Our Life As Parents

on being parents to a toddler

2011-11-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

We're enjoying being parents to our toddler. She is 2+ years old now and she's at this stage where she tries to be an independent child in terms of deciding what she wants to wear, what to do, etc. She's also at this stage in her life, though, where she would almost always seek for parental attention. She hates it very much when both of us are in front of our computers. So, we make it a point that at least one of us should put off facing the computer until she's busy playing with her toys or until she falls asleep. Time management is indeed an important element in being parents, most especially to toddlers.

Overall, our daughter is generally a happy baby. She's only irritable when she's feeling sick. Just recently, she's had one of those toddler ear infections. Good thing she can already clearly express herself and would quickly tell us the source of her pain - her ears. Her pediatrician explained the usual reason why babies and toddlers commonly get ear infections. This usually happens when their Eustachian tubes are blocked due to common colds. Indeed, we can confirm that her episodes of ear aches came after she's had runny nose or bad cold. She's also had fever along with her painful ears. Thank God, she felt better after 7 days of prescribed antibiotics and 4 days of ibuprofen.

reunited and it felt so good

2011-10-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

After keeping myself busy with something else more important for a couple of months, I thought I am now ready to be back blogging about our life as parents again. Somehow, I felt like I am a newbie blogger who can't seem to figure out what to write. :-)

Anyway, let me give you updates about our life as parents:

I got really sick some time last month which nearly cost my life if I wasn't rushed to the hospital after day 2 of severe diarrhea. It had something to do with eating contaminated food that hubby and I bought from the market. The home remedies, oral rehydration solution, Gatorade and over-the-counter medicines didn't help; and by the time we decided to go to the hospital, the doctor said I was already dehydrated. To be admitted in the hospital wasn't really something that we wanted to happen because we have our two-year-old plus daughter with us. Most of all, we were worried about the cost of the hospital bills. However, the doctor deemed it fit for me to stay and be monitored at the hospital. Since hubby had to attend to me at the hospital, we had no other recourse but to send her to the care of my in-laws.

We had to endure more than a week of being away from our little girl. I felt really depressed at that time. Separation anxiety, must be it. I kept blaming myself and held myself responsible for sending my daughter away from us,including the financial difficulties we were in due to setbacks of my health. Thankfully, my daughter seemed to have adjusted really well without us because she also had her two cousins playing with her at the in-laws' house.

When I already recovered, it was already time to fetch her. The first time she saw us back again, she said 'Hello' and then she was silent for awhile and kept staring at us. It was probably then that she realized that it was 'us' her parents. Oh, I wish I had quickly captured that moment when she ran towards me and hugged me so tight and won't let go after that. It was an emotional moment for the both of us. I guess it is really true that the mother and child really has that certain connection that you can't explain.

I really felt an unexplainable kind of joy when I finally got reunited with my daughter.

On another note, I've long been wanting to change the tone of my blog. I want to write more informative articles that have something to do with toddler, kids, and parenting. Perhaps in my subsequent blogs, you're going to see a couple of changes. On second thought, I think I would still want to write on a personal tone. Thus, expect to still read a mix of different writing styles.

is it really hard to be the best parent ever?

2011-03-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

As parents, it is our dream to be regarded as the "best parents" in the world. Oftentimes, we would make every effort to be deserving of that citation but should we really sweat it out? Somehow, I believe we only need to do our part as parents. Anyway, for most of us, parenting skills often come out naturally. We don't need to impress our children with a lot of things that they don’t primarily need in the first place.

We must remember that we were and are our parents' children, too; and we didn't require them to do so much before we would think of them as the best parents for us. However, we did appreciate the time that our parents have spent for us while we were still young and needing attention. So now that we are already parents ourselves, I believe we should also do the same. Although we do need money as well to keep the family going, we must never forget to find some quality time to be with our children. Oftentimes, it is quite tempting to be a workaholic; however, if it’s going to be at the expense of our time with our family, then we’re not actually doing them a favor.

