Ambitions of a Full-fledged Nanay

My first born

This day, 5 years ago, we gave birth to our first born son - Diego Benito. 

I still remember him being this small, when he used to fit perfectly in my arms.

I remember his chubby cheeks that we so often plant a kiss on.

Today, he turns 5. He’s still a small boy, I know. But to me, it feels like he’s all grown up. 

To Diego, my dear son -

I am so proud to be your Nanay.

Happy birthday! May all your birthday wishes come true (one will on Sunday).

I love you.

Nanay

08.28.2010

Today’s agenda

I have mixed feelings about work today. A side of me dreads going to court for the hearing. I don’t really look forward to seeing my opposing counsel. Not now, not ever. Another side of me wants to get this whole ordeal over and done with so we can end this thing the soonest possible time.

As consolation, I’ll be swinging by a mall after work to look for this dress.

It’s from a very popular US clothing brand which recently opened a boutique here. I ‘ve been scouring the net in search for a dress to wear as a wedding guest. I have 2 weddings to attend in October and this is what I’ve decided to wear. Simple, classy, light and won’t upstage the bride.

I hope I find it.

oh my poor heart!

I’m still here. Just extremely busy… and tired.

There was a downpour of work to do, party preparations, then the boys got sick. As I write this, the little one is still sick although we’re now down to just low-grade fever. Will be taking him to his pedia in the afternoon.

Amazingly, I’m still holding up pretty well. As they say, mothers are not allowed to get sick. With little sleep, I wonder why I haven’t caught the bug yet. It must be the vitamins I’m taking and the weekly massages. 

I feel though that I’m wearing my heart out. Not in a romantic kind of way. I feel anxious all the time. Like I’ll be taking law school finals. I have to find a way how to manage this.

Perhaps I should detox and exercise. I need endorphins.

Perhaps I should sleep longer. I need a break. A real break. I could feel all the tension building up and I don’t want to reach the point of breaking down.

Roarrr!

My brain feels like it’s been beaten up. It’s work-related. Long story. Funny though, because my way of de-stressing is to do more thinking. But the fun kind.

We’ll be having a party a month from now and I am finalizing party plans. As you may know, this year’s theme is monsters and we’re all excited to do just that. Ever since, all parties were held at home. It’s tiring but we like it that way. It’s intimate and home-made, and you get to nail all the details down the way you like it. 

For the food, there’ll be monsters’ food and 2 monster cakes (one for each birthday monster, err… boy!), and those who aren’t in the mood for monsters’ food can have human food which we’ll be setting up on a separate table.

I’ve lined up several activities for the little monsters. There’ll be a reading corner filled with books about monsters and a craft corner for the guests to make their own monster masks and hand puppets.

Here’s one that Diego and I made a while back. Instead of wearing party hats, we thought it would be fun if the kids wear monster masks instead. Something to get them all in a growly-bouncy-pouncy mood.

As for the hand puppets, I originally wanted to use felt cloth but couldn’t find any. I was told I could find all that I need in Divisoria but I don’t want to go that far just for a few yards of felt. Good thing I found an alternative.

I found white cloth hand gloves at our friendly neighborhood store (SM Fairview). A pack only costs Php66! And with a few googly eyes, pipe cleaners, a fur ball and construction paper - voila! A monster hand puppet!

Here’s what it looks like when worn. This is just a peg. I’ll just set up a table with all the materials and leave it up to the guests on how they want their monsters to look like. With this, we can skip giving away toys in the loot bag (I hope the parents will appreciate that, since loot bag toys almost always end up as clutter). I hope they have fun making their own “toys” to bring home.

I am also done with the invites. When I got really upset this week (again, work-related) I sat on my chair, held a pile of construction paper and started making monsters. And it was fun!

Now, we’re ready to send out the invites via snail mail. Next week, I need to finalize the food orders and reserve the bounce gym we’ll be renting out. I’m all alone, so it’s a slow process. But there’s enough time. 

