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We went to attend the 12th birthday celebration of the daughter of one of our good family friends here. I thought it was one of the best opportunities of dressing up the little girl so we let her slip into one of the dresses that her grandparents from Florida sent her a month ago. Here’s Erin trying to sit up all by her lone self.

As usual, she was the center of attraction at the party because she looked so adorable in her new dress. And for once, she was back to her old self and did not cry unlike in recent occasions. She got passed around quite a lot but did not cry one single tear. We are so proud of her!

We let the little girl eat twice a day now. It started upon the suggestion of the maternal and child health nurse at the health centre when we dropped by last Tuesday for a routine check-up. We are now feeding her mashed vegetables and fruits, in addition to her daily rice cereal and fruit juice intake. Since then, Erin has been sleeping better on most nights, which means everyone else is too. The chain reaction is just amazing in this household!

Erin has been very irritable since yesterday. She did not want to be left alone in her cot and she cried for most of the afternoon. She wanted to be carried and did not allow me to even sit down. She wasn’t hungry either. I was baffled! I did not know anymore what to do to pacify her and I was getting tired already.

So I took a peek at her gums to see if that was the source of her discomfort. And there it was!

There was a tiny white dot on her gums, which I originally thought was just a food particle. But when I tried to remove it, it would not budge an inch. Now I could conclude that, as of yesterday, she was finally teething!

The one erupting at the moment is actually her left lateral incisor of her lower jaw, which is unusual as it’s the central ones that usually come out first. I’ll take a picture of it when it’s more prominent.

Now I need to shop around for her own toothbrush and toothpaste. Erin is definitely growing up fast.

I love surprises. But, only the pleasant ones, of course!

This morning, the mailman handed over to me three parcels which came from our relatives in the States (J’s uncle, to be exact).

They were all addressed to J and me, but we knew they were all for the little girl.

Thank you, Tita A and Tito E for all the wonderful pressies!

And just when I thought that that was the end of our excitement for the day, I heard another knock on the door. It was the mailman once again. He forgot to drop off a bigger package that was still addressed to us.

And yes, it was again for Erin. This bub sure is getting spoilt!

Every day, little Erin and I go out in the mid-afternoon to get our mail. It has been sunny (and quite windy) the past few days so I always make it point for her to wear a hat. Today, I let her wear a bright pink brimmed hat, which was a gift from one of our friends here. She looked so adorable in it that I just had to call for an impromptu photo session with her.

Yesterday, our family was invited to a party by friends. We saw this as another opportunity for Erin to play dress-up once again.

And since spring is in full swing now in our part of the world, we thought this cute flower-y outfit was just perfect. This was given to her by her Ninang A who is known to love the color yellow so much (hence the clothes).

The outfit was supposed to fit a one-year-old child but the top fit Erin well around the shoulders so we went along with it. It came with matching bloomers which revealed her chubby thighs for all the world to see.

Yes, you heard me. Remember my post on QE? Well, J and I are thinking of having ourselves booked once again. We thought we were doing fine with Erin in the last few months. But recently, she’s been very difficult with us and it is so hard for all of us to get a good night’s sleep.

We were watching the first episode of Parent Rescue on SBS last night and we could relate so much to one couple who’s baby had basically the same settling issues as Erin. After watching the show, J and I now think that maybe trying QE would not be such a bad idea at this point. But still, it will be our last resort.

I have bought the Sleep Right, Sleep Tight book to see if we can manage to employ the same settling techniques on Erin on our own. If this still doesn’t work, then I’m afraid we’re off to QE for good. Wish us luck!

Time for Erin to strut her stuff once again. I just love her smile in this photo!

I bought this number when I was still pregnant with her during our vacation in Manila last Christmas. It was on sale (50% off) but was the only piece left for baby girls. I purchased it nevertheless because it was of a good brand. It is a size medium so it was only now (last weekend to be exact, when we went to the mall) that Erin got the chance to wear it.

We were supposed to give Erin her first meal this coming weekend. J wants to witness it since it is, in a way, Erin’s rite of passage, as she will be no longer an infant solely dependent on milk. Unfortunately, I developed a cold last night and Erin had trouble sleeping as well so J took the day off to help me here in the house (sweet!).

I saw it as an opportunity to finally take that step — to give Erin her first real meal. I just could not wait for the weekend anymore! J took care of documenting the entire event by taking pictures and a video clip of it.

Notice how she’s smiling the whole time? She actually enjoyed eating! And she swallowed all her food without choking or spatting it out. I prepared three spoonfuls of rice cereal using her spoon and mixed it with approximately 70 mL of formula to make it really runny. But she only managed to finish two-thirds of the mixture. Still, not bad for a first-timer, eh?

We’ll be doing the cereal thing again tomorrow and for the next couple of days to see how her tummy reacts to it. If all goes well, we might add a few other things to the menu on the weekend. Yay, something new to look forward to!