A REAR Christmas

Back to Work
After seven months of full-on full-time Aqui-entertainment, I'm whisked back to the reality of work. I was a bit surprised to find myself enjoying work. I feel a bit guilty for enjoying my time at work but I just don't think I'm cut out for full time motherhood -- and I have the utmost respect and awe to those who are. I miss Aqui every minute I'm at work but as Ronnel said, we are more motivated to work now - more than ever- because everything we do from hereon is for Aqui. Work means so much more now than just personal fulfillment. Nevertheless, the first days were a challenge not only for me but for Aqui too. She hasn't adapted quite yet to the fact that I'm no longer available 24/7 especially now that she's in the more-than-clingy-than-clingwrap stage. But after a few weeks, she got better.

First REAR* Christmas
We've prepared as much as we can for Aqui's first Christmas. We've had our family Christmas cards made (for free from Vistaprint - haha, they should pay me for this), had our Christmas tree up early, bought most gifts online to avoid the shopping rush and exposed Aqui to the Christmas spirit early. I'm sure she would have no recollection of this when she grows up but I'd like to think she enjoyed her first Christmas. We spent it with friends who we consider our family here in NZ.
*REAR - Ronnel, Einge, Aqui Rodriguez







Christmas Wishes
I posted my gratitude to Ronnel in Facebook - for making all my Christmas wishes come true. Of course, the first one (and most important one) is to have a little family Christmas. For the past five Christmases, it was just me and Ronnel with friends but nothing beats family of course. This year, we can say we spent it with our little family. God has a lot to do with us having little Aqui but Ronnel contributed too! :-) Another Christmas wish was for us to have childcare sorted. The first one didn't really work because Aqui was (and still is!) an attention-hogger which didn't do much for our carer's wee one so we had to find another carer who could give Aqui her undivided attention. Fortunately, we found one quite fast. Aqui is thriving and enjoying her time there. Our new carer has a 3-year old daughter who's so cute and makes Aqui laugh all the time. And Ronnel was very patient driving around the area child-care hunting with me. Third wish was for a robovacuum. Yep, you read it right. A robot vacuum. Before you call me lazy, let me tell my Time Consumption Theory. When you lose time, you'll never get it back. So make the most of it and spend your time on things that are most important to you. So, rather than spend my time vacuuming and cleaning the house, I'd spend it with Aqui and Ronnel, playing or just enjoying being with each other. Hence, I asked for a robovac. I've left subtle hints such as leaving the browser open with the a robovac on the page and not-so-subtle ones like telling him straight to his face that I'd like a robovac for Christmas. Ronnel was not really convinced that it's something worth spending money on so I stopped bugging him. One day, he asked me if I really wanted it for Christmas and I said yes, and so, he got me one. He's still not convinced that it's doing its job but he hasn't complained much. He still teases me that it's not really cleaning our home - but the dirt it collects in its bin shows otherwise. Plus, it sterilizes our carpet so I'm more confident to have Aqui roll and roll along our carpet. I named it "Vacki" and it has given me time to consume on things I prioritize more. So, thanks, dear hubby!

Here's Aqui and Vacki co-existing... Vacki cleans up after Aqui leaving a mess...


A New Year for REAR
We're looking forward to the new year. There's so much that we've planned for Aqui. We are hoping to have Aqui's 1st birthday in the Philippines so that she can spend time with her grandparents, cousins and other relatives. We're saving up for this big trip -- it's our first since we've been to NZ - and hopefully, we'll get a good deal in the Travel Fair (whenever that is).

Oh and before I forget, here are the latest Aqui updates....
Aqui has started eating "real food". She's past the "mashed everything" stage and has started to develop a liking for bread, rice and pasta. Truly a carbo baby!



She has also started "creeping"... crawling is not too far away!


Aqui Noises. She's been experimenting with her voice lately. Her favorite syllables are mamamamama and dadadadada amidst raspberry-blowing. This is cute but not at four in the morning when you're still in the middle of a relaxing sleep.



