Chronicles of Maia

I'm A Grown Up Now! (and some yaya rants)

2012-02-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

I called her baby this morning and she told me: "I'm mad at you Mommy!" then stormed into our bedroom to disappear from my sight.

I asked her back, "Why are you mad at me?" and she replied, "You just called me baby! And I told you I'm grown up already! I'm not a baby anymore!"

Oh Maia, it felt like it was only yesterday when I was holding a 7-pounder baby in my arms and rocking her to sleep (singing broken lullabies because I never learned to sing one before you were born) and now look at you! Why are you in such a hurry to grow up?!#$!

Sun-bathing at 2 months

Taken just last weekend. Sometimes we would stare at her when she sleeps and would be filled with awe.
"see how big those thighs are? and these feet? oh and these hands"

Side story: We are again yaya-less and I had to break the news to her - "Ate Belen is not coming back anymore". I found it surprising how unaffected she was with my news. It was as if she was already expecting it to happen.

Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Maia, hindi na daw babalik si Ate Belen. (Maia, Ate Belen is not coming back anymore)

Maia: Okay lang Mommy. Si Tita Lingling (her dad's cousin) na lang kasama ko dito sa house. (It's okay Mommy. Tita Lingling will keep me company)

Me: (speechless for a moment) Ah okay anak. That's good. Pero si Tita uuwi na rin sa Sabado. Pano na tayo nyan? (then a light-bulb moment but now feels like an inappropriate conversation with a toddler) Hmmm, papayag ka ba na ikaw na lang dito mag-isa sa house? Di ba sabi mo parati kaya mo na sarili mo kasi big ka na? Iiwanan ka na lang ni Mommy food for lunch sa table tapos maglaro at magbasa ka na lang no habang antay mo kami ni Daddy dumating? Bawal ka lang lumabas ng house hanggang di mo kasama si Mommy at Daddy. Pwede ba yun? (Oh that's good baby. But Tita needs to go home this Saturday. Hmmm, would you be alright if you'd be all alone in the house? I will just leave your lunch on the table and you can just play and read while you wait for me and daddy to come home. You can't go out on your own though. You will have to wait for me and Daddy. Will that work?)

Maia: Oo. Pwede naman Mommy. Kasi big girl na ako eh. Kaya ko na yan. (yes mommy, that can work because i'm a big girl now. I can do it!)

This conversation made me tear up - with me at the height of being hormonal and the stress that this yaya mess is giving me - I wasn't able to contain myself anymore. I hugged the little girl and stood up to cry silently in the bathroom. It is during these times that I really wish I have the flexibility to just give up my job and stay at home with my daughter.

St. Mikael Playhouse - Summer Events and Talk With Dr. Cricket Chen

2012-02-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

I received this from the mail. Some parents might be interested to learn about Waldorf kindergarten here's your chance to get a glimpse of it. And Dr. Cricket is also Maia's pediatrician and we love her! You might just learn a lot from her on this talk too.

Dear Parents!

Join us on Thursday,March 8 and learn more about Summer events and programs for the upcoming schoolyear at
STMICHAEL PLAYHOUSE!

And we're honored tohave pediatrician Dr Cricket Chen as ourguest speaker, who will talk about common childhood illnesses, and how theycontribute to your child's over all development. Dr Cricket's practice is acombination of conventional and natural medicine, with great emphasis on thepromotion of health, essential to the incarnating child.

EmailSt.Michael.Playhouse@gmail.com toreserve your seat! Or text 0917 847 0848.

See informationbelow. Feel free to forward to those that may be interested!

--
ST MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE
G/f, ISIP Center, 6241 Palma cor Mañalac Sts.
Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City (near Rockwell)
Mobile: 0917 847 0848
st.michael.playhouse@gmail.com
Facebook: Look up 'St Michael Playhouse Makati'

"Where is the book in which the teachers can read about what teaching is?The children are this book." – Rudolf Steiner

Maia is going to be overaged for the Parent-child program but if this daycare is anyway nearer where we live, this would definitely come first on my prospective school list. Maia had so much fun last summer she still have fond memories of her friends there and of the nurturers. She still calls St Mikael her 'school'.

But for now, I am shelving my dream of sending my kid to a Waldorf school but who knows it could still happen one day.

ESS South Campus Preschool Tour

2012-02-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, our family of three woke up earlier than usual to prepare and attend the open house at the South campus of Elizabeth Seton School. We hitched a ride with Erl's family. Erl and I have been school hunting together since her cutiepie Kelsea and Maia are almost of the same age (born just about a month apart).

It was a first time to visit this school so we didn't really have any expectations set. It only took us about 15 mins to get to the school from Avida Settings in Bacoor. We took the Daang Hari road heading towards Aguinaldo Hi-way (I'm not very good at directions but it was pretty easy) and I don't think the travel will tire Maia.

We arrived 15 mins early than the 9am schedule so we had the chance to check out the GS/HS area and the kids were somehow able to warm up.

view of the school from the auditorium

When we got inside the auditorium, it was already half full. The registration table was also busy since some parents were already submitting their applications. Erl and I decided to submit ours after the tour.

Admissions Area

The program started a few minutes after 9am. Kids were settled comfortable and were surprisingly quite through out. They paid attention to the presentation and Maia seemed really interested when the preschool presentation was showing. Tutok na tutok. In between the breaks, Erl handed out post-its to the kids and they got busy writing and scribbling.

"Know where child is spending the best years of his life."

The open-classroom set up really intrigued us *sorry we don't have photos to show* but after seeing the poster above, it made sense.

A little past 10, the organizers broke us into groups (based on the levels that we are wishing to apply for - Preschool/GS/HS). They assigned two tour guides for every level). The kids were really excited to see the school.

GS/HS Cafeteria - we were told the the preschoolers have their own dining/pantry area so they rarely come here to eat

Playground and the Preschool Bldg Facade

Pretty ceiling, Preschool bldg lobby

Clinic + Playroom/Preschool Library

And here are the classrooms - I couldn't remember now which belong to the kinder kids and which belong to the nursery kids. But I think the difference was only the way the seats are arranged. All the preschool classrooms are equipped with the same facilities. Each room by the way has their own bathroom so it would be easy for the kids to run to the bathroom if they need to go potty.

All the preschool sections are named after famous children's books characters

Maia: ano ginagawa ni Mickey Mouse dyan Mommy?
Upper left side is the party area (where kids usually hold their bday parties)

Kids are safe here. There's a guard posted at the main entrance of the preschool bldg and guardians are usually asked to wait outside during school days.

I couldn't say yet if this is going to be the preschool of our choice but I liked the environment there. I'd like to personally meet the teachers too to see how Maia would react with them since Maia has somebody in mind when I say teacher and to her a teacher should be just like her Peacher Josie (from St Mikael). I know that she liked the classrooms though and was really enticed by the playground. Tibs and I are still torn. But we're sticking to our criteria and will decide as soon as we're done with all the assessment exams.

Open House At Elizabeth Seton School (South Campus)

2012-02-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

The next school in our list is the Elizabeth Seton School in Anabu, Dasmarinas, Cavite. My co-workers kids have been going here before they migrated to the US and she highly recommended this school to me. From her stories, I can very well see how disciplined her kids are with school work and how they enjoyed school time. That is important to me so I made the visit to this school one of my top priorities during school hunting.

I called last November to check on the assessment exam schedules and get a list of the requirements and I was lucky to have spoken to the Open House organizer herself, Ms Cheris. She advised that I come to the open house first before we make a decision so I enlisted myself and the hubby. Come January, Ms Cheris texted me to confirm the date of the Open House. And this morning, we trooped over to the South Campus with the Gools to know more about the school.

It was a helpful and informative Open House. Apart from the overcrowding during the campus tour (overeager parents that includes me plus a defective microphone for the tour guide rendered that part rather disorganized), it was something that we think is necessary for every first time parent. Here's how the Open House program went:

Parts I-VI didn't really take long. If I remember correctly, I think it was less than an hour. And to think the program didn't start exactly at 9am and we were out of the auditorium by 1030am for the tour. Snacks were already made available before the program started. Most parents brought along the kids with them and contrary to what I expected, it didn't turn out to be a hassle at all because at the end of it all while we were waiting for the our exam permits (which took the longest time by the way) the kids all had fun playing with each other. They were dancing, singing, laughing which was really fun to watch.

I will be posting the pictures of the Preschool Area Tour separately. But in case you're considering the idea of attending an open house with this school I'm posting here a photo of the flyer that we got from last Saturday's open house.

Here's a list of the open house schedules:

Feb 11 - South Campus Only

Feb 18 - Main Campus Only

Mar 17, Apr 14 and 28, May 19 - Both campuses

The open house starts at 9am and is expected to finish by 12nn. They gave us 50% discount off the testing fee since we decided to submit application requirements right after the open house. For preschool application, we brought with us the following:

- a photocopy (and original for verification purposes) of Maia's NSO Certified Birth Certificate

- a photocopy (and original for verification purposes) of Maia's Baptismal Certificate

- 3 pcs 1x1 ID Picture

We are scheduled to take Maia's assessment for Kinder 1 on Mar 3. We are waiting for the results of that assessment exam before we finally decide which preschool to choose.

Here are the contact information for both ESS Campuses:

Main Campus

BF Resort Village, Las Pinas City

Tel Nos 02 875 45 53 to 59 loc 113

South Campus

Anabu II-D Imus Cavite
Tel Nos 046 471 0080 loc 112

website: www.ess.edu.ph

Up Next: a photoblog of the preschool area tour

Cat Scratch and Rabies

2012-01-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

There came a point when I thought I would become immune to medical emergencies and that nothing would scare me anymore. But each time my daughter is subjected to one, I'd still be overwhelmed with tension and anxiety.

Hoping this will be the last time this card will ever be updated

Monday was an extra day off for us because of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Tibs and I already had a wonderful plan in mind on how we would be spending that day - Breakfast Al-fresco, Couch Potato Time, Afternoon Gardening + Arts and Crafts with Maia. I'm beginning to think planning is not really something that works for our family because just a minute after we're done with breakfast, I heard Maia wail in pain. I ran to see what's wrong and saw the cat scratches on her right foot. My first thought was, MAN THEY ARE BLEEDING. Then Nov 2010 came flashing back to me. On Nov 2010, Maia was bitten on the hand by a stray little kitty that she picked up and went all giddy with. Kitty was of course not happy with the gesture so she went for Maia's hand. It was just a puncture wound but I was told cat bites are even more dangerous than dog bites.

I panicked and felt almost like a headless chicken. I didn't know what to do. Rabies is such a scary thought normally associated with death. I texted our Pedia and I was told to go to the nearest Animal Bite Center. I had no idea where that was so I went and searched in the internet. We have one at the City hall but since it was a holiday (and already past 6pm) that wasn't a good option. RITM was also just 30 mins away but they too only accept patients during office hours. After about an hour of swimming in worry, I sat down, organized my thoughts and forced myself to calm down. I decided to read/research more on first aid tips for animal bites and wait for the following morning. Although I felt it was something urgent, at that point I also thought there was really nothing else I can do. We have limited resources not having our own car to mobilize us in searching for bite centers.

LIGHT-BULB MOMENT FOR ME: Make a list of emergency numbers - hospitals, clinics, doctors, ANIMAL BITE CENTERS, Police Station, Fire Station. What else am I missing?

My first instinct was to secure the cat so we immediately bought a cage to place the cat in. We wanted to keep it healthy for observation in the next few days. Meanwhile, we tended to the puncture wound. Made sure it was clean. The following day we headed to the municipal bite center over at the Dasma City Hall. When we got there, we were told that Maia's bite was a Cat III. She was to be administered the full course of the post-exposure treatment. If I recall it correctly, the first day (day 0) Maia received 7 shots on the puncture site itself and one anti-tetanus shot on the shoulders. It was really heartbreaking. But it needed to be done. The succeeding visits (day 3, day 7 and day 28) were a lot better. On the last day actually, it seemed like the little girl was already immuned to the needles so there was no need to restrain her. I remember asking the municipal health officer then how long is the effectivity of the vaccine and if my memory serves me right, it was good for 5 years. I felt relieved but thought I really didn't need to know because I will never let that happen again.

Well, I thought wrong again. Last week, I was torn -- do I take blindly the information that I was told or do I bring the little girl back to a bite center. I scoured the web again for something that can help me decide and I chanced upon this very informative write up from WHO. Here's a summary of the recommended treatment and the bite categories:

Table: Recommended post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies infection

Category of exposure to suspect rabid animal	Post-exposure measures
Category I – touching or feeding animals, licks on intact skin (i.e. no exposure)	None
Category II – nibbling of uncovered skin, minor scratches or abrasions without bleeding	Immediate vaccination and local treatment of the wound
Category III – single or multiple transdermal bites or scratches, licks on broken skin; contamination of mucous membrane with saliva from licks, exposures to bats.	Immediate vaccination and administration of rabies immunoglobulin; local treatment of the wound

After that first brush with animal bite, I immediately made a shortlist of the nearest hospitals that housed bite centers. After reading this, we dressed and brought the little girl to the nearest bite center in St. Dominic Medical Center in Bacoor. When we got there, they examined the wound and confirmed to us that she indeed needs to be administered the booster shots. They were to be administered in Day 0 and Day 3. The nurse commended me for keeping Maia's vaccine records. He said that had I lost it, we would probably have been advised to undergo the entire full course of vaccinations again. I heaved a sigh of relief and whispered a prayer of thanks.

Maia already finished the 2 shots. She tells me each time she was given the vaccine that she's mad at me and at the kitty. But all that was immediately erased by a trip to the nearby McDonald's store for her chicken fix. Yes, she's mababaw like that.

What are the lessons I learned from all this? Well, a lot. I'm glad I've already gotten rid of the guilt but I do wish I have more guts to let go of the cats. We have two kitties who were strays but we've had them for almost 3 years now. How do I get rid of them? I really do not have any idea. If only we have money to give them anti-rabies shots, that would solve my problem but for now we don't, so the only prevention we know is for the little girl to stay away from them. I am darn hoping she has also learned her lesson/s.

I don't wish for anybody to be in this situation but just in case you'd fall in the same situation here's a long list of helpful, informative reads. Please click here. The first aid tips we got from the nurses were:

- make sure the wound is washed and cleaned well. apply disinfectant and dress with a gauge bandage if the wound is big.

- if you can safely keep the animal for observation, please do.

- go to the nearest bite center as soon as you can. (from Maia's vaccination card: Proper treatment of possible exposure to rabies includes the earliest administration of potent cell culture vaccine and immunoglobulin)

If you live near our area (Molino-Dasmarinas Cavite) and is at a loss on where you can go, here's a list of the bite centers that I know:

Asia Medic Family Hospital and Medical Center
Phone: (046) 416-1110
Old Pala-pala Road, Sampaloc I

Dasmarinas, Cavite 4114

St Dominic Medical Center

Phone: (046) 417-2525/(046) 417-2539/(046) 417-2520

Aguinaldo Hi-Way, Talaba,

Bacoor, Cavite

City Government of Dasmarinas Animal Bite Center

Phone: (046) 416 0095 loc 194

Dasma City Hall

Dasmarinas City, Cavite 4114

Here's a full list of ANIMAL BITE CENTERS in the Philippines.

Maia's Take on More Fun In The Philippines

2012-01-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

Maia has been a commuter since she was a little baby. We do not own a car so we made damn sure the little girl enjoys her time while commuting with us. Always.

She's probably ridden almost all types of transportation available in the country (although she has yet to take the RORO). Having parents coming from the opposite parts of the country (Tibs being a Kapampangan and Me a Visayan), she pretty much used to travelling and commuting on long trips. Of all the available transport in the country, Maia's favorite is the jeepney. She hates any ride that is air-conditioned though. So I should probably me more specific with this...she loves riding open-windowed jeepneys! And does she enjoy it? Extremely would always be the answer. When we go home to Pampanga, she would demand we ride a jeepney instead of the bus. I wish we could, she'd probably go nuts with the scenery (since she's always asleep half of the way so she's always missing most of the greens along NLEX).

So, despite being quite late - has it been more than a week? - already (the hype has definitely gone down) here's our contribution to the latest DOT tourism campaign. See http://www.itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/ for more details.

Cruising along McArthur Hi-way inside her favorite ride (couldn't find the Harabara font in Photoscape so I grabbed the closest font I could get)

One Down, A Few More To Go

2012-01-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, Maia and I went back to get the results of her first assessment exam in Statefields School in Bacoor. And yes! she passed it. She was so proud of herself. She repeatedly told me she's so ready for school. Well, you will have to wait a little bit more little girl. But it will come soon!

One down, __ more to go! Lolz

Here's a few photos I took of Maia on our last visit. I had more time in my hands so I was able to take photos.

Waiting patiently at the lobby while I pay for our reservation fee

If you are planning to enroll your child in Statefields, here are a few tips for you:

- Inquire early. My mommy friend Erlaine and I inquired as early as November because Statesfields preschool has very limited slots (for nursery they only accept up to 45 students per school year. That's 15 students per section and they only have 3)

- Complete and submit your requirements as soon as you can. I completed and submitted our requirements all in one day so I had the freedom to choose the dates for Maia's assessment exam.

