From baby to toddler

It's been a couple of weeks since the little boy turned a year old, and everyday I still marvel at how he's grown up. Some days I even catch myself staring at Yohann and wondering if he really is my baby boy, and if I really, truly am a mommy now. Lol! 

The last few months, he's been getting more and more independent by the day. He likes to hold his own spoon when he eats, drink from his glass on his own, and he's already learning to pull his legs and arms up when I'm changing him.

 He's playing by himself for longer periods of time, and sleeps peacefully even when I'm not beside him, except when he wakes up from a dream and cries for me. The irony of his growing independence is his increased separation anxiety. He's now more aware whenever I'm out of his security radius, and would shriek "Mama-mama-mama-mama-maaaaa!!!" until he sees me coming for him. Even bathroom appointments have become difficult.

 I can only successfully complete them if daddy is around and willing to distract him with antics, food, or PSP games. Movie dates with the hubby are almost impossible now. His favorite Lola, whom he used to spend hours and hours just cuddling with, can barely carry him for five minutes and he would cry already. I could barely finish cooking our meals without him crawling and clinging to my legs in no time.

I know this is just a stage. I can almost imagine him running out of our home and seeking his friends to play with soon. For the meantime, everything revolves around Mommy; soon, he'll be trying to discover the world on his own. Until then, my prayer for him is that he may increase in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and men. :) 

Ten!

In exactly 8 hours and 25 minutes, the little boy will be 10 months old! Wooh-hooh!!!

Mommy and Daddy love you, Yohann!

Whaddayaknow, he's turning 10 months with so much flair - he got his two front (lower) teeth coming out, already learned to walk his first few baby steps, and already blurted out his first official word - "Dad-deeh!!!"

He's got me all excited and worried at the same time. He's just growing up too fast. Before I know it, Yohann will be waving good-bye for his first day of school in no time. Nooooooooo!

Dear little boy, please, please, PLEASE don't grow up too fast.

The Wall Clock

Yohann's a keen observer. He's a curious George and he's always looking, watching, observing things around him. He likes to watch me washing the dishes, preparing his food, folding clothes and cleaning up at home. When he gets tired of looking at me and what I'm doing, he turns his attention to the electric fan, the clothes hanging to dry, the curtains. I guess that's just the way babies are, since they're seeing and learning things for the first time.

I never realized though just how observant he is until this afternoon. When he took his afternoon nap, I decided to do some cleaning at the living room. I tidied up a bit, and saw the box of this wall clock we got as a freebie from Baby Company. So I put it up in place of the old living room wall clock. He was sleeping in his usual place on a mattress on the floor, and when he woke up, his eyes immediately turned to the wall opposite him. Once he saw the new wall clock, his face lit up and he smiled his big, wide, toothless smile. I watched to see his reactions, and the camera caught them all.

He obviously noticed that the wall clock was new! He kept looking, even twisting his body backwards just to get a better look at the clock. He did that several times, every time smiling and making his happy baby sounds. He just loved the new wall clock. :)

Precious Moments

Yohann had his first studio shoot last Saturday at The Picture Company in their Podium branch. We've been thinking of using a gift check for one photo session with them, and last Saturday was the best time for that.

candid shot of dad and bebe haha

Before the shoot even started, I was already thinking of what we could get to keep aside from the single printout included in our GC. Once the photographer started clicking away on her camera, I knew I'd be having a hard time deciding which shot to choose for the printout. Yohann was made to wear three costumes and he had a blast posing for the camera! Each of the three sets produced several cute shots. By the time we were already viewing the files, I was already going crazy, I couldn't choose a single one to print. I wanted them all! Wah!

When I asked about getting a copy of the hi-resolution files, Andy our photographer pointed to a package which would give us access to about 10 files, which would cost a total of our house rent plus several bills for a whole month. Wahaha! So we just opted to avail of their trial package which would entitle us to four more 8x10 printouts (but no hi-res files, *sigh*).

tired and sleepy after his first photo shoot :p

After the photo shoot, hubby and I had been teasing each other about our gastos. Being a couple of practical persons, we normally would not shell out such amounts for things other than those that we really need. We both are simple people with simple wants and simple desires, but when it comes to the little boy we can go beyond our simple ways especially for things that we believe will be a consistent source of joy to both of us. Yohann's photo shoot was definitely a happy experience we would want to remember for a long time. Will share the pics once they're here! :)

Teething?

I've been having an extra hard time taking care of Yohann these past two weeks. For some reason, the little boy has become a little crankier and fussier. A lot of times he would cry and fuss and wouldn't be consoled, and would only want Mommy to hold him.

always chewing on something

And then, for several nights now, he would cry in his sleep, ignoring my offers to feed and pacify him. I would have to get up and carry him at odd hours - 1 am, 2 am, 3 am - in order to make him stop crying. This has been very difficult for me as he still wakes up at 7:30 or 8 am, after at least 10 hours of sleep, while I barely get to sleep for 3 hours straight. I find this very tough to adjust to since has already been sleeping through the night since he turned 2 months.

cranky!

During the day, he demands more attention from us, wants to always have something to gnaw on, and has poor appetite. He's lost a bit of weight - something that has bothered me no end! He's even more active now, jumping up and down and kicking tirelessly, and I would assume he would want to eat more. But he doesn't. And he's got this new habit of pulling his ears or his hair in frustration. He's also harder to put to sleep, making a bit of a fuss and crying in frustration before he finally calms down for some shut-eye.

hard to put to sleep

We suspect that he's started teething. So I looked it up in the net, and there you go, all of the above are symptoms of teething indeed. Some articles said it could take a month or two of these symptoms happening before an actual tooth finally pops out. Oh dear. I just hope Yohann would not have such a hard time getting his first munchers out.

boys and girls

Yohann had his first playdate with our neighbor's baby girl, J, last week. For a couple of days, we visited each other's homes and let the two babies interact with each other. It was fun watching them - they would smile and coo at each other, and they would even reach out and touch each other's faces. Cute!

chubby legs!

holding hands :D

 However, watching them together made me compare how different my little boy is from baby girl J. Baby J is such a quiet baby. She barely makes a sound when crying. She doesn't complain much when she's in her stroller or when carried for a long period of time. She is not as malikot as Yohann is. In short, she is a sweet, demure and quiet baby girl.

