Ready to Hatch

Ob-gyne Dionisio said I may give birth as early as October 27. If that's accurate, Baby 2 will share birthdays with my brother Marvin.

Well, from the looks of it, many say I will not reach middle of the month pregnant. My belly's very low which means baby could be due anytime soon. Plus it's really big and the skin's turning darker by the day. I cannot imagine anymore how I manage getting to work while pregnant before with Lois, given this ungainly state. Everything's hard to do, from lying in bed, to walking, especially using the CR.

Good boy
Despite my complaints, I'm very thankful because Baby 2 has turned to the cephalic position - meaning his head's downwards where it should be. This puts us two safe from caesarian section, especially if the labor and delivery will turn out as I prayed for it to be: quick, easy and hassle-free. I see this turn of events as due to the many prayers of fellows-family, friends, and small group mates. Thanks to all of you guys!

New name
Since it's pretty sure Baby 2's a boy, we've narrowed our name selection to Carlos Alejandro and a new one-Aquila Batis. Some relevant ‘judges’ did not eagerly accept the previous choice, so Daddy Paul and I thought some more until one night we came across the name combination.

Aquila – Biblical in origin, a preacher at Ephesus, friend of apostle Paul
Batis – Filipino in origin, meaning stream; or a genus of two species of flowering plants

This follows the previous name rules we used with Lois, 1. It has to be from the Bible and, 2. There has to be a Filipino name. Incidentally, the initials are also two letters following each other in the alphabet. So we have LM for Lois and AB for Baby 2. As for the nickname, I'm content to stick with '2' unless something better comes along.

As for Baby 1
Fill in the blanks has been a fun and enriching game for Lois. We'd pause at certain points as we refer to familiar names of people, objects and activities, and Lois will fill in the blank. It's funny what combinations she's able to conjure.

Me: "Lois will go to ----."
Lois: "banyo" (CR)
Me: "Lois will ----."
Lois: "wiwi" (pee)
Me: "Lois loves Baby ----."
Lois: (Plays with her tongue, to mean her nephew Renren)

We've also tried it with a familiar tune we hear on one kiddie TV ad and she fills in the last syllable. Funny, girl, our Lois.



Playing by herself
I've also noticed a big improvement in her play. She's now interested in toys, and can spend some 10 minutes alone figuring how it works. Now, she doesn't need me to have fun. She can do it all by herself and that's just sooo good!

Heart-melting trick
Her nanny and I noticed that whenever Lois gets pissed, she would sometimes hit us. Afterwards, she realizes what she did was wrong and apologizes by way of being sweet. She would gently get your attention, even pronouncing your name so pleasantly, and follow it with her Lois talk that only she understands. And since she’s talking alien, initial reaction would be just to agree with her. She would then gently hold out her hand as if to say, slap my hand – it’s bad!