I am set that Gwen Mari will start her traditional birthday photoshoot this year. I had it scheduled on the Saturday so that her tatay is present. It would have been easier for her to smile since she has a coach… but things went different ways. 

We prepared early for the photoshoot. We means me, tatay, achi, siobe, mommy and ate. It was wiser not to bring Migs and manang. He’ll just be tired with all the walking. We first went to Great Image. The one in-charge was not that accommodating and the way he presented the packages was not friendly. If only he knew that I prepared financially for the photoshoot. We went to Fuji Photos instead since it was the only studio I know within SM that offers photo packages. We waited for a while since there was someone ahead of us. Triplet babies were shoot before achi. When it was her turn, she was already shy. She won’t stand alone. She cling to mommy and hugged her tight. Siobe, on the other hand, was posing and smiling in front of the mirror. When I asked that she was the one to be shoot instead, she was already shy to pose.

The ending, nobody was shoot. We just ate at Mang Inasal then we went home with no picture on hand. I guess it was still early for achi to shoot, or maybe she isn’t just exposed that much to people. For her birthday shoot, we’ll just ask her tito to take her pictures one of these days. Maybe she’ll be more comfortable with that. I hope she would.

I thought we won’t encounter this (not at this age) with baby Migs since I didn’t have to think about this situation when my girls were younger. It is normal for him not to poop for several days since he is breastfed so I wasn’t worried at all during the first two days. Yesterday, he was fuzzy and gassy so I put manzanilla on his tummy. He was quiet for awhile but around 6pm he started crying. I did everything that I can think of. I feed him, had him burped, changed his nappy but nothing soothe him. We cuddled until 8pm when I decided to bring him to our room. He was quiet at first so I lay him on the bed. I think he was tired from crying that he closed his eyes while we were feeding and he went to sleep. He slept through the night and asked for milk for a couple of times only.

He woke up early this morning. He was fuzzy again, when I checked his nappy it was full. Instead of changing him, I just let him wear his pajama. A little later, he peed and poop. Thank God he was so relieved after. He was even laughing and screaming with delight. If only the videocam was within reach, I would have recorded it and have the youtube video downloader, I would have loved to share it with everyone. It would have been your amusement too.

If I can only pinpoint what made Migs constipated, if it was the food that I ate or the weather (?) or was it the timing? I just wish that he won’t experience it again. It’s so depressing seeing him cry. 

Whenever new acquaintances see Gwen Mari, they ask if his father is a Chinese. She has chinky eyes that are even smaller when she smiles. She may not be that fair, but she looks like a Binondo Girl especially when I tie her hair in pigtails. Because of her features, her tatay bought her a cheongsam last year when he went to Singapore. He got her the pants-type, which is a little big for her size. When she tried it on New Year’s Eve, it fitted her just right.  The length of the pants was just right, almost on her ankle-length. She was supposed to wear this on her birthday photoshoot, which didn’t push through. Another story to write about. I know that she would have given justice to the dress. I’ll just ask her to pose for a picture when she wears it on Sunday, for Chinese New Year.

In line with Chinese New Year, I cleaned the girls’ cabinets. I removed the small clothes that they won’t be wearing anymore. I plan to either give them away, or keep them for future use (for my sister’s baby). This is a lot better than throwing them away and having the trash pump deal with it. The small clothes are still beautiful and these are still good hand-me-downs. Most of the clothes were just worn several times, even if was already a hand-me-down from achi to siobe. 

Last January 13,  we celebrated Gwen Mari’s 3^rd birthday. It was a simple celebration for the little girl. We started with by going to mass and saying her thank you’s to Papa Jesus. When we got to the church, there was a mass going on. This is for a group of children who are having their First Communion. After that we dropped by the Black Nazarene near the church. While we were on the jeep going to Balibago for grocery, she said that she will be happier if we go to Jolibee for real (Nay, mas Masaya ako kung pupunta tayo sa Jolibeeng totoo).  So I gave in. We ordered her favorite, French fries with ketchup and she added sundae to the meal. After eating, we bought her cake. She choose the dedication cake from Red Ribbon and then we dropped by NewTop to buy balloons. Then headed to Super 8 for grocery. We bought ingredients for her handa. She was too tired that while we were on our way home, she fell asleep on the tricycle but she was up and bouncing once more when we got to the house.

In the afternoon, she called her friends to eat merienda with us. She and her girlfriends were happy playing with the balloons and some of her toys.

How time really flies. This time 3 years ago, she was just crying for milk. Now, she would cry for attention with matching dialogues. Her cell booster had really helped her develop and grow. 

We are anticipating several weddings of  family and friends for 2011. Since these will be weddings of people close to us, either one of the girls or both of them will be flower girls for the event. This will be another milestone for them and I hope that they do well. Between the two, I am more confident that siobe will walk down the aisle without any hesitations. She is the 'stronger' and more 'bibo' compared with her achi. But if achi is paired with someone she likes, she might walk without worries too. 

We were here last weekend and the girls loved the experience. They were so amazed when they saw the boats and yachts on the bay, they were even more apprehensive when they realized that they were on a high building. They kept on jumping and shouting more when they saw the bathtub. They spent sometime playing in the tub since they had lukewarm water. Siobe started crying when she was brought out of it. Achi on the other hand stayed longer but when she got off, she was shivering. 

Shopping is a must during Christmas and it is something I truly like (if I am not doing it in rush). Honestly, its already the 19th of December but I am not even half of my shopping yet. I just got the girls their yellow Christmas outfit the last time I went to the mall. My 'inaanaks' have to wait a little this time since I haven't started with their gifts yet. I am scheduled to get everything on the 21st. I hope I have the strength to be out longer. 

Finally, we are already home. After away for almost 3 months, we are now back to our home. The kids are trying to adjust but they love being home. They were ecstatic when we got back. They were so happy to see their toys again. Achi was jumping while siobe kept hugging her stuff toys, I'm so glad that we're home. Miguel is 'deadma' with everything but I think he is looking comfortable in his home. I just wish that we find him a nice and comfy crib fast because the girls have been bugging him when he's sleeping on the ground floor. I iwsh I could also find something like a heated mattress pad so he'll be more comfortable, especially now that it is getting colder in the evening. 

I assigned achie a task that she loves doing. Aside from watering the plants, she loves harvesting too. This is her picture while she was harvesting tomatoes from our backyard. These tomatoes were planted by one of our house help. We needed to uproot it after several months because they needed to cement our garage area.