ MSS

I attended my last PTC at MSS last March 16 before going to my Ob for a check up. Howell already left for Micronesia so I was alone when I attended the PTC.

Teacher Sarah and Teacher Eulene discussed to me Bela’s quarterly assessment and showed me how she progress from the time she started at MSS up to her last day. (They actually discussed in detail Bela's progress but I will just post here some important comments from Teacher Sarah and Teacher Eulene.) According to Teacher Sarah, Bela started as the student who always says I don’t know during writing but then improved by gaining a little confidence and would ask for teacher’s help and her big improvement of learning to write on her own.

Teacher also mentioned that they would never forget Bela and her love in giving trivia. Such us when they asked Bela to name animals that can fly and Bela answered:

Bela: “Bats. Did you know that bats are nocturnal animals because they sleep during the day and is awake at night.”

Teacher Sarah and Teacher Eulene said that Bela is really ready for big school already which really is something that I want to hear because we are 100% sure now that she is going to big school this coming June. It is just a matter of choice between St. Theresa’s College and St Scholastica’s.

Bela's Enopi WorkSheets

Bela has been under the Enopi program for Math and English since February at her school, MSS. When we talked to the admissions officer of St Scholastica, she reminded us that we should really take time to teach Bela how to write as it is really a requirement for their Jr. Prep class. Howell asked me to look for a tutor that will help Bela with her writing since Bela really has a problem in this area but instead of hiring a tutor, I thought of just enrolling her to the Enopi program since they have worksheets everyday which will train her for writing also.

These are some of her worksheets both for Math and English:

Bela has been really doing a good job and I think she really deserves a price (one of those Branson vacation packages perhaps? She has been asking us to take her on a vacation but sadly we can't go on a vacation with long travels because I am pregnant). She has improved a lot ever since we enrolled her to the Enopi program especially with her writing. Almost everyday they have a homework in Enopi and she can finish her worksheets in less than 5-10 minutes because she enjoys doing it that we don’t have to do all the tricks that we used to do before to convince her to write. I was even amazed that she even knows how to draw simple figures like cat, fish, airplane, giraffe, a figure of a boy and girl, a house, etc which I think is a really big improvement for her.

I did not enroll her for the Enopi program this summer but she is enrolled for the Magic Strokes and Reading Summer program at MSS. Hopefully by the end of summer, her writing skills will be enough already to prepare her for the big school

Yaya Dilemma

I chatted with Howell almost the whole day today and our major topic of conversation was my complains about being yaya less. LOL. At first I liked the setup because it is less stressful, but now that Howell is away and my tummy is so big already, I realized that we really need to get a yaya.

I contacted an agency referred to me by an officemate and they have an available nanny to give to me. The problem is my parents don’t like the idea of getting a nanny from an agency as according to them, we never really can verify the records of the person. Especially they just heard from the news about a nanny who kidnapped the kids that she is taking care of.

But we have been waiting for more than a month now for referral from our friends but up to now, we are still nanny less. I am giving my parents until Monday to look for a nanny and if they still can’t find one, I will get the nanny from the agency. For our security if ever we get a nanny from an agency, we can just install convex mirror all around our house, interview the nanny that we will be getting and ask for police clearance and NBI clearance to check that she doesn’t have any criminal records, and I will ask my mom to be at our house even if I have a nanny already to monitor the nanny.

I will be giving birth soon and we plan to get another nanny before I give birth. Hopefully, we will find a reliable nanny for Bela soon and then our next project is to go look for another nanny for our baby boy.

Conversations with Bela

During the earthquake last Thursday, her Lola Jie asked her to go inside the house:

Lola Jie: “Go inside Bela, there is an earthquake. If there is an earthquake, you should pray.”
Bela: “No. When there is an earthquake, you should hide under the table.”
Lola Jie: “Who told you that? Teacher?”
Bela: “No, my mom.”

She has a book where it talks about earthquake and we were reading it the other night and I explained to her why there is an earthquake. She noticed the picture of people hiding under the table and so I explained to her why are they hiding. And she quickly picked up the idea that she even relayed it to her Lola Jie during last Thursday’s earthquake.

