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When it comes to her being healthy, I couldn’t ask for more. She eats cheese and eggs, rice and veggies, drink milk, orange juice and water. She takes a nap at noon time and we walk about five miles a day to the park. She gets along better with other kids and behaves when with strangers.

I just love how everything is turning up specially with the way she is growing up. Though very slim, she is a lot taller than most kids her age at the park. She speaks two languages and two dialects. I just want to start her schooling already but I think it is still a little early. I want her to enjoy playtime first and drop her to school at the right time…

When Alyssa grows up, I want her to know how important it is to look back and stay connected to her Filipino roots. I have seen kids who were either born or who grew up here in the US that are totally westernized and I think to myself, how lucky am I to have grown to know my own culture and tradition. That makes me unique as a person. So when people ask me why I teach my daughter Ilocano (aside from Tagalog), I throw them back a big “WHY” question. Why would I not teach her? Why would I not share with her the opportunity to learn about who she really is and where she really came from? If there is something I can give her as a young child to learn from, it is NOT only the knowledge to speak two languages and extra dialects BUT also the chance to experience a wonderful culture not all American kids have.

So this I want her to know… she may sound funny now for using different languages/dialects in a sentence, but for her to know what they mean and convey what she wants to say is something I am very proud of. It will pay back in the future one way or another…

Our Alyssa is now almost three. She is a little bit tall for her age so a lot of people think she is running four already. Yesterday when we took her to the park, there were two little girls her age playing by themselves on the swing and on the slide. Alyssa on the other hand was holding on tight to her Dad. She is an active girl but I just realized she is not as stable as those little girls. When she runs, sometimes it looks like she’s going to trip herself. And when she climbs up the stairs, I get so worried when she doesn’t hold on the rails. So when I was watching her at the park, I couldn’t help but blame myself for her being so reserved. Rright now, she seems very fearful and so I should start letting her do stuff without acting so nervous so she won’t get scared.  That should help build up her self-confidence when trying on new activities…