Update on the Praying Toddler

3 months ago, I shared a post on how we teach Yanna to pray and how proud we are of her. This is just an update on her growing knowledge on praying.

In addition to knowing that she has to pray before eating, this time she sees to it that everyone is participating in praying. Or else, your name gets called! LOL! If her lolo is not praying along (even if he already did pray before Yanna sits to eat) she expects him to pray again. To get his attention she calls out "Wowo!" How strict! LOL! She won't start praying unless everyone participates. That's why I'm guessing she'll be a nun someday hihi! 😄

During the mass 4 weeks ago, I whispered that she should raise her hands when singing The Lord's Prayer. To my surprise, she did! It was a proud moment for us. She held her hands up the entire song. But knowing Yanna, expect kulitness to her newfound skill. After that she wants me and hubby to always hold our hands up, along with her, for the rest of the mass songs! Over naman! 😄

Another milestone is that she's starting to memorize some prayers like The Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary & Angel of God. We always pray these before bedtime so she got used to the words. What I do is when we pray, I stop mid-sentence and see if she will say the next word. Sort of like fill in the blanks. To my amazement, she knows the missing words! I just had to hug her tight for that! Little did I expect that a 17-month old can do that.

I'm so happy that she likes praying so much. Whenever she sees the statue of Mama Mary in my in-laws' house, she waves at it and says Hi! Then tells me "Mommy? Pray?" and we pray.

I'm looking forward to see what new things she'll learn the next months. For tips on how to teach toddlers to pray, you may want to check out my post on that too.

Hope you all have a meaningful Holy Week! 😃

Letting Go

In my past posts, I've told everyone how clingy Yanna is to me. It was tough, draining at times, even made me lose weight (the best part of it!). I've been looking forward to the day when she will let other people hold her, carry her and play with her.

Lately, Yanna has been very sociable. Thanks to our long stay with my in-laws here in Bicol. She lets them carry her once in a while but she still clings to me oftentimes. When she sleeps beside me, she no longer needs to nurse all the time when she wakes up at night. She can now soothe herself back to sleep without my help. Such a big improvement!

I should be jumping with joy right? This means more sleep and bed space for me, less tired arms, a little more time to myself. But you know what, I feel a sudden pang in my heart whenever she prefers being carried by my sister-in-law or when she rolls away from me during sleep. This only happened a few times but I'm still bothered. I find myself thinking " Oh my. She's starting to need me less". And I try to hide my dismay over it.

I'm crazy right? This is what I want to happen and now I realize I'm the one having a hard time letting go of my baby. Oh, she's not a baby anymore.

I know I have to let go. She needs to learn independence as she grows older. This is good for her. I need to learn to be independent from her too. I know it will take time. Right now all I want to do is treasure our time together and when she starts clinging again, I will hold her like there's no tomorrow.

Kikay-ness!!!

It was so hot yesterday here in Bicol! As in scorching hot! I was about to whine again then I saw Yanna in her cute dress and her hair tied in a ponytail ( Yaya is really good at fixing Yanna's hair! I have no talent for that!) My bad mood faded fast!

When I told her that she is so pretty, she looked for her pink Victoria's Secret bag then carried it on her shoulder. Hmm, just like me! Then she made me and yaya wear our slippers then pulled me to the door saying "Go? Go?" That's her version of "Let's go". I don't know what she's thinking but I guess she wants to go to the mall 😄

Here's a photo dump of Yanna yesterday. Enjoy! 😊

Oh, Mama was right!

"You'll understand me when you become a mom yourself".

Those were my mom's favorite line whenever we argue back then. I always shrugged it off and told myself "of course I won't be like her when I become a mom".

Then came our little bundle of joy and all of a sudden, I heard myself saying "Oh, Mama was right!"

I hated how she kept on reminding me "Lock your doors" whenever I ride a car. Must she always say that everytime??? But now I find myself always saying "Careful!" everytime my toddler walks a little bit fast.

I hated how she wanted me to eat vegetables but now I am over the moon whenever my toddler eats hers.

I hated that she worked and didn't have time to attend parents meetings in school but now I know that I'm sure she hated not going too but she had to work so that I can go to school.

I hated that she didn't allow me to go malling with just my friends at the age of 12. Now hearing of kidnapping stories in malls makes me nervous for my toddler eventhough she has me and yaya with her all the time.

I hated that she got angry when she found out I have a boyfriend when I was only 13. Now I realized - Yeah, it really was too early to get into that. I think I'll go hysterical too!

I hated her traditional thinking that suitors/boyfriends should frequently visit me at home and not go out on dates. Now hubby and I are joking that we'll get a big house and if someone wants to date our daughter, they'll have the date in our house. We'll take care of the food hahaha!

So many realizations now that I'm a mom too. This made me appreciate my mom more and it made us closer. I now understand her.

If in the future Yanna and I get into an argument, I know I'll find myself saying...
"You'll understand me when you become a mom yourself". 😉


Mommy May