Tips on Teaching Your Child to Be More Organized

My parents hated clutter. They constantly reminded us to put away our things properly. My sister slowly adapted the habit. When she was younger, her room was cluttered like mine, but when she grew up, she learned the art of de-cluttering regularly. Sadly, I wasn’t able to develop that trait.

It was only when became an adult that I learned the value of organization. A cluttered space promotes a cluttered mind. Now I would like to teach my Bea how to be organized. At a young age, we can teach our children to appreciate the value of clean and orderly surroundings. They can always start with simple things they know very well, their toys.

Let me share with you tips on teaching your child the value of packing away their toys:

Let your child play with only one toy at a time. Allow her to bring out another toy from her toy chest only after she returns the previous toy properly.

Make up a song while you pack away. Make a game out of the activity. Make sure she finishes packing away her toy before the song is done.

Use clear and positive instructions. Say “Mommy would love it if you help in picking up your toys” or “Please return your dolls back to the toy chest”.

Appreciate and give praise for her actions. Let her know that you’re proud of her for remembering to pack away her toys properly.

Consistency is always important if you want this positive trait to develop into a habit. By constantly reminding your child to pack away her toys and then affirming her actions, this will set the foundation and eventually develop into a positive part of her personality as she grows up.

Contaminated Vegetables

My daughter is still suffering from the ill effects of her GERD. She still has food aversion and is still spoon-fed with milk. Although she is now able to east some solid food, her main source of nutrition is still her milk.

I really want to teach her to east nutritious food, like fruits and vegetables, that's why i was so appalled when i learned that many of todays fruits and vegetables are contaminated. With the many pesticides available to unethical farmers out there, we are not really sure of the fruits and veggies we are serving our family are safe and clean. And mind you, cleaning through running water is sometimes not enough anymore. Read the rest of the article.

Acid Reflux and Bea

last monday we went for bea's scheduled upper GI xray and it was confirmed that she had reflux problems. she was made to lie down and daddy fed her with milk mixed with barium. we can see the milk as it goes down to her tummy. she was made to lie on her back, then on her side. so far so good. she drank the milk with little resistance, probably coz she's had nothing to eat or drink for the last 4 hours, a requirement for this test. then the docs just observed her, after 5 minutes, we saw clearly in the monitor her milk slowly coming back up her esophagus. hay, no wonder she keeps on throwing up. we also had her blood checked as per instructions of her pedia.

the following day we went to the pedia gastro, and she told us that according to her initial check up with bea, her motor skills has no problem. they had to rule this out since this could mean weak muscles of the digestive tract. she also said that bea's development was at par with others. she advised us to stop feeding her through a syringe, and try feeding her in a cup instead, this can help with her reflux since she will be feeding in an upright position. she insisted on us being consistent. she also upped bea's meds: motilium and omepron. plus she asked our pedia to refer us to an occupational therapist who will help re-train bea to eat, suck, chew and swallow again. the therapist will also be able to diagnose if bea has a swallowing problem. the only problem is that no therapist has clinic hours on saturdays, meaning, absent na naman.

the docs were quite honest with us. they said this will be a long process. and i bet quite an expensive one too. oh well, i just hold on one thought: God will provide.

update: we've been trying to feed her in a cup for 2 days now, more milk spillage. less milk drank. still with vomiting. currently running a fever. my boss reminded me no more absences, at least for the next two weeks... problems just keep on pilin' up.

i hold on to one thought: God will provide solutions and answers... in His time.

Reposted from my other blog. Original entry posted on 6/28/07

The Day Our Nanny Went Missing Part 1

One Friday morning, we were busy getting ready for work when we received a text message from our nanny that she will not be coming to work. My husband and I looked at each other blankly. “Now what?” We couldn’t just leave our daughter at home with her grand father; he’ll be too stressed out. Both my husband and I have pending things to do at the office and we just couldn’t go on leave. We had no other choice but to bring Bea with us to the office.

On our way, we were discussing whether who will take Bea to the office. We decided that I would just drop by my office to submit my pending report then we’d head on over to hubby’s office where I will take care of our daughter, while hubby goes about his day.

This is a great idea, theoretically, but an entirely different matter in reality. My daughter’s feeding problem has been the primary source of tension in our family. My patience can only be stretched so much. My daughter and I often have shouting matches about this. Why can’t she just open her mouth and drink her milk? At four years old, milk is still her primary source of nutrition and she is still not taking it willingly.

The moment of truth: Breakfast. I fixed her milk and started to feed her…. To no avail. She kept on protesting, her arms flailing up and down, side to side, preventing the milk from reaching her mouth. And then it happened… miracles of miracles, my Bea simply said “ara (kutsara) na lang Mommy” (let’s just use the spoon Mommy).

I started scooping the milk, and she opened her mouth willingly! OMG! We finished our

glass within 30 minutes. (We used to spend 3 hours to down 1 glass, and sometimes we can’t even finish everything). This day made me believe that prayers can truly move mountains! Everybody has been praying for our Bea to get over her feeding problem, or at least for our feeding sessions to stop being the battle it often is. Thank you Lord!