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Bela :”Why do you have a new laptop mom? Did dad bought if for you?’
Me: “No, I just borrowed it.”
Bela: “Why can’t I have my own laptop mom?”

How I wish I could buy her one of those netbooks. She likes watching short movies in Youtube and she likes playing those online games that her cousins are playing. So every time she sees me using my laptop, she will sit on my laptop and starts to play with my laptop that I end up not being able to finish my work. But I think she is still too young to have her own laptop. Maybe I should buy myself a netbook and she can have my old laptop. LOL.

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Bela: “Mom, can I watch Baby Einstein Planet. Please, please, please.”
Me: “No. It is already 10 PM so it is time to go to sleep already.”
Bela: “After watching mom, after. I promise I will go to sleep.”

And she started kissing and hugging me already so how can I say no.

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Bela: “Mom, why do you have to go to the office? I need you. I will miss you.”
Me: “Because I need to earn money because everyday you are riding the kalesa so I need to get money from my boss so you can ride the kalesa.”
Bela: “Oh, ok.”

MSS's Metamorphosis 2010

Bela had her Moving Up Day Ceremony last March 14, 2010 at Philam Life Theater. We came from Pan Pacific as we checked in there a day before so Howell can watch the Pacquaio – Clottey fight. Bela wanted to take a dip at the pool the morning of March 14th but the Pacquiao – Clottey fight took longer than we expected so Bela was able to swim around 1 PM already. The program starts at 2:30 PM, good thing I manage to convince her to get out of the pool and we made it just in time before the program starts.

I was worried that she might throw tantrums because she did not take a nap. Since it is the graduation of the graduating class, major part of the program was for them and Bela’s class performed in the middle of the program already. They dance to the tune of “A Whole New World” and Bela knows the lyrics of the songs and the dance steps by heart. Then after that, they recited the poem “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” They also had another performance at the end of the program where all the students performed to the tune of “Paraiso” and “Better World.”

There was also a part in the program where all the class where asked to stand up on stage one by one and each students were holding their Certificate of Completion. The Best in English and Best in Chinese award where also awarded per class. Bela received two awards: Wonderful World Learner Award – for her excellent work in Social Studies and Attentive Listener Award – for paying attention and listening so well to others. (I have made a separate post about her awards because Howell was a bit disappointed at how they give the awards to the students so you can read more about that here.).

After the event, we went to Hong Kong restaurant in Macapagal and met up with the rest of my family to celebrate Bela’s graduation and another special occasion.

You can view more pictures here.

Yaya Stories Again

I brought home a laptop today so I can work at home during the weekend (I love the Jack Georges’ computer case of the laptop by the way and how I wish I have this for my laptop too. The leather is really of high quality and good craftsmanship.) You see I have been nanny less for more than a month now. (I stopped looking for one as I already gave up in finding the best nanny who will not make my head ache and will really take good care of Bela.) So during weekends, I have to take care of Bela which means I can’t work during the day since I have no PC at our sala. So I decided to bring a laptop home so I can work while I look after Bela and be productive during the day.

But since Howell is away, I really realized that it is difficult with out a nanny. Imagine, my tummy is so big already and I still have to be the one to give Bela a bath, wash her at night before going to bed, prepare her stuff, etc. I am not complaining as this gives me a good bonding time with my daughter but sometimes after a long day at the office I just want to take a rest as soon as I reached home. And doing this is even more difficult now that I am already 7 months pregnant and my tummy is too big already that I am really having a hard time moving and doing the things that I can normally do without problems when I was not pregnant.

So now I am back looking for a nanny. I am really hoping and praying that I will find one before I give birth.

Conversations with Bela

Bela: “Mom, what kinds of party did I have for my birthday?”
Me: “When you turned one, you had a Tinkerbelle Party. Then Luau party when you celebrated your second birthday, Madagascar when you turned three and Little Einstein Party when you turned four.”
Bela: “Oh, yes, yes. Can I have a princess tea party when I turn five?”
Me: “Yes. We will have the party outside lola Jie’s house.”
Bela: “But why, mom? There is no air there (meaning there is no aircon. LOL.)”
Me: “But it will be fun if we have your party there. We will invite your friends and they can have tea with you during your party.”
Bela: “Ok.”

