Babies and TV Sets

Firstly, I will admit we didn't really babyproof our house much, mainly because there's that setup of always having someone watching my child. Most of my son's major falls were DIY, freaky accident things anyway.

But who knew he'd think it will be great to make tv stands into good hiding places! He literally stashes his favorite toys, especially the ones he's trying to keep out of his 10-month old cousin's reach, inside ours. Unfortunately, he's also thought our DVD players are extra cabinets so he has officially broken one appliance without us knowing he was doing it. We thought he was just throwing his toys under the stand, or putting them on top of the players. I had not realized he's actually used some of them to prop open the disk plate (or whatever you call that).

Picture to follow!

Maternity Nice-to-Haves

Of course, infanticipating moms most need proper nutrition, care and medical attention. All the rest are just really nice to haves.

Now, if a woman is looking to be a gestating fashionista, there are trusted brands she'd probably encounter when looking for maternity outfits and nursing wear. Belly Bandit is known for products offering support to a woman's back when her tummy is already big. Bella Band, on the other hand, is known for the transition belts they offer so that one can still wear some of her loose/bigger outfits but her tummy will still be covered. It also acts as a sort of belt for jeans or pants, when you can't button them anymore but they still otherwise fit.

One really nice tip I got from the LATCH seminar I attended is the use of Bella Bands when you're already nursing. Even if you don't spend on nursing tops, you can just don the band and just raise your shirt/top up to give your baby access to your breasts. This way, you won't feel self-conscious about your tummy or stretch marks when you're nursing in public. Yes, Moms are more conscious of their tummies than their breasts. Hehe.

Maternal America offers more options for moms who want to stay looking smart and sexy. Think bathing suits and shorts, kimons and dresses, pants and jeans that are all maternity wear. Tthe tankinis will even come in handy post-partum if you still haven't lost all the baby weight and the baby bump hasn't yet shrunk, but you're going swimming with friends and family.

But at home, the husband's shirts usually provide all the comfort a pregnant woman needs.

Moms' Night Out

Last night, I met with some Pex Moms. It was my official first night out for the year. Had a blast at Racks (who knew i'd love their steak sampler so much?!) and the adult conversation.

Topics discussed include the gas, babies, relationships, message boards, the recession, travelling, weight gain, breastfeeding and parenting.

We really should do that at least once a month. That was the best P350 dinner i've had in a while (we split the cost of all our food orders).

But since we were super hungry, none had the mind to take pics of the food when they were served.

Brangelina Twins Pics

The entire Jolie-Pitt clan was snapped in Tokyo. Know leon and Vivienne Marcheline are sixc months now. They haven't been spotted for several months but look at them now!

I think both were cuter than Shiloh was.



(Source: Babyrazzi)

Dear Mommy

I'm sorry for not yet being sleepy. I guess you really have to wake me early in the morning so I can take a nap in the morning too, and not take two naps in the afternoon/early evening.

I will cry and throw tantrums. But I think it's for the best. You have been abandoning Pappie and me more and more these days and I miss you, plus Pappie loses precious sleep.

Baby Yakee

Sanity Savers

Moms need all the help they can get. My biggest sanity saver is my husband, and then my cousin and sister, because they help out with my son.

But other things provide me comfort in times of frustration as well. And no, I don't mean chocolate and cake, but that works too. Here are some things off the top of my head:

moving pods and other storage chests. Considering the multitude of toys my son has amassed in his first year of life alone, these things keep the clutter manageable. Plus, that age-old advice of keeping some of the toys away and rotating them after several weeks or so truly works. My son gets delighted each time we open a box. It is like Christmas every two weeks or so.

educational videos. I know it's wrong to have the good old TV babysit for you, but sometimes I just want my son not to bother me. So I turn on the TV and let him watch Disney cartoons (which I actually find nice, like Higglytown Heroes, Thomas and Friends, Tigger and Pooh, the Safety Patrol, Little Eisnteins with all that classical music, etc.) or his Baby Signing Time videos. Oh, he loves commercials too!

cell phones. I just lock them and let him play with it and he gets occupied enough to be quiet for several minutes. Perfect distraction when he's starting to throw tantrums or making diaper changing a challenge.

music in general. He dances to everything. And I mean everything. Be it Tennessee Waltz or Umbrella, he dances to it. Again, a quick, foolproof happifier.

sign language. But i've already posted how helpful they've been. Now he also knows the signs for banana and cat and fish. Hehe.

