Update: Bela's 6th Birthday Party Preps

As what I mentioned in my previous post, I have been thinking on how we can celebrate Bela’s 6th birthday. Hubby and I were able to sit down and talk about it today and Bela agreed too with our plans.

I have spoke with Ms. Amie, our contact from Hospicio de San Jose and she already reserved the slot on November 19 for Bela’s party. She said that it is okay to invite our family and friends and Bela’s classmates too and we might have the party at the gym so there is enough space for the kids of Hospicio and our guests.

If budget permits (which is quite uncertain for now as I feel that I have been a victim of electronic pickpocketing because my wallet and bank account is drained up to the last drop. LOL), we will get a host-magician to entertain the kids. I already inquired with Angelette and she gave me a quote for a good and affordable magician.

For the food, I will get ice cream and cotton candy food carts and Jollibee or McDo for the food.

I have also inquired with 3D Me and I am planning to get their 3D Me Doll package for 80 kids and this will serve as our souvenir.

Instead of gifts, we will ask our guests to bring any kind of donations for the kids of Hospicio and Bela love this idea and she even said that it is good so she will have presents for the kids too.

Now I am pumped again and I can’t wait to start planning full blast for Bela’s 6th birthday party.

For Her 6th Birthday

Yay, it is July already and I haven’t made any plans for Bela’s 6th birthday. This is so not me as I always plan in advance. The past years, by June, everything is booked already and all I need to do a month before her party is just make the invitations.

But for her 6th, hubby and I still hasn’t decided yet what to do for her party. Bela actually want to have a party (after her brother’s big first birthday party a few weeks ago) so I really have to think of a cost effective plan to grant Bela’s wish.

So far, here are our options:

1. Party at Hospicio de San Jose with our relatives and Bela’s classmates. Every year, we have a separate party with the kids at Hospicio de San Jose aside from the party that we have with our friends and relatives. But hubby is suggesting that for this year, why not have one party in Hospicio and we will just invite our friends and family there including Bela’s classmates. The only problem here is I am not sure up to how many guests will Hospicio allow to enter for the party.
2. Simple party at Shakey’s with relatives and Bela’s classmates.
3. Simple party at McDonald’s with relatives and Bela’s classmates.
4. Party at SM Storyland with relatives and Bela’s classmates. I made a pencil booking already for Nov 19, which I can confirm until October 19 but this is over my budget already so I think this has to be scrapped from my list.

Howell will be coming back from Baguio this coming Tuesday and we better discuss and finalize this soon so I can start booking the party suppliers already before I run out of time.

Bela’s Grounded

Yup, Bela received her first real punishment last week. She has been so cranky lately, after our trip to Bicol that she will throw tantrums if she did not get what she wants, or she will pretend that she doesn’t hear us if we want her to do something or if we want to talk to her.

Just last week, we were having a hard time making her sit down and eat, do her assignment and make her stop from doing her new nasty habit of licking her lips. So I got so tired of our everyday routine of quarrelling and bargaining with her that I told her that she is grounded and she will not have any access to TV, her iTouch or even go to malls for a week.

She cried at first but then I still did not give in and so she was able to accept her punishment. It is her third day already and she manages without TV and her iTouch and she is so conscious with her actions as she wants to make sure that she is being a good girl. Just like today, after her gymnastics class, we went to McDo for snacks and she asked me if she can play in the indoor play area beside McDo but I reminded her that she is still grounded and she can have her chance to play next week if I lift her punishment once I observe that she already learned her lesson. And she did not push her luck and just accepted what I told her.

Sometimes it is really better if we punish our kids once in a while.

Any Tips for Picky Eaters?

Bela is a very picky eater. I don’t know if I should blame it on the bottled foods that I gave her when she was still a baby or she really just doesn’t want to eat.

She only likes to eat hotdogs, nuggets, chicken, and egg (that is why I am thinking to buy electric grill as at least grilled is a healthier option than fried). For snacks, she only eats cookies, yakult and juice.

