What Being a Mommy Taught Me

Some things being a mother to these two rugrats taught me:

1. Material things are just things. It is patently difficult to keep books, CDs, magazines, even handbags from prying little fingers intent on playing with your stuff. What were once treasured or carefully kept possessions before have absolutely no importance to me now. Except my shoes.

2. Some, actually, a lot of things can wait -- the bed can always be fixed later, that you can still find your clothes in a messy closet, a messy bathroom is still a bathroom -- but having the opportunity to dance the noodle dance with your kids should not be passed up.

3. I've learned that I was a more relaxed parent the second time around. We let Faith play/crawl on the floor without vacuuming first, and that a weird sounding sneeze is not a good enough reason to go visit the pediatrician.

4. A fever will always be a scary thing. And that having your children get sick will always make you feel helpless.

5. A little voice saying, "I Love You" will always make your heart catch in your throat. Even if they say it to avoid being yelled at or being given a time out.

6. No matter how much I want to get away from the kids when things start getting crazy, it only takes 5 minutes before I start missing them.

7. You will always put their needs first before your own. Which is not to say that you don't need a time out every now and then. There are times when you really need to pay attention to yourself.

8. The pediatrician is my best friend.

9. Grandparents make the best nannies. Too bad they can't do it full time.

10. Sometimes talking in a whisper will get toddlers in the midst of a screaming tantrum pay attention faster.

11. Guilt is your constant companion.

12. You won't always be patient -- but you always need to be kind.

13. That mom instinct? It really works.

14. Sesame Street's appeal never goes away. Not even if you're a grown up.

15. Your children are separate individuals, no matter how close they are in age. What works on one doesn't necessarily work on the other. Or maybe boys are just different from girls. Go figure.

16. You really do understand what your mom went through with you.

17. My heart doesn't belong to me anymore. It's been walking around outside my body since my children were born.

Birthday Girl

She's two! She's two! Our beloved Pechay just turned two on the 15th. My baby girl is no longer a baby but a full fledged toddler with the matching temper (which her dad conveniently swears came from me, the nerve!).
I can wax poetic about her independence, how adorable she is, how juicy and yummy, how sweet and how bad her temper is. So here are some Faith facts:

1. She's a child magnet. For some reason, children are attracted to her. Which drives her older brother crazy. Really, you should see her in church. Kids (even toddlers) go up to her and try to touch her or hold her hand. And that's Joshua's cue to get her and drag her away. I can hardly wait for the time she wants to go to parties and flirt - I won't have to worry if her kuya Josh is there, he he.

2. NO MEANS NO. There is no such thing as wheedling with Faith. Doesn't work. With this baby, no means no. It means she doesn't want another spoonful of anything no matter what sound you make or how long the interval is. When she's done, she's done.

3. She is incapable of being distracted when she decides she wants something. She is so tenacious that 30 minutes after you think she's forgotten whatever thing you decided was too dangerous to give her, she'll try for it again. Take her from the room/toy/person and you'll have to endure a screaming fit complete with body contortions so make sure you've got a firm grip.

4. You can tell she's excited/happy about something when she pumps her fist into the air and yells, "woo, woo, woo!"

5. She loooooves white rice and shoves them by the spoonful into her mouth. She's also a chocoholic! Doesn't like ice cream.

6. Her favorite part of Sunday mass is the "peace be with you" part. She puckers up like a goldfish and kisses everyone...several times.

7. She's a water baby. Try to take her out of the pool and she'll scream bloody murder! She's just as happy in her plastic bathtub as she is in the pool. Just mention the word "bath" to her and she starts shedding her clothes.

8. Has a great belly laugh that manifests itself usually when her kuya Josh is trying to make her laugh.

9. She has a nasty habit of poking her fingers in your face...or pinching your face and then pressing her entire face on yours. I advise you to avoid this at all costs when she has a cold. Trust me.

10. Has a fondness for the word "utot" (pronounced oooo-toot). Everytime she does the deed, she'll announce it to the whole world...repeatedly.

11. She's not very good at pretending to be asleep. One time she tried to do this in the hospital when the nurse came in for her medication, her wiggling toes gave her away.

12. LITTLE DAREDEVIL. I can't count the number of times I almost had a heart attack because of her penchant for leaping off things. She has: leaped from sofas (back and arms), tables, slides, from the edge of a pool and has danced on top of a rickety plastic table.

13. She's a certified girly-girl. She likes pretty clothes and is fussy about what she wears -- to make her wear something she doesn't like you'll have to either tell her what she's wearing is yucky and icky or sedate her.

14. Never fails to run up to me everytime I come home from work. She'd ask me to carry her, put her hands on my face and say "Mommy!" with a sigh.

15. There's already a list of little boys whose parents have reserved her to be their promdate.