All grown up

Sophia and I are in Edmonton to attend my niece's high school graduation.  Sabrina looked so beautiful all dressed up for the commencement ceremony, held last Friday, and then the graduation ball, which was on Saturday.  I can't believe my little niece is all grown up now.   It seems just like yesterday when I would take her to the PNE and the company children's picnic.

Now, she a young woman who is confident and ready to take on the world.  Congratulations, Sabrina!  We are so very proud of you.

Cousins Sabrina and Sophia

The graduate.

With the proud parents.

With the proud aunt.

Beautiful!

Aaaaaa... aaaaa....

Sophia is generally a quiet and calm baby.  Sometimes, though, she feels the need to express herself loudly.  She just cracks us up when she gets into this mood.

Here are a couple of videos of her showing us her more vocal side...

Starfish

We signed up Sophia for swimming lessons, called Starfish for her age group. They don’t really teach the babies how to swim but just provide them with the opportunity to have fun in the water so they won’t be so afraid of it. Sophia really liked being in the pool and the ocean during our trip to the Caribbean two months ago, so we thought it would be a good idea to get her into the pool again here at home. Big difference in temperature! I dressed Sophia in her swim diaper, a bathing suit, plus her sun suit in hopes that these layers will keep her warm. She still would be shivering and her lips would be blue by the end of the half-hour lesson. The good thing is she doesn’t seem to mind too much. She’s too intrigued by everything around her.

Until the baby can stand up on her own, taking a baby to the pool is definitely a two-person job. One parent goes into the pool with the baby while the other parent stays dry to (1) take photos, and (2) take the baby after changing her to dry clothes so that the wet parent can now change into dry clothes as well. I wonder how single parents do it?

Sadly, we missed the last two lessons because Sophia, Ed and I have been fighting a cold. But we’ll definitely make a trip to the pool nearby when we feel better as Sophia seems to really enjoy herself.

Dad showing Sophia how to blow bubbles. 

Brrrr....  So cold....

Hoover Junior

One of Ed’s nicknames is Hoover because he can eat a lot. We’ve nicknamed Sophia "Hoover Junior" because she’s inherited Ed’s appetite. We started giving Sophia baby cereal when she was five months and pureed foods when she was six months. She has been an enthusiastic eater right from the beginning and has not been picky. She has her favourites - yam, sweet potato, pear, apple, and yogurt. She’s not too thrilled with potato, brocolli and parsnip but as long as I mix them with one of her faves, she’ll eat it. I was told to let the baby decide how much to eat, so one day, I kept giving her food until she turned her face away. She finished four bowls of food - that’s about 350-400ml of food! Sometimes I wonder how she can barely weigh 16lbs when she eats so much.

The past few weeks, I’ve been giving her chunkier foods and cut up fruits. She handles them fine, with the occassional gagging. She definitely has more fun when she uses her hands to feed herself. She still hasn’t figured out that she should put the spoon into her mouth. I load up the spoon with food and hand it to her but instead of taking the spoon, she picks up the food with her fingers and shoves it into her mouth. Hey, whatever works!

Yummy papaya!

Sophia and Neo waiting for lunch.

Heavy heart

My heart is heavy and I cry with sadness. My dear friend Kathleen “Dayday” Joseph passed away today from cancer. I am so lucky to have known her. Her heart was always full of love and kindness. Her smile brightened our world.

I met her on our first day of high school. I can’t even remember how we became friends. I would go to her house, sometimes, after school to hang out. One day, I heard Dayday’s mom say to her “I love you dear” and Day responded “I love you too Mom”. I was stunned because I really thought they only did that in movies. I love you’s were never spoken at my house. But at Dayday’s house, you felt the love they had for each other.

I visited Manila in Oct 2006 and Feb 2008. I saw Dayday both times. We had lunch a few times in 2006 and she was pregnant with her second son, Pio. In 2008, I went over to their condo and spent the afternoon with her and her boys. We went to a green market nearby and bought fruits and vegetables. A few months later, she was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. She had beaten it once before and we were all hopeful that she’d do it again. Fuck cancer.

Rest now, my dear Dayday. Your friendship was such a gift. Thank you and I love you!