Problem Solver

Dear Swe-cha,

You are a very funny baby. You started walking last week and every now and then, you make Daddy and me laugh when you walk past something that catches your attention and your head turns to look at it but your feet continue walking forward so you lose your balance and you fall.

This afternoon, I was sitting just outside your play yard typing up emails. You were in the playpen watching your baby einstein videos on the laptop w/c is just outside the yard fencing. I got worried for a while because I suddenly heard your video stopping and starting every now and then, I made a mental note to ask your Dad to check the laptop out to see if the disk needs replacing. It wasn't until later that I realized what was causing the problem w/ the video.

You had stuck your finger out and reached over to the laptop and every time you click on the button, you were pausing and starting the video. You had so much fun with that.

Later, you also succeeded in changing the laptop's screen resolution somehow, I still have not figured out how you accomplished that with what that finger can reach. Btw, don't be worried about the dust-looking particles on the laptop in the picture, it's actually crumbs from the Baby MumMum that you just threw out - it hit the laptop.

Then this evening, I had a very wonderful time watching you play and trying to guess what you were up to. You were trying to carry your crawling ball but it was too heavy for you to carry and walk at the same time. I watched you picking it up, throwing it forward, walking to where it is and picking it up again and throw it forward again. You repeated those steps until the ball has been moved to one corner of your room. You then walked over to where the bottle of lotion is, got the bottle, threw it forward, walked to the bottle, picked it up and threw it forward - that was when I got it, you were moving your heavier toys and items around :) Your Ninang A once told me that you are a problem solver, seems like you're living up to that description.

I really should carry our video camera around my neck whenever I'm with you so I can record these moments but I didn't want to go & get it and miss watching you play so I just did the next best thing and called Daddy. I described what you were doing while he listened to you babble.

Love,

Mommy

Daycare (4)

Day 4

Last night's bedtime went better than the night before. We put him to bed at 9:30p, followed by a little lambing* and he was sleeping by 10:15p.

He slept straight thru the night again but would cry out every now and then, he's unable to sleep soundly because he is congested - he caught something from daycare, argh!

Woke him up at 8a today, fed him bfast and we were at daycare by 9a. This was when things got a bit tricky. You see, the first 2 days that I dropped him off at daycare, he went straight for the toys and didn't even glance back at me. Yesterday, when his Daddy and I dropped him off, J and I noticed that he was a bit more clingy than usual. I thought he must be making lambing to Daddy.

Today, he wouldn't let go of me. I eventually managed to get him seated at the toy area and he started playing with a piano... but he would keep looking for me and then would come and sit beside me and go back to playing. He didn't want to be away from me at all.

Eventually, I just upped and left just as he got distracted by the toys again. I went outside and stayed to peek at the window, stalker-style, and saw him look for me. His face fell when he realized I was gone. He started crying but calmed down when J sat beside him and played with him.

My guess is that for those first 2 days that we were going to daycare, he didn't realize that I was going to be leaving him there. Yesterday, he was wary and today, he knew for sure that I was going to leave so that's why he is so clingy.

Anyway, I went to do some errands and dropped by again on my way home to peek at how he is doing. No crying this time and he was playing in the same area w/ the other kids and C was sitting beside him. J tells me that Swe-cha is okay so long as someone is right beside him (this is true at home too, he likes to have someone sit with him inside his play yard). Seeing him "okay" in that setting made me feel better as I left with a heavy heart when I dropped him off this morning.

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*our night routine includes reading a book, singing some action songs, and playing "Where na Daddy?" with Daddy (this is where Daddy hides and Swe-cha dives under the covers to look for Daddy). We didn't do this the other night because I was so obsessed into getting him to sleep ASAP. Poor baby, he missed his routine so he couldn't sleep.

J = daycare owner

C = daycare staff

THE Plan

Swe-cha was put to bed at 9:30p last night but even though he tried to sleep, he didn't doze off until 12midnight. Nevertheless, we woke him up at 8a this morning, as ordered by daycare. I fed him his breakfast by 8:15 and we were at daycare by 9a.

I was glad that Swe-cha was cooperative this morning, despite being woken up. He did have a good appetite during breakfast too.

