Chloe Isabelle - 8 months

She is 8 months old today!

This LittleMiss has taken over our lives in happy busy way. She's been literally all over the place refusing to stay in her playpen and would demand to be carried or held up for her to practice walking.

Oh yes! she has been doing a lot of standing and moving very fast, one minute you'll see her quietly lying in bed the next second she already manage to sit up without any help. And she's been mastering what V would call "pretend cry" to get our attention, the moment I let her play inside the playpen she'll do this hysterical "they're abusing me" kind of cry and by the time she's in my arms she's wearing the sweetest smile.

at 8 months old:

• she's eating 2 full meals a day (broccoli, sweet potato, potato, carrot, chicken breast, apple, pear, banana, plum, green peas, organic brown rice, organix multigrain and hipp nibbles)


• sit up without any help from us


• push herself up to stand


• hold things in each of her hands


• drink water in a cup - she still hasn't figure out how to drink in a sippy


• "Ka-ka" that's her favorite word and she first address it to Kuya V


• "Mama" and "Didi" she can say this when she's upset and want to direct attention to mom and dad


• she only smile to people she's familiar with


• demands to be breastfed at exactly 7pm and falls asleep for 1 hour


• still no sign of any teeth coming out anytime

 

Happy 8th month our Issa-Pie! Thank you for bringing extra joy to our family.

Chloe Isabelle - 6 months

 

A month back we entered the world of messy food fun in baby world!

 

[caption id="attachment_1362" align="aligncenter" width="428"] Carrot & Potato mash[/caption]

Her first official food on the table with us was boiled pumpkin, she was not too happy eating it but she did have fun squeezing the mash and putting some on her hair, face, arms and to the floor. It was such a big mess but the little miss sure did have fun.

She can now sit up for more than an hour but I still surround her with pillows since we had an incident of her falling. We also have to say bye bye to her bouncy chair since she's always leaning forward to grab things.

As of today she is 6 months and 18 days, she manage to move around doing a belly crawl + turning to back & front. She one noisy little miss with all the screaming, moaning and oohing, when this happen V calls her a dinosaur - Chloe-saurus.

I find myself very busy attending to her needs as she seem to be more clingy to me, to the point that she would sometimes demand to see me even when I'm taking a bath! During her nap I spend time with Kuya V as I've been a bit impatient with him.

Chloe Isabelle - 5 months

 

Look see! Lil' miss turned 5 months and we didn't have any cake to celebrate. I promise to make one for her 6th month when she starts solid food.

 

 

V is having more fun with her sister now that he is getting a reaction when he does something. Chloe likes her brother so much that she laughs at all the silly things V does. We are collecting points as who make her laugh the most and V is a sure winner.

 

Dad put up her playpen where she stays in the morning while I do some chores, sometimes I find her asleep with one toy in each hand. Yes she tends to grab everything she can reach and puts it in her mouth, which also means I can no longer wear earrings I almost lost one at the mall.

She is demanding more attention from us entering 5 months. Protests when her dad holds the ipad or phone while carrying her. When she wakes up in her cot oh dear she hysterically cries and would refuse to go back in to sleep that's why most nights all 4 of us sleep in the bed.

And while everyone says she looks more like me, I see a lot of similarities between her and Dad. Excited to start her with solid food next month :)

Chloe Isabelle - 4 months old

Oh October what a busy month that I almost forgot to post that our Chloe turned 4 months old. Time is flying fast but each day we are full of joy. Chloe is such a happy baby that just lights up a gloomy day! His Kuya V loves to cheer her whenever she tries to roll to her tummy and back. Although she would sometimes shower her brother with vomit kisses he just adores and love her to bits.

 

 

We have been attending a baby massage class and she just loves every stroke. It's also our first mom-baby group activity, there's just some joy when you are around babies and listening to stories of other Mum assures one that we are doing the best thing we can for our babies.

 

 

At four months old:

• Weighs 6.2 kgs and is 63.5 cm long


• Received her 2nd dose of DTap, PCV, and Rotavirus vaccines


• Manages to sleep on her own (I put her down on the crib half awake).


• Sleeps on her back or tummy and no more swaddling


• Laughs! (Just gives so much joy to her brother)


• Responds with coo's and giggles when we talk to her.


