isn't she lovely

my little princess (see her headband of power? LOL) is a chatterbox and a powerhouse of energy. she loves her markers and sketch pads better than any of her dolls (any new doll is her favorite for a maximum of 24 hours. after that, the doll is pushed into her ever-growing bin of stuffed animals and dolls.) she's a highly verbal child that picks up words very very quickly even if it's in chinese, french, or tagalog. she can count and sing a few songs in chinese (they are taught in her preschool daycare), knows the days of the week and count in french, and knows several tagalog words.

it's all but why do they have to grow up so fast?!

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when i was pregnant with amori i wasn't as obsessed with shopping for her - i think her grandma took care of that part fairly well. it was aldo that did the research on strollers and car seats while i did the bottles, sterilizer, toys, and slings. i think i was too preoccupied (and scared) with the thought of childbirth to fuss about baby gear. this time, however, i think i'm making up for it. i've gone crazy! reading up on reviews on strollers kept me busy for a good 3 weeks, and since i (think) know what i'll really be needing and how long i'll be using stuff for, i've kept myself hooked up via twitter, emails, and forums to know when particular things are on sale so i can get them at the best price.

at TJ's Kids this weekend we picked up a Britax Marathon in crocodile (Amori has the Onyx print already) for $50 less at their Britax Tent Sale. luckily we got there at the perfect time - we got the last one in Crocodile! the woman behind me at the cashier looked like she wanted to strangle me when she saw what i had. when the cashier told me "you don't know how lucky you are for getting that last one!", the woman piped in and said with much venom, "yeah, some people have to wait 4 weeks for that print". sorry lady, it pays to know what you want when there's a sale. LOL

we're also lucky that this time around, friends have lent us their infant car seat. since it'll only be used for the first 5 or 6 months, we were ok with using a borrowed one. the Britax Marathon can actually hold an infant but for convenience, we're using the infant car seat first - it's way easier to get in and out of the car.

we also picked up Amori and Baby #2's new ride: the Joovy Caboose Ultralight. i had already convinced myself that the original Caboose was all i needed but since i'm not exactly the strongest mama in the whole world, aldo convinced me that the ultralight would be easier for me to use since i'll be the one lifting that thing in and out of the car. good thing it was on sale too, but the $100 difference still haunts me. we were pretty lucky that the sales associate that was helping us out told us that there was a special edition that wasn't on display. instead of a silver frame, the special edition has a black frame, plus an all-weather pad that we can attach to the seat once Baby #2 is out of the car seat.



the only big-ticket item left on the list is a crib mattress since Amori is still using hers in a toddler bed. she'll eventually have a big bed but she's still ok in her toddler bed so there's no use panic-buying... although i have to admit, i entertained the thought of buying her a bed when there was a sale at Sears. but Aldo was right, we can wait another year, or til we move to another place.

next on the shopping list is a post-partum binder for me. been reading up on it and am convinced i need one because when i was recovering from my previous c-section, i had real trouble standing up because i felt my guts were going to spill out, which resulted to bad backache and a miserable me. had i known there are such things as binders, i would have gotten one. since i know i'll be having a c-section again, hopefully a binder will help me feel a little less miserable. i've seen the Abdomend Bikini Belt that looks comfortable, or the widely-marketed Belly Bandit. both are ridiculously expensive though so i'm still thinking twice. i wonder if the lesser-expensive binder at Motherhood works as well.. i hope it does because i don't want to cough up $80 for the Belly Bandit or $100 for the Abdomend Bikini Belt!

30 weeks down, 8 to go (or whenever they book my c-section)!

countdown

i'm on my 28th week.

28.

yikes.

that means only 10 weeks to go before baby #2 comes out! my doctor has already told me it'll be a c-section this time because of past complications, so i'll only be pregnant until 38 weeks, yaay!

oh and it's a girl. we had a 3D/4D ultrasound done at 26 weeks. it's quite creepy to get a photo this detailed, isn't it?!



it's been a fun, birthday-packed summer for us - seems like a lot of people do give birth during the summer... which makes Baby #2 one of the rare kids celebrating their birthdays in the winter!

this summer we've gone fishing, kite flying, and eating grilled hotdogs and hamburgers like there's no tomorrow. oh and homemade pizzas! aldo has perfected the art of making his own pizza crust and is now a certified frozen-pizza snob. i've been loving the grilled pizzas he's made - it does make a difference when it's grilled on a pizza stone, on a bbq, versus baked in an oven. we're so happy we got a Weber this summer - our first bbq grill ever!

