Millie and Abbie

Theme: TOY/S THAT TALK/S

Left - Millie, Right - Abbie

Mia got Millie and Abbie when she turned two. Millie was from us while Abbie was from her Lola Weng. When we bought Millie, ELC gave a good deal that's why we got the cradle for free. The buggy is also Millie's but she shares it with her little sister Abbie. Both of them can say "Mama." They both coo, giggle, cry, and sing. Abbie talks and does her wonders when her tummy is pressed lightly. But Millie's trickier. She can say "goo goo ga ga" and makes the breathing sound. Her magic comes through her mouth. She can really drink her milk! When the bottle or soother is placed in her mouth, she would suck them like a real baby, with moving cheeks and all. After taking them out, she would even burp!

There's no history with their names , they were just written in their boxes. :D

Below are Mia's moments with them during their first week with us.

Mia got 2 baby dolls on her 2nd birthday!

More talking toys here. Enjoy your weekend!

Mommy Duty Calls: Actions Please

Last Sunday, we celebrated Christ the King. The priest made clear that the humble and merciful Lord that we always picture will one day come and appear as the Majestic Judge.

His questions are not of how many earthly possesions have you acquired, how full your accounts have become, and how far have you travelled the earth...

He would most likely want to know if you have clothe and fed Him when He needed it, if you have given more than what you might want to share and if you have stopped and aided Him when He asked or begged...

It's 30 days before Christmas... with the free shipping and all huge discounts that you've had, together, let's spread the chance to work on saying yes to the questions of the Judge...

Please support: Christmas for Payatas*

*Read this through Cafe Munchkin.

Claudia at Claudia Therese

Gaya na ng nasabi ko nuon, kung mayroon mang pa-contest na pinaka-maswerteng manugang, kung hindi man ako ang manalo ng gold, siguradong may makukuha akong pwesto.

March '07 - Ako, Nanay, Tatay, Patrick, Jose, Mia at Cris

Kung gaano ka-bait ang Mama ko, ganoon din ka-bait ang Nanay ni Jose. Hindi magiging madali ang pagsisimula namin mag-asawa kung hindi dahil sa napaka-laking itinulong sa amin ni Nanay. Given na yun na alalayan niya kami dahil anak niya si Jose pero hindi duon natapos ang pagmamahal niya sa akin bilang kanyang manugang. Pati ang buong pamilya ko - Mama, Papa, Lolo, Lola, Ate Twinkle, Jd, Angeli at basta ka-dugo at kaibigan ko ay minahal at open arms niyang tinanggap. Pangalawang ina talaga siya sa buhay ko at malamang pati na rin sa buhay ng mga kapatid ko.

March '08 - Nanay Uday at Mama Jean

Wala akong masasabi sa galing ng pakikipag-kapwa tao ni Nanay Uday. Sa kanya bagay na bagay ang katagang, "walang masamang tinapay..." Lahat ng kabutihan sa isang tao ang una niyang nakikita. Wala siyang ibang naging misyon sa buhay kung hindi ang makatulong sa kapwa sa abot ng kanyang makakaya. Napaka-simpleng tao ni Nanay pero talagang "rock kung rock." Ngayon ay ipinagdiriwang namin ang kanyang ika-limampu't dalawang kaarawan. (Happy birthday Nay!) Hindi siya conscious sa kung anung edad man niya dahil obviously, she does not look her age. Batang-bata pa rin talaga ang itsura. Yan ang nagagawa ng inner beauty!

