Emo Mommy Mode Alert!

A few minutes ago, I had a conversation with a really close friend who's pregnant with her first baby. We've been like soul sisters since college, and my own dad even says I looked (past tense...this was when I was way slimmer. hehe.) like her. She and her hubby had been 'working on' having the little one for a year, and been successful only recently - which of course is much much anticipated.

This afternoon we started our conversation about how to get to her place, and then moved on to the not-so-quiet school that was situated beside their building, and then to which school would be best for our kids, and then to managing money when you become a parent... Our conversation matured in a matter of clicks and seconds! :)

We discussed how different life was from when we were in college, to single and working, to preggers and expecting, to finally being a full-fledged mother and wife. She's just on her way to the latter...and I'll be moving forward soon to being mommy-of-a-school-age-kiddo.

Recently I've been excitedly following a fellow mom's blog (http://mommytobaby.wordpress.com/), who's currently pregnant with her first baby too, and I've been more prone to tears ever since. :) She writes lovely letters to the little one in her belly, and her blog has inspired me to look back on how fast and how much things have changed in the past five years.

I saw just how much of an improved person I am when I became a mother. No, I'm not better now than everyone else...but I am definitely a better me. :) I'm more patient, calmer, more understanding, and much more focused.

As a teen and as single lady (cue Beyonce song here.), I had a rebellious spunk, I was overly emotional, demanding, impatient, and fickle-minded. I lived for the day. I knew that tomorrow mattered, but I just didn't care. I wanted to live life my way. And I'm pretty sure that this was a phase wherein my parents weren't having the grandest of times dealing with me - especially my mom.

When I got pregnant, I don't think they were exactly surprised, but I'm pretty sure they were hoping it didn't happen too soon either. I was 22 then. 

But in my mind, the moment I knew I was pregnant, I was sure, my parents would be happier - I had finally found my match, the one who would make me grow up. And no, I'm not referring to my husband (that's a different 'match' all in all. hehe), I'm referring to the growing life inside my belly.

Unfortunately, I miscarried 12 weeks into the pregnancy. It was a blighted ovum kind of situation, and I knew for a week or so, that the life inside me will not survive. 'twas a painful time, and a scary one too. Being the paranoid person that I am, I was afraid that my body might not be a child-bearing one after all.

It took an entire year for us to be successful in our attempts at having another one, and it was the perfect gift for our first wedding anniversary. We were scheduled to go to Pagudpud to celebrate, with the accommodations and transport booked and all...but since my OB advised me not to go on long travels for the meantime, we decided to forego the vacay.

Our precious little Keisha was born in 2009.  And since then, my life and my being has changed in more ways than I can imagine. The moment I gave birth, the moment I saw that the little life in my belly was finally part of the cruel real world, I knew right then and there that my role as superhero is about to begin. :)

But you see, superheroes are the most kawawa characters. They have to be in so many places at the same time to help other people, they have to sacrifice a lot of their time and their desires to do their job, there's a super-fine-almost-non-existent line between what's work and what's not, they don't get to go shopping, PLUS, they have to wear the not-so-comfortable-skin-tight-mismatched costumes!

Not fun at all.

Although I'd have to say, motherhood has rewards that no amount of money can ever even attempt to equal. The joys may not be material or monetary, but they're far far more precious than anything you can ever hold in your hand or see with your eyes.

Thankfully, I don't have to wear the skin-tight superhero costume (thank God. My body's not ready for that. Not in the next 20 years. :)), but I do have to go through all else.

I've always wanted to be a travel or a lifestyle writer. Go to one place after another, or attend events all over the country and abroad - 'twas my dream to experience the finer things in life and get to write about it. But, independence had it's price - I had to work my way to living on my own - so I shifted to the 'richer' call center world - where even just the starting salaries would cover rent, utilities, and my little luhos.

My call center 'career' was going quite well, I was able to successfully establish myself in the four years that I spent in the industry - and chances are, there would be no other place to go but up. Well it happens there's another place pala - OUT. I resigned at that time that my little Keisha was frequently sick. I couldn't bear not being able to take care of her just because I can't go on an emergency leave. My mind couldn't take the idea of choosing work over her. So I took the big leap to SAHM-hood.

It wasn't easy. I had to say goodbye to so many perks - monetary, as well as other benefits that the employed lot enjoys.  I was doing some part-time writing work for a time, but the earnings were definitely far from what I used to take home as a Senior CSR. Thankfully, I have a hard-working husband, and fortune finally smiled upon me when I started getting regular work through Odesk. My income stabilized, and though it really wasn't super awesome, it was definitely more than what others may expect from WAHM-hood.