amori's been growing into a chatterbox - a dancing, drawing, tea-party-princess-playing chatterbox. i think it's safe to say she is now a little kid, and not just a clumsy toddler! funny how she is her own little person. sure, she has her bad days - like when i have to drag her out of bed so i can drop her off at preschool/daycare on time - but majority of the time, she's a pretty easy kid. unless we talk about her (non-existent) eating habits, of course. i've pretty much given up on worrying about when she will eat meat, or when she will munch on a carrot stick... her doctor says as long as she is growing, and is developmentally on track, then there really is no need to worry.

she is the sweetest thing too. the highlight of my day is when she wants a big cuddle after school. when we get home, she follows me into the kitchen with her thumb in her mouth, while she says "i'm tired" (because the current rule is: no thumbsucking unless she is tired or sleepy). or when she insists i watch tv with her before i putter around the kitchen at dinnertime. some days i wish i had househelp so i can give her 100% of my attention after school.

just the other day, i picked her up from school and she gave my belly a big hug and said "i miss my baby" - let's hope she still feels that way in 10 weeks!

other than the fact that i no longer can do the groceries by myself, i'm pretty ok. i am exhausted everyday, but other than that - i have no complaints. partly because i know this will end soon. i am sure it'll only get more complicated in 10 weeks but until then, i'm taking things one day at a time, savoring the last few weeks that we are a family of 3.

heck, when i walk into a baby sale, i get amori more clothes than the new baby! baby #2 has a lot of hand-me-downs from amori, and they outgrow things so quickly that it doesn't make sense to buy the exact same pink-and-white onesie! in all fairness though, i've gotten Baby #2 new sleep sacks and long-sleeved onesies - amori's old ones were from a different season. i just need a few more flannel blankets, bottles, and a christmas outfit and we're good to go. 10 weeks is enough time to get all those.

Forever Young

aldo's been a secret fan of Rod Stewart's so after a year of watching his concerts on DVD, we bit the bullet and watched him live at GM Place. out of all the big-name artists that have performed in vancouver, we had to pick one that catered to people older than us! LOL i swear, we must have been the youngest people in the concert.

it was a great concert though... either that or we really do not get out much! at least we heard all his greatest hits like "Forever Young", "Some Guys Have All The Luck", "Downtown Train", and a few others. i must say though, all his back-up vocals and musicians were young and sexy!

at one point he started giving away soccer balls. apparently, it's his thing to kick around these soccer balls during concerts, due to his passion for football. too bad we were seated too far away from the stage to catch one!

the only bad part of the concert was the acoustics of GM Place - it sucks! we've watched hockey games here and it was ok since all you want to hear are the clubs hitting the puck or some players being shoved into the glass, but for a concert it was pretty bad. if you didn't know the lyrics to a song, you wouldn't really hear the words clearly.

but at least we got to see a rock n roll turned crooner icon before he gets too old to tour!

summer updates

we're all having a blast this summer - with a new baby coming in the late fall, we're making the most out of the weather and my energy level!

we've spend time in outdoor pools, parks, and have even gone fishing! we're really happy that Amori is an outdoor girl - can't wait for her to learn how to ski when she's 4 or 5. hopefully she will be a better snowboarder than her mama.



some pregnancy-related tidbits: the first trimester went by smoothly. as during my first pregnancy, i wasn't too nauseous - the occasional wave of dizziness here and there, but no toilet-hugging episodes (thank you God!). the biggest difference is that since i have to run around and tend to Amori's needs, i couldn't really sit down much and rest despite being exhausted at the end of each day. thankfully it's summer and we got a bbq so aldo took up a lot of cooking chores. i'm in my second trimester, and things are going great. i feel like whining and complaining about mundane things but since i know this is all a part of pregnancy - and more importantly, this too, shall pass - it's all good.

(but i just have this to say: at my 18 week ultrasound, the tech told us it's going to be another girl, but by the way i look and feel, i think it's a boy. i've been feeling like an ugly humpback whale with scales on its belly!)

since a week or two ago i've started the nesting phase - the omigosh-our-house-is-not-organized-enough-for-a-baby sort of urge, so i've attempted to clean in bits and pieces... i don't have a lot of energy these days so i have had to divide and conquer. i've pulled out Amori's old stuff to make an inventory of what we need for the coming baby. compared to Amori's time, i am now more obsessed with baby things - i have specific needs that i want to address, so each thing i buy is not just an effect of marketing on me. LOL

i think i've become a bit too obsessed with customer reviews combined with my own experience! that and i'm more excited about baby shopping because i now know why and when i need something! aldo has been constantly teasing me about my stroller obsession because i've been at it for 3 weeks now. hehehe.

