Zoie's Mr. Banana Bird

my addiction to facebook and all the changes in our lives as a family - a school girl, new yaya etc. - i blame these for the neglect in updating my blog. let me start with the most recent. meaning: last night. i went home late because i searched the mall for a puppet bird that Zoie can use for her presentation on Friday. Nada! Zilch! after wandering about i decided to challenge my creative juices. i bought materials and with images of birds in my head, i went home with high hopes that Zoie and I will be able to make the perfect puppet bird for English Week presentation. And here it is...

Okay, there are still parts of Mr. Banana Bird which looked like he's a dressed chicken. Blame this on my lack of experience in estimating art material - i have extra foam and no more feathers!

It is now that I really am enjoying bonding with Zoie. She expresses her opinion openly and it made my heart swell when she really liked Mr. Banana Bird. Oh, she was the one who named him that.

my schoolgirl

when i saw the date when i last blogged, i said, wow, it's been that long? i never realized how hooked i was on facebook. everyday i'd check out my friends' status, play games, care for my virtual pet and work on my virtual farm. if facebook was real life, i'd be filthy rich. of course i've been busy with my projects and some things that i can never blog about. anyways, today i enrolled zoie to her first big school. i've been searching for months (er, 2 months) for a good school for her. the teacher at her toddler school told me that my child really needs to move up. she's great in class but she cannot allow me to enroll her again at her school. i asked why she let the other kids re-enroll but then she said it was because my child was ready for bigger things. well, that made my heart soar and my head ache. so, i went in search for that good school. i first considered a montessori but it was too far albeit the fact that it was near my in-laws' house. i can't cause my child any more stress than the fact that my husband and i work like a horse. the haven montessori was okay and they were willing to give kinder education to my child but then i found out that there wouldn't be much interaction because their teaching method was like a tutorial. then i went to AA Learning Center at Bayani Road. the tuition was hmmm okay we can afford it but it's a bit high. problem with the school is the location. only a few jeep pass by. the taxis are always occupied and i'm not too keen about school service vehicles who cram kids like sardines. then i went to Learning Haven. i must admit that i was kind of disappointed. for the tuition that they're asking, the place kinda looked like a fly by night business. maybe the teaching there is great but the place doesn't look like a school at all. but before i went to learning haven, i tried to see if i could get zoie into the newly opened preschool inside our community only to find out that it was full and even if it wasn't it was for less-fortunate kids. so i was kind of embarrassed when i went to inquire because the teacher looked at me as though i was trying to get free education for my kid.

oh i missed FAB Learning Center where the tuition was really affordable and teacher yvette is an ideal teacher to entrust your kid to. when i looked across the street after visiting learning haven, i saw this big school, st. ignatius of loyola whose preschool counterpart is fairyland. the rooms are okay. i talked to a teacher. she seemed very nice. the rooms are airconditioned. the tuition is more than 50% lower than AA and Learning Haven but the kids are twice the size of how many the other two schools are accepting. my hubby was very excited that he took zoie to do a test that very afternoon. the result said that zoie could have been kinder only that her writing is weak. but there is a silver lining on the cloud. they accelerate kids. they said that she's great and very knowledgeable but she's only three. again, heart soar, head ache.

but today i went with zoie and my mom to fairyland and paid a whole year of tuition as i keep my fingers crossed praying that zoie will get a good education there. i was amazed at how many books i was asked to buy. they have to have the same bag. darn! and zoie's mom is a bag fanatic. i guess i'll just buy a great looking baunan. oh wait, they will have the same snacks. grrr!

it was a different experience to line up there and enroll your kid. i felt very adult and a bit sad that my baby was growing too fast. the regular uniform there doesn't even fit her. i need to order a different size. the skirt was either too small or too big. i love their green uniform and the fact that she has a small PE uniform. zoie will really start her formal schooling.

when we went out the building, a tricycle driver offered his services. ayan, i've no problem na. she now has a school service.

super excited mom here. can't wait to buy the rest of her things but i was told she'll get the list on the first day of school.

did i mention that the location of the school was great? there is a police precinct nearby.

A Valentine Rose for Zoie

My daughter went home yesterday with a fake rose with a tiny teddy bear in her hand. As early as 3, she's already receiving Valentine's Day gifts. She said it was from her boyfriend at school. She wasn't able to attend her makeup class last Feb 14 so it was given to her just yesterday. Calet told me that Zoie prefers to hold the flower giver's hand than the other little guy at school who gets so angry whenever she does this and would do anything to kick the alleged BF. Hahaha! Kids these days...