• Rolls to tummy


• Reaches for toys

 

We have been out on most weekends attending birthday parties and she's such a people person giving each who greets her a smile (except when it's her sleeping time).

Thank your for giving us so much joy my love!

 

 

Vierte clowning to 5

V chose a clown cake design to celebrate his 5th birthday. He gave me specific instructions on how his cake will look like.

We asked him if he wanted to have a big party or special gifts from us. All he wanted was clown cake for school, chocolate muffins, Oreo bites and special gifts.

Baked a chocolate cake on a bowl pan so the face wont be flat but the cake turned out to be dry so I decided to use round 6" inches baking pan thus a flat face for this clown. So sorry for giving you a flat face happy clown.

Before leaving for school V made us promise that we bring his sister to school as well.

The joy on his face when we revealed the cake in front of his friends was priceless. "My mom made that for me!"

We learned a lesson from last years 4th birthday dragon cake to not make a mess on the classroom. Instead of slicing the cake for the kids to enjoy each one had a vanilla cupcake with nutella frosting, chocolate covered oreo bites and fruit juice.

At home we surprised him with gifts; he didn't know that he would still get gifts from us after giving him a school party.

Thank you Mum & Dad & Chloe! I got the best gift of all!

We love you Kuya Vierte!

Thank you for always making us happy.

You're the best big brother for Chloe.

Thank you for assuring Mum that you're still my baby.

Happy 5th Birthday!

Chloe's Tummy Roll

A  baby milestone happened today.

While I was preparing her clothes and water for bath.

I came back with a sight  of our little princess on her tummy.

Shrieked with joy and clap my hands, she laughed along with me.

I rolled her back with a camera on my hand and waited for her to do it again.

She just stared at me as if saying "What's the big deal Mum?!"

Chloe Isabelle is 3 months

Our Princess you're growing up fast.

You have rewarded Mommy with 3-4 hours of sleep at night and unlike your Kuya you sleep in your crib. Swaddling helped you sleep from my arms to crib and you can even sooth yourself to sleep.  For morning naps you either sleep on your bouncer our flat on your tummy.

Just recently you discovered your hands and feet. You would stare at them cute fingers and laugh when you get to lift your feet up. Daddy is having fun watching you lift your head while you hold on to his fingers.

Chloe Isabelle is 2 months

We welcomed baby Chloe's 2nd month with a visit to her Pedia for her scheduled vaccines. She had 3, one injection in each thigh and the last one taken orally. I was breastfeeding her during the vaccination hoping she won't feel the pain but boy did she cry while looking at me as if saying "It hurts mama."

Days before her baby wellness check we had vomiting incident of more than a cup full which made me worry. According to her Pedia as long as she doesn't get any fever her spitting out after feed or during burp time is normal and even commented that she could be overfed. I was advised to feed her every 3 hours and burp her really well.

Kuya V was quite sad that I didn't bake any cake for Chloe's 2nd month. The reason why we didn't have any cake was fever, baby girl had fever for 2 days after her vaccine and she demanded to always be carried and won't even settle even when I carry her in a sling. She want some bear hug from Mama.

V absolutely adores her sister but would sometimes get jealous and tell us that nobody is playing with him or would often request that I give her baby to my MIL so I can sleep with him and read stories. Daddy C has been doing a good job in giving V the attention he needs. I do spend quality time with him when the baby sleeps.

Happy 2 months baby love!

Chloe Isabelle is 1 month

Chloe is a month old!

C and I have been talking about the night we went to the hospital and if it weren't for the 2 emergency CS who came after us Chloe should have been born on the 24th. All those seem just like it happened yesterday.

During our hospital stay we struggled with breastfeeding that I almost resorted to formula good thing the nurses around me was encouraging that I was feeding her just fine. Here we are a month after happy to say that I have established a good  breast milk supply.

Oh sleep..well I'm lucky if I get a good 3 hours and that only happens if she sleeps beside me in bed with her Kuya Vierte. The first week we came home I let her sleep in the crib but that didn't work for us, I kept checking if she was ok and by the time I'm sure that she is breathing well and I'm about to sleep Chloe wakes up hungry.