- Choose a time and day where your child would be in her most comfortable state. Maia is up early and is uber-energetic in the mornings so I took the first morning schedule they had. We set it a week after the holidays so that she's slowly gotten back to her normal, daily routine.

- Reserve as soon as you get the results. The slots are filled up early so it's best to reserve even if you aren't fully decided yet to enroll. Reservation fee is only for P500 and is deductible on the tuition fee on enrollment day. It's non-refundable though. We aren't fully decided yet. We would want to check at least 2 to 3 more schools before we make the decision but we would feel really awful if we lose our spot so we decided to reserve as soon as we got the positive results.

Feeling estudyante na!

I gotta see what's new first mom. Wait lang.

Pagod na ako eh. Upo muna tayo.

We're off to check a few more schools in the coming months. It's a good thing the other schools that we are eyeing are not as tight as Statefields so we're more relaxed now. Oh by the way, another tip probably is for you to stock up on lots of 1x1 ID pictures and birth and baptismal certificate copies (you will need at least a copy of the original and several photocopies). I need to work on mine since I didn't make a lot of copies the first time.

The School Hunt Begins

2012-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

We started our hunt for Maia's pre-school already. Last Monday, she took an assessment exam at Statefields School in Bacoor. I was a frantic momma after realizing I never even bothered to check what was needed during the assessment exam. I panicked when I saw that I was supposed to prepare pencils and an eraser but didn't bring any. So much for my being a stage momma.

Fortunately, the teachers were really nice and despite us arriving a few minutes later than schedule they still accomodated the uber-excited Maia. I didn't get to catch my breath anymore and say my proper goodbye before she went into the room for her exam because she was immediately whisked inside. She bid me bye-bye and I hastily gave my goodluck.

We were then told to wait for them in the lobby. I panicked again fearing she might cry when she starts looking for me and would not see me seated just outside of the assessment room where she left me earlier. I had no choice though so I waited with my mommy friend Erl and her hubby at the school's lobby. Guess what? My fears were unfounded because the little miss enjoyed her time so much that she really took a full hour with the teacher. I was told she was able to answer all the questions that were thrown to her and managed to even sing and dance with the teacher. **proud momma moment**

We didn't stay long after that because we decided to check out another school nearby (well, not really near but it was only about 15 mins away by car from where we live so it's still okay). The school is Westhill International School in Salitran (Dasma, Cavite) and it is leaning more on the progressive approach as compared to Statefields' traditional method. We went directly to the registrar's office and we were assigned a teacher to tour us around. We were lucky to have visited during a school day so we were able to see how the kids were inside the classroom.

Questions we raised (well it was mostly Erl who raised the questions because I was busy chasing after my super hyper little girl) during our school tour -

1. How many students are there in one class?
2. How many teachers are there to supervise the class?
3. What are the major school activities that the kids are usually required to participate in?
4. Are the kids required to go on fieldtrips? If yes, where usually?
5. What teaching principle do you follow?
6. What other extra-curricular activities do you offer for the kids?

I knew I should have been more ready with my questions and noted to write them down for our succeeding school tours/open house visits. Next up for us is the open house at Elizabeth Seton School in Imus, Cavite. Erl and I would like to visit as many schools in our area as we can so that we can pick the best choice when it's already time for us to make a decision. There is also this school much nearer to our place - Scuola Sorelle Faoili - that my aunt is recommending me to check out. We might add this to our list as well along with The Palmridge School in Imus.

We still have a few months to go although at SSI, we are required to make a decision early so we're weighing things out. Right now, having come across this very helpful article in smartparenting.com.ph, I am trying to research more on the types of teaching approaches and find out what approach would best fit my daughter.

For now, our major considerations would be:

- Accessibility. How far is the school from our home?

- Teaching approach. Which approach best fits my daughter's learning style. My first choice is really Waldorf. But neither of the two schools nor the kindergarten are anywhere near where we live so I will have to shelf that for now. It doesn't seem right for me to be subjecting my 3 year old toddler to more than an hour of travel just to be in school. But I'm still keeping my options open with this one.

- School Environment and Safety. Will my child be safe when she's in school? How tight is security? Is the environment conducive for learning?

- Finances. How will choosing this school impact our finances? Can we afford the tuition fee and sustain it for the next few years at least?

This list would probably grow longer as I progress on my research. I know that choosing our child's school is one of the major decisions that we will ever be making for her. With the proper research, I am hoping my husband and I would be able to make the most appropriate (if not the best) choice.

First school tour at SSI last Nov 2011

Daddy's Corner: Truckie from Trash

2012-01-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, Maia is a girl. But we would like to teach our kid gender equality even at this early age, so we let her play with whatever kid-friendly toy she pleases.

I guess my being a pack rat (and a lover for trash - no pun intended) has somehow rubbed on my husband that nowadays when he sees unused boxes he immediately thinks of making a toy out of it for Maia.

So today, as we were packing away Christmas decors and making some space to store our Christmas tree in our bedroom he found a small box that he thought would be great to make a truck out of. Maia is of course excited. Despite her being a girl, yes she's a big fan of Cars too. And there was a point in her babyhood when she loved watching all types of vehicles pass by. When we were having a hard time putting her to sleep, her dad would take her out to see the truckies and cars and come home with a baby quietly sleeping in his arms.

So anyways, from that 2 small boxes, 3 tissue paper rolls and a couple of metal fasteners he was able to come up with this:

Hey there, Mr. Truckie. You need a paint job!

Fasteners from my craft box. I knew they would come in handy!

The little girl is now busy playing with her truckie. She's so far transported some animals for her mini-zoo. And drove Hetty, Woody, her toy blocks around for (probably) some sight-seeing. She's refused to nap because she's just too busy playing tour guide to her 'friends'.

can you see ms. elephant in there?

taking Hetty on a spin

Oh well, she does deserve more play time after recovering from her tummy flu so I just let her be. No nap equates to an early bedtime for us anyways so it's a win-win for me.

How's your weekend going so far?

Happy Birthday to our Daddy Prince!

2012-01-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

Yes Maia calls her dad her Prince. And of course, the daddy couldn't be any happier. His wish is actually to remain as her prince till she's 35. Is that strict or is that strict???

Well, before the two of them reach that stage where arguments already revolved around curfews and boys I'd like for both of them to enjoy each other's company to its fullest. So I try to make it a point to keep one day of the weekend sacred for family time and celebrate events like birthdays in a big way. Well big doesn't really have to mean spending so much in my vocabulary. I think it's more of the effort that was put into it that makes a celebration BIG.

we labored on this birthday card Friday morning
we couldn't find time to do it without arousing suspicion from the bday boy

So for our daddy's birthday yesterday, we woke up extra early to sing happy birthday to him. Maia was still groggy but I managed to get her to help me set up the cake and the candles. I'm happy that despite having woken her up from a really good, snore-worthy sleep, she was so cheery. Her excitement over surprising her dad with a cake and her handmade card truly erased her sleepiness away. So we lighted the candles and went to wake the birthday boy up to make a wish and blow his birthday candles. I tried to create two 3's using the leftover candles from Maia's 3rd birthday but I didn't think I succeeded in doing that. I left it anyways afraid I'd just ruin the cake even more.

candles were supposed to be two 3's but i didn't have the skills for that. lolz

Too bad I wasn't able to take anymore pictures but I was able to capture that on video. This is the 2nd year that we've done this since Maia learned to sing happy birthday. I'm hoping we could keep doing this till she gets tired of it. (and yes, till I am able to sneak in and hide the cake from the birthday boy).

here's a big kiss for my Daddy Prince!

Happy, happy birthday Daddy Prince! Thank you for trying to be patient with me. Thank you for your guidance. Thank you for taking time to make me toys from scratch (I'm still waiting for the replacement of that doll house you made before). Thank you for teaching me to be brave. Thank you for always saying I love you to me because that taught me say I love you back. Thank you for everything. Mommy and I love you very, very much!

Birthday boy hates being photographed

A Project For Her Prince

2012-01-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

I had a really grand plan (this crafting thing has really bitten me big-time) for this little surprise of ours but tummy flu got in the way so we had to settle for this. At least in was still handmade. I hope Maia's prince will like it because the little miss really did make the effort to prettify it.

She's really excited to hand this over to our birthday boy tomorrow. (times like this I'm happy my husband never reads this blog. lolz)

She sealed it with a kiss, Daddy Prince!

Stricken By Stomach Flu

2012-01-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

The little miss is currently having a big bout with stomach flu. I was up at 1am yesterday monitoring her since she's been vomiting (she threw up 3x before breakfast). This morning she held on to my hand when I was bidding her goodbye. She requested that I spend a few more minutes holding her hand. She dozed off while I was lightly rubbing her back. I kissed her and immediately left after that because I knew if I was to stay longer I won't have the heart to leave her anymore. I am desperately trying to keep my focus so I won't give in to this desire to go home and personally tend to my sick little girl. I already took a day off from work yesterday to bring her to the Pedia so I really do not have that luxury to take another day off.

Luckily our Pedia thought there's no need for any medications yet and instead told us to just keep hydrating BUT was instructed to immediately bring her to the ER if the vomiting persists. My little girl has already developed a fear of hospitals having been confined several times already before she turned two. Last year was a lot better and we were hoping we will be taking a long break from needle pricks, IV insertions and sleeping in hospital beds. Having understood already what her pedia said yesterday, she's been fighting her sickness real hard. She finally got some food in during lunch yesterday and took a few spoonfuls again for dinner last night. I was so happy she didn't throw up. This morning she was hungrier than usual. She took a bite of my peanut butter sandwich and ate almost half a cup of rice + egg for breakfast. But I guess the peanut butter didn't go well with her still sensitive tummy so she pooped immediately after breakfast. Then on my way to work, the nanny called to tell me she threw up a little bit when she woke up from her nap. Sigh.

She's been taking Glucolyte and is active but I'm really really hoping the vomiting and pooping will really stop. She's been through enough. And it breaks my heart hearing her say, "ayaw ko na. ayaw ko na" while desperately trying not to vomit.

Please pray she gets better. She's still thinking of making her dad a birthday card for his birthday this weekend.

Please be well already little girl.

Great Find/Arts-N-Crafts: Art Voyage

2012-01-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

My holiday break from work was extended till today. After breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse early this morning, I didn't know how else I can keep the little girl's hands busy. She was getting bored fast and I wanted to steer her attention away from the TV so I took her with me to run some errands. A stopover to the nearby Hypermart branch was necessary and learning that got her even more excited. I decided to drop by National Bookstore since I was thinking I might find some lacing beads there. We initially used macaroni on a lacing activity but the one we had at home was the elbow kind and she was having a hard time getting the thread out of the macaroni shell. Too bad for me, the NBS branch here didn't have any beads that we can use so I just let her roam around the store instead. She spent a lot of time browsing through the Adarna/Tahanan books section. But while walking around the store, this box caught my attention. ART VOYAGE it said. I took one out of the shelf to check it out. It look intriguing enough so I got the box with the #1 on it and paid for it.

a box full of surprises

Top - list of activities (A lot!)

most of the materials needed on every activity came with the box.
we only needed to provide the crayons and the glue.

When Maia saw it, she couldn't wait to get home and open it. But good thing she fell asleep on our way home. When she woke up from her nap this afternoon, guess what she immediately remembered? The Art Voyage box!

So we opened it and she couldn't wait to get started. She chose the page first and it took her almost an hour to finish! I couldn't be happier because this activity had her full attention she forgot to turn the TV on. This set had enough activities to last for the entire week. I'm planning to complete all 6 of them (the box says there is an A-B and then a 1-3). Every page contains a different activity so I'm optimistic this will keep her curiosity up and buy us plenty of TV time off. I still have a couple of crafting activities in mind but I'm saving them for our lazy weekends so Tibs can also participate.

Fresh from her nap, she immediately got down to work on her first Art Voyage activity

How Many Friends Do I Have, Mommy?

2012-01-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

During playground time yesterday afternoon, the little miss threw me that question. So before she took the slides, we counted how many friends she has here in our village. She enumerated all the friends she's known since she was a baby and when we got to #8, she smiled and happily announced - 'I HAVE MANY FRIENDS, MOM'

Oh poor baby.

I know, I know my reaction was a bit off. Hearing my daughter affirming the friendships she built should have been something nice to hear if not for the drama we had that morning.

You see, our household has been busy the entire month of December till New Year's Day. So Maia's never had a dull moment at home since the beginning of the holiday month. She's always had company at home. And we were thankful because since last June (2011) when school started, Maia's village friends have mostly graduated to being preschoolers and she'd rarely have friends over during the day anymore. There was a time when our house was almost like a daycare center with 3 or 4 kids coming over to play with Maia but afternoon company has really gone scarce this year so we really look forward to relatives coming over and play dates.

I am digressing (bad habit really). So back to the drama yesterday morning, Maia's cousins from the Paras side are preparing to leave since the holiday vacation is already over and they will be back to school come Monday. Maia has been telling us she wanted to come with them (yes she was telling us she's okay if she leaves without us) but we didn't take it seriously. So we were a bit surprised to see her wailing her heart out when her lola and her cousin actually left the house. She was so mad at us because we didn't let her go with them. I tried to distract her but she wouldn't stop crying so I finally gave up and let us cry till she got tired. We decided we'll just talk with her when the drama is over.

When she settled and finally took my invitation to paint, I heaved a sigh of relief. Tantrums are always draining and not knowing how to pacify your kid could really turn you into a smoking momma (and you know I don't mean sexy). What's even worse is the heartbreaking fact that my kid actually told me (and her dad) she's okay leaving us behind and going away on her own with her cousins. Am I really hearing this? This soon?

Then at playtime that afternoon, that's when it hit me. My little girl is finally seeking to get her social needs satisfied. And having her cousins around to play with till nighttime was definitely the big break she needed. I reckon that the thought of being stuck with the company of adults day in and day out probably saddened her and thus leading to the question of how many kid friends she's actually got and feeling good after getting the affirmation she needed.

Oh this parenting thing is really tough. And if I don't open my mind and put myself in my kid's shoes at times, I know it's gonna be a lot tougher. So I'm happy she gave me time to suck it all in and understand her as well. I'm also happy that in the end, she realized I can also be a friend and a playmate. I hope it stays that way. Because as a parent, my goal is not only to gain my daughter's respect for my authority but also to gain my daughter's trust. Just enough for her to be able to come and talk to me freely when she's having problems - trivial or big they may be (they shouldn't matter).

I'm glad we ended the day well yesterday and with a great, big smile from this wonderful, adorable kid I treasure so much!

Wea/inning From The Bottle Battle

2011-12-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

You've probably read in a couple (if not a lot) of my posts here about my failure with breastfeeding. It's probably one failure that I had the hardest time letting go. I nagged myself for a long time. And I guess it was only when Maia started eating healthy portions of her solids and getting less and less sicker that I finally forgave myself.

Bestfriends with her bottle

I aimed to wean my daughter off the bottle at 15 months. I thought by that time she's finally used to eating solid food and I'm probably comfortable with feeding her table food as well. And I thought 15 is a good number (not that I'm superstitious). Three months after the 1st birthday should give me enough time to train her to stop feeding from the bottle.

I took my timeline seriously. I got the entire household involved. They supported me back. But the first 2 years wasn't very good to us health-wise. We had a lot of hospital confinements - one battle with sepsis, two pneumonia attacks, one dehydration scare, and one fracture incident. Instead of feeling comfortable with motherhood, those hospital trips just made me angry at myself even more. I felt like I wasn't doing a good job with this mothering thing. And yet, I was sure I did everything by the book. What else should I be doing??? Ahhh, the woes of a first-time mom.

To cut the story short those difficulties set me back for a good one year off my timeline. I felt that taking away the milk would just make her even more weaker (ohhh yes, I fell for all those marketing tactics. They worked for me alright) and deprive her of the essential nutrients her body needed then.

But exactly one year ago, I got so tired of chasing the little girl during meal time and struggling with picky eating. So during a visit to the pedia, I mentioned how I wanted her to wean off the bottle already (tried and failed many times over). Doc agreed it was really time to let go of the bottle. I was actually way overdue she said. When I told her I pity the little girl when she cries, she told me back: "Mas lalo kang maawa sa anak mo pag sira na ang ngipin nya at di na makakain ng mabuti" (translation: Pity your child more when all her teeth decays and couldn't eat well anymore because of the rotten teeth). So I asked for her help and she got down with Maia and told her that drinking from the bottle won't do her teeth any good. And that if her teeth rots, she won't be as pretty as Jillian Ward (she was a kid actress that was so popular with kids then) anymore. I don't know if it was because she sees the doc as an authority figure or what but when I reinforced the doc's words after we left the clinic, she nodded her head to say she understood.

When she napped that afternoon, I immediately got to work and hid the bottles from sight. I hid all of them including the pacifiers and the extra silicone nipples and even the bottle brushes. I made sure there wasn't anything in the house that would remind her she once fed using the bottle.