So, is it really hard to be the best parent ever? As far as the popular quotation goes, our children often spell love as T-I-M-E. Now, if the time we spend for our children should then be the basis for being hailed as a great parent, then I believe some (if not most) of us will fail. However, there are really circumstances when time is sometimes compromised for the family’s sake. Fortunately, as their wisdom and understanding grows, children will likely become forgiving of any situation or circumstance and that is how we would somehow still end up to be the best parents for them. As for us parents, and as much as possible, we should still try to give our children the T-I-M-E they deserve to be worthy of the part.

approaching the second year of our life as parents

2011-02-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

Some time next month, my toddler will be two years old. Wow, I am really looking forward to year two of our life as parents even though they say that one of the hardest times in the life of parents is when the child turns two years old because it will be a time where the parents' patience and tolerance will be tested in terms of their ability in dealing with and managing toddler tantrums and other irritating to unpleasant behavior. In fact, I had mentioned in my previous post that we already started dealing with her occasional tantrums. I guess it came early, huh!

One thing I noticed about our toddler these days is that she's all prim and proper when we're outside the house. I mean she wouldn't show off any signs of being cranky except when we're at home. I guess she knows how to place herself. My analysis was that she's really just too comfortable in showing her crankiness only with us. Her crankiness doesn't happen too often, though. Most of the time she's lovable, sweet and clingy (trying not to sound like a defensive parent here).

How about you guys, care to share your toddler's manifestation of unpleasant or irritating behavior? How do you deal with it?

Anyway, I've been meaning to share this video of my toddler when she first learned to love a Justin Bieber song. I just love the way she had obediently sang her part here. :-)

on self-control, success and modeling the behavior you want

2011-01-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

I just read an interesting article today linking self-control behavior to success. Research has it that toddlers at the age of three who had a lot more self-control are likely to end up healthier and more successful when reaching adulthood.

The research and findings make a lot of sense to me because self-control teaches a child to become more disciplined when it comes to the way he would handle his life and in coming up with sound decisions later on that will truly impact his future.

We all learned that the toddler years are the formative years of a child. This is why, as much as possible, parents should be there for their children to nurture and guide them especially at this stage in their lives.

Not tolerating and learning how to manage a toddler's temper tantrums, for example, is very important in teaching a child that he cannot always get what he wants by displaying anger and improper behavior.

Right now, whenever our toddler wants something done her way and shows her tantrums by crying almost uncontrollably, we would not try to pacify her crying by giving in to her wishes. If it's not something we approve of, it's definitely non-negotiable. However, since she's not even reached the age of two, we make it a point to distract her into doing activities that she would also like to do eventually.

Self-control is also important for parents. Even though it is already very tempting to yell at every irritating situation, parents should practice holding on to their anger in front of the child. Modeling the behavior you want is even most important.

more toddler updates

2010-12-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

What's good about her being a one year plus toddler now is that it's no longer hard for us to know when she would like some milk herself because she would say "Malk" (sometimes "Balk" LOL). Even though she still mispronounces it, we would really know because she would point at her milk to emphasize her point. The educational video showcasing the letters of the alphabet is also a big help. When the letter "M" comes and it says and shows picture of "Milk", she would also realize she wants "Malk" as well. :-)

Also, we live in a place near the airport, airplanes are a common sight and sound on top. We taught her to say "airplane" everytime we see or hear one passing but she managed to consistenly identify it as "er-ten" everytime an airplane passes by.

And then today, when I took the boneless bangus out of the refrigerator for marinating, she pointed at it and blurted "fish!" although we can barely here the "H" in the "fish". Way to go, baby!

Another word she knows how to pronounce and identify is "dog", although sometimes she would also call a goat a "dog". Hmmm, it looks like I need to handle a few corrections along the way. :-)

By the way, I took advantage of her being a toddler copycat - I took a video of her when she would point and identify her "eyes" and then played it again so she wouldn't forget it. She also knows what an "ice" looks like. So now I'm wondering if it will cause her confusion why there are two words that sound the same but mean differently. :-)

mommy moments 4: the little christmas tree

2010-12-10T02:01:00.000-08:00

Do you have a Christmas tree at home?

A few weeks ago, hubby and I were debating whether or not we should get a new Christmas tree in the house. We definitely want a tall one for a Christmas tree but.....

We've been thinking hard about it and decided that it's practical not to buy not only because we would be able to save on that supposed expense but because we feel that it would be safer for our little one year plus toddler to be without it in the house. You see, our little toddler wants her hands full with almost anything she finds new in the house. I have envisioned already what she would do with a tall Christmas tree and with Christmas lights and decorations around it.

