Countdown to Fathers' Day :)

For the countless times that you had to wake up in the middle of the night because I had to eat or drink or wiwi or throw up or just because I was still too young to adjust to my body clock... you're my hero.

(Longest) Birthday Greeting

Gabbie loves joining games in parties, even if she is the smallest or youngest one to participate. Yesterday in Kaitlin Pia's first birthday party, she joined the longest birthday greeting contest.

I remember she did the same game last year, too, during Nico's birthday (click here) and she was really cute and amazing. But I wasn't able to record it in video. This one is from yesterday:



That was too funny, haha! My daughter is really the life of the party :)

Second Day In School

During the break, the teacher approached me. "Mommy, pang-ilang anak nyo si Abby? Matalino ang anak nyo. Wag nyo syang i-spoil ha."

Wow. For a moment I didn't know what to say. I just smiled at the teacher and said a shy "Thanks po."

I'm so proud of my little school girl.

They just did coloring activity today because they couldn't play outside due to rain. They colored an apple. At first I thought Gabbie couldn't do it properly because at home she does it very lightly and she just concentrates in the middle of the picture.

But I was wrong. She colored almost the entire paper I couldn't see the apple at all. And she did it very fast she was the one who shouted "I'm finished, teacher!" and she was the first one to get a star.

Snack time. She had 2 pcs mini choco muffins and 1 bar of Twiggies and she finished everything.

And the it was time to sing the goodbye songs. See that water bottle and empty Twiggies pack on the table? That's hers. She was the last one to finish eating. But at least she finished her baon. :)

Pahabol sa Summer :)

Just a few days before the rainy season (there was actually a slight typhoon during that time in some parts of the country), we had our free summer getaway c/o a friend who gave us four complimentary tickets to Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal.

Because she is a big girl now, she can go on swimming and sliding in the kiddie pool on her own... but with arm and ring floaters, of course.

The weather that day was perfect- not sunny but it was not raining. But still, we had to put on sunblock, especially Gabbie who was out in the water almost the entire day.

We tried kayaking and the artificial waves. But Gabbie didn't enjoy the latter much. She's not ok being swept away by big waves, even in a real beach.

We left CME around 5PM, and the rain came just as we got to the highway going home. She fell asleep in the car, must have been very tired running in the water and going up and down the slide all day. It was a great bonding day for us. And that concludes our summer of 2011. :)

First Time In A Hospital

Gabbie had fever for almost four days that was sort of on and off, and as high as 38.9 C. Whenever I gave her Tempra, her temperature would drop to 37 C so I thought it was enough. It was also weekend and the next day we were going to attend a wedding so I just relied on Tempra and sponge bath (but deep in my heart I was really worried and I wanted to bring her to the ER already).

She was really hot the whole Sunday, even during the wedding ceremony. But the next morning, she was fine. We were able to attend the farewell party of her summer class. Then in the afternoon, we had a manghihilot come over to our house to check her. She had pilay. The next hours she was already playing with her cousin, although the fever was still there and I started to notice her lips cracking already.

On Tuesday we brought her to the pedia.The doctor said she was dehydrated and we were instructed to do CBC and Dengue Antigen Test for Gabbie and to give her Pedialyte and continue withTempra. I didn't want to go home without making sure that she's spared from Dengue so I requested that the blood test results be rushed. The result was out after two hours and she was negative for Dengue Antigen but the CBC results showed her Total WBC was only 2.8- the normal values should be at least 5.0; and her platelet was at 200 which was still normal but already nearing the lower threshold. She has also lost weight and her appetite was really poor.

When the pedia saw the results, she requested that Gabbie be admitted immediately so the meds especially the water could be given properly via IV. We reserved a room at the Admitting Section and went home to get our stuff. Then went back to Capitol Medical Center at around 8PM.

That night she had no more fever. I was relieved because it meant one medicine was taken out of the list. She was only given vitamins and that dextrose to regain her electrolytes.