At 26 months, Maia wasn't consuming a lot of formula milk anyways. She could barely finish a 6-oz bottle in one sitting. 16-20 ounces tops was the best she can do in a day so that afternoon wasn't really tough for us. She didn't look for the bottle and gladly took a glass of fresh milk and drank all of it when I offered it during her afternoon snack.

How can you not give in to this look, Mom?

Nighttime was a different story. She cried (and boy she cried REALLY hard) for 2 straight nights. We were all sleep-deprived because she'd be up every hour and yell for the bottle. But I kept replaying what the pedia told me earlier. That it will only take her 3 nights the most to forget about the bottle. So each time she asked for her dede (bottle) I closed my eyes and prayed for a lot of strength so I can withstand the crying. Guess what happened on the third night? Maia woke up middle of the night and asked for a GLASS of milk. Yes, she said: Mommy mik please. Sa glass ha? I wanted to jump with joy! But I couldn't or else I'd end up dealign with a fully awake toddler in the middle of the night so I had to settle for a big, wide smirk instead. All our efforts paid off!!!

So that was how we finally bid our feeding bottles good-bye. Guess what? After she said goodbye to the formula and the bottle, she started enjoying her solids. She finished her meal servings without so much struggle and would ask for second (even third) helpings most days.

To summarize, what made this goal achievable for me were 3 things:

(1) consistency. When you say it's a no, MEAN it. I had to close my eyes and suck in the pleading coupled with relentless crying but in the end, really, it's not just you who will reap the benefits.

(2) persistence. If it didn't work today. Try again tomorrow. But don't give up. There's always light at the end of the tunnel (hehe). AND;

(3) support. In our case, the pep talk from the pedia and support from my husband and yaya helped me tremendously. I couldn't have done it on my own.

It was a battle that I finally won. And I was so proud of myself. And of my little girl who was so understanding and cooperative and so wise beyond her years.

Oh how I love her dearly!

Arts-N-Crafts: Wiggly Snake

2011-12-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Tibs took the reigns in engaging Maia to do an art project. I didn't force him to. But Maia did. Since he didn't have the heart to make a pass on the little girl's request, all he can do is put up a smile and take the scissors from me.

This is another activity shared in Playhouse Disney. We first made pencil holders. And then this caught the little girl's attention while she was browsing an old issue of the magazine. Good thing we have all the materials on hand.

Here's what they used for this project:

a paper plate
a pair of googly eyes
poster paint (yellow)
paintbrush
red marker
scissors
string (optional)

What they did:

1. Tibs painted the wrong side yellow. Maia initially helped but she wanted to paint the sky, the ocean and whatever probably came to mind so we got her another paper plate to play with. He set it aside to dry.

2. When the plate dried up he drew a spiral on it and cut it.

3. Maia stuck the googly eyes on the center of the spiral.

4. We then (I just had to jump in) drew red triangles on what was to be the snake's body. Maia colored the triangles after. Tibs also stuck in a cut out of a tongue to make it more 'realistic' (lol).

Maia had a blast chasing and scaring us with this snake-y. She opted not to tie a string because she wanted to hold the 'snake' itself. Fearless kid you might say. But that's just for the show. She's actually very scared of snakes and would avoid these when we're in the zoo.

I can do this, Mommy!

2011-12-12T21:54:00.000-08:00

Tibs and I always try to be hands-on during weekends. We bathe her, feed her, play with her, read, talk, share stories. We feel we owe her that much undivided time so we try our best to free up our weekends for her. On days that we can't and had to leave the house, we bring her with us as much as possible.

I am happy we still get to be hands on parents even for just 2 days. It is during those times that we get to witness milestones first hand. They may be exhausting most times but the rewards well, they're just really priceless.

Like this weekend for instance, I was helping her into her pajamas when she stopped me and told me to let her do it because she already can. I thought to myself, oh wow, our little girl has indeed graduated to little miss independent.

Moments like this are bittersweet but I'm sure most parents can relate when I say they're also joyfully overwhelming. Milestones like this make you realize how your kids have grown and makes you realize for the nth time how fast time flies.

Art-N-Crafts: Popsicle Flowers

2011-12-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Ain't It Pretty? (Don't mind the elephant, hehe)

I first saw this in Pinterest. I thought this was just perfect since we've already accumulated popsicle sticks and I couldn't think of anything nice to make out of them.

I first planned on making flowers out of the non-colored ones that we had and have Maia paint them with whatever colors she pleased but then the toddler got overly excited about this project and wanted us to finish fast! (Boy, this little girl really needs to learn how to be patient)

So I grabbed the materials and headed out to the garden so we can start the activity. These are the materials that we used for this project:

Colored popsicle sticks (bought our stash from Uncle Bills in Ayala MRT)
Buttons (from our holiday project)
Foam sheets (bought a set from the SM Office Supplies section for P39.75)
Glue
Scissors

It was a pretty simple project. I showed the little girl the photo from PInterest and she almost knew what to do already. She only had trouble getting the sticks to set properly because initially she piled them altogether and poured glue on them. I taught her it was better done one at a time so we piled two first. Then added another stick. And then the last one. We waited for the petals to dry up first before attaching the stem and the foam leaf.

We're hoping to make more of these so we can stick them right on our garden during summer (not really a good idea to do them now since it's been raining on and off).

I also think this would have been better had we used glue gun instead of the ordinary glue but I didn't want to risk getting the little miss' tiny fingers burned (like I did on mine once).

Ballerina Princess

2011-12-09T19:59:00.001-08:00

I never imagined you'd be fascinated with princesses and ballet since I never was as a child but you are indeed your own person. Bear in mind that whatever your heart desires we will always be there to support you all the way, baby girl.

Showing me her ballerina moves one morning. She was struggling to keep her balance
but it was really fun watching her make the effort entertain me.

Making It Up to Santa

2011-12-08T18:03:00.001-08:00

As a follow up to my post yesterday, it turns out it was just a spur of the moment comment from the little girl. I realized that it was just probably brought about by her frustration on not getting her way again and of me actually introducing the thought that Santa might not really exist by asking that question.

She tried to make up with Santa by doing this:

More drawings to add to our growing collection

I came home last night to pages of drawings that were specially made for Santa to see.

She took out some of the handmade ornaments from our tree and traced out the shapes and drew the details on them afterwards. I know that if she could write Santa a letter she already would've.

Good thing she used washable markers.
Poor ornaments had smudges of ink on them. Hahaha.

I was just so happy to see this. My little girl is really still a kid after all. And I hope she will always hold fond memories of all the Christmases we've spent together.

Yes Maia, There Is A Santa Claus

2011-12-07T18:22:00.001-08:00

I was afraid I was going to have a Virginia moment this morning. But thank God we haven't gone to that point yet.

This morning I was wrapping up stuff for our office Kris-kringle and the little miss saw some nice looking pens inside the paper bag. She attempted to grab it but I stopped her and reminded her it’s not hers.

“You want these?”

“Yes, Mommy”

“Well, let’s add this to your wishes for Santa. He might just get you some too”

“Ayaw.” (I Don’t Want To)

“Why? You don’t believe in Santa anymore?”

“Oo. Wala. Walang Santa”. (Yes. Santa doesn’t exist!)

Yes Maia, There is a Santa Claus. You just wait and see in 17 days.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I will just copy paste here the editorial from The Sun from which the title of this post spun from. We also used this for my college pub's editorial page (the year I first sat as the Editor In Chief) for a Christmas edition way back in '99 (i'm not so sure now).

I just wanted to bookmark it here for Maia to read when she's older. I just feel all kids should get the chance to read this. It exudes so much positivity and hope. That is how I've always looked at Christmas as a child.

Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

****
Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York'sSun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.
****

Maia, the Photographer

2011-11-24T18:44:00.001-08:00

Despite having a doting [stage] mother, my little miss remains really shy around people. She doesn't like being the center of attention. She doesn't like to dance nor sing like most kids her age. She doesn't like to be photographed and always just smile in photos to give in to my relentless coaxing.

What my daughter really loves doing though is to tell stories usually thu drawing and painting. I couldn't rave enough of them as several of my posts would attest to just like in here and here. Of late, we noticed another activity she seems to be having so much fun doing. She has bid her addiction to angry birds goodbye and now prefers the camera app once she gets her hand on my phone.

Anyway,she took several photos this morning using my phone camera. I made a collage of my 3 favorites photos. I was really just amazed when I saw the photos. Nobody prompted her to start taking pictures or taught her which object to shoot. She just really picked subjects to focus on and clicked away. And they were mostly single shots, mind you. Not trigger-happy, random shots of 20 or so frames where I had to choose which ones were the best.

I love these three most.

These two are runners-up.

I hope her enthusiasm to learn never wanes. And if she does develop a passion for the arts or music we will gladly support it. Actually, whatever your heart desires to pursue in the future Maia - Suportahan ka gid namon!

Meanwhile, expect me to flood this blog with overwhelming photo posts in the coming days :)

Look Who Came To Visit

2011-11-24T18:14:00.000-08:00

Maia's cousin Gogol is spending the next 9 days with us. The last time he came to visit was December 2008. That was when Maia was still a tiny little baby while Gogol could barely run yet and neither of them had a memory of the visit ever happening.

Gogol has recently taken more interest towards riding an airplane again. The last time we went home to Antique, he accompanied us to the airport and it was kind of painful seeing him so eager to get inside the pre-departure area only to be stopped by the guards because it was restricted area for non-passengers.

We were planning for another December get-together so he can finally come visit but an earlier travel plan came up for my mom and she thought it might be a good idea to bring him along since it's a longer visit. It will provide ample time for Gogol and Maia to bond again. :)

Today is Day 2. Gogol arrived around 10am yesterday and they aren't over the giggling, shouting, jumping and just-so-overly-happy-to-see-each-other part yet. They have a love-hate relationship but I guess most toddlers are just like that. Fact of the matter is they really adore each other and couldn't stop talking about one another when they're apart. My sister and I try to raise them like siblings. I think that's just exactly how they see each other. They fight like there's no tomorrow but easily forgets as soon as they make up.

I had to give them a ball each or else one of them
would end up grabbing the ball from the other.

Making eggs for breakfast. Just look at that naughty look on Gogol's face

Maia intends to tour his Manong Gogol around her favorite places in our village. She's got it all planned out. Afternoons at the playground and a dip at the pool in between.

When they see each other next summer, I'm sure they'll have more interesting things to talk about already. I can only imagine. Hehe.

Maia Draws Toodles

2011-11-16T23:08:00.001-08:00

We came home to this last night:

It was strategically placed on our sofa. Ate Belen, our yaya, said Maia placed the drawings there herself to make sure they immediately catch our attention when we arrive from work.

Amazing, right? (Or Am I really just an uber-proud Momma?)

My parents (Maia's grandparents) found Maia's drawings interesting and well, amazing (sorry that's the only word that stuck on my head). My dad would say he couldn't remember any of us making drawings of faces at Maia's age (well, none of us grew up to be good illustrators except of course for my sister Tips who paints really well). Maia does hers with facial expressions already. And her drawings often come with a story. Like the ones you see in the center and the rightmost portion of the photo above.

If you've been watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, you'd most likely be familiar with the drawing on the leftmost portion of the photo. Yes, that is Maia's version of Toodles. I found the 2 other drawings believable since I've personally seen Maia create a story out of drawings many times but this drawing of Toodles wasn't all too convincing for me. Don't get me wrong. I really am very proud of what my daughter can do. It's just sometimes, I feel like our nanny is playing with us (maybe to impress us more and show us how good she is at encouraging her alaga's creativity). I go cynical like that sometimes. Haha.

I pressed our yaya to admit that she actually did the drawing but she wouldn't give in and claim credit for it. She told me it was really Maia. Not once did she ever interfere when Maia starts drawing she says. So I asked Maia to make me the same drawing. Guess what? She really did draw it herself! That left me really grinning from ear to ear (and I was even lucky to have recorded it on video! Yay!).

Horseys From Dapitan Arcade

2011-11-15T20:40:00.001-08:00

We found these pretty little horsies at our recent trip to the Dapitan Arcade. We bought the set for just P150 and the little girl literally jumped with joy when we were unloading them from the car. She was shouting deer! deer! (as in reindeer) and hugging them non-stop.

With Mommy Deer and Baby Deer
(I got tired correcting her. It's probably best for her imagination anyways
so if she wants to think these are deers then I'm letting her do just that. Hehe)

She brought the babies into our bedroom thinking we'd let her
sleep with them. Sorry baby...baka mangati ka eh. Dayami kaya yan.

Next year I plan to bring her along when we come back for more decors. The house would probably have more space then and maybe we can finally get the little girl some Santa Clause decors. I know she'd be really thrilled to see Santa hanging on one of our windows. Tibs and I are also planning to drop by after the holidays maybe we could score some wooden toys for her because this time of the year you'd find mostly Christmas goodies there.

Our Long Weekend in Photos

2011-11-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

Unlike many families who would probably pack weekend bags and take their family to a weekend outing to the beach or some place pretty outside of the city, we always choose to spend our long weekends leisurely (read: lazily) at home. Well, we already live outside of the city anyways and are already enjoying the breath of fresh air from our area so we really have everything we need here to relax. When Maia was an infant we had plenty of this but lately it has become rarer so we grabbed the opportunity to just be lazy and enjoy each other's company.

Here is how we spent our long weekend in pictures. I've also recently discovered this really great android camera effects app and have since been clicking non-stop.

early morning bonding time at the playground

Dad and Maia bonded with nature

Spent lotsa hugging time with Lolo and Lola

Puzzle time! I got to see her complete 3 (somehow) complicated puzzles

Maia joined us in an early morning run.
She was able to complete 800m. Good job, little girl!

Enjoying tacos for meryenda!

ending the weekend with another bonding time at the playground

Hope y'all had a wonderful long weekend just like we did!

Sorry for the overwhelming pictures in this post. As you can see, I was really hooked to this camera app. Hope your weekend was as great as ours!

Mornings With Maia

2011-11-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

She usually wakes up early. Just as her dad would get up to prepare for work, she's up as well. She'd like to fuss over her 'babies' (fave stuffed toys). She's usually sunny in the mornings. Occasionally though, she'd throw a mini-tantrum especially when she can't find one of her babies (which are usually just buried under one of the pillows).

She always cracks us up the minute she starts her blabber. This morning even more hilarious. Let me share with you snippets of the conversations exchanged in our household this morning.

Tibs to Maia: Baby, parang kulang na mga puzzles na yan. San na ang iba?

Maia: Di ko alam! Di ako si Mommy! O si Ate Belen! Di ako nagtatapon! (yesterday we threatened to throw away her toys because she refused to pack them away)

Me to Maia: Good morning Maia! Mukhang tumangkad ka na ulit! Tara measure nga natin height mo. (she goes to stand by the height chart and waits for me to take measurements) Then she goes to grab the pen from me. I move away and looked for some place out of her reach to put the pen on. She throws a tantrum and cries on the floor. I wait for her to stop and scooped her up to talk to her in our bedroom. I explain: Hindi mo pwede sulatan yung chart kasi pano pa natin masusukat yung laki mo pag puno na sya ng sulat. Alam mo naman san ka pwede magsulat di ba? She yells: Ayaw ko! Ayaw ko magsulat sa paper! Ayaw koooooooo! I tell her back: Bakit ka sumisigaw? Sino ba boss? She replies: AKO! Ako boss! (ano mommy, me angal ka pa?) Short pause. Then everyone laughs. She joins the laugh party.

A few days ago, we also had a good laugh hearing her bedtime monologue. I told her to pack away her toys because it's already late and she should be in bed. Refusing to follow orders, she retorted: "Ayaw ko ng gabi! Ayaw ko matulog! Palabasin nyo si Mr. Sun!" (I don't want it to be nighttime yet! I don't want to sleep! Ask Mr Sun to come out!)

Hay, Anak. The best ka talaga. And we love you very much.

How To Encourage Kids To Eat Fruits and Vegetables

2011-11-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

My daughter did not inherit my passion for food and eating. Eating was almost like a chore for her. Something that she just had to do right to impress the adults. But it never seemed to have appealed to her.

I trained her early to love eating. Especially eating food that is of the healthy nature. Although I did fail miserably on breastfeeding, I made sure I compensated that when it was time for her to eat solids. I painstakingly prepared her meals from scratch and if my schedule as a working momma doesn't permit me to do it myself, I made sure I supervise the yaya when she does it. Maia never tasted artificial toddler food like Cerelac or Gerber. And I'm really proud to say that my daughter never had an attraction towards anything salty or sweet. Yes, junk food was not something that she craved for.

Despite this, Maia still didn't each as much as I'd wished her to. Although she didn't demand for a particular taste from food, she was very picky when it came to texture so it was very difficult for us to make her eat the green, leafy ones. And we all know that those were the ones considered to be most nutritious. Maia would gag each time a malunggay leaf would get stuck in her throat. She would refuse to eat each time a thin pechay leaf would touch her tounge. She would complain non-stop when a cabbage leaf would get stuck in teeth. Eventually, she was able to distinguish the food that made her gag that the mere sight of them would lock her jaw up and force us to give up trying to make her eat them.