Anyway, I also realized that we do have an old little Christmas tree. I bought it from Avon a few years ago. I never thought it could stand tall, I mean short and proud, up until now. :-)

So, here comes our little Christmas tree!

True enough, my little girl is really not satisfied watching at it from a distance. :-)

my clever little toddler

2010-12-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

You know I was once told that when babies would already learn how to walk by themselves, you won't feel the pressures of being a mom or a parent anymore or that you'll be able to relax a whole lot better than you did when they were still just a few months old because they no longer have to be carried all the time. However, sometimes I would feel like they're safer in my arms and I would feel more sense of peace within myself when I know they won't get a scratch on any part of the body or a bump in the head for enjoying the newfound freedom to run or move. It's been like two or three weeks now as well since my clever little toddler have discovered a way to reach for anything she has a secret crush on even when it's far beyond her reach. What she would do is grab and pull a chair right to the place of her interest and use it as her ladder so she would climb up to get what she has been eyeing on. No matter how much we try stopping her from doing so and then putting her back down everytime she would succeed in standing on top of the chair's seat and enjoying the view, she's too stubbornly patient to try it again.

Uh oh, watch the tv!

mommy moments #3: memories from last christmas

2010-12-03T21:38:00.001-08:00

I'm joining Mommy Moments again because I've got something to share - photographs and memories from last Christmas. :-) You'll have to excuse me for the pictures, though, because my camera hasn't been taking good pictures anymore. One thing that's good about it is that if you and I think I don't look great in all of my pictures, it's probably because my camera needs repair or replacement. Paging, Santa Claus! :-)

The pictures I'm going to share below were taken at a relative's place. Grandmother spent her Christmas there with them because my aunt (who was supposed to be her lone company in the house) took an almost emergency flight to Vietnam for some real important reason. It was a good thing that grandma chose to stay there because it's not too far from where we live - so we thought of swinging there to join them in the celebration of Christmas.

Grandma was so happy to see us that day. My little girl was only nine months old in this picture. She rendered a piano recital for her great grandmother.

Okay, I was just bluffing about the piano recital. Obviously, she just sat there. Okay, fine, we made her sit there. :-)

could it be baby measles?

2010-11-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

I don't know with you guys but parenting for me is not like a walk in the park. I'm always the frantic mom everytime I would notice something unusual with my child. But then I guess that's how other moms or parents would react, too.

I mentioned she got out of her teething discomfort and fever some two weeks ago. I thought that was our only health concern for the month. In fact, we brought her along to church with us on Sunday afternoon. However, Monday morning when she was about to take her bath, we noticed some red rashes on her stomach, and then there were some on her back and behind her ear which we suspected to be "baby measles" but then again we can't be sure. She was complete with vaccination, by the way.

I was frantic and wanted to see the doctor right away but my little toddler was acting normal - active, walking and running around the house, jumping in the mattress, just like her normal self. No fever, no itching, nothing except those eruptions/rashes on the skin (parts of her stomach, back and behind her ear).

Time to call mother-in-law. We were advised to just observe first how it goes with her at least for a day. So, we just let her take lots of fluids. I thank God for her strong immune system because the rashes started to fade away hours after and when it was already morning, those rashes on the skin are all clear and gone.

Could it be baby measles or roseola? My analysis was that she got the virus when we went to church. Someone's child might have been carrying the virus, too. It was raining when we were about to go home. We forgot to bring an umbrella so we had to wait (along with the other churchgoers who also came unprepared) for the rain to stop. There were sneezing and coughing here and there. Hmmm, anyway, it's all clear already. Thank you, Lord!

teething discomfort and then fever

2010-11-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

She bites!

About a week ago, my daughter was not again in her best mood due to her teething discomfort. Yes, it's her molars again! I don't know how many molars more she'd have to endure - I might have to do a research about this pretty soon.

I think it was her worst teething discomfort because she's had fever for two days that sent us a panicky feeling because her temperature has reached a 39.8ºC! I can even feel the extra heat on her palms as well as the soles of her feet. We let her drink medicine for fever (every 4 hours) that was appropriate for her age.

I realized that when babies are sick, they would usually want their moms to hold and cuddle them. This was the case with my daughter - she wants me with her almost all the time, clamoring for attention.