Eczema and Allergy. Aqui is suffering from mild eczema and she gets red blotches especially when it's really hot and humid. She gets itchy and grumpy too. So we've got lots of creams to put on her every time. I think this is the curse for most Filipino babies in NZ (some Kiwi babies have this too) but our doctor told us that it's because our skin is used to tropical weather. It could be the pollen here too. I got eczema on my arms when I got to NZ. Before this, my arms were ok both in Malaysia and the Philippines. I think it's just because it's so non-polluted here - I'm probably used to having the polluted air block out the UV rays from the sun. Another concern is Aqui's allergy towards dairy. It's sad because NZ has the best dairy in the world. We also get mixed advice on this. Our doctor told us to expose Aqui to dairy little by little for her to build up her immunities - i.e. me eating lots of cheese and milk so Aqui can have dairy second-hand. But the Eczema nurse told us to stop eating dairy as this attacks her immune system. This is not the first time we get mixed "expert" advice. I guess our job as parents is really to filter and decide which way to go.

She's now seven months old and it seems like it was yesterday when she did nothing but sleep all the time! Now, she's just so active and wants to go everywhere. She gets frustrated when she can't reach her current favorite toy and we try not to help her so that she can develop on her own. Whenever her temper flares, Ronnel and I point to each other on where she got her short fuse.

Anyway, that's all I have for the Aqui update this December. I'm off to sleep now. Oh yeah, we're co-sleeping - Aqui takes half the space in our bed while Ronnel and I squeeze in the other half. We decided to co-sleep because it's more convenient this way. Aqui sleeps through the night better between us and dream-feeding is a breeze. Plus nothing beats waking up to the sight of a laughing Aqui on top of you.

Six Month Bonanza!

by Aquiwee

I celebrated my sixth month birthday with friends who are celebrating their birthdays on the same day! Bianca shares my birthday while Ryan turned 1 today! So it's extra special (more food! with my official birthday food - Spaghetti and Cake care of my Ninang Doyeth.. for orders: please contact me!)




Here I am with my 6-month pressy from Mommy and Daddy!


Allergy Panic
Mommy almost had a panic attack when I had an allergy attack weeks ago. She wanted to wean me on formula as she's preparing to go back to work but it looks like I'm allergic to it! We spent a couple of hours at the clinic while the doctors gave me meds and observed my progress. It's official, I'm allergic to cow's milk. Good thing I've started eating so don't fret, I'm still getting my daily dose of nutrition!
Here I am swollen (no, it's not just my chubby cheeks) from formula - waiting for the doctor's decision on when we can go home.

I'm 5 months old! Weee!

by Aquiwee

I'm nearing a milestone. 1 more month and I'm six months old! But before that, let me enjoy my 5 month old moment first. I celebrated my 5th month birthday with Mommy and Daddy. It's an intimate moment for our li'l family as our glass windows cried and fogged with the cold and rainy weather outside.



Look at my Hello Kitty Cake!

Starting Solids
Another milestone for me is I've started eating solids! Well, not that you can call pureed everything "solids". I love pears and pumpkins but absolutely hate carrots (like my daddy!). Mommy says my poo smells now (like my daddy too! haha)
Look at me eat!



And here's a video of me being fed by daddy!


Starting to Sing
I think I'm going to be a singer someday. I've started vocalizing early in the morning which drove my parents nuts. Here's a clip of me singing my fave song and some pics of me sleeping in my parents' bed.






Missing My Grannies...
I miss talking to my lolo and lola in the Philippines. They are incommunicado for a while now since the torrential downpour of rain and floods in the Philippines (especially where they live - San Mateo. My other Lolo is ok now as he's in Makati with my Uncle). Mommy and Daddy just talk to them over the phone but I bet they miss seeing me via the Webcam. :-(

PS Here's a video of me and a boy-friend discussing world peace...

Ronnel's First Fathers' Day

New Zealand may be first in celebrating in Christmas and New Year's but it's late in celebrating Fathers' Day. They've long celebrated Fathers' Day in June in the Philippines while we've just had it yesterday. But that's fine-- the most important thing is that we celebrate it. And since it's Ronnel's first ever fathers' day, of course it's a big deal for us. So here's how we made the day special...

Fathers Day Breakfast



And we got him a mug where Aqui's photos magically appear when hot drink is poured into it..



In the afternoon, we had a household prayer meeting to pray for our friends who are celebrating this day followed by the first barbeque of the year. (Still waiting for photos from Paz...)