Daycare and I worked out a plan. Instead of bringing him to daycare 3x a week (part time), we'll bring him in everyday at 9a and pick him up at 12nn. I'll bring him home in time for lunch and nap. When he is okay w/ the schedule & the napping-on-the-mat situation, we'll slowly extend his hours at daycare.

I brought home his mat today and hope to get him used to sleeping on it soon.

Return to Sender

We got sent home from the daycare today.

Swe-cha was too excited to sleep last night and finally dozed off at 2a. He woke up at 11a today, I fed him and dropped him off at the daycare by 12nn. By 1:30, they were calling me to come and pick him up. He was crying non-stop and his loud screams were waking the other children and making them cry too - he does get his voice from his dad's side of the family (I can almost imagine the staff's anxiety at having to calm down a roomful of crying toddlers *cringe*). He calmed down as soon as he saw me.

We were sent home with firm instructions to get him to wake up by 8a at the latest and in the daycare by 9a to give him enough time to settle in and play with the other kids before naptime. I'm supposed to wake him up no matter what time he slept the night before so that a schedule can be established for him. Be firm.

THIS is the Swe-cha I know, that's why I was so surprised that yesterday went so well. I'm hoping that tomorrow goes better.

First day at daycare!

Swe-cha's first day at daycare exceeded my expectations, it went much better than I hoped for.

When I dropped him off, the owner J took him and brought him to the play area. He cried for all of 2 minutes and then started picking up the toys to play. By the time I left, he was already raiding the toy shelf.

I feel like I did great too, I did not call the daycare at all the whole afternoon. But I did cheat a little and dropped by a few times to peek through the windows to see how he was doing. J, the owner, did see me when I peeked through the windows and waved at me. Haha! Stalker :D

I went back at 5p to take him home. When he saw me, his eyes welled up with tears and he reached out w/ his arms and started walking towards me. I ran to him and hugged him - aww! he missed me! After hugging, he turned his back to me and went right back to playing. He did not shed any tears.

Aba! He also did not show any interest in going home. I called out to him a few times and he did not even look at me, I eventually had to go in and physically pick him up. He didn't complain and he did seem happy to get home and immediately went and took another nap.

J tells me that his 1st day went well (except for mealtimes). He ate only a little of his food but he did eat some other kid's crackers and another kid's puffs (reminder: bring finger foods!). There was a short crying bout in the middle of the day but he calmed down as soon as he was carried. He also fell asleep and took an hour-long nap. Not bad.

J says "you would've been upset if you'd come by while he was crying, you'd think that we were doing something to him!" I just nodded and told her that I know how loud he can get when he is upset.

Anyway... the few hours that I had to myself today felt so strange. I haven't had this much time to myself in more than a year. Today, I was able to brush my teeth and take a bath slowly and leisurely.

I did feel sad and miss my boy so much while he was out today. So, this is how an empty nester feels like.

This is a video I took of him playing 4 minutes after we arrived, notice how he did not even look for me at all:

Night feeding update

No more night feedings.

I've slowly been replacing his feedings with water and he would compensate by drinking more milk before he goes to sleep at night. The last time he fed during the night was on the 16th, it's been a few days now and so far, so good.

He drinks 8 to 10oz of milk at bedtime - I usually have to change his diaper while he is asleep at around 3a, otherwise, he becomes very uncomfortable and would toss/turn in the early morning. He's been sleeping through on most nights. Occasionally, he would wake up asking for a drink, I'd give him water and he'd take that w/o any complaints. I think it might be because of the dry air (we have the heater running all day) as my mouth and throat would usually feel parched at around that time too and I would go have a drink of water as well.

Yay! (sob)

For a while there, I was starting to have doubts. I was starting to think that this day would never come.

Tomorrow, he starts daycare.

This has been an eventful 13th month for Swe-cha. In the space of a week, he started walking, started sleeping through the night and will start going to daycare.

My boy is growing up. (sob again)

Sneaky Mommy

Sigh. I never thought there'd be a day when I would have to be sneaky and trim my son's nails while he is asleep. Today, I trimmed all 5 nails on his left hand. Hopefully, I get to trim the rest when he naps again tomorrow morning.

