Viewing: baby

This man

… has been a revelation to me in the past year as a husband, friend, lover, partner, and most of all, as a father. I knew he was going to be good, but I never knew he was going to be this good.

Marlon and Tala bath

This man has been hands-on literally from day one. He holds his daughter with as much loving tenderness today as he did when she was a few days old.

Marlon and Tala in Greece

This man is always happy to see her and eager to take her in his arms. He adores her, dotes on her, gives his weekends to her, and she knows it. He has to be told, sometimes, actually many times, to put her down and let her play and learn by herself.

Marlon and Tala

This man swoops to my rescue when the last grains of my energy and sanity have fallen through the hourglass. His strong arms have carried his daughter up and down endless flights of stairs in airports, train stations, museums, our home.

Marlon and Tala in Paris

This man takes his daughter to the market every Saturday to give me precious time for myself. He occasionally returns with a new discovery—wild mushrooms, carob syrup, a lobster, how to shuck oysters—that fills him with an infectious delight. This man truly loves to cook for his family, and always makes sure I have a matching fork and spoon (because he knows I care about weird things like that). Marlon and lobster

This man has seen me at my worst in every possible way, especially in the past year. Yet he is still here, my fan and friend, my confidante and champion. He makes me laugh, forgives me and believes in me. He always has a good answer for my stupid questions like “Does this make me look like a wrestler/pillowcase/hooker?” He loves me in a way I know I will never be loved by anyone else, ever.

Marlon and me in El Nido

This man is the reason my family lives this life, why it’s so much fun, why we have so much beer in the fridge, why Tala has beautiful eyes, why I am a wife and mother, and why I want to be a better one.

Family selfie

This man turns 33 today, and I can’t wait for him to get off that plane from London and come home to his girls who love him very, very much. Happy birthday, my Googly!

8 Comments
Posted on March 23, 2014
Category: House & Spouse, Manila Girl at Heart · Labels: , , , , ,

Party prep for the weekend

Tomorrow is Tala’s first birthday, and all I can say is: I’m so glad I live in a culture where the approach to birthday parties is practical and laid-back.

It’s a good way for me to ease into the world of kiddie birthday parties. I have quite a few friends with babies Tala’s age, and recently my Facebook feed has been a parade of glittery fairy costumes, elaborate theme parties and fancy home-baked birthday cakes. It’s a bit intimidating, but I have to remind myself that motherhood is not a competition, and the most important person in this equation is literally incapable of judgment.

Mama might not have a fat bank account or know how to bake, but she has pretty handwriting and is great at finding things on the Internet. That should count for something, right?

Babies and bacon!

Our plans are simple: we’ve invited friends to a “Babies & Bacon” birthday brunch for Tala at a neighborhood cafe. The cafe is very typical Dutch, so the process of “educating” them on the elements of what would be considered an American-style brunch—with bacon and Bloody Marys—has been… interesting. I’ve had to yield my ambitious plans of fluffy pancake stacks to the reality of flat, crispy Dutch pancakes; however, I’ve been assured there will be Mimosas, so I guess you win some, you lose some.

I’m off to run a few last-minute birthday errands, but I’ll be back next week with some snaps from Tala’s first birthday party. Wish me luck, and think a happy thought for Tala on her first birthday!

1 Comment
Posted on March 14, 2014
Category: Creative Projects, Motherhood · Labels: , , , , ,

Tala’s first year in hairdos

My baby turns one year old this week, and there’s a storm of emotions brewing in me. I’ll write about all that later, when it’s a little quieter inside.

For now? To mark her first birthday, as my mom did with me, I’m planning to take Tala for her first haircut. And that makes me just want to write silly things about her hair.

1 Baby Mohawk by Melody Rae

Photo by Melody Rae.

At our 30-week ultrasound, the echographist made a most unusual pronouncement: “She has hair!”

“No, really?” I asked. “How can you tell?”

“See that fuzzy line on her head?” I squinted at the screen; indeed, there it was. “That’s hair.”

From the moment it popped up onscreen in that 30th week, it was clear that Tala’s hair would be a major presence in her life. Strangers, mostly mothers of bald Dutch babies, would stop in the street and exclaim over it, carpet fluff and snot would become entangled in it, and her mama—that’s me!—would spend many hours wrestling with her in many attempts to create cuteness out of the chaos. I’ve joked that Tala’s hair needs its own Instagram account, because it often seems to have a life of its own.

My daughter’s long black hair makes her unique. Someday, I’m going to have to explain why other girls are golden-haired and she isn’t, and tell her that even if she’s outnumbered by blondes, dark hair is beautiful too.

For now? I’m just going to have fun with it. As this post shows, that’s exactly what I’ve done in the first year of her life.

[Read more...]

22 Comments
Posted on March 12, 2014
Category: Motherhood · Labels: , , , , ,

Eleven months!

This is about a week late, but I can’t let it just slip by. Tala turned eleven months old!

Tala 11 Months

Not today, obviously, because she turned 11 months old while we were in Paris.

Tala yawning at the Eiffel Tower 11 months

“The Eiffel Tower? That’s for babies!” *yawn*

I thought it was super cool to celebrate that milestone there. She was… well, less than enthusiastic. I can’t wait to show her these pictures one day and watch the retroactive wave of coolness hit her.

