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!

Little Things We Do to Avoid Getting Sick

When I was growing up, I rarely got sick. I always thought my immune system was quite tough because I was breastfed. But as I got older and became exposed to bad habits (smoking, drinking alcohol, staying up late), my health also deteriorated. When I became a mom, I dreaded getting sick even with colds and cough because being sick means making three lives miserable (mine, my husband's and our little toddler). Since we co-sleep and we hang out in one room 90% of the time, the spread of virus of a sick person increases. Here are some tips that I think really worked well for us since we hardly ever got sick for the past couple of years:

1. Get enough sleep and make it a point to hit the sack early. The times I get less than 5 ours of sleep are those times that I feel I'm most vulnerable to getting sick. Make sure you get at least an hour of nap at daytime if ever having little sleep could not be prevented. 

2. Eat fresh raw fruits and vegetables in large volumes. My son loves tomatoes and he can eat three pieces of sliced tomatoes in one sitting. He also likes to nibble on cucumbers when watching TV. I also make it a point to have bananas readily available to us for quick snacks and baon in the car when we travel. I just love it when mangoes go in season. Yesterday, we had mangoes mixed in oatmeal for breakfast, mangoes for dessert, and mango shake with our dinner. I also buy brocolli and other green leafy vegetables like spinach and parsley and saute them in garlic with a little bit of oyster sauce to pair up with our fish or chicken dish. I use parsley when making egg drop soup, pancit, or salsa. 

3. Take multivitamins when you feel you're not getting enough from food alone. We don't take multivitamins everyday but we love our vitamin C chewables so we have that everyday. There are times when I don't feel like cooking so we eat out or order and have food delivered in the house. There aren't many healthy options so we end up eating fast food sometimes. We know how little nutrients these junk foods have to offer so if we prolong eating them, we get sick. That's why we make it a point to take multivitamins whenever we need some boosting of our systems. But I am also against being too dependent on multivitamins because the nutrients from fresh food are better absorbed by the body, hence it's still the best way to keep healthy.

4. Replace household items that get dirty easily. I used to be really strict about wastage but in my 5 years of being married, I got to learn that some things really need to be thrown away. What things do I not regret throwing? 1) Dish sponges. I re-use them for cleaning oven tops, tiles, etc but I replace the ones I use for washing the dishes twice a month. 2) Mop heads. I use to just wash mop heads but this has made me sick a lot of times in the past so I just buy a new one every month. The same goes for rags. 

5. Use household cleaning agents with harshful ingredients sparingly. There was a point when I replaced all of our cleaning products at home with environment friendly ones. But it became too heavy for our pockets so I just lessened the use of commercial products drastically and only buy them occasionally. For regular cleaning of the house, I use baking soda, vinegar, or lemon. We also use the Messy Bessy Dishwasher Liquid and Hand Soap.

6. This one tip have been very effective on me. When I have sore throat or feel that I'm about to have one, I sip a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar. We also make salad dressing out of AC Vinegar and we feel better almost instantly and the sore throat never pushes thru.

7. Exercise. Except for the occasional yoga classes I love to attend, exercise used to be absent in my life. I recently engaged into running and for the past couple of months that I've been doing 2-3k runs, I can say that I feel healthier and stronger. 

 

Our Restless Feet

Our feet will be feeling quite restless this year. We have scheduled 2 leisure trips already and I'm very excited. On both occasions, we'll be staying as close to the beach as possible because we're water persons like that (albeit not being able to swim). Can you guess where?

See you this March, Boracay! (photo from Two Seasons website)

And we'll be in Hong Kong in June for the little one's 4th! (photo from Auberge Discovery Bay's website in Lantau Island)

I could not resist checking agoda.com even on the busiest days because I don't wan't to miss on any promotions. I've imagined our itinerary with the aid of maps and planners online. I've also been reading a food blog of a Fil-Chi and it has helped me a lot in the planning. Now if only I can fast forward the days and feel the sand on my feet already?

Name Game

Since my son does not go to school yet and hardly goes out to play, we (his Mom and Dad) are his only playmates. We are assigned specific characters from various movies, TV shows, or videos that he loves to watch. I go by these names:

1. Mary Jane (from Spiderman)

2. Izzy (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates)

3. Iron Man

4. Pink Ranger/Mia 

5. Sam (from Cloudy)

6. Leonardo (TMNT)

7. Jessie (Toy Story)

My husband goes by these characters:

1. Batman

2. Black Ranger/Antonio

3. Peter Pan

4. Donatello (TMNT)

While he likes to be called these names:

1. Spiderman

2. Peter Parker

3. Jake

4. Red Ranger

5. Captain America

6. Green Lantern

7. Raphael (TMNT)

8. Woody (Toy Story)

My husband and I agree, this age  (3-4) is the most fun so far. 

