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Monday, July 25, 2011

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.

Monday, July 18, 2011

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

Friday, July 15, 2011

the Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?


What is your greatest fear?


What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?


What is the trait you most deplore in others?
That abominable combination of laziness, arrogance, insecurity and, strangely enough, entitlement to the fruits of others' labor!

Which living person do you most admire?
Right now, I admire Gwyneth Paltrow for her achievements in her field, her constant evolution, her love for her family and friends, and her style. But I admire anyone who make their own dreams come true.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Generosity.

What is your current state of mind?
Overwhelmed!

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Virginity.

On what occasion do you lie?
When telling the truth will hurt the person unnecessarily.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Quiet authority. Not a lot of men have this, sadly.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Unconditional love.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Actually, very and ten thousand years.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My husband and my son.

When and where were you happiest?
My wedding in 2007 was fun. But now? It's every time I'm cuddling with Vince and Vito. That's every day. I'm a lucky girl.Which talent would you most like to have?
To dance really well!

What is your favorite occupation?
Mine.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Passion.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their insistence that I am worth loving.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Samwise Gamgee.

Who are your heroes in real life?
The generous people, like my husband, my in-laws, my mother, my friends.

What is that you most dislike?
Cowardice.

What is your most treasured possession?
Photographs of my husband and son. Then my wedding and engagement rings.

What do you regard as the lowest depths of misery?
Regret.

What is your greatest regret?
Ignoring my mother when she was alive.

How would you like to die?
Quietly, when my son already has his own family, love and happiness. Yes, I can leave this life then.

What is your motto?
"The brave may not live forever, but cowards never live at all."

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Hoorayyyy!!!

Tonight's another milestone for the little boy. He's been turning to his side for several weeks now, and I've been dutifully turning him on his tummy for exercise. This evening I set Yohann down on the mat to play. Not long after, he turned to his side and was staring at his pillow. A little later and he was trying to roll onto his tummy. I immediately got the digicam and documented it.

see my tiny ninja?

kicking like crazy!

I can do this!

I can, I can, I can!!!


Almost there!


Yahoo!!!
His first attempt was almost but not quite successful. He was already on his tummy, had already pulled his arm from under him when poof! He bounced right back on his back! Hahaha. Second attempt was a bit better. He was able to prop himself on his tummy for maybe two seconds. After that he rolled to his back again. But he did it! Yay!

After his rolling exercise, he cried for milk and immediately fell asleep. Poor kid was tired from all the kicking and turning he did :p

Monday, July 11, 2011

yohann's july pics




as of last check-up, 7.4 kgs na si taba.
he can now roll onto his tummy, swat hanging toys, grasp objects, play with his saliva (haha!), watch enitire episodes of baby einstein, watch tvcs, giggle.
even before turning 3 months he can already stand on his legs for long periods of time with minimal support. at parang nangingilala na rin. hehe.

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!

Monday, July 4, 2011

thoughts on marriage

I still can't get over the 'Simple Girl' article I read last week. To know what a simple girl is like, it says to look at your FB contacts and check who among your friends are the ones happily married and living perfect lives. Ganun? I am happily married, but I was happily single too. And, no, I am not living the perfect life now that I'm finally married and with child!

My point is, being married and having a baby is not the perfect life. It is a happy life, yes, but only if we choose to be happy in spite of the difficulties. Because married life is not for the faint-hearted; it is for those who know what commitment means.

happy family naman :)

There are days when you get so tired you wish you could get a day off, but you can't because marriage is a 24/7 commitment. And then you'll realize you don't really want a day off because you can't bear to be away from your loved ones for that long. There are days when you wish for everything to come fast forward so you'll get past the nitty-gritty stuff and straight to the day your child graduates from school and you're secure that he'll be able to get on with his life. And then you realize you don't want the days to go so fast because you just can't get enough of the little munchkin yet. What spells the difference between your wishful thinking-slash-complaining is your commitment to see this through, no matter what, because you know you love your family so much and in spite of it all, you'd still want to savor every minute with them, easy or not.

I just thank God I got married when I did, that I was already in my 30's. I am more sensible, less emotional, more understanding and giving than I was, say, 5 years ago. I can't imagine how I'd be able to properly take care of a baby and be a dutiful wife if I got married while in my early 20's. Oh, maybe I would have learned in time, but at least I've been spared from more mistakes. Of course right now we are still learning. But with age comes experience, and therefore, more sensibility, or so I think.