Sneak-peek

The boys’ birthdays are coming up. Their birthdays are exactly one week apart so we’ve decided to hold a joint celebration after Damian’s birthday. 

Diego’s set on the theme as early as last year, so I had quite a long time figuring things out for the party. The party activities and menu are set, and that is a load-off already. 

Now, roughly a month before we celebrate, I played around with construction paper and came with these for invitations.

Since Diego’s really interested in sending letters through mail nowadays, I want to incorporate that to the upcoming event. We will be sending out the kids’ invites via snail mail. The party’s a month from now so we have enough time. I think it’s also something nice for Diego to do - I’d like to introduce him to the joy of pasting stamps on an envelope.

I certainly think it would be exciting for the guests as well. For a change, wouldn’t it be nice to receive something from the postman other than bills? 

Chocolate dipped marshmallows

To lure my mind away from a lethal dose of disappointment I got from work recently, I made these.

Chocolate dipped marshmallows with happy sprinkles. I really need to be surrounded by happy things right now, so I decided to use happy colors for the treats. I really like how these turned out. They make me smile and makes me want to nibble on one but I’m saving tonight’s batch for Diego’s class. He wanted to share the treats with his classmates so we’re sending these guys to school tomorrow for an after-lunch treat.

These are fairly simple to make. Here’s what I used:

1. 24 pieces of large fluffy marshmallows

2. 1 pack of Goya white chocolate Easymelts

3. blue food coloring

4. sprinkles

5. popsicle sticks

The Goya Easymelts are really easy to use. Just put the contents of one pack in a glass bowl and melt over a pot of boiling water. When the chocolate has fully melted, add a few drops of blue food coloring. To get this shade, I added around 5-6 drops. Remember to add the color one drop at a time to make sure you get your preferred shade. It’s always easier to add than to put in too much from the very start. 

Stick the popsicle sticks (or lollipop sticks) into the marshmallows and dip it in the chocolate making sure you cover all sides. Scrape off excess chocolate then dip in sprinkles. Let the marshmallows rest on wax paper and allow to set for at least 30 minutes. 

Some like to chill or refrigerate the marshmallows to make the chocolate set faster. My problem with this is that it makes the marshmallows sweat once you take them out of the fridge. I prefer to let it set by leaving the treats on the counter, away from heat, direct sunlight and the boys.

Will make another batch over the weekend. Diego and I were supposed to make another using semi-sweet chocolate, but we ran out of marshmallows. I wonder why. Hee.

The best pasalubongs come in pretty boxes

My dad came home from his month-long trip to the US last Monday and handed me one of the best pasalubongs ever!

One of my aunts sent a box of Godiva assortments. I delayed opening the box for fear I’d finish all of it in one sitting. That is very possible. But heck! I can’t just keep it in the box forever.

Which piece to get is always a tough decision to make.

I ended up getting the topmost left piece. 

And according to the guide, I got almond praline in milk chocolate. 

I enjoy reading the guide that comes with the box. It doesn’t make my life any easier in terms of deciding which one to pick, but it is an education.

I’ve resigned to eating just one piece per day. I want to let the taste linger in my mouth and in my memory. Besides, patience and temperance builds character. This applies to chocolates.

My first bento

I finally tried my hand on bento-making last Monday and was able to send Diego to school with this for lunch.

Actually, bento refers to packed meals in general. So, to be more accurate, this kind of bento is called Oekakiben or picture bento. More on bentos here.

Diego wanted to bring fish and rice for baon that day. It’s not really that fancy. I just cut a few strips of nori and arranged his lunch to look like this. Then added a few steamed broccoli flowers and voila! 

For Tuesday, I made him this.

Brown rice, omellete, ketchup, baby carrots and nori strips. I must confess: bento-making is addicting.

He didn’t get to eat his Tuesday lunch in school because classes were suspended when we got there. But he did eat Mr. Rice on our way back home. He just couldn’t wait to get his hands on Mr. Rice! 

