Christmas and the Aftermath

Watching the aftermath of the tragedies that hit Visayas breaks my heart. It was October 15 when an earthquake with a 7.2 magnitude shook Bohol and less than a month later Typhoon Haiyan almost washed Central Visayas out. 

People lost their loved ones, shelter and livelihood washed out, no running water, gut-rutting stench from decaying bodies, looting and so on... I wonder how they manage to survive a day and where they get the courage to face another. And to think Christmas is just around the corner, perhaps they don't want to celebrate it, or  perhaps this might be their saddest one. 

We're grateful that we don't live there because if we do I can't imagine how I would handle it. I know it's not enough to be grateful. Being in a relatively better position, we can do something, we can help. 

And amazingly people from around the world acted so fast; donating, organizing charitable auctions/ plays/ concerts/ dinners,sending medical aid, lending transportation vehicles and more creative ways. It's simply overwhelming. We couldn't thank you (world) enough. With this help, Visayas shall rise again. 

I also like to believe this is the true meaning of Christmas. 

I want to share this video of ABS-CBN's Christmas Station ID (gave me goosebumps all throughout the song) and the lyrics are found below. (Pardon, I can't seem to format and put it in the center)

Bawat Pasko'y may dalang himala 

Malakas mang ulan, ito'y titila 

Bubuhos ang pagpapala 

May kapiling ang nangungulila 

Ano mang lungkot, tayo'y aahon 

May lunas sa sugat ng kahapon 

Sa isa't isa'y mayrong paglingap 

Mga pangarap, ngayo'y magaganap

 Laging masaya ang kwento ng Pasko

 Kahit sino ka man, may nagmamahal sa'yo 

Ngayong Kapaskuhan ang pangako ko 

Sa puso ko'y magkasama tayo 

Sa iisang awit ngayong Pasko

Magkayakap ang tinig ko't sa iyo 

Sa 'ting himig, ipagdiriwang ang pag-ibig 

At ito ay tatawid sa buong daigdig - 

See more at: http://www.tsapsuy.com/2013/10/abs-cbn-christmas-station-id-2013-theme.html#sthash.3LmwtaM6.dpuf

How to Put a Toddler to Sleep

When Packo had his last immunization and check-up for this year yesterday, Dra. Leonila Dans reminded me for the nth time not to use my breasts as his pacifier.  She knew I'm guilty as charged. He is a comfort nurser while I find it most convenient if he just nurse till he falls asleep. It simply works for both of us.

However I know it's time for my son to fall asleep on his own. I need to take action, train him while it's still early and before a bad habit to form. Why bad?

• He's turning 2 in a month.
• Most children should sleep on their own at his age.
• He is biologically, emotionally, psychologically ready to fall asleep on his own.
• I am only teaching him to be dependent on me and me alone.
• It will have a psychological impact if he dependent too much on his primary caregiver  

I noticed that being a comfort nurser not only manifested in sleep but also in most things like everything! Which is not a good thing. I don't want to be a Momma's Boy! Plus, I gotta work!

I took action yesterday but I was only hopeful. Here are the things I did:

1. Since I don't want to eliminate breastfeeding in our routine, I only kept it in a minimum. How long and how frequent? He fed 4 times for 10 minutes max yesterday, night nursing was already included!
2. I talked and counseled him on what we're doing, what it is for and why.
3. I eliminated his afternoon nap.
4. When he signaled he wanted to nurse, I gave him food. This worked each time.
5. I let him play all day.

What else can you do?

1. Let other people from your household put your child to bed.
2. Make sure your child's primary needs (he's full, has a clean diaper, etc) before putting him to bed.
3. Read your child bedtime stories. Sing lullabies.
4. Create a bedtime routine.
5. Have a substitute Mama in the form of a pillow or teddy bear who will give cuddles and kisses. (You may include them in your stories.)
6. Be firm or consistent. But never be angry with a child who only wants to be with you when he sleeps.

What happened? 

