monday musings

Happy Monday, Bunnies! How was your weekend? Ours was spent decluttering and reorganizing our closets and storage areas. It was a quiet break from the past two weekends of catching up with friends over decadent food and bottles of wine way past the kiddos' bedtimes. But just the same, I felt like the days went by so fast.

I wonder, do you bring your kids with you when you get together with your friends? We've never ever tried leaving the little guy with a babysitter so we always bring him with us wherever we go. To some degree I feel like an irresponsible parent when we lay him down to sleep on the floor (on a blanket, of course) during our late-night soirees but then again we need to socialize and have stimulating conversation with other adults once in a while. I just tell myself that the pros of having some semblance of our pre-parenthood life outweighs whatever discomfort the little guy may be feeling. If anything, it will probably make him a well-adjusted kid in the long run.

i got told by a six year old

Yes, I just got told by a six year old at the playground!

We brought Bud to the playground the other day. Usually it's just me and the little guy who go but that day the Mister went with us and so I brought a bag of Cheetos to snack on while I watched them play.

I admit, I really have low EQ when it comes to food. We haven't even been at the park more than 10 minutes and I already brought out the bag of Cheetos. Naturally, Bud saw the bag and wanted to have what I was having. He was climbing up the slide and I told him "I will give you some when you slide down". Because I always follow through with what I say, I gave him a piece when he reached the bottom of the slide. I didn't realize there was a six year old boy watching us and I got surprised when he blurted "You give your baby Cheetos?".

I suddenly found myself looking for the right words to justify my actions to a kid. I said "It's his first time to taste Cheetos", which was the truth. It was the first time I let him taste Cheetos and now I wish I could take it back. You should have seen the look on that little boy's face. I felt so guilty!

I felt even worse was when he said "Our baby only eats fruits." I got a lecture on nutrition from a six year old!

But wait, look who else is giving her kiddos Cheetos.

profession: stay-at-home-mother

I wanted to share with you this article about the Stay At Home Mother and Her Brain.

It's true, often times we stay-at-home-moms question the value of what we do day in and day out and fret over the lack of a "real" job with adequate monetary compensation. But just because we're not getting paid to do what we're doing doesn't mean we're limiting ourselves in terms of intellectual stimulation and activity.

In my opinion, we all have different roles to fulfill in this world and what really matters is how we challenge ourselves to do our best in every task and be our best in whatever situtation we find ourselves in. We can't all be lawyers, doctors, or aerospace engineers. Some people are meant to be professional athletes or fashion designers and by no means are they using their brains any less, don't you agree?

Parenting is no easy feat. It's an emotionally, spiritually and intellectually challenging job for everyone who has children. The only difference is working parents get some help from professional educators and caregivers when they leave their kids at school or in daycare while stay-at-home-moms have to take on the role of being the educator and caregiver every waking minute while juggling other adult responsibilities.

Stay healthy and happy, bunnies!

updated carseat guidelines

Hey Mommies, have you heard? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released new guidelines to consider when deciding what type of carseat to purchase and when to make the transition from rear-facing to forward-facing.

In a new policy published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online March 21), the AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

“The ‘age 2’ recommendation is not a deadline, but rather a guideline to help parents decide when to make the transition,” Dr. Durbin said. “Smaller children will benefit from remaining rear-facing longer, while other children may reach the maximum height or weight before 2 years of age."

When it comes to our children's safety, it's always best to practice prudence.

want to look like pepper potts?

If you have been following my posts you probably know by now how much I want winter to be O-V-E-R. One of my biggest winter woes is not having enough exercise. You see, finding time to workout is a real challenge for me especially since P is out of town most days of the week. The few quiet hours I get when Bud is napping I spend attending to my homemaker duties. By the time he goes to sleep at night, I'm too exhausted to even think about moving about.

When it was a lot warmer outside I brought Bud along with me when I ran. He would be sitting comfortably in his jogging stroller while I pushed him uphill and downhill. But since it got too cold and the sidewalks now all buried in snow, I have resorted to getting a membership at the community center.

One of the perks of going to the center is that they have childcare where you can leave your little ones while you workout (assuming they cooperate and not throw a fit when you leave them). The staff at the childcare are great! They engage the kids in play and are very patient with the ones who need more cuddling time.

As you might have guessed, Bud is one of those kids who need the extra cuddling and comforting from the staff. The first day I left him he did great, no crying. The second day and the consecutive days thereafter have been unencouraging (if there is such a word). I only get 20 minutes of running time on the treadmill because I know he is in the childcare crying and just waiting for me to come get him. Most days he would cry on and off but there was a day or two when he just cried non-stop.

It was only last Tuesday when we had a breakthrough. He was crying when I left but when I returned to get him he was playing contently! Even the girls were pleasantly surprised at his new found calm. I'm really hoping that he finally realized that mommy's always going to come back, as I have repeated over and over. Let's see how it goes tomorrow.

One celebrity mom who really inspires me is Gwyneth Paltrow. Here she openly shares her exercise and diet regimen for getting into shape for her role as Pepper Potts in Ironman2.

Here's one of the leg and butt routines designed by celebrity trainer, Tracey Anderson. Very encouraging.



Stay fit and healthy, bunnies!

positive discipline and clever diversions

If you have been living with a little person for a while you probably figured out by now that they are natural copycats. They try to imitate everything they see us do. Lately Bud has been showing a lot of interest in keys and opening doors. He would rummage around my purse to look for keys, bring it to the door and try to put it in the keyhole. Of course he can tell the play keys from the real keys - just like with everything else. Even if we buy them plastic laptops they still insist on tinkering with our real laptops. Sigh!

