Establishing a Routine for Your Baby

Establishing a routine for your baby has its ups and downs. I have successfully established an effective schedule for my son and during the first few months, it wasn't as bad as what I have heard from other parents such as myself. Caleb sleeps at around eight or nine in the evening and wakes up at around five or six in the morning. I get my usual five or six hours of sleep and if he does wake up in the middle of the night, it may be once or twice at the most and after a quick change or a warm hug, he is off to dream land once again.

I know that sleep is a major issue for parents during the early months of a baby's life and I pretty much have no complaints as to the adjustment but don't misunderstand me, before I had established a schedule and a bedtime ritual, it took a lot of sleepless nights. Stress and fatigue were my daily companion and there were times that I would almost fall off the wagon and just break from the constant routine. Watching Barney and Sesame Street almost drove me nuts too. But like I said the benefits of having a routine really pay off once your little one is used to it.

I start his day with a hug and a kiss then I give him a sip of water and we play on the bed for fifteen to thirty minutes. We go out to the living room to listen to classical music for at least twenty minutes and if the sun is out, we go out walking outside the house for thirty minutes. I sing to him his favorite nursery rhymes as we walk and after that we go inside and I give Caleb his daily vitamins. Breakfast soon follows and after a short rest, if he is a little sleepy and tired, I allow him a short nap. If he is still a little active, I give him his morning bath and then I read him a story and cradle him to sleep. He usually wakes up after an hour or two and then we go and watch Barney or Sesame Street. If he loses attention, we play games and I give him his toys to play with on the floor. Lunch can be a bottle of milk or some available solid food like fruits or boiled vegetables. Then its clean up time. Afternoon activities vary because sometimes we go and visit our relatives and cousins and sometimes we go to the mall or some place new. Come six in the afternoon, I feed him his dinner and then we watch a little TV and its off to his bedtime routine. First is a warm bath or spongebath, then a baby massage, a story and a little soft music and lullaby. After that we say goodnight to my parents who we still live with and Caleb usually is tired out by playing a little more and then we say our prayers and I give my baby his bedtime bottle and then I lay him in his crib and kiss him goodnight. That's our usual routine at home and I have been doing that ever since.

There are also days when we go for trips in the car, trips to the doctor, unavoidable appointments and sick days and there are alterations in the schedule, of course, when it comes to the welfare of your son or daughter, you have to be flexible. So, the downside of having a routine is that when a familiar environment, i.e. our house and the familiar items and things that are always used and seen by the baby are not present, the routine is changed or altered. The bedtime and naptimes as well as feeding times are varied and the activities and even the people who hold and care for the baby change too. During these days, expect tantrums and irritability, missed naps, and disturbed sleeping patterns. These are unavoidable but once you re-establish the routine, you are once again having fun and worrying less when it comes to taking care of your baby.

I Love Nursery Rhymes

I love nursery rhymes. I have been listening to them since I was little baby and thanks to my mother's influence I have adapted the habit of playing and singing nursery rhymes to my little one as well. I know most of you, like me remember Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Mary and her little lamb and so many other characters that have never changed throughout the years and if I am not mistaken, most of you, like me still have the lyrics and the verses memorized.

I believe that having your baby listen to nursery rhymes as early as possible has a very good effect. From my own experience, I have repeatedly sung songs like Old McDonald, Mary had a little lamb and other "M" containing nursery rhymes and as early as 4 months old, my son could babble and repeat the "M" sound and after a month he was saying "Ma" a lot. Not only that, he was always smiling whenever he hears me sing those nursery rhymes which I took as a sign of early recognition and familiarity. Whenever he is fussy or irritable, I always make it a habit of cradling my baby and having my old nursery rhymes cassette tape play in the background and soon after having played it, my son would yawn and eventually fall asleep on his own.

Those were just some of the benefits I have observed from my own personal experience. After having interviewed my mom about how she had raised me and my brother, I started to realize how important having these nursery rhymes were for our family. Humility aside, I could say I turned out pretty well from having been exposed to nursery rhymes and reading at an early age. This is because from early childhood up to now, I have adored reading, learning and singing. I plan to impart those habits to my son too. My husband agrees with me as to how important training your kids to learn and love reading since these are the building blocks for a bright and intelligent future.

That is why I want to share with you my love for nursery rhymes. It takes a lot of patience, time and effort to raise your children right but all of the hard work pays off whenever your child reaps the benefits of having been taught by diligent parents who spend time each day reading, singing and playing with them. Make it a habit to keep these nursery rhymes alive in your family, because I am sure, that in the future, your children will look back on these memories and thank you for it.

If you want to listen, read and remember those childhood nursery rhymes, come take a trip down memory lane and check out the Kididdles site.

I found this site containing all the beloved nursery rhymes and songs that were and still are popular for the kids, adults and young at heart.

