Nap Time Rocks!

Presenting, Mia’s fab finds for the month of March!

1. Ants & Bees educational baby tees, P275.00 for 2

(3rd fl Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Center, Pasig City)

I like tees that have statements or cute graphics on them. I once bought Mia a shirt that has “MY MOM IS A ROCKSTAR” written on it in gold (from Havin’ A Baby). At Ants & Bees, found at the new baby lane of Robinsons Galleria, they have babies’ t-shirts that are printed with educational statements or pictures. Like the 2 that I bought for her at Galleria’s 3-day weekend sale.

(Joyce Kilmer’s Tree poem printed on one of the shirts)

(more…)

i consider this as one of my life’s achievements. mia is finally standing up and walking on her own. she still needs a lot encouragement though, and she’s 1 year and almost 4 months already. but as pie said, better late than never.

Embedded Video

Grande Island, Subic, Olonggapo City is an island off the coast of Subic. The island fortress used to be a military campsite for the Spaniards and Americans during the tumultuous years when the Philippines lacked its complete freedom. It also served as a refugee camp site for the Vietnamese and Cambodians about 30 years ago. But the history of the place might just take the back seat when you visit the now-turned-island resort.

It’s a huge place which you can explore either by foot or by renting out an ATV (which we did, and it was so much fun). Grande Island Resort is the only resort located on the island. It offers full lodging amenities with villas on the shore and a really nice veranda with a lounge chair.

But anyway, you get to the island first via ferry from the bay port at Subic which only takes about 20-30 minutes. The view is nice; don’t expect dolphins to come jumping alongside the ferry though.

And when you get to the island, there are a lot of things to do: (more…)

to vannie, tita nelli, meeya, woobie, mix, doc joy, and weng, and all those who prayed for mia’s health, thanks. she’s actually doing better now, after 3 sleepless nights in the hospital, a bruised hand and 2 feet because of the failed attempts to insert an IV, 2 IMs (intramuscular injections or just your normal injection to sub for the antibiotics supposed to be given thru IV) to her arm and thigh, and 3 really bad hospital meals that i had to suffer through. (more…)

because i am in a hurry to post any good post. because mia is in the hospital. because her pedia told me to have her confined yesterday when we went for another round of checkup. because her cough and colds wouldn’t go away. and because i’m so anxious about everything (my work, my health, and mia) i can’t concentrate on anything.

all i want is to swipe out of the office and get back to the hospital and see if mia is making any progress. (more…)

she’s gone early to bed tonight so i can sneak in a couple of posts and comments. that’s because of the drugs i’m giving her and i’m not happy about it. mia used to be a perfectly healthy baby until she turned 1.

is it really like that? she never got colds till then and if she ever got sick with fever it would only last for a day or even just half of it. this is her record breaking illness so far, running on its 4th day. it started with a throat infection (not tonsillitis) which she might have gotten from someone who was sick (with colds or sore throat) or the stuff she puts into her mouth. the daily vitamins should’ve done its job but i guess this time it was really bad.

what made it worse for me is that she got sick while i was away for 3 days at subic for work. i felt so helpless that i couldn’t do anything about it. good thing she was left with my mom and dad because i was already panicky on the 2nd day that her fever was not going away. so she was brought to the doctor.

a prescription of drugs later, mia was reported to be doing better already. i loved my speed dial because i was calling home every 3 or 4 hours just to check on mia. sometimes i was tempted to call every hour. that would’ve driven my mom crazy.

i was so happy to finally get home even after the ATV adventure and banana boat ride (that would be a different post) at Grande Island. mia was like ‘lantang gulay’ when i saw her but at least she’s improved for the rest of the day. oh and she loves lounging on the bean bag too.

i’ve been really tempted to spoil her because she’s been really sick but while she’s getting cuter and cuter with her ‘tricks’,

(mia’s ‘beautiful eyes’ trick)

she can also throw a tantrum already. that’s not good right? anyway, mia has also gotten cough and colds lately. poor baby.

she’s already learned what the tissue is for, thanks to my affair with it. i really hope she gets well soon because she’s always asking to be carried more lately and she hasn’t been playing around with her toys. she’s just like this,

and this.

i’ll be on autopilot mode for now. im still tired from my 3-day subic escapade, still sick (again!) with colds, and still taking care of my sick little girl (she got a throat infection from who knows where).

so till then.

oh yeah, thanks for everyone who updated their links and feedreaders! and those who stopped by to partay with me.

as for me, i was sooo happy. hindi pa naman ako nasisiraan ng bait ha? masaya ako dahil madaldal na si Mia. she answers me back when i ask her something! well of course it would consist of non-comprehensive syllables like she wasn’t born in the philippines but somewhere in mainland china, but i don’t care. as long as she’s getting the feel of using her vocals to actually speak.

pero nagtataka ako dahil hindi naman ako madaldal.

walang kokontra.:)

field work today, and tomorrow. hay. but i’m not complaining. this is what i love doing. being out of the office. it’s just that it’s making me miss my previous job. hay.

i love my trusty Nike shoes. when i wear them, i can go on walking all day. no wonder i’m a sucker for rubber shoes especially Nike. yeah, i love Nike. take this survey with me! it’s quick and painless, i promise.

i wonder which Nike shoes i’ll be wearing tomorrow. see you on friday.

pahabol: mia is officially taking more than 2 steps by her self now. konti nalang!