Though this day started off at the wrong foot, it is slowly becoming one of the best days of my life…

To be continued…

How to Treat and Prevent Head Lice in Children this Summer

Having head lice may seem to be a simple problem, yet it is an excruciatingly irritating and embarrassing experience. When I was young, I remember being reprimanded by my mother for vigorously scratching my hair in the most inappropriate places like churches and restaurants. I couldn’t help it. My head felt so ITCHY! Bea also had a bout with head lice when she was almost two years old. She was so irritable especially at night. I felt so sorry for her, but it didn’t end there. Since we slept in the same bed, the little creatures felt it was perfectly fine to venture to the nearby head, MINE! Argh!

Head lice are something that is often associated with summer. For children, the joy of summer vacation will not be complete without spending hours playing under the sun. And the humidity, sweat, prolonged exposure to the sun and other sweaty, not-sure-if-they-take-a-bath playmates increases your child’s risk of getting head lice.

Department of Health Warns of a Measles Outbreak

Last February, the Department of Health announced that there were almost 700 cases of measles documented in less than two months. This prompted them to declare an outbreak in six areas, namely: Baseco Compound and Moriones in Tondo, Manila; Barangay Pulang Lupa in Las Piñas City; Central Market in Dasmariñas, Cavite; San Francisco town in Quezon province; and Balabagan town in Lanao del Sur. This is a scary statistic, especially for moms like me. The thought of my child suffering from such a notorious disease is simply unbearable!That's why i really made sure my Bea received her childhood vaccinations against Measles.

What is this diease? Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, which affects mostly children. It is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.

CRIBS Foundation, Inc. Marikina City

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A loving home and environment for each child.

Compassionate, professional and responsive staff and volunteers who are committed to the caring, healing, recovery and development of abandoned, surrendered, neglected and sexually abused children and their families.
Together, creating opportunities for each other to become whole and empowered instruments for changing their social reality.

Answered Prayer for My Daughter

it has been a while since we attended the regular prayer meeting of our community, but i remember that when we were still actively attending, we used to pray for the same things, over and over (don't we all)

we prayed for our little bea to get over her feeding difficulties, complete healing from her acid reflux and for us to find a suitable nanny for her for hubby and i are both working.

God is good indeed, and although it took some time (and a lot of frayed nerves!) God sent a great nanny our way! i was i little apprehensive because she was young at 17 years old, but she's ok. in fact she is now bea's best friend. they even have private jokes that only the two of them understand! her youth and energy works to her advantage since bea is now a handful, running here and there, jumping, shouting, laughing... being a typical toddler!

another answered prayer is the fact that bea seems to be getting over her acid reflux! yey! except for yesterday's episode (oops, she was overfed i think), it has been more than a month since her last episode! she is still difficult to feed, won't eat anything else but lugaw with sinigang, still force fed through syringes, but at least her body is now absorbing her food! and the improvement shows:

i am very grateful! so many answered prayers! i hope she keeps this up!

i definitely acknowledge divine intervention, plus a patient and persistent yaya, and a new vitamin we tried: Scott's Emulsion. according to my father, this vitamin has been around for ages, in fact they tried it on my sis and me, but since it was essentially cod liver oil, (eewww!) we didn't like the taste. kudos to glaxosmithkline for reintroducing this supplement in a super tasty orange flavor. bea seems ok with the taste, thankfully!

Another Sleepless Night With My Baby

we finally decided to call it a night... at two a.m., i lied down next to little bea to get some shut eye, but bea kept on tossing and turning, and kicking and slapping, kept of trying to sit up and crawl over to daddy's side. if i stop her, she'd cry. she wants to drink water, daddy gave her some, it appeased her only for a moment, then she vomitted it. she had a hard time going back to sleep. she was also running a low fever... 37.9 so i gave her tempra. she fell asleep after a while, only to wake up again after two hours. argh!

today i wake up at the sound of bea and her daddy fighting. she won't sleep again. she has feeding problems already, please don't tell me she's developed sleeping problems as well.

i hope it's just a phase.

bea's first cart experience

earlier hubby, bea, yaya and me went to robinson's metro east to do our grocery. ninang arlene wasn't able to do her marketing last weekend because she was busy serving at the PGR =). so today we were tasked with the marketing. we decided to bring bea along since it was so hot at home, she could use some airconditioned air =) and for the sake of her yaya na rin, para di naman masyadong bored sa bahay...

it was her first time to ride on the grocery cart. she loved it, kept of giggling out loud. she kept on pointing at the direction she wanted to go and things she wanted to touch. all the while babbling at the top of her lungs. however, moments later, the cart experience lost its charm ( well, she got bored) and she wanted mommy to pick her up. i obliged of course, how can i resist. =) i brought her over the aquariums to look at the fishes and she kept on pointing at the "pisss" =)

after doing the groceries, hubby went off to put the bags in the van, while i brought bea and yaya to Toys R Us. si bea typical girl talaga. she would grab a pink ball, touch girly dolls, rode a purple car... and of course when she saw a barney stuffed toy, naku napraning! she grabbed immediately saying "mimimi", a term of endearment she coined while watching barney videos. good thing after a few moments she lost interest of the toy( actually, inaliw at nilayo lang namin sya, hehehe), otherwise that would've cost us P645 for the small toy! grabe talaga!