In the morning though she sleeps long hours in her crib and bouncer. Morning however is my time with Vierte who was a little jealous of the time I'm giving her sister. A week after he now understands that Chloe needs Mommy more.

This month we are going to introduce pacifier and bottle (with my breast milk) with Dad or Grandma having the task of doing this. I too have to prepare myself since we only have 2 months till my MIL goes back to Pinas.

To our little Princess,

Thank you for bringing more joy to our lives. Your Kuya loves you so much, singing lullabies when you cry and just can't stop giving you hugs and kisses.

I love you Chloe! and I love you Vierte!

Happy 4th Birthday Vierte!

[caption id="attachment_776" align="aligncenter" width="520" caption="Vierte turns 4"][/caption]

How time flies, 4 years back Mister God surprised C and I with a special gift our little man. Last October 17 he turned 4 years and all he wanted was McDonalds Nuggets with toy and Dragon Cake.

When I asked him what cake he wanted for his birthday, V reached for my 50 Easy Party Cakes by Debbie Brown book and pointed on the green Dragon Cake but requested his dragon to be red "It's my favorite color Mama."

 

[caption id="attachment_777" align="aligncenter" width="508" caption="Vierte's 4th Birthday Cake"][/caption]

 

Teacher asked us to be at the school by 9:30 am so the kids would have some time to enjoy the food and cake. But the traffic lights had a different plan and we arrived late about 9:45 am the kids were about to start eating snack. We didn't have enough time to put the dragon eggs and take pictures with the cake plus C's camera went bonkers on us and just wouldn't allow us to take good photos.

The kid's reaction when they saw the cake was just priceless. V kept telling his classmates "My Mama made a dragon cake for me!" and  "Wow, Mama it's very nice. Thank you for my cake Mama. V is very happy" His reaction just made all the sleepless nights worth while.

 



As per V's request we ordered McDo Chicken Nuggets Happy Meal for each kid to enjoy. His classmates were all so sweet saying "Thank you Markus" and to us as well.

 



Keeping up with the Dragon Cake I also prepared some animal shaped Sugar Cookies. We gave his classmates, teachers and school nanny, cookies as a Thank You for making V's 4th birthday extra special.

To our Vierte:

You are Mommy and Daddy's greatest surprise and special blessing.

Thank you for always saying that Mom is still the prettiest and your number 1 love even if you just declared that you now have a girlfriend.

Please do wait another 30 years before you bring a girl in the house.

Mommy and Daddy love's you so much.

 

Below are some of the messages from family and friends.



 

Little Man went to school

We have been preparing V for months, talking about playing with friends in school and him riding a school bus with no Mommy.

Day before kindergarten start we had this conversation...

M: You will go to school tomorrow na.

V: Don't be sad Mama. You're a big girl, just cook adobo and wait for Vierte.

And he gave me a big hug and a yummy wet kiss. Writing this now just makes me cry, wasn't it not just yesterday that I gave birth to a bouncy baby boy.



Books covered and labeled. Uniform washed and ironed. Shoes brushed and socks ready. V all set for school.

I was up at 3:30am definitely excited for V's school day and by 6am breakfast was ready. Daddy C slowly whispered to him "it's time to wake up little boy."  We had a bit of a struggle that morning V crying that he wants Mommy to go to school with him. "I don't have a mommy to embrace me there"



After bath time he was his cheerful self again making sure that his bag was ready. Three of us inside the car off to school. V insisted on pulling his Pocoyo bag all by himself as we walk the school grounds.



There was a mistake on the section written on the admit slip given to us good thing he was not yet settled inside the wrong classroom. V was the second student to arrive in his class as soon as we got him seated he pulled me and whispered "Mama hold my hand."  Teacher seem to notice that he was a bit scared so she gave him a toy to play with and he immediately let go.

Parents were asked to got out of the classroom, V waved his hand "Bye Mama. Bye Daddy" I soo wanted to stay there and peek through the door to check if he's ok but then we we're all asked to leave the corridors.

My bana C took the day off to see our son on his first day in school and to keep me company.

