Seven

November went by very fast. The whole month was really about Typhoon Yolanda most especially.  

It started out with the long weekends for the baranggay elections then Halloween then the super typhoon happened and I guess pretty much the world changed. Filipinos changed.  Our hearts changed. 

Just wanted to give a run up of what we did the past month as we usher in the last month of the year, December.  The whole month, we had Gavin walk a lot. He likes walking barefoot on the table, on the carpet, on the floor, at Starbucks, and anywhere his little fat feet can step into.

 

We gave him his own walker which he truly enjoys...to the detriment of Chip, our 14 year old Lolo dog whom he chases swiftly as he glides in his blue squeaky stroller.

We also started Kindermusik-The Village this month :)

Our Saturday mornings are now filled with music and animals!

This is Gavin after his first day of school, pagod na pagod.

Parang nag-Accounting Midterms and Math 20midterms on the same day.

And here we are, almost ending November with Gavin's 7th month birthday.

Breakfast was lugaw for him and pastillas cupcake from mommy.

Hope you had the greatest day, my love! 

   *thank you ninang for the Disney onesies :)

Christmas is just a month away :)

Time to wear his Christmas outfits!

Hohoho!!!

Santa baby, hurry down the chimney next month!

Baby Shower Studio

We hopped over to Baby Shower Studio in BF Homes for a quick photo shoot for the 6 months baby boy.  It was the same studio that gave a newborn photoshoot at Asian Hospital when Gavin was born. They also extended another free photoshoot at their studio upon each baby's 60th day.

They placed the complimentary photos in a hard bound album already.

    *6 months milestones...can now happily do tummy time in peace and crawl a bit

    *can now sit with a bit of assistance

So when Gavin turned 6 months, we decided to document his milestones and growth :)

We brought a lot of clothes when we went to the studio.  I initially wanted a Christmas themed background, but decided to use a more subdued but classic theme.

Baby Shower Studio is a Korean brand for baby studio, they have actual sets as compared to others who only change the background.  THey also don't edit the photos, I just gave them my USB and they transferred the photo files as soon as it was downloaded from the camera. Coolness!!!

     *kenkoy Gavin with his first shoes, the one with star and moon that his daddy bought for him

     *this is he last month na kasya his shoes sa kanya 

     *pardon the messy hair! always forget to fix my hair or put make up when Gavin is around 

Before our appointment, I was super worried on the timing.  Every mom would know that you cannot predict your baby's mood....Baka may sumpong, Baka gutom, Baka inaantok. 

Buti na lang, nasa mood si Gavin that time.  He found the photographer's assistant funny that he laughed the whole time, halakhak actually.  It was the first time that I saw my son laugh that hard and that long :) sulit na sulit!!! Good Job Gavin! 

Http://babyshower.ph

BF Homes Paranaque

Work Hard Play Hard

I have been in the rat race for about 12 years in total.

Before being a mom, I used to stay at the office until 8pm everyday and working on a weekend was not a big deal.  I would even request them to open our area during a Saturday just so I can finish my to do list.  Every morning, I would write down all the things that I needed to do and I would carefully draw boxes beside each task.  Checking off an entry one by one gave me supreme satisfaction.

It was also not a big deal to travel.  I would do day trips to a nearby Asian country for a meeting not wanting to lose a day in Manila. I was even away on business two days before my wedding.  Again, I didn't feel it to be a big deal then.  

However, when the time came to try for a baby, my body was far from being healthy.

I was tired.  All the tests came back normal but I do not ovulate on my own and I haven't ovulated for the past ten years.  Everyday was so stressful, but stress became a normal scene for me not knowing that it was affecting me physically.

I have other manifestations like dandruff when I am in distress & acne when I am super distressed.

I eventually decided to be brave and ask for a breather.  To prioritize solving my infertility woes and to do all of the drills, I asked for a 6 months break after 6 months of 3 unsuccessful cycles.   It was already getting expensive, all of the hormone injections gone to waste.  I might as well make sure that I do my best to help my body respond to it.  I did everything, I also faced my fear of needles by doing acupuncture just to make sure that I have exhausted all means to be healthy.

After one month of my work break, I found out that I was pregnant.

Perhaps it was my body's way of teaching me to prioritize it :)

I had a difficult pregnancy as you can see in my past posts, but that in itself is another story.