March '08 - Tatay, Cris, Nanay, Ting, Jose, Mia, Twinkie at Patrick

Hindi diyan natatapos ang pag-sasaya ng pamilyang Golosino dahil sa araw din na ito isinilang ang bunsong kapatid ni Jose. Si Ting ang nag-iisang kapatid na babae ni Jose at patawad kay Ninong Patrick at Cris, pero si Ting talaga ang pinaka-paborito ng kanilang kuya. Haha! (Ako naman si Patrick ang akin at si Cris ang kay Mia. So quits na ha! Haha!) Happy birthday Ting, hiling ko na matupad lahat ng pangarap mo at nawa'y patuloy kang maging magandang huwaran para sa iyong kasing-cute na pamangkin. Hehe! Grabe! Pinatatanda ninyo kaming lalo. Wala man kami diyan, sana ay lagi ninyo isipin na mahal na mahal namin kayo. Enjoy your day! Maraming salamat sa lahat ng kabutihang ipinakita at ipinadama ninyo sa akin. Miss na miss na namin kayo.

March '08 - Ting, Ako at Patrick

March '08 - Jose at Ting

3rd Birthday Presents

Theme: MULTI-COLORED TOY/S

Mia's Presents from Mom and Dad

This week's Toy Hunt theme is very timely. As most of you know, we just celebrated our daughter's 3rd birthday. I noticed that all the toys she got from us are multi-colored that's why I decided to include them all.

In The Night Garden Floor Puzzle

TicTacTony

Dora the Explorer Carnival Laptop

Colorful Guitar

Doll House

Glamour Jet

For more multi-colored toys, check out the links from here.

Mommy Duty Calls: The Proud Parent

Warning: This is still part of my accounts about Mia and her birthday celebration. So if you think you had enough, you can stop right now. :D

Perfect strangers from this country going out of their way to give Mia a compliment is… not new to us. (Ang lakas ng hangin! Woo! I warned you, all right?)Some that I can still recall for the outstanding efforts were as follows:

First was an old man who was so amused with Mia that before we left the church, he hurried and gave Jose a pound and asked him to buy Mia some sweeties. Jose initially declined but the man insisted that if he has more in his pocket, he’d give them all for her. He told us that we should be really thankful to have such an angel.

Another was at KFC. A lady approached us and told me that if she’d have a daughter, she’d wanted her to be as gorgeous as our little one. She even said that I must be so excited to wake up every morning just to look at her face.

One more was this couple whom I thought were stalking us as we were having our grocery shopping. In every aisle, as if we have the same list, we’d see them checking out the items that we took. And when I caught the lady’s eye, she burst into a cute and very shy laugh and asked for pardon. She said that she’s conceived and that they just learned it that day. She thought Mia looked so lovely and that she just wants to know what we could have done to have her. (Who do they think we are… gods?)She even asked permission if she could touch Mia’s little fingers.

Then last Saturday just when we were having our merienda at BB’s, a group of mala-sex and the city women stopped by our table. The lady with the most number of clustered pearls and diamonds leaned over and brushed Mia’s cheek and said, “You know, you are absolutely beautiful. I can’t take me eyes off you… we can’t take our eyes off you!” And all the ladies giggled. Mia blushed with the plushiest blush I’ve ever seen from her. Paano bang hindi, ang mga mala-artista ang lumapit sa aming fans at ipinroklama na fans sila ni Mia! Haha! Is it just the birthday glow? Maybe the Asian look appeals to them more than anyone?

Mia, savaged the sausage roll while the Apple Cinnamon muffin remained like that...

Now let me tell you that good looks are not all that Mia’s getting raves from. Here are some recent proofs…

For the pre-birthday celebration dinner, I decided to eat at Friday’s. Milton Keynes’ Friday’s was nothing but packed!!! We went there at seven and the assistant manager told us that the next available time would be at half past eight! I froze. (I should have booked the reservation online!) Dozens of people went in and out because they can’t wait that long as well. I really wanted to eat there so people could sing the birthday song for my daughter… (Pathetic, I know! But who else will be our “guests”?) I calmly waited with hawk eyes and spotted the manager. At exactly half past seven, we were conveniently seated. I redeemed myself once again from the grumpy-because-hungry husband. Look at him:

Proud Husband

Lucky Ones

Balloons, Appetizer: Chicken Fajita Nachos, Mia's Stripes' Loaded Burger and Oreo Cookie Thick Milkshake, My Jack Daniel's Chicken and Shrimp and Green Apple Slush and Jose's Full Rack Southern Sweet Ribs and Schweppes Lemonade.

