The Easy and Calm Sleep

I have been having hit and miss solutions with Little Man's sleeping schedule, and so I engaged myself into some trial and error procedures to arrive on ways on how to make him sleep faster and easier.  The experiment meant changing old activities and patterns prior his bedtime so the first week was admittedly not easy.  It was hard to change patterns especially since Migo was already faithful to the old one, which by the way I miss so much (yep, I miss the old pattern because that old one had a touch of cuteness on it).  But later on, it became smooth and fine until we found ourselves having no problems at all. 

Did I mention that the last bedtime pattern we had was cute?  Let me tell you why. One of the last things he would do before he hits the bed is to dance to this Toy Story 2 song.  Even if I find the dance so adorable, this too was ejected from the new list of activities before bedtime since dancing is not a good choice to end my toddler's day.  And yes, I miss watching him do his thing.



Now, these are my new successful ways on how to calmly put my Little Man to sleep:

Play Hard

Migo is certified galawgaw. He keeps moving, dancing, playing, and all that. He always moves around and really plays hard. He pretty much has a lot of activities during the day and that works on my advantage since moving a lot is his form of exercise that keeps his mind and body healthy. Also, it makes him sleep better at night. I just make sure that he stops playing or being active before dinner time so to relax his body. That is also the reason why dancing to that Toy Story song before sleeping is not qualified to be on our new bedtime activities.

Shortened Naps
My Little Man needs to recharge himself so a nap for one hour (three hours the most) is necessary to keep him going.  He should not take a nap longer than that because that means struggle to sleep later in the evening. Also, I do not allow him to take naps late in the afternoon for obvious reasons.

Dinner
His dinner is at around 6pm because I do not want him to sleep on a stuffed tummy. He will ask for milk in the middle of the night anyways so I feel it's okay to give him early dinner. And besides, it makes sense that since I am establishing an early bedtime here, dinner must also be served earlier.


Shower Time
The one who takes care of my son gives him a warm bath, or swimming as Migo would call it, at around 7pm and they do that the same time everyday. This also serves as a sign that his playtime is up.

Night Routine
Our activities several minutes after dinner time all lead to the bedroom. Brushing his teeth, washing his bum, a new diaper and set of bedtime wear all tell that he is going to bed any minute from then.

No TV
TV is not allowed at night time since whatever he watches stimulates his  mind and makes it harder for him to go to sleep.  I am also not allowing him to watch scary and violent scenes for it cause nightmares and sleep interruptions.

The Bed
I make sure that his bed is conducive to sleeping. Even us adults do not want to sleep on a cluttered bed, right? His sleeping buddy, Mickey Mouse, must be there already waiting for him. I also make it a point to have his covers changed every so often.

Dark Room
He loves to sleep in a dark room and with the electric fan running so that is granted to him.  No problem with me since I also cannot sleep on a bright room.

The Goodnight Prayer
And the very last thing that we do is say our good night prayer.  We both pray "Angel of God", and he ends it up with "Goodnight Jesus, goodnight Sto. Nino, goodnight Mama Mary...I love you!"  Then he says his I love yous to us, closes his eyes and goes to sleep.



I hope this new list of activities before bedtime helps mommies out there who are having some difficulties putting their sweethearts to sleep early.  Good luck, and hope it goes well!

Rain and Crayons

What's up with the weather today?  I woke up at 9am today, a bit late if you ask me, and I thought it was just like 5 or 6 so I believed I still had a long snooze to go.  Heck, the gray sky fooled me! Due to the gray sky, I thought madaling araw pa lang!! It did not occur to me at once that the sky would be gray the entire day due to the rain.  The sun was having some moods because it just did not want to show her rays. Gloomy days meant Little Man's confinement to the four corners of our tiny pad... how sad could that be?  Poor Little man, no running in the garden for him today.