Thing is, I don't have officemates, my social life is now limited to the four corners of our little home and our old circle of friends, I don't have Christmas parties or mid-year bonuses. I don't have 13th month pay nor tax returns. I don't get to shop whenever I want to, I don't get to travel to my heart's delight, I even feel guilty when I had to buy a new tube of lipstick, my biggest splurge so far was a pair of sandals on sale at 300 pesos...

 I still get to shop, but about 95-99% of the time, I buy things for her and the house. Much of our budget goes to bills, and our little 'investments'. I wouldn't say life is hard, we're in fact, really really blessed...but it surely and most definitely is not just about me. What  I buy, I have to think of twice, thrice, four times, because I have to consider what else that amount can do in the future if I put it aside, invest it, or spend it on things Keisha needs. Imagine, a pair of my favorite brand of shoes is worth the same as a big can of her milk plus vitamins! Why would I buy the shoes then? I still have quite a few good ones anyway. :)


I couldn't be more grateful. :)  Sometimes, I'm tempted to go back to the corporate world and all its perks...but.... No. :)


My little girl is now two years old, and for a year and a half now, she's had her Mama day in and day out, scolding her not to write on the walls or to touch the electrical outlets, asking her to wear her slippers, while showering her with kisses. She's had her mom tucking her in to bed at night, saying good morning to her when she wakes up, making breakfast, lunch, and dinner for her, and 'fighting' with her come evening time when she wants to watch Disney Channel, and mom wants to catch the evening news.

I've had the luxury of seeing her grow up for the past year, witnessing her small and big milestones, being there for when she falls down, bruises her knees, and needs a hug. :)  And I know, and have seen and felt, just how happy she is that Mama gets to be around her all the time.

In a year or less, she'd be starting a new 'phase' in her life, school. In a few years, she'll be in high school, she'll fall in love, she'll be a teenager and would want to see less of me (been there been that. hehe), she'll be in college and trying life out on her own, she'll be working and learning about life... Haaaay...

I still have a decade or so to be her number one superhero. I want to play that role the best way I can (minus the costume please.). :-)

I love you, Thank you, You're welcome, and Sorry...

My little girl @ 2! :)

I remember a year ago, my little girl can only say very few words, just bits and pieces of what seemed like actual phrases. Months passed and our exchange of words had transformed into an actual conversation! Yey!

I don't think she talked earlier than other kids, but what I admire most with her development in the linguistics area is how she can talk to us in both English and Tagalog. She can take instructions in both languages too, and understands the equivalent words of those that she uses most of the time like 'Get' and 'Kuha' or 'Put' and 'Lagay', or 'Halika' and 'Come here'. 

We really wanted to raise her knowing how to speak both languages. Since we don't live in an English-speaking community, we want her to be able to effectively converse with our neighbors and her playmates in Tagalog, and yet still have that edge of knowing the English language when she's ready for school. And contrary to the notion that kids can get confused when you use different languages at home, our little Keisha seems to be progressing well with the concept of being bilingual. :)

But for me, the most precious reward of hearing her talk was hearing her say these words: I love you, Thank You, You're Welcome, and Sorry.

When she's in the mood to be sweet and cuddly, and before Daddy leaves for work, my baby girl says I love you (with matching ingat! (take care)). When you give her something (especially if it's candy), she'd say thank you, and when you say thank you to her, she'll respond with the most adorable 'you're welcome'.

What I love most though, is when she say's 'I'm sorry' - she does so with the cutest puppy-eyed expression on her face! Who could resist that? Ahhh, she gets away with her naughty ways sometimes with just one 'I'm sorry mama' ! :)

Although sometimes, we don't understand everything she says, I can see that she's well on her way to being a super conversationalist. Good thing we never baby-talked her, and we encourage her to talk by praising her whenever she gets a word out. Although there's one challenge: since her yaya is not a native Tagalog speaker, there are words that my little girl 'mispronounces' (both English and Tagalog words). Her long e's and short e's as well as her o's are a bit 'affected' by her yaya's dialect. So as early as now I correct her each time she does that...I sure hope it works. :)


Summer schooling is definitely in the horizon for March or April 2012, and I'm super excited for all the new things she's bound to learn! :)

Defending Play Schooling

My little girl has recently turned 2 years and 5 months old, and for the longest time, I've been considering enrolling her to a toddler school or playschool. Right after she turned one, I was already checking out forums online and doing a Google search of possible places that are near us. We live in Bacoor Cavite, and so far my online search hasn't proved fruitful yet. :(

And, there's also my dilemma: Hubby thinks it's too early for my daughter to go to school. 

I don't know how many times I've had to explain to him that play schooling is not equal to formal schooling. It doesn't mean that she'll start answering math homework or working on dioramas for their finals project. As the name suggests, she's going to LEARN through PLAY.