• I noticed he understood what we're doing and what he's supposed to be doing.
• I let him nurse but only for 10 minutes.
• He cried each time I stopped him from nursing.
• I know he's trying to sleep on his own. 
• He kept waking up. He woke up twice last night.
• I finally nursed him, that was his 4th time, and finally he slept soundly.

He's now having his afternoon nap. Since he didn't have enough sleep last night, I know he's tired. And I took advantage of it. 

You know what I did? I hid from him. He kept looking for me until he got soo tired he finally slept on his own!

Yay! Well, good luck to me later.

Packo In Action

In my rarely-happens spare time, I put together some Packo's pictures together in PhotoGrid. 

I noticed most of the pictures I took were blurred because he was either moving or doesn't want to have his picture taken. These pics are the few pictures worth sharing.

I let my child explore his world and that includes shoes. I know some mothers would raise their eyebrows at me or might even call me a careless mother because I let him do that. Well, I sanitized his hands after. Here he is playing shoemaker.

Tantrum in action. Enough said.

Every time we go to malls, we stop by at a play place. He plays most of the time at the ball box. He just loves balls. He calls them baa. And of course who doesn't love mobile toys?

My son's friends are mostly girls. One Saturday morning, I went to put the garbage out and his friends called me and asked where Packo is. Since they haven't seen my son for a few days, I let them in and play. They were still in their pajamas and they're the cutest. It's nice have the house filled with shrieks and fun once in a while.

I believe play time is essential in every child's well-being. It enriches their physical, emotional, moral, cognitive, and social development. Play also promotes their creativity and it also determines what they also want in life. Let the child explore the world through playing.

Let the child play and play with them too.

Instant Pick-Me-Upper

This will be a quick post as we have a few grand visitors coming a thousand miles away from here any minute now.

I have been busy again not because of money work but of domestic work that I barely even have time to comb my hair each day (as if I really do, haha). And of course I felt a bit of down because of all the work this week.

I want to share with you what-I-call my self-esteem saver, my Revlon 028 Cherry Blossom lipstick.

   Brush your teeth before applying and you're going to feel like a domesticated diva in no time. :)

The Babbling Stage

It's been a while since the last time I posted here. My son and I have been sick, plus with my mom being away (she's back in SG) who do you think did the household chores? Yep, me.

Anyhoo, I'm so excited! My son has been babbling for a couple of days now. And he babbles nonstop.

I've been waiting for this time actually. You know how some boys talk a little late than the girls.

Though he used to make sounds like he's babbling, this is the real thing. You could hear him utter different syllables distinctively.

I'm so proud of him. 

I'm so excited to hear him talk. He calls me Mama, says wowa every time he thinks I'm mad at him or he slips and that's just that.

I'm excited to talk with him, to actually make a conversation (in a teeny tiny voice, cute). I'm starting to daydream on what topics we would talk about- pretty sure a lot, how his voice would sound like and how he would look like absorbing whatever it is we are talking about.

No pressure baby, just take your time haha.

For now, I'm definitely enjoying and making the most out of this you-look-so-cute-whenever-you-babble stage.

I'm bracing myself for more wonders.

Stay healthy everyone.   

Packo Goes to Singapore

What kept me busy lately ...

We went to Singapore last June, not to shop because of the GSS (Great Singapore Sale), but to babysit my beautiful niece.

We heard mass at this stunning and surprisingly peaceful Church of St. Mary of the Angels. They have an air-conditioned and soundproofed room for children called The Crying Room. How cool is that! Churches here should have a room for kids too.

We met up with my Tito Alex who was in town for a convention at the Cathedral of Good Shepherd that same morning when Kris Aquino dropped by for a prayer. Sosyal dito pa talaga nagkita :)

with Tito Alex at Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

My mom with her two lovely apos at Carlton Hotel Singapore.

And, yeah fine, we did some shopping too.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands 

When I thought nothing could go wrong on my son's first trip abroad, 

Ecstatic to see Dora! He even danced!

there came the HAZE. We were stuck indoors for a week! We were supposed to go to Singapore Zoo that weekend, too bad. Oh well, we could always go back and by then he'll be able enjoy it more.