It was really hard to see my baby getting uncomfortable and sick. I can't describe what I was feeling when I found out her fever went as high as 39.8. I was crying and I really didn't want to wait until the second day to see if she feels better. I just want to rush her to the doctor but husband said, we'll wait till the second day because we also believe that her teething was the cause of her fever. And we were right about it.

You know it was really hard for us to let her drink medicine for fever. Even though it has fruity flavor, we still had to force her to drink the medicine. Well, we really had a problem in letting her drink fluids because she would usually refuse take to take any except when she's given ice cubes! Occasionally, she would drink milk but we couldn't count on it because she would usually throw up when she's offered milk.

We knew it's important that she has fluid intake especially that she was eating less solid food. Glad we realized her fondness for ice cubes. Thankfully, her fever went away even before we decided to see her pediatrician. Wiping her body with damp cloth has also helped in lowering down her temperature.

9 proven solutions that help parents avoid the undetectable problems that keep toddlers unsafe

2010-10-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

Guest post by: Bonnie M. Ryan

Did you know the way to distinguish the "Musts" from the "Shoulds" for your infant safety equipment?

Have you ever made your list? Here are the actual baby-proofing items that should be at the must-have tippy top.

I know that we don't all have hundreds of dollars to be able to throw down the all-critical childproofing budget gap. To help the protection of the serious yet financially fainthearted, I've classified them into the "musts", that means that you should not care where you get them, but good parenting requires them.

For those who have more than 1 kid (or are often distracted), consider the more distractions you have at your residence, the more distractable you are, the more important your baby-proofing is.

Below (in order of importance) 9 baby proofing items you "must" have to keep the baby safe:

1. A Good Gate: Even if you live in a ranch-style home or an apartment with no stairways, there will be rooms or areas you will not want your baby wandering into, so an excellent gate is definitely a must-have babyproofing purchase.

2. A Blind Winder: The number of babies strangled every year due to dangling blind and also shade cords is devastating. In fact, the Customer Product Safety Commission lists cords as one of the "hidden hazards" parent's don't think of. There are numerous affordable window blind winders out there, however if you have to manually re-wind the cord immediately after every use, you won't use it.

3. Anti-Tip Anchors: If you have a climber (or possible climber) on your hands, furniture straps are a must. Whether it's a dresser or a shelf, attach these heavy pieces of furniture to the wall with anti-tip connectors to stop the furniture from tipping over.

4. Fireplace Safety: Hard stone around the fireplace hearth can be very unsafe with little ones all-around. Its sharp edges and rough stone corners can cut, and seriously hurt a tripping child. You have to choose one of the numerous good hearth bumper pads available in the marketplace.

5. Corner Edge Bumpers: You can protect the corners of the end-tables and coffee tables with corner and side guards. One-size-fits all because you reduce the foam to fit your particular table exactly.

6. Outlet Covers: For used outlets with cords, you may buy a cover that could prevent your baby from unplugging the cord and playing with the electric outlet. They are best for high-traffic areas where you will be inserting and un-plugging items often.

7. Childproof Latches for Cabinets and Drawers: Drawer latches are also an essential-have for childproofing your home. They may prevent your growing infant from hitting intact drawers with sharp or small items stored on the inside. Ideal for the kitchen, bathroom, or home office. Choose childproof latches that won't allow your little one to have even a hand inside.

8. Railing Net: Stair and railing nets are also a must if your railing spindles are usually further than 2.5 to 3 in . apart.

9. Bathtub Safety Items: Bath-time is always exciting for a growing baby. Keep it safe by using a few of these little accessories.

- A bathtub thermometer to gauge water temperature.
- A bathtub safety rail to help your own little one get in and out of the tub safely.
- A faucet cover that will protect her little head from nasty bumps.

These are the most significant baby safety gear items out there. Consider them as an crucial investment you will make in the years of growth and exploration still ahead of you.

Bonnie M. Ryan is currently writing for the designer baby bags for mums website, her personal hobby blog focused on rules to help moms and dads to get details to become more eco-conscious and make their own eco-friendly baby diaper bags.

mommy moments #2: "hair" is that moment

2010-10-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

Hello mommies! Sorry for missing out last week's Mommy Moments because I just can't catch my little girl jumping on camera or video. :-)

Anyway, Our Life As Parents is joining this week. I hope I can still catch up. The topic is about hairstyles.