since i gave Amori's stroller to Lucas --




-- and we have to buy a tandem one anyway - i've narrowed down my choices to 2: a Joovy Caboose,



and a Phil & Ted's.



both have good reviews and suit our lifestyle/needs so it all boiled down to what Amori would be more likely to sit in. we went to a baby store and tried both. when she sat down in the Phil & Ted's, she asked to be taken out of it after 10 seconds: "papa get me out of here, i don't know how to get out of here!". but with the Joovy Caboose, the loved it and didn't want to get out of it. (Amori takes after her papa too, she didn't want the original Joovy Caboose, she preferred the Joovy Ergo Caboose, the much more expensive version!) add to that the fact that there is a toy version of the Caboose - and she saw it right away too, and wanted to bring it home. no, we didn't buy the stroller yet. i want to order it in purple but i'd like to make sure that it's a girl first, after our 3D/4D ultrasound in september. after all, a little boy in a purple stroller would be too... Davie St. =)

meanwhile, i'm making my christmas gift list early too as i have to complete it by the last week of november. i didn't realize having a baby in december means i won't have a lot of time shopping and wrapping gifts... worst of all, i don't think we'll have a fresh tree this christmas... i don't think having stitches + painful breasts AND unwrapping a tree will be a happy event. ugh. will have to set up a plastic tree in november so Amori won't miss out on christmas.

Amori is 3!

she's 3 - can you believe it? i can't.

i still manage to say "two and a half" when strangers ask me how old she is.

this year's theme was the Paper Bag Princess - one of her favorite books by Robert Munsch. we saw the play earlier this year and she loved it even more. i personally like it since it's not the Disney princess happily-ever-after type, more if i-am-a-kickass-princess-and-i-don't-need-a-boy-to-live-happily-ever-after. LOL

we had it in a community center so the kids can have a lot of room to play... and clean up would be easier. much like her first birthday, we made her invitations, loot bags, and cake carry the theme.



luck was on my side when i found Cococake - an online cupcake store that made pretty fondant cakes too. i contacted Lyndsey the cupcake lady and asked her to make an 8" chocolate cake for Amori.





not only was it pretty, it was moist, not too sweet, and 100% edible. (we had a fondant cake at our wedding but the fondant wasn't soft and chewy like amori's cake.) it was well worth the splurge!

everyone went home with happy tummies - aldo and i made most of the spread and it was well worth the hard work... if we were in manila, we'd have cooks, yayas, and drivers dividing the tasks! LOL




at the end of the day, the birthday girl was one happy camper. she took home all her presents, tried them on or played with them, and ate a big chunk of the dragon. suffice to say, she lived happily ever after, too.




*******

Amori, at 3:

- has been in the preschool class of her montessori daycare since June 1. she loves it! she now talks like her 4-year old buddies... she's got a posse of little girls, and gets excited when they see each other at the daycare doors.

- talks in complete sentences and asks a lot more "why" questions. good thing her papa has the patience to explain things like why her run bike has no pedals.

- loves her coloring markers, my homemade play clay, her dollies, and "reading" her books (more like pretending to read and telling me a made-up story).

- knows how to sing "Oh Canada" (the canadian national anthem). she once asked me to sing with her and i said "but i'm not canadian yet, so i don't know the words!"... to which she gave me quite a puzzled look. but she sang it anyway. she even corrects her grandpa when he sings it wrong. LOL

- can ride a normal bike, and balance/run with her run bike. she's not afraid to fall either. she picks herself up and tries again.

- falls asleep on her own.. no rocking, pretend-sleeping, or crying... finally!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

- will be a big sister in early December! she is as excited as we are, and i'm pretty confident (or naive) that it will be an easy transition since she never gets jealous when i hold another person's baby. she kisses my tummy goodnight, and offers her baby sister/brother Goldfish crackers when she has a snack.

she cracks me up

while inspecting our fridge: "mom i have no more rice pudding, you have to buy some."

*****

while looking at our new coffee table: "what is this?"
me: "it's called a coffee table."
after 2 minutes, amori: "where is the coffee?"

*****

on our way out one morning: "mom i did not bring my keys and wallet."
my thought bubble: i didn't know you had one. LOL

*****

me: "that's Barney's tail, amori. do you have a tail too?"
amori: "no, i don't have a tail, i have a bum-bum."



and she's only almost-3! i blame it on Barney, Sesame Street, and Hi-5. LOL