Random Ramblings

Crappy internet and power outages or blackouts spell trouble for a daily blogger such as myself. These are major obstacles for me during these past few days. And add the smoldering heat of the drought we have this summer, the constant crying and tantrums of my son and the constant nagging of my parents, equal hell for me. I really have don't want to make my blog site a place for my rants, my ramblings but I just hate the fact that I can't do anything about these things and having the chance to spill my outrage and ill feelings gives me relief somehow since I don't have my husband to tell my problems to or my friends to call on. It's really pathetic of me, I know but still, if you happen to read this, it means you have nothing better to do or you share my pain and or think that you are better than me and are grateful that what I am experiencing is not happening to you. Well, good for you then.

Anyway, that is how it is for me living in the province of Nueva Ecija in the country of the Philippines. I'd like to say sorry to my followers for having to endure my absence from blogging but unlike other countries that have good wireless internet connection and no regular blackouts, I am just unlucky. I wish I was in another country at this moment, away from the heat, the hard to please parents and the nasty internet and electric service. Then add the corrupt government officials, the hospitals that don't pay for even allowances for the nurse trainees, the lack of any kind of paying job, and the absence of your support persons - nothing can convince me and my son to stay here. I really wish I could go away and live independently and be well supported and truly very happy. Oh how I really wish for that day to come soon.

The New Pup on the Block

Mojo the Second

I would like to say that no dog can ever replace our dearly departed Mojo, see related post here.
But my mother had never gotten used to not having a dog in our house and she never did get over the death of our dog. One morning after so many tears have been shed, Mom said, "Do you think that reincarnation is possible? Maybe Mojo can come back if we find his parents." I couldn't say anything but just pat my mom's back and hug her as tears swelled from her eyes.

We set out to find Mojo's breeder and with much time spent from calling up pet stores and researching the Internet for known Pekingese breeders, we found Mojo's breeder, who luckily had Mojo's mom still in her possession. And that dog, had just given birth to 5 beautiful puppies. That gave us hope that we could still have a loving pet that would remind us of our Mojo. I had always thought of naming our new puppy something other than "Mojo", because personally, I do not believe in reincarnation. But Mom is so very stubborn and we couldn't do anything to reconsider. And since, the new litter had a different father than Mojo's, the group consisted of pure white puppies instead of the three-colored puppies, Mojo originally came from.

But Mom went with the dog's personality or traits, because when we first bought Mojo from the pet shop, he was the only puppy who came near and played with my mom. So, my mother took the friendliness and closeness as a sign and bought the only white puppy who resembled our late Mojo's characteristics.

I am proud to present our new Pekingese puppy, Mojo the Second.

He is a bundle of joy and very playful. He knew his name at once and whenever he hears us, he comes running toward us. He loves playing with our late Mojo's toys and is also as loyal as his predecessor. Although, he was a new puppy, he did remind us of how it used to be when our other dog was with us. So far, Mom is not crying anymore and the hole that once was gaping in our hearts had finally started to close. So if reincarnation is true or not, I still think its crazy but now that we have a new pet, we are starting to move on.

I pray that God watches over and protects our new pet because he is after all, a new member of the family.

Gag with Beans: Beanboozled!

Jelly Belly has been world-famous for their gourmet jelly beans. They have more than 50 flavors including their other blend of different-flavored beans.

Having been a fan of their curiously colorful and delicious candy, I have discovered a safe and great way to trick your friends and have a good time. I present to you my experience and review of their brand of jelly beans, Beanboozled. The name itself readies the buyer of the deliciously deviant prank you will inflict on your family and friends.

It was a good thing that I was passing by my favorite candy store and stopped to browse for something sweet to nibble on before I went to the movies with my friends. I wasn't a fan of going into stores, trying on and staying for what seemed like hours of browsing paraphernalia and tidbits, so I wandered around and lo and behold found myself buying this small box of trick beans.

BeanBoozled, consists of 20 flavors, 10 flavors belong to their most famous and favorite gourmet flavors, and the other 10 are mirror colors with different flavors.

Make a game out of trying the different flavors and letting your friends and family guess what flavor they got. Be fair and try one with them. They can try and smell and study the small seemingly harmless bean, but once they taste it. Let the giggles rain as you observe each and every one of those reactions.

Some of my friends were really brave and didn't mind the awkward tastes of the different, they chewed and finished eating the oddly flavored beans and some had to spit out the unusual tasting ones. I really had fun seeing their faces. I might post their pictures once I have my camera handy after buying the 2nd edition.

This is a good buy for those who have yet to try and let their trickster sides lose. It doesn't come cheap but having seen your friend's weird reactions is always priceless. So, why not try a box today.

Check out the Jelly Belly site to have an idea of those oddly flavored beans and also their other products.