This is how my little toddler sports her hair right now.

No, she's not going to school. She's just a year and a half. Happy Mommy Moments!

mommy moments #1: snack time!

2010-09-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Our Life As Parents is joining the Mommy Moments! Hopefully, I will be able to spare my Fridays to share my mommy moment with the rest of the mothers. It will be fun to check what others have to share about any topic that would be common to all moms.

The topic for the week is "snack time". So, I'm sharing two photos here of my one year old toddler where she helps herself with her favorite pancit while the other photo shows her taking in her favorite wafer. I don't know why but I love looking at these photos. Mothers really do love their own. :-)

Check out what other moms have to share about their kids' favorite snacks. Come join us at the Mommy Moments.

wordless wednesday: there are less words to say today...

2010-09-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

only because I'm writing them down...
the traditional way on a pleasant wednesday.... :-)

7 reasons not to mess with children :-)

2010-09-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

I normally don't post anything I find on my mails (especially forwarded mails) but I thought this one is so funny that I want to share a few good laughs with you guys....

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".
The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."
The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"
A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."

Thanks to a friend who forwarded those jokes to me... :-)

reading with the toddler

2010-08-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

We have been reading to Dipdip one particular book about Jesus and the angels. Her attention span seems to have increased as she gets older. She loves to listen and sit with any of us so we could read to her the contents as we leaf through the pages of the book. This was a used book that we bought on sale at a department store.

Lately though she would also like to have the book to herself so that she could just leaf through the pages herself. It was when she tried tearing the front page (glad it was just the foreword page) that we decided to keep it for the time being until she is responsible enough to handle it with care.

showcasing my daughter's talent

2010-08-10T03:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last update. I didn't realize I've concentrated with my walk through life blog more than being here. My apologies for I have been busy. I hope to update this more in the future. For now, let me just brag about my daughter's talent.

This is just a short video of my toddler dancing through the music of a nursery rhyme. She likes music a lot. Everytime she hears music, she would dance to it, no matter how slow or fast the beat is. To explain what's that thing on the side of her face, she was actually taking her breakfast when she started to dance. :-)

We are really enjoying our life as parents a lot!

toddler behavior and updates

2010-07-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my toddler wearing a pair of oversized slippers. This was her first cousin's old slippers and she wants to wear them. Would you believe that she already knows how to use them just the way they were supposed to be worn?

Oh, I didn't realize I actually cut her head on this picture but I'd like to emphasize on my toddler's slippers. She's got company there.

I'd like to write updates as well about my toddler's behavior. We are all about patience right now because everytime she wants something done or given to her, she would really want it her way. She doesn't like the word "NO". When she hears it from me, she would cry wells of tears and then she would kiss my hand, as if to cajole me or something. My heart would easily melt and I would then be close to giving in but my husband reminded me that I should not easily give in to all her wishes nor be tolerant of any unpleasant behavior. Don't you think it's too early to discipline her in any way?

toddler's safety concerns

2010-07-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

Today, I looked into one of my little girl's old photos when she was about four months old. I compared it with how she looked recently and noticed that there's really a BIG difference.

look at the stuffed cheeks...

The photo above was edited (courtesy of introvertedwriter ) to make it look like an ID because it was used for her health insurance ID, back when I was still working in an office setting.

Back then, it was so easy to watch and look after her safety but today it looks like we're going to have to deal with our toddler's safety concerns when she's on her playpen crib. She doesn't want to be held prisoner inside the converted crib anymore. It's not all the time that we're putting her there though - only when we still have to take our breakfast or to babyproof the area in the house where she will run and walk (although there's really not a lot of space here to run around, LOL).

Look at how desperate she is to go down... :-)

she's playing the crying toddler here ...

No, it's not for her early toddler ballet lessons, she just simply wants to climb out!

here's another attempt...

One of these days, the playpen crib has to retire...

toddler language milestone

2010-06-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

They say it's really hard to understand your toddler when he or she is still in the pre-talker stage because they are still trying to develop their communication skills. Well, in our case, even though our 14-month old daughter still cannot properly communicate to us verbally, she has developed some form of communication other than the use of words (I believe this is how pre-talkers communicate - mostly through sign language). As much as we can, we try to make sure that we still get all her messages across.