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Posted on February 23, 2014
Category: Motherhood · Labels: , , ,

Ten months!

Tala is 10 months old! She looks as surprised as I feel. Is she really just two months shy of a year old?

Tala 10 Months

Lots of new things this month: some good (her first four teeth popping out on Christmas Day) and not-so-good (high-pitched shrieking, getting used to feeding her three solid meals a day).

The best thing about the last month is that she spent most of it back home, in the Philippines. She may not remember her first visit home, but I always will.

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2 Comments
Posted on January 15, 2014
Category: Motherhood · Labels: , , , ,

Nine months!

This is a bit late, but… Tala turned nine months old in the Philippines. Yay! She’s now spent as much time in the great wide world as she did inside my womb.

Tala 9 Months Old

As you can see, I’ve been having fun with her hair. This is my favorite hairdo: the baby Bjork.

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3 Comments
Posted on December 19, 2013
Category: Life in Amsterdam, Motherhood · Labels: , , , , , ,

Eight months!

Guess who’s eight months old?

Tala 8 Months

My little teether, that’s who!

Teeth soon

Tala’s top two front teeth are lurking under the surface, turning a little more white and a little less pink each day, adding “fffff” and “tttthhh” to her growing repertoire of babble. Those same two teeth are waking her up at night, crying until one of us pops a cold pacifier straight from the freezer into her waiting mouth. Or she’ll wake up at 6am ready to party.

Every morning, I gently nudge the corners of her mouth into a little smile (which never stays little!), hoping that today’s the day! But so far that day hasn’t come. Until they decide to show up, we have some tough nights and early mornings ahead of us. Hang in there, little teether.

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14 Comments
Posted on November 16, 2013
Category: Motherhood · Labels: , , , , , , ,

Yay, it’s the weekend!

I don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled that it’s Friday!

Yay Tala!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

It’s been a tiring week. Marlon went on a special five-day management training course that had him out the door early and home late every day. We’ve barely seen each other and, because he’s such a hands-on dad, I’ve really felt his absence. I conserved my energy at the start of the week, but mid-week the discovery of an unexpected pocket of time led to what I can only call a complete brain malfunction: I decided to start working out again.

If you know Jillian Michaels (“America’s Toughest Trainer™”) or the concept of HIIT (high intensity interval training), then you’ll know that returning to such a demanding workout after 18 months (!) reduced me to a sorry, whimpering carcass. Not the most brilliant move when I was basically a single mom for all of Tala’s waking hours this week. I had to pick Tala up from the gastouder right after my first workout,  and while heaving my concrete limbs plus 8 kilos (17.6 pounds) of wriggling baby up the stairs, I thought I would never make it.

But I did make it up the stairs, and I made it to the weekend. Go me!

I’m looking forward to much-needed rest and family time for the next two days. I’ll be back on Monday to announce the winners of my birthday giveaway and tell you a bit about the results of the first-ever Currystrumpet reader survey. I’ll also share a creative project I’ve been working on for the past few weeks and a high school hobby that I’ve reconnected with.

For everyone back home who is weathering Super Typhoon Yolanda, you are in my thoughts. Stay safe and have a good weekend!

1 Comment
Posted on November 8, 2013
Category: Uncategorized · Labels: , , ,

Before and after: Nursery

It’s been a while since I blogged about the baby room, so I figured: why not do a nursery update? Quite a few things have changed since my last post about Tala’s room, and I’d love to show them to you.

The biggest change in the nursery has been the crib. From its previous incarnation as a bassinet…

Nursery before with Stokke bassinet

… our Stokke Sleepi had to be reconfigured into its crib form when Tala started sleeping in her room at three months. Have I said how much I love this bed and that it can grow with our baby?

Stokke Sleepi crib with mosquito net

Tala also outgrew her duyan, which now serves as a storage basket under the crib. And yes, that is a kulambo! The mosquito net became absolutely essential in the summer. Who knew that mosquitoes were part of the Amsterdam canal house dream? Though the weather has turned, we’ve kept the mosquito net up—because as Invader Stu has so perceptively pointed out, mosquitoes here don’t leave, they just put on an extra scarf.

More details and pictures after the jump!

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15 Comments
Posted on October 22, 2013
Category: House & Spouse · Labels: , , , ,

Seven months!

My baby turns seven months old today!

Tala 7 Months

Sorry for the crappy lighting… this dismal gray fall light is not the best for photos!

This month, Tala started going to a gastouder twice a week. A gastouder (the direct translation is guest parent, but loosely it means a childminder) runs a mini-daycare in their home, with a maximum of three or four children. When I was learning about childcare options in Holland, I wasn’t ready to put Tala in daycare with its bigger groups of up to nine kids and more institutional system.

Then I discovered the gastouder option, which seemed like a good middle ground. The idea of fewer kids and a cozier setting in a home environment was really appealing to me; the Dutch ideal of coziness has really sunk in after nearly three years of living here!

[Read more...]

14 Comments
Posted on October 15, 2013
Category: Life in Amsterdam, Motherhood · Labels: , , , ,