Have fun!

Baby Separation Anxiety

My own personal experience of missing my little one is not as serious as most mothers experience. Let me share with you though, how difficult it is to be away from your source of happiness and purpose. I have been away from my son for 4 days now and I have been constantly thinking about how he is. He is being taken cared of by my parents at home and because of business matters, I had to leave my son with them. They are all very capable of taking care of him since they have years of practice with me and my brother but as a fairly new mom, it still is very hard and it definitely yanks your heart strings just missing an angelic face such as this.
I am definitely coping and surviving the nights I have not been sleeping beside my little darling. I know that it is completely natural to feel as if you're incomplete and a big gaping hole has been left in your heart when you know that your little one is in the arms and care of persons other than yourself or your husband. I wonder if my baby knows that I miss him so much? If he has trouble sleeping at night, if he looks for me whenever he does the routine I have established with him? Those are the common questions that plagues my mind during these moments of non-productivity or boredom during work hours.

If you are just like me, I got these tips below to help you cope with what they call "separation anxiety". Usually this is felt by both the mother or primary caregiver and the baby so it helps to be prepared before you leave your little one.

According the the Babycenter Site:

To help the Mommy and Baby weather the goodbye blues:

• Say goodbye in an affectionate but matter-of-fact way. Try not to draw out farewells or let yourself get emotional in response to your baby's crying.
• Stay away once you say goodbye. Resist the temptation to turn back and check if he's OK. This will only make things more difficult for you both.
• If it will make you feel better, call when you get to where you're going. Chances are he stopped crying straight after you left and got diverted by an activity.
• Spend some special time together when you pick up your baby.
• Read the signals and trust your instincts. Does your baby react the same way when your partner does the drop-off? If not, perhaps getting him to do the dropping off is a better alternative. Does he seem unhappy when you pick him up? It's unlikely – but possible – that your baby and the babysitter or carer may just not be a good "fit".

I have done all of these and it makes me feel a lot better knowing from the updates from my parents at home that li'l Caleb is a happy little spud despite me, not being there. My heart aches still, but I know that I have been able to do good things in raising my brave and smart little boy.

The Day Mojo Died

"In loving memory of our dear Pekingese, MOJO"
June 16, 2007 - December 14, 2009

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray...
You'll never know Dear, how much I love you...Please don't take my sunshine away..."

Do you believe that all dogs go to heaven? Then perhaps, I would be relieved to know that our little darling, is up there with our Creator, frolicking in the gardens, chasing after other dogs, eating all the pandesal and sweet milk and chicken
to his little heart's content...

"Oh Mojo, why did you have to leave us so early?"

I regret not having brought you for a walk in the park that morning. I regret not paying attention to you that day.

I'm sorry for not showing you how much I love you and for not playing with you when I had the time. "I'm so sorry Mojo-puppy koy."

Our dearest Pekingese dog, Mojo, died last December 14, 2009 at around 4 in the afternoon. He was hit by a jeep carrying vegetables.

Our maid tried to pull him to safety, but our dog desperately tried to cross the street to get back home to our house.

He just had his "libot", his walk, at our other lot across the street and our maid had forgotten to close the gate.

Our Mojo had the habit of running back home whenever he was tired and when he wanted to see us. Our loyal, Mojo. He never wanted anything but our attention. And now, how I wish I could've played with him everyday.

Our dog was 2 years old. He would've had a great Christmas, a long life should've been his since the petshop owner told us, Pekingese breeds live up to 15 years.

He would've had fun playing with my son as they both grew up together. But now, it will never happen. And to think, Caleb is so fond of touching your fur Mojo. How could you leave us so suddenly.

I write this in such grief and sorrow. I may seem silly and foolish for having felt such strong attachment to our smart little dog, but our whole family will miss him. Terribly.

He was a great guard dog, a loyal and affectionate pet. Though he lacked the training to do tricks, he could understand us. He knew how to welcome us home, he knew how to cheer us up.

He knew how to get his leach and his collar when we went for a walk. He was my company when I was left alone at home. He was my closest canine companion. The only dog I grew to love so deeply.

I would like to share his pictures with everyone so that his memory will live on.

I remember the way you looked a few weeks after we bought you from the pet store. You reminded me of cute little "Ewok" from Star Wars.





When we go on car rides together.



That day when we played with Mom and Dad at the beach.



That halloween when we dressed you up in your very own costume.



My precious and loyal dog, Mojo, how regal and cute and kind and loving you were. Always looking at me with those trusting eyes, that I could not help but give you hugs and kisses almost every time.



I can write a whole book of how my dog meant so much to our family but I can't go on without tears clouding my eyes.

Dearest Mojo, I pray that despite our little time together, I pray that God takes care of you in heaven.

We'll see each other again Mojo, I love you.