Fruits were also another thing that she didn't develop a loving, passionate relationship with. I tried introducing her to every local fruit available but her liking for these things were somehow also seasonal. There was a time she really liked melons but now she refused to eat them. Then she moved on to grapes. Then to bananas. Then that was it. She would take a bite of an apple, a spoonful of fresh mango, a segment of an orange, a tiny bit of a watermelon or a small slice of a pineapple but she never got to the point of wanting them which was what I was aiming for.

All these were always a major concern that I'd bring up to the pedia during our well-baby check ups. One solution that we came up with was to wean her off formula milk. That trick somehow worked. Her solid intake definitely improved after we weaned off formula milk but still, I'd like to see her eat more of the greens and fruits.

I could say that Maia's picky eating has been one of the biggest issues we've encountered raising a toddler. But thankfully there has been drastic improvement in the last 6 months. So what were the tricks that led us to somehow succeed in making her eat more?

1. Weaning off formula and the bottle. As our Pedia would say, as soon as your kid turns one, formula should not be her main source of nourishment anymore. She should really be eating more solids rather than stay dependent on formula. I ~~will make a~~ wrote separate post of this experience but we were able to successfully wean Maia off formula and the feeding bottle at 26 months.

2. Blender and Popsies. We would puree ripened fruits and freeze them into popsicles. They became an instant hit to our toddler. We also became creative. We came up with frozen Atis, Papaya and Pineapple popsicles. I'll try making guyabano popsicles next.

Homemade Avocado Ice Cream

3. Mix them up. Chopping the fruits and mixing them unto her favorite yoghurt or rolled oats.

4. Sneak in the veggies. We usually mince the veggies and greens and saute them with a little bit of diced chicken or ground meat. Egg omelets and fritatas are also a fun way to sneak in your veggies.

Eggs + Spinach

5. Serve fruits during pretend plays. Just this morning, I successfully got her to eat 10 pcs of grapes and a big banana by encouraging her to feed these fruits to her stuffed toys with whom she was throwing a birthday party for. Each time she'd attempt to feed the toys, she take a bite herself. In no time, she got to finish the fruits that I served to her.

She really likes feeding this monkey!

6. Bring color to your menu. In our case, we always try to put a variety of colors into our sauteed veggie dish so we can provide some distraction to our picky customer. For example there would be: red (bell peppers), orange (carrots), green (brocolli, cabbage or sayote) and yellow (sweet corn). She always has great fun identifying all the colors she sees on her plate.

7. Be consistent with the taste. We don't play with the taste when it came to Maia's food. We always try to replicate the taste of every dish that we know she's inclined to eat more of. We don't include vegetables that would alter the taste so we can always get her excited when we tell her what's on the menu for the day.

8. Go for natural. When we were introducing Maia to solids, we never seasoned her food. She used to favor the taste of carrots and brocolli then so to improve the taste I'd just saute white onions before adding in the minced veggies to make it sweeter and give make it more flavorful.

9. Keep a schedule. We discovered that Maia is hungriest at around 8, 11/12, 4 so we serve her breakfast, lunch and dinner around that time. Even on weekends or when we're out, we try to stick to that so we won't mess up her appetite. We usually just give her crackers or one or two pieces of cookies and a bottle of yakult or yoghurt drink for snacks.

So far, these are the tricks that got us through. This is a continuing struggle for us but I'm just really happy that she's gaining weight and I could see that she's been eating more. Some days when our convincing powers won't work, I try to supplement her meals with one malunggay capsule a day. I break the cap and mix the contents into a bottle a yakult. Fortunately for me she's never rejected my concoction and would sometimes even remind me when I forget to add the malunggay to her yakult. :)

And when all else fails, I just always remind her that fruits and veggies will keep the big C away.

Hey Little Lady, Where Are You Headed?

2011-10-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

We were initially walking together here and I was holding your hand.
You told me to let go. So I did. I stepped back and let you walk ahead of me instead.
You've really grown, I can see.
Walk safe and slow little lady. Remember, I'm just right here.

Some days you refuse to walk beside me just like you did yesterday while we were headed out to enjoy a day at the mall together. Malls are a rare treat for you so I was surprised how insistent you were that I take you. So we went to the nearby Festival Mall to hear mass, eat lunch (where you finished a full meal) and enjoy a train ride. Oh how happy you were while riding this train. You were shouting your heart out. Yelling with glee!

I really wanted to get a good photo of you aboard this train
but you were just so excited you keep jumping up and down.
It wasn't your first time on this train but this was definitely the first time you reacted like this.
Ang saya, saya ba talaga?

Sticker Swap Pals

2011-10-21T01:52:00.000-07:00

18 month old little stickerhappygirl finding pleasure in sticking em stickers on her face

Since Maia discovered how to peel off stickers and labels, there's no turning back. As soon a sticker pad lands on her hands expect to see them all over the place. She just loves sticking them up so much that last Christmas, she only asked for stickers as Christmas gifts. Yes, she is that obsessed with stickers and yes she's very easy to please.

Christmas Day 2010 - enjoying her gifts from Santa

The addiction I'd say is rather temporary though. As soon as she finishes up a pad, she moves on and gets herself busy with other things. I guess we're partly to blame for this. We are so concern with discouraging her attachment to things that even if she asks us to bring home stickers as pasalubong we would intentionally forget it. Some days she'd throw a tantrum but most days she doesn't really mind. There was a point though when she'd take scotch tapes in place of fancy stickers. Times like that just make for great laughing moments at home.

Stickers here, stickers there...stickers everywhere!

Anyways a few weeks back, Neva and Toni (one of the many mommy bloggers that I really look up to) brought up the idea of doing sticker swaps and with thoughts of Maia being the stickerhappygirl that she is, I immediately jumped in to join!

So far, we've rounded up the swap for September. There's the 4 of us involved in this exchange for now. But I'm really looking forward to exchanging with more mommies. I especially like reading the notes that come with the stickers. I'm actually saving them up so I can compile them in a scrapbook to hand over to Maia when she's older.

Notes from Elysse and Timmy

Oh this swap conveys pleasant childhood memories. I used to collect stamps, stationery sets and cutesy erasers during my childhood. Unfortunately, I was not able to preserve them well enough to give to Maia as a sort of mom-daughter hand-me-down collection. On the otherhand, I guess this is a good start for us. I hope Maia can keep this correspondence going when she's older. It's one great way to make new friends.

Always delighted to see something in the mail for her!

An Update: Dealing With Thumbsucking

2011-10-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I wrote about our thumbsucking dilemma.

The thumb is my sleeping buddy. The thumb and this pillow.

I aimed to resolve that before Maia's 3rd birthday but it just seemed impossible. Well, not till 10 days ago. We had to travel to Antique for a family emergency last Friday. We were rushing to catch the first flight going to Iloilo and I accidentally left her favorite bolster pillow at home. We were already in the airport when I realized I made one of the gravest mistakes my forgetfulness could ever do me. That pillow was the ticket to our uninterrupted sleep for the past two years, why did I have to forget that of all things? Tibs was throwing dagger looks at me but we cannot discuss it for the fear that the little girl might notice her precious pillow was missing and throw a tantrum at 3am in the crowded pre-departure area. What's worse, a sleep-deprived Tibs and me might not be able to handle it in the most pleasant way possible and might make a scene. Ugh.

Thankfully, she didn't notice that it was missing. However, when the plane was about to take off she demanded for the pillow. What are we to do? Well, normally we would have stalled and maybe come up with a white lie till we get a replacement but she was demanding for a specific pillow. The cry went exactly like this: Gusto ko ng hotdog ko! Yung color white! May pagong, alligator, yung may zebra! Gusto ko yun, Mommy! Gusto ko yung hotdog ko! (roughly translated as: I want my hotdog [bolster pillow]! The white one! With the turtle! Alligator! The one with the zebra! I want that, Mommy! I want that pillow!) We couldn't come up with a lie at that point because we are thinking of the next 5 days that we will be dealing with. If we lie and say the pillow was just inside one of our bags, the next 5 days will be a nightmare for us. She will not stop till she gets it. If that happens, we might never be able to get at least a night of restful sleep. So we gradually broke it to her (we just got creative while doing it hehe). Our dialogue went: We left the pillow in Cavite. We left it because she was still sleepy when we left and she forgot to wake up the pillow. But the pillow will be waiting excitedly for her to come back. We will make sure to call Ate Belen (our nanny) when the plane lands so she can take good care of her pillow while she's away. She cried of course for maybe about 10mins of the flight. But she eventually got tired and finally succumbed to sleep when her dad started scratching her back. Poor baby.

The first night without the pillow was really bad. We were able to put her to sleep around 10pm already (she normally sleeps at 7-730ish). Thankfully, at my lola's wake, everyone was busy so nobody really notice we were already listening to bad opera in our bedroom (read: Maia screaming, crying for her pillow). She'd wake up every hour or so and demand for the pillow. It was a terrible night for us three.

The second night was (thankfully!) better. My sisters found her a spare pillow (from our past vacations) but she still insisted at first for that specific white pillow with the turtle, alligator and zebra print. She threw the spare bolster pillow many times unto us till her strength ran out and finally slept. It wast still a night filled with so much interruptions. But it was on the 2nd day that we realized the pillow served as her anchor when she takes her thumb to suck. Without the pillow, it's very uncomfortable for her to suck with her arms hanging in the air. That was a light bulb moment for Tibs and me. Instead of feeling helpless, we were suddenly empowered with the thought that we can finally kick the habit out. We just have to be more patient with handling her pre-bedtime (and middle of the night) tantrums. What we did was not make her nap during the day and keep reminding her we do not have the pillow with us so she should stop demanding it from us.

Our patience paid off! The next 3 days turned out way, way better. She'd cry for just a minute or two. Then would tearfully ask for one of us to scratch her back and she'd silently go to sleep.

Getting back to Cavite was a different story though. She immediately looked for the pillow when we got home. But I already gave instructions to Manang to hide it.

What excuse did we come up with? Well, the stray cats that found solace in the empty lot beside our house became a convenient excuse. Manang told Maia that she couldn't find her pillows anymore and that Mingming (the name we gave the cat) might have taken them away when she was airing them to dry. Maia cried of course. She really cried her heart out. But she somehow knew there was nothing she could do.

So, for the past 10 days she's almost kicked the bad thumbsucking habit away. We only caught her twice I think trying to stick the thumb back into her mouth but again for the lack of support for her arms, the thumb would easily fall out of her mouth when she's fallen to sleep. Some days Manang would tell us she would chase the cat and demand for her pillow. But most days, she gets by just fine.

Day 10: Shhhh...DO NOT DISTURB: ANGEL SLEEPING

I asked from her to stop sucking her thumb before her third birthday but she refused to give in to my request. But 10 days before her birthday, she did give me what I asked from her. I was the one who got the best gift on my daughter's birthday. And it was her who gave it to me.

I'm the luckiest mom in this whole wide world. :)

Will hug Sophie instead.

Currently Playing: Rainbow Connection

2011-10-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

We've been playing this version for days now. On repeat. During bedtime. I look forward to the day you can sing this to me, Maia.

RAINBOW CONNECTION

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that every wish would be heard
and answered when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that and someone believed it.
Look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing
and what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell. We know that it's probably magic.

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors.
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

p.s. I can't find a nice video to share but really wanted to bookmark this song because next month she might have a new favorite.

Almost Three, Barely Three

2011-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

You are almost three today. And the past year was definitely far different from the past two years that we've experienced together. You now speak your mind. You know what you want and say it. You can now tell what's right or wrong. You devour more food than I do. You are now officially a kid indeed.

You're barely three but you speak in complete sentences already. You never fail to keep us entertained by your witty remarks. I know most people would say, it's not that amazing because I am such a talker so you probably took after me but at almost 3 you just deliver the most unexpected monologues, you always leave us dumbfounded. I could only pray that God blesses you with the wisdom to someday put that gift to good use. Who knows you might grow up to be a great storyteller!

You're barely three but your imagination just blows me away. There is no need for fancy, expensive toys for you. Because in your world, every thing is just perfect as it is. There are no boundaries, you just simply let your imagination fly. You can transform scratch papers to flying carpets and wings; bottle caps to fancy cups; sticks to electric guitars! I don't even have to do anything with them. You give them life on your own!

Stick House (with some help from Daddy)

You're barely three but you already come up with such beautiful drawings sometimes they're so intricate we have to step back to see what they really are. You can create a full story out of your drawings as well. Amazing, little girl.

Left: Car (was probably remembering her Manong Gogol's drawing)
Right: Self-portrait (wearing sunglasses)

You're barely three but you can already write a few letters of the alphabet. You first wrote H and your dad thought it was just something you did by accident. But no, you had to disprove your dad and you did another one. I feel so proud. Now you can easily do your E's, F's, O's, T's, I's, L's (and a few more I cannot remember them now). Letters like P, B, M or A you can also do but you always want Mommy to guide you (but honestly baby, you're the one doing them. I never controlled your hands).

You're barely three but you now understand why rules at home exist. And you try your best to follow them because you know you're breaking Mommy's and Daddy's heart if you're not obeying us. You do not hesitate to say sorry when you know you did something wrong (and you say it is such a sweet way, you make us feel it's a big sin not to forgive you).

You're barely three but you can fix your meals already. If we even let you, you can make your own warm milk. When we're too pre-occupied you'd grab your little mug and put milk on it and attempt to put warm water on it just to test if we are paying attention to you (but remember we said the red button on the water dispenser is not for kids your age yet so thank you for listening to us).

You're barely three but you have such a big heart. You are never short of hugs and kisses. You say I love you more often that we do. You say I love you not just to us but to every one you care about. Keep spreading the love, little girl. You always make people smile when you do that :)

You're barely three but you've taught me so much already. And I'm still learning so much from you day in and day out. You brought out something in me that I never expected I had...one of them is PATIENCE. I never thought I can be this patient but you showed me how to be. Thank you for that.

I thank God everyday that you came into our life, Maia. We love you to bits.

Dancing in the Rain

2011-10-10T00:54:00.000-07:00

...crawling in mud and jumping on puddles.

Mud Play!

Yes, that's what the little girl did with her cousin Gogol yesterday. Back home in Cavite, she's been bugging me to let her bathe in the rain. But of course, with our house situated just beside the road I just couldn't let her do that by herself. So it was always a NO (because I was never always in the mood to bathe in the rain with her).

Since we had Maia, we've never been home to Antique during the rainy season. We've always scheduled vacations during summer and holy week when both Tibs and I are allowed to take long days off from work. But last Friday, we had to be back home to Antique to personally say our final goodbyes to my 101-year old grandmother. And what great timing, it has been raining (and raining hard at that) since we got here.

When the rain started pouring hard yesterday, my nephew (just fresh from a bath actually) seized the moment and ran out to enjoy the rain. He was running, jumping and dancing with glee. The mere sight makes you want to join him already. So I can very well understand how the little girl was feeling. She was tugging on me but since we still hadn't rested enough I thought her immune system is still compromised and it's going to be a bad idea to let her join her cousin for an afternoon rain play.

To keep her occupied and nurse my guilt as well, I went to make her a paper boat to play with while waiting for her cousin to finish his rain play. She happily took the boat from me and immediately set it sail. She loved watching the boat drift thru the rain puddles but it eventually got stuck and she wanted to run out and fix it. I relented, decided to set aside my fears and let the kid enjoy this rare moment.

Enjoying a muddy crawl with cousin Gogol

Sometimes, it does feel extremely good to just let go, have fun and enjoy the play!

They were shouting in glee and literally dancing in the rain!

Will Learn To Bike With Maia

2011-09-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

I was so frail when I was a kid and always begged myself off anything that required me to be physically active. I had weak lungs and suffered asthma for most of my childhood that my parents almost always never hesitated to send excuse letters to my teachers each time I asked to be excused during PE activities in school. When my dad was teaching my siblings how to ride a bike I just watched them from the sidelines. As a kid, I thought I was lucky I had the perfect excuse to escape my dad's unconventional teaching method. My dad had this way of teaching you to be brave but he (that was how I interpreted it then as a kid) taught you that by directly putting you in harm's way. Well he's paying his dues now (by deciding to raise strong-willed/opinionated kids), but that's another story for me to tell.

When I got older however, I realized I missed a lot by choosing to be handicapped by my frailness. Had I been more physically active as a child, I would probably have grown to love sports and might not be as shy as I was in high school. I was lucky I found supportive friends who cheered on me in college so I was able to get out of my shell but still had I been athletic I wouldn't have had so much difficulty 'blending' in and finding my 'crowd' because sports always had a captured audience and they're pretty easy to find because you know where they usually hang out.

I eventually learned that I could gain more if I get physically active. So I welcomed some 'sports' into my life. I learned to play badminton (which in a way paved the way to my becoming a wife) and started running regularly. Although I couldn't claim I'm now athletic, I have acknowledged that by being physically active I could add extra years to lifetime and I've somehow established a regular exercise regimen. But no, I never pooled the the guts to try and learn how to bike.

