I was Gonged

Pictures taken last month while she was playing and watching her favorite show

It was very funny, yesterday our DD was watching her favorite Nursery Rhymes on TV. I always turn it on when she is up and if my show comes on I will switch the channel. After my show ends hers will be on again. While she was watching and dancing I also sang along. She suddenly stopped dancing, looked at me and put her pointer on her lips saying "shush". Can you believe that? I think she don't like me singing. I was laughing of what she did that I called hubby at work telling him what her daughter did. Hubby was laughing too.

She is really growing up and fast too. She can already determine what she wants and likes. She can't speak out what is it but she will do it with her action. She is also willing to learn and if it interest her she gets it right away. If she don't like it, you really have to exert more effort. Sometimes I get to wonder if she is learning accordingly but I just let it go now. I realized that she will learn in her own pace with proper guidance.

When she opened the door

I know my Mommy-time in the bathroom is done unless I have to lock it inside. She can now reach the door handle and turn it open. I cannot hide from her anymore :-) I took a shower early this evening and I was thinking she will not follow me but she opened the bathroom door and scream gleefully. I knew already that she can open the doors since she has been doing it last week but I did not lock the door. She look very funny when she does something we don't want her to do. Because she is cute and adorable to look at when doing something silly, I can't afford to reprimand her. I have to tell her over and over now not to open bathroom door when someone is in there. It is time to teach her to respect people's privacy now. I know later on she will learn to understand it.

Persistent Toddler

It is amazing how our toddler can be so persistent. She is more enjoyable now but also insistent on anything she wanted to do. I am trying my very best not to give in because I don't want her to get the notion that she can get whatever she wants. It will not be good for her behavior later on. Although at times I am the one to concede especially when I don't want her to throw a feat. My husband can tolerate the shrieking and screaming but I cannot. I really have to keep the reign tight and just slack when it is deemed necessary. I believe when you are with your children 24/7 you can invent a lot of things just so your sanity will still keep intact :-)

A Streak of Terrible Twos

As I am observing our 1 and a half year old DD everyday I think I am nearing to what they call the TT or 'terrible twos' :-) I really hope not, but some personality is showing off now. One thing I see is her impatience. The Pedia told me that at this age they don't have control yet on their temper and what they want, they want it immediately. She can't really wait. My trick is, when she want something that is not allowed for her I do something to divert her attention to other things. Most of the time she will but there are also times that she will stick to what she wanted first.

One example, we have remotes for the cable TV and stand fan. The cable's remote is of course bigger than the fan. She wanted the TV's remote but I will give her the fan's instead. She will not take the fan's remote. If you insist it to her she will just end up throwing it. Then she will try her best to get the other one. If she don't like it, she don't. No matter how you persuade her to take it the more she will shun away from it.

Me and hubby discussed about starting a silent corner for her. I really don't know if it is healthy in disciplining your child but I wanted to try making it as a tool in discipling her. I have heard and read on books that it does help. Does any Moms here applied it to their kids? Last night I tried it on her. She was on the verge of throwing a fit on something and I have to finish cleaning the kitchen. She was tugging at my legs and when I calmly told her to wait because Mommy is doing something, she screeched and screamed. I was like, whoa! Is that you baby?

What I did, I put her in the corner and told her do not stand. I know she can't comprehend yet what I am trying to tell her but I just want to see what she will do. She stopped screaming though but after couple of minutes she stood up smiling and ran to me. Before she got near me I stopped her again and told her to go back. To my amazement she went back to the corner and sat down facing the wall, only for couple of minutes. She did it four times. She can really follow instructions now even though easily distracted. I am hoping she will be a calm little lady :-)

Starfall.com

Raquel introduced to me starfall.com to teach our daughter to read. She is using it to her daughter to practice read and it is very effective. So I used it every night for our DD. Before she go to sleep. I am still introducing to her letters by letters. I am starting to let her familiarize from A-E first. It is very interactive. It is more phonics, i.e. giving the sound of the word and how it will be pronounced. She can already say 'ah' for Aa; 'ba' for Bb; 'ka' for Cc; and 'da' for Dd. When the picture of the bear, duck, dinosaur appears she can say it's sound. I know little by little she will be familiarized with it. As long as she is interested to learn I will be the happiest Mom. If you have a baby you can try starfall.com too. I am sure your baby or kids will love it.

