"wearing theo"

i don't know how i look like but i always attract a lot of attention whenever i use the sling for theo. does it look so primitive, or it is just really an uncommon sight for them--a mother using a stretch of cloth to carry her baby? i just wish that i don't give an impression that we can't afford a baby carrier or stroller. hehehe.

well, i find the baby sling more convenient to use in carrying my theo especially when we're out. it frees my hands and gives support to my back, making it easier for me to bring him around even when am doing other things. i always use it when there's no choice but to fetch iñigo from school with him in tow as jude is not home. you should see the faces of the people we meet along; most of them can't help but give a second-look and smile.

the crade hold, which i found so useful; theo was only a month old here and we're in iñigo's school to fetch him

oh by the way... it's jude who taught me how to use it. yep, no manuals no video... just hands-on tutorial from someone who is quite an expert in rings, carabiners, and the likes. according to him: parang sa rapelling lang yan... anovah??? hahaha.

... and it tickled me pink when some mommies remarked that they find it nice of seeing jude with the sling. :) the daddy loves to use it instead of the stroller when we're inside the mall.

jude doing the snuggle hold

i am happy that we do babywearing (the use of sling or wrap in carrying the baby) now. i am an avid fan of dr. sear's attachment parenting and i applied some of the tools that it advocates such as breastfeeding and co-sleeping for iñigo, but not babywearing. when we got pregnant with theo i promised that i will give it a try since am sure i will be multitasking... thanks to mareng lui for lending me her sling. i just hope that we can already buy our own so we can give it back to her soon. ;D

 

 

 

theo at 4 months

theo is one of the reasons why jude and i love our roles as parents nowadays. he never fails to cheer us up even if we are doing the most tedious chore or we're caught in one of those stressful moments. it's because he loves to put a smile on his face especially when he sees familiar faces like mine, his daddy's or kuya iñigo's. though he can also instantly shift to a bad mood when his big brother gets near him; it depends on how many times iñigo pestered him within that day. ;D

even jude's fondness on him grew as it's so easy for theo to smile and giggle, and laugh when we do something which he finds funny.

he also loves to play, even with his kuya iñigo, but he becomes fussy though when gets overstimulated. or the play gets rough by you-already-know-who... one more thing i like about him is he loves to take a bath unlike iñigo who, during his baby days, throws a fit and whose cry can be heard by neighbors because bath time for him was worse than getting a shot. oh my... i really can't help but compare them sometimes. i hope am not being a bad mom when i compare them.

 

 

he turned four months last february 4th and again we celebrated it with a traditional round cake.

 

 

 

 

development and milestones

- i said a month ago that theo could already be weighing 7 kilos at 3 1/2 months. it was only a guess because we're yet to see his pediatrician the following weekend for his monthly baby wellness check-up... and indeed, our little theo weighed 7 kilos, but a little more than that as his exact weight was 7.4 kilos and he was only 14 weeks! now i know why my shoulders are aching whenever i carry him for more than 10 minutes. i have already kept away the clothes he first wore as most of them are already small for him. his diaper size is now at medium but i think it won't be long and we need to buy the next size.

he's scheduled again for his wellness check-up this coming saturday and let's see what the weighing scale will say... i just hope he isn't overweight yet. :S

who couldn't resist not to pinch those cheeks and limbs? not me! hahaha.

- he squirms, scoots, pedals his feet upwards, raises his head and move it from side to side... these were the skills of theo right after he turned 3 months.

theo learned to raise his head at 12 weeks (3 months)

now, theo can already rotate his head with ease. this made him prefer the upward position when he's being carried as he loves to gaze at the objects and people around the house, especially those that make noises like his kuya iñigo. :)

theo can also roll over his body. we can't put him now on our bed unguarded; otherwise, he has to be transfered inside the crib. i also realized that we purchased a small cot as he cannot rotate his body now without his feet getting stuck by the fences/railings and his bolster pillows.