So to not give him a boring day despite the rain, I thought of an activity that we both could enjoy together-- indoors.  I thought of watching educational videos from YouTube, but refused at once since I am afraid he would demand for more videos and we might end up watching until the afternoon, in which I am trying to avoid.  No-TV policy also means no watching of videos from the laptop, so bye YouTube.  I grabbed a book instead and we did some story telling.  He got excited with it, but the fun ended after four to five stories.  So the last thing I had in mind was crayons. I am a huge fan of everything colorful and so crayons would be something the two of us would happily share together for an activity.  And I was right!! Little Man loved his crayons and we both had fun scribbling, drawing, and making fun of our weird creations!  The crayon activity was a nice way to fight a boring, gloomy, and wet day!








 The best partner with crayons are the papers that we do not have use for anymore, aka scratch papers.  I have tons of it in the bodega,  thus it became useful again.

For awhile, my Little Man did not want to share his crayons.  He held it so tightly that I had no choice but to just watch him do his thing.  I begged and begged until his heart softened.

My Little Man doing his thing.  His face read: Please, do not disturb!

Here's the story behind this picture:

Little Man: Mommy, write write Mickey please? (translation: mommy, please draw Mickey.)

Me: *I drew Mickey* Here's your Mickey!!

Little Man: Mickey 'to mommy?

Me: Yes, that's Mickey!

Little Man: *checked my drawing again* ANG PANGIT!!

And so now I believe that a child really does not tell a lie :)

Father's day the simple way

June 19, 2011 - Father's day.  I woke up with the fear of having another Ondoy.  Talk about being paranoid of the heavy rains since that traumatic episode in Philippine history, I could not help but wonder where the heavy rain that woke me up in the early morning would lead us.  Aside from birthdays and anniversaries, this was supposedly one of the most awaited days of the men of our lives and I was afraid the angry skies will ruin it all.  With its solid raindrops with equally heavy wind, I was ready to announce the bad news to my hubby.  That despite his special day, we might settle and stay at home.


Holiday naman, you considering going out tomorrow instead? I asked him.  He just gave me a disagreeing look.  Okay, I got the answer loud and clear even literally he did not even move his lips.  So the three of us got dressed, with umbrellas and jackets as weapons, and off we go.

We were a bit hungry already when we arrived at the mall.  Worse, parking was full for obvious reasons.  So imagine how starving we were when we stepped inside the restaurant we picked.  Burgoo had a great buy- one-take-one-for-free offer so we grabbed that.  Burgoo's palatable dishes were  to die for, so the promo was definitely a steal.  Plus, almost every table took advantage of the offer.  Who would not?  The entree with the higher price will be billed, and the lower one was the free item. That offer was really cool!  While waiting for our orders to arrive, my little man enjoyed the "write-write" moments.  He was quite amazed of how his scribbles looked like.

His hands were full!! He simply just won't share his crayon, that's why.

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We got their grilled pork chop ( I dunno why hubby has an addiction for pork chops? ) and their shrimp and ribs platter.  One entree was good for sharing already so we are talking of like good-for-four-heads meal here.  And to pay for just one, that was such a great offer!! Both entree were perfectly done, kuddos to Burgoo.   Honey and little man loved everything!










The father and his mini-me!




We finished the day with a couple of photo opps.  The little man knew where to pose!  He is a fan of Cars and Kung Fu Panda!





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My Birthday - Good food. Good times. Good fun.

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January 23, 2011 -- Happy birthday to me!!  Yesterday, I celebrated the anniversary of my 25th birthday.  Of course I am not giving away my age, for they say that  most of the time, I do not look like it.  Thanks to my own Belo and Calayan in the form of positive attitude, happy disposition in life, love of comedy film, and music.  And the biggest factor of all--my big man and my little man, who when I watch play and make a fool of themselves together, give me that instant face lift.   These are the reasons, I suppose, that make me not look my age most of the time.  That's most of the time, I am stressing that out, for there are times I look older than my real age.  I am thinking the culprit would be sleepless nights due to deadlines,or due to paperworks brought home, or due to my little man's unpredictable sleeping behavior, or due to dvd marathon.  Lack of sleep that brought stress, that brought sagging of the face, wrinkles, fine lines and out-of-this-world tantrums.  Sleepless nights can really bring out the monster in me, physically and attitude-wise.  Other than that, not patting myself on the back, a lot really say I do not look like my age.  I really hope so.