As much as possible I try to practice positive discipline. I try to avoid using the word "NO" as much as I can and reserve it only for times when I want to stress a point. I'm afraid that saying it too much would make Bud NO-deaf, as some experts so aptly coined it. Instead, I tell him what he CAN do.

This morning as P was about to leave for work, Bud was clinging on to him insisting on playing with the door knob again. He was holding the house key and wanted to put it in the keyhole. I had to look for diversion, quick! Good thing we haven't thrown out the box of our newly purchased file cabinet. I pierced a hole on the image of the lock and showed Bud that he can instert the key there. Bud was super happy with his new cardboard file cabinet. Instant new toy. Success!

parenthood

We keep track of our children's development and celebrate their every milestone. We are in awe of how fast they grow and blossom into these amazing little people. But have you ever stopped and looked in the mirror lately? Our little angels aren't the only ones growing and maturing.

I think once you become a parent, you are altered (for better or worse, you decide).

I believe our children are gifts from God and true to His nature, God blesses us with children who bring out the best in us (but who also make us vulnerable to our weaknesses).

our little angel is growing up before our very eyes

There are days when I question why Bud is developing at a slower pace than his peers. Why he was be born at 30 weeks and why he had to spend the first 2 months of his life in the NICU. But instead of getting a straight answer, God assures me, "you and P are one of the most resilient and persevering couples I know. I am confident that you are the kind of parents that Bud needs".

I guess it wouldn't be a crime for us to celebrate parenthood and take a little credit for raising awesome kids.

Cheers!

on being a SAHM

We're home! My self-proclaimed vacation is over. I was relieved to see that our house was still in one piece when we got back except for a few dead wasps along our sliding door and on kitchen floor. I wonder how they died. From starvation, maybe? The exterminator is coming next week to check where they came from. I haven't mentioned this yet but one of the downsides of living in the suburbs and being close to nature is having to live with all sorts of insects and spiders.

So, I'm back to doing chores and running errands. Not that I'm complaining, it's the opposite actually. I very much enjoy cleaning and doing the laundry. Cooking, though, is another question. It's not really my strong suit so P does most of the cooking around here. The few successful dishes I whipped up are well documented in this blog, haha!

My family and friends back home are asking how I'm able to manage doing everything without a nanny or cleaning lady. I know the idea of running a household and taking care of a kid without help is overwhelming (for us Pinoys, at least) but with practice it gets easy. My strategy is to create a routine and stick to the schedule. Establishing regular nap times and sleep time for the little one are especially important. We plan everything around Bud's sleep schedules. Remember, a well-rested toddler is a happy toddler; no whining, no worries.


The thing with planning around Bud's sleep schedule though is that I miss out on a lot of get-togethers and other night-time social activities. Just like tonight, while P and our other friends are dining and drinking at a wedding reception, I'm here at home blogging. Since Bud is still recovering from his ear infection, we didn't want to disrupt his sleep schedule by bringing him to the party.

Despite the sacrifices, I am grateful that I can afford to be a SAHM. I love that I get to witness all of Bud's "firsts". I'm savoring every minute of being his best gal in his (small) world.

toddler mealtime tricks

I believe all moms will agree that feeding a toddler could be quite challenging (even more so for moms like me who don't have a nanny). It's a tedious task of preparing a balanced meal, enticing them to eat it, teaching them how to feed themselves, keeping them in their chairs and most of all making sure they finish the food that you served them. Then repeat three times a day! Oh, and did I mention we have to clean up after their mess?

Bud is not a picky eater and has a very healthy appetite. However, he's at a stage where his curiosity and his eagerness to practice his newly discovered skills take precedence over food. These days it's hard to keep him in his chair during mealtimes without being distracted. So instead of stressing over it, I decided to just embrace the situation and make mealtimes an opportunity for learning and playing.

One thing he likes to do these days is to point and ask "ah dat?" (translated: what's that). When it's my turn to ask him to point to parts of his body, objects, animals and food he eagerly obliges. And so every mealtime we play "show mama". I would ask him to show me where his spoon is or where the banana is (or whatever food is on the table). Once he points to it I would then ask him to show me how he puts it in his mouth. yes, score!


Another thing that keeps him interested and entertained is having Mr. Bear (aka honey bottle from target) as a meal buddy. He shares his food and his drink with Mr. Bear. When I sense that he's getting distracted, I would say "Mr. bear is still hungry. Can you give him more food, please". After he gestures to give Mr. Bear food, he would put the food in his mouth. mommy wins this round again!


And because mealtimes are so much fun, here's how my little guy looks like when we're done....

Just seeing him this happy makes everything worthwhile.

Harriet Lake playdate

The weather was great today! The sun was out but the air was cool. It was perfectly timed for our playdate at Harriet Lake with my friend Susan and her one year old son, Cale.

I was so excited to catch up with Susan again after a long time and left the house in such a hurry that I forgot to bring my camera (as usual, right?). Good thing she's such a girl scout and had one in her bag. Here are some snapshots from this morning taken from Sue's camera:

sun and sand

let's play ball

"more sand time, please, mom"

happy baby = happy mommy

Sue was actually Bud's teacher. We saw her every week since the year started and that made our transition here so much manageable . She was my first (and so far still the only) American friend since we moved to the US. Too bad she's not Bud's teacher anymore and we don't get to see her on a regular basis but in a way it's also a good thing because now we can just be good friends. We get to spend time with her on her days off instead.

Happy weekend!