When I got married, my husband would taunt me how unfortunate I was that I never learned to ride a bike. So when Maia showed interest to learn it, he didn't hesitate a bit. He immediately jumped into the idea of teaching his kid how to bike. Poor Mommy, she couldn't join us when we bike together no Maia? he'd say. I know he's just teasing and is secretly wishing could bike together as a family.

I really wanted to learn how actually. Only that I still cannot get the courage to ride it. And the fact that I've always had issues with finding my balance, it scares me even more to learn it now that I'm in my 30's already. I also hate the thought of the injury that goes with it. Scrapes and scratches and bruises from falling off a bike at my 30s? I'd really rather make a pass on that. So imagine my happiness when I stumbled upon this video in You Tube. There's hope for people like me after all! Hehe.

We shall be testing this trick really soon. I hope it works!

Maia Testing Her Biking Skills For The First Time, Jan 2011

One day soon Maia...we will ride together!

Daddy's Corner: A Doll House For Maia

2011-09-12T02:53:00.000-07:00

It all started with an empty box, a kid who loves to play make-believe with her stuffed toys, a mom who just loves to keep trash and a dad who had a sudden jolt of inspiration. Then voila! The daddy of the house ends up with a doll house for the little miss.

He promised her they'll paint it next weekend. I hope it's still standing by then. What with the little girl fussing over making sure the 'doors' locked and yet keeps getting her dolls in and out of it. Who can blame her though, even with this doll house still looking every bit like a used box, with that triangular thing sticking out like an actual roof the box was instantly transformed into a doll house the minute she figured out what her dad was building.

Father and Daughter Tandem (now he's probably wishing he has a son lolz)

Tibs rarely participates in our arts and crafts sessions. His bonding activity with Maia involves roughhousing most days and well, gardening on some days (and no it doesn't matter that she is in fact a daughter, pare-pareho lang yan! But I like/love that he values gender equality hehe). So this stuff was a totally new adventure for them both.

Yes, she is a girl. But she just loves HANDY MANNY!
(and here she proudly holds 'Beamer')

Hold with both hands, Maia! Steady...steady...

Daddy, with her beaming like this brace yourself for a part two! Now, I have a valid reason not to throw those boxes and empty cans now. (hehehe)

Daddy, you're the best!

Now you have to work on getting some furniture for this house, Daddy! :)

Fun Time At Davao City's People's Park

2011-09-09T01:57:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our recent trip to Davao City was the morning we spent at People's Park.

The park was just a few blocks from where we were staying in downtown Davao so we decided to just stroll over after breakfast. It was the same day that we were scheduled to go to Eden Nature Park but we thought we still had enough time to linger so we went for that walk.

We didn't have any expectations besides the thought that we would love for Maia to spend sometime running around since we know she always long for a wide space to waste her limitless energy on.

Oh boy, the park was indeed wide. Wide that we think the one hour we had was just not enough for the little girl. She wanted to stop by each of the gigantic statues and shake hands with them.

Colorful giant statues all over the park makes the visit even more interesting.

There was this corner in the park that is dedicated for kids called FUN PARK. Maia spent the first 30 mins here running from one slide to another and climbing from one structure (for the lack of a better term) to another. It was also Maia's first time to ride on a see-saw and she was shrieking in delight! I wish our village park had the same amenities. I'm sure when that happens Maia will become a regular 'fixture' you'd think she helps maintain it and would probably even ask to live there (yes, she has outrageous requests sometimes).

Fun Park Entrance

Look Mommy! Sliding! (that's what she calls slides)

She just went with her business when we got inside this section of the park.
She didn't even ask for our help when she was climbing the stairs and the slides.

Waiting Area and Restrooms right outside of the Fun Park entrance.

If you are going to Davao City as a family, this place is worth wasting your time. This was probably where we had most fun because we never spent a single peso and yet could really say we enjoyed it. We were even able to burn some calories walking around. Only thing we regret is we arrived when the park was already closing for morning clean up so we had limited time inside. We should have come earlier had we known it was closing at 8am. There was a lot to see apart from the fun park and the gigantic statues that adorned the park. There is a fish pond, some caged monkeys, a sunken garden (we saw a flock of pigeons being fed when we peaked into it). We also loved the center of the park where most of the trees are located. At 9am, the sun's heat is already approaching it's peak but you won't feel the heat coming in because of the abundance of trees. It was all fresh cold air we felt while we rested on the benches to catch our breath.

Cool Breeze!

Maia and Tibs having their own moment. Trees are all over!

I love this part! We found her collecting twigs, dried grass and leaves and arranging them on to the pavement.
It turns out she was assembling a food tray for the birds to enjoy.

I felt really bad I couldn't share more photos from the park. The day after we got back from vacation, I accidentally deleted 80% of the photos from the SD card. We were able to recover most of them but still we lost many of the better looking photos most of which were taken from the People's Park. Oh well, I guess that gives us a reason to come back. :)

***The park is located in J. Palma Gil and Jose Camus streets just right beside Apo View Hotel. It opens early am and closes at 8am so the maintenance crew can clean up. It opens at 1pm again till nighttime.***

Thank You Just Made My Day

2011-09-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

I was rushing to work this morning when I heard a muffled sound of plastic crashing and Maia suddenly shouted, "Sorry Mommy. Di ko sinasadya magkalat toys Mommy. Nalaglag mga pangluto ko! Ligpit mo na lang ha?"

That brought a smile to my face. Maia has become so verbal lately that there are days we'd wonder who put those words into her mouth.

Well I know the statement above doesn't sound all too positive and happy and charming. They do resonate a certain tone of fear, don't they? But don't worry, she wasn't trembling in fear when she said that. And we were never the punishing kind. She knew that scattered toys doesn't bother us. We got used to them already over the years. That was why I wondered where she got that statement - Di ko sinasadya magkalat ng toys Mommy. But well, I am out of the house for almost 12 hours 5 times in a week so I can only guess where she heard that. When these things come up, I just reinforce by telling her "hindi naman bawal magkalat, anak". Toys are made for playing so it's natural to see them out in the open . BUT she knows she has to pack them away when she's done because the toys need to rest too. And this simple rule usually works for us.

But I am digressing yet again. What I really wanted to document today was what followed after she said that statement. As I was dressing up she came up to me and told me again, "ikaw na ligpit ha?" I was running late already so I tried again -- "Ikaw na baby please, papasok na si Mommy eh." But sorry me, she really knows how to use her charm already: "Ikaw na lang Mommy, sige na".

I knew she was only gunning for my last minute attention before I leave her for the day so I gave in. I got down on my knees and started collecting the scattered toys. Guess what she did: she went down too and started helping me out. She said: "Tulungan na kita Mommy. Thank you Mommy ligpit mo pangluto ko. Mamaya ikakalat ulit ito ni Tito JR at ni Georgie". Hahaha that last statement just made me laugh hard (she was referring to my baby cousin and her toy monkey) but hearing her say THANK YOU was music to my ears. Ahhhhh the joys of parenting yet again.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Maia and her pangluto

Maia Invades Our Kitchen

2011-08-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

I love to cook. And one of my dream is to have an industrial grade kitchen where I can spend hours and hours trying and experimenting on recipes. I dream of sharing that kitchen with my daughter. I really do wish that one day this dream will come true. Who knows.

But for now, I am just really happy that Maia is starting to show some interest with helping me out in the kitchen. I have been dropping hints in the past especially after she experienced helping out with cooking in summer school but she never really caught on them.

Last Tuesday, imagine how elated I was when she suddenly climbed on one of our dining chairs and grabbed the whisk from my hand. Well, we just whipped up pancakes (not even from scratch but straight from the package) but I take that as a good start. I am sharing here a short video of her kitchen moment.

I am really now psyched to research on more recipes that we could try together. We'll start with the simple ones while we await the coming of that dream kitchen of mine.

Here's what came out of that stirring and mixing, by the way. She helped make the first pancake but had to leave me alone to finish the batch so she can buy taho. And I didn't make any attempt to hold her longer since she needed the protein anyways.

Whole Wheat Pancakes (not from scratch though)

Arts-n-Crafts: Maia's Pencil Holders

2011-08-29T22:42:00.003-07:00

I am still recovering from my odontectomy 3 days ago so I thought I'd spend the entire stretch of my no work Monday in bed. I was really grateful that Maia was very cooperative and never threw a single tantrum when I told her Mommy needs to rest and couldn't carry her for the meantime. Come midday however, I couldn't take it anymore. I just had to get up and make myself useful. I thought of doing some arts and crafts with Maia but I cannot think of a project so I scanned old issues of Playhouse Disney hoping to get ideas and lucky me, I came across this project.

A page from an old issue of Playhouse Disney that is full of Maia's doodles

I checked my stash if I have all of the materials on hand and fortunately, I did have most of them. I thought I could improvise on the other materials that I don't have. What's even better is I can finally do something useful out of the toilet paper rolls that I have been saving for sometime now. I got inspired to try arts and crafts activities with Maia by a fellow n@wie and momblogger Maqui so I have since been collecting (well more of accumulating) art materials in case the inspiration hits me.

Here are the materials we used to make this project:
- Japanese paper
- Goggly eyes (2 pairs)
- Foam cut outs
- Glue
- Scissors
- Tissue Paper Rolls
- Cardboard (we just recycled from one of Maia's toybox)
- Pen/Marker

Some googly eyes and torn Japanese paper

I was initially aiming for full participation from Maia but unfortunately, she found amusement in cutting the rest of the cardboard so I didn't force her. I decided to just continue with the project hoping to eventually catch her interest before I actually finish the project.

Well mid-way through, I did got her to participate by tasking her to put glue on the tissue roll but I eventually did the rest of the project on my own. (Note to self: do research on more age appropriate arts and crafts activities)

Glue finally got her attention!

Still, I was happy to see one beaming little girl when I showed her the finished product. She kept making Meow-meow sounds because she thought those were Kitty Pencil Holders we were making (when we were in fact making Mice versions hahaha). Manang also joined us on the latter part of the activity and was in fact the one who decided to put cardboards at the other end of the roll so Maia can put to use these pencil holders (instead of just throwing them around).

I am really starting to get the hang of these crafty adventures and I love how I surprise even myself sometimes (I was never good at ART but now...I am starting to really believe that I have potential Wahaha.)

TADAHHHHH! (so proud of this I must say haha)

Can You Hear Me Squeal With Delight?

2011-08-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

Little Girl Making Good Use of Shirt Racks At The Mall

What's a beautiful noise to you? To me they are my daughter's shrieks and squeals. They always seem to radiate pure, unadulterated bliss.

On a recent and quite rare trip to the mall the little girl was just in that mood! Being put on house arrest for several days probably rendered this little girl really bored (due to the rainy weather mostly) that when Lola told her she should come visit her "tindahan" she was going over her head with excitement. When we were on our way, she refused to sleep despite the long travel from Cavite to the city.

When we got to the mall we had a few errands to run but she didn't mind. She treated the entire department store as her playground and made use of clothes racks and display boxes as her hiding places. She was screaming, "hanap mo ako Mommy!!!!" (find me Mommy!) that made even the sales ladies at the store laugh.

She didn't realized the display shelf had an opening at the other side.
She shrieked when she saw me standing behind her.

I should have taken a video of this hide and seek session.
Her shrieks are so contagious even the sales ladies ended up laughing.

Good thing nobody was around when she was hiding in this rack of white shirts! Lolz.

After putting her dad and me into a rigorous instant workout we went back to my Mom at the trade fair in the hopes that we could assist her. That never happened though because the mini bahay-kubo that was on display at the fair immediately caught Maia's attention. She didn't waste time claiming the kubo all for herself. She wouldn't share it with the other kids. She was singing bahay-kubo non-stop and was running around jumping and pointing to the plants as if they were the plants in the bahay kubo song.

This Kubo Is Mine

Bahay Kubo, Kahit Munti...

I wish I can freeze moments like these. Or put them in a time capsule so I can playback anytime I wish to be in that moment.

Caught on Video: Maia Draws A Story

2011-08-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

I recorded the first part of this drawing session in my phone and the hubby wasn't very happy at how it turned out to be (super low resolution) so I had to take out the camera and asked her to describe again what her drawing was about. You could really tell that her attention span is already expanding because in the past she would most probably disregard our question and drop the entire activity and move on to a new one. She was restless like that. And most days, she really hates the attention and would cry for me to stop taking her videos. But these days (well for the last week at least), she's been very cooperative and seemed to understood why Mommy is fuzzing over her a lot.

Amazing really how she can now come up with a story without our prodding. Mind you, she just asked for a piece of paper here and shouted - "drawing ako, drawing ako". So I took out some scratch papers and handed her some. She initially wanted to write her name. I showed her how an 'M' is done but she ended up making a rectangle. She laughed at her version. Then she started doodling (zigzags mostly, she likes making those these days) and.so I asked her to draw me a flower because I could sense her restlessness. Voila! This is what she ended up with. Do we really have a story teller in the making here?

Maia making good use of her markers.

Fun Way To Teach Toddlers About Colors

2011-08-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since Maia stepped into the active, adventurous and exciting world of toddler-hood, we try to make our bonding activities interesting and at the same time educational. We never try to force her to learn anything but each time she shows an interest on learning something new, we take that lead and evaluate the resources we have and come up with a fun activity.

Let me share with you one activity that Maia really enjoyed doing. She learned her basic colors from this activity. She's already moved on to more age appropriate activities these days like painting, coloring and scribbling but we enjoyed this for some time. You can use colored plastic cups in lieu of the nesting cups we used here. We just had these balloons on hand because Maia went through this balloon crazy phase so we opted to stock up on mini balloons and a hand pump. Who knew we would find other use for these thingies too...hehe.

pumping some air into a mini red balloon

Here comes my favorite part of the week again. I hope the weather will remain sunny this time so we can all enjoy some outdoor time as well!

an old balloon from her first bday makes for a perfect doodle page

When She Talks

2011-08-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

It really amazes me how verbal Maia has become since she first uttered a clear word (9 months old and she screamed for Daddy at the ER - she went Daaaaaaaaah-deeee!). From simple phrases, she's now speaking in sentences. What's even more fascinating is, she can relay a story to us from weeks and even months ago vividly. Like this story from one of our summer vacations to Antique for instance of how her cousin Gogol who was without slippers would chase chickens in Lolo's backyard. The chicken was red and black, she would add. That came from out of nowhere. (In between chuckles she'd go: Mommy, si Manong Gogol wala slippers takbo sya dun sa likod ng bahay ni Lolo. Habol nya chicken. Yung red. Tsaka yung black)

During breakfast, I was preparing her a bowl of oatmeal when she exclaimed - "Ayaw ko nang oatmeal, Mommy! Ayaw ko nyan!" Then she proceeded to say, "Gusto ko ng egg! Egg ang gusto ko!" There was this one time that I called home to ask how she was doing and she goes: "Mommy, nasan ka? Nasa office? Nasan Daddy ko? Maya ha? Chuckie ko ha?" Then I go, "meron ka pa dyan sa ref isa pa." She answers back, "Eh inom ko na to. Mamaya wala na"

Yes, along with the verbal progress came the realization that she can now speak her mind and influence us to give in to what she wants. We did and still do encourage her to speak out. And it is on our conscious effort to always talk to her straight (no baby talk please) and communicate constantly that she learned to speak this way. We are truly happy with how that effort has come to be.

On the other hand, we also realized that from this day forward we need to be extra cautious and conscious. We do acknowledge that we are entirely, fully responsible when it came to censorship of the things that this little girl reads, hears and sees. So now we have to be more choosy of the movies we watch when she's around and of course be even more picky with the shows she watches on TV or on the computer. We try not to watch the news when she's around because one time when a police report on TV flashed a dead body she was quick to react and ask what it was. "Ano yun Mommy dog? Nabundol ng car ang dog, Mommy?" I didn't know how to respond then. I just said Yes. We are not trying to shield her from reality but we just want her to take things slowly. Violence is the last thing we'd want her to learn at this point so we try to delay that as much as we could.

It isn't easy trying to be watchful of every single word you say. Especially with my quite talkative nature (yes I am, once I've warmed up), it is usually me who accidentally spills in a 'bad' word or two and end up wishing I could literally take back what I said. But of course I couldn't, so I'd end up praying she didn't hear it. Or if worse comes to worst and she speaks of it we try to explain to her what that word meant and when would be the appropriate time to use it. Some days we get lucky with the explanations, most times they seem to have fallen on deaf ears but we shouldn't give up. That's our mantra at home.

There's no denying how smart kids of this generation are and I don't think we only have genetics to thank for that. The technology of this age just makes all types of information readily accessible and available for people of all ages. And as working parents, my hubby and I acknowledge that we do not have 100% control over that accessibility. And with that we think the best weapon we have against that is our unyielding guidance and constant communication with the little one.