I don't think he understands what that means, might be an idea that's hard for him to grasp. And well, I really couldn't blame him. He grew up in a very traditional family, and they still maintain that traditional kind of thinking until now. Like my mom-in-law said, why send a child to a school just to play? Can't she do that at home?

Hmmmm, I actually have three good reasons why I want to enroll my little girl to a play school, in fact, I think she may be a tad too old for a play school as most tots start young. But of course it's never too late:

1. STRUCTURED LEARNING - I may be a stay-at-home mom, but I also work from home. In fact, there are days that I work more than 8 hours a day. In short, my only advantage is that I get to do it in the home court, and that yes, my daily life can get quite busy (and toxic).

Toddler schools or play schools offer a kind of learning process that's specially designed for kids my daughter's age. They're put together in such a way that the kid will enjoy, have a fun time, and still learn in the process. All I know how to do is point and explain pictures and words in a book or on a flash card. How to do it effectively? I have no idea. Of course, I'm willing to learn how to do it for her sake, I still want to be hands-on with the learning process. BUT, as of now, the best I can do with what my schedule permits is reinforce what she could learn from a play school.

So to answer my MIL's question: Yes, she can play from home, and yes perhaps I can get her to learn some things. BUT there is a greater benefit to sending her to a toddler or playschool which specifically focuses on structured learning through play. :)

2. SOCIAL INTERACTION - Hubby said she can get this by playing with her cousins and her neighbors. Well technically yes. She can even do this on a daily basis. Thing is, our neighbors and her cousins are not the same age as she is, in fact, they're all about 4-5 years older than her. This means that their idea of 'play' is pretty much different from hers. And in addition to that, since she's been seeing them from the day she was born, my little girl is already familiar and comfortable with them, so interaction with neighbors and cousins is no longer a 'challenge' for her.

Recently, I noticed that she's starting to be really shy around other people - to the point that she'd actually bury her face in my neck or shoulders when strangers approach her. She wouldn't even willingly play with other kids. :( I know some may say that it's natural for toddlers to have stranger anxiety, and of course I understand this to be true in a lot of cases, BUT I also know that is something that could be worked on. And one of the ways I could think of is to expose her more often to new environments and to different sets of people, where she would be encouraged to interact...and where Mommy, Daddy, or Yaya wouldn't always be present to run to. :)

My little girl is the one wearing yellow with plaid ruffled skirt. Ayaw magpapicture talaga! :(

3. BROADEN FRIENDSHIPS. - My third reason is, let's just say, 'selfish'. :) Being a work-from-home mom through Odesk means NOT having officemates, managers, quality coaches and the likes that I used to work with in the call center industry. In short, it's just me and my boss. There's a great advantage to it of course, but that also means I have ZERO social life. Having Keisha in a toddler or play school would help me meet other moms who are going through the same stage of mommyhood with their tots, who may be experiencing the same aches, pains, joys, and sacrifices.

You see, every girl, needs a girl friend. :)



Errrr, I am yet to re-argue these three points with my hubby. And I am more than open to suggestions for other points of 'agreement'. Hehe. :) Oh and yeah, if you live in the Bacoor Cavite area, please enlighten me where I could find good toddler or play schools here! :)

Dress-Up Mania

The best thing about having a little girl...is how adorably kikay they can get! :)

Recently my 2-year old has found extreme awesomeness in the idea of changing clothes. She went from rummaging her closet to change into her other clothes...to changing into her gowns. It has now become her daily habit (tot doesn't miss a single day) to ask me to open the doors of the big cabinet, carry her, and she points out the gown she wants to change into, saying 'Mama, dwess Keisha'.

Shoes to the Nth Power! :)

When I found out that I was going to have a baby girl, I knew right then and there that I may end up spoiling the little one with too many clothes and trinkets. I never had a sister, and this baby was going to be my living doll. Hehe.

Now that she's two years old, I have filled a medium-sized cabinet with her clothes, and thankfully I had finally found that little switch in me that says 'off' when it comes to 'temptations' like clothes, bows, etc. Although I could still feel my heart skip a beat when I see a pretty dress or a pair of really dainty tops and bottoms (oh just imagining them's making me weak). For our family's (and the cabinet's) sake, I have to control myself from buying stuff that aren't necessary.

The Daily Struggle

I can't believe I haven't written on this blog since June 24th! I've been quite busy with my kiddie party blog (which reminds me, I'm still working on another draft for that. Whew), and had been quite taken with the researching and putting things together. :) Oh, and not to mention my online jobs (a WAHMmy has to bring in some moolah too.).

And of course, in between, during, before, and after everything else, I'm also attending to my super active little girl.

Which brings me to the point of my daily dilemma: THE ONSET OF TODDLER TANTRUMS.

How Mommy Became a WAHMmy

A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.
-- Agatha Christie

Not too long ago, if a mother was asked to choose between her career over her family, the answer would always be the latter, and the decision wouldn't be as hard. But nowadays, this is definitely not the case.