It was my first time to see a kid's BP being taken and I was amused. But I was even more amused at Gabbie who was so behaved all throughout, even taking the medicine cup from the nurse and take them on her own. She would also voluntarily raise her hand when she sees the thermometer and she would inhale-exhale when told.

Her wrapped hand (where the IV was connected) did not stop her from playing her PSP. 

The next morning her appetite was back a little. She already ate rice with soup and we had otap for our snacks. Only dark colored foods were not allowed because they were still monitoring her pupu.

That afternoon we were advised that her WBC and platelet we improving, although they couldn't disregard dengue yet. Her urine and stool were also OK. The doctor said she needed another blood test the next day to see if it will improve again. But rashes in her back and tummy were starting to show. She was given Alnix (antihistamine) for the rashes.

The next morning she was already up and back to being makulit. The pedia advised us that her WBC was already 5.0 and her platelet already 240. It meant no blood extraction anymore. And dengue was already disregarded. We just needed to monitor her for fever for 24-48 hours. Gabbie was already singing and dancing when the doctor left the room.

By Friday night daddy was already with us (his trip was cut by one day). He was the one who attended to Gabbie that night so I was able to rest more. The rashes were totally gone that time.

The next morning (4th day) the pedia gave the discharge instructions already. The diagnosis was (unknown) viral infection and the rashes was due to Roseola virus or tigdas hangin.

Before we left the hospital, eto na sya, ganito na sya kakulit:

Songs From Gabbie's Summer Class

These are some of the songs Gabbie learned from her summer nursery class.

The Tagalog song goes "Ang umaga ngayon kayganda, kayganda. Tayo ay magsaya magbigay ng ligaya, ang umaga ngayon kayganda kayganda..." 

The next one which we call "He's The Lord" is the very first song that she learned and sang to us at home.

The other English one is Three Little Monkeys. Funny 'coz she learned English songs easily and faster than the Tagalog one.

These videos were taken the night that she started to have fever.

The sick flower girl and the preggy bridesmaid

Gabbie's temperature when we went to Tagaytay last May 15 for Ninang Jenny's wedding was 38.9 C. She was sleeping the whole time on the way to the church. But despite the really hot weather and the fever, she still managed to march down the aisle without tantrums (unlike the other and older flower girls who were all nakasimangot while walking). She slept during the ceremony but woke up when it was already picture taking with the newlyweds, and then fell asleep again on the way to reception.

During the reception she was getting cranky. After the dinner, we already left. It was also a very tiring day for me because I was the one driving. Hubby was out on a business trip and unfortunately there was no one who could drive but me.

Sweet Girl Award

Gabbie's summer class ended last May 16. We almost didn't make it because the weekend before that Gabbie had very high fever.

The whole class held a party/picnic after their recognition ceremony where they were given their summer class completion certificate and their individual awards. Gabbie's award is The Sweet Girl Award. According to the teacher, she is the only student who is all-smile every time she enters the classroom, and is sweet and friendly to everybody.

It was a potluck party. I cooked spaghetti for the kids, teachers and parents. The others brought cake, fried chicken, melon shake, pancit, puto , lumpiang shanghai and rice.

I guess Gabbie is already 100% ready to go to formal school in June :)

Ninang Jenny's Flower Girl

The wedding will be on Saturday May 15, 2011 at the Chapel of Transfiguration (Caleregua) in Nasugbu Batangas. Gabbie will be a flower girl, and me... a preggy bridesmaid this time. This is Gabbie's gown, during our 2nd fitting. Can't wait to see her walk down the aisle again on Ninang Jenny's big day :)

Puzzle Time

The girls are currently into puzzles so during their free time after school, we set up a camp in the garage and there they do their stuff.

This is a really effective way to lessen their TV time. So the one-hour a day is now reduced to half, because by the time they ask for cartoons, they'd be tired and sleepy. They couldn't even finish a 30-minute cartoon show on Nick.