Bye-bye Bottle Nanan

In four months little V will start kindergarten. We have been slowly preparing him for the big day since he turned two years old. He was potty trained and completely weaned off breastfeeding before we celebrated his 2nd birthday. It was a full dreadful drama month with V (and me) crying whenever he pleaded to breastfeed and me about to lose my patience cleaning after every pee accident. All of those is a thing of the past and V would refer to those memories as "when I was a baby."





He's a little boy now and it's once again time to let go of something - toddler cup.  I would know that he's tired and sleepy when he asks for a "bottle-nanan" this is also what he asks for upon waking up. "Nanan" by the way is breastmilk or bottle milk, it's not a Filipino word but something we just came up with. V would wake me up at 3am and ask for a bottle nanan and some nights he would sleep without having one. 


C calls him a baby whenever he asks for one, V then replies "Daddy bottle nanan just helps V sleep" and we would always give in. Yesterday we told V it was time to say bye-bye to his bottle and be a big boy drinking milk in a cup like how Mum and Dad enjoys coffee. Last night he finished 2 big cup of milk before going to bed and slept through the night....ohhh bliss!


While preparing breakfast V cried in his sleep.
"Mommy I want bottle nanan please. Please mommy bottle nanan." 
"I will carry you and we can drink milk in the cup." 
"No mommy I want my bottle nanan" - he went back to dreamland


After an hour V once again crying went out of the bedroom asking for his nanan. I have to be firm and I'm the boss! "Look love mommy is cooking nuggets for breakfast and we have warm water for your milk. Will make you one chocolate milk in a big boys cup."  Still crying I lay him on the couch he asked for his blanket and went back to sleep. 

Bye-bye Bottle Nanan

In four months little V will start kindergarten. We have been slowly preparing him for the big day since he turned two years old. He was potty trained and completely weaned off breastfeeding before we celebrated his 2nd birthday. It was a full dreadful drama month with V (and me) crying whenever he pleaded to breastfeed and me about to lose my patience cleaning after every pee accident. All of those is a thing of the past and V would refer to those memories as "when I was a baby."

Preparing for KG

Vierte will be attending KG class this September and slowly we are preparing him to be on his own.

Last month we bought him a toddler car seat and convinced him that Mom stays with Daddy on the front seat while he's at the back. He's ok with it as long as we have tv monitor on and water on the side.

Kumon maze and some worksheets. I've found several sites which allows me to print worksheets on tracing lines. Now he knows how to hold a pencil. We are doing 2 worksheets daily.

Preparing for KG

Vierte will be attending KG class this September and slowly we are preparing him to be on his own.

Last month we bought him a toddler car seat and convinced him that Mom stays with Daddy on the front seat while he's at the back. He's ok with it as long as we have tv monitor on and water on the side.

Kumon maze and some worksheets. I've found several sites which allows me to print worksheets on tracing lines. Now he knows how to hold a pencil. We are doing 2 worksheets daily.

School Hunt pt2

We continue the search and visited the following schools and a brief review...

The Oxford School
Curriculum - English National Curriculum
KG1-Grade 12

We have a friend who sends their kids here and they are very happy with the school and the kids are too. That itself is a plus already, we only don't want our kids to learn but to be happy as well.
The guy who toured us around the KG department was not a member of the faculty so he was not really able to explain well the activities that the school offer for KG students he just mainly just showed us around and pointed out the Star International - Al Twar Curriculum - National Curriculum for England and Wales
KG1-Year 8

Star has a homey feel to it and the assistant principal who toured us was very pleasant lady. We don't have any friends who has children in this school but base on the comments we read on the forum's majority says that they love the school. Unfortunately the fee is just way beyond our budget.

Apple International School

Not so happy with how we were entertained during our visit. The reception ladies just instructed us to go around the KG area and that was practically it.

School Hunt pt2

We continue the search and visited the following schools and a brief review...

The Oxford School
Curriculum - English National Curriculum
KG1-Grade 12

We have a friend who sends their kids here and they are very happy with the school and the kids are too. That itself is a plus already, we only don't want our kids to learn but to be happy as well.
The guy who toured us around the KG department was not a member of the faculty so he was not really able to explain well the activities that the school offer for KG students he just mainly just showed us around and pointed out the Star International - Al Twar Curriculum - National Curriculum for England and Wales
KG1-Year 8

Star has a homey feel to it and the assistant principal who toured us was very pleasant lady. We don't have any friends who has children in this school but base on the comments we read on the forum's majority says that they love the school. Unfortunately the fee is just way beyond our budget.

