...binog's laugh

today is a special day talaga. First time I heard binog laugh out loud. While sleeping!! What a lovely dream he must be having. As in giggle out loud sya. Soooo cute. After nursing him, ni-burp position ko sya so his head was on my left shoulder with his head turned towards me.. tapos biglang tawa out loud! nagulat talaga ako. Kasi he has never done that while awake. He just says 'aaah.. waaa.. agooo..' mga ganung sounds.. pero this one was really a 'so-kilig-giggle'. I wish i could go back in time and record it, it was soooo precious and sweet.

I told my mom about it, and she said "Sinabi ko na sayo yun eh! sabi ko sayo, tumatawa!" .. sabi ko "Akala ko yung usual ngiti nya lang eh"..hindi pala hehehe. kaya pala yung expression din ni mommy nun when she told me was yung amazement din haha.

*happy sigh*. Thank you Lord for my blessings. Super cute nila. lol.

...major major milestone

never mind his ability to count... or to read... or to write.. i will never forget this day,.. the day that tsug decided he was ready to sit down on the toilet and poop.

omg what a thrill it was. LOL.

it started out as any ordinary day (lol).. after peeing on his small potty chair, he lingered a bit and was telling me "mommy.. potty.. mommy potty" and the slow mom that i am, i was saying "yes, its a potty".. then it hit me.. "gavin, do you want to sit down on your potty?".. and he said "yes!".. i almost danced on the spot. i quickly rinsed the plastic bowl and then reinserted it to the potty chair and asked him to sit. "There you go!" then he sat. I was telling him to "okay, concentrate ka na" but he was distracted with his pututoy, how it was touching the front of the potty chair (yung handle).. sabi ko pa "okay, point that thing down, you dont want to pee on mommy".. then he looked behind him (where the real toilet was) and said "there there" so i was like "okey, you can stand there" sabay lipat sa kanya dun. He was still distracted because his Yo Gabba toys where on top of the water closet(?) tas I asked and pointed to his potty (the pinapatong sa toilet-kind) "do you want to sit there?" and he surprised me by saying yes again! He sat on the toilet seat for the first time of his entire life. Then we just started talking and playing a game where he would say a body part and i would move it without touching it. Like "Nose!" and I would wiggle my nose then he would say "Fingers" and i would wiggle my fingers, etc. etc. (He likes playing "teacher" kasi.. he would even tell me "good job mommy!" lol) ..he kept on going on and on with the body parts so I was beginning to accept the fact that he's not gonna poop. So I was just like "stay put and i'll take a picture" cause AT LEAST he was sitting on the toilet. A few seconds I was back and ohmygawd i saw him already grunting and puffing and i held my breath and cheered him on silently.

he just did his business while i took a picture about a hundred times and then exclaimed "Finished!". We both looked at his 'end result' and it was a biiiig long one and he said "So big!" haha. He flushed and then I washed his pwet sa shower stall.

Success! *tap dance*



gavin hard at work!

woohoooo. Next milestone... no diaper at night time!

...lapit na binyag ni binog

i've got some binyag preps finished:


binog's invite


binog's magnet souvenir


binog's tarpaulin


got backgrounds from deviantart.com.. hanggang dyan lang ang kaya ng photoshop sa complexion ni binog hahaha. with binog updates, we're back to a more manageable sleeping schedule. mga 3 hours sleep tapos 2 hours-2 hours. okey na saken yun basta hindi nagpapahele sa gabi. i still swaddle him, but i think its time for a new one, medyo nagaala-houdini na sya at nakakaescape na sa kanyang SwaddleMe. i'm thinking of buying ErgoCocoon.. medyo mahal kaya "thinking" pa hehe. but you know me, if it promises to give baby more sleeping time, i'm all up for it. (at least mapapasa ko na ang binog baby paraphernalia (read:junk) to my sister ate chary woohoo) we're still struggling sa bottle feeding, pero meh technique na ako.. gusto atang nakakarga at pasway-sway pag bote. minsan kaya, buong araw na puro bote kaya, tapos sa gabi lang na direct feed para masanay. hmmm. hay, bawat nanay talaga, iba iba ang struggles sa babies. so sa lahat ng mga mommies out there.. let's give ourselves a pat in the back and fervently wish our sons and daughters don't turn out to be selfish and disrespectful brats with no regards to our sacrifices for them. LOL. amen!

...toddler 411

i've been reading this book, toddler 411 by Denise Fields and Ari Brown and it has helped me in so many ways of how i deal with tsugtsug and his terrible twos phase..

first off, was in disciplining him.. okay, i admit it.. i don't. haha. he has become a brat and it is very much my fault. its just easier to just give in and let him get away with stuff. what i've done mostly is to remove whatever it is that's usually causing the tantrums. gavin's tantrum's can be categorized as such:

1. holding/climbing stuff he shouldn't be holding <--solution: just put it out of sight/childproofing
2. changes in routine <-- solution: don't change. lol.
3. not eating <--solution: TV. big LOL.
4. asking for the moon (read: unreasonable stuff) <-- solution: No means NO!)

with number 1, it has been trickier to follow since i've been living in my parent's house for the last 3 months.. what with my dad leaving his toolbox open, leaving the stapler on the table, etc. so what my solution was to disclipline my DAD, not tsugtsug. lol.