250+ PSI. 

Nevertheless, we had so much FUN!

Cheers to family!!

Tatawid kami to Marina Bay Sands nakabangka pa :)

We had so much fun! I'd like to thank my Ate for the wonderful hospitality. That trip was one of the most memorable trips I've had and the one I'll always remember.

xoxo,
Mommy K

No More Milk

Lately I've noticed that my body isn't producing as much milk as it used to. One reason is the lack of demand. In breastfeeding, the higher the demand, the higher the supply. And as your child grows, his nutritional needs diversify. His source of energy isn't found only in milk. It has to be supplemented with real food. His demand and supply of milk declined.

As I was putting my son to sleep (I breastfeed him till he go asleep), he couldn't get his sleeping position right. He kept on crying after a few suckles and kept on signaling to change breasts. We did that a lot of times and he got so frustrated because I felt he wasn't getting any milk.

photo courtesy

I know this is going to happen. I know one day he will not need anything from me directly and I'm getting really anxious about it. I enjoy breastfeeding him, this serves as our precious bonding moment. I'm afraid to lose that connection, that need for each other. 

On the other hand I feel quite happy because we're about to have another milestone. New routines, changes, transition and a clear sign that my little man's growing up.

*Oh, he tried a few sips of milk! Before, you couldn't get any white drink to his mouth. Nice start.

*I don't want to give him nipple bottles as he learned to drink directly from his cup. But how will I put him to sleep? Should I still breastfeed him? Or only at night?  

Share me your thoughts,

Mommy K

Hello, there!

Forgive me for not introducing myself early on.

Just call me K. I am a single mother to my precious little Packo. He's a year and a half years old and he's the center of my universe. I felt exactly what Jacob felt in meeting Reneesme for the first time. I felt my surroundings dissolved when I looked into his eyes and felt like it was just the two of us in that recovery room we were in. 

Did I tell you he's my world? My world revolves around him. We do a lot of things together. We sing his fave What Are You Feeling? song, we watch his favorite Dora, Bubble Guppies and Ni Hao Kai-Lan shows, and we read Goodnight Moon together- well mostly tear the pages apart. I feel it when he's hungry, anxious, frustrated though sometimes I don't know exactly how to pacify him when he throws his tantrums.

I just love this your-so-cute-I-want-to-squish-you-and-cover-you-with-kisses baby. I love him.

That's Packo @ 7 mos trying his new baby pool :)

Since we've been together 24/7 for 19 months, I barely noticed how much he's grown. I can't believe my baby's growing up too fast! Only through pictures that I noticed the changes and I said to myself I needed an avenue to gather and look back on my thoughts, musings, and pictures of Packo. Hence, this blog was created. 

Join me on this roller-coaster-like ride adventure of Raising Packo.

Now what?

As a freelancer, you can't expect to regularly have an assignment or a project from your client even if you have a contract for a period of time. That's why some freelancers opt to apply and get as much projects as they could so they will have something to do in their free time. But for me, it's okay. I needed time to bond with my son- even if we're together 24/7- because he'd been jealous of this laptop ever since I started working. Plus, I gotta start packing because we're going to jet off to Singapore to visit and babysit my pretty niece.

A day of firsts

This is my first post on my first blog and us Pinoys just love to celebrate firsts. 

And the most special first I'm going to celebrate is my first virtual paycheck.

I received an email an hour ago, and guess what, it's the confirmation that my first withdrawal with oDesk was a success! Yay!

I know the amount is small but it's better than none at all!

I first learned of oDesk as an alternative work platform from watching Bandila on May 1. I signed up right away, built up my profile and took my oDesk Readiness Test and passed. All that happened in just an hour.

I took more tests the morning after and applied for a job in line of my interest.  The next day, I got a message on my profile from my yet-client asking if was available to talk. He's based in Florida so we have a 12-hour time difference. It was just 9am PST, ergo 9pm his time. I was so excited that I called him up right away. After an hour long conversation, I got hired. 

Thank you, Lord.