Aqui Outings
Aqui has been busy these past few weeks. We've been to the doctors' several times that I have their number on speed dial. It is quite rattling for a first time mum like me so whenever I feel something isn't right, I call the nurse or doctor right away. Maybe on our second child, I wont be as panicky anymore... haha. Aqui's had an infection on her middle finger because of her frequent thumbsucking (why not the thumb?) and we were given anti biotics for that. After 3 days, she got better. Then she got eczema from the changing weather (it's Spring now). After that, she got an infection again, this time on her ring finger. Ayayayayay.... She's all better now. Hopefully, she won't have any other "condition" in the next few weeks (months or years even, but that's too much to ask) otherwise, the doctor will think I'm a stalker.. haha

Here she is with friends...


And in her new chair (I got this special chair for 3 months and up.. to help them sit up. She's enjoying it a lot (a lot means for 25 minutes max).



And she attended Keisha's 1st Birthday party.. will be posting pics of that when I get them from Arnel.. :-)

100% Recovery from First Fever. Weee!!!

by Aquiwee

I have recovered from my very first fever and I'm back to my usual up and bouncy self.
Here I am with my fascination with our heatpump and my mom's phone....

Aqui's First Fever

Ronnel, Aqui and I survived our very first emergency moment. Aqui had a fever (nearing 39C) the morning after her vaccination. Even though we were prepared for it, nothing can prepare you for the anguish and near-panic you'll feel when you see your child burning in fever and pain. I'm just so thankful that Ronnel and I didn't panic and had the sense to check our "What-to-do-in-case-of-fever" references. We put off giving her medication (the GP prescribed one in case the fever doesn't go away). After a few hours of cooling and feeding her, her temperature went down to 37.5C which was great news. She was still very grumpy and cranky. Her cries were still of pain. I noticed that her cries were of a different decibel than her usual cranky-"I'm-bored" cries. Last night, she was a whole lot better and was even smiling and playing with us. I couldn't help but get up every hour or so last night to make sure the fever doesn't come back. This morning, she was her usual playful self. Her cries were back to normal and she was starving. We're staying home today as well to make sure she's 100% recovered. I'm sure God will understand if we miss church today.

Here she is with her very first fever.

3 months and Aquiweefied!

Aqui is now 3 months old! Weeee! Time does fly so fast, doesn't it? I still haven't fully internalized that I'm a mommy now. hehe. Sometimes, I feel this is all a dream, that I have been blessed with a little angel but whenever she starts to coo, smile and poo (!), yup, I know this is for real.

Immunisations Again

Aqui got her 3-month immunisation shots this afternoon and as expected, it pained me to see her undergo such pain. This time, Ronnel was there to experience it with me. I remember the first time when she got her sixth week shot and I broke down in tears as Aqui's cries were like glass shattering in my heart. This time I was more prepared and didn't shed a tear but it doesn't mean it was an experience we liked. Aqui seemed to have a sixth sense about it and started crying the moment we stepped in the clinic. She knew something was up. Her cries pierced through our ears (and the clinic doors!) the same time the needle pierced her chubby thighs (there were two shots). I suppose it was good that it didnt take much for her to recover. After a few minutes of feeding and a lot of cuddling, she was back to her normal smiling self. She was a bit grumpy in the afternoon but thankfully, she wasn't difficult at all (neither did she have fever... well, still 12 hours to go).

Too Sleep Trained
It turns out that there is such a thing as too much sleep training. The other night, Ronnel was on Aqui duty and Aqui started wailing. I was on the shower then so it was all up to Daddy to pacify Aqui. He heated up the milk, carried her, lulled her but still, the wailing didn't stop. After a while, he put Aqui down on her bassinet to get the heated milk and presto, silence was upon the room. Yup, all Aqui wanted was to sleep and be left alone on her bassinet. The same thing happened to me yesterday morning when she woke up at around 530 am (from sleeping at around 9pm last night). She was hungry so I fed her. We played a bit, she pooed, I changed her, she pooed again, I changed her again and at around 630, I knew it was time for her to sleep. I sang her lullaby (this is her cue to sleep) and she was actually a bit drowsy and then she started to cry. I thought she was hungry again, but she wasn't. Or she pooed again, but she didn't. After a while, my arms were getting numb (she was getting heavy!), I decided to put her down on her bassinet. Voila, she stopped crying, closed her eyes and sucked her thumb to sleep. The irony of Aqui! She cries because she is being cradled and lulled to sleep whence she just wants to be left alone! I can read her thoughts now.. "Mommy and Daddy, you were the ones who trained me to sleep on my own and now, you can't leave me alone? What The Fish!?@%" hahaha.

