Joya’s first word is…

When I had Jia, I thought I was feeling the ultimate happiness.  But when Joya came and I saw him and Jia together, the happiness I thought was insuperable was actually surmounted. Seeing them playing together just fills my heart with joy and even though I am a feminist at heart, I understand now what other women mean when they say that having children completes them.

Jia is such a good and caring Ate. She takes care of Joya. She pacifies him when he cries… well, most of the time… minsan deadma rin lang. LOL! Her patience with him has no bounds!I She enjoys playing with him. When she wakes up in the morning, Joya is the first one she asks for.

For his part, Joya adores his Ate. He refuses to sleep when she’s around, preferring to play with her instead. When he wakes up, he crawls to her. When Jia is in front of him, he touches her face and pulls her to him. He does not do that to any of us, just his Ate.He laughs at her tricks. At nine months, his actions reveal how much he loves her. But the most poignant and telling of all, Joya’s first word is… you guessed it… “Ate”. Yesterday, after his Daddy talked to him and taught him “Dada” and “Ate”,  he looked at Jia, said “A..te, Te, A… tse,” and then hugged her. This morning, he crawled until he could see her over J’s body (Jia was at the other side of J). Then Joya called to her, “Ate, Ate, Ate, Ate, Ate.”

Indescribable happiness.