Most days, we really relish this milestone because it is the greatest way our little girl ever could express to us how much she loves us. Like this morning for instance, while bidding her dad goodbye she goes: "Babay Daddy! I love you! Sabihin mo, I love you too!" (Bye Daddy, I love you. You should say, You love me too!)

Ah the joy of parenting a toddler! It isn't always terrible, most days they really are terrific!

I leave you with this video of a 3-month old Maia talking to her Dad. I didn't know that was already her cluing us in of non-stop conversations to come.

Weekend Favorites: Indoor Activities

2011-07-29T22:50:00.000-07:00

Weekends are always marked with smileys in our household calendar. At 33 months, Maia is now fully aware when it's a weekend and she knows that she owns Mommy and Daddy during this time.

This past few days bore us witness to non-stop raining which looks to be stretching through the entire weekend with still another tropical depression coming in after we bid good-bye to typhoon Juaning. Well, we do not really feel bad being confined indoors since we rarely spend our weekends out. Weekends not only give us the perfect excuse to be lazy, it also never fails to tickle our creative side.

Let me share with you some of our favorite weekend indoor activities:

1. Macaronis and Magnets

We have accumulated a lot of letter and number magnets throughout these toddler phase. I initially thought of using these tools to introduce Maia to - well - numbers and alphabets but she never showed interest in learning thru this medium so they ended up being used for a different purpose instead. We mix them up with macaronis and sort thru them. It's a great exercise to improve hand coordination for the little kid. And she enjoyed it a lot when she was around 18-20 months. She liked picking thru the pile and filling them up unto her nesting cups. I always keep a watchful eye though during play to avoid accidents (like macaronis magically appearing inside her nostrils for instance)

2. Building Blocks

Maia likes building bridges, houses and whatnots out of her square blocks and Ecobloks.

Mom and Dad helped build the robot of course! :)

3. Arts and Crafts

I get ideas from the internet. We especially love creating toys from trash. Maia especially likes to do the cutting and sticking on each of our projects.

she was chasing and scaring us with this snake project

4. Modelling Clay Figures

This is a recent favorite. I'm not really artistic but I like how this activity encourages me to be even more creative with my hands. Whatever we create/build using the modelling clay would end up as characters to the make-believe play that would usually follow this activity.

A plateful of fruits to feed the little kid's dolls

I am also looking forward to doing some baking and cooking activities with this little girl. We'd probably make Daddy chop some ingredients so he can still get involved. First thing though, we need to really save up for that oven. :))

So anyway, I hope you're enjoying this wet and sleep-inducing weather we're having this weekend. I can hear the little girl shrieking with laughter from our bedroom already. She's probably enjoying another pillow fight with her dad. I'm off to join them now! :))

Hello Doc Dentist!

2011-07-17T02:03:00.000-07:00

We first brought Maia to a dental clinic when she was 15 months old. It was in a Pedia-dental Clinic called Little Ones Dental Clinic in Mall of Asia. That first visit was a very quite and calm one. She sat on my lap for a good 5 minutes before she cried. But no, she did not cry because she got scared of the dentist. She cried because her 5-min attention span was done and she needed to wiggle out of my arms.

On that first visit, the dentist did three things: Oral Exam, Oral Prophylaxis and Flouride Treatment. She seemed really well-trained with kids because she finished all 3 just as Maia's patience was waning. After the treatment, she spent another 10 minutes with us discussing the best strategies we could use to ensure that Maia's oral hygiene is in place. She also oriented us with the oral developments that will be happening with Maia in the future. It was an informative and helpful visit. I think that visit also instilled a very positive impression on Maia that preceded our succeeding trips to the dentist.

Here at the Little Ones Dental Clinic,
place is very kid friendly

We were told then that the Flouride Treatment would ideally have to be re-done after a year. But we decided not to come back to that clinic anymore because 1) it wasn't an accredited dentist on my company HMO and I wanted to maximize Maia's benefits on it 2) we thought it was quite overpriced since we paid a total of P2960 for those 3 simple procedures.

I decided to look for a Medicard (the HMO I had at that time) accredited pedia-dentist but unfortunately could not find one that's near our area in Cavite. I decided to try the Dental Focus branch in SM Molino since the clinic looked child-friendly. So after 6 months, we had Maia's teeth cleaned again. The dentists were very gentle and there were no violent reactions from Maia while we were sitting on the dental chair. She was again very cooperative and she even got really excited when the dentist told her she can have the Dora toothbrush after the visit. What disappointed me though was this branch does not do flouride treatments on kids. I was referred to another branch in Festival Mall in Alabang. I decided I'll just look for a pedia-dentist for that particular treatment but we came back again to the same clinic after 6 months for another round of oral prophylaxis.

Maia patiently waiting at Dental Focus

This month Maia is turning 33 months. She's again due for tooth cleaning and she badly needs to have that flouride treatment redone. I am also now very concerned with a chip on one of her front tooth and some of the white spots that are starting to show on some of her teeth. According to a dentist friend, these white spots are an indication that the tooth is on the onset of decay. Despite a rather good oral hygiene, the flouride-free toothpaste that we have been using since Maia's teeth started appearing just doesn't seem to be helping preserve her teeth. Good thing we were already weaned from the bottle so that sorts of lessens my worry of her ending up with totally decayed milk teeth before the permanent ones start showing up.

With my concerns in mind, I decided to bring Maia to a pedia-dentist. Luckily, I chanced upon an accredited one that holds clinic in Bacoor which is just about 30mins away from our place. I immediately signed up for a Saturday appointment. The dentist is Dr. Thelma Dador-Ong and she practices alongside her daughter Ranee. Both seemed to really love kids and that’s a plus factor for us.

This recent visit is going to be Maia's 4th trip to the doctor but she has yet to experience having the dentist use a dental machine to perform a procedure on her. All 3 tooth cleaning were done manually because the dentist wanted to avoid scaring her (the sound of the machine motor might just do that). When we got to the clinic, the dentist was just finishing up on 2 patients. I came prepared; I brought some paper and crayons with me to distract the kid. The clinic had several books to entertain waiting kids as well and Maia wanted to read of all them!

I was surprised she knew that this shape is called
the CROSS!

From the waiting area, Maia could hear the machine motor and I think that really tickled her curiosity because when it was our turn she instantly sat on the dental chair. I didn’t have to force her to sit on it on her own. When the dentist turned the equipment on so she can clean her teeth, she patiently waited for the dentist to finish. When the dentist was done with the cleaning and the flouride treatment, she discussed the state of Maia's teeth. I was relieved to hear that we can still prevent the teeth from decaying, we just need to regularly have fluoride applied on the teeth. We also need to gradually switch to flouride toothpaste. The chipped tooth had to be masked as well since it was already a ‘dead’ tooth and is more susceptible to decay. That was another 8-10min procedure and Maia again sat patiently through it. I was a very proud mommy!

My brave kid so patient while the dentist
attends to her chipped front tooth.

I guess it did help a lot that from the onset all of our dental visits were pleasant and tantrum free. We were lucky to have come across dentists who were very patient with our little girl. We will most likely stick with Dr. Ong since she’s the nearest pedia-dentist that we can find and because we really had a nice experience with her.

By the way, here is our current dentist's details:

Dr. Thelma Dador-Ong
Dental and Natural Health Clinic
Suite 212 Maraudi Bldg, Niog, Bacoor, Cavite
Clinic hours: M-Sat 9am-530pm
Tel Nos: 046 417 0041/09186018714
Best to call and make an appointment with the Nhel (Secretary)

Walking Down the Aisle

2011-07-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Little Girl in Pink Caught in a Pensive Mood

Last June chronicled another milestone for us. It was Maia's first time to walk down the aisle as a flower girl. She just turned 32 months then. Milestones always make me giddy (I said it like a true-blue stage momma, didn't I?). Plus, the thought of this little girl finally wearing a gown with a flower basket in hand is just too cute for words.

As I've always looked forward to this day (stage momma alert once again!), I know I have to come prepared. Months before the actual event I starting orienting Maia with the help of some You Tube videos on what flower girls do in weddings. During rehearsal day, Maia walked about half of the way. We felt confident then that she will walk all the way through since another girl who is older than her will be walking with her. I know very well that this little girl likes to mimic and is quite competitive so as long as the other girl walks ahead of her she should be alright.

flower girls

This event was destination wedding that required us to travel to Iloilo. We've been actively travelling since Maia was 5 months old. Most of the time we are hands on parents when we travel/go on vacation. We do not bring any help with us since we usually end up spending most of our vacation time with our extended families so we could still yell for help if our hands are so full already. This trip was an exception though. My family was not around to help us so we needed to be super parents this time.

What did I learn from this experience?

- That you should always consider the nap time of your kid. The wedding time did not really coincide with Maia's naptime but the preparation time did so she was not able to catch some snooze before the ceremony. We ended up with a sleeping Maia and a Daddy Tibs walking down the aisle carrying his pretty daughter in his arms and the flower basket in his hand instead.

- That only one member of the family should be on the spotlight if a toddler is one of the parties involved in the entourage. In this particular occasion, I was also going as Matron-of-Honor. Even if I wanted to play the stage mommy all the way, I only could do it before the ceremony started and during the wedding reception. And since Maia was more attached to me than her dad, that somehow put us in a more complicated situation.

- If the situation would allow it, make her wear the dress a few minutes before the ceremony starts just to keep her excited. That way, she won't entertain the idea of sleep even if it's already looming. In our case, Maia was already in her dress more than hour before the ceremony started so I guess that also contributed to her succumbing to sleep no matter how excited she was.

- Good thing, we oriented the little girl with her role. The minute she woke up, she was super game to join the picture taking. There were no crying fits for us to deal with so I'd say we still did okay.

At least she made it to the entourage pictorial

- Keep your composure. Even if you're tired, keep that smile going because the little one mimics your mood. We were tired but we remained composed till the reception party was over so the little one was very cooperative the entire time. She was clapping, ringing the kissing bell and clearly enjoyed the party till it was time to pack up. She was tantrum-free!

Well, we might have missed seeing this little lady walk but we sure learned a lot from this experience! And if another opportunity like this comes, we'd surely be more prepared!

Gamely Posing for More Pics after the Reception Party

Dealing With Thumb-sucking

2011-07-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

I cannot count the number of times I've googled for tips on how to help my daughter quit thumb sucking. But none of them has ever provided me with definite answers. Most of my readings suggested that I should not intervene as most kids outgrow it (especially when they start eating solids).

My daughter has been thumb-sucking since she was an infant. I had wanted to intervene right then and there but I was a bookish first time mom and I trusted my readings. I remember distracting her once with a pacifier but she never took my bait. Pacifiers were never as good as the thumb I reckon. So I told myself I will just interfere when she's already two and still sucking. At that time, I trusted that she will eventually get rid of the habit when she starts eating solids.

In one of my readings, I came across these guide questions:

-Does she suck all day?

-Was it affecting her oral development?

-Was the habit interfering with her social and communication skills?

Should I answer yes to all three, it suggested that I put an effort towards ending the habit. But at that point, I felt I was in the other end of the spectrum. The first question I could answer with a firm NO. Maia and the thumb were best friends only during bedtime because it lulled her to sleep.But it never really progressed to a all-day affair. The other two I couldn't answer yet with a definite NO at that time but I was confident it will be then so I decided to take it easy. I also came across a write up (couldn't remember where I read it now) that correlated smoking addiction to a kid never outgrowing his oral stage. I did not want that to happen to my daughter so I left her alone. I told myself I should let nature take its course and wait for her to rid of the habit on her own.

Unfortunately, she never did. Now she is turning 3 in a few months and I am anxious because I've set myself a deadline - away with the sucking by the 3rd birthday.

This weekend we brought the little girl to the dentist for her routine check up and the dentist echoed my fears. When the thumb-sucking persists, we will have to deal with more teeth problem than expected. She mentioned another issue -- apparently, there are some believers that thumb-sucking is a sign of childhood insecurity and is usually a manifestation that you are not spending time with your kid. The teeth problem we can fix with braces but it really bothered me being told that my little girl will grow up to be insecure and being judged to be a parent who doesn't spend time with her child. That thought nagged me overnight. Then I realized I take the effort to parent consciously. My husband and I do make sure we spend quality time with our daughter, so why should I be bothered?

So I am letting that part go. But I know I still have to do something about this thumb-sucking. I've tried gently talking her out of it. I've tried the reward system. I've gone to the point of scaring her the fingers might fall off if she kept on it. I've tried wrapping the hand in mittens. All these 'gentle' attempts failed. The best it got us was a few days off then she's back on it again. Now the thumb is already calloused.

Yesterday, I resorted to drastic measures and put ginger extract over the favorite thumb. I forgot about timing though and got the worst tantrum we've ever had to deal with in return. Yes, if you are going to train your kid to get rid of a habit please do remember NOT to do it when you're about to put your child to sleep. Tired + away with the habit is NOT a good combination. I ended up with one wailing - or rather hysterically shouting - little girl. "Tama na, Mommy. Tama na, Mommy! Masakiiiiiiiiiiiit!" I was already half expecting a knock from the neighbor asking what's wrong because she sounded like we were hurting her. I could take the hysterics but her dad couldn't. I was confident that she understood we had a 'project' to finish and I felt I just had to be firm about it but the hubby was already begging me to give in and even if I kept telling him giving in to the tantrum would be inconsistency on our part he wouldn't hear of it. So I folded. I hugged her and I told her I love her very much. She went to sleep sobbing. That really broke my heart so I vowed to go easy next time.

That night when we were about to sleep and I reminded her of our 'project', she stroked my face and told me "Mommy, go to sleep now. Goodnight!" I knew she would have wanted to spend a few more extra minutes clowning around with me but instead opted to bribe me into sleeping way ahead of her just so she can escape my nagging. She even cupped my face and said I love you and kissed me goodnight. It caught me by surprised and I realized "wow, she's now using her charm to get her way. Amazing how kids think these days"

I am still searching for tips that could help me deal with this issue better. I can now answer the guide questions with a firm NO. But I still believe that doing away with the habit will benefit her in many ways than one. Right now, I'm just grateful there are days I can now sit with her and talk things through. I'm glad that even at this early age, she knows that she has to let it go eventually. I now understand that she is just asking for some 'palugit' from Mommy. There are just days that I can't understand how we were able to wean from bottle-feeding on schedule. We did it cold turkey and she never made it difficult for us.

Oh well, we will get there. For now, I guess I will have to remind myself that there are just certain habits that are really hard to break. And it's even more difficult if they are habits that bring you so much comfort. What's a kid to do? It's a big world out there, everything's just so new and the thumb is the closest best friend there is.

If you're dealing with the same issue as me, I'm sharing here two articles from Dr. Sears and BabyCenter that you might find useful. If you've successfully kicked out this habit, I'd appreciate you sharing your personal tips as well. Thanks for taking time to read this post.

Small Wonders

2011-06-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am now a mother to one very inquisitive little girl. Now that she's already conversing in sentences, this little kid just doesn't seem to know when to stop talking and asking questions.

There have been countless times in the past weeks when I was forced to sit down and think of how to provide better answers to a couple of whys and hows. There are days when I am just left dumbfounded and had to remind myself that I am talking to a toddler. I often end up turning to my instincts and try to provide age-appropriate answers while making sure not to twist facts or downplay this little kid's very curious mind.

This morning while I was fixing breakfast, she came up to me (with a worried look) and asked what happened to our wall. I sported a confused look so she went to the wall and pointed to a small crack to show me a part of our wall where the paint is starting to peel off. I think she was worried that our entire wall might come off or something so I told her (in a reassuring tone) it's just paint and to just leave it alone because Daddy will fix it soon. I went back to my kitchen duties while she went back to busy herself in her activity corner. I thought wow, I finally provided an answer that she was satisfied with. But I should have kept that thought from running through my mind since after a minute, she was calling to me again. I turned to see one beaming little girl proudly showing me that she's fixed our paint 'problem'.

Mommy o! Look, di na matatanggal pintura!

See? We adults just like to complicate things all the time. There's always an easy fix to all our problems. :))

Give Maia and others like her a chance to Find Nemo

2011-06-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

One of the few things I regret never learning when I was young was how to swim. I did have the urge to learn it, but the urge never overcame my fear. And to date, I still scold myself for letting my fear win me over. I know it's not too late to learn, but yes I'm still not over that fear up until now. I don't think I will ever get passed that.

So in order to compensate for that, the hubby and I decided to enroll Maia in swimming classes next summer. She will then be old enough to handle the lessons. I'm glad that she never developed any fear of water and that the first time her dad took her swimming she just let out squeals of delight. These days when we'd take her out to swim, she would bravely ask for me to let her go and let her be. She would even pretend as if she really knew how to swim. One time she slipped while she was wading rather excitedly on the pool and I wasn't able to get to her for a few seconds I thought she might get traumatized but no, when I helped her up she was smiling. She just got back on her feet and shooed me away almost instantly. Brave, spirited little girl. She is really a water baby and we just need to reinforce that by teaching her how to navigate her way through the water.