I actually have no plans of having a party for Bela’s 5th as it is just two months after our planned Christening for our second baby so for sure we won’t have a budget for a big party for Bela when she turns five. But if I will not feel lazy, we might just have a small party at our house, buy promotional products that I can customize based on the party theme (which is according to Bela will be Princess Tea party but I am sure she will still change her mind) for the souvenir, invite our neighbors so it will just be a small party, and then order food from Jollibee to serve to the kids. Or maybe we can just have a double celebration and have the Christening on Bela’s birthday. The only problem is baby boy will be five months old by then and in our family, we want our children to be baptized as early as possible.

Oh well, it is still months away and for sure my mind will still change.

Bela's Clock Project

I was supposed to blog about this but I forgot about it as I got hooked reading the site neckacne.org and all their information about neck acne. I only remembered about this project after I received all of Bela’s projects from school when I attended her last PTC.

They usually don’t bring home assignments but one Friday, Bela went home with a paper plate and a note from teacher that we should help our daughter in making a clock that they will use in school to study how to read time. Of course the artistic dad got excited to do the project that he did it right away as soon as he arrived from work that Friday.

I printed the pictures and Howell planned to use it as the background for the paper plate before he paste the numbers in but Bela doesn’t want her picture to be used as background. She kept on saying “No dad, I am not a clock.” LOL. So what Howell did is used a cardboard and that is where he pasted the pictures and used the cardboard as the holder of the clock and this is the finished product, Howell’s labor of love for her Bela.

When Bela went home that Monday, she was so proud of her clock because it has been the class’s favorite because everybody was amazed with her picture with the dolphin and the elephant. Even her teacher told me that they always use it as a sample when teaching the kids how to tell time because Bela’s clock is bigger compared to her classmates’ and the numbers are readable. Of course, the daddy is so proud of her work of art.

Bela's Awards & Howell as a Father

Last March 14 was Bela’s Moving Up Day Ceremony. I yet have to make a separate post about it but this post is all about the awards that Bela received from school.

They had a Recognition Day which was held last February 25 but sad to say, we were not informed of that special event and we only get to find out about it when they announced it during the Moving Up Day and they showed slide show pictures taken during the Recognition Day. Howell and I felt a little disappointed that parents were not invited to witness this special event since we wanted to be there when the awards were given to Bela. It is not really a big award but as parents, we wanted to be there for Bela in every important event in her life.

Going back to the awards, below are the two awards that Bela received:

1. Wonderful World Learner Award – for her excellent work in Social Studies
2. Attentive Listener Award – for paying attention and listening so well to others

Side Kwento: During the Moving Up Day ceremony, only the awardees from the graduating class (Kinder – Butterfly Class) were all called on the stage to receive their awards, medals and certificate. As per the lower level class, they only asked the parents of the awardees for Best in English and Best in Chinese to go up the stage to hand them their medals. All the kids were on the stage while the parents of the awardees put on their medals to the kids. Howell was taking a picture of Bela then and according to him he saw from Bela’s eyes her sadness when she did not receive a medal. Howell and the lolo was really affected and they felt really sad, not because Bela did not get the Best in English or Best in Chinese award, but because they felt sad because they somehow felt the pain that Bela felt that time. I tried to explain to them that it is just okay and that Bela will be okay and besides Bela already received other awards, but I guess as a father and grand father, they really felt sad for Bela.

I was also surprised since Bela approached me one night when she saw me sorting through the pictures of her Moving Up Day. And this is what she said:

Bela: “Mom you know, I don’t have a microphone during the show because I did not do good. Only those who have digi-medals (that is how she calls the medals) get to have a mic during the show.”
Me: “No, that’s okay baby. You only need to dance that time and you don’t have to sing so you don’t have a mic.”
Bela: “No mom. Wynette and Jade has a mic because they did good and they have digi-medals.”
Me: “But you have an award too and the digi-medal (the gold seal of their school) is pasted on the paper which is your award.”
Bela: “I don’t want my digi-medal to be on paper. I want it to be put on my neck and teacher will give it to me on stage.”
Me: “I know you did a good job Bela. Maybe Jade and Wynette did a much better job so maybe next time you should work harder so you will get a digi medal too.”
(Actually I don’t know how to answer her this time and how explain to her the situation.)