Then I apologized to the assistant manager for passing on her as I explained the determination behind. She's also a mother of a soon-to-be three year old. She was touched and told me she perfectly understand.

Of course, Mia had that much desired birthday song. It was the assistant manager who called everyone’s attention. (Video clip can be seen through our Multiply Site - Contacts only).

Chocolate Fudge Fixation

Very Happy

Before we left, this is what she has to say... “Mia is outstanding! She’s so confident. I even saw her cheering and clapping with the teens. We attended a birthday party this afternoon and my son was not half as brave as she is. Good for you guys. Well done!”

Then yesterday, I had an informal talk with Mia’s team leader. This is how it went:

Mrs. K.H.: Mia’s fantastic! Last week, with all songs they sang, Mia knew everything! They sang ABCs today and she was on top of everyone. She even coached some of the kids!

Me: Oh! Was that a good thing?

Mrs. K.H.: Oh yes! Definitely! If I’ll have it my way, she should not go to preschool next year! She should go with the five-year-olds!

Me: Well, we want her to join kids her age don’t we? (Pa-humble).

Mrs. K.H.: If only socializing is not the main objective in their stage, why not?

Me: Yes, that’s what we really want her to work on. By the way, is she… a bully?

Mrs. K.H.: Mia is nothing like that. She is just very highly-opinionated. There are three kids with very strong characters in her group and she’s one of them even if she’s one of the youngest.

Me: Do I need to worry about it?

Mrs. K.H: What? No! If I were you, I would really be very proud.

Me: Then, I am! (Stage mommy on the loose!)

For Mia’s image, I would not take credit for any of it. It was all God’s magic. With the wit and personality, I take it all! Haha! (Ok, Jose may have some...) All the same, I really feel blessed to have the opportunity to raise my daughter all through my sweat, blood, and tears.

God has truly been good to us. He has always been good.

Mia's Pre-birthday Celebration

Last Saturday, we were supposed to go Tobogganing at Xscape for Mia’s pre-birthday celebration. But all signs showed that it was a bad idea- I am still undergoing my neck and back therapy, and the three of us were stricken with colds.

Mia Waiting for the Bus

It is also pretty adverse that Mia’s birthday fell on a date when all theme parks in this country are closed, the weather is in its all time low, and the new term (tuition fee) was in back to back with Christmas spending.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the economic crisis that UK is facing... A pound is nearly equal to a dollar.

Hey! This post is supposed to be a happy one! It’s my daughter’s birthday for Pete’s sake! Tsk.

Looking on the brighter side, our little family had a fantastic day.

Jose got a new pay monthly subscription with O2… God knows how much he deserves to have this 16 GB gadget. (Me too! By January pa nga lang ako pwede kumuha...Hehe!)

16 GB Black

Jose got me the very much needed HeatInAclick shoulder and pocket-size pads. And we even got a bonus cloth pad with it. :D

Heat In A Click

And Mia got Apple. It’s an apple green microwavable Brontosaurus made by Intelex, the maker of aroma heat therapy plush toys.

Apple, the Cool and Warm Plush Toy

Mia had the time of her life as she was lulled by coin operated kiddie rides in both Midsummer Place and Xscape…

Grand Carousel, Helicopter, Bananas in Pyjamas and Paddington Bear

She also had a treat with a few Arcade games…

Hotdog! So serious!

Manic Panic Ghosts!

Cool Chick!

Even if she was not able to go Toboganning, she still had her share of bubbles and “snow”.

Bubbles!!!

Storytelling Tree, Cute Cottages and Mia, nangangaroling!

MK Express

Huge Snowy Lazy Susan! Hehe!

I am so glad we did all these to somehow compensate for what happened on her actual birthday.