30 October 2010

Bye-bye car

I had my Saturn coupe for ten years.  Ten years!  It was a part of my life for so long, that I was teary when the new owner drove away with it last week.  He assured me that he'll take good care of my car.  He said to me, "She's going to a good home", as he saw how sad I looked.  So funny. 


Bye bye car.  Thanks for all the memories!

22 October 2010

Smile!

Sophia started to smile about a month ago. At first, they were random smiles - I don't think she even knew that she was smiling. In the last couple of weeks, she has started to smile as a response to something I do. When I talk to her or pinch her chin, she smiles. When she wakes up in the morning, she is very smiley. I love starting my day with her smiles. I finally was able to photograph her smile the other evening. So cute!

 

12 October 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

It wouldn’t surprise anybody if I say that Sophia is at the top of my “what I am thankful for” list. She truly is a wonderful blessing. Of course, Ed would be a close second. He’s been very supportive at home and is taking to fatherhood very well. And to round up our little family, I am also very thankful for our cats, Bob and Neo, who always provides me such comfort and companionship (even when I have a lot less time and attention for them these days).

I didn’t grow up celebrating Thanksgiving. It was only when my family moved here to Canada that I got introduced to this holiday. And one of the things I will always be thankful for is the opportunity given to me by my parents to live here in Canada. Since I am an immigrant, I will always have something else to compare life in Canada with. And we really, really have it good here in this country.

As an example, the day after we came home from the hospital with Sophia, the community nurse came to our house to check up on us. There were a couple more follow-up visits and then follow-up phone calls to make sure I am doing alright. There is a 24-hour baby hotline that I can phone to ask the nurses any questions about baby care. And at the community centre close to my house, there are weekly parent/infant sessions (and they are free) where we can learn about baby nutrition, immunizations, infant developement, etc. Support like this does not exist in the Philippines! So I am very grateful that these support measures are in place for moms and I am very grateful to live in a city that have these things in place.