About two weeks ago, we bought what we thought would be a very interesting cd.  The title is “The Beatles for Kids”. It has 12 tracks of Fab Four songs, this time sang by a certain “Johnny Dawson” along with some kids.  The cd comes with lyrics so parents can easily teach their kids the right words of the songs should they be unable to read yet. (Unlike some girl named Alyssa Alano who practically butchered the song “Kiss Me”).

I fell in love with the cd right away.  Some people might find the singing of the kids annoying but you’ll just have to let it go.  It’s actually quite cute.  Now, Abby sings “yeah, yeah, yeah” right on cue when the song “She Loves You” is playing.  She also likes singing “hello, hello” to “Hello, Goodbye”.  I know in no time, she’ll be singing along with the rest of the songs.  I just wish the song “Twist and Shout” was included.
For a long time Abby loved listening to Sitti Navarro, a new artist whose debut cd, Cafe Bossa, has already turned gold.  Sitti has a very distinct sound which was probably why she became an instant hit.  We’ve seen her perform live twice, once at The Podium and at another time at Eastwood City.  Abby had a very good view of her at her Eastwood performance.  I just don’t know if she realized that the girl she’s watching is the voice behind her favorite song “Tatooed on My Mind”.  You won’t believe how much Abby loves this song!  She calls it “mama” (for my mind, get it?) and the intro alone gives her an adrenaline rush!  She makes us replay “mama” so many times when it’s playing in the car that it almost makes our ears bleed.  This prompted us to find another cd.  The Beatles for Kids was definitely a very welcome change!

I just hope I can get Abby to like Michael Buble and Rod Stewart (whose American Song Book cds make Abby fall asleep).   

Everytime we would drive along C-5, one particular billboard always got me curious.  In a nutshell, it says "Cirque Imago", world-renowned acrobatic group will be at at the Ayala Malls.  It also details the group’s schedule of performances and the hotlines for each of the venue.  I know of Cirque du Soleil, but Cirque Imago?  I made a mental note to check it out as it might be something the kids would find interesting.

Last week, Thursday, I finally called up the hotline.  I wanted to make sure that the performances are free and that there will be seats. (Ano ba yan, free na nga gusto pa ng upuan?!) Yes, the shows are free and yes, seats are available on a first come, first served basis.  Just as I was about to put the phone down, the lady at the other end of the line said, but, there are tickets (free) for the seats, available on a first come, first served basis. There you go!  Am I glad I called up the hotline!  I suddenly had a little assignment for my hubby who works in Makati.

I immediately called up ever-dependable hubby and asked him ever so nicely (ha ha!) if he could drop by the concierge at the activity center of Glorietta and pick up some free tickets for the 3pm performance of Cirque Imago on Sunday, 27 August.  Naturally, he said yes.  When he got to Glorietta later that day, he found out that the lady I talked to forgot to tell me a teeny-weeny detail…that they only give out tickets for the next day’s performances.  Since it was a Thursday, only tickets for Friday’s performances will be given out.  And since we wanted to watch a Sunday show, we’ll have to get the tickets on Saturday.  Ooops, sorry about that.  Luck was still on my side as hubby had to go to work on Saturday. :)  That Saturday, hubby got me my 10 tickets to the show, 4 for us and 6 for my brother and his family.

Show Day

Apparently, we only needed 8 tickets.  We didn’t bring along Abby’s nanny and my nephew Jad, at 11 years old, had "other plans".  It was just us 4 adults and 4 little girls aged 2, 4, 6 and 7.

There was already a line for the 3 pm show when we got to Glorietta at a few minutes after 2pm.  I asked the guard what time they will start seating people.  I was told 2:30pm.  He asked me if I had tickets.  Of course, I did!  He asked me which kind.  "The free kind," I thought to myself.  I then learned that there were green and pink tickets.  I told him we got the pretty pink ones.  He then pointed me to where we should enter.

We felt like VIPs after we were ushered to our 6th row seats, bypassing the long line of people who didn’t have tickets but will be seated at a later time.  The first 3 or so rows are for the green ticket holders.  They have Ayala discount cards.  Hmmm, mental note, I gotta get myself one of those.

The Performance

At exactly 3pm the show started.  The moment the performers came on stage, Abby, who was seated on her Ninang Claire’s lap, suddenly wanted to come to me, looking scared.  As I held her, Abby kept saying "Go!".  The little girl wanted to leave.  We had to distract her a little and told her there will be dancing (or at least what resembles dancing) soon.  She kept quiet, but still very suspicious. 

From the way the performers looked, I knew we were in for a most entertaining show.  First up was a blonde lady in tight blue body-suit.  Everyone was in awe as she made her way up and down these 2 very long silk white cloths.  Every flip and turn and every move was a showcase of strength, flexibility and grace.  Thankfully, my little girl was enjoying the show, clapping her hands at every one of the performer’s pauses.

Next up were 3 guys and a girl all in black body suits each accented by what looked like stars in red, yellow, green and blue.  A big part of their act is the use of a giant cube made of poles.  They showed great control and strength as they were hanging on to the poles of this cube.  One could actually see the definition of their flexed muscles through their tight costumes. 

A lady in white was up next.  She too made use of a very long silk cloth, but this time, it was just one big piece which was folded at the end closest to the floor.  She would drape the cloth around her and swing on it as if it were the most natural thing to do.  It’s as if she and the silk were one.  Like the first performer, she was stunning as she was strong, graceful and flexible.  She, too elicited a lot of ooohs and aaahs from the crowd.

To break the spell the crowd was in, a man who stood on what to me were like "bouncing stilts" in a very futuristic design came out next.  He did nothing of the serious stuff like the first 3 acts.  He got 2 volunteers and made each of them hold the end of a pole over which he would jump.  It sounds easy but if you’re several feet off the ground on bouncing futuristic stilts, think again! 

The last act brought back to the stage the first lady performer, this time with a male partner.  Both of them wore blue body-fit costumes.  They had no props except, well, each other.  They made very artful (is there such a word?) acrobatic poses on stage.  They pretty much resembled yoga stances.  Again, a showcase of extreme body strength and concentration.

After thirty minutes, the show was over.  Yup, 30 minutes. 

After the Show

The show, being unexpectedly too short for my nieces and Abby (who was asking for one more!) elicited the following post show conversation between Macy and her Tito Dondi:

Macy:  Tito Dondi, finished already?

Tito Dondi:  Yes, it’s finished.

Macy:  Why so short?

Tito Dondi:  Because it’s free.

Macy:  Why free?  Was there a show yesterday?

Tito Dondi:  Yes, there was one yesterday.

Macy:  Maybe if we watched yesterday it wouldn’t have been free and the show would have been longer.

Nyek!  Kawawa naman my pamangkin.  At least all 4 kids were able to watch something very new and interesting.  This is very different from the usual acrobats we have here composed of 4 brothers, one lying on the floor feet up as he tossed his other brothers in the air. 

Short as it was, it was worth all the trouble going all the way to Makati.  Imagine the savings on plane fare and show tickets of US$100.00 per head, which would have been the cost if we were to see Cirque du Soleil in Vegas! 

p.s.

I forgot to bring a camera to the show.  This will have to do: Cirque Imago Pics.

This is going to be a long blog. :) 

***

Exactly a week ago, Abby celebrated her 2nd birthday.  It was, by a mile (even more!), more subdued than her 1st birthday, which was a circus, literally. (refer to 27 Aug. & 06 Sept. ‘05 blogs).

Hubby and I agreed that we cannot have a party much like Abby’s 1st birthday every year.  It was really a tough choice, fabulous party or good education?  Ha ha.  Good education won, hands down!  Nevertheless, we made sure that Abby will have a fun day.  “Memorable” is out of the question.  I doubt if my 2-year old will remember any of what happened!

We initially toyed with the idea of a McDonald’s or a Jollibee party. But nah, we went “practical” all the way and decided on a small evening get-together at home.  Abby has 5 cousins, 4 from my side and 1 from her Daddy’s side.  Getting them all together in one roof will already be a party in itself!  Abby is at her happiest when she’s in the company of her beloved cousins.  And I thank God for that! Whew!

Party Prep

To give our party some semblance of organization, I chose a Barney theme.  That is self explanatory.  I also had a very reasonable list of things to buy/order: cake, balloons, birthday banner, pancit Lucban and groceries.

The cake was a no-brainer.  We ordered the cake at Goldilocks 4 days ahead of our party and Abby herself chose her cake from the bakeshop’s album.  See, this was going to be easy. 

I was counting on Toy Kingdom and Toys R Us for my party supplies.  Guess what, they had no Barney party stuff whatsoever.  N-O-N-E!  And I only needed a party banner and maybe a few loot bags for the 6 kids in our party.  When it comes to party supplies, Disney rules.  Both stores have Winnie the Pooh, the Incredibles and the Disney Princesses.  They also had Sesame Street, Mickey and Friends, Barbie and Toy Story.  I was so tempted to change the party theme!  Anyway, I still had 3 days to go and I’m gonna find myself my party banner!

We shopped for our groceries 2 days before the party, Tuesday.  And there, in the lowly, not-even-a-meter-wide “party section” of Shopwise Libis, I found my party banner…make that banners, as they had not 1, but 2 designs!  Not only that, they had Barney placemats!  It was super-dee-dooper!  The balloons had to be purple, yellow and green.  Check on purple.  Check on yellow.  Green balloons, like Barney, are a “marginalized” lot.  I went home without my green balloons and balloon sticks.  Ok lang, I forgive Shopwsise.

I found my green balloons at the toy section of SM Department Store in Megamall on Wednesday.  It wasn’t exactly the shade I wanted but it had to do.  I also got the balloon sticks at the same place.  With that I was ready to decorate our house!

Abby is a night owl and we were expecting that she would still be awake on the midnight of her birthday.  We bought a mini chocolate mousse cake at Goldilocks so Abby could blow her 2 candles at midnight.  Abby fell asleep at 10pm. 

The moment Abby fell asleep, I was out in the family hall with my balloons, sticks, curly ribbons and my ever reliable pump.  Exactly as I did a year ago!  In fairness, Hubby asked if he can do anything to help.  Hmm, I told him to just watch after Abby.  I get kinda obsessive compulsive when it comes to decorations. :)  I had the stair railings lined up with balloons.  Balloons were also found in the dining room and of course, the living room.  The taping of the banner to the wall had to wait ’til morning.  They were to go on the main door and the dining room wall.

Party Day

Abby has learned to associate balloons with parties.  When we stepped out of our room on the morning of her birthday, her first words upon seeing the balloons on the railing upstairs were, “Wow, party!”

We finally gave Abby what should have been her midnight cake.  We all stood by the kitchen counter with the birthday girl standing on a dining chair.  The candles were lit, the birthday song was sang and the candles were blown…so many times (refer to 19 August ‘06 blog).

We were supposed to take Abby to Enchanted Kingdom but decided on the last minute to just postpone it for another day.  Abby loves horses and carousels and we were more than sure that she’ll have a grand time at EK’s carousel.

We took Abby out for her birthday lunch.  We chose a place where she could have a fun and where she would hopefully like the food.  Burgoo at The Podium was our choice.  Abby doodled away when she saw the crayons on the table.  We ordered fettuccini carbonara,  seafood pizza, and an appetizer platter of mozzarella sticks, Santa Fe spring rolls, onion rings and buffalo wings.  We used my HSBC credit card so we can avail of freebies:  a mudslide for dessert, and another main course of kebabs with 2 side dishes (fries and rice).

Everything we ordered was good.  Burgoo turns in very good food in spite of its being an American restaurant (no offense meant!).  Let’s face it, most of the time, American food is bland.  The pasta was creamy.  The spring rolls had a cheesy thing to it that it melts in your mouth.  The kebabs were very tasty and you could actually taste the lemon (or maybe calamansi) it was marinated in.  They weren’t dry at all! 

Abby got all excited when she heard the sound of a tambourine from a far.  She had no inkling whatsoever (siyempre 2 pa lang siya!) that the staff was getting ready to bring her cake to her.  The birthday girl was surprised to be presented with a birthday cake and yet another candle for her to blow.  This girl had plenty of candle blowing practice! :)  The mudslide was just delectable.  It was part cake and part ice cream…a dieter’s nightmare!

After lunch, we had Abby ride the carousel at the mall’s 3rd level.  A trip to The Podium is never complete without Abby getting on that carousel.  After the carousel ride, we went to arcade at the 5th level,The Powerstation so Abby (and we, too) could play a little.  Since it was Abby’s birthday, she had a free Php 200 birthday load, most of which we used on this machine which doles out tickets like crazy!  We got around 223 tickets and we exchanged them for a cool pair of binoculars, pencils and some marbles (for the loose tickets!).

We heard mass at 5:30pm at the Edsa Shrine then picked up the cake at Goldilocks and headed home for our little party.

Party Night   

Party time was set at 7:30pm.  We got home just a few minutes before the appointed time.  The food was ready.  We had very simply party fare:  hotdogs on sticks, pancit lucban, beef steak, lumpiang shanghai, chicken afritada and sopas.  For dessert, there was ice cream and cake.

Before dinner, we gathered around the dining table to sing for Abby and for the candle-blowing (the nth time!).  Dinner immediately followed.  My pamangkins were late and one of them, Abby’s Ate Kylah, could not make it because she was sick.  That’s one less kid at the party.  Sayang.

There was so much food that almost everyone had “balot” to take home, including the cake!  I prepared lootbags for the kids which contains Abby’s favorite munchies:  chips, choco mallows, biscuits, jello, etc.

Abby opened the gifts after most of the guests went home.  She got some cool toys and new clothes!  Most unexpected were gifts from my Mom’s friends, 2 of whom only found out about Abby’s birthday the previous day.

To help Dondi and me decide what to get Abby for her birthday, we brought her to Toys R Us a few days before so we could “observe” which toys she’d like.  The doll stroller and crib were her obvious choices.  We also got her a disney princess mobile phone and camera…so she would stop grabbing our own.

All in all, it was a simple celebration but nonetheless fun.  Abby’s birthdays will always be memorable to us her parents and very well documented with pictures and a matching blog.  When she’s all grown up, she can read up to her heart’s content how her birthdays were celebrated.

Party Pics

There are a hundred and one pics!  Here’s the link: Abby’s 2nd Birthday.  Enjoy!

Nope, this is not yet the lengthy blog about Abby’s birthday. :)  But do consider it a prologue.  Ha ha.

***

As a Mommy, I looked forward to the birthday when my baby could already blow out the candles on her cake on her own.  This birthday was it!  And like Abby, Dondi and I were giddy with excitement.

In the morning of her birthday, we surprised Abby with a little cake complete with 2 candles for her to blow for “practice purposes” in time for her small evening party at home.  What can I say, she loved blowing out the candles so much that after she blew them out, she’d have us light them again.  This went on for so many times that I already lost count!  We thought we’d never get to eat the cake!  Well, we finally did after 3 more rounds of singing and candle-blowing while Abby was already seated on her high-chair.

I’d like to share three very short video clips with you.  I’ve uploaded so many photos of Abby already and I think it’s about time you see my baby “in action”. May I warn you though that you’ll be hearing Abby’s parents sing.  Kayo na po ang bahalang magpasensya at umunawa.

Today, August 17, is my little girl’s 2nd birthday.

***

Happy Birthday, Abby!  Daddy and Mommy love you very much!  You’re a most precious gift from God and we don’t know what we did right to deserve a special blessing such as you. You are just perfect! Mmmwah!

***

Expect an account of Abby’s birthday celebration in the next few days, and plenty of pictures too!