Yohann as you can see is quite the opposite. He's not such a cry baby, but when he cries, you can tell he has a pair of powerful lungs! Lol. Even when not crying, the sounds he makes are really audible, from upstairs all the way down to our doorstep. He squeals, he screams, he snorts. And he makes sure that he's heard :p He's very active, and his movements are very forceful. He swats at his toys with such force that they sometimes fall off. I've been hit by his tiny arm several times and I can tell you it hurts. He kicks like a football player wannabe. He spends a lot of time during the day performing his favorite exercise of kicking and flailing his arms at the same time, as if he was swimming or biking. He does that for several minutes at a time, after which he sweats like crazy, this silly little boy :D He easily gets bored with whatever it is that he's doing, but he loves being talked to. He's such an active little boy that when I carry him, I usually perspire like I did an hour of cardio exercises.

I just realized that baby boys are a bit harder to take care of than baby girls. Anyway, I'm not complaining, I just stated my observation. At least, if and when God wills that we'll have a baby girl next, then it'll be easier for  me, not only because it will be my second time with a baby but also because I've managed to take care of a baby boy and survived :p

Wish me luck for when Yohann reaches the age of the terrible twos! Haha.

the little destroyer :p

Yohann's such an active little boy. See what he did to his baby gym this afternoon...

i'm bored...let me play with you!

see how i kick!

 pretty badass huh? :p

aaaand you're down!!! hahaha!

let me roll over you to rub it in :p

Oo na, anak, you have pretty strong legs! :D

tough love

Before Yohann turned 2 months old, he already refused to drink milk from his bottle. I had to mix-feed him a few days after birth as my milk wasn't enough to satisfy his hunger then. When my milk supply increased, I did direct feeding, no more formula or bottle. Now that he's 3 months old, I'm teaching him again to drink from his bottle. I need to be away from home some days and would leave him milk, but he would refuse to drink from his bottle.

Last Friday after coming home from an errand, I was told he refused to take his bottle and had to be fed with a dropper. How tiring is that?! So I immediately got him a bottle of milk and started to pep talk him into drinking it. At first he would take it in his tiny mouth, lick a little, and then push it out with his tongue. So I would offer it to him again. And he would react in the same manner. Repeat this five times and he would end up in a crying fit. After that I gave up and just fed him.

This morning I needed to go out, so last night we did the same routine, trying to get him to feed from his bottle, with little success. Because of that, plus his early morning tantrums today, I wasn't able to leave. I decided that today we will practice some more until he gets used to his bottle.

The whole morning I refused to feed him. We tried having his grandma give him the bottle, but he refused it. Afterwards I tried too. Again, he refused, and turned toward my chest, but I also refused to give it to him. Much crying came after that. Whenever he would calm down and turn quiet I would give him the bottle again. He would play with it a little, then cry. When he got tired of it, he just slept without eating. Mon was already teasing us, saying we were both sticking to what we want and not letting the other get what he wants. Lol. I vowed I wouldn't give in to his crying, he'd better learn to do this or else go hungry whenever I need to go out without him. I had to teach him to do it no matter what; this was tough love, I told myself.

Six hours later Yohann had already downed 3 ounces, little by little, with many tears and fussing. I was satisfied enough with that and so I made him go to sleep and gave him my breast to feed on as a reward. After he woke up, I gave his bottle again and - lo and behold! He doesn't like it again! Hahaha!

bebe's growing up

Six Five more days and Yohann will be three months old already. How time flies! And he's changed a lot too.  His arms and legs are so chubby, his face is rounder and bigger, and so is his tummy. He's so heavy that it only takes 10 minutes for me to grow tired when I'm standing up and carrying him. Ke bigat!

He's learned new tricks as well. Every morning when he wakes up, he'll look at me and wait for me to smile and greet him good morning. As soon as I do, he'll make a wiggling motion complete with a big smile on his face and gurgling sounds, like he wants to laugh. He can't laugh yet, but he makes those tiny screams whenever I tickle him or make faces at him. When I sit him against my legs and talk to him, he coos and smiles and gurgles and screams in delight, hehe. It's as if he can understand when we talk to him because he answers. The other night too, while humming and dancing him to sleep, he kept staring at me while he was feeding. When I kept on humming, he started to hum with me! Too cute!:D Next thing I know he'll be humming himself to sleep :p

morning chat with mommy

One good thing about Yohann now is that he's awake for longer periods during the day and already enjoys playtime. I can put him down on the mattress and he'll stare at everything, kick and flail his arms and talk to his 'toys.' By toys I mean not the usual baby stuff, but the wall clock, the strings on his cradle, the calendar and the curtain :p They bring him  such fun he screams in delight when he's in the mood for them. When he gets tired of that, I carry him on my lap and let him watch Baby Einstein. He loves it! He was able to watch one 15 minute segment straight until he got too tired. 

watching Baby Einstein

I can't wait for the little munchkin to grow up and start talking, he's already such a babbler. I can't wait to take him to Kid's Church at VCF. But at the same time I can't imagine the thought of him all grown up and no longer a baby! Haha. Okay, I have to end here, the little boy's already screaming for mummy. :p