Here we come Manila

As I'm typing this post, we are now happily back to Manila for a much needed rest and relaxation. It's also a chance for both girls to spend time with our families. This flight is Aria's first plane ride and first to introduce herself physically to our families and friends.

Father's Day 2016

Today we honour the most important man in our lives. Thank you for the overflowing love you give us everyday. The joy you put in our lives and the laughter you throw in our way. You are amazing honey! And i'm always grateful to Him for you.

 

Gianna at Ajay's party

Ajay is Gianna's bestfriend. It's so lovely to see them play with each other. They were born 4 months apart and have been friends since she was 8 months old. 

Last Saturday was his birthday party and Gianna was very excited to attend. 

His party was held at Wonderkids. It's a preschool so imagine the areas the children can play in. 

Singing time - Tatlong Bibe

I have always been certain about making sure Gianna learns Filipino. I have always been vocal that i want them to speak the language and eventually learn to read and write as well. Her comprehension is better than her spoken language but I must commend her that she tries to respond in Filipino when she is being asked.

Just recently, a Filipino song has became viral on the internet. I can't help but to let her watch it and encourage her to learn it. The first few tries were hilarious but after listening to it over and over again Gianna managed to memorise it by heart. 

Aria's first - Toast

Today i gave Aria her first toast! I bought some multi-grain sandwich, cut them in quarters, toasted them and put them on her tray. It took perhaps 5 minutes of touching, feeling and staring at the toast before she finally put a piece in her mouth. I was kinda pleased that she liked it so will add this to her daily menu starting tomorrow.

She can now easily grip a good sized toast and was more than capable of pickig up small pieces off her tray. Well done Aria!

Sisters-bestfriends

It melts my heart seeing how Gianna adores her sister. How she plays with her, how much laughter Aria makes whenever she begins her silly antics!

I hope and pray to God that my daughters continue to love, adore and respect each other all the days of their lives. This will put me at ease knowing that when i grow old and i can no longer be around them they have each other's back.

8th months milestones

Aria is 8 montha today! Hooray! Although no tooth has come out yet, she found the niche to clap her hands😀 Gianna and i were laughing last night because she couldn't stop clapping!

Virus go away!

The girls have been battling a viral infection for the past week! It was so bad that it hit both of them at the same time. Fever got up to as high as 40.5 that Paolo rushed Gianna to the emergency last Thursday night. 

Aria on the other hand has had some rashes all over her face and body😔 and has been really fussy. I reckon teething phase is beginning and is giving her a real hard time. 

I have been off of work for the last 2 days and i need to catch up with loads of paper work leading to report writing deadline at the end of the month.

I hope my girls get better soon because it's really hard to see them weak like this.

Oh well, happy mother's day to all the mums out there! We're all doing a great job. 

When 2 kids are sick....

Both girls are sick today! Both are running a fever and Gianna's been coughing a lot too.

This is Aria's first time to run a fever, i don't know whether this one is related to the onset of teething or it's something else. But i hope it won't linger so she's back to her usual self.

We're back to work tomorrow after a long weekend so this would mean that the girls will be left with the nanny alone. 

It's so hard to have 2 sick kids at the same time.😞

Family visit

We are very lucky that Vietnam sits close to the Philippines that we can always have our friends and families visit us. Last Christmas, my mum and my aunt came here to spend the holidays with us and to finally meet Aria for the first time.

Last week, my brother came here to have his much needed rest and relaxation! And we couldn't be happier spending time with him especially for the girls to see him.

Aria is 7 months today!

Today is Aria's 7 months and we went out for a stroll in a nearby shopping centre hoping that Gianna can try ice skating. Unfortunately, her friend MM is still too small to skate so we've decided not to go.

Aria is a really happy little girl. She smiles all the time! She giggles whenever we call her name, she laughs whenever her sister sings and talks to her.

She's a happy eater too. She has tried mangoes, bananas, apples, avocado, papaya, sweet potatoes, peas and carrots since we introduced solid food to her. 

Hello!

Gianna and I just came back from a playdate with her classmate. It was their first time to play together outside school and it was great to see them both enjoying their time. It was also nice to chat with her mum about our children (we both have 2 children of same ages), our lives here in VN and everything we couldn't chat about when we see each other at school. 

One thing she mentioned that really struck me was about the photos/memories she keeps in a hard drive for when the time comes her children are grown ups and start asking about their childhood she has something to show them. 

I grew up with so much fun memories etched in my mind but has no physical evidence to look at or show Gianna and Aria. My mum, unfortunately wasn't able to keep many photographs of us growing up. So i've decided i'm not going to do the same thing she's done because i want my children to be able to look back and physically see photos of them whilst they are growing up. 

We're very fortunate that at this time, it is very easy to share photographs with each other. Technology has made it easier for us to keep track and reminisce every single moment/milestone that we have.

And so for the benefit of my 2 lovely girls and our families, i will be updating this blog the same reason i put this up. For me to share what our growing family is up to and for my girls to have something to look back to when the time comes they want to see how they were as children.

This was taken when Aria was roomed in and she immediately latched on me to nurse.

This was Gianna with Mr Ian during Book Week at school.