Prior my natal day, my cousins planned of a dinner date for all of us.  We went to Yakimix in Tomas Morato.  Original plan was in Trinoma branch but due to the long queue, majority decided to shift to Morato.  Elmer and I were the first ones to arrive, and by then we found out that we did not have a reservation!  Yakimix, now gaining a large population of followers, is full especially on weekends.  Reservation is a must, really.  We were like 18 hungry ones, so we had a hard time arranging ourselves in one table.  After a long 1 hour of waiting, we finally had a taste of their all-you-can-eat dishes.  Japanese food reign on the buffet, yet there were some Filipino food (I saw a crispy pata) and surprisingly, Italian (there was a pizza there, I swear!)  Sushi person that I am, my tummy feasted with different kinds of sushi they have there.  I enjoyed their salmon and tuna sashimi so much.  Valued at more or less 650.00 per head (depends on your add-ons), with a lot of food on the buffet, this rate is not bad at all.  Later that night, we transfered to Starbucks and there we welcomed my birthday.  I felt so old, who wouldn't?  I am the eldest of all the cousins, and there they were with me.  But I also feel so young, for despite the age differences, we still have times like this bonding with each other over some plateful of yummy dishes.

Yakimix in Tomas Morato

I enjoyed a lot of sushi in different colors and shapes (and calories!)

They also have a shabu-shabu

A gathering that will soon be on a regular basis (crossing fingers!)

I usually celebrate my birthday in two days. The birthday itself, the 23rd, with my Rockville/Bonifacio family, and the day after with my Fairview/Kimpo family.  My Rockville treat would always be at home.  My dad dreads going out for whatever reason so you will find me dialing numbers of food delivery service so I can still treat my family in the comforts of our home.  Not losing hope each year, I still announced my plan of treating them out on my birthday.  I expected my dad's usual contra-reaction.  Surprisingly, dad just kept mum about it and everybody was kinda surprised of this big leap (big leap na talaga 'to!).  So on my birthday, I treated them for lunch at Romulo Cafe.

I am not at all new to Romulo's and in fact I also blogged my first Romulo experience here.  We ordered the bestsellers:  kare kare and flying tilapia.  This time, we added another best seller on our table--the pancit puti. Everybody raved about the food we had at Romulo Cafe.

I do not know why despite my knowledge of Romulo Cafe's
swirls of black and white interior, I still wore this blouse.  I only noticed
 it when my sis pointed it out.  What a booboo!

Later around 6;20pm, we went to the restaurant where I put my reservation for dinner with my Fairview family.  Yes, this time, I celebrated it with them on the day of my birthday itself.  The restaurant, whenever I pass there, stirred my curiosity for aside from the great interiors that can be viewed from outside, the place is always full not to mention the peeps lined up outside patiently waiting for their names to be called.  So because the place really looked interesting, I decided to bring my Fairview fam there.  The restaurant's name is Lugang Cafe.  Quite an odd name for a restaurant, I thought.  Later I found out that this restaurant is the famous Bellagio in Shanghai that is known for their delicious Taiwanese dishes.  Now in Manila, they changed Bellagio into Lugang, one of Taiwan's best places.

