The Gift of Life

Erin’s been quite talkative these days. Her speech is not limited anymore to just cooing. She gurgles a lot and I think an emerging “Ba” is on the way as she loves making bubbles with her saliva. “Gi” is also now part of her vocal gymnatics repertoire.

The other day, J reckons he heard her say “Daddy.” Now, that can’t be really true, right? I spend almost the entire day (24/7) with this kid and her first word is “daddy” ?! Maybe J heard something else, like the “gi” syllable which does sound like the last syllable of daddy. Anyway, whatever it is, I have yet to hear it for myself to believe it. So far, nada!

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Yesterday was Erin’s cousin C’s 18th birthday. Lunch was held at the second floor of the Canberra Football Club in Deakin. It was eat-all-you-can Yum Cha at AU$15 per person. The food was delicious but their service was terrible. The place was packed at 12 noon. And since our tables were located in the farthest corner from the kitchen, the food couldn’t get to us. I think we were able to start really eating at past one when some of the other customers had left.

While waiting for the food, the little girl got passed around to other family members and friends. And she did not cry! Looks like this kid is turning into one social butterfly! And she doesn’t cry anymore in her car seat (except of course, when she’s already tired). Thanks to endless playing of nursery rhymes and toys dangling everywhere.

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The three of us haven’t been getting much sleep these days. Erin’s eczema still flares up every now and then. What’s worse is that these episodes occur late at night or at early dawn when we’re all supposed to be sleeping. We know it’s occuring when she suddenly wakes up, rubs her face and starts screaming. J and I don’t have eczema so we don’t have the slightest clue as to how she’s really feeling. But I reckon it’s so damn itchy judging from her terribly loud cries. After applying creams, the most that we can do is just wait for the rashes to subside. And it’s only then can we go back to getting some shut-eye, which isn’t easy, by the way.

I realise eczema is actually pretty common in kids, especially after talking to family and friends. Extreme weather temperatures (either the cold or the heat), I think, are majorly the culprits. So I’m guessing this’ll be back to haunt us in the summer time. Oh dear…

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Shameless Plug
Thanks to my brother D for ‘photoshopping’ one of Erin’s photos. He’s a graduating Fine Arts student at the UP in Diliman and he’s trying to build up his portfolio. Here’s his ‘Erin’ project: