Her mom dropped her off with paints, easel, and an empty canvas. She got working on her painting and finished it in no time. She loved making the dots and drew the mountains fresh from hiking a trail with her mom, dad and uncles. She described seeing waterfalls and lakes. Imagine at 5 yo, she can walk 6 miles?
At snack time, she relished the #takamla ube pandesal with cheese and bite by bite she said “yummy for my tummy.”
After breakfast, we started baking a banana blueberry mango chocolate chips loaf for her dad’s birthday.
She mashed the bananas and the butter, then broke open the eggshells, gingerly, careful not to have eggshells on the batter. She measured adeptly each cup of flour, sugar and after, remarked “Grandma, I will not forget this.”
That was my intention – to indelibly sear those loving moments with her.
Later, she kept singing and this morning, I was privileged to hear her singing and drumming with her grandpa. He found a new student to pass on his skills.
Shouldn’t that be our lives – creating joy for folks around us?
Today is my first time to make pizza dough from scratch. Guess who helped me measure ingredients, locating the right measuring spoons, measuring out the yeast, flour, salt and more. My 5yo #princess2015la.
After mixing the dough, she said it was sticky. So I asked her for the solution – should I add flour?
She confidently said yes. Then she shared a story that sourdough bread dough is sticky and she and her mom have to work with the stickiness.
After adding the flour, she even knew it was the right consistency. So, we set it aside to rise.
“Grandma, what does rise mean?”
“It gets bigger in size, it becomes two dough pieces, one for you and another for your mom and dad for your dinner.”
“But, Grandma, I don’t like basil.”
“I thought you are vegetarian?”
“I eat broccoli, but not basil. I also eat chicken tenders.”
“Grandma, I am hungry. I have not eaten breakfast.”
Me: So how about ube pancakes and bacon?
P: “I like that. Can I have mango too?”
She ate a heart-shaped ube pancake, a half moon pancake, a whole mango and two pieces of bacon.
I told her she is a very patient girl.
“Grandma, I am patient.”
Me: I noticed that when you asked to fix breakfast you waited until I was done. She smiled.
By the art wall where she did her imaginative play, I said, “You look so pretty.”
P: “Because I like looking nice, Grandma.”
We talked about her dreams. In her dream, she chased the bad guy getting his father.
I asked, ” How do you know he is a bad guy?” The bad guy had a gun, Grandma and about to hurt my dad, but I smashed him.
I then said, “Pray to Baby Jesus to protect you always, even in your dreams.”
She then moved to do her tea cups imaginative play. She gave me spaghetti made of marbles. Later, she said, “Grandma, you are so smart, you believe in Baby Jesus.” I told her I pray to Baby Jesus each night to protect me.
After breakfast she asked her grandpa to make apple juice with her.
Do you get a sense of how she balances her time with us? But also, a very strong sense of self, how to be patient, how to look nice, how to be nice to others? I love how she is truly beautiful inside and out.
Now, Grandpa and her are out to hunt for numbers in the garden.
Heart shaped watermelon with dragon fruit, cherries and zucchini soup, but ate the cherries and watermelon.
When she said goodbye, I hugged her tightly and told her I love her very much. She said, “Grandma, I love you a million thousand times.”
Now you know why she is our priority on days we have her. She reminded me, “Where’s the mac and cheese, Grandma?” I said, “Oh, I forgot to buy the yellow sharp cheese. Can I do it tomorrow?” She nodded.
She played with me first, having me pretend that I am asleep, then she would startle me with the beany babies. Afterwards, she turned to her grandpa and they went #tandembiking with #bailey. She is so active and tomorrow, she already told me what she wants to have: steamed rice, adobo, and manila mango.
