My two children have grown up so fast

Here is a picture of my two children; I shot a picture at them while they were playing. My son is already 3 yrs. old and six months and I can say that I’m so happy that he had grown up to be normal and healthy. He likes to ride in his bicycle early in the morning and goes around in the neighborhood. I’m just grateful that we live across the street to my mother-in-law’s house and she takes care of him everyday when I go to work. My baby girl is going to be 11 months this June and I can’t wait to celebrate her birthday this July.
Here is a picture of her in the walker; this used to be her brother’s walker too.

Here she is smiling and crawling towards me because she wants me to carry her.

This is our picture together can you see our similarity? Anyway I can’t wait for the day when my children will be all grown up and see their pictures here.

My sustenance as a Fire Snake

In the Chinese calendar I was born in the year of the snake. In the Chinese horoscope the Snake is known to be intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animal Signs. They are attractive people who take cries with ease and do not become flustered easily. They are graceful people, exciting and dark at the same time. Snake would be willing to sacrifice his possessions, something the Snake has a lot of, in order to pay for his family’s food. Any way it is interpreted as a  representative of the Snake’s character and is a measure of the value he puts on his material wealth. The Snake is keen and cunning, quite intelligent and wise.

In the Chinese horoscope I belong to the THE FIRE SNAKE. The Fire Snakes are known to be a bit loud, speaking their minds and smothering you with their opinions. This does add a twist to his dynamic and vibrant character, as he is quite the extrovert. These Snakes have a great wisdom. They are intriguing communicators who leave you breathless after a conversation. Fire Snakes can change even the most obstinate mind with their powers of persuasion, convincing you their opinions or ideas are better than yours. This does make them a little self-centered, but you can’t say they aren’t driven for success.

I think a lot of these characters are in me especially the way I do speak my mind that even a simple issue could become a debate but I think we do change as we grow older. I try not to engage in a fiery debate anymore and I learn to be reserved in the way I talk. I have a couple of mishaps in the past when I do speak my mind and I do learn from my mistakes. I suppose being married and having children helps me to be more composed and wiser.

What makes it so interesting is that my son was born in the year of the rooster and my daughter was born last 2008 in the year of the rat. In the animal world these two animals are the primary food of the snake. I could honestly say that it is indeed true, they are my sustenance. They do gave me a purpose and make me stable and calm. They can control the fire in me. I suppose as my nourishment they do make me healthier and more alive.

My baby girl at six months and my son at three years old

My baby is now six months old and she can already move from side to side. Sometimes she lay on her belly and then on her back again. She already looks at me when I call her name and laugh whenever I make funny faces on her. She can already distinguish a camera when we took pictures of her. She doesn’t like the camera because she would close her eyes whenever we attempt to took her pictures because she doesn’t like the flash.

I noticed that she has already strength on her legs because at most cases she will attempt to stand while I hold her on my arms. I think she looks a lot like me, what do you think?
This month I will already feed him Cerelac and mash vegetables and fruits. She does look bigger than most babies of her age because at work we would talk about our babies and they told me that my baby is much bigger than theirs.

Anyway I could compare her development from my first child when he was still a baby and they really differ in many ways. My baby girl’s development is much faster than her brother because she can already look at me on the eye when she is still one week old and she already laugh when she was still less than a month old. She can also react to me when I talk to her at an early age. Her brother on the other hand is different because I noticed that he reacted in that way when he was already more than six months old. My first child does not focus his attention to me during the first six months and I’m just glad that he turns out okay today. He is already 3 years old and I’m just glad that he has already learned how to talk to me. I was very worried in the past because of his late development in terms of expressing his thoughts especially whenever we meet toddlers of his age who is really fluent in talking. Right now he is showing progress and I hope that he will really be fluent in speaking before he will be four years old.

Common problems in pregnancy at 7th month

I’m already 31 weeks pregnant and I felt so much discomfort at this stage. My movement is already limited and my varicose veins are very painful especially when I stand up from a lying position at night and in the morning upon waking up. My varicose veins are at its worst condition during this pregnancy that my doctor opted for a cesarean section because there are also visible veins on my perineum. My first baby is delivered naturally and I had a quick healing recovery. I know that cesarean operation is a different story in terms of recovery because the wound is deeper and it will also leave an ugly scar. Anyway I have no choice but to accept it, it is an exchange for having my baby girl. Also I have to think about what’s best and safer for me.

At this stage I also noticed I easily get tired and out of breath especially when I climb the stairs to our office. My leg cramps also got worse especially at night when I stretch them. Also I can already felt the weight of my baby because of my backache and the pressure whenever she moved inside my wound. I can now easily see and feel her movement inside me. I have difficulty in my movements during this stage especially when I took care of my toddler because he is very active and playful I can’t seem to catch up anymore. It is also not easy to bathe and feed him the way I used to because my bulging tummy gets in the way. When I bathe him I squat and cautiously maintain my balance and also it’s harder to put him on my lap when I feed him because he would lean on my belly. Anyway I trained him to sit on the chair at meal time so that it will be much easier for the both of us.