Mia took her first step last Thursday, Feb 21. Though they were tiny one, two and a half steps, they were such huge steps for both of us. 

This was how it started. I would sit her at the edge of the bed, her feet flat on the ground then I would coach her into standing up on her own. (more…)

Meeya’s Ninna tagged my Mia. Pwede nang nursery rhyme.

8 random facts about Mia

Mia loves books. Whether it’s nibbling on it, tearing it apart, or throwing them around. Sometimes also for imitating me when I’m reading.

Mia was born 9 weeks earlier than expected. That was one heck of an experience.

(more…)

Rise of the Monsters

you’d think there was some sort of theme in this post.

first, happy valentines. belated, that is. i really don’t celebrate the occasion because as the cliche goes, you can let someone know that you love them any time of the year. nevertheless, just so i can post a lazy photo of anything related to the year’s most overrated event:

lately i’ve been compelled to go on a healthier diet of less carbs and more veggies. i love vegetables (except okra and pechay) and i have no problem with that really. if not for my mom pestering me to lose some weight, i’d say the monsters of fashion tv are haunting me.

i don’t mind the diet because of the abundance of good diet-friendly food these days. there’s a great tasting salad at Al Dente, for example. it just makes you feel like you’re a diet guru after eating just their chicken & bacon ceasar salad and feeling full already. don’t mind the sarcasm (just one of those days). it really is good.

another round of applause for the graffiti boys over at our neighborhood. first was the very dramatic rendition of melancholy. now there’s a monster rising out of the ground at the corner of xavierville avenue and katipunan. beware. its tentacles might just come alive and what with its crazed eyes it might mistake your head for a lollipop. (i love photo editing. see the old graffiti markings too? i only saw them after tweaking the photo’s midtones a bit. the MMDA might have been successful the first time, but they’re not stopping this monster.)

edit: i passed by the graffiti wall again this morning and monster talks! i’ll try to take a picture of that and post it here.

Mia Update

Mia can walk with just one hand holding on to mine now! I’m so happy she did it i only have to count a few more weeks till she finally lets go of my hand and take her first steps to independence. Yey!

Vannie tagged me with a question. Should I spank my child or not? My answer would be a yes and no. “Spare the rod and spoil the child” is a principle that my parents willingly instilled in us growing up. Of course they don’t whack us with a leather belt anymore now that we’re grown ups, but I had my share of red thighs when I was a kid. I have to admit I never really liked it when I was young, but my parents did it (actually it was my dad because my mom never had the heart to do it) in such a way that I didn’t entirely detest it. Obvious ba, I’m actually voting for it. hehe.

I’m saying yes because it actually did something good for us. My brothers and I were often spanked because we were always at each others’ throats when we were small. Knowing (and fearing) that if mom or dad finds out we are gonna get the punishment, we learned to cooperate and promise not to tell nalang. hehehe. No really, our dad always explains to us why he needs to spank us before he does it and after every time, he always reassures us that they still love us. Worked for the kids. But more than that, it really reiterated the fact the fighting with each other is bad and it’s not supposed to be a norm between the three of us. We soon grew out of that so the punishment soon became extinct.

But I’m also saying no, for now. Mia is still at an age where she obviously won’t be able to understand no matter how animated I am in telling her why I need to spank her. She’s just either gonna cry, laugh at me, or immitate me and spank herself (or me). It’ll be totally pointless. But I know that once she reaches a more cognitive level, I’ll be a bit more firm with her. Maybe I won’t have to whack her with a clotheshanger because I don’t think I really can. For now, a firm look, holding her hand, and saying “no, that’s bad” suffices.

how about you meeya, joanjoyce, and jayme, will you spank your kid?

i don’t want to complain, but i think i’m having a stroke of misfortune. first my car gets a very flat tire. i discover a tiny piece of metal wedged in between the tire grooves, but it’s nothing the vulcanizing shop can’t solve. and then, barely a week later, my car’s battery conks out. tsk tsk. my car Clark must love me very much. either that or he’s really just nagtatampo because he hasn’t stayed clean in the last 2 weeks. (i had him washed, promise. it’s just that everytime i do, it rains. or i park under a tree with a bad case of falling leaves). (more…)

vannie tagged me to write down top 5 things I want my child to know before he grows up. Or more specifically, top 5 values I should impart to my child to make him be a better person. and these are:

• Faith in God - i appreciate how my own parents brought me and my brothers up, and that is with fear in God. i wouldn’t want it any other way with Mia

(more…)