I guess Howell is right that it does have an effect on the kids. But now I am just trying to explain to Bela that next time she should work much harder so she will get to have a digi-medal too. But Best English or not, Bela did us proud.

Drum Lessons @ Yamaha School of Music

I promised Howell that I will work on the website for his online toy store while he is away. I need to check out freedirectorysubmission.com to look at the site listed there where I can make directory submission so the new site that I am building will be indexed and cached right away by search engines so we can improve our web presence and positioning.

But I can’t concentrate on my HTML programming as I am also taking care of Bela as her lola is out so I decided that I will just blog about how her drum lessons are going.

Her first day was last February 13 but after more than a month, Bela just had two sessions. Bela was absent twice and her teacher was always absent too. Just like today, we went to school only to find out that her teacher is absent again. I talked to the one in charge of the schedule and requested that we just change Bela’s teacher. Next week, she will be with Teacher Solomon.

But so far, for the two sessions she had, the substitute teacher (yup, we haven’t met her real teacher since she started with the lesson . But I lover her substitute teacher and I wish he -Teacher Wil- was Bela's real teacher) was impressed with Bela as she knows how to follow instructions. I really don’t expect that Bela will really learn how to play the drums by the end of the 12 sessions. All we want is that she won’t loose her love for music and her interest in playing different musical instrument.

Fun Weekend @ Pan Pacific

Last week, we spend our weekend at Pan Pacific hotel to grant Bela’s wish of going on a vacation. Days before that, Bela is always saying:

Bela: “Mom, how I wish I can go on a vacation so I can bring Ody (her toy dog) and we will have fun.”

Since Howell will be leaving and that Sunday will be Bela’s Moving Up Day Ceremony, spending overnight in a hotel is the closest that we can get in going on a vacation. Here are some pictures:

(Have you noticed my acne? I wonder if natural acne treatment is safe for pregnant women like me. I better read the reviews from acnetreatmentguide.org to find out).

Bela had a time of her life, as she was able to enjoy swimming with her dad. Even her time at the bathtub the next day is also a very fun activity for her because she was playing with her new bath toys that we bought the night before at Robinsons Place when we had our dinner there. She also was able to swim again the next day while her dad was watching the Pacquiao – Clottey fight) Bela kept on saying that she hopes she can stay in the hotel forever. LOL. Howell promised her for another adventure when he comes back and I am sure no matter where that vacation might be, Bela will surely have fun.

Hello Baby Shopping

Every Friday at 1:30, I am already off from work. Ever since I got pregnant, my dad together with Bela and my mom will fetch me from work as it is difficult to get a ride home during that time. Last Friday, they fetched me from work and my dad is in a good mood and has agreed to drive me to Hello Baby, the baby clothes store located in 48 Zodiac St in Bel-Air.

Hello Baby sells baby clothes with brands like Carters, Child of Mine, Precious Moments at a fraction of a price if I buy it at the mall. I wanted to go on a Friday sine I heard that it is just a small store so weekdays would be the best time to go so I can choose from mountains of baby clothes stored at their small store freely. And I ended up buying all of these for our baby boy:

Do you think I am one excited mommy? LOL. (Honestly as early as now I am imagining already how my kids will be like when they grow up. Will baby boy be like his dad who is a Computer Engineer or will he follow his uncle’s footsteps and take testosterone boosters to become a body builder or will he be like her uncle from my husband’s side and be a priest. But you know, no matter what road he wishes to take, Howell and I will just be here to support him all the way).

I was able to buy onesies, jump suits, bibs, towels, blankets, booties, mittens, bonnets, pair of shorts and shirts, blankets, burp pads and even cloth diapers. I was so happy with my purchase because I almost completed all the baby clothes that I need for our dear baby boy.

I uploaded the pictures right away, as I was really excited so hubby can take a look at it also. I only bought clothes with sizes for 0-6 months old baby so for sure I will be coming back at Hello Baby store again to shop for more clothes for baby boy.

