When we night weaned Jaya last year some time, she started waking up very early. As in, 4 am or so. So we told her she had to wait until the sun woke up to wake us up, and that worked very well indeed. (Until Daylight Savings time screwed that all up, but that's another post altogether). Last Saturday, we gave her the opportunity to watch the sun wake up, and she was quite excited. So excited in fact, that she didn't seem to mind being woken up at 4 am one bit. We went with the batch of students from
ACE to the aptly named Tops, the top of a mountain here in Cebu, and we were able to see all of Cebu. The kids were amazing, tired but perfectly content and not fussy at all to be dragged out of bed at that hour of the night. We watched the sun rise and even got to see a double rainbow. And we even experienced the feeling of being cold and needing jackets without the use of AC.
We went to a birthday party for the one year old daughter of our friends James and Cynthia. Amanda is so adorable and the kids had a blast. There were games and fun for all, adults included. Marei won a prize for Jaya by winning the
nerdy one-side-of- a-Rubik's cube challenge for the dads. I was tricked into participating in a spell-the-birthday-girl's-name-with-your-hips-game for the moms, which I did not win. These
hips don't lie but I think they might embarrass easy. Jaya played with the other kids for a while, and then decided to go off on her own in the corner to write and draw. She needs to go off and do her own thing sometimes. She likes to find her own oasis in the midst of all the people. The other day she put off going to the park so she could read her book. Who do you think she gets that from? Her imagination has been running rampant (hence her love for monsters and wild things), and she has been telling us some funny stories about whatever pops into that little head. From a young age, she has always enjoyed getting dirty, but not staying dirty. True to that, she has now decided she wants to brush her teeth every time they get dirty. It is kind of funny to have to tell your toddler she is brushing her teeth too much. Jaya seems to have been born with a finely honed sense of right and wrong, and has been telling on herself since she could talk. What started with, "I made a mess," has become "I was being naughty so I can't have a mango shake now but I can have one tomorrow 'cause I will be a good girl." (Before she could really talk, she used to smack herself in the hand when she
thought about touching the camera or the computer). She has become even more particular about her clothes, doing her own take on the high-waisted trend by insisting on tucking in everything, and then yanking the bottoms up as high as they will go. She likes to change clothes a lot, and is very definite about what she likes to wear. I believe in letting her make choices, with a limit. So I let her choose between a couple of things to wear, and she is allowed to change outfits sometimes as long as she keeps things clean and puts them back. I personally don't care if she wants to sport an....uh....unusual look so long as she is weather-appropriate. She is so sweet and obliging by nature that I like that she is a little strong-willed on the topic of what to wear. Our girl's got some spunk.
Raja is growing and growing. He is such a playful, joyful kid. He already displays quite the sense of humor. His memory is quite impressive, as is his agility and speed. The little athlete is also quite the risk taker, and he gets injured more than Jaya ever did. He clearly understands the word "No!" but the little stinker stops what he is doing, waits until attentions have been diverted and goes after the forbidden once again. He eats when we eat, and has so far shown the same expansive taste in food Jaya has. He grizzles and growls and grabs fistfuls of it himself if you don't get it in that mouth fast enough. These are the things (other than water bottles and his ever-increasing mobility) that thrill him the most right now - being naked, taking a bath, anything Jaya is playing with, getting books open by himself, sneaking into the bathroom when someone leaves the door open inadvertently, Jaya being a wild thing/monster, Daddy doing the haka, Mommy singing silly songs, being a dentist and examining mouths, opening/closing anything, loudness, banging objects together/on the floor repeatedly, cell phones, being out and about in the city in the mei tai, anything that involves electricity, sharp objects, and reaching for anything that is dangerous and/or costly. All of these things are met with glee, and when any of these things suddenly become unavailable, they are met with baby Badge.
I love that our kids are so expressive!