Lugang Cafe's interior is awesome!  The walls are of different designs.  Our side of the wall have bricks with mirror-like posts in front that when viewed from several meters away looked like a weaving pattern.  The wall in front of (but a bit far from)  us have a different pattern  in which I cannot describe blow by blow for I had no chance to scrutinize but it looked like a weaved pattern of some solid material in immaculate white.  Our couch has black and white swirls  that goes very well with the wall behind it, while some couches in the middle are made of cream leather material.  For some reason, the chairs remind me of Gucci and Chanel patterns.  Lugang Cafe's door is a massive one and is really beautiful, that kuya Edmund, the one that has an eye for what's pretty when it comes to furniture and interior, noticed it at once.

Elmer, my big man, enjoyed the couch of black and white swirls that goes
very well with the weave-like wall behind it.

We ordered  Lugang bestsellers:  3 cup chicken, beef with crullers,  spicy dory (fish), and golden rice.

Spicy Dory is a personal fave.  The dory fish is so tender, and the spicy-ness
is a bit powerful yet not that kind that will make you quit munching anytime.
In fact, I had this without rice, so to appreciate the taste more.  I love it!

No meal is complete without the rice. 

Small chicken parts cooked in 1 cup sesame oil, 1 cup rice wine, and 1 cup
soy sauce, hence the name:  3 Cup Chicken.  I love how the marinade of three
different sauces blend well together coming up with a yummy dish.
p290 good for three.

Beef with chinese crullers is my personal favorite. It has thinly sliced beef,
that was so tender with crunchy bicho bicho, all embraced by the tasty
sauce.  This one is a steal for P280.00 good for three.

My lovely SIL's gave me cakes from Conti's.  I was really craving for a Mango Bravo and they turned into mind readers that day for they gave me just what I craved for.  We finished Mango Bravo so fast!  My little man loved it too!!

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Yakimix -  2nd floor, Forum Building, 270 Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

Reservation is a must - (02)3857500

Romulo Cafe - 32 Scout Tuazon corner Dr. Lazcano, Tomas Morato, Quezon City

Though they allow walk-in's, it is still wise to reserve- (02)3327275

Lugang Cafe - 115 Connecticut St., North Greenhills, San Juan

Reservation up to 6:30 only and they allow 15mins allowance.  

7:00 pm onwards are for walkin's - (02)7757599

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Sun, splash and sand with little man

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Boracay!  Yes, my little man experienced Boracay already, and I am so proud of him.  Barely two years old, he already experienced the sun, the splash and the white sand of Boracay.

Prior to this, I was worried on Migo's reaction to his first airplane ride.  I prepared my "resbak" just in case he gets cranky inside the plane.  I uploaded the Ipod Touch kuya Eric gave Elmer and I last Christmas (a huge thank you, kuya Eric!) with videos that would make him settle--Mickey Mouse singing the Clubhouse theme, trailers of Despicable Me (his favorite film this time), Eensy weensy spider nursery rhyme video, and Spongebob Squarepants  video.  I also loaded my bag with his favorite bread, some candies, and I also prepared milk.  These things would perfectly pacify my Migo.  Though it was his first time, he did not misbehave and that was quite unexpected.  He was not malikot, he did not cry, and he was good all throughout the ride.  As a matter of fact, he even fell asleep halfway through the ride.

Boat transfer goimg Boracay was a different story.  It was sooooo hard for Elmer and I especially with three traveling bags in tow, plus a little man attached on my hip.  I had no choice but to allow the manongs to carry Migo to the boat.  Me carrying him from the shore to the boat was impossible, so I really had no choice but to resort to the manongs.

Elmer's cousin, pretty Annie, arranged everything from transfers to accomodations.  Must be a not-so-easy task to arrange and be responsible for almost 60 pax, but since it's Annie's forte, she did it with ease.  Everything she arranged went perfect. We stayed in Paradise Garden found in Boracay's station 3.  The place was decent enough and big for all of us Kimpos who were there. The staff was polite and friendly, always greeting us and giving us their beautiful smiles.  Just eight minutes going to the beach, this place is cool enough to stay in.