I never used to have any problems trimming his nails, even when he was a baby. He was so well-behaved and would just watch me cut / trim / file his nails down. Unfortunately, those stress-free days are past (but hopefully, not forever gone). He's always grabbing the nailcutter away from me when I take it out and there is no distracting him from the nice, sharp objects.

For the past few weeks, hubby and I have been sporting scratches on our faces and bodies, all thanks to Swe-cha's enthusiastic pawing whenever we play with him. I keep trying to trim his claws but I am only able to hold onto him long enough to trim two nails at the most and by the time that I'm done with all 10 fingers, the first few have already grown out and need attention again.

Hay.

Sleep training updates

I was going over my old posts and I realized that I have not posted any sleep-training updates in a while but this is good.

My friend, Swe-cha's Ninang A, was right. It's okay to "lose" your training because it's much easier for infants (well, kids) to be reminded once they're back to their normal routine and this was true in Swe-cha's case.

It didn't take long before he started sleeping longer and longer. I was all set on giving him water to eliminate the 7a feed but he didn't wait for me and sort of just weaned himself off of that feeding. He'd start whimpering and my usual response would be to pick him up and try to pop the bottle in his mouth but there came a time when he would automatically wave his hand in front of his face when I picked him up to push away the milk bottle.

I now realize that his 7a feed wasn't really a feeding. He would just wake up because he is uncomfortable in his wet diaper. We've now settled on a routine - always change to a fresh diaper when we go to bed and I change his diaper when I wake up for a milk-pumping session (anytime between 4a to 6a).

If he goes to bed with a partially soaked diaper, even if it was just minimal, he doesn't usually make it till 4a and will wake up before then. The same thing goes for the 4a-6a change, if I find his diaper not full and don't change him, he won't make it till the morning.

My friend R suggested I switch to a larger sized diaper at night, I tried this and he just sleeps a bit longer before expressing his discomfort. I plan to try her other suggestion and get those overnight diapers.

So now, I'm happy to announce that despite me*, our son is finally sleeping through the night. I never thought that I'd ever get to say this at all, for a while there, I thought we'd be waking up for his night feedings for the next few years (my nephews did until they were 4!).

Now, ... if only I could get him to bed and awake at a normal time ? :P Current schedule is bedtime at 12mn and wake up at 10:30 - 11a, with two 2-hr naps during the day.

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*despite any mistakes I've made in not training / disciplining him earlier.

Christmas and birthday loot

My boys checking out their Christmas loot.

And yes, ang gulo! That's one of the items on Mommy's list of things to do when Swe-cha goes off to daycare next week.

Hopefully, it wouldn't take long before our house is clean, organized and presentable again.

Any day now

Swe-cha has been toddling a lot since last week.

He started taking his first step at 11 months and sort of stopped there. We figured there wasn't really enough space at home to require him to walk more than a few steps so he never did.

Two weeks ago, I asked Tita R if the walker that she offered a few months ago was still available and it was. We didn't think it was necessary before but hubby and I decided to let Swe-cha try the walker - even if it means having to go out and buy one (thankfully, we didn't have to).

The first time we tried putting him on the walker, Swe-cha cried and fought. He would lift his legs out so that we wouldn't be able to put him in, he probably thought this was a boring version of his exersaucer (no toys) and would just keep him prisoner. When he realized how mobile he was and what he could do on the walker, wow! He just cannot contain himself!

Nowadays, you'll find us zipping along the hallways, going past doorways, going up and down on the elevator and a few times, he even tried to enter neighboring units whose doors have been left open (eek!). We'll wake any excuse to go out walking (get mail or packages and even throw out trash). I see an improvement each time we walk out. He's getting more and more control and balance now and is very adept at maneuvering the walker - even making k-turns when he wants to back up.

At home, he mostly likes to zoom his way into the kitchen and start exploring the drawers and cabinets - toddler heaven! That utensil drawer in the photo is his favorite, he goes straight for that each and every time. Mommy has got to get that gate to bar the kitchen ASAP before he hurts himself.

Now, when he plays at home and wants to move from one toy to the other, he would get up on his feet and walk the few steps to the other toy (instad of crawling). Mommy has been encouraging him to do this more and more by moving his toys a bit further apart each time. We keep trying to capture the moment but he's stops toddling when he sees the camera. Sigh.

