Trick or Treat 2014

 

2 kilos after

I'm proud to have breastfed Mack exclusively for his first six months of life (with donated bm as supplement when he was undergoing treatment for his recurring UTI) and now he is already into complementary feeding with solids (rice cereal, boiled saba, fresh banana, rice with lots of sabaw and bits of vegetables).

From his birthweight of 7.7lbs to 6.8lbs on his 3rd month due to bacterial infection, to 13.6lbs as of last week (7th month).

From severely underweight, he is now underweight na lang. Hehe. Way to go, Mack!

Rafa's 3rd Birthday!

November 8, 2014

Jollibee Sta Lucia Mall

Dear Gabbie

Dear Gabbie, naku anak, I'm not worthy. But thank you, thank you kasi kahit lagi kita napapagalitan, sobrang love mo pa din ako. Guess what? Love na love ka din ni Mommy! Thank you Neng kasi dahil sayo I become a better parent with each passing day. Alam mo bang bukod kay Daddy, ikaw ang bestfriend ko. Sana ganyan ka lagi ka-sweet and ka-vocal kasi yang mga small notes mo nakakawala ng pagod namin ng Daddy mo. Mahal na mahal ka namin Neng and we cant wait to see you bloom and grow, realize your dream and be whatever God wants you to be.

Rafa Anecdotes

One afternoon in the car, Rafa looked out the window, stared at the sky and was obviously totally awed by what she was looking at.

"Mommy, look! The sky is moving!"

She couldn't believe it she stared at the sky open-mouthed for the next couple of minutes.

********************

I asked Rafa to get something for me and I immediately followed my request with "Thank you."

She said, "No, don't say thank you muna."

When she handed it to me, she said, "Yan, you can say thank you now."

********************

I told Rafa, "Pang, have I told you already...?"

"Told me what?"

"That you're so cute."

"I know."

********************

I thought Rafa was biting Mack in the ear, so I told her to stop. But she said, "I'm not biting him. I'm just kissing my baby brother. And it's a trueeeee lovessss kiss!"

At least she"s not one of those who believe that true love's kiss only comes from princes or boys.

Gabbie's Field Trip as Grade One

It was her first time to go on a school field trip without mommy or daddy. There was just a slight apprehension on my part because we're still not comfortable with her going and doing her thing in the cr alone. Other than that, we were OK. We had faith in how the school and the teacher will handle and take care of them, and there were also parent chaperones assigned to look after them. But most of all, we had faith in our daughter that she can be independent and that she is smart enough to remember all our reminders and bilins. In fact, the parent chaperone assigned to her sent me this message after the field trip.

At the end of the day, Gabbie has shown and proven to us that she can already handle herself even without mommy or daddy. While it makes me a little emotional, I'm happy and proud that she is growing responsible and independent.

Mack's 6th month

I feel so emotional about this post, as this is about Mack's first 6 months of life outside my tummy. I can now say "whew" as we say goodbye to exclusive breastfeeding and say hello to feeding him with solids already.

So many things have happened in the past six months. There was the bacterial infection, weight loss, request for breastmilk donation and daddy's several tris around the metro to pick up breastmilk donations from generous mothers whom we will be forever grateful for. Then there was the series of tests on Mack's intestines and urinary tract, and of course the circumcision and hospital confinement.

On our first week of solids feeding, I was so disheartened. Mack wouldn't take anything. I thought we were a failure. I bought him rice cereal from Healthy options because he wouldn't eat the brown rice which was cooked like a lugaw. He ate bananas from the Nuby nibbler but that was it. He didn't gain much.

I had no choice but to just keep on direct feeding him and still give donated breastmilk with Heraclene. I still tried to give him the rice cereal which he would eat only when I have him something to munch on like a piece of breadstick or that harder loaf of pan de unan. And then I got saba and boiled it for him. He liked it! Little by little I added rice cereal to the mashed boiled saba alternating with fresh banana. Last time we weighed him, he was already 12.5lbs.

Now at six months, Mack can already crawl fast on the floor.  He grabs anything with his two hands already and can roll over and over without banging his head on the surface.

He might still be underweight for his age but we're not that worried because he is hitting is milestones and he is gaining, albeit slowly.

Groupie

Goofing around and playing with the iPad's camera one lazy morning.

Message Exchange

Daddy is currently in Germany. The time difference between Philippines and Germany is six hours. That means when Daddy wakes up at 6AM, it would be 12noon here, and Ate Gabbie would still be in school so if we talk to Daddy over Skype, it would just be me, Rafa and Mack.

Because their schedules don't meet, I asked Daddy to just leave a message for Ate.

Coming home from school, Ate was more than delighted to learn that she had a message from Daddy. But we had to wait til Rafa is asleep before she could reply. It took her about 10 minutes to type everything including figuring out how to insert stickers.

Ang arte lang. 😜

Rewards System

In our house, just like everyone else's, we have rules. In playing, studying, eating and almost everything that we do, we have rules to at least, consider and follow. But lately it's starting to get challenging for me to get Gabbie remember everything that she should and should not do. It has really gotten so hard and frustrating for both of us that there's no day that passes that we don't fight about it. I also noticed that the older she becomes, the list of rules grows longer. And so I let her write them herself.

But of course I don't expect her to remember these all at the same time so I still remind her every now and then. So far on the first three days after she had written this, there's been an improvement, like her shoes didn't have scratches from tiptoeing anymore when she got home from school (so far).

And to make this thing still fun and enjoyable for her (and because she's still a kid), we came up with the rewards system. For every rule that she followed and for every good thing that she did, she gets a Heart Print (we have a book that says you give a heart print to someone if you did something good to him).

So for not giving mommy and daddy a hard time waking her up in the morning, she gets a small heart print. For finishing her food fast, she gets a heart print. For finishing copying the notes and seatworks in school, she gets a heart print. For giving way to Rafa, she gets a heart print. For saying "po" and "opo" she gets a heart print, and so on. And for every five small heart prints, she gets a big one. If she completes 20 big heart prints (one box), she gets a reward. For the first reward, she wished for a nice Elsa dress for her (and Rafa, how sweet!) on her 7th birthday.

I believe, this way, we get things done with less stress for both of us. 

To Gabbie, while it's a little hard for us because you are our first child and everything with you is experimental, I learn something about parenting everyday. Thank you very much for that, anak. Know that we love you so much and we only want the best for you. Only the best for you, Gabbie.

Hashtag 100 Happy Days (the second half)

Some of the photos for the second half of my #100happydays.