What used to be an easy task of choosing what clothes Caity would wear the next day for school has now became a challenge.  I used to lay all her clothing for the day on our bed for her to easily put on while she brushes her teeth.  When she’s done, she goes to the bedroom to change and in a flash she’d come out all ready for school.  Lately though that has all changed.  She would tell me, “I want to wear dress mami! or “I want a skirt!” It is doomsday when all her skirts are in the laundry, waiting for wash day.

We’re halfway into winter and yes, the girl wears skirts/dresses to school even in these cold days!  Its especially tricky to make her clothing work for winter season! It makes me wish they have school uniform, so I don’t have to battle with her everyday.  Her staple wear these days? Tights/leggings, skirts/dresses, shirt and add all the winter stuff to keep her warm sums to a heapful of laundry in two days!

Fortunately, with my basic sewing skill (bah!!!), I am able to make her few girly wear she can use. See the pic below? It used to be her summer dress when she was 3 y/o (which I really love for its flower prints), until I turned it into a skirt.

We celebrated Caity’s 5th birthday in the cottage, on the last sunny Saturday of August. At first, M and I wanted to cancel it coz only 2 confirmed attendance and with no kids at all! We thought it would only make Caity sad, celebrating her big day without her friends. In fact, weeks before the party, she would ask me who among her friends will go. She was naming each of them, and all I could say was “I don’t know.”I told her Tita F and Tita L will be there and she would go on “… and who else?” “I want ___, ____, ____, etc, etc, to be there!” Anyway, we went ahead with the party, and it turned out to be alright after all. Some twist of events happened to our advantage. Friends (with kids!) informed us they were coming (only few days/hours) before the occasion, and Caity’s friends showed up!  We had 5 kids, 6 including the birthday celebrant.  Wow!  Caity was super happy they were there!

It was a simple celebration, not at par with parties organized by event companies but not bad at all!  Kids had a whole day of unstructured play time.  I didn’t have any games prepared for them but knowing how imaginative their minds are, they will always come up with fun things to do, and that’s what happened.  They played in the sandbox, gathered around Adie while chanting “gagaboy” (at least that was how it sounded to me), they tried the hulahoop, they played with the toys Caity got… They were free to do anything they want, free to run, free to get dirty or wet, free to eat sweets (if their moms would allow), whatever.  (:

Caity got her simple birthday wish, to be with her friends. So it was indeed a happy birthday for her!

God bless you our Caity-cat!  Always remember that we love you very, very much!  Dadadoooo! Muahhhhh!  We’re so blessed to have you in our lives. Continue to shine and stay happy & sweet!

*Photos by Angie, Lilian & moi.

Somebody in the house will turn five next week.  It’s still kinda unbelievable. Where have all those years gone?  Where did that cute little baby girl go?  She has grown right before my eyes but I still feel like I missed some years.  Caity is developing into her own self, showing signs of independence or dependence when it’s convenient for her :/  , negotiating (she learned this very early!), she’s learning how to be responsible, how to share, how to deal with other people (having a lil’ bro is a big help in forming these values).  You can count on her to run get a shirt, or clean up, put the dirty clothes into the laundry basket or washing machine, kiss her lil’ bro’s pain away, and she can be really, really nice and sweet!  I’d often get unexpected kisses from her, and when I ask why she kissed me, she’d shrug and say “coz I like Mama!“.  The other night, she came out of the store with M carrying two yoghurts in each hands; strawberry & chocolate flavors.  She excitedly showed it to Adie.  We told her not to give it yet to him coz he might open it and spill inside the car.  So she told him “Adie, we’ll open it at home only, okay?” Then proceeded to ask,  “Adie, which one do you like?  Strawberry or chocolate?“  “Strawberry” Adie answered.  “I only have chocolate!” Haha She’s capitalizing in her power being the big sis!

The past days, I’ve been crafting some stuff for her birthday and she always admires my work.  “Wow!  This is nice, Mama!“… “This is very pretty!“  “I like it!“  “Thank you Mama for making it“. All these just inspires me to keep on doing what I do coz I have a number 1 fan who’s always showering me with praises.  She’s not only appreciative of the things we do for her, but she’s also grateful. I couldn’t ask for more.

Oh kids.  They make life more interesting, more happy and more crazy!  We’re so blessed to have a sweet daughter like Caity.

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So these are some of the colorful little things I’ve been making for her birthday…

1. crepe flowers    2. party favors   3. birthday wreath   4. lollipops & candies.

And this springbok jigsaw puzzles dubbed as Candy Galore goes well with my party theme and is a pretty inspiration for the birthday table set-up!

Sweets galore for a sweet little girl!

Caity is aware that there are things she can’t do yet at her age.  She’d hear us tell her “wait till you grow big” or “it’s not for kids”.  She’s probably too eager to reach the time when she can do what adults can. Time to time she’d say “When I grow up…” and tell us her little girl’s dreams.

What does Caity want when she grow up?

“When I grow up…
I will go to work like Táta and you stay home with Adie.  Okay?”. (Does she think Adie will be small forever? hehe)
I will eat bubble gum.”
I will make ribbons like Mama.”
I will help you work.”
I will drive the motorka like Táta.”
I will read.”

Her wishlist has got a dozens more which I can’t recall.  She might have blurted about helping fix the catches on the closet or cook dinner.  Teehee! But you get the idea, her dreams are simple.

Caity girl.

Recently, the table has been turned.  We were on our way to a weekend gathering with friends, when Caity started a conversation.

Caity: “Is Nikki already there?”

I told her the previous night that her friends will be there and she was over excited, asking me a thousand times since she knew about the party if everybody’s there already.

Me:  “I don’t know.”

Caity:   “Nikki’s Daddy knows how to drive?”

It’s always my friend whom she sees driving their car and she was probably curious about that.

Me: “Yes, Caity.”

Caity: “And Tita knows how to drive?”

Me: “Yes.”

Caity: “And you know how to drive?”

Me: “No, Caity.”

The little girl was quick to add and reassure me.

Caity: “It’s okay Mama.  When you grow up, you will know how to drive!”

Yeah, she’s telling that to her petite mama who’s not going to grow any bigger, anymore! Then M and I burst out laughing.

We bought a clothes rack which I plan to use for hanging my bags (with S hooks or rings), like the ones I saw in Pinterest:

But before I can even start with my project, the kids already have found something else to do with it:

Swing!

They kick or let the ball roll in between the two bottom bars…

Third use for them – the kids would sit on the cushions placed on the bottom bars while I pushed the clothes rack as they sang “the wheels on the bus go round and round…”

Until now, their new toy is in the living room.  I’m still unsure if I’ll go ahead with my original plan coz the kids are having so much fun with it! (: