Win or lose, it's the school we choose!

Hi baby girl!

In the light of my alma mater's stunning 5-peat victory in the year's most peculiar date- 10.11.12 - let me tell you about the greatest rivalry Philippine sports has ever known.

Never has there been any team as popular as the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers especially between July and October when the UAAP basketball games become the hottest thing around. In the league of 8 universities, the battle of blues and greens is the only one that matters, be it a championship game or mere eliminations. Ticket sales skyrocket (oftentimes you can barely get any once the two teams enter the championships) and the audience would number 18,000-20,000 each game. The rivalry has actually spanned generations, and I heard the games had even become seriously rowdy back in the '70s. In this Facebook era, news feeds tend to get updated at the speed of light with everyone voicing out their support for their favorites.

At some point in the future, you would probably find mommy and daddy glued to the TV or computer screen bashing each other's team. Mommy's on the blue, Daddy and their entire household bets on the green. Despite having been schooled in both universities pretty much as long as the other, I find that my loyalty remains true to Ateneo - or some would correct it as THE Ateneo, which your dad finds really annoying and I could only laugh because even if it indeed sounded annoying, there can only be one best university, and that is it :)

If you do end up spending your college years in the Philippines, I would want to send you to Ateneo, and I would go to great lengths to afford it. Not only does it have a sprawling campus (the last time I checked which was actually 12 years ago during my college graduation but I'm sure they won't fill up the place with buildings), I feel they set higher academic standards. I don't like studying a lot and I breezed through grade school and high school with flying colors without exerting a lot of effort. When I got to college, I found myself spending so much time studying just to end up as an average joe. And the times that I thought I could hack it by just skimming through my notes? Dreadful Cs and Ds that really bruised my ego. So thankful for hardworking and brainy friends who are good influences all the time. Then again, I realized only 5 years later that Management Information Systems may not have been for me, hence I had a difficult time.

I went to De La Salle for graduate studies mainly because it's most convenient and Ateneo wasn't offering a degree in Early Childhood Education. I breezed through it part-time for 3 1/2 years (even acing Statistics which surprised me a lot!) and I almost graduated with distinction had it not been for some regulation that said I took too long with my thesis which was the ultimate bane of my schooling years. I almost gave up on a master's degree because of it... it was too time-consuming and really squeezed my brain cells dry, and I've never been happier when the panel finally approved it.

So what's Mommy's point? A task is never daunting nor difficult if you want it. A job will never seem like a job if you like it. During those times, Mommy wasn't sure what she wanted to be, and she's very thankful that circumstances in her life led her to what she really wanted, and even if it took her 5 years to realize it, it didn't seem too late at all. I hope and pray that you will not find yourself in that same predicament, but nevertheless if you do, Mommy and Daddy will be here to support you and give you what you want whatever it is!

Bigger and bigger

Hello the-cutest-baby-in-the-world! You're sleeping on your tummy as mommy writes this. It's pretty much a relief for us that you've been sleeping on the bed a lot longer than you used to since you're about to outgrow your cradle swing. This just means that it will be easier shuttling from our house to the grandparents' houses since there will be no more cradle swing to lug around! It's still useful though, on short naps.

Your daddy and I can't believe you're 14lbs already. People were right, at your age you will just get bigger and bigger like a blown-up balloon! You've been sooo amazing since you turned three months because there's so many things that you can do already! You keep on rolling over the moment we bring you down in bed, you shriek with laughter when people play with you, you cry like a banshee when feeding time gets a little delayed (because you would rather sleep a few minutes more) and who could forget that shot last Sunday! Your daddy and I thought that you'll get soothed during feeding but noooo. You were really in pain and it took you a while to get over it. Awwww. And then Doc Kat tells us about what happens when we have your ears pierced. There's so much to be done and to watch out for that your daddy and I have decided not to have your ears pierced anytime soon. Maybe when you're 3 years old. Haha. We're just not ready for the consequences of having it today. Besides, you scratch your ears too much nowadays, I'm sure you won't mind!