little girl was feeling sleepy na by that time. we just bought a box of pizza and zagu pearl coolers as our snack and pasalubong for lolo resty waiting at home. we also had to head home by this time because i still had to cook my chicken sinigang (a success by the way!).

tiring but fun day =) little princess was such a good girl on this trip, i'm sure we'll do this again soon =)

First Swimming Experience

i just want to blog bea's first swimming experience. this happened last april, at kuya austin's 2nd party, april 14. this year they decided to have a swimming party. it was on a swelteringly hot afternoon. bea came in full gear, already wearing her pink polka dot swimsuit, new pink shades and her newly bought floater =) when we arrived tita che and ate lyssa was already there. we got a nice spot by the poolside and watched the games from there. soon, ann and denny arrived with their kids...hubby was called on to participate in a relay game... sayang i wasn't able to take a good picture.

then we tried getting bea in the pool, understandably she was a bit afraid so we placed her in the small wading pool for little kids with kuya harley. it got a bit crowded since they all had floaters...sayang di ako kasya, i wasn't able to get in there with her. but then when barney came out to dance, this really made her day! she was frantically pointing and waving at barney! hehehe... barney's her current fave you see, must've gotten my penchant for anything with the shade of violet =) when hubby was done with his game, he came in the pool to join bea... bea was having the time of her life... for only a couple of minutes... then i guess she felt cold already because she wanted to come up. hubby tried to hug her but when i saw her lips were already shaking we decided that her pool fun was now done ...hehehe.

with uneven seven and our kids =)

Bea's First Haircut

our little bea had her first haircut last thurday, May 31. we have been wanting to do this for a long time but i was having second thoughts... it's easier to tie her hair back if it's long. but it's getting so long and curly (just like mommy and daddy!)

i was on leave still from work, daddy wanted to have a haircut so i decided to tag along with bea and her yaya. we had only one place to go to, tito ziffred's parlor. he is the official hair expert of the osana's.. =) i was supposed to hold her while in the chair, but i also wanted to take good pictures of the event, i was afraid hubby will not do a good job. hehehe... i just feel it is a milestone for her! so daddy held her while they sat on the chair. little bea was such a good girl during the whole thing. she only held on tightly to daddy while mommy snapped away with my camera phone! the only time she panicked was when the hairdryer was turned on (for only a few seconds) to dry her hair.

Bea's Pediatric Check Up for May

last saturday, we went to st luke's for bea's monthly checkup. good thing we were really scheduled that day since bea's was running a slight fever. we left the house just before 4 and arrived there at around past five. it had started to rain. good thing though that we were the next patient already. this is a rare thing since most of the time even if we arrive late, the corridor would be full of waiting kids, moms and dads.

when the pedia weighed her, she told us that instead of gaining weight, bea lost some. bad news for us. last month we were so happy since her weight was already within the normal bracket... and now she's slipped back to being underweight.

we were given new meds again for the vomiting, and the doc changed some of her vitamins. plus now we were to try feeding her upright. (now that's a challenge and so far we have yet to succeed... she's still being force fed through a syringe). i hope the meds will work. she's susceptible to vomiting especially during morning feedings. the doc thinks that her tummy probably produces more acid since during the night there is no food intake. hence the new meds.
she also had her hepa b booster. the fever, accdg to the pedia, was due to her molars still trying to come out. her gums are so swollen already.

after her check up we went to greenhills to take care of some errands. we left bea and nanny maymay in the van for a feeding. after we had dinner at Ling Nam. we all had noodles and siopao. bea was showing no signs of being tired and sleepy, happily walking around the restaurant chatting with the waiters.

went home late, feeling so tired and sleepy... but happy.

Bea's Check Up With The Pediatrician

earlier this afternoon we went to st luke's for bea's monthly checkup. good news, she gained half a kilo. yehey! not bad for a baby who doesnt suck on her bottle for milk and just wont take in anything solid, plus would vomit the little food that goes into her system every now and again. she also had her MMR immunization shots.

we arrived at around 5pm. we had to wait for some while since there were still 4 kids ahead in line. while waiting bea wanted to practice her walking skills. she walked along the corridor then daddy would practice her standing up with out holding on to anything. (she's 1 yr and 3 months and still not walking yet... though the pedia assured us this was nothing to worry about and that she's just setting her own pace.) while inside the doc's office, bea was given a bread stick and we were s happy the she grasped this bread stick eagerly and sucked on it. later , she was already chewing on it. she was eating on her own! another milestone! i'm so proud of my li'l girl today! she's growing up... definitely. urgh! bittersweet!