with number 2, this is one trick i've learned from the book that has helped me SOOO much. it's so simple, i don't know why i haven't tried it before. the book explains how toddler's tantrums usually start because of a change in what they're doing.. example.. they're playing then it's time to eat.. or they're watching tv then it'll be time for a nap, etc.. so what i do now is i set a kitchen timer, and tell tsugtsug that when it's time for him to take a nap/bedtime that he has 5 minutes to play and when the bell rings, it's time to take a nap/go upstairs (to start his bedtime routine). kids don't know what "5 minutes" mean so by having a timer and waiting for the bell, they'll have a firmer grasp on the concept of "time". it has worked WONDERS for me. tsug will even say "where is the bell? 5 minutes?" and i'll say "let's wait for the bell before we go up". no more pushing and pulling when its time for his nap/bedtime. as soon as the bell rings, he would jump up and go with me quickly! amazing.

with number 3, i'm just too lazy to change it. lol. i have just accepted the fact that tsugtsug is not interested in food. he is a very picky eater. i could count on my hand the food he eats. cheese, corn, rice, yogurt milk, breakfast cereals, raisins, cake, ice cream, peanut butter and Oreo. ooh, i'm sorry. Big oreo. PINK big oreo, not anything else. those are just the food he would eat on his own. if it's not in the list, i should have TV or his Ipod prepared. or anything (crayons, paper, toys) that would make him distracted enough for him to open his mouth while i stuff him with the protein he needs. (pork giniling, egg, sinampalukan, tinola, etc) Latest craze for him is Artzooka, this art show in Nickelodeon. i have recorded it for my sanity.

with number 4, i just let him cry it out. the book says just be firm. AND consistent. if you allowed it one time, it'll be harder to discipline him the next. so i just become the evil strict mother who walks away. EVEN in public tantrums. hehe. i don't care if i get mean looks. i'm sure the other mothers can relate. the book says in public tantrums, just make a quick getaway. LOL. i told pangs this and we're like Masters at this already. We order dessert at the START of a meal if we want to have any. and we can eat at restaurants in less than 30 minutes. (literally eat and run)

the stricter version of myself has reaped tiny benefits already. tsug doesn't push binog's swing that hard anymore. he'll be like "look mommy, slow" and i would praise him while holding my breath and praying "please don't drop your baby brother". sometimes i could even make him whisper to me while his baby brother is sleeping. *silent clap*. so No means No for tsug. I just have to remember which stuff the NOs pertain to. sometimes i forget, and tsug gets confused too harhar. (no throwing of sand? or is that in the "let go" list)

also, tsug's toilet training. it says in the book, if he's not ready, he's just not. if he poops on his pants and still continues playing, he's not ready. so tsug isn't. at least he says "wiwi" on his own now.. the books says if you're the one who makes him go to the potty every couple of hours then YOU're the one toilet trained, not him. score one for tsugtsug! hehe. i remember my cousin telling me to have tsugtsug tested or something, to check if he is "gifted" or something. (with his advanced reading skills etc) and i'm like.. no,. i don't think he's gifted. he poops while standing up for gawd's sake. lol. so tsug, no one goes to accelerated class with poopie in his pants.

...goodbye 2010, hello 2011!

last year we spent new year's eve at Vieux Chalet.. we planned on doing the same thing but en route to giving the deposit, my dad decided to check out Cristina Villas resort... and he liked it. It was cheaper and we can book just one room because the rooms were big. (we were planning on booking 2 rooms at Vieux chalet)

The hotel itself badly needs refurbishing.. carpet had stains and the paint were cracked but it smelled clean and it was spacious. There was room enough for 2 queen beds, a circular dining set and a big balcony overlooking Ortigas and Makati. We brought our take-out food and checked in at 5pm. Another plus was the staff.. they were very quick to solve problems in the room.. (toilet was not flushing, light was out in the dining area) or for our odd requests (borrow plates, glasses and utensils, extra pillows).. it was a headache free night.


the view from our room


with lolo at the balcony


waiting for the fireworks with lola


the fireworks are starting...


here we goooo.. parang warzone


captured a near one


gavin loved the fireworks.. he kept pointing and shouting "big one! small one!" or "red! gold! red! gold!".. we thought we wouldn't be able to make him fall asleep but he was out at 1130pm (thank God!) binog was also sleeping soundly, the sounds of exploding fireworks weren't too loud to wake him up..

next morning we went around the resort.. the breakfast that came with the room had to be taken at the restaurant.. it was a walk up from the hotel but it was okay, we needed the exercise hehe..


in front of the restaurant


gavin and mommy inside the restaurant. choices were just tocino, longanisa or bangus with iced tea/coffee.


after breakfast we went around the resort, it was a pleasant surprise. the resort itself looks well maintained, a lot of greenery, airy function halls and big pools.. i counted 4 or 5 pools i think..


binog by the big pool




2 children's pool as seen from our room's balcony


cottages like these are around the pools


one of the many function halls


tsugtsug and me!


all in all it was a good find. maybe we'll do it again next year. or maybe we'll try the Seven Suites hotel or Eugenio Lopez Center next time.

Happy new year every one!!