Apple International School

Not so happy with how we were entertained during our visit. The reception ladies just instructed us to go around the KG area and that was practically it.

"balit-tad"

After reading few blogs here and there I realized that I haven't been writing/updating this one. Bad me!

"balit-tad" (baliktad) a Tagalog word which means up side down, example: wearing the right shoe on your left foot. 

This is Vierte's current favorite Tagalog word, he would sometimes read his book the wrong way and call my attention to announce "ma book is balit-tad" or when he wears his shoe/slippers in the wrong foot "Oh-oh balit-tad...Mama ano ba yan!" and laugh. He picks up his Tagalog words when Coy and I talk and his Bisaya words when he hears me talk to my Mama or my siblings.

His Lolo Dino insists that we speak to him only in one language para di daw maguluhan. Coy and I on the other hand wants him to learn Tagalog and Bisaya para naman pag umuwi kami he can converse with his cousins at di "mabebenta" kasi naiintindihan nya yung mga taong nakapaligid sa kanya. Next year when he starts school Arabic and French classes are included in the curriculum, this mommy is very excited to learn with him.


***
potty-wee training update


Vierte is nappy free at home except at night for bedtime. We had 2 afternoon nap wee accident but after that so far wala na. During his nap every 45 mins I try to carry him and whisper "wee wee in the bathroom", he would reply "not yet mama" sabay iyak. Ngayon everytime I try to carry him iiyak agad sabay "not yet weewee mama". There would be days he would wake up in the morning na walang weewee yung nappy nya. This worries me kasi baka magka UTI. While dressing him up for a weekend trip to the mall he would tell me "I wear nappy mama ok" 


Hopefully before he starts preschool no nappy na talaga.


***

"balit-tad"

After reading few blogs here and there I realized that I haven't been writing/updating this one. Bad me!

"balit-tad" (baliktad) a Tagalog word which means up side down, example: wearing the right shoe on your left foot. 

This is Vierte's current favorite Tagalog word, he would sometimes read his book the wrong way and call my attention to announce "ma book is balit-tad" or when he wears his shoe/slippers in the wrong foot "Oh-oh balit-tad...Mama ano ba yan!" and laugh. He picks up his Tagalog words when Coy and I talk and his Bisaya words when he hears me talk to my Mama or my siblings.

His Lolo Dino insists that we speak to him only in one language para di daw maguluhan. Coy and I on the other hand wants him to learn Tagalog and Bisaya para naman pag umuwi kami he can converse with his cousins at di "mabebenta" kasi naiintindihan nya yung mga taong nakapaligid sa kanya. Next year when he starts school Arabic and French classes are included in the curriculum, this mommy is very excited to learn with him.


***
potty-wee training update


Vierte is nappy free at home except at night for bedtime. We had 2 afternoon nap wee accident but after that so far wala na. During his nap every 45 mins I try to carry him and whisper "wee wee in the bathroom", he would reply "not yet mama" sabay iyak. Ngayon everytime I try to carry him iiyak agad sabay "not yet weewee mama". There would be days he would wake up in the morning na walang weewee yung nappy nya. This worries me kasi baka magka UTI. While dressing him up for a weekend trip to the mall he would tell me "I wear nappy mama ok" 


Hopefully before he starts preschool no nappy na talaga.


***

PooPottyWee

A few weeks after he turned two I introduced him to his potty seat a gift from Mamita. We started with telling him our potty time and would let him come inside the bathroom with either mom and dad.


1st week:
"Oh oh mama is yucky!" - that's after him taking a wee on his brief. I would let him seat on the loo after and announce potty wee time


2nd week:
Addicted to the loo by now, every 30  minutes he would announce potty time. We only had 1 wee accident this week.


3rd week:
Got tired of it! He completely forgot potty time and we were back to wearing nappy.


4th week:
Insist in wearing his brief's only and during our mall trip he would hold on to his wee till we get to the loo.