I always think that people who love the water will never really experience the full magnificence of it unless they dive deep into the ocean and see what thrives in it. One of Maia's favorite movies is Finding Nemo. At some point, we thought we'd overdose on it already because it was playing almost the entire day. She just loves seeing Dory and Nemo and Marlin swim. I think she would love it even more if she would get the chance to see Dory, Nemo and all their friends in person. If she ask to someday do that, I would definitely indulge her to it.

Of late however, I wonder if Maia and many other kids like her would still get the privilege of witnessing the beautiful life that exist deep in our seas. Hearing news of coral reef destruction and illegal harvesting and peddling of corals makes me feel sad for the future generations.

But I guess, it's still good that we are given the chance to do something about this. It is still not too late for us to get involved in saving our oceans. If you a mom like me, teach your kids how to properly care for the sea and the creatures that live in it. Make them understand how much they can benefit from this act.

I came across this National Geographic article that list down 10 things you can do to help save the ocean. I will share it here as well because I would also like to bookmark it as a reminder for myself to institute and practice in our household.

1. Mind Your Carbon Footprint and Reduce Energy Consumption
Reduce the effects of climate change on the ocean by leaving the car at home when you can and being conscious of your energy use at home and work. A few things you can do to get started today: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, take the stairs, and bundle up or use a fan to avoid oversetting your thermostat.

2. Make Safe, Sustainable Seafood Choices
Global fish populations are rapidly being depleted due to demand, loss of habitat, and unsustainable fishing practices. When shopping or dining out, help reduce the demand for overexploited species by choosing seafood that is both healthful and sustainable.

3. Use Fewer Plastic Products
Plastics that end up as ocean debris contribute to habitat destruction and entangle and kill tens of thousands of marine animals each year. To limit your impact, carry a reusable water bottle, store food in nondisposable containers, bring your own cloth tote or other reusable bag when shopping, and recycle whenever possible.

4. Help Take Care of the Beach
Whether you enjoy diving, surfing, or relaxing on the beach, always clean up after yourself. Explore and appreciate the ocean without interfering with wildlife or removing rocks and coral. Go even further by encouraging others to respect the marine environment or by participating in local beach cleanups.

5. Don't Purchase Items That Exploit Marine Life
Certain products contribute to the harming of fragile coral reefs and marine populations. Avoid purchasing items such as coral jewelry, tortoiseshell hair accessories (made from hawksbill turtles), and shark products.

6. Be an Ocean-Friendly Pet Owner
Read pet food labels and consider seafood sustainability when choosing a diet for your pet. Never flush cat litter, which can contain pathogens harmful to marine life. Avoid stocking your aquarium with wild-caught saltwater fish, and never release any aquarium fish into the ocean or other bodies of water, a practice that can introduce non-native species harmful to the existing ecosystem.

7. Support Organizations Working to Protect the Ocean
Many institutes and organizations are fighting to protect ocean habitats and marine wildlife. Find a national organization and consider giving financial support or volunteering for hands-on work or advocacy. If you live near the coast, join up with a local branch or group and get involved in projects close to home.

8. Influence Change in Your Community
Research the ocean policies of public officials before you vote or contact your local representatives to let them know you support marine conservation projects. Consider patronizing restaurants and grocery stores that offer only sustainable seafood, and speak up about your concerns if you spot a threatened species on the menu or at the seafood counter.

9. Travel the Ocean Responsibly
Practice responsible boating, kayaking, and other recreational activities on the water. Never throw anything overboard, and be aware of marine life in the waters around you. If you’re set on taking a cruise for your next vacation, do some research to find the most eco-friendly option.

10. Educate Yourself About Oceans and Marine Life
All life on Earth is connected to the ocean and its inhabitants. The more you learn about the issues facing this vital system, the more you’ll want to help ensure its health—then share that knowledge to educate and inspire others.

I think these are simple, doable things. My sister tells me that tourism is the number killer of our oceans and I agree with her on that. But then again, I also do not find sense in totally prohibiting tourism. I believe that we all can experience the beauty of the sea and at the same time help preserve it. We just have to be more conscious with how we treat the seas. And we really should give back, you know. After everything the ocean has done for us. Yes, we should give back. And let Maia and her generation experience all that beauty as well.

Goodies from the Mail!

2011-06-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Following that post about finally meeting an online friend, guess what? Maia received a few goodies - a sunblock from Allorganics (skinbrella spf 15) and a bottle of Milea Body and Hair Wash in the mail a few days after she met Tita Neva.

I initially thought of blogging about this after we've used up the products but I decided not to hold it off any longer since 1 - something might come up again and I could be hit by the blogging drought again and 2 - I'm really loving these products I just wanted to immediately share my experience with other mommies.

Let me just say that I am a junkie when it comes to all-natural (and preferably organic) toiletries. I have been trying on different products from local suppliers here in the Philippines since I had Maia because I really wanted to avoid parabens, phthalates and other bad chemicals that are usually present in commercial toilet products. Plus, I was really determined to lessen the carbon footprints that our household leaves on mother Earth.

When Neva told me what was inside the package she sent, she mentioned that one of the products was not only intended for Maia. It was a sunblock that we both can share. But since Maia is currently using a different brand of sunblock already, I decided to use the Skinbrella on myself instead. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and I like how it made my skin glow instead of making it look like I could fry an egg on it. Sunblocks I had used in the past usually tend to make my face really oily after a few hours. This one did not.

Fact is, I was never big on facial care. I generally had either dry or oily face (never something in between) but I never really minded. These days however my mom would always take notice of my bad skin and would remind me how tricky it would even get if I end up with really damaged skin so I've decided to put more attention to my daily skin rituals. These days, my morning facial care ritual would be putting sunflower oil that I got from Human Heart Nature after washing my face then I put All organic's Skinbrella over it. They seem to go well together. Night rituals also consists of facial care products from Human Heart Nature which I'm really loving to bits (but that it for an entirely separate post since this blog is after all for the little girl hehe).

With regards to the Milea Bath and Body Wash, Maia loves bathing with it. I personally love it's honey-like consistency and its mild scent (almost unscented actually or is it just me who couldn't distinguish an unscented one from the powdery scented ones?). I never used heavily scented products on Maia because I'm afraid she'd develop allergic reactions to it. I also like that it's 2 in 1 so it's very handy especially when travelling. Big plus to me as well is the fact that it rinses off easily. You know how tricky bath time is for toddlers. Probably, the only issue I have with the Milea Body Wash are the tangles on Maia's hair after we dry her off. But I guess, it's the same with any other 2 in 1 baby wash out there. And because Maia's hair is curly, it's no surprise we always have to deal with tangles after every bath. We've only consumed half of the bottle to date. But if you ask me if I'd use it again once we ran out? Yes I would. It still boost more of the good stuff after all and that would be enough reason for me to keep using it.

She'll Never Go Hungry

2011-05-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

I know that toddlers go through certain phases of picky eating and we've been through a lot of ups and downs already. But waking up to mornings when I ask for a few extra minutes in bed and finding her on the table preparing something to eat all by herself just gives me that extra boost to jump-start my day.

She's really starting to be independent in too many ways. I just hope we are doing the right thing by giving her the freedom and space to grow in her own phase and on her own choosing.

SPREADING PEANUT BUTTER ON HER BANANA (See Doc, we're abiding by your orders! We're starting to love peanut butter on almost everything!)

Lazy Sundays Are Made Of These

2011-05-23T13:08:00.001-07:00

An early trip to the nearby church to hear mass first thing in the morning.
Light breakfast usually consist of pan de sal or pancakes and gourmet eggs if the cooking bug bites me all so suddenly. Or when the little boss demands for something more palatable than a mere pan de sal.

Some arts and crafts, puzzle or blocks time which should involve the 3 of us (otherwise the little boss won't cooperate) - this week it was crafts time. We made her a laptop!

THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TRAIN CABS PASSING THRU A TUNNEL. YES, SHE'S STARTING TO BE MORE IMAGINATIVE WITH HER ECOBLOKS.

Tadahhhh! Little boss gave it her seal of approval.

Depending on my mood, we might have a home-cooked gourmet meal for lunch or a light one consist of sandwiches or tortillas then a relaxing siesta after! Ahhh life!
A kid-friendly movie. this weekend it was The Legend of The Guardians. Maia loved the movie. And she was almost able to sit through the entire film without any complaints. She adapted a new favorite song after the movie and she loves dancing to this music video. She would search for it each time she's allowed to sit with us in front of the computer.

A stroll or a dip in the pool to close the day. Saturdays we'd usually take a stroll because the hubby and I usually run for an hour before dinner so the short walk becomes our warm up activity. And last Sunday the little girl chose the pool and she stayed in it for almost an hour. Terribly hot weather you see. But before we headed for home, skies suddenly turned really dark we thought we'd be soaking wet by the time we get to the house but good thing rain did not fall till late night.

Even our lazy Saturdays are spent like these sans the mass and we love weekends like this. It looks packed but almost always, we would start the new week feeling rested and recharged.

Open, Shut Them

2011-05-22T23:34:00.000-07:00

Our summer school program proved to be a great bonding activity for Maia and me. In the past few weeks I've started seeing positive changes in her. She's become more gentle and more organized. And most importantly, she has started learning lyrics to songs unlike before when it takes her a long time to pick up song lyrics. She always ended up humming instead of singing.

It was probably how the songs are sang in school where hand movements are incorporated with each song they sing that makes them remember the words.

This song is one of her favorite circle time song in summer school. I'm sharing the lyrics here since I'm also learning to memorize it so we can include it in our pre-bedtime repertoire.

Open, shut them (Open both hands and then make a fist)
Open, shut them
Give a little clap. (Clap hands together)
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Fold them in your lap. (Fold hands in lap)

Creep them, creep them (softly sung, walk fingers slowly to your chin)
Creep them, creep them
Right up to your chin (have fingers on chin)
Open wide your little mouth
(fast)
But do not let them in.

Open shut them, open shut them,
To the shoulders fly,
Then let them like the birdies
Flutter flutter to the sky

Falling, falling, slowly downward
Almost to the ground
Then quickly raise the fingers
Turning turning round and round!
Faster, faster.
Slower, slower.
Turn them round and round!

Crocheting for Dummies

2011-05-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

Since Maia started going to Waldorf Kindergarten this summer, I have forced myself to learn being crafty. I've had my short crafty moments when I was younger (learned embroidery, cross-stitching, bead-making to name a few) but those were mostly fueled by boredom so I never got to really passionately learn them or develop a skill. I easily dropped them when something new came up and never really looked back.

Now that I'm a mom to a very curious and adventurous preschooler, I sort of regret not developing that crafty side of me.

But, thank God for You Tube! At least I had online tutorials for my weekly projects.

From cutting and pasting and tying japanese lantern paper, I've decided to move the scale a notch higher and aim for more ambitious projects. I've listed down several projects that the little girl and I can do together, but I wanted to do something like a dolls or a toy maybe for Maia to play with.

Since Maia is fond of our storytelling activities I decided to try my hand at crocheting finger puppets. I have yet to really start on it but I am hoping to jump into it when Maia finishes her summer sessions.

For now, I leave you with this tutorials from You Tube. I do hope I can make similar puppets to this one video.

And maybe I'll make crocheted flowers like these too. Yay, I'm getting quite excited at the thought of it! I can't wait to start on this project! I promise to post pictures once I've completed at least one.

How Babywearing Benefited Us

2011-05-19T01:56:00.000-07:00

While I was still pregnant with Maia, I came across this show that featured baby wearing. From that moment on I only demanded two things from myself -- that I should exclusively breastfeed and that i should wear her as much as I can. I wanted to breastfeed until Maia is 2 years old. But I didn't get lucky on that one, I had to undergo mastectomy 3 months after giving birth and my body totally stopped producing milk after the surgery. Having failed on my first goal, baby wearing became more than just a requirement for me. It felt like a test I had to pass or else I’m a failure. Yes, I was crazy like that. But it turned out to be a good crazy thing for me and for my daughter.

MAIA @ 3 months and trying out the ring sling for the first time

Since my body had other plans for me and did not cooperate on my breastfeeding goal, I went and got myself a ring sling. The first time I put her on it, she gave me a big yummy gummy smile! And so Maia rode her sling, and that made difficult things more achievable for us. I can do my chores at home while lulling her to sleep. I can run errands while she feeds (sadly, from the bottle). So we went to do more things together -- doctor’s appointments, took trips by land, by air and by sea, rode the MRT, took weekend strolls. We went to discover the world around us…with her on her sling and the sling wrapped around my body. It bound and bonded us perfectly.

Maia worn by her Dad while strolling and by me while grocery shopping

Eventually, we convinced her Dad to join us in our baby wearing adventures. It turned out to be way better – Maia got to bond with both her parents. We took turns wearing her till our shoulders gave up. Now that she’s two, we still bring our sling to our adventures. So just in case she gets tired of walking and running we can always wear her. And to date she still knows how to ride it like a pro!

TRAVELING WITH MAIA USING A SLING, HERE AT THE ILOILO AIRPORT

I am glad I chose to babywear. I did not only prove to be very functional and practical (we survived the first year without the aid of strollers) but more than that developed in me a certain level of parental consciousness. I became more sensitive towards my little girl's needs. I became more responsive and proactive.

Since baby wearing was really beneficial to us, I started encourage mommy-friends to try it as well. Some tried and succeeded, others never considered. But still, I am hoping that eventually more moms and parents at that, would try it too.

Here's a list of benefits that parents and their kids get from babywearing (text taken from ParentingWeb):

Baby wearing is common in many cultures around the world. Due in part to the promotion of slings in attachment parenting books, in stores and on the Internet, more and more American parents are learning about baby wearing. The sling is the most practical, comfortable and versatile method of carrying your baby. Unlike front pack type carriers and back packs, slings can be used for newborns and toddlers alike. Slings make breastfeeding easy and discreet, and slings are much easier on the easily wearied arms and backs of parents.

The Benefits of Babywearing

-Wearing your baby helps you develop a secure mutual attachment.

-Babywearing increases parental sensitivity to a baby's needs.

-Babywearing simulates the sensations of pressure, motion, warmth and security of the womb.

-Carrying your baby in a sling reduces her level of stress hormones.

-Babywearing can greatly reduce crying and fussiness. It also helps your fussy or tired baby fall asleep.

-Babies sleep longer and more comfortably when in a sling.

-Sling babies have a reduced incidence of colic and are less susceptible to vomiting and excess spitting-up.

-Toddlers who were/are carried in slings initiate separation sooner, and become more self-reliant.

-Babywearing has been shown to strongly benefit premature infants and lower their mortality rate.

-Parents who wear their babies can more easily accomplish daily activities, tasks and chores.

-The natural movement and stimulation provided by being in a sling promotes neurological development.

-Babywearing gives children the message that they are safe, secure and loved.

-Babywearing is the most comfortable way to hold a baby. You can use a sling on your shoulders, back or hip distributing your baby's weight evenly.

-Wearing your baby in a sling provides her with constant and easy access to breastfeeding, and makes nursing in public easy and discreet.

MAIA TRYING ON HER RING SLING

Parent Introductory Afternoon at St Mikael Playhouse

2011-05-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

I received this email from Sujata (the school director) yesterday and thought I'd share it here since you might be interested with Waldorf and this is a wonderful venue for you to get a clearer picture of what Waldorf kindergarten is. Ms Bella Tan is very accommodating and when we attended a similar intro talk we were able to ask all the questions that we needed answers to.

I encourage you to sign up if Waldorf is an option that you have for your toddler.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dear Parents!

We've scheduled another Parent Introductory Afternoon on Saturday, May 21, 2pm to 5pm at ISIP Center!

We know that some of you attended our Intro Evening last February, or are already enrolled in one of our programs. However please do pass on the information below to other parents of young children that may be interested, or those who were unable to attend then.

Or you may be a new parent exploring ST MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE as an option for the coming school year.

First-time attendees to this Intro may have an opportunity to avail of a free trial class!

Not only will you learn about the offerings of ST MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE starting this June 2011, including dates, daily rhythm, and tuition, you will also get to hear about the unique features of Steiner early childhood education from one of its pioneers, Ms. Bella Tan of Rudolf Steiner Education in the Philippines.

Reserve early!

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ST MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE
G/f, 6241 Palma cor Mañalac Sts.
Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City (near Rockwell)
Mobile: 0917 847 0848
st.michael.playhouse@gmail.com
Facebook: Look up 'St Michael Playhouse Makati'

Making New Friends

2011-05-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

I was a big fan of Neva's blogs. From her multiply site (which I stalked while I was pregnant with Maia-now I'm confessing) until she moved to Manilamommy.com and in Twitter (where we get to have a picture of how I days go). Our kids were born a month apart so I felt like I shared her Mommy adventures each time I read a post. Yes, I found an online friend in Manilamommy.

So when the opportunity came up to finally meet her, I dropped her a note in Twitter. Manilababyshop (Neva and her hubby Dan's business venture) was joining the Expo Mom Fair at the Rockwell tent and we always pass by Rockwell after Maia's Saturday Summer class so it was a convenient stop.