Sometimes, it's very easy to understand what she is trying to tell us. However, there are also situations where we have to keep guessing a few times before we would be able to understand her.

For example, when she wants to go outside, she would let out a cry and try to point her finger outside. This should be easy.

In this picture, she's just pointing at an object...

If she wants to show me something, she would grab my hand and would lead me towards the direction of the object or the place, wherever it is.

There are times when she would just cry and we thought that she wanted to drink milk only to find out that she's just sleepy. Good thing that we've already learned that we can always store her unfinished milk formula in the refrigerator and will still be good to drink when she's already awake.

Right now though, whenever she cries, we would watch her reaction when we ask her "Milk? You want milk?". If she reacts with a smile or a laughter, the answer means "Yes" especially if she would look in the direction where her milk and feeding bottles are located. However, if her reaction seems to show some indifference, as if she didn't hear us, then it means we need to guess some more. What a language milestone, indeed!

Anyhow, I find this stage of my toddler much much much more enjoyable. I feel like she's learning fast. Whenever we want a kiss from her, she would usually happily oblige because she knows we would praise her afterwards with some cheering and clapping.

And she's been the little noisemaker in the house. Whenever we have calls from my in-laws, she also wants to have something to do with the telephone.

Credits to introvertedwriter for this beautiful piece of work on the photo!

Right now, I guess she's still trying to hone her narrative skills but somehow I know she'll turn out to be a glib talker someday. She talks as if she's speaking the right words, although for the record she knows how to say "Mama", "Papa", "Baby", "Ate", "Hala!" ["Hala!" by the way is an expression I frequently say when something or a situation frightens me without a warning. I guess I should be more watchful about the words I am saying :-)]

too early for what?

2010-06-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

It's too early for her to go to school but my one year and two months' old toddler looks like she's excited to go to school. LOL.

What's up with the pink bag? Well, it's called a back-to-school gift from the makers of Enfagrow, her milk formula. You buy the milk, you get that bag. They also included some school supplies inside (paper, pencil, notebook, crayons, etc.). Now, I'm beginning to imagine her going to school. I wish she would really do well in school and land on a scholarship!

Oh, you're not going to school. You're going to the neighbor's house!

Oh, she really makes my heart melt with joy...

She really loves the outdoors. She knows when it's already time to go outside. If we don't let her enjoy the outdoors, then we had better prepare for her toddler tantrums. :-)

18 seconds of happiness captured!

2010-05-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Babies are such a nice way to start people. - Don Herrold

Look at how fast my one year old little girl could run now! This is only an 18-sec video. Here, she forgets about her teething discomfort because she's running freely.

She is indeed a true joy and inspiration! Somehow, I felt little scared seeing her run swiftly like that but I am still full of joy. To us, it seems like she causes us to have amnesia from all of life's worries and problems. :-) Thank You God for this very precious gift!

the discomfort of one year molars

2010-05-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last week, our little girl had been acting fussy again. Yes, it's because she is teething again. I know I said in my previous post that we have already graduated from parent sleep deprivation but last week was kind of unusual because she has been feeling some discomfort from these so called one year molars. She wasn't that cranky when she's had her teeth coming from the front row but now with some molars which are about to erupt, it's really hard to put her to sleep. And oh, she's back to this habit of waking up in the middle of the night, too. It's like she was having a change of body clock again.

Generally, it was her most uncomfortable time of the week. I believe this is how it's going to be for the rest of the month.

Today, I saw some small red patches around her cheeks and some parts of her legs but I forgot to take some pictures, though. As first time parents, we were frantic about it even though she didn't have any fever. We immediately phoned the expert, my mother-in-law! She said that the small patches are still part of her teething and we need not worry. I guess she's right because these red patches would appear and disappear every now and then. I just hope my daughter will get over this uncomfortable stage of teething soon!

celebrating my greatest right as a woman

2010-05-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."

- Lin Yutang

I know I have a lot to learn about being a mother. I can't even say I'm really good at it. I only do things the best way I know how and with God's guidance. I am thankful to God for giving me the chance to become a mother. At first, it was only just a dream. Now, I wake up appreciating each day realizing that God gave me such an amazing gift, my daughter. She is truly God's gift and blessing to us!