These are not as nice as the bentos I previously posted here. It might take me loads more of bentos to get to that level, but at least my son enjoys his lunch and that makes me really, really happy.

‘Til the next oekakiben!

Cloth Diapering a Ten-Month-Old

Ten months into cloth diapering and things are running as smooth as ever. Nothing much has changed, we’re still on the same stash, using the same settings except that Damian’s absorbency needs increased since he’s taking in more and more solids and more and more liquids.

Like what I mentioned in my previous blog entry on cloth diapers, we use two kinds of cloth diapers - bumGenius! one-size pockets and diaper covers+prefolds. For more than 5 months now, we are still on the medium setting. I think it’s quite a long time, but I’m not complaining. Everything still works. No leaks, no spills. I am really, really happy with my cloth diaper stash. We have been utilizing it to its fullest.

Having said that, for those thinking of using cloth, consider this advice —

If you intend to start early, say you want to use cloth on a newborn onwards, I suggest that you go for one-sized diapers. Newborns grow really quickly that it’s not very practical to stick to multi-sized diapers since she only gets to use them for a few weeks then move on to the next size.

*If you are confused about the terms, i.e. one-size/multi-size, please click here.

If, however, you want to use cloth diapers in the middle of the game, say your baby is 5 months or older, then I suggest you use multi-sized diapers. I say this because cloth diapers don’t come cheap and I’m pretty sure most of us always want to make the most out of our purchases. By considering these factors, you get to use the cloth diaper on your baby for a longer period of time. Mas sulit!

On to another diaper-related topic, let’s talk about rashes. Remember how they say that babies on cloth don’t get rashes? Well, it’s not true. Babies using cloth diapers still get rashes but not as frequent as the ones on disposables and not as severe. 

In the months that we’ve been using cloth, Damian did get rashes a few times. If my memory serves me right, he only had 3 episodes of rash outbreak. Most of the time, it’s just redness on his bottom that we can quickly put under control.

Let me share with you the top 3 things I use to counter rashes.

My absolute favorite clear-bottom keeper! Lavender essential oil does wonders to the skin. Whatever kind of skin ailment there is, lavender is sure to help cure it. But not all lavender essential oils are cut for the job. Make sure it’s Grade-A therapeutic lavender essential oil, which is safe to ingest and apply directly onto the skin (most essentials oils available here are prepared for aromatherapy use only and not meant to be applied directly onto the skin). 

I use the lavender essential oil from Young Living. It’s the only one I know that’s Grade-A therapeutic, so you can apply it topically, or drink it if you will. My sister introduced me to this line of therapeutic oils and I fell in love instantly. She gave me my first bottle of lavender and I have been using it on the boys constantly. Whether it be a rash or an insect bite, a cut or a scratch - a drop of lavender essential oil gives instant relief.

Whenever I notice Damian’s bottom to be a little red, I put a drop of young living lavender after cleaning his bum and before putting on a clean diaper. The redness clears in just a few hours. No fail. I also dab some on Damian’s feet to help calm him down before going to sleep. Lavender is known to have calming and disinfecting properties making it suitable for a thousand uses for you, your baby and your home.

When rash breaks and spreads, I combine lavender essential oil with Desitin especially during the night when exposure to wetness is prolonged. Desitin is most effective in helping control the rash outbreak. Outbreaks clear in 2-3 days with it.

There are times, though, when I am not up for the smell of Desitin. It doesn’t smell great. Well, it doesn’t stink, it’s just that there are days when I couldn’t stand the smell of Desitin so I shift to Palmer’s bottom butter.

Anyone who uses Palmer’s lotion would now that Palmer’s give one of the best smelling lotions ever. It smells like chocolate. Also, unlike Desitin, Palmer’s easily wipe off. It is as effective as Desitin, however, it is more expensive.

How about you? What do you use for your baby’s rashes?

Mantra

If I want something, I make it happen.