Christmas is Here!

We haven't had the chance to have a Christmas photo taken yet this year. These were from the Christmases a couple of years ago. Can you spot the difference? I just noticed I'm wearing the same white dress. I wonder how different our Christmas picture would be for this year. I wouldnt be wearing that dress, for sure. Thanks to the pounds I gained this year. Merry Christmas and have a bountiful new year!

2011

2012

Bee Tin Grocery

I usually pay my credit card a day in advance because I can't be bothered going to the main bank and rely on the nearby SM Bayad Center. But due to the holidays last week, I forgot all about my due date and didn't make it in the cutoff time of the payment centers. So last Monday, I had to go to the nearest branch of my bank which is in Binondo. I left a little past ten and was all giddy to be trooping down that part of Manila. I arrived just before 11 and paid my bill in the machine which took about a quarter of my salary. This month wasn't that bad because months ago, I pay my credit card using all of my salary. Poor unfortunate soul me, I know. Anyway, I've been doing great managing my card nowadays and I couldn't be any prouder.

As soon as I have done my bank duties, I walked in the nearby Chinatown but scrapped the idea of going to Divisoria. I didn't want to be out for so long because my husband and son were by themselves at home and it was nearing lunch time. I decided to walk towards where they sell vegetables and fruits. On the way, I chanced upon the Bee Tin Grocery and seconds later found myself inside checking out the variety of Asian goodies inside, Thai, Korean, Chinese, etc. Here were my loots:

From Top L-R: Cinnamon sticks (60 php), Pork floss 100g (700+/per kilo), Sweet and Spicy Tapa (480 per kilo), Cua Pao (9pcs @ 50php)
Bottom L-R: Seaweeds (i ate one pack 3 packs for 80 php), almond gelatin (50 php) and a tray of siomai (70 pesos)

I loved most of my purchases. I also got black grapes, lemons, and mini onions but didn't take a photo anymore. I am hoping to get more of those seaweed snacks since the little one loved it. The tapa and cua pao were a great combination and we had them for lunch when I arrived. I hated the almond gelatin but I'm planning to mix it in fruit salad. I haven't opened the cinnamon sticks but I'm planning to make cinnamon iced tea out of them. This experience left me all smiles because it gave me memories of Thailand, a decade ago and also got me excited for our Hong Kong vacation next year.

Mouth Sores (Singaw)

It may only be the size of a pencil eraser, but a mouth/canker sore, more commonly known as singaw can be hard to ignore, especially on your little ones. Kids with mouth sore tend to be whiny and become very picky with food when they're usually not. For the breastfed, nursing is quite next to impossible. Expect a lot of crying, especially in the midst of sleep but after a good five minutes, it will stop and you can both get back to bed.

"It generally measures three to five millimeters in diameter and is usually located on the inside of the lip or cheek or, less commonly, on the tongue...The most painful phase lasts about three to four days, and the sores go away in about ten days."1

"What causes canker sores? No one knows for sure, though they frequently afflict people who are fatigued or stressed out or who have poor diets... Cankers may also occur as a result of a minor injury in the mouth, such as from a slip of the toothbrush or a jab from a taco shell. Certain foods, such as spicy dishes and citrus fruits, have also taken some of the blame."1

When you get the chance, you can apply solutions like baking soda or hydrogen peroxide mixed with water on the affected areas.2 However, for a fussy kid like mine, water and pain management are the best options. We composed a song that we sing together whenever there's pain. It goes:

"Mouth sores, mouth sores

Go away

Mouth sores, mouth sores,

We don't need you in our lives

Mouth sores, mouth sores

We will fight you til the end"

It seemed to have worked several times. It's a first time for my three-year old to experience mouth sores and I can imagine how dreadful it is for him. I had to explain what's happening and even showed him some pictures of what they look like inside his mouth. He asked me several times to "do a web search" for how to make the mouth sores go away. I make him sip water all the time so the healing process would be faster. We've also avoided some sour food that could aggravate the pain. Drinking yogurt juice and eating soft foods were quite helpful too. It's been two nights since he last nursed and although I have been complaining about this extended breastfeeding, his cries of excruciating pain make me want to just breastfeed him until the pain stops. But he just couldn't take the pain of nursing with his condition and so he refuses to even see my breasts. This morning he wanted to nurse so badly but I told him we could just cuddle. Thankfully, he fell asleep right away.