7th Month - Expecting my baby girl

Last May 3, 2008, I have my ultrasound and guess what I have a baby girl and I’m so happy because we already have two children a boy and a girl. My husband is so happy to know that finally he had a daughter. My father is also glad to know because it would be his first female grandchild considering he already had three male grandchildren.

Our doctor told us that we are so lucky to have her and indeed we are truly blessed to have children. I’m so excited to see her and at last I’m going to name her Marianne. I have told everyone that I was having a baby girl and they were all glad and told me that I’m so lucky. We already have her clothes and crib thanks to my sister for providing these things. Her baby is already 11 months old and no longer needed it. We have decided to add another bed in our room because we want our children to sleep with us. We only want two children to rear because we want them to share our love fully. It is so hard to raise more than two children nowadays because of our economy so we thought this is a wise decision. Money really matters in raising children because you have to provide for their needs especially when they will get to school. So we are just planning ahead.

At 6th month pregnant

I want to record my pregnancy stage by stage for my future reference. So since I haven’t recorded the 1st month up to the 4th I’m taking this opportunity to write about it. I think it was sometime in October that the 1st stage of conception happened. It was during that month that we transferred to another bigger and much comfortable house near my In-laws. I found out that I was pregnant sometime in November. I wondered why I haven’t had my menstruation since October so I purchased a pregnancy kit. I have mixed emotion during that time when I found out that it was positive because I think it was too early to get pregnant again. My son is just one year and ten months old that time and I thought we are not yet financially capable for another responsibility. I was worried of the additional expenses that this would cost us. I’m thinking about the hospital bills, cost of the infant formula and babysitter. Worrying doesn’t solve anything so there is no other way to deal with this but to accept and to find other means to support this family.

On the 1st month I noticed that I crave for barbecued chicken liver and I easily get cough and colds. I also observed that I like to sleep a lot. I have my medical check-up during this month but the baby’s heartbeat is still not visible so my OB-Doctor advised me for an ultrasound. It was in February on my birthday that I decided having the ultrasound. The baby is already at its’ 3rd month and I can see its’ heart moving with every beat on the monitor. It is my first sight of my baby and I can’t explain how it feels like, all I know is my happiness is beyond compare. Its’ gender is still not visible according to the doctor so I still don’t have any idea.

At the 6th month I have my medical check up just last Saturday and I have heard my baby’s heartbeat and it moves inside my womb as my Doctor inspected my belly. My Doctor smiled as she feels it moving and upon hearing its’ heartbeat she told me that the vital signs of the baby is very good. She injected me with anti-tetanus vaccine and prescribed Daflon that I should take in one month for my varicose veins. She also advised me to have another ultrasound next month.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

My toddler learns to say mama

This week I have a very nice surprise when I got home from work. My toddler called me mama for the first time. He used to call me and my husband papa but now he already knows the difference and it feels so good to be called mama. He also learns some additional words like bird, milk, shoes, nanay, tita, lolo and jollibee. I placed an alphabet poster in our bedroom and from time to time I read it loud to him while pointing at the alphabet and the visuals that it represents. I said A as in Apple and so on. I was really amazed when he points at the milk and said milk and points at shoes and said shoes. I’m so glad that my son is learning to talk already but in other times he just babbles. There are also times when he talks to me and I don’t really understand anything he says so I just nod like I understand him just to encourage him to talk more.

Every morning when he wakes up I smiled at him and he smiles back at me. I ask him how his sleep was and he kisses me and I also tell him to kiss his papa and he does. Having a child is the best gift life has given me and I thank God everyday for this.

Parent's Responsibility

I can still remember when my papa and me debate or discuss on issues. We always have different views on things and we discuss it without having an argument even if we don’t settle on the same beliefs. One particular issue that proves that he is correct but I suppose during that time I disagree with him is the fact that a parent’s responsibility to nurture or care for his/her child continues as long as the parent is alive. I disagree with him during that time because I presume that when the child grows up to be mature individual, one is already capable to care for her/his life and does not need their parent anymore. Through my experience it only proves that my father was right. It happened when I have undergone operation on my goiter, I was single and 22yrs old then. I already have a regular job and the operation was paid for by my insurance.

It was the time I felt so helpless because my mother takes care of me in the hospital to the extent of changing my diapers. I don’t want that to happen to me because I always want to be independent but sometimes life could be harsh just to prove a point.

We always need guidance and the person who knows best is the ones who experience life before us. I have read on the news and seen on TV, stories of rebellious and misguided teenagers and reading on their profile I realize that they have become like this because their parents are just too busy to provide them everything material. It is always a responsibility of the parent to provide for their children’s needs but sometimes they overlook the most important part. Attentions, affection, touch of endearment and guidance these are the most important elements of raising a child. I remembered when I was still in high school when my papa comes home everyday he always look for me and hug me tight this only took him just one minute and even for just a little of his time I felt his love. Even today when I come to visit their home he would still embrace me and my child and ask me how I was and it still means a lot to me.

I have done this to my child and to my spouse as well. Everyday when I came home from work I make it a habit to embrace them just to make them feel that I love them dearly. I am also certain that my child will learn from this and will also shape his character into a loving person.