Monkey in the yard

There are drying poles in our yard, which we like, although it would appear that Mama & Kecil like the said poles for different reasons. Mama, for saving a huge load of electricity in drying the clothes; Kecil.... well... ahem... exercise?

Yup. Exercise, indeed. Early on a beautiful Sunday morning, at that, still in pyjamas and all.

Of course, that was not the only thing we have. You might recall we also have a coconut tree further in front. Let's just say that the tree did not escape being an object for 'exercises' as either.

I wonder who has been encouraging her.

Ah, yes. Caught red handed on camera. Haha....

Still... no harm done, and in return, we have a very cheerful little daughter. Let us just be grateful for all the opportunities that the house (and its facilities) present for the Little One.

Cheers!

Sick

2 weeks back, after a pretty busy week of school and activities, this Little One got sick.
A stomach flu bug, food poisoning, we were never certain what, but it knocked her feet off, sending her to plenty of sleeps during the two, three days that she was 'out'.

It's been a while since she last used this spot for her nap. This Mama did not think she would see this sight again, until Kecil got sick.
And so... for that week, this Mama just spent whole afternoons by her side, getting her to drink and eat what little she can...

... until she finally woke up and declared herself 'healthy'. Ha!

Joking. She got better slowly, sometime during the weekend. Some of her appetite returned, and she finally got back enough energy to start playing again. Why, she even started to 'demand' for her favourite food:

Kecil had since returned back to school, in full health, of course, and her Mama & Daddy breathed a collective relieved sigh, glad to have back our healthy, noisy, active (if just a tad naughty) little Girl.
We are definitely grateful that she gets well so quickly. Here's hoping that there are no more such episodes in the near future.

Her own space

This Mama was reverting to her old (specially reserved for boring lectures) pastime of doodling around the other day, when Kecil got hold of Mama's doodles and promptly asked for another. Actually, all the three girls were there, I think, and so Mama got stuck for a while, doodling for one kid after another.
I have no idea what the other girls did with their doodles, but for Kecil? She put them to use to 'mark her territory'.

This, indeed, is her territory, the place where she could bring her friends to just chill, and play, and do whatever they want (except eat! No kids with food on upper floor. Mama's rule!).
So... they did what little girls do:

Pose with each other....
Uuuuu... did you notice Kecil's and Ami's T-shirt? Or the fact that ALL of them were wearing pink? Ouch, my eyes hurt.

... take picture of one another...
... and giving this poor Mama a pretty bad heart sport watching them 'playing' with Mama's precious big camera...

... why, at the end of the camera roll Mama even found this mugshot of Kecil, right next to her door.

Having the Kiddo's friends over can make the house shake with all their shriek, their none-too-light footsteps, laughter, fighting and what nots. But it's always interesting.
Why, the other day there was even a sleepover! (Kecil stayed at Ami's place, right next door, yes) When the report came back, it would seem that she's not quite ready yet, so... maybe we'll wait a few more weeks before we have a repeat, if any.

In the meantime, let this be Mama's reminder to REALLY enjoy the peace and quiet during the school term before the little people come back in house. Cheers!

One Rainy Afternoon

It was a rainy afternoon that day, so we just stayed inside the house, making up things to do indoors.

It so happen that we just bought a world map for Kecil's room, which she gleefully installed on the wall.
Why a world map, you might ask. Well... as a citizen of the world, it's only right that Kecil should know about all the countries that she's been hearing about, you know? Otherwise, they all make no sense to her: "I am from Indonesia, Ami is from Japan, but we all stays in the Philippines".

It was a nice, colourful map, and, trust me, she's learning some countries already. Haha...

But actually the main attraction that day was a certain basket inside her drawer, the one filled with all her 'jewelries': necklaces, rings, bangles, even earrings.

So... all bedecked and glamorous, she complied with Mama's request to pose by the window. Haha... Unfortunately, our photo session was interrupted by somebody walking through the backyard, causing our valiant guardian to rise to the occasion:

Haha.... Oh yes, we have an impressive guardian, indeed. Why, she's bigger (and heavier still!) than Kecil! The only thing our guardian fears is to be left alone, especially during rainy (read: stormy) days when there are thunder. Which is why, the sight below is pretty common:

The Dog cowering, sharing a corner in the bathroom while the Little One blissfully played with her bath toys while it rains outside.

Ah... the days that we have to spend indoors due to the rain. We'll definitely have to be more creative in coming up with various activities to occupy each other during the rains.
What do you do when the rains come and keep you indoors?

Easter Princess

For Easter this year, Mama actually blew a few eggs and we decorated the egg shells. Some were painted by Kecil, using a combination of markers and water colors, the rest were dyed after some treatment with crayons. The result was quite cool, and Kecil was very impressed. Haha...

On Easter Sunday itself, we went egg hunting at the housing office. Kecil and Mama came home with some impressive looking 'tattoo' (temporary, of course, painted using face painting material).

We met Kecil's classmate at the egg hunt, and we watched some acrobat and magic show. Oh, and did I forget the balloon flower? Not to mention the photobooth. We had some fun pretending to be Minnie there.

But the biggest surprise came from a visit from the Easter Princess herself, right here at home.

Ha! Actually, Kecil won a set of 'Princess jewellery set' from the egg hunt. So... not surprisingly, she wanted to put the all on once we got home, with the resulting "Princess Beauty".

