Potty Training Gabbie

We started potty training Gabbie when she turned two. It was an ON-OFF kind of thing, so it really requires a lot of patience and understanding on our part as parents. At first, we had to explain every time why she needs to go to the CR when she wants to wiwi or poopoo. I showed her how "ewww" her wiwi and poopoo look like, and explained to her that she should not wiwi in the house (meaning sala), on the floor and on the bed. "CR lang", in her own words. I bring her to the CR every two hours to create a routine. But we still had a lot of accidents all over the house. 

And then there was a time when I thought she was OK already. She would announce "Wiwi!" when she felt the need. But the next few weeks she was back to doing her thing anywhere again, without telling and without warning. And then we went back to explaining and such.

Now we're back on the right track. I hope this will be for good. She only wears diaper during bedtime and when we will be out for more than a couple of hours.

I Love Swimming!

Gabbie is no longer scared of swimming pools. Before, she would just sit in one side with only her feet touching the water. And in rare times she did step further, she would cry when she no longer felt the ground beneath her bare feet. But here, she even asked daddy to let go of the floating ring so she can go anywhere it could bring her with her feet "pushing" the water.

The Versatile Blanket

This is Gabbie's Dora Blanket. We got it from a Greenhills tiangge last year. I found it sooo cute and I thought it was perfect for her colorful bedroom.

 It keeps her warm at night. We bring it when we travel. It's very useful. But it turned out to be more than just a blanket. She uses it as a pashmina when she's cold.

When its time for her and her pink bear to sleep, they use it as their sleeping mat.

When Gabbie wakes up to play with her other "playmates" (sometimes picnic), she uses it as a table cloth.

When she puts it over her shoulder and raises her hand, prepares to fly and run around the house, she turns into a STRONG SUPERHERO (that's her own description of herself. I was surprised when I learned that she actually knew Superman).

When she's scared of the "mumu" in the electric fan, she hides under it and uses it as a shield.

When she wants to play a princess, she puts it on as a wrap around dress and walks slowly like a fine lady.

(she was a little shy when I took this though, she didn't want to be photographed like that)

When she wants to scare me, she puts it again over her shoulder, yells "RAWRRR!" and announces that she's a DRAGON.

This blanket develops her creativity and sharpens her imagination. Amazing how you can be anything or anyone with just one blanket when you're a toddler.

"Haberdey Kuwaaaaaaa!"

We attended Nico's swimming party last Saturday. Gabbie came in her two-piece with a white [almost]sheer dress from Boracay as cover up. She also brought her Bugga Baby bathrobe that I bought when she was still in my tummy (excited lang, hehe!).

She was called to participate in a contest the host/magician called the "longest greeting" contest. She looked so innocent in these photos like she didn't have any idea what was going on and why she was there.

When it was her turn, she answered- with so much conviction- "Yes!" when the host asked if she was ready.

And then she went on with her long greeting: "Haberdey Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...." up to an amazing 16 counts! At first I thought she couldn't do it right. I was just hoping that she'd say "Haberdey Kuwa". I even said she's "panggulo lang".

But I was wrong (super wrong!). I was surprised slash proud slash super happy when she did that. And for being the youngest one but still reached 16 counts compared with others (pre-school kids, some lasted for less than 10 counts), she got a special prize.

It maybe just a coloring book or a toy or a kiddie fan. But I felt like she was receiving an award in school for being an outstanding student that time. Super very good baby! Daddy and mommy are so proud of you.

"Mommy, mumu!"

One late afternoon while I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, Gabbie came running to me with a really scared but still funny expression on her face. She came from the sala. I thought she saw an unfamiliar insect or something scary on the TV. But when I asked her why she was running like that, she said "Mommy, mumu there!"

"Where?"
"There! Pipi-Fan!" She meant electric fan..
"Ok, mommy will check." So I went inside, checked the corner and the window next to the electric fan but I saw nothing. I just shrugged it off. Maybe she really "saw" something. The thought was scary, really.

After a few days, it happened again. "Mommy, mumu there! Pipi-fan!"

This time I asked her to come with me and tell me exactly where she saw the mumu. She was hesitant at first. So I thought it must be really scary. Images of faceless white lady or a bloodied face creepy guy run through my mind.

I was able to convince her to go with me inside but she walked behind me, tugging my shirt. When we got to the spot where she allegedly saw the mumu, again I saw nothing. But she was pointing her finger at something. So I suggested we go exactly where the mumu was. She pushed me towards the electric fan and pointed at this:

"Oh," I sighed, "is it a mumu?"
"Yes, mommy. Takot Abby."
"Ok, mommy will remove the mumu."

I covered the mumu image with a masking tape. Then Gabbie went playing with her toys in the sala again.

The Letter L

I find it amusing that Gabbie pronounces letter "L" in so many different and funny ways. If you talk to her for the first time, you'd get confused. If you're not used to her speaking style, you'd be lost.