So here we are now, after my one year break for the work force, I m back doing the daily grind since July.  It has been bittersweet. I had 4,000 emails to read. I cut back on travel. My dandruff is back reminding me that I am stressed again even if I don't show it.  I am now the earliest to leave the office from my team. I clock in fewer hours, but I make sure things still get done.

At the end of the day, my one year hiatus has taught me what is most valuable in life.

Everything will go on without me.  It will not collapse.  There are more important things to think of.

Today, it is my son, Gavin. 

     My Boss :)

Amidst the hustle of the peak holiday season and the all the other chaos at my table,

I am reminding myself of the most important aspect of my life :)  

Morning Love

My mornings are more fun because of you!

Solids

Gavin was given the green light to start on solid food as early as four months.

However, it was limited to stage 1 of Gerber and Earth's Best for vegetables only.

One must make the baby eat it for 3-5days per type to rule out any allergic reactions.

For Gerber stage 1, we tried carrots, squash and broccoli. 

For Earth's Best, we tried carrots, sweet potatoes and green peas.

At his fifth month, he was allowed to try lugaw, baked veggies, actual fruits and boiled or steamed staple.  We also tried the whole grain Cereal at Healthy Options which he loved when mixed with my milk.

Now on his sixth month, he was encouraged to eat more real food and apple juice.

Two ounces of Apple juice mixed with two ounces of water per day.

He is not yet allowed to eat anything with egg, citrus fruits and chicken.

We are now trying new types of baby vegetable cereals.  I just find the Nutridel Cereal not as fresh and natural as the baby cereal in whole grain at Healthy Options so I limit the intake.

I have also downloaded Annabel Karmel's app for ingredients and how to cook real food for babies.

Hopefully, I can post some actual how to's for these in the future.

Tools such as the Annabel Karmel food processor (manual mashing of food), ikea soft spoons, and several small containers for freezing from SM were really a big help as well.

6 months Pedia Visit

This week marks our visit to the pedia for his anti-pneumonia shot.

I'm so happy that we are finished with all of the 6 in ones and pneumonia. 

We will just have a hepa B next month and then fewer shots in the succeeding ones, yahoo!

The anti-pneumonia immunization is very important because Gavin developed pneumonia after he was born which prompted him to left for ten days ay the NICU. It was so heartbreaking for me to see his very deep chest refractions that time and how difficult breathing was especially when they had to regularly suction out all of the phlegm.  It still brings tears to my eyes until now.

I do hope that he will never again be conflicted with this kind of sickness.

We are happy that he is now 67cms in length, yahoo!!!

We still have to work on increasing his weight some more by eating more frequently.

Glad that after leaving the hospital when he was born, he was never sick ever :)

The wonders of breast milk talaga!

This also marks my 6th month in providing Gavin with breastmilk exclusively.

I still cannot believe that I have been providing him his sole nutrition for that long of a time!

Miracle talaga :)

From now on, he can now drink juice and eat real food.

Times goes by really fast...I miss the small baby Gavin already :)

Boo!

Gavin's first Halloween was really memorable!

Eh kasi naman, nilakad ko for the first time ang buong village. Hahaha!

You will really do unusual things all for the love of your life.

He had a deadma look the whole time so I didn't know if he was enjoying or if he was telling me what the fuss was about that he wanted to sleep na.  Haaaaay...boys talaga!

   *what the heck mom!!!

    *lola E made sure the head thingies stood up

Since wala pa siyang say, literally...I dressed him up as a bumblebee!

As per another kid during the trick or treat, Gavin was the anak ni Jollibee.

Kids really come up with the funniest things to say!

    *dracula cutie

    *where is the bumblebee? MJ is in da house!

  *with Ironman Alfonso

We had Gavin in a pantulog costume as Super Baby afterwards.

Napagod ang bagets, super tulog na tulog!

The titas placed a number of items on his non-moving hands as he slept soundly.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Hope everyone had a fun time!

APAS on Nanaystrip

I came across he blog of Nadia of Nanaystrip when I was reading up on APAS or Antiphospholipid Antibodies Syndrome. 

Her blog was helpful on making me understand on what it was about and the adventures that went with it.  I sent her a message not long ago to share on how it affected me and she replied that she wanted to do a series of features on moms who had it. I told her than I am more thane Illini to answer her questions and to share on my own experience.  Hopefully, in my little way, I can also help other women undergoing treatment for it.

Read more about APAS at Nanaystrip - Journey and Joys of Motherhood:

http://nanaystrip.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/my-apas-journey-ida-cruz-of-manila-baby-love/