Binge Drinking Increases Preterm Birth Risks

Just in case there are still women out there who want to push the envelope when it comes to drinking (and smoking) during pregnancy, a new study by the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research has found that, "The risk of preterm birth is highest for pregnant women who drink heavily or at binge levels, meaning drinking more than seven standard drinks per week, or more than five drinks on any one occasion."

Read the rest of the news.

Does he talk yet?

My son babbles a lot. But no, he doesn't really talk yet.

He repeats a lot of words. And yes, he'd have moments when he'd actually say a word, like Mama and Papa (weird, we refer to us as Mommy and Pappie), goodnight, wow, dog, etc.

He does sign language though. Right now, we're trying to teach him more words to sign but I think he feels that we should be satisfied with eat, milk, bath, sleep, thank you and sorry. He says MAM when he wants to drink so he never felt the need to do the sign, no matter how we repeat it to him. And he does the sign for Mom for both Mommy and Pappie. Hehe.

Am I worried his speech is delayed? Nope. I've accepted that he's not like his cousin Py who talked straight before he turned one. I'm actually bent on being more vigilant in teaching him sign language so that he'd have less tantrums when he can't express yet what he wants.

Right now though, if he wants crackers or cereals, what he does is take our hand and lead us to the cereal jug. Hehe

More Milk, Less Pills

Moms who binged over the holidays, raise your hand!

I'm pretty sure, about 90% of moms, even the strictest dieters and health buffs, enjoyed the holidays for all its worth. And enjoying usually means delicious food, those creamy, sweet things that normally we can resist throughout the year. But not during the holidays. Never during the holidays. Denying oneself would feel sacriligeous even.

Non-nursing moms will have the luxury of looking up the benefits of pills like Fentraphen, but lactating moms can do them one better. Producing more milk will up the metabolic ante and they might be spared serious exercising to lose the added flab (not that exercising, in general, have a lot of good benefits).

But what if your child is already eating solids and do not require as much milk anyway? You can still trick your body into producing more milk by pumping more often (help yourself by taking some galactagogues too). You can either store the milk for use when you're away, on vacation, or for your kids' cereals. You can even be generous with these and donate to milk clinics and hospitals. Or, just throw them away.

And then feel the calories burn.

Nido's Next Music Video Star

For the stage moms out there, Nido is currently looking for its next music video star and your kid could be it. Visit the multiply site and read the mechanics on how/what to submit.

10 Winners will be drawn to win a year's supply of Nido!!! :)

Torn Between Back and Weaning

Unfortunately, I have these weird idiosyncracies... like being unable to sleep if my feet aren't comfortably stretched, or if am between people (or lying between a person and a wall). I feel claustrophobic.

And then there is that fact that breastfeeding my son while lying down keeps me awake, especially on those nights when am not tired enough to fall asleep like that, and he insists that my nipple remain in his mouth.

Sometimes, I really find myself wanting to wean him already. And then I feel guilty for wanting to put my needs and wants first before his overall health and well-being. But i'm just human. And my back starts aching after a day or two, which is why I usually need a massage to get the kinks on my back ironed out, all from the weird sleeping posture.

Sigh.

And it doesn't help when I try computing how much more of this i've got to take if I take into consideration two other kids.

Sigh.

Parenting when Exhausted

When we visited my son's pedia for his MMR shots and to have insect bites checked (they turned out to have gotten infected... tsk!), there was this family who everyone noticed.