When I introduce her to new food like Yogurt or fruits and vegetables, she easily gags that she will just spit out whatever we put in her mouth. This is the reason why up to now, I still let her drink her milk as this is her only source of vitamins.

Now I worry if she goes to school the whole day already. She still doesn’t eat on her own so how can she survive the whole day without eating.

For moms with kids who are picky eater like my Bela, do you have any suggestions?

Bela & Cobi in Rizal Beach

Last June 30 was the first death anniversary of my mother-in-law and so we went to Bicol to commemorate Mama. This is the second time that Bela has visited the hometown of her dad. The first time we were in Bicol, we went to the house of my father-in-law’s sister, which is just in front of the beach, and so Bela and her cousins were able to take a dip. So when we were in Bicol again last week, I know that Bela will not miss a trip at the beach. So on our second day, they scheduled a trip at Rizal Beach.

Rizal Beach is more than an hour drive from hubby’s house in Abuyog and so Bela was so giddy with anticipation already so she hit the water as soon as we arrive. She was later joined by Cobi and her dad and her cousins and with hubby’s other relatives.

I did not bring any beach toys for Bela and so they just played with her cousin’s metal cars, which unfortunately were swept away by the waves. Bela’s cousin cried buckets over this toy. If only we have metal detectors garrett, then maybe there is a better chance of finding the toy and it would have saved the tears of Bela’s cousin, Gelo. LOL.

After an hour of swimming and building sand castles, we called it a day (as the sun is setting already) and then we head back home for dinner.

Even though it was just a short trip at the beach, Bela and Cobi still had so much fun.

1st Day: Gymnastics Class

As what I published in my previous entry, Bela is now enrolled in the Gymnastics class at Rizal Coliseum and I can say that she really had a blast on her first day.

Bela is under Coach Roland and the class started with a warm up exercise. Just look at Bela in this video. They were just doing simple running, skipping and hoping routine and look at how she is having fun already.

After the warm up, they did some exercise in the bar and I was so surprised at how strong she can be that she was able to hold on to the bar for 10 counts as she stretches her leg.

They also did some tumbling and cart wheel.

After class I spoke with Coach Roland and he told me that Bela really enjoyed the class. I thought that she would be all tired already after her 2-hour class but she even managed to play in the trampoline.

Hubby and I wants to enroll her 2x a week so she can advance fast and to keep the momentum going but the grand parents are already saying no against it. But we will see. I told coach that I will observe first for the first month and then I will decide if she will stay in the once a week class or not.

Enrolled: Gymnastics Class

If only I have engaged into sports like gymnastics when I was a kid, then I wouldn’t have a need for diet pills that work now just to help me get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. LOL.

But I am glad Bela is so much into sports just like her dad. Today was her first day in Gymnastics. She actually asked me to enroll her to Gymnastics before the schools ends but I told her that she should finish her ballet class first and then when school opens for SY 2011-2012, then it is up to her to decide if she wants to continue ballet or switch to Gymnastics. And just as I expected, she is really firm with her decision when I asked her again and she chose Gymnastics over ballet.

The Gymnastics club in St. Scholastica already had their first meeting last Saturday but since we were in Bicol, we were not able to attend. So I already talked to the Coach of Gymnastics and I got the go signal that Bela can still enroll and have her measurements taken for her uniform today.

We were already near Gate 1 when she asked me what are we doing in St. Scholastica as she wants to be enrolled in the same Gymnastics school as Kellie’s (her former classmate) and not in St. Scholastica. So I called Kellie’s mom who gave me their contact person in Rizal Coliseum and after trying it out for a few rounds, Bela got really excited that she wants me to enroll her that day so she can start with her first class.

So now she is enrolled in the Gymnastics class at Rizal Coliseum every Saturday, from 1-3 PM under Coach Roland.