Bela and her Kalesa

Everyday my mom and dad together with Bela will pick me up from the office and then we will go to Howell’s office after to pick him up also. While waiting for Howell, we would stay at the area outside Museo Pambata (since we can’t wait inside the premises of Howell’s office). There are a number of Kalesa’s lining up there for tourists and for those who just want to have a relaxing ride around Luneta and Roxas Boulevard.

One day, Bela asked us if she can ride the kalesa and since we are still waiting for Howell, I allowed Bela to ride the Kalesa with her lolo since I know how much she will enjoy it.

Since then, every time we fetch Howell (which is like everyday. LOL), Bela is always requesting that she ride the kalesa before going home. Of course, the lolo and lola can’t say no to Bela and so this has been her routine everyday. They even have a suki now, because Bela just likes riding this particular kalesa driven by a white horse which according to Bela is named Rambo.

Even now that Howell is away, we still drop by at Museo Pambata every afternoon after fetching me so Bela can get her doze of her kalesa ride. Do you think she is spoiled? LOL.

Busy Summer for Bela

It will be a very busy summer for Bela. I have lined up number of activities for her:

1. Magic Strokes Class at MSS which will be from April 13 – May 14. This will be an everyday class and I am thinking of enrolling her to the 10 – 11:30 slot so she doesn’t need to wake up early.
2. Enopi Math & English program. This is an everyday class also at MSS and she will attend this class after her Magic Strokes class.
3. Drum Lessons at Yamaha School of Music every Saturday for thirty minutes. She actually started with her drum lessons last month but since we are always absent and her teacher has been absent once also, we still have 10 sessions left which means her drum lessons will last the whole summer also.
4. Swimming Class at Makati Shangri-La with Aqualogic every Friday for one hour.

Since most of the classes fall on a weekday, Bela’s grand parents will be the one taking Bela to her classes. (I guess I have to buy them hgh supplements to give them energy so they can cope up with Bela’s busy schedule. LOL. I have been reading the reviews about hgh supplements based on the testing done by experts and consumer feedback and I have listed the best hgh supplement that I can consider buying for Bela’s grand parents). Thank goodness that my dad agreed to take Bela to these classes even if Bela is supposed to be on vacation already (and it should be his day off in being Bela’s driver. LOL). Because if not, Bela will only have one activity for summer, which is her drum lessons, since it is the only class that I found with a schedule that falls on a weekend.

Bela for sure will have a very busy and productive summer.

For our Kids

Bela will have her moving up day ceremony on Sunday, March 14 at the Philam Life Theater. I read from their last week’s journal report that the kids are really practicing really hard to surprise us, parents.

I can’t believe that a year just passed by like that. By June, Bela will be an incoming Kinder student already and she will now move to big school. Because of this, Howell and I realized that our kids will be growing up really fast and so we really have to prepare for their future.

That is why as early as now hubby and I have been looking at other investment options. Our friend who is into gold investments suggested that we start to buy gold coins as the value of coins is rising because of the decrease in value of the dollar. Our friend said there are companies like US Gold Bureau who can help us make our investment plan and they can even help us get the best gold value in the market.

Gold is really one of the best investments as it doesn’t depreciate in time and is easily convertible to cash. So if we want an investment that will surely secure our children’s future, then gold investment is the answer.

Online Shopping & Green Shopping

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that Howell ordered this online for Bela:

Howell has really been itching to buy this for Bela for the longest time already but I always manage to convince him otherwise as I know how big it is and we don’t have that space in our house for another big toy. But Howell said that Bela and our second baby will surely enjoy this radio flyer since they can both ride on it and they can even put all their toys and pull the radio flyer themselves while they are playing.

And I know my husband, if he wants something, he will surely find a way to convince me so I will finally said yes. And so when I finally did, he ordered it right away and I was surprised when I woke up the next day and he gave me the news that Bela’s radio flyer has already been shipped. Talked about excited huh. LOL.

Of course, he also bought something for himself, LOTR Gandalf 20” epic scale

But Howell said at least he was able to save the environment because he is doing some green shopping. I was checking the article about this from buy.com and it is interesting to know that 65% of the total carbon dioxide emission came from vehicles of customers driving to and from stores.

That is why online shopping really rocks. Aside from the wide selection that online shops like buy.com offers its customers, I even get free shipping and I get to do my part in saving the environment. So let’s shop online now!