Zoie's Vday Card for us

i am so proud.

i wish zoie will get better soon

i am so worried. i can't think straight. zoie is not feeling well. she had high fever for 3 days and was diagnosed with UTI and an ear infection. these are the 3 letters that really freak me out. i guess i should be thankful that it's not dengue. but she lost weight and she lost all her energy. i hate to see her looking so weak and helpless. i am helpless when she complains that her tummy is aching. we took her to the doctor last wednesday and she had cbc. my daughter was very brave. not a tear was shed during the blood extraction. she also had her urinalysis. i never thought it'll occur again... this UTI. now that she hardly wears diapers... now she's on antibiotics and it'll be a few days before we learn what kind of bacteria is present in her wiwi.

i will be letting her attend her first christmas party later though but they can't attend my office party.

of snow globes and dresses

zoie and aunty kris

i never realized how much that snow globe meant to zoie until we got home without buying it.

Barbie's Christmas Carol is about a performer who was so full of herself. it took 3 fairies of Christmas past, present and future plus the ghost of her aunt to convince and make her realize what Christmas is all about. Barbie tells this story to her sister and gives her a snow globe (with the fairies in it) which turns out to be the same snow globe in her story.

for days, i have been searching for a nice snow globe. yesterday, we went to MOA to celebrate my SIL's birthday. we walked around the mall and we went inside the department store so i can buy zoie a party dress. all the way to the mall from the parking area, she was already asking me to get her a snow globe and that's so hard to find. anyways, we did find a snow globe and it was quite expensive. it was as big as the one in the Barbie movie. it also plays christmas carols and it had a santa inside it. there were cheap ones but it didn't play a song. i wanted to get her the small one... the affordable one but she wouldn't budge. she wanted the santa snow globe. i left adrian and zoie at a corner seat while she hugged the snow globe close to her. there were a lot of people in the mall. i went to look for a dress since zoie declared that "ayaw ko pants. gusto dress." i brought her 4 dresses, 2 were quite small (who am i kidding?) and one for 4 years old and another for 6 years old. i made her wear the size 6 dress. it fit her! it was a little long but the length was okay. it fit her body. it had puffed sleeves. and she didn't want to remove the dress. i had to force her out of it telling her all the time i had to pay for the dress first. she was crying. adrian took this opportunity to take back the snow globe. after paying for the dress, she wore it and she didn't care if she was wearing Dora rubber shoes. she was so happy with the dress saying all the time that she's a princess that i thought she forgot about the snow globe until such time in front of the carousel she started rummaging through our things looking for it. hay naku talaga! until last night she was crying. later i will be going to the mall to look for a snow globe that plays music. never mind the price. if it will make zoie happy, i'll get it. my mom said that i shouldn't spoil her. but she's only 3. maybe if she's 7 and she's forcing me to buy her stuff, maybe that's the time i'll tell her to stop. zoie is still a baby... our baby.

zoie ballet philippines experience at CCP

last saturday, zoie and i went to CCP to watch Ballet Philippines perform. adrian couldn't take us so we rode the jeep and the LRT. i promised zoie that we'll ride the train. i wanted us to take a cab but the traffic was impossible plus i already made a promise to zoie. it took us an hour and a half to get there. i was so tired by the time we got to the theater because in places that seemed dirty for zoie i had to carry her. oh where did she get that kaartehan talaga! we got to our box in the nick of time. the national anthem just finished playing and the orchestra was about to begin their first music. i observed zoie while she watched Coppelia. Ballet Philippines dancers are indeed brilliant. there were moments that the dance made us laugh and zoie was clapping along with the people after every wonderful performance. Coppelia was actually a love story. it was really funny how the male character fell in love with a doll and that became an obstacle to their relationship. zoie wanted a better seat so she transferred to my lap. she never slept during the performance or made a noise. we had to go out though because she needed to go to the bathroom even though she was wearing diapers. there were a lot of people in the theater and also i was surprised to find a lot of kids watching the show. i assumed that most of them were taking ballet lessons because i saw some still wearing tights. zoie was moving her hands and legs in time with the music. i did make her dede though because she whispered, "hungry na ako" during one of the 15 minute breaks. after the show, she couldn't stop mentioning the "ballet dancers" that she saw. we again rode the LRT and the MRT because i asked adrian to pick us up in Makati. a lady gave zoie a toy in the MRT. my daughter always gets freebies from people. in birthday parties, she always has a prize even if she lost the game. we had Dairy Queen blizzard at Glorietta before we asked her tatay to come pick us up. in the car, she copied a dance step from the show and at home, she jumped like the dancers. we were laughing while she showed us her "moves" and looked as though she has already decided that she wants to be a ballet dancer when she grows up. she'll be taking up ballet lessons this summer. zoie didn't want to remove her dress. i had to force her to change to pajamas.