The three of us went out for a walk past twelve noon and the first thing we searched for-- food.  When we were in Boracay last 2005, we were hooked with this humble resto that served cheap yet really delicious food.  I am talking about Smoke. We desperately searched for it (we already forgot where it was located), and luckily after almost an hour of looking, we found it.  The diners there were mostly tourists, and if I remember it right, there were only two tables occupied by Pinoys. I ordered spicy chicken, my usual favorite.  The food, after all these years, YUM!!

After the food trip, we went to the water for it was already time for my little man to have fun with Boracay sands and waters.  He enjoyed it so much!  He enjoyed Boracay for two days!  What a lucky little fellow!

 

 

Feverish little man

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I am beginning to wonder if fate would not allow us to go this much awaited trip.  On Friday, I will be facing another adventure with my little man and my big man.  We will be going to Boracay!! And not only that, the main reason of our trip is the Kimpo grand reunion that happens every three years (it used to be every four years, I heard) that happens in Kalibo, Aklan just in time for the ati-atihan festival.  That means airplane ride, baby!! And that would be my little man's first airplane ride!  I am so excited, yet so anxious.  I am not so sure of what my little man's reaction to the ride would be.  This early, I have butterflies in my stomach already.  But what the heck, my little man has a fever for two days already.  Talk about spoiling the trip!  Hey, we already have tickets, so please fever, go away!!

As a mom, I cannot stand not to be with him on times like this.  One advantage of working for the family business and with parents as bosses is that I can easily go home without much explanation needed.  Their apo has a fever and they are the ones pushing me to go home, so it's really that easy.  When I learned thru the caregiver's text that Migo has a temperature of 38.5, I hurriedly went to the drugstore that's just infront of my office and bought the things I will be needing to get rid of the fever--paracetamol drops, Calpol in particular, and Kool Fever.  These two never fails to vanish the fever in a snap.  However, this time, my little man's fever keeps on bugging us.  His temperature is between 38.5 and 39.5 despite paracetamol and Kool Fever.  Now this is really making me frustrated.  It's Wednesday already and I hope it goes away tomorrow so we can make it to Friday's trip.  I am crossing my fingers!!

Our (small) family's write up

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The Kimpo clan will be having again a reunion this January of 2011 and as a part of that grand get-together, souvenir programs will be distributed.  Hubby paid for a whole page ad and I was given the task to write a little something about the three of us, plus the layout.  Here's a sneak peek of what our page will look like:

 

Thanks for the visit!

Feel free to read my other 

posts.  Please look for

MY BABBLES on the 

right side of this page.

Have a blessed day!

Lotsa love,

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The Monday holiday

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The Monday holiday was the aftereffect of our Tagaytay weekend. Simply put, we spent it lazily. Come afternoon, the three of us feasted on our merienda which consisted of hotdogs, peanuts, popcorn, Spanish bread, choco cupcake, orange juice, and apple juice. By the way, if you haven't noticed it yet, we were just three in the family. My big man, my little man, and me. Yes, this is how we eat. Always. And still I wonder why my waistline keeps on expanding!



The Spanish bread bought from Sonya's was the best Spanish bread I have ever tasted. The litte man, on the other hand, finished half of the choco cupcake and he loved it so much definitely because it was chocolate. We all know how kids adore chocolates in any form--drink, candy, bar, ice cream, etc. He paired it with Gerber apple juice. Yum yum!




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My little man's birthday video - part 3

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...obviously, there's more!!!

Note: again, best viewed on a small screen

My little man's birthday video - part 2

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I still cannot get enough of my little man's first birthday so I am posting yet again another video of his birthday. This was taken by Thor Production Kids and was "chopped"by my techie brother Mackoy. I am running out of words for Thor. They are simply the best!!