So Clingy

Day and day I noticed that our DD is very clingy to me. She can't play longer without coming towards me and asked for carry or sit in my lap. I don't mind though but once I put her in my lap and do something with the computer she will be in the way. She will compete with me in tapping the keyboard and grabbing the mouse.

I wish I can find something that will make her more occupied and will not disturb me while I am doing something. There are things that I needed to do especially now that I am in school and I am hoping that I can give her activity that she will be able to enjoy doing alone.

I am wondering what other Mommies are doing to keep their toddlers occupied while doing their online work? Any suggestions Mommies?

Punished

How do you punish your children? This is something that we have to be consistent about; on how to punish our child without hurting her physically, i.e. spanking. This afternoon while I was taking a shower hubby fed our DD. When I got off the shower I heard hubby telling her not to do it again. We don't know where she got it but if you tell her no and don't she will say 'beh' or 'bleh'.

She is being spiteful. When hubby said no she kept doing it again so hubby flecked her hand with his fingers but not hard. She looked at him and started crying. I look at them and didn't say anything. Her Daddy was telling her that it is bad and she should not do it. She really cried hard like her feelings were hurt. I didn't console her and just let her Daddy do the talking. When she did not stop crying her Daddy tell her 'i love you' and stop crying. She still cried.

Hubby picked her up and put her head in his shoulder rocking her telling her it's okay and he is not mad anymore. So she was only sobbing and I still did not interfere with them. When everything seemed okay that was the time I went to them and asked what happened. She was blabbing to me and Daddy told me the entire commotion; that she was just being punished.

Hep Hep - Hurray!!!

If you watch TFC's Wowowee the first game that they have is the hep hep - hurray game where the participants will say hep hep and claps their hands and hurray then raises up their arms. Our DD likes looking at it and she likes Pokwang. Now everytime it is on she also claps her hands and raises it. She is very cute to look and so trying hard. I noticed that she is now more of a copy cat :-) We are amazed by her all the time especially when she does something new and we don't know where she got or learn it from. My Mom told me that this is the stage that we need to always teach them something because their receptiveness is developing well. This means also that we have to be careful of the things we say.

Tech Toys

I am wondering if later on our daughter will be addicted to playing computer games and other hi-tech toys and gadgets like playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. I think if we don't have it and she won't start playing it she may not be into it. Although as parents we have that concern that we can't afford to deprive our kids to experience those things but I will just pray that we won't give in to her every demands. I believe that we need to discipline her as young as she is that she can't have all toys that she wants and she only get it if it can help her. I hope Mommies can share to me their views about this.

What's Bugging Your Baby

There are times that I get frustrated especially if our DD is cranky and I don't know what she is feeling. The frustration is more on worry side of what could have been bothering her or what is bugging her that she won't stop wailing. As mother's instinct we tend to check right away if out babies are wet, starving, or something bit her, and other usual things that might have caused her irritation.

I have read at Parents magazine some of the usual suspects that we might have been missed, as Mommies, why our beloved sons and daughter won't stop crying:

"Would you please take off this sweater?" - Maybe they are over-dressed or under-dressed - make sure that they are not hot or cold. Dress them appropriately and consider the weather and temperature of the place.

"Can't we all just get along?" - Constant arguments of the parents can also affect them. So create a soothing environment amidst the chaos of caring for a new baby.

"I'm totally stressed out!" - Too much of noise, movement or light can stress them out. This is over stimulation to their young comprehension. Be attentive on your baby's breaking point and don't expose them to these factors.

