I’m on my 11th week of pregnancy and I am getting pretty excited about the whole thing. A recent visit to my OB revealed fantastic fetal condition results. My baby is healthy as a horse- so tiny yet so active! As I have mentioned before, I go through my pregnancies like a breeze… That’s why, my life goes on the way it usually is- pregnant or not. (more…)

I am on my way to my 3rd month of pregnancy and just like my previous ones, I don’t feel anything but ordinary cravings. No morning sickness, no vomiting, no dizziness… nada… What is pretty obvious though is my extra appetite these days. I crave salads and desserts! I cannot exactly blame my pregnancy for my cravings. I attribute it more to me quitting smoking rather than pregnancy. (more…)

As you guys probably figured, my little Amber is experiencing the ‘bowlegged’ walk stage… According to experts, children who have just started walking go through the same thing. Anyway, I found this very informative website about bowlegged walking among babies…

http://www.babybowlegged.net/. Somehow, I found the answers to my questions on this site! Thanks much!

Question No. 1 – – IS MY BABY NORMAL? Children normally go through a period of being bowlegged, and it usually starts from birth to 18 months.  For most, bowlegs straighten out with no treatment. However, we should be alarmed if the following are observed:

• Bowleggedness is getting worse
• Bowleggedness develops after age 5 years
• Bowleggedness involves only one leg
• Bowleggedness is accompanied by severe intoeing
• The child is very short

Question No. 2 – – SO WHAT WILL I DO? Generally, this condition resolves on its own in time. Doctors do not recommend treatment not unless the problem persists after age two. However, if it is Blount’s disease, aggressive treatment is required. Treatment can include putting on some kind of hip-knee-ankle-foot braces.

So right about now, I guess I will wait and see what happens… monitor a bit, and if I can afford it, send my little girl to an ortho… we’ll see…

Scary monsters, freaky ghosts, creepy goblins… For the longest time, Halloween has been associated with gory inanimate beings and frightening stories that leave many paranoid people (like me) crouching frighteningly under the covers, and wishing for the sun to shine. As a child, I also fell victim to many sleepless November 1 nights- thanks to the chilling movies and TV specials that are in-demand during these times. However in Brightwoods School, children strangely anticipate Halloween. They enjoy making scary art works and eagerly talk about the costumes they will be wearing on our Costume Parade. Yes, it is indeed one of the most awaited programs in our school! The highlights of the parade include: the parade of costumes, the trick-or-treat, and of course, the awarding of the best costume award!

When my daughter was in preschool, my husband and me really clamored to get that award for her! We’d really spent long hours conceptualizing and making a costume that would allow her to bag the most coveted Best Costume Award! Thankfully, she was able to win for three consecutive years! Here are her award-winning ensembles:

October 2003: Pauline was in Nursery when she got her first Best Costume Award. She was just 3 years old here. As you can see, she was the Vampire Girl. Her costume is basically simple. What made it extra-ordinary was that it is something that we crafted from garbage bags. Also, her vampire wings were made of paper mache, painted in black. I believe my husband made them special so Pauline can move them at will. The garbage bag idea was kind-of unique during that time that’s why winning was easy!

October 2004: When Pauline was in Kinder, we did not have much time available to prepare for a really superb costume. Our house was under construction then and so we had little work space to help us out. However, one afternoon, we noticed plenty of construction scraps lying around and so we had a brilliant idea. My husband got all the unused insulators (from afar, they looked like shiny metal) and turned them into a warrior costume for my daughter. We did not actually think she would win here but thank God she did!

October 2005: Because Pauline would soon be graduating from preschool, we thought that this time, we should give it our best shot! My daughter developed a fascination with the movie The Corpse Bride and we thought, why not? We had a longer time to prepare and so 4 weeks prior, my husband started to make a paper mache wedding gown for her. It took him a week to finalize the mold and another week to paint it. My job was to make it look as gown-like as possible and so I did the ‘embroidery’- putting glitters, sequins and other shiny materials here and there. I also took charge of the other props such as her black roses, veil, etc.

When Costume Parade came, a lot of children arrived with really gorgeous and creative costumes! Her last Costume Parade turned out to be a tough competition! But I think, ingenuity has its advantage and so she won again!

Since Pauline is now in grade school, there are no more costume parades to look out for. However, we are now awaiting my second daughter’s entry into the preschool world. And right about now, we are already cooking up some wonderful ideas as to what her costumes would be!

It is amazing to see schools who truly nurture the child’s holistic being… From the onset of my daughter’s career as a student, I have been guilty of pushing her beyond the limits of her academic potentialities… I have been fixated on the idea that she can do so much more.  Though a consistent bronze medalist, she was not the studious type. She loves socializing and procastinating.  She is a PSP and an internet addict.  She’d fall asleep after a minute of browsing a book in bed…   Yep, that is my pauline.  She would effortlessly choose an ‘old school’ brick game over a classic children’s book.  That is actually how special she is.  Regardless, she still brings home the ‘bacon’ even with inconsistent study habits…

However, last September 5, 2008, I discovered how wonderful and talented she really was… Indeed, her portrayal of Jadis, the White Witch of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was breathtaking!  She received several accolades for her performance and if there was an award-giving ceremony for that play, she’d probably earn the Best Actress Award…  That night, I was the proudest mommy on earth… There were countless times that I almost cried with pride… I finally realized that my daughter’s potentials go beyond academic achievements… I saw how hard she worked for this part.  She rigidly practice, she worked hard memorizing her lines… She was just so motivated to do her best! And, true enough, she did! Hopefully, I will be able to upload the video in the coming days…

Thanks to my friends for helping me fix her up! Thanks Joy for the make-up, Sheila for her crown, Cielo and Lani for her hair, Sharon’s for her gown, and Patty for walking with her across the busy street of Angeles just to bring her to the venue! Thanks guys!

Let’s change channel..

It is really a challenge to juggle work and motherhood… to add to that, being a wife, a sister, a daughter… For this blog, let me talk about my second child- Amber.  From the onset, you’d see the difference between Amber and her big sister, my eldest- Pauline.  Amber moves around a lot. In Filipino, we refer to this as ‘malikot’.  She is really super hyper that some people would say that she seems to act like a boy.  Right about now, she has mastered the art of walking, even though, she still does this in a funny way.  When we first noticed how odd the way she walks, I immediately searched the net to find out why… or if it is normal.  When she walks, it seems like their is this huge rock between her legs.  Now, when I say legs, I mean really fat legs.  The size of her legs seems to aggravate the situation… seemingly making the distance between her two legs farther apart than they actually are. Now here is what www.parents.com say about walking skills:
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