Thank You for Fathers!

It's almost the weekend. We are running low on food supply. There's a last batch of fruits in the refrigerator that we can juice, some slices of wheat bread, and frozen cold cuts. I try to finish up on work from last night and haven't slept. The caffeine from the coffee I drank early that morning is beginning to fade. I'm sleepy and hungry. Inigo comes to me and asks me to play with him. The room is a mess as usual. Toys and books on the floor. Small pieces of playdough are all over our bed. It's sunny outside and we hear the gate open. The Daddy has arrived. He comes up to say "Hi" and goes out again. He comes back inside the room with this:

Turkey pastrami sandwich, freshly juiced watermelon with basil, feta cheese on crackers

Thank you for fathers!

A Challenge to Breastfeeding Moms

Breastfeeding a toddler comes with several challenges. I thought I've overcome them all, including the physically excruciating ones and the subtle reminders of my own mother that will make you think twice if you're still doing the right thing. But there will always be people who will let you down once in a while and make you feel so insecure. And no matter how much you explain to them, they will never get your point. These are the same people that make you want to just lie and keep things secret from them.

My decision to breastfeed up to toddler hood is a product of informed parenting. It was also a choice that my husband and I both agreed on. So I think I have a valid reason to get pissed when someone criticizes how I raise and feed my child.  To all the mothers out there who breastfeed their toddlers, please be strong and be warned that we will be put down a lot of times because our kids may be skinnier and shorter than other kids. Deep in your hearts please be assured that they are ok. And as long as they don't get sick, there's no need to be alarmed. They are growing, and as parents, we should be fine with that.

Left: 3 years old, Right: 2 years old. He GREW!

UP Naming Mahal

I've been meaning to write sooner but things get really depressing when you finally have to leave home and work at your faraway office again. Forty-five minutes going to the office + 8 hours straight work + one to one and a half hours going home. That's ten hours and 15 minutes away from Iñigo. Heartbreaking for a super attached mother like me, I know. So we did a couple of things to bid my one-month work from home arrangement farewell, I bought a blazer and we went to Sunday Car-less Oval at UP Diliman! Being a Malate resident for three years now, it's a real treat for me to go to Quezon City once in a while. With my little family, including a very fun-loving two-year old, it's even more fun to go visit my Alma Mater again.

Iñigo was so well-behaved during the trip. He sat on the car and even let me put on his seatbelt. I say, he was in a really good mood that afternoon. We passed through EDSA and luckily, there was no traffic. I was amazed to see how Quezon Avenue cor. EDSA has changed. There's a new mall there now and lots of establishments. We passed by Quezon Memorial Circle and wished we could be brave enough to pay it a visit soon. I heard there's a nice playground for kids tucked there somewhere.

Being in the UP Campus where I spent four years of college evokes so much good feelings and fond memories. Almost nothing changed, the trees were still luscious green and the smell of grass was addicting.

I suggested we hang out at the park behind the Admin Office and we were not disappointed. It was big enough for our Iñigo to run around and kick the ball we have brought with us. 

We even got to try taho. Iñigo exclaimed, "Eat, eat" upon seeing me and his Dad buying taho from the vendor. So although I have packed some snacks, I let him have some of the delicious soy snack. He loved it but I had to restrict him from having too much as it was a bit on the sweet side. 

 

He loved the grass so much he didn't mind sitting on it. Seeing him enjoying so much in this green background made me wish we lived in a house with a garden, with well-trimmed grass, trees and plants around.  It made me miss my childhood a bit, too.

Thinking he'd get bored from playing, I packed the bubble machine we recently got on sale. It was perfect in this setting. He enjoyed chasing after the bubbles and I didn't have to worry about cleaning up bubble puddles in our room. Haha! Here he is looking so mesmerized with the "Babows".

The bubble solution that went with the machine lasted a good forty-five minutes of not stop bubble blowing.  Sulit na sulit yung two hundred pesos! Hehe. 

Lots of bubbles, eh? After all, the packaging promised a gazillion bubbles.

And because I can, I'm posting my outfit that day. Top from Betty, Shorts from Juana, Sandals from Payless.

Here's what Daddy wore: Top from Gap, Shorts from Robinson's Department Store, Shoes by Nike.

So after an hour we decided to head back to the car. Must I say, it was perfect timing because it rained soon after we got in the car. We took one last photo of the trees before it rained.

We love UP. We promise to be back. (Play UP Naming Mahal in the background. Fade.)

Cloth Diapering in our Home

"I want to use cloth diapers on my baby", I said while I was pregnant with I. and most of the people I told this plan to just laughed at me. I was five years old when my younger sister was born. I vividly recall how my mom has used lampin on her. In fact, I have stored somewhere in my memory bank broken details of that day when my sister was born. I found the whole cloth-diapering process really pleasant then, as if so much love and care are involved in every fold, twist, and pin of the lampin.

And then it was my turn to be a mother. When I. was born, we were more than aware of the many options we have in catching those pees and poos. Unfortunately for our generation, cloth diapers have become exorbitantly priced. Luckily though, aside from the stash that we were able to afford, we have been gifted with not one but six custom-made and adjustable cloth diapers, shortly after I. was born. I was more than happy, although I wasn't sure if husband felt the same way. As I was recovering from my CS operation and our housemaid then was completely unreliable (thankfully, she left after a few months and was replaced with a fairly competent one), my husband had his share of washing the soiled nappies. He related, it was fun during the first few days, but became really taxing when he had to return from his paternity leave. After about two weeks of cloth diapering, we had to stop. Inigo was hospitalized for five days due to infection from an unknown cause and so we poured all our energy into his recovery. In the midst of all the worries, we had to forgo cloth diapers and use disposables instead. It was much easier then, and it saved us a lot of sanity. Thankfully, his fever went down and we were sent home after sleepless nights and a tearful experience in the NICU under the bilirubin lights.

Since then, we have become mixed diaper users. On mornings before his bath and weekends when we are not out of the house, we use cloth. His physical development has not been that abrupt and we are still able to use almost all of the cloth diapers we originally owned, save for a few that were given on his first birthday. Even after many uses, the custom-made diapers remained really sturdy. The snaps were still well-secured and the garters around did not loosen. The colors and designs were not as bright but did not fade much, after 21 months of usage. He has not shown any signs of preference between cloth and disposables and has been very cooperative when it's time for a nappy change. It's true what they say about cloth diapers, they're much better to use especially now that we should all do our part in reducing non-biodegradable wastes. I cringe every time I put a used diaper in the trash and imagine the tons of garbage that it will be joining. But it is also my choice to use these disposables, especially since this is my nanny's preference (she's also unstoppable with wipes and I don't want to get started on this!). This mixed-diaper set-up is what works for us at the moment, and it's what makes us all happy right now.



I. in his custom-made cloth diapers



I. in his Charlie Banana cloth diaper