Oh my. She looked good enough to stand for a pageant or something, not that this Mama intended to do that, of course. I am pretty sure we can find other, better things to do. But for that Easter morning (and afternoon, and also the day after, and a few others), my little Princess surely can dress up all Princessy and nice. After all, she IS Mama & Daddy's little Princess, no?

Mop mop mop...

Ever since Mama bought this new mop, every time Mama tried to mop the house, a little someone kept on getting excited to 'help'.
Not that I can really blame her. The tornado mop, as it is called around here, is easy enough for her to operate. Just by moving the stick up and down, the mop head would spin in the bucket. I guess it can't get any cooler than that.

Furthermore, although the mop wielded by Kecil is somewhat wetter than Mama's, well.. she still did her part of the room.

Not to forget the inspection after mopping, dragging the mop stick back to the bucket for Mama's turn.
Ha! I'm just waiting for her to grow big enough to do the whole work, from getting the water, cleaning up the bucket after, etc. In the meantime, this Mama will continue taking pics. Cheers!

Royal Prince and Princess

This Mama had an inexplicable urge to clean up Kecil's stash of toys that day, which turned out to be good thing, since we got company later on, who so eagerly rummage through the treasure box.

Kecil's friend from the playground came by for a visit at the end of our walkies, just to find out more about Kecil's house.
And of course, following tradition, Kecil had to ask Mama to make a crown for her visiting friend. She is 'princessy' like that, this Little One.

But I don't mind, especially since I got a picture out of it. Haha!

Presenting Princess Kecil and her royal friend, posing with their preferred 'weapon' on the makeshift castle.

Well, we hope for more visits in the future (as well as more pics, ha!). Cheers!

Her very own 'castle'

With all the rains that fall around here, Daddy decided to bring home some boxes for safekeeping at home. This Mama does not mind, despite the clutter, but especially also because someone proved to be VERY happy with the arrangement.

Originally stacked in the middle of dining room free-standing, Kecil managed to climb up the stack and proudly reached the ceiling.
Good for her, but not very safe.
So the stack was moved against the wall in tower-like arrangement that does not allow for climbing. She could only stand on one box but not climb further up. Sorry, but reaching the ceiling is simply not very safe, kiddo.

Still she made do. Topping the structure with her own cardboard box (the one with stickers) and a few paper cups, she declared the whole thing her 'castle'.
I do love it when she gets creative like that, especially when she kind of justified my decision not to buy her more toys and give her free stuff like old cardboard boxes instead.

Sometimes it certainly feels as if the rain never let up around here, and the stories here (and the absences) might reflect that sentiment. However, the past two days have actually been somewhat sunny (yey!), which might have accounted for the slew of posts.
There are still a stack of photos to go through, so... we hope for more posts in the following few days.
Cheers!

A crowded morning

This Little One has her own bed, in her own room, and for the past two years plus, she has been sleeping primarily on her own.
But sometimes, this Mama and Daddy miss the old baby days of having a puny baby between us on the bed, with the opportunity of watching her sleep the whole night long, or even simply during the early hours of the day.
And that was how Kecil got invited to Mama and Daddy's bed through the weekend (and this morning as well!).

The timing couldn't be better, with the whole weekend stretching before us, no timetable, no obligations, nowhere to go, nothing pressing to do, we were able to simply wake up slowly, stretch, and enjoy each other's company (and sleepy faces).

And yes, the Dog was included as well. Not quite intentionally, but often times, when she feels cold, the Dog would ... ahem... invite herself onto the blankets.
I guess the warmth of the blankets and the warm bodies are too much to resist.

This Mama enjoyed the crowded morning, but is sincerely hoping that it will not become a more regular thing in the future. Reasons cited include lack of sleeping space (on Mama's part!!!) and not few bruises from an apparently soccer-player-wannabe.

Now if you will excuse me, this Mama will tend to her bruises and clean the bed of doggie hair in preparation for a better sleep tonight. Cheers!

Not just the smiley stories ...

A blog, even one with so many photograph such as this one (so many it takes forever to load!), offers barely a glimpse into one's life. Barely a scratch, I tell you.
Even a direct visit, a few hours, even a few days spent with someone, barely scratch the surface of who that someone really is.

It is tempting to think, or perhaps some of us have even fallen into the trap of thinking, that it's all smiles and beautiful pictures and wonderful stuff going on.
But really, that's not quite true.
It's just that, most of the time, when the less than happy stuff are happening, perhaps we are also not so free to take pictures and blog about it.

Except on some rare occasion.

I think it was during life lesson #57: If you want something, go get it yourself.

Obviously, she does not quite like the idea of that. Or she disagreed. Or something.
In any case, it was a situation which aggrieved the Little One very much, but not Mama. So Mama actually managed to grab the camera and started clicking.

To a predictable reaction.

Whoops.

Strangely enough, this is the exact same dress with the one she wore in the last memorable crying photo. Perhaps I should stop getting her into that dress.

What do you think?

This weekend...

After 5 weeks of summer school (that's 5 weeks of 5 days a week school timetable: waking up 'early', scrambling to get breakfast done, dressed up and showered, with bags properly packed for both Mama and the Kid), it was nice to laze around the house in pajamas during the weekend.

Kecil seemed to agree. She still woke up pretty early, but she went downstairs before taking a shower, sat down at the table, and started practicing her letters (!!!).

The Kiddo! She's starting to write!!
This Mama is so excited. We did chose for her a really good school, one where she managed to enjoy herself while still learning soooo much.

How was your weekend?