Note: best viewed on a small screen

My little man's first formal wear

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My cousin Bong got married last July 31, 2010. Since it was a formal gathering, Elmer had to wear the traditional barong, while I wore something that would pass as a formal dress. Migo, on the other hand, wore his first ever formal wear. It was not a barong, for I had second thoughts of letting him wear something that would make him, and us as well, uncomfortable. So what I just got for him was a set of polo, tie, vest, pants, black socks and black shoes. It looked good on him! I cannot wait for another formal event so I can see him wear something like that again. ;)



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My Little Man's Birthday Video (Teaser)

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Almost three months after my little man's event, I still cannot get over the fun and moments this birthday celebration had. Here is a teaser of what I am talking about. Enjoy!!

Migo @ 1 from thorProductionKIDS on Vimeo.

Little Man's First Haircut

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My little man's another first.

HIS FIRST HAIRCUT!!

The truth is, we were supposed to have the haircut the week prior that. However when we went to the kiddie grooming place, it was full and we were 8th on the list. We had to hear mass later that afternoon and shall we wait for our turn, we won't be able to make it. So we just went home with his hair still intact.

June 12, 2010--since that was a Saturday-holiday, honey did not go to work. We pushed thru with the plan. We went to the mall a bit early knowing how the grooming place gets full really fast on a weekend. And so we were third on the list. That was good enough. Since we still had to wait, we prepped our little man with toys, playthings, and a bunch of colorful stuff.



While waiting, hubby let him try the bikes placed outside this huge toy station just near the grooming place. He enjoyed the ride so much!


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Cuts for Tots. The grooming place speaks for itself.


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The scene inside the grooming place. I love how the place looks like. It is indeed dedicated for tiny men and women for it is embellished with colorful stuff and attractive displays. Characters of all sorts are placed everywhere--Mickey Mouse, Spongebob, Dora and Hello Kitty among others. The chairs, oh how I adore the chairs!! They have kiddie carts and kiddie cars with a monitor infront so the attention of the kid will be glued on the screen. And I love how the tiny laughs and tiny screams of the kids inside blend so well together. And parents never fail to click on their cams, just like what I did the whole time.


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And after around fifteen minutes, tahda!!! Little man's hair now all gone!!




THE FIRST HAIRCUT'S EXPERIENCES AND BIT TIPS


-Let the little one wear a comfy top or shirt. Migo wore a simple, almost pambahay shirt for I know that at the end of the session, he's going to change anyways. He has to change for his first shirt might be full of hair and he might get itchy because of it.

-Bring an extra top or shirt. Just like what I already mentioned, he has to change to a new shirt after the session.

-Come early. The place gets unbelievably full in a short period of time specially on weekends. It's always better to be early.

-Bring the favorite toy. Though the grooming place has tons of toys for the little creature, it will be best to bring a special toy familiar to him. Shall he cry due to the unusual experience, just let the toy out so to divert his attention away from the sound of the scissors or razor.

-Help the stylist. Shall your kiddo throw tantrums, or gets hyper and excited, or turns a bit malikot during the ordeal, be responsible for making him "behaved". It's only you, the parent, who can do this and no one else.

-Bring your own shampoo and towel. Part of the pay is the shampoo session. Though they offer a mild-for-kids shampoo, and for sure their towels are often replaced with a new one, it's still best to bring your own for hygienic reasons.

-Get the discount or membership card. If you believe that your child will be having a regular schedule to this grooming place, it's practical to avail of their membership card that entitles the holder of discounts to his succeeding visits.

-Bring your camera. And please do not forget to charge the batteries, or bring extra batteries. This is your child's first haircut and you would not want it to end just like that. There has to be a memorabilia of everything that happened, and he has pictures to cherish when he gets old.

-Lasty, but most importantly, bring home his few strands of hair. If you are a mom like me who's into preserving all sorts of souvenirs of my baby, i bet you are not to miss this one. When my little man grows into someone who's already responsible to his grooming, when he won't need my hand anymore to assure him that haircuts are fine, when he's in the age where he has his own little version to take care of, these strands of hair will always bring back the memories of the young him.


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