Oh, I also have to mention that it's not a good idea to leave babies unsurpervised in their walkers. A few days ago, Swe-cha pulled himself out of his walker and launched himself onto me (I was sitting in my pumping area and was expressing milk).

Baby Gate

Materials used:

- munchkin top of stairs baby gate (hardware installed, not tension-mounted)

- melamine board (3/4" thick)

- Kidkusion Gummi Crib Rail

- nuts, bolts and screws

Tools used: measuring tape, level, pencil for marking, stud finder, power drill.

This is how the baby gate looks from the side. This turned out to be harder than we initially thought because we had to install that board to extend one side of the stairs so that there'd be someplace to attach the gate hardware.

We then put the crib rail (Kidkusion Gummi) protector around the melamine board to finish the edge and keep us from getting splinters.

How to install a baby gate (Part 2)

This is the 2nd part in the baby gate series brought to you by guest blogger, Swe-cha (with Mommy translating). To read the first part, click on this link.

After measuring and marking where things will go, prep the cordless drill.

Let's make some holes!

[Mommy: This is where Daddy had to wrestle Swe-cha for the drill, my boys do love their power tools!]

Attach the panels with bolts and nuts.

Make sure all the bolts and nuts are nice and tight.

Attach the gate and test for stability.

Supplementing with Formula

We just got back from our 12th month well-baby visit to the pediatrician yesterday (we're a bit late because Swe-cha was sick when he hit the 12th month mark and we decided to postpone his immunizations until he recovered).

I was happy to see him tip the scales at 20 lbs 2 oz - my son is no heavyweight at this point but this was such a relief because he has lost so much weight when he got sick twice in December and January - almost 3 full pounds since exactly a month ago. That wasn't too shabby, considering that we've been gaining around an average of 1 pound a month for the last half year

Unfortunately, when his weight was plotted on his growth chart, his rate of weight gain since birth didn't look so well. He started out at the 50th percentile and in the last few well-baby visits, he's gone down slowly and is now in the 10th percentile when it comes to his weight. *sigh*

Pedia says we have to monitor his weight closely now. I'm sort of confident about him being on track in terms of weight gain because he is eating again now (he also went on a hunger strike around November that lasted a few weeks during which he hardly ate any solids at all). But he will go into daycare soon and I fear that there will be a period of adjustment where he'll eat less and I'm also sure that they won't be able to feed him as diligently as we do at home.

In the meantime, I've decided to up his calorie-intake as much as I can so that we can get a head start on the weight issue. Sis suggests I supplement our breastmilk with powdered formula (i.e. add powdered formula to breastmilk before giving to Swe-cha).

I'm very tempted.

Mr Cinderella

We picked up this walker from Tita R earlier this week and got Swe-cha running in the hallway.

The first time that we tried to put him in the walker, Swe-cha tried to resist. He probably thought this was a boring version of the exersaucer - no toys and he remains in 1 spot. But he started laughing and enjoying himself once he realized how mobile he could me in the walker.

By day 2, he was zipping up and down the hallways, making K-turns when he needs too and he was mastering the walker and is able to go through hallways and doorways w/o getting stuck. He would also stand patiently in front of the elevator and would rush inside as soon as the doors opened.

His happy shrieks (while zipping up and down the hallways) would bring the older residents of the building out of their homes, they'd stand by their open doors and wait for Swe-cha to zip by and would talk & wave bye-bye to him.

This video was taken on his 2nd day at the walker.

Daycare visit: hf

Finally visited HF, the nearby daycare facility.

We met the owner, J, and saw the other kids that were in the facility. If we enroll Swe-cha there, he's going to be the youngest at 13 months and the next oldest is 18 months old.

HP looks small but this is the first I've seen so I don't really have anything to compare it to. Swe-cha seems to like it there, he did not cry when J carried him while I went out to bring our stroller inside. Swe-cha was so brave but his eyes were watery and his lips were quivering when I got back inside. Awwww, my baby!

My gameplan starts with getting Swe-cha on "regular" time. He currently sleeps at 12mn and wakes up at 11. We need to get him adjusted so that he gets up by 9-ish. HP looks good to me so far but I do want to check out other facilities in the area just so I could get a feel of how others operate and how HP compares to others.