Fatherhood and My Fervent Prayer

I am the only girl in a brood of three. I'm also the eldest. I grew up hard-headed, stubborn, rebellious (to a certain extent), a tad insecure, and had only recently found my center when I become a wife and a mother.

I'm a Daddy's Girl. My father is like my bestest friend (pardon the intentional grammatical error. done for maximum word impact. hehe.) ever. I enjoy our debate dinners, our little political and ideological chitchats over coffee and pork barbecue, and I had absolutely basked in the glory of being his spoiled little girl when I was younger. I pretty much always got what I wanted, when I asked him for it.

Admitted Baby, Confused Mommy

Last Wednesday, May 25 2011, my little Keisha came home from spending some time at her lola's place (which was like 5 minutes away from our house). I touched her hand, and her forehead, and she felt kind of hot. The mommy instinct in me insisted that the little one is running a fever.

I took her temperature when she was asleep that night, and true enough, it was in the 38 °C range. I wasn't too bothered by this at that time, and just gave her paracetamol. She had a cold after all, and I thought then that the increase in temperature was just normal because of that.

The Eve of Her Second Year

A year ago, on this very day, I was crazy busy preparing for Keisha's First Birthday. Ironing out the details, making last-minute changes, sending out invites... My every day was hectic with party preps. Looking back on it now that I'm preparing for her second birthday, I realized just how much Keisha had developed since she turned one.

She started walking about a month after her first birthday, a little later than I expected, but nonetheless still a milestone achieved. She just let go of my hands and started walking on her own! A bit wobbly at first of course, but it didn't take her long before she was confident in taking a few more steps without my help. She now runs around the house, runs away from us when she gets the chance, and can even climb up steps on her own. Because of this, I have trained my eyes to be glued on her, and keep her always within eyesight, even if my fingers are working on the laptop. Hehe.

She started talking really early, a few months before her first birthday. The words Mama and Dada were magic to my ears. But after her first year, she gradually started talking up a storm...ohhhhh, the joy! :-) The first few words she learned were mostly related to food (rice, fish, 'tubig', fries, chicken, etc.).  And no, she didn't say it the 'bulol'  way.

I'm proud to say that she says her words really clearly, maybe because we never baby-talked Keisha at all. We converse with her the way we would with other adults. :-) From Mama and Dada, her vocabulary has now graduated to many Tagalog words, and she uses them correctly to express her thoughts, feelings, and desires. She can say 'antok na', 'busog na', 'gutom na' (isn't it obvious that food-related expressions are her foremost priority?hehe), 'pahingi', 'punta (and the direction where she's going)', 'kawawa', 'kain na', 'come' and lots more. But what really amazes me, is how Keisha automatically says 'Thank you' when someone gives her something. I remember that we did remind her of this when she was a bit younger, to say thank you. I guess she kept it in her 'library' and since she can say it clearly now, she uses it every chance she has. We also make it a point to use it often too, so she might have taken after what she saw us doing.

I'm still introducing her to the world of shapes, colors, and the alphabet. She can already fit the right shapes into the shape sorter, draw a circle, and count from one to ten. She can sing Bahay Kubo, Baby (Justin Bieber's song), and the 'Mutya Theme song'. She also dances a lot, and interacts really well with other kids.

I do feel a bit guilty about not teaching her early on about the basics, online work has taken me prisoner for the past months, and I'm still catching up with quality time for Keisha. Better late than never right? She may not be the most advanced kid when it comes to these things, but I'm pretty sure she'll learn all of it in no time at all. No need to rush her or force her to it.

Keisha also makes me a proud momma by being well-behaved. She does get moody sometimes, but this is very rare. And when we're outside and with other people, you would never see her throwing a tantrum. Nope, no Keisha-on-the-floor-stomping-her-feet-crying-screaming-and-flailing-while-at-the-mall kind of scene. But she can get really restless. She can't stay put for 10 minutes at a time, she always has to be doing something. Reining her in is not a problem though, we can always coax her to behave. :-)

Earlier this year, I also noticed that Keisha had already started showing separation anxiety. Every time we have to leave, she would always say 'Sama Keisha', and will ask her yaya to dress her. She would even go to her cabinet and start pulling out clothes.  I also noticed that she tends not to go to sleep for as long as she knows her Mommy and Daddy are awake. She'll bug us to play with her, and will not doze off until we tell her we're leaving to buy her food from Jollibee.

A lot has changed with Keisha since she turned one. She gained weight, grew taller, her hair grew longer (she now has Dora-length hair), and she became more 'makulit'. And now with the onset of the 'terrible twos', I know for sure that I still have a bevy of changes to look forward to.

And perhaps, her turning two...would not be terrible after all.... :-)

'til the next update!