- he babbles and squeals a lot especially when he needs something like when he's sleepy and he wants to be put to sleep (though he can soothe himself sometimes and sleep on his own) or when his kuya iñigo is playing with him and he needs me to remove his big brother from his side... hehe... but it's true. he speaks his own language and sometimes with more audible voice... that can sometimes be considered as noise. :D

noisy theo can also now make eye contact

- i really think theo is already on teething stage. he now loves to put everything in his mouth. he also tends to gnaw whatever his mouth catches like the sleeve of my shirt, his bolster pillow; and to my dismay one time, i saw him gnawing one of the railings of his crib! it's the paint of the crib that am worried about... am scared of the toxic lead, you know.

manila ocean park: iñigo's first field trip

a trip to manila ocean park was really in our plans after christmas but we canceled it for some reasons. a week later, iñigo's teacher told us thru a letter that they will have a field trip in ocean park on january 27th--great!

i admit i was more excited than the kiddo as i knew he'd love the place. jude was also excited for him and he actually wanted us to go there as a family but unfortunately there's a training for him, which was also scheduled on the date of the field trip. but this also gave me a major dilemma as no one will be left in the house with theo. i was about to ask the assistance of my cousin who's off from school that day but the daddy decided last-minute to stay home.

since the daddy can't drive us iñigo and i just took a cab going to the theme park. there's a transportation provided by the school for those who will not be bringing their cars but i opted not to avail this as the fee is twice the amount than if we're going to pay for a taxi ride rount-trip. call time was 10:00 a.m. but we reached the gate at 10:15 a.m. i was glad to see that our group was still waiting outside the building. :D

iñigo joining the choo-choo train

the train started to dissamble as soon as we got inside the park. the kids together with their guardians made their own itineraries and it was pretty obvious that we just have to help ourselves throughout the tour. i was quite disappointed because one of the reasons why i decided to let iñigo join the field trip is because i wanted him to share his observations with his classmates or peers. it definitely didn't happen but i was still glad that i was there with him. more than half of his classmates went to ocean park only with their nannies and honestly speaking, i can't help but feel bad for these kids.

a rare chance to pose together with a classmate (it's gota)

we moved from one room to another until we reached the big aquariums like those labeled with laot and karagatan. the sights were nice indeed but we can't fully appreciate them because there were also a lot of other guests, mostly students, who flocked in front of the glass panels or sitting on the ledges. iñigo and i had to be content in looking at the sea creatures from a distance. it was during this moment that i thanked my decision of not going there last december as for sure the crowd was bigger (and rowdier) and we'll be forced to leave early for theo's sake.

nonetheless, iñigo still had an enriching experience inside the ocean park. he immediately looked for his book of sea animals as soon we got home and he pointed to his daddy what he saw like the stingray and the shark. he's also now fond of the plastic miniatures of sea animals which he received as a christmas gift from one of his classmatest. the trip was worthy after all! :D

 

random thoughts

i terribly miss blogging here in multiply. i realized that the last entries i made were mostly updates on theo's development. it’s not because i had nothing else to share other than his progress every month... there's a LOT actually... but because i really can’t find time to blog. with two kids now to take care of and a house to maintain, you can guess that am already wasted at the end of the day.

 

other internet sites are also stealing away some of my precious time and it’s always that multiply is one of the last sites i visit whenever i have the time to be online. tsk, tsk. oh well, i think am not the only one who takes this site for granted as i have observed that there are only a few people (except for the vendors) now who post here unlike in other network sites such as facebook... agree? ;-)

 

***

new year, new plans. we made some plans for 2010 but quite disappointingly we already dropped one of these and that’s the purchase of another house, which we’re hoping is just near jude’s office. we're only renting a flat as of now and with the lease contract expiring this march, our intention was to transfer to an abode which we can also own later on. we were dead-serious before with the house-hunting, searched high and low for a property that fits our requirement and budget. in fact, we were already talking with some brokers until we made a last-minute decision to ditch this plan as we don’t want to be overburdened with amortization payments this year. hopefully next year when jude can already avail of his company’s housing loan facility since this will help us save a substantial amount in getting another house. but for the next 12 months, we will continue renting a place within makati while we lease the one in cabuyao...

 

yes, you read it right… we are going to keep our home sweet cabuyao home! iñigo is the happiest among us. :)

 

***

since there’s no additional mortgage expense for this year, i told jude that we put whatever money we can save for our future, particularly for our retirement. we already started with the kids’ college education fund so i think it’s high time that we save up for our old age since it’s just two to three decades from now and while we are not yet spending for tuitions.  we know our kids love us and they won’t neglect us when we’re already old and wrinkled but i still wish not to become a burden to them when that time comes. 

 

…and if we still can, why not build a dream fund so a US or europe trip will also become a reality? hmm.. :)

 

***

aside from being active on blogging this year, i also want to pursue some income-generating activities, or can i just call them rakets? i already thought of something but i can't start with it yet as i still don't have a spare time. hopefully when we already transfered to a bigger place and we can already employ a full-time and stay-in househelp. but in between now and then, i just have to live with my 24/7 job as a homemaker, everything you can think of rolled into one. hahaha!