How I Spent My Christmas Vacation
Time flies so fast. It’s now 2007. The future is here. But three days ago, it was still good ol’ 2006. So here I am, like a gradeschool student, writing a paper about what I think about the year that was and how I spent the last days of it.
Hmm… where do I start? Oh yes! The calendar begins with the month of January and so should I. January 2006 was very significant for me because that was the birth month of my daughter. On the 23rd day of January, my whole life suddenly changed. From then on, I am no longer the center of my life. The focus shifts from me to this newborn child entrusted to me. Wow! Big responsibility. But that day also gave a new meaning to the word happiness. And all of a sudden, I have realized my purpose in life.
Fast forward to December 2006. So far, so good. We have nurtured and cared for our bundle of joy quite perfectly, I should say. She’s a normal, happy and very healthy baby (she rarely gets sick… knock on wood…). She’s growing up so fast. Now, she’s learning many new things especially new words and she’s beginning to walk by herself. It is now very difficult to bring her with us to the mall coz she wouldn’t ride on the stroller. She just wants to walk and walk and walk while reaching out for objects that she should not be reaching. She now knows what she wants and would protest if she doesn’t get it. She’s talkative but very friendly. She likes babies (in fact, her first word is "baby"— not mama or dada), kids and old people alike. In short, she’s a very social person. In the church, when she sees kids, she would not hesitate to approach them. She also hugs them when she can. She eats almost everything but what’s weird is she likes to eat kamias. She mimics and she does it quite well. She dances to every tune (hope she grows up to be a natural dancer and /or singer). She still loves milk, of course, but she also digs gadgets and other techie stuff. We have a techie baby! She knows how change the TV channel by pointing the remote control, she can pull the lock of the car door (very dangerous!), she likes celfones, and she really loves being behind the steering wheel as if her dada doesn’t know how to drive. And yesterday, she was able to shift the gearstick from D to S (another dangerous thing). Oh well! Probably you can say that it has been a very tiring year for me but all in all, I guess we’re doing a good job in the Parenting Department.
Needless to say, last Christmas was an important occasion for us. It is HaLo’s first Christmas ever. The wait to the Christmas Eve was rather uneventful. We spent the remaining hours in the mall, as usual, just like we always do almost every weekend. Before twelve midnight, we went to my Tita Gemma’s place where we and my immediate family had a sumptuous dinner of shrimp, Crsipy Pata, spaghetti, fried chicken and fish fillet. After that, we headed back home. Unfortunately, we got too tired we fell asleep before midnight only to wake up at dawn. Sadly, we missed our first Noche Buena as a family.
It’s Christmas Day. We had lunch with my paternal relatives, something that we do every year. This time we had it at my Ninang Minnie’s place. There, we got to have another round of really delicious food with the likes of shrimp, crab, salmon, salad, lechon and many others. Then there was the annual exchange gift (we liked the cash gifts best!). Then the videoke sessions and of course, the bingo. Wacks, my hubby, won 1.2k most probably because of Halo’s luck. My Tito Ariel, hoping to get some of the luck, wiped his card on HaLo’s arms and feet. Lo and behold! He and his wife won that round! My daughter is a bundle of luck! Hehehe…
As part of the yuletide hype, we brought HaLo to watch the Wonderful World of Dolphins with Sea Lions. Did I mention that she likes animals? She finds animals amusing. She hugs dogs, calls cats and laughs at chickens. Dolphins and sea lions are no different.
New Year’s Eve. We just stayed at home. Dada bought some firecrackers then we just watched the night sky grow bright from all the fireworks display. HaLo fell asleep at around 6pm but was awakened by the loud noise. She enjoyed the lights though and joined us in our bacon feast for media noche.
That’s it! May we all have a wonderful year ahead! Ciao! =)