The mother and father had three kids, two boys of about five and three and this newborn girl. The boys obviously were still reeling from the addition and were both acting up. Especially the middle child. At one point, this boy even went around trying to grab all the newborns (theirs and other moms'). But all the mother ever did was say the boy's word in a disapproving voice. She never even told her son to apologize to the moms who were getting terrorized.

And since she was munching on gum, her boys asked for one too. And sure enough, the middle child (who was about three) didn't heed their instructions that he shouldn't swallow the gum. But from the way they scolded him after, it seems it's also not the first time the child swallowed a gum.

And when their child started bawling and banging on the clinic's doors, they both tried taking naps. At one point, the father even scolded the yaya for trying to pacify the bawling child.

I know i'm not in their position. Who knows just how exhausted they really are with the newborn. And I actually have a good idea how exhausting post-pregnancy can be, when your hormones plummet and the late nights just get you depressed. Still, I couldn't help but fume a little over their lack of attention to the other kids who are obviously in need of it. The mother could have just as easily handed over the newborn to the yaya since it was just sleeping, and given the middle child (who was going crazy asking for his Mom) some cuddles while they waited for hours for the pediatrician. And the father could have held one of the boys too, instead of giving them mints. They both waited till both boys were growling and crying before they paid attention... and thus, am sure, they have taught their sons that the only way to get their attention is to make a spectacle of themselves in public.

*~*

Another three year old was playing with my son and ended up making him lose his balance. Yakee cried but there were no ill feelings toward the little girl, who was made to sorry, and did it several times. She actually loved making my son laugh and she even sang Twinkle, twinkle Little Star for Yakee (after which, my son will clap, hehe).

Now FDA says to Eat Fish

I suffered flack at a message board for encouraging women to eat more fish during their pregnancy. They cited numerous researches saying that it's bad, because of the risks of mercury exposure.

Well, they all stand corrected as FDA has reversed its stance on limiting fish intake for pregnant women. It seems eating more fish even increases IQ points for the baby.

Heavy Babies

My son weighs 14.5 kilos at one year and three months. I think that's actually pretty average for his age and I am very thankful that he's a healthy weight. We just met a 9-kilogram three month old. Sure, he's cute and all but imagining my son that heavy at that age, when he's very demanding to be held and carried all the time, my hips would probably have given out (or my back!) and i'd probably be needing treatment for Plantar Fasciitis by now.

Then again, that child isn't breastfed while my son is, up till now. So although I have to get my bones checked for signs of calcium depletion (my teeth have gotten worse already), my mind is at peace about my son's health. I doubt he'd have been walking so early and so fast if he were a heavy child.

So I really wish more moms won't silently applaud themselves for having overweight babies.

And yes, I guess I am not-so sbtly implying that obesity begins with moms. Hehe.

Third Baby's Up for Chyler Leigh

She is only 26 but she is already expecting her third child. And since i've only really noticed her in Grey's Anatomy, I was really surprised to know that she's already a Mom, let alone that she's expecting her third child already.

With a body like hers!

But yeah, I know, she's an actress with legions of stylists and gym instructors and dieticians.

Wonder how they're going to spin it for Grey's though.

(image source: Google, story: Babyrazzi)

Twin Trees

You know that thing some people do, mostly grandparents I think, where they plant trees as a sort of twin of a newborn in the family? Some plant Persimmon trees because of the "fruit of the gods" association while others prefer hardy wood trees, all with the hope that both tree and new baby will grow strong, sturdy and bearing fruit (or wood). It's also quite a poetic appeal that both will weather the test of time.

I sort of wanted to do that. I think it would be very nice to point a tree in my parents' yard and tell my son, "That's your twin tree Yakee. You are growing together." And wouldn't it be neat if someday, he'd be gathering the tree's fruits and feeding it to a girlfriend or his own son?

But since I rarely visit my parents' home in Lipa anyway, I figured i'd probably do that in my own backyard instead. I'll make it the house's twin instead.