Uh-oh!

Sam is presently in the stage "me-mine." She doesn't want to share things let alone someone just going near to see her play.

Last week, Liam's pre-school had a post-Mother's day morning tea and while waiting for the program to start, she had time to do free play. Two boys attempted to go near her, but lo and behold, she would say "NO!" then attempts to slap the hand of the boys! Oh poor boys! Ang taray to the max! One of the boys actually already had a crying episode with Sam.

I was just thinking, baka when she grows up, I might get into trouble, especially with the parents of other kids. Sobrang tapang! I know here in Sydney, it will be an asset. Can't help but think, kung anong bait ng kuya yun naman ang kabaligtaran ni Sam. She's not salbahe, but I think she is a little cheeky! :-)

Uh-oh! :-)  I think we need a different kind of approach with Sammie hehe :-)

By the way, she has plenty of new words: she can say spider, water, juice, rice, car, flower, amins for vitamins, bread, bacon, what, is :-)

She can carry a tune and looks like she's into music as well :-)  Thanks to the Wiggles and to her Gymbaroo classes :-)

Way to go, Sammie!

Very proud of you!

Love you!

Updated: Sam at 15months

My daughter turned 15 months last 21 February. I can't believe that she's the same age now as Liam before when we first arrived here in Sydney. Time flies!

At 15 months we are still very thankful that she's very healthy and continues to achieve developmental milestones. No major headaches (so far) :)


Language: I am thankful, that just like her Kuya, we did not encounter any problems with her speech development. Right now she can say these words: Papa, Mama, up, down, ha (hot), bebe (for Siobe, her Ate Anika), bibi (baby doll), gu job (good job), gu (good), ayts (lights), ep (help), ti yu (thank you), wata (water), tito, bi (bin), fi (feet), bu (book), hi there, de (there), roo (Gymbaroo), ro-ro (Row, Row Your Boat, mimi (excuse me)and hello. She even had her first simple sentence a few months back: "Mama, ep me" (Mama, help me). She had an expression: "Oh Di (Oh Dear!)" when she knows she is in trouble, like when she made a mess. She does this with her shaking her head, hehehe. She can now also call her Kuya Liam: "mi-am", to the delight of her Kuya of course! I might have missed out on some of her other words, but one thing is for sure, she is daldal na, a chatterbox, like Liam and yours truly :-)

Physical: I just weighed her yesterday and she weighs almost 12kg. She uses Walker sized-nappies, she wears 2T sized clothes or clothes for 24-month babies. She still is bilugan and I can say her weight and height growth are ok within her age.

Motor skills:I think her swimming lessons and seeing her Kuya Liam do soccer lessons are helping her develop her gross motor skills. I sometimes catch her kicking her Kuya's soccer ball at home. She is yet to jump on her own. But she loves to dance.You should she her do the moves when we play Dance Central in Kinect. She has memorized some of the steps in one particular song! LOL! She is getting there when it comes to running. I forgot to mention that her Gymbaroo classes also help her develop her gross motor skills. She does a lot of crawling, walking and climbing in her classes (and at home).

As for her fine motor skills, I guess picking up tiny (and I say really tiny objects!) she sees on the floor helps her develop her fine motor skills. I also let her use those big crayons (top-looking), Crayola made, to develop the tripod grip properly. I let her do free painting and do some free play that involves putting/pouring soil from one pot to another. She likes to play with dirt! She loves to go outside the house and have a little walk (She's not too happy when it's raining!). She loves to explore! She likes picking up things and trying them (eating) to my dismay, of course! hehehe At 14 months she learned how to manipulate the fork. Now at 15 months, she can now use the spoon without any help from us! Yipee! I don't know if I can actually upload the two videos I took with her using the fork and now the spoon, all by herself, here in blogger, because the files are a bit big :)



At Gymbaroo, she does participate in the circle time, but most of the time she quietly observes. When she pulls her hand from me during a song, I know and I don't force her, to do the actions. I observe her observe her surroundings. When we get home, that is the time she shows me and her Papa what she has learned in the class. Thankfully, she does not cry and attract attention if it's time to leave the equipment room and have bubbles time or music time!

At 15 months, Liam started telling us if he needed to poo but with Sam, she is yet to utter the words "pupu" when she really needs to go. But she is aware of what a poo looks like and what it smells :) Weeing on the other hand is a different story. I think, she's getting there. But she still can't sit still on the toilet (even when I have alreadt put those handy potty-tranining seats), I guess she is still overwhelmed with the size of the toliet.