"My tummy hurts!" - Please pay attention to what you give to your babies. Some babies are sensitive to formula, they may be constipated or have a hard time passing gas, just like our DD :-). Burping really helps in reducing stomach discomfort. If our DD have the hard time to pass gas, I play with her "criss-cross apple sauce" while massaging her tummy, this I learned in a Yoga exercise to help in digestive function.

"Ouch I'm being pinched!" - Your tiny one might feel something is pinching her like loose hair or thread wrapped in her tiny toes and fingers, clothing tag that is poking her back. So you have to undress her/his and check everything.

"I'm feeling lonely over here!" - This is very true when our kids is at the age of 6 to 9 months where it starts the separation anxiety stage. If you leave them alone expect a wail. So try to leave them with toys or in an activity center and if the wail won't stop get back at them and give them love plus explaining that you will not leave them and you are just doing something. Even if they don't understand you, your mere presence helps a lot in assuring them that they are not alone.

"I'm starving!" - Our baby don't know how to say they're hungry so they just cry. If they are going through a growth spurt, they always ask for food even if you just fed them an hour ago.

"This wall I'm staring at is getting a little cold." - If you put your baby in the same corner, chair, bouncer for more than an hour they get bored as well. You can encourage them to play and explore more. A stroll to the park and getting fresh air can help them recoup as well.

Because I was Worried

We brought Shiloh to the ER. Yes you read it right! I am a worry-wart. Little things that I see in my baby that I think is not normal, I get worried. This worry feeling intensified when she was 3 weeks old when infantile acne/sebhorric dermatitis broke out coupled with her congestion that she has since she was born.

The ER thing happened when she was 5 weeks old. We wanted to transition her to bottle feeding because I will be going back to work. During her evening feeding I used a bottle with formula. She took the bottle but after an ounce she started to cough. She had a hard time sucking and swallowing because of her congestion. She choked and had difficulty breathing. The milk and sticky saliva just settled in her mouth making her more difficult to breath. She was crying hard that she became so flustered. Then I noticed that the little bumps on her body became bigger. (nagpantal pantal). She was red all over.

So when my hubby saw me that I was in the verge of crying he told me to get ready and we will go to the ER. It was already 8pm the Nurse on call at the Pediatric clinic was off already. We don't have a choice. Though my hubby wanted to wait until the morning but I was so worried.

While at the ER, before the doc sees us, the nurse took her vitals including oxygen level in her body and it's excellent. Everything was normal with her. She was already pacified til the doctor messes with her. My husband told me to ask the doctor everything that makes me worried. Even the stupidest question so I will be at peace. I know he was worried too he just want to show me he's not.

After the doctor checked our daughter, he told us everything is fine. She has no allergies, no ear infection, no blockage in her throat and the bumps are normal for her age and it will disappear in time. I bombarded the doc with questions even the silliest one. We were discharged the same night and was told to get an appointment at Pedia and if anything will happen again we can come back to the ER.

That was my first taste of what motherhood is all about.

Baby DVDs

As a new parent, I wanted to make sure that my child is developing normally. I believe this is the ultimate dream of all parents. As well as giving what is best for them. On the aspect of development, we are very conscious of what are the milestones our kids are doing. What they are capable of doing at their age and stage. We even buy stuffs to supplement in boosting their every development. Among other things are baby DVDs that accordingly can help their cognitive development. But the question is can they really?

I don't know. That is why I am posting this entry to somehow solicit some ideas to experienced Moms. Does baby DVDs really help your child's development? Does it helps your kids improving their language skills? How long you let your kids watch TV or DVD?

I have read this news on Yahoo's Health News, DVDs Don't Produce Brainy Babies . The study made sense to me. I agree that if you are going to let your little one watch DVD during their most attentive hours, when they are awake and alert, rather than giving the first hand experience of actually talking to them, accordingly "they will not get the same linguistic experience". The researchers stressed that talking to your babies is more effective. The "warm social human interaction" cannot be replaced by watching TV or DVD.