si Ate

pretty, pretty Stef.

bonding time with mama before going to work...

when i was a kid, i had tita Jeannie as my big sister. so what i wanted to have was a kuya - someone to protect me, someone who would have many barkadas to crush on and a kuya who would teach me how to be street smart, how to defend myself from and be comfortable around boys.

but it was impossible because i was an unica hija (until around 2 years ago). i am also the first apo from my father's side. i am the second apo from my mother's side but my panganay-cousin is also a girl (that's Checwa). meaning, there was no way that i would have a kuya or a kuya-cousin.

also, i was the only apo on my father's side for around 7-8 years. you can just imagine how ecstatic i was when Miko and Enzo came to life. =) i love my cousins.

--=--

now that i have kids, i'm happy that Troy has Stef as his ate. as a big sister, Stef is very understanding and protective. at a very young age of 2, she somehow understands her role as the panganay. that makes me very proud of her inspite of her occassional pagseselos, pagdadamot and sumpong. give the kid a break! she's technically a baby herself. :) hehe

1. when Troy started drooling, Stef would get his bib and wipe off the drool off his mouth.

2. two days ago, their lola told us that when Troy pooped and she had to leave Troy with Stef to get water and soap to wash him, she told Stef, "o, wag mo pakekelaman si Troy ha! get lang ako water."

their lola rushed back to the room when she heard Stef say "uhm!", like she was irritated... only to find out that Stef actually covered Troy's private because she left Troy's diaper open. Stef was holding the diaper up to cover Troy. mabait na ate talaga. =)

3. one time Troy was crying so loud, Stef got up and got his bottle and stuck it to his mouth. haha she was feeding him.

4. when Stef wakes up, the first thing that she would say (unless she woke up at the wrong side of the bed) is "Nyonyo." she calls him by that nick name. ;)

5. we would usually stay at the sala when troy is having his early evening nap. Stef would occassionally point at our room's door and say, "Nyonyo". she's looking for her brother. we would say, "sleep si Nyonyo". if she insists to go back inside the room, i would whisper to her, "gusto mo pumasok sa room?" she would whisper back, "opo," ..i would whisper, "o, wag kang maingay noh..?" , she would whisper back, "opo," and smile.

*as soon as she gets inside the room, she would run to the bedside with a big grin on her face, ready to shout aloud, "Nyonyo!" hehehehe ...pasaway!

there are many more everyday milestones between the siblings that would take me a lifetime to list down. they're just amazingly awesome angels! =)