She may look like her Kuya Liam, but she is slowly evolving into another unique inidividual. With a different personality like that of Liam. She is very strong-willed. Hindi siya magpapatalo. You should see her fight for what she wants! She is one brave kid! She already knows aht she wants and what she doesn't like. She is more sociable. She waves and says hi even to strangers! But giving her to strangers is a different story. They are both malambing, but she has her own way of making lambing to me, her Papa and her Kuya.

In a few months' time you'll be 18 months, and then you'll turn two! Dance classes or GYmnastics? Piano lessons? Goodness!

Time flies our little Sam, but remember that even if you outgrow us, you will never outgrow our hearts (and love for you). You will always be our baby.

We love you!

Expanding Vocab

Each day is a new day and each new day is a better one :-) happy to share my daughter's expanding vocab :-)

It's easier now to take care of her because she can already verbalize most of what she wants and needs.Not much guessing game for us :-)

We don't baby talk her. These are her newest words in addition to what I have already shared a couple of months back ;)

Bo -- ball, if she bounces her head while saying "Bo" she's telling us that she wants to be bounced on our gym ball :-)
Mi-mi -excuse me
Me me - sleep
Up - carry
Pi -pi - piggy back ride with papa or mama
Dora - Dora
Elmo - Elmo
Dede - she wants to be latched
Borrow - borrow
Yo-yo - thank you
Tita- tita
Tito-tito


Of course there are a lot of instances that she still can't verbalize it but I get what she wants or what she is trying to say.


There were two instances that I got really surprised because I was just testing waters to see if she can understand things already. One, when I asked her to sleep already or else I will put her in their room. She immediately put her head on my shoulder and tried to put herself to sleep while hugging me. She did it twice, consistently the day I told her that. So now when we are so sleepy and she's still not up for it, we say that and it works :-)

Second one, was just last Monday. We were at my Aunt's house. She was a bit clingy after eating. I told her for the first time: "What do you want? Do you want water? Go down and get your water bottle in the baby bag." I was testing waters again to see if she can comprehend things already. Guess what she did after I put her on the floor, yes, she slowly walked to where the baby bag was and attempted to get the water bottle from the side pocket! I was just amazed! So were my two cousins who witnessed everything from the start! So she does understand things! Yehey! :-) I had to help her though in pulling the water bottle out but after she drank, she put the lid back in and attempted to pack away the bottle :-)

I am just one proud mama, happy to witness all these developmental milestones and amazed that she is so quick in learning new things considering she is only 13 months old! :-)

Thank you Lord, these things affirm my sacrifices are all worth it :-)

Sam's First "Words"

Our Ninong RDT (our wedding Godparent) mentioned in one of his e-mails that he was able to list down the words his apo, JC, was learning and saying as he was growing up. He said that he was not able to do it with his son then, being busy with full-time work, so he did it with his apo. He encouraged us to do that with Sam, not sure if we have already done it before with Liam. He said that it just felt good to see the progress of his apo, when it came to language. (RDT is one of the best English teachers in Ateneo Grade School ;))

Not having any excuse not to do it, I decided to give it a go.

Of course, Sam's first words were: "pa-pa and ma-ma". Actually, it was "pa-pa", followed by 'ma-ma." But by that time she was saying those words, I knew she still didn't associate the word with the meaning and the person. Now at 10 months, she can.

She can already call the parent she prefers. When she is cranky and needs nursing, or needs comfort, she calls me. When her Papa gets home from work, or the phone rings or my mobile rings, she calls her Papa. (Alvin uses the video-call feature of the mobile to talk with his kids before he goes inside the office building. He did it before with Liam and he continues to do it. I guess it is working ;))

Now after these two words, what's next?

apol --> apple...alvin was holding an apple, named the object, repeated it and she repeated it! Although I don't know if she can associate the word with the actual thing.

tess --> taste. This time, I'm pretty sure she knows the meaning. When we eat something and she calls our attention, we ask her, "Taste?", then she nods her head. Or when she's holding a piece of bikkie, we tell her, "taste?", and she stretches out her arms to you so you can taste the food she's holding. She is pretty consistent with this.

umba --> for Kuya. I don't know where she picked up umba, but that is what she calls her Kuya.

Some action words that she knows the meaning already but haven't pronounced it yet:
a. kiss, you can ask her to kiss you and she will
b. clap, when you tell her to clap her hands when you sing, she will
c. dance, she is a dancer, she starts wiggling her body when she hears any song with an upbeat tempo
d. no, need I say more? she cries (fake cry) when we tell her this magic word.
e. Open - Shut, for her hands
f. align, for her index finger

These are just the few things I have observed and yes, I must agree with my Ninong RDT that it does give you a certain thrill too see your kid's vocabulary increasing. I am in no hurry, after all, she is only 10 months old. But with the looks and sounds of it, we will have another chatterbox at home.