Thea Louralei’s 2nd Birthday

It was my niece Thea Louralei’s 2nd birthday. After church at 4 p.m. everyone was busy in the kitchen. Her mommy Dolour prepared some spaghetti, macaroni salad, and home-made ice cream. Her Auntie April cooked special fried chicken – a recipe of her own, while her Grandma and Grandpa had birthday cakes for the celebrant.

We were on a rush as triggered by our rumbling stomachs. The table was set. “Let’s pray, let’s pray,” we all spoke at the same time. The one to lead the prayer was not yet assigned but as we bowed our heads and closed our eyes, Thea started, “Heavenly Father…” then she quickly mumbled some words beyond comprehension, went on and said “cake,” and muttered a few more. “Birthday,” was her next recognizable word and ended with a clear “Amen.” The very moment we realized she was praying, her Daddy Thelmo told her, “Oh wait baby…” But the toddler went on, and so while she was praying, we all took a peek at each other with the same conversing eyes and smiles, had good giggles, and uttered a huge “AMEN!” after she’s done. Laughs and amazement immediately filled the room; though that was not the first time she volunteered to pray, she still kept us adorning her.

We all okayed to her prayer, and I’m pretty sure the One above also did.

Speaking of praying, there was this one dinner where everyone was on the mode of giving grace while my mommy was busy by the kitchen sink adjacent to the dining table, Thea blurted, “Grandma pray!” There it was, a baby reminding an adult to pause and pray!

Thea indeed exuded surprising abilities long before she turned two. I actually kept track on her fast intellectual progress; and even checked on the cellphone and digital camera videos of her with stamped dates on it.

Avoiding expected biases or exaggerations, (given the fact that she’s the first and only niece and grandchild in the family), we indeed have observed how extraordinarily smart she is.

Before she turned one year old, we taught her of course the popular “close-open” and “clap your hands.” She easily learned how to call on our cats and dogs, including the traditional sounds we utter, the Filipino way. We even taught her how to slap on mosquitoes and imitate the U.P. oblation pose. At first, we thought it was all plain baby tricks, until we noticed her fast learning, and how long she retains and how well she retrieves whatever she is taught.

At one year old, she already had a firm and proper grip on a pen. While a three-year-old student of mine held a pen like a cane. She could even name or point at the different parts of the body like, eyes, ears, nose, hands, face, feet, hair, neck, mouth, teeth, elbow, shoulder, and even the navel.

A little over one year old, she displayed a surprising skill in communications. Caught on video, her mommy was talking to her about a ruler she was playing with. Ate Dolour worried her baby might poke her eyes with it, was saying “Baby be careful with the ruler, Ok?” After a few more gentle coaxing, the baby replied with a cute and clear “OK!”

As early as one and a half years old, Thea knows how to count from one to ten!
Her interest in music was likewise enhanced. Her list included: full version of “Twinkle, twinkle little star,” first stanza of “Somewhere over the rainbow,” “I am a Child of God,” just to name some. Our relatives, on a family gathering were thrilled when they heard her sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” on the videoke! She could utter the first line clearly and though some words in between were ambiguous, her melody is extraordinarily recognizable.

Long before turning two, she audibly sings from “A” to “now I know my ABC, next time won’t you sing with me;” with a few stumbles on the “L,M,N” part. Her articulation of English phonetics, with her crisp consonants is likewise a wower.

Not to mention, she answers the phone!
To relate an amusing story:
If it rings, she dashes towards it, picks it up and utters an immediate “hallo?” If my husband calls, she gives the phone to me; if Ruslan calls, she passes it to her Auntie April; but if her mom calls, she talks to her. One time the phone rang, as usual she’s the first one to answer. Her dad, Kuya Thelmo, who was expecting a call from her wife, politely asked for the phone. The baby won’t give it to her daddy, instead she was giving it to me. Kuya Thelmo insisted but her little girl, too, insisted on passing it to me, and so I did get the phone. To my surprise, it was my husband calling! No wonder why. She indeed evokes an exceptional communication skills; knowing that there are four communications/journalism major in the family, including of course her mother.

Not only is she musically inclined, intellectual, profoundly articulated, but she is also emotionally intelligent that her parents need not lure her, or peek and run from her when they ought to go to school or someplace else leaving her with a baby sitter. They will simply tell her the truth, “Baby, Mommy will teach, I’ll be back later Ok?”, “Daddy needs to go to school.” The baby understands. Gives her mom or dad a kiss and a sweet “bye!” Also, she knows how to say polite words like, thank you, please, excuse me, sorry, bye, take care, and good night.

I mentioned many times that if I tutor my niece at the age of three of four, I would not have that much difficulties, since she already knows some fundamentals of learning such as reciting the alphabet, identifying shapes, counting from 1-10, and object names. She stores at least 200 English object names which create a huge jumpstart for any teacher.

It is an inside joke in the family knowing that her grandmother graduated as a cum laude, and her mom was a magna cum laude, then baby Thea Louralei is foreseen to finish as a summa cum laude!

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