Lia's birthday blog

Finally! Hehehe. I had to wait until we were all settled again, and the leftovers consumed and the balloons deflated. ;p

The day before the party, I could tell that Lia was just as excited as we were. Especially after I burned (on CD) birthday songs for the party and let her listen to the CD -- she clapped and danced and jumped! Couldn't contain her excitement.

On the day of the party...

8AM Lia's bath

830 Mom's prepping up - manicure and pedicure

10 Lia takes a nap; Mom finishes, runs to party venue to check on caterer and organizer

11 Mom runs to salon; Lia awake

1230Mom finishes with hair; runs home. Lia sleeping again

130 Mom dresses up; Dad takes bath

2 Lia dresses up

230 Mom, Lia, Lola Molly, and Yaya leave for the party

330 Dad arrives

When we got to the party venue, Lia immediately pointed to the crayon balloon sculpture that stood by the entrance. "Ta-ta!" she exclaims. And then she sees the Elmo pillar by the gift table. "Aaaah!" was all that she can utter, in amazement. Elmo was here, and it was more than enough for her!

But when Lia saw the other Elmos - on the tables, stage, and cake - she was speechless. Only her eyes, which were wide in disbelief, told us that she was very happy. Balloon queen Petite did a really great job with those balloons! And the interior decor was very pretty. It was exactly what I wanted. Actually, it was more than I expected (I had worries earlier that the balloons were not enough to decorate the place. Apparently not.).

I was glad to see Armel there already, relaxed and ready to host. A stark contrast to my tense aura, Armel exuded the "part-y" mode I should have had. Thanks, Mudra!

Guests started arriving at 3:30. And the invitation said 2:56, hmmmm. Hehehe.

The highlight of the party was the bubble show. Again, it exceeded my expectations! The bubble shows that I've seen are blah compared to this one. No, really - not because it was LIA's party. The show was 45 minutes long (I thought it was as short as 20 minutes - like other shows I've seen). There was dancing included, which I think amused the little ones too. And of course, the actual bubbles! Lia, who's such a bubble freak was all happy. And the kids enjoyed being inside the big bubble. =)

There was also the glitter tattoo booth, which the adults enjoyed. ;p The booth was never vacant. Haha!

My niece Marianna was the life of the party. The moment the party started, she was already sneaking prizes from the prize table! (Hmmm and she thought I didn't see, hahaha.) She danced, she limbo-rocked, she socialized with everyone (i.e., attempted to take Vida's name tag because she didn't have one YET). And what a big surprise for her, when, at the end of the party, she won the big jar of jellyace (the one she's been eyeing on the whole time) in the raffle draw! Hahaha!

The party ended at 6. I was exhausted, and had a bad headache, but didn't care. I was happy, Lia was very happy, and the kids had fun. =) And, everyone said it was a great party (thanks, you're real friends, hehehe).

'Til the next one! (That's Lia's seventh, hehehe.)

Bubbly!

lia_mom
Originally uploaded by micaela.

And we're inside the bubble!!!

Stage

stage
Originally uploaded by micaela.

Nice and pretty...and clean -- yet

Birthday Cake

bday_cake
Originally uploaded by micaela.

So cute and adorable! And yummy mini-cakes, too.

Interior

decor1
Originally uploaded by micaela.

...and this is how the place looked like before the kids came...hehhehe

Welcome to the party!

balloon_crayon
Originally uploaded by micaela.

...crayon balloon sculpture to welcome everybody!

Three days away

Lia's birthday party, of course!

So what has this momma been up to?

• chatting thru YM with organizer Petite and talking through phone with Armel every day. Following up, confirming, reminding, affirming. Bugging them to the max!


• bugging the caterer on the motif


• thinking if prizes are ready and complete and if the kids are going to like them


• thinking if so and so are coming


• worried that I'm going to forget something during the big day


• briefing Lia on her party


• teaching Lia to say how old she is, but after saying "one", the little girl goes on to count off


• reassessing my party plans, thinking if it's good enough


• want to say almost ready, but am not quite


• requested for mother-in-law to offer eggs to Sta. Clara so it won't rain during the party


• just checked CNN's weather channel and it says there that there'll be rain and thunder during the party


• now thinking of contingency plans if the eggs didn't work

Ready to party? Ha!

Excited Momma

Lia's turning one soon - June 26, to be exact. And I, the stage mudra, am orchestrating an Elmo party for the little one.

Why Elmo? He's her fave! She dances and claps and laughs when Elmo's on TV. Over Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues, and other Sesame Street characters, Elmo is really her favorite. Well, actually there's one TV show that she really really loves. It's called Hi-5, and it's a group of Australians who sing and dance. Since it's impossible to find materials of them, we opted for Elmo.

And, since I can't wait to share what we have in store for Lia's guests on her birthday party, am sharing it now, here! Hehehe!

• Bubble Show - small bubbles, big bubbles, snake bubbles and dynamite bubbles! All bubbles! Of course, kids are welcome to get into these bubbles! How? Oh, that's the surprise!



• Glitter Tattoo booth - pretty designs, glittery and glistening!



• Cotton candy booth - surely, everyone will get sugar-high with this classic sweet.



• Games, games and prizes of course!

She's having her party the day before her birthday, though. Had a hard time bargaining for a Sunday rental of the venue.

