if one's a singer then the other's a dancer

Addie loves dancing and singing. She walks around the house singing Twinkle twinkle little star or Mary had a little lamb. She's a serious dancer though. A lot of our evenings consist of Addie asking her Dad to put in the iPod so we can have a dance party. Even Yaya joins in on those nights. She likes pop and R&B (Kanye, Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce). We try playing Jack Johnson, Wilco, or Adele and she says she doesn't like it. It's essentially not fast enough for her to dance to.

Here she is at her own afternoon dance party dancing to Single Ladies. Yes, she is wearing her Minnie Mouse costume (two sizes too small for her) and she has pipe cleaners in her hair like Pippi Longstocking. She cracks me up.

not an adult house anymore

As much as we try to make our home an adult place the kid stuff just infests every aspect of it. It's hopeless. We can't hide it. We have kids.

rare

In a rare moment a few days ago, Justin picked up the camera and shot a few of my and Bella. I love that she's looking up at me while she eats. My heart is totally mushy for this little girl. Yesterday Addie and I had some alone time, while today Bella went shopping with me. I tried to navigate the immense shopping mall that is Glorietta to find some bedding for our guest bed. We are excited to have at least two guests (Auntie Brienne and Aunt Megan) come this year. We want them to be comfortable while they sleep off the jet lag.

back to playgroup

This afternoon was our first playgroup since returning to Manila. My friend Jina talked me into carpooling with her. Bella stayed home with Yaya so Addie and I had some time to play together. Jina's daughter, Lily, and Addie play really well together. The girls snuck pastries and shared them in the park. Both girls were fascinated by a group of older boys who were playing "Superhero" nearby. The ring leader of the group kept instructing the other boys to make up superhero names (Black Eagle and Transformer Man were a few examples he gave the other boys) The girls watched in awe as they play fought and flew from their superhero lair to go save people. I love the creativity of kids. The girls held hands while walking back into our apartment building. Lucky for us Jina and Lily live upstairs.

Bella sings with me

Bella loves to sing along with me. It's so cute. Please ignore my horrible singing voice and the terribly fuzzy picture quality.

a little embarrased

This past weekend, I discovered a side effect (good or bad-depending on how you look at it) of having a full-time yaya/housekeeper. I decided to confiscate Addie's lovies and wash them. Really wash them in hot water not hand wash them like yaya does. They get so nasty and stinky (Justin and I call the scent Addie Sweet and Sour). Anyway, I put the first one in the washer (have to do them separate-God forbid she doesn't have at least one to hold). When it was done, I went to put it in the dryer and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to turn on the dryer. I FORGOT! It had been so long since I'd seen the dryer, let alone use it. I couldn't stop laughing. Justin got a good laugh too after he came in to show me how to turn it on.

Ridiculous I know: ridiculously awesome or ridiculously sad depending on how you view it.

trip to the dentist

Adelaide went to the dentist for the first time today. Dr. Hernandez was excellent; giving us lots of instruction for healthy oral hygiene (no more crunching on ice). Addie was really good and didn't cry, mostly because the dentist was so gentle and caring. I prepped her with a few YouTube videos on going to the dentist which helped (I think), or maybe it was the sticker, balloon, and bubbles she got as a treat upon leaving. I'm constantly amazed at how affordable health care is in this country. We saw a very good Western trained dentist for 600 Philippine pesos ($12 USD)! Amazing. To put it in perspective, the majority of Filipinos still can't afford health care due to poverty.

On another note I had a delicious vanilla latte today. It is the first coffee shop caffeinated drink I've had since August 2008. It tasted so good I wanted to cry (and get another one).