She pronounces LOLO and LOLA as NONO and NONA. YELLOW as YENNOW. I think L spoken as N is normal to toddlers.

But when it comes to BUKOL, she says BUKOY, and BLANKET as BWANKET.

For APPLE, she says it correctly as APPLE, and CELLPHONE as TELPHONE (T in place of S)

And for some words, the letter L is totally omitted. She says EMPANT for ELEPHANT, ABA for LABA and ABAT for LABAS (again, T in place of S)

***

Yesterday was a NO-TV day, due to the blackout. After doing my daily household chores, I was left with a long period of time to entertain Gabbie. So I taught her a new song. She already knew The Barney Song (which she titled I LOVE YOU SONG, by the way) and the  ABC's (minus the MNO). I taught her the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I sang it a few times myself before she started singing with me. And she went "twinkew twinkew nit'n 'tar..."

I listened closely. And then I found out that she pronounced letter L or the sound El differently this time- Ew.

So I asked her to say  TOWEL. And she said TOWEW.

But when I asked her to say PAPEL (Tagalog), she said "PAPER yan mommy, PAPER!"

(I silently tried saying PAPEW- it's difficult. Kaya sige PAPER na lang Hehe!)

Toddler Language

Yesterday I woke up to a shower of kisses from Gabbie and hubby. When hubby stopped, Gabbie said, "Daddy, KIT mommy!"

Daddy: What KIT?
Gabbie: KIT! (then kissed me in the cheek to demonstrate)
Daddy: Ah ok. (then reached out to kiss me)

Then after a while,

Daddy: O Gabbie naman, KIT mommy.
Gabbie: Ok! (Then stood up and KICKED me)

Ouch!

Lesson of the story- Toddlers have their own language. We adults should stick to our own.

Home Alone Again

Gabbie's cousin Ate Bengbeng stayed with us for almost a week. They eat together, bathe, play, read, color books, watch DVD and even nap in the afternoon together. Just like any other kids, they fight over crayons, toys and even TV channels sometimes, but mostly they do things playfully together. And for a while our house was filled with toddler giggles and laughter.

But today, it's home alone again for Gabbie. She was crying when we sent Ate Beng off yesterday, back to Pasig house. She missed Ate Beng too much that when she woke up this morning, she passed by the other room to check if Ate Beng was still there.

I wish we could adopt Ate Beng for a couple of weeks more.

More of Toy Story

Well, it's pretty obvious that Gabbie can't get enough of Toy Story. The spoon and fork set is free with every special edition Colgate 150g box. The stuffed one is from Toys R Us (but not for free).

Heard there's more from Mentos. Will grab one the next time we go to supermarket :)

Shell Toy Story Collection

Finally, daddy got the complete collection for Gabbie. The toys are sold at P130 each for every P500 Shell fuels other than V-Power and other Shell products. V-Power users can get it for P80 each. Mike uses Unleaded for Frodo. Gabbie's favorite so far is the Spinning Aliens. She said "Cute!" when she first saw it.

Gabbie's own toy story...

It's playtime!

Lazy Eyes

Weeks ago, someone said Gabbie has lazy eyes. This didn't bother us so much, because we were informed as well that it can be corrected non-surgically especially at her age. 

But according to Wikipedia, Amblyopia, or lazy eye as it is otherwise known, is a "disorder of the visual system that is characterized by poor or indistinct vision in an eye that is otherwise physically normal, or out of proportion to associated structural abnormalities.

...caused by either no transmission or poor transmission of the visual stimulation through the optic nerve to the brain for a sustained period of dysfunction or during early childhood thus resulting in poor or dim vision. Amblyopia normally only affects one eye, but it is possible to be amblyopic in both eyes if both are similarly deprived of a good, clear visual image. Detecting the condition in early childhood increases the chance of successful treatment."

So we decided that we had to do it now to prevent it from developing into squinted eyes. We brought Gabbie to an ophthalmologist today to have her eyes checked. Thank God that there's nothing to worry about. The doctor said there's nothing wrong with Gabbie's eyes. Im not good at explaining things like this but I'll try. 

The reason why we don't see the black of her eyes positioned properly at the corner especially during quick eye movements is that the bridge of the nose of kids her age is still underdeveloped. The skin at the inner corner of the eyes is somewhat flat, covering part of the eyes. Another thing is because her eyes are so singkit. The ophtha moved the flashlight from left to right, up and down and back. Gabbie's eyes responded accordingly, at a normal pace.Then he pinched her in the nosebridge to "lift" the skin to show us that the thing we're looking for is there, just hidden beneath that skin. Im posting a close up picture of Gabbie in this post so go figure... this is normal daw with people in Oriental countries, because of the chinky eyes.

Ok, ok blame it on the genes. The nose, the eyes... But whatever it is, we are super thankful to God that it is not something to really worry about.