Some details (before I forget):

- $180 per week for f/t

- $135 per week for p/t

- $12 for every 15 minutes for late pickups

- $25 one-time fee for sleeping mat or bring pack n play

- bring own wipes, milk, food (if baby food), diapers, ointment, spare clothes, bedding

The rates seem cheaper compared to other facilities that I've talked to, I will have to call up a few more to see. Too cheap makes me happy but it scares me.

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Edit: 2/11 Called up a few more facilities in the area and these seem to be the average rates for F/T and P/T childcare for Swe-cha's age group. I made the mistake of comparing these rates with those located in commercial areas earlier :P

Pretend play

It's so much fun watching Swe-cha play nowadays. He would get anything - really, it doesn't matter what - and make growling sounds as he moves it around, sort of the way you might say " vroom vroom" while pushing a toy car around.

In Swe-cha's case, he makes something that sounds a lot like "awrrrrr".

How to install a baby gate (Part 1)

This post is brought to you by a guest blogger, Swe-cha (with a translation from Mommy).

jdskaljdksajaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkkkkkkkkkkww

wwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

sssssssssssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

Gather all tools and materials.

(Stud finder, tape measure, level, baby gate parts and instruction manual)

Hold the stud finder against the wall like this.

Good job, Daddy! You found one!

Now, we make a mark on the wall right here.

The gate goes here and should be around this high.

Good morning!

It's so nice to wake up to a smiling baby in the morning. This is why I can't stop co-sleeping with him, I'll miss him so much!

Note that he hasn't used his pacifier since he was 2 months old. I just gave him this to chew on as he seemed to be having teething pains the night before and this pacifier seemed to be just the right shape to reach whatever and wherever it was that was paining him.

First sentence

... in baby sign language, that is.

Early this morning, Swe-cha and I were playing in bed and I kept saying "Dada" to him, in an effort to get him to say it too.

I was so amazed when he suddenly signed "daddy" (see picture), followed by putting up his hands apart and twisting his palms as if to say "where" or "not here" (now, I do not know if this is an official sign or not). He may have gotten that from reading his books and I always make that sign when we get to a certain point.

Unfortunately, there is no picture or video of him doing that. He didn't want to repeat it after I got the camera.

Hay. I only wish that there was a way we could have a camera or video camera recording and focused on him all the time, I miss so many moments!

Sleep training

Swe cha is doing so well.

So far, he's been going to sleep on his own w/ need of being rocked to sleep and he's consistently sleeping till 7a. By 7a, he stirs and asks for the bottle but he only drinks somewhere between 1-3 oz before falling back to sleep again. He wakes up again for milk at 9a (this time, he drinks more) and goes back to sleep before waking up for the day at around 11a (bedtime is 11p to midnight). I'm thinking that we just need to eliminate the 7a feeding because it does not seem necessary as he drinks so little.

I've also noticed that he sleeps so much better (i.e. no waking up because of gas) when we put aceite de manzanilla on his tummy & back before he goes to sleep.

I'm sort of sad because this means that he should be ready for his transition to the crib, as per my requirements (1. goes to sleep on his own, 2. no more milk in the middle of the night). I miss my baby already.

I also was able to find a nearby daycare facility with an opening, will be dropping by to check it out one of these days. They have F/T and P/T options available so it does seem ideal for us.

Nanny search is still a big fat 0 but I did ask hubby and he does prefer to bring Swe-cha to daycare rather than have him stay home alone with a stranger. Tama rin. I am still hoping to get nanny recommendations though.

Sopas

Tita Riza sent over some sopas yesterday and I gave it to Swe-cha today. He was iffy at first and kept tasting it - he would not open his mouth but would let me touch his lips w/ the spoon and he'd lick his lips, you'd think that I was trying to give him poison by the way he acts! Haha!

When he tasted it, he opened his mouth and started eating. I'd give him small pieces of macaroni along w/ the soup but he kept spitting out the macaroni pieces so I put the macaroni on his tray instead. He would try to pick those up but they were slippery. Eventually, he just smashed them by slapping his hands down, the durog pieces then stuck to his palms and fingers and he just licked them off.

*teehee*

I gave him some more sopas for dinner and this time, he would eat the macaroni off of the spoon na. Yay!

Thank you Tita Riza!