Last night the balloon-maker faxed me Lia's custom-print balloons...a picture of her and an illustration of Elmo. Hehehe.

I'm excited already! Next: mother-and-daughter shopping. For Lia's birthday outfit. Hehehe!

Stage pillars

twist_n_shout
Originally uploaded by micaela.

And, creative climbing pillars for the stage! With Elmo mylar heads on top, of course.

Centerpiece sample

CPs
Originally uploaded by micaela.

Thanks to party organizer and balloon queen Petite, we're having these cutesies as centerpieces for the tables. Just imagine it's Elmo, not Pooh and Piglet. =)

Lia's having a party!

final_invite
Originally uploaded by micaela.

Check out her invite! ;p That's a labor of love from me and Tita Maiete (well, I did the photo mosaic and the copy and Maiete did all the photoshop stuff, hehe).

Little fairy princess with flowers in her hair

Little fairy princess with flowers in her hair
Originally uploaded by micaela.

Such a sweet one, my baby! ;p And now that she's learned to "smile!" when there's a camera around, what delight!

ysobel
by Mommy

As the sunflower

that rears its head to the

wond'rous Sun

your sweet visage lights

glorious morning shine -

makes one unforget

the tap-tapping of the heart

as one does when love is.

your senses, all unmute-

palpable laughter, eloquent babble,

wide-eyed wonder.

such delight,sweet little one.

such love.

such life!

A bit of jealousy

I was on my way home yesterday when I remembered: I haven't bought pasalubong for Lia. So: I got off the jeep (yes, am really really saving now). And the moment I did, rain poured. Heavy drops.

I ran to McDonald's and sought shelter there - also, to buy fries for my baby. When I stepped out of the junk food chain, it was still pouring. Wanting to go home ASAP, I just walked in the rain, and headed to an area I knew I can get a cab. Soaking I was, but I was able to hail a cab.

When I got home, Lia smiled when she saw me. Then she got busy with her fries.

After filling her tummy, my baby, as usual, crawled all over the floor. Wanted to crawl out of the mat. Wanted to climb on the sofa and turn the light switch on and off. And of course, me, the doting mom, said "NO".

The little one cried. That was alright, except that she cried "Yaya!" and then ran to seek refuge with the nanny.

I never thought the sight would break my heart! How could my baby hate me already? (But then again, our mothers were asking that question before.)

I spent the night sounding off with Neil and him comforting me.

Sigh...

Cutie little crawler

Cutie little crawler
Originally uploaded by micaela.

Here she is!!! (Darn this photo just won't rotate left)

Brainy baby?

Last night Lia was watching this video called Brainy Baby. She got so excited about the colors and the shapes that she kept babbling and pointing to the TV! So funny. Sometimes she'd get her butt off the mat and crawl near the TV and point and laugh; other moments she'd just sit still and smile.

And then...pictures of flowers came up. Lia then crawled on her mat and got a piece off -- and that piece had a flower in it! And then the clever little baby clapped her hands and showed us the flower. We were so proud of her, especially because nobody taught her that!

My baby's getting smarter. ;)

Growing to be more kulit

Now, she can sit up on her own - and Lia's getting much better by practice! Two months ago she just couldn't do it because she was overweight. Now she can because she's lost weight, from all the physical activities!

Lia has also found her voice - and now she's always screaming her lungs out. When she wants attention, when she wants to tell me she misses me, when she is simply making lambing.

Me: proud Momma.

Charmed

I'm proud to say that Lia is growing to be a charming little girl. She's almost nine months old now, and she's still the good-natured baby that she is. She knows where things are (the stars, the birds, the angels, etc.), waves bye-bye already, and claps - endlessly. She claps when she sees Elmo, when she hears my voice, when she knows she is about to go out.

That's why it was pretty hard for me to go back to work! Yesterday was my first day back to work -- and I kept thinking of Lia the whole day. I missed her so much! I practically ran home as fast as I could. When I saw my baby I wanted to cry - her face lit when she saw me, and she clapped her hands.

All she wants for Christmas...

Well, we don't know really (thank God she still can't tell us! Mwehehe)...but here's a list of the top gifts (I think) that she got this Christmas! =)

1. The gold crucifix from Ninong John. As I said to John, it was probably the nicest, most meaningful gift for Lia this Christmas. We bought her a gold necklace for it. Also had it blessed already.



2. The PlayGro playmat from Lola Molly. She didn't have to, but of course the Lola that she is, she did. Lia's enjoying the colorful mat while lying on her stomach!



3. The Rustanette shoes from Lola Dang. I guess because it was tradition for us little girls in the family - we always had special "Sunday shoes" -- leather mary janes to go with our Sunday dresses. And it was always from Rustan's.

Of course, the cute little outfits that she got are a blast, too! Can't wait to wear that see-through spaghetti-strapped OshKosh top (that goes with a tube so Lia's boobs won't show) from Ninang Kasey!

Six months old!

Lia is! We changed her formula to a follow-on milk. I just bought a small can just in case she doesn't like it or has allergies. I wasn't surprised when she consumed all of 7 ounces and still asked for more. =p

She's also in the mimic stage. She smiles back, does what I do with my hands, looks at people talking and talks back herself.

I think she's passed the "nangingilala" stage. Thank God!