We chatted a bit when we got there. We didn't stay long since Maia was restless and wanted to get her hands on the bags on display. I decided to get her a lunch bag to use in school. Little girl had a big smile when I handed the bag over to her. She was so happy with her first expo purchase that she went to bed with it for 2 consecutive days. Manang hid the bag on the 3rd day because we're afraid she might actually put some food in it and bring it to bed.

It was nice to finally meet somebody you knew virtually. Maybe one of these days we can actually set up playdates so the little kids that brought us together can finally meet as well.

Sharing a photo of Neva and me (photo I grabbed from her blog hehe. thanks Neva!)

Celebrating Mother's Day at Home

2011-05-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

I initially planned on doing another letter to Maia post for mother's day because after all, she was the reason why I get to call that day MY day along with many other awesome, hardworking moms out there. But then the weather yesterday just did not allow me to get my little quiet time as I'd hope to so lemme just share with you how we celebrated mother's day yesterday.

We slept in till around 8 am which was already late considering we normally start our weekend mornings at 6-630. Then, I prepared a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs for our family of 3. Maia was not used to eating processed meat so she never got around to finishing her piece of the bacon but devoured the eggs and asked for a second helping even.

After breakfast we waited till the daddy of the house finished watching the nba playoffs then we started our main activity for the day which was storytelling and tadahhhhh - arts and crafts! I finally got the go from the big boss to buy some art supplies the day before so when I got the supplies out Maia was just so excited for us to start with the activity. I guess though arts and crafts is not really me because Maia got easily bored with us cutting and tying the japanese papers to make them into flowers and butterflies. So what I did was I got this art set (it was a gift to her a couple of Christmases ago) out and taped a couple of scratch papers unto the floor and her table and voila! - the little girl was immediately smitten by the brush and the pens! She stayed quiet for the rest of the day moving from one paper to another. By the time we tidied up we had a bunch of finished paintings from the little boss. I had to restrain myself from keeping all the junk because they really all looked so artsy I wanted to keep all of them!

The Big Boss and I also planned for a date night (we haven't been out for ages already! and we were saving time for this day) but in the end never left the house because we were just too lazy and never got around to changing out of our pajamas.

Half of our plans did not push through but I was happy of how we end up celebrating my day. It was a simple one but that was exactly how I wanted to do it - home cooked meal, sweets for meryenda, some siesta and bonding time with Maia in between. The little boss was just as happy to have us all to herself the entire day!

How and where did you celebrate mother's day?

St Mikael Playhouse's Parent-Child Summer Program

2011-04-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we started the first of our 5 sessions for the summer with St. Mikael Playhouse's Parent-Child program.

I cannot believe how behaved Maia was althrough out the session considering that we had to travel all the way from Cavite just to be able to join this class. When we got to the school 40 minutes earlier than schedule, she was just ecstatic to get into the 'classroom' but patiently waited for the 'gates' to open.

When Teacher Josie called her into the room, she immediately took a seat and grabbed some crayons and drew away. A few minutes after, she asked: Mommy, wala ako classmates? (I don't have classmates?). Excited much, ano?

At around 8:40 kids starting coming and we were ready to start by 9am. It was a large class. Much larger than the class that we joined when we tried last February and half of the moms I was with were first-timers. It was a good mix - of 'veteran' waldorf parents and of newbies. I would like to think I am in the middle. Hehe.

Here's how our program was set to go. This is called the Rhythm of the Day:

9am Arrival

Change to indoor shoes/slippers (child and adult)

Towels hanged (one inside the toilet, the other near the front door)

9:05-9:40 am Free play/Art Activity

Toy-making (for parents)

9:40am Clean-up

9:45am Washing of hands/Toilet time

Setting the Table

10:00am Snack Time

10:15am Circle Time

10:20am Changing of shoes/slippers to outdoor shoes

Outdoor free play

Parents discussion/sharing time

10:45am Wash-up

10:55am Storytelling

11:00am Goodbye Song

I love the idea that kids use breakables and are taught to set the table themselves. After our trial class last February, we started using breakables for Maia too. And she's learning to be more careful with handling them. I like that this somehow helped tame her in the sense that she doesn't throw things as often as before.

The school prepares the snacks. And they are the organic, healthy type. During the trial class we were served rolled oats with yoghurt, apples and raisins and yesterday we had fresh fruits (pineapple, bananas and melons). I'm really happy because Maia always ask for seconds and even third servings. Normally, she would eat just a few pieces of pineapply and melons but yesterday was really different. I hope she'd start eating like that here at home. I'm already thinking of ways to improve our daily menu. Hehe.

I also like how teachers deal with each kid in a very gentle manner. And they transition to each activity by playing music (and not the loud kind, but soft gentle music). The teacher yesterday played the xylophone and this attracted the kids attention immediatly so it wasn't very difficult to transition from one activity to the other.

I know I'll have lots of stories to share after we've completed this class. But for now, let me share with you some photos that I took of Maia from yesterday.

Mommy, Please Don't Go To Work!

2011-04-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, she was down to the point of begging this morning. The last few days found me always in this difficult situation each waking morning. It seems like the 5 days that we were together everyday has made an impression on this little boss that Mommy is not working out of the house anymore. I always had to sit her down and explain to her why I have to leave for work. Of course, I never get to win her approval. We still end up with more tears rather than a smile.

I am happy though that despite her young age, she still listens to me. This morning I told her that Mommies really have to work to help Daddies. In fact all of her friends Mommies also go to work. I got a wail in response. But that meant she understood what I was saying. What she did apart from the wailing was to command her dad to lock our bedroom. Funny thing is, our bedroom's door is the sliding type so we never really attempted to install any locks on it. We just close it if we want some privacy. But I guess to her the mere thought of it being closed means I will be forced to stay inside under her watchful eye.

Before our recent 5-day vacation happened, she never really cared each time I leave in the morning. That actually made me sad at times. I mean, what Mother won't feel bad when each time she'd say good-bye all she gets is a nod and nothing else. I had to force a kiss and a hug from her each time I left for work so this sudden change of behavior surprised me a bit. But then again, she's really young. So I guess, she's entitled to be inconsistent for now.

I just hope this is a temporary thing though. Because even if this does not affect me anymore (surprised at myself too!), if this becomes a long-term issue then we might be force to fast track on some plans which we do not want to do prematurely.

I resolved to take this all in a stride. Am just crossing my fingers for tomorrow. Because I do not want to deal with more drama tomorrow as I already did today.

The Big C and the Picky Eater

2011-04-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

I did not expect her to be asking about the missing boobies this early.

But this morning while she was waiting for me to finish dressing up for work, she popped the question: "Mommy, san na (pointing to my left chest)?" (Mommy, where did it go?)

When we were in Antique, I was amazed at how my sister trained my nephew, Gogol, to eat his veggies and fruits. It turns out, she always tells him he'll get cancer if he doesn't eat healthy food. So Gogol does what he is told. He's a very good boy at the dining table. :))

It was a light bulb moment for me. When I heard the question I grabbed the opportunity to inject just enough scare factor on her so she can start eating right. Guess what, it worked! Right after our conversation she moved out of the room, pointed at the fruits on the table and asked for a serving. Talk of taking drastic measures. But a mom's gotta do what she has to do. Hehe.

Here's how the conversation went (sorry I had to share them in Tagalog):

Maia: Mommy, san na?

Me: Inalis ni Doc 'nak. Kasi nagkaroon si Mommy ng cancer kailangan tanggalin ni Doc para mawala na at gumaling si Mommy.

Maia: Ayaw ko ke doc, Mommy. Ayaw ko.

Me: Naku wag ka matakot ke Doc 'nak. Pinagaling nga nya si Mommy eh. Pero para ikaw wag magka-cancer dapat kumakain ka ng gulay at fruits. Si Mommy nung bata ayaw sa mga yun kaya ayan nagka-cancer.

Maia: (labas sa room) Mommy o...mangoes. Kain ako!

You should have seen the silly smile on my face. I just hope this conversation sticks to her memory long enough till her taste buds get use to them veggies and fruits.

Time4Learning

2011-04-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. Time4Learning can be used for homeschool, afterschool and summer skill sharpening.

Please do come back to read my personal thoughts about our experience on Time4Learning.

Homecoming treats

2011-04-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

I come from a family who is quite liberal when it comes to religion. So holy week is never really holy in our household. But what we really look forward to during these times are our mini-reunions. Since my sister and I both had our own families and have been living away from home for quite sometime now, holy week vacations have become a much bigger treat for my parents and siblings. Of course, more than the idea of having the big sisters around it is the kids who really make these vacations extra special.

We are not big on home parties but we always try to find something special to do. Last year we checked in to a newly opened resort in Guimaras and toured the kids around the island to sea starfishes and sea anemones and various corals. They had a blast! This year though we did not have the luxury of time to go somewhere else other than Antique so we settled for a nice, quiet swim at a nearby beach. Kids still loved it!

I'm sharing some photos from our recent trip home. I can't wait for next year. I hope we'll have more time to bond by then!

(Yay! I'm just learning to navigate picasa and am really starting to love it! It's a very helpful tool for people like me who will never learn any photoediting software) Collage sidebar (counterclockwise from the top: my dad teaching Maia how to ride the tire swing while my nephew Gogol makes his crazy pose, kids enjoying an al fresco brekky with my centenarian grandma - 101 and counting!, Maia shopping for her own clay made cooking set, Huwadhuwad and Ibus from the Friday market, Maia and me by the sunset, Beautiful sunset at one of the nearby beaches, Maia's flower bouquet (yes she did the bouquet all by herself), Welcome to Antique sign!

Goodbye, Ate Inday

2011-02-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

So we start a new chapter in our yaya diaries this month. We welcomed Ate Bibing into our home last night.

I know Tibs was trying to hide the shock in his face upon seeing our new yaya but I told him at this point, we really do not have the luxury to be picky. As long as we have a healthy and capable yaya we just have to settle on that for now. All other factors (aesthetics most especially) will have to take a backseat for now.

I guess just like Maia, Ate Inday will be irreplaceable in our hearts. She was almost the epitome of the perfect yaya she just needed to be healthier then we would have been okay. Ate Inday was always looking after Maia's welfare. Despite our little girl's 'adventurous' behaviour she never got tired of chasing after her. She tried her best not to let her out of her sight. She encouraged Maia's creativity to flow. She loved sharing stories with Maia. She was my substitute teacher during the day. And the numerous home videos we have of Maia's milestones can prove how well she did.

But unfortunately, Ate Inday became sickly these past few months. And I guess, her love for Maia prompted her to tell us she needed to take sometime off to rest in the province. She doesn't want to endanger Maia or expose her to whatever's making her sickly. And as working parents would know a request for rest doesn't always guarantee a return. So despite negotiations, we were forced to hire a replacement. And after 4 attempts, we finally got one.

I pray that Maia will learn to love Ate Bibing eventually. This morning she was quick to ask if Ate Bibing already went home. I guess it hasn't dawned on her yet that Ate Bibing is living with us already. Oh well, such is life. We just have to try to get on with our day to day lives from here and pray that maybe Ate Inday could still come back to us in the future.

What I'm Missing on Weekdays

2010-09-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

I've been stuck at home for two days now. Doctor's orders.

And these past two days are one of the most memorable days I've spent at home. For one, it was just me, Maia and Yaya. I felt like I was king and queen for two days. With no Tibs butting in to contradict my orders. Kidding.

What really made these two days memorable were these chance:

- to watch Maia go straight to the potty trainer after waking from a nap and successful empty her bladder with out our prodding. Added bonus was her cheering "YEY! GALING!" after rising from the potty seat.

- to learn that Maia loves to eat cheese. We used to think she only likes those ensaymada toppings that she likes to pick but I thought of handing her a few cheese slices and she devoured them instantly. There's even a matching, "yummmm sarap sarap!" when she finished the cheese off her plate. I don't know yet if the liking would take her as far as one week. But at least we have alternative calcium source for the next few days since we're really trying to wean her off the bottle.

- to listen to Maia respond to her dad's call. Usually, when I'm on the other line she'd just keep quiet and listen to me talk. But these past 2 days, she'd immediately say 'dad?dad?' when I hand over the phone to her. Now this somehow convinces me that this little girl is a Daddy's girl. *sob*sob

- be around when Maia's on her extra sensitive/attentive mood. Or maybe it's because yaya kept telling her Mom's sick so she has to behave. Entire Monday, she kept to herself. Played while I rested. And easily took a nap when we asked her she needed to. She demanded to be read a story only once in the afternoon. Today (Tuesday) was a bit different though. But she really only demanded for a few minutes of tickle, tickle with Mommy and a couple of hours of playtime. I felt better today anyways so I'm glad I had the energy to give in to her demands.

- to have the luxury to really pick a time to explain to Maia the reason why she can't do this or do that without going really negative on her. And I could see that she's also paying a lot more attention when I talk in a patiently manner (slowly probably and without raising my voice).

- to finally get to remember how wonderful it was to really nap luxuriously in the afternoon. I forgot that feeling a long time ago (I think I last had the same wonderful experience during sembreaks in college way back...hehe nevermind).

I'm going back to work a lot more energized tomorrow. Today I can say with conviction that everything do happen for a reason. Even if you're forced to miss work on closing week. Wehehehe.

A Baggy Confession

2010-08-20T02:22:00.000-07:00

I have a secret love affair with bags.

I say secret because you can never tell that by looking at me. Or by looking at my lousy bag collection.

I do not own a pricey bag. Or a flashy bag. My bag acquisitions were always fueled by the demise of its predecessor. You probably get the picture by now.

Now that I've become a mommy, my love affair has shifted to diaper bags. I'd ogle at diapers bags I'd see online or while window shopping. But despite this over fascination, my attitude hasn't changed yet. I still am the same ol stingy Faye that I was before I became a mommy.

But I think I am going to be a convert soon from being the stingy diaper bag crazy mom that I am. And I think Manilababyshop has a lot to do with that. And even without my financial advisor's blessing (a.k.a. The Hubby) I'm starting to save my allowance to buy maia and myself a piece of this multi-functional, stylish and very affordable diaper bags.

And since they have a contest going on, I am trying my luck as well :)) Head on to the Manilababy Shop's multiply site and check out their collection. You might find one that you'll like too!

Please see contest mechanics here. Good fellow mommies! :))

A nosy and scary surprise!

2010-07-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am the eldest among a brood of 5. My mom is the eldest among a brood of 7. She was the first to have children. That makes me the eldest among cousins now counting to 29. I witnessed almost all 28 grow up. I guess that led me somehow becoming so maternal at an early age.

Despite having seen my siblings and cousins go through accidents in their childhood - may it be major, minor or in-between, I've vowed to be even more careful when I become a Mommy.

So I babyproofed as much as I can when Maia started crawling and cruising and walking and now running. I padded sharp edges and floors so falls are cushioned. I kept all sharp objects away from her reach. Despite all these efforts though, I've still witnessed Maia fall down our bed several times. The feeling of seeing her fall and not being able to catch her in time is heartstopping. I'd swim in an ocean of guilt for days after those incidents even with Tibs comforting me and telling me none of that is my fault. Mothers are supposed to protect their children and I failed on mine. But those thoughts started disappearing a few months back when Maia started to walk with ease and balance. She'd run without tripping. Most often, she'd refuse my offer to carry her. She's starting to be independent.

With that, I've started embracing the idea of letting her be. I afterall wanted her to have the freedom to explore the world on her own as much as possible. I wanted her to discover things on her own because that was how I was when I was a kid and I really appreciated that from my parents. I wanted to be the same parent with my daughter.

Yesterday though, I got another wake up call.

Coming home from a running event, I was quite exhausted. So afer lunch we just had a short picture flash card session and then I called her into the bedroom so we can nap together. That's when she grabbed my hand and pointed to her nose. I saw her a few minutes earlier picking her nose but I fought the urge to slap her hand away because I was just too tired to do so. At that point though, she really looked irritated so I went to look what's making her nose so itchy. And voila, guess what I found stuck inside her nose:

Panicked enveloped me instantly. My voice was shaking while I called for help from Tibs and Ate Inday. I was so scared she'd suck this thing in even deeper I wanted to stop her from breathing. Good thing my panic did not rub on Tibs. He got that thing out of Maia's tiny little nose in no time. Thank God too that Maia never panicked as well. She stayed still the entire time her Dad was pulling that thing out of her nose.

Till now, we don't know where she got this thing from. I still don't know what it is. But I did discover one of her electronic toys broken with some parts missing. This could be attached to one of those missing parts. I already took all the tiny parts on that broken toy away. I wanted to throw the entire toy away but if you have a toddler you'd understand how clingy they are with things they've grown attached to. And I have yet to ask her permission to throw the toy away. So initial solution is just to take all the tiny parts away.

Sigh. Parenting is such a complicated task. I wish I can always prepare myself for the worst. But then again, learning is a step by step thing isn't it? It's always when things are difficult and complicated that we retain most of the things we're taught. So I learned a major lesson yesterday. I'm starting to dread the coming lessons though. **Double sigh**