Happy 3 Months Aqui!
As usual, we celebrated her month-day with her (our) favorite cake. Ninang Laiz and Tito Rommil dropped by to help us finish the food. hehe. Here are some of her pictures to celebrate her 3rd month.

Good (Long) Night Aqui! (and some random tips)

Aqui is sleeping so I'm taking the opportunity to blog...

I'm so proud that Aqui has joined the ranks of sleeping-thru-the-night babies (like her classmate Riley). Last night, I gave in to the advice of the other mums here (PIN group and facebookie mum Lisa) to leave Aqui alone and just let her sleep through the night. In the past, I wake her up at around 2 or 4 for a feed whenever I hear her suck her thumb noisily. I've done this as I'm worried that she might get ulcer or something from hunger (I really believe that hunger can burn holes in your tummy!). But since most of the babies around us seem to start sleeping through the night at this age, I gave in as well. I was advised that if Aqui was hungry, she would definitely let me know with a cry. The result - Aqui having slept through from 10pm to 6am and me- having no sleep at all! I was so worried that I won't hear her cry so I watched her sleep. In the morning, both of us had eyebags-- her, from having her first long sleep and me from having no sleep at all. I hope this is the first of her many sleep-thru-nights. Soon, we may even be moving her into her own room. I guess I'm glad that I meet other mummies (&bubs) to hear their opinions and share tips and advices.

It is truly a relief to know that Aqui and I are not the only ones going through these stages. I wish there was something like this for friends in the Phils and Malaysia who are first time mums as well. Sure, they have the luxury of receiving advice from their families and relatives nearby but getting advice from people who are going through the same things at exactly the same time sure beats the heck out of "historical" advices. In a way, I am blogging for them as well. They might not leave written comments on my blog but we email and chat sometimes and I feel warm all over whenever they tell me that they've read my blog and picked up something that will help them caring for their newborn. So friends, don't fret - we might be miles away but I assure you, whatever you're going through with your little one, I have gone through it as well (well, most of it) and so have other mums here. And I'll do my best to document it and share them with you.

Let me leave you with some of these handy tips:

1) Breastmilk is best for babies. Yup- not only for eating but for any skin rash! I spray breastmilk after the night feed on Aqui's face whenever she has those red blotchy rashes and they're gone in the morning!

2) Babies do smell. Aside from their poop smell, the creases when left alone will smell. Aqui is growing fast and storing a lot of fat too! It's getting harder to clean the "hidden" areas like her neck, the back of her knees, her armpits etc. If left alone, rash can form and it'll be red and smelly! Aqui had that for a few days in the neck and at first, I decided to just wash it and pat it dry but it got worse so I put on some baby powder. But then I found out the powder can cause lung problems if inhaled so I switched to a cornstarch based powder especially designed for heat rash. I'm now looking for this Huggies Liquid Powder which is the best for these baby rashes as it's in liquid form so there is no risk of inhalation at all.

3) Barrier creams are great but airing baby's bum is best. Although they say that your baby's bum will tell you what it needs, it really doesn't do that, right? My pedia prescribed a zinc-castor oil paste to use on Aqui's bum and I use this on every nappy change. I've also used another brand, Bum Balm, which is made from essential oils and beeswax and found that we liked this more -- but is quite expensive so we use this only at night and when going out. Apart from this, we take every opportunity to air her bum and even expose it to the morning sun. I'm proud to say that her bum is as smooth and silky as can be!

4) Don't wait for baby to develop on her own - Help her reach her full potential. I think that's the gist of all the Plunket DVD's I've seen so far. All the baby movements, exercises and activities point to one thing - help your baby develop as early as possible. Yesterday, we were taught how to stretch baby's legs to help her learn how to roll over when the time comes. Tummy time is for baby to learn to crawl early and exercise the neck. Some mums even give solids to their babies as early as 4 months - it all depends on how your baby adapts.

5) Any language spoken with bubs 3 years and below will never be forgotten. That's what one of the PIN group mums told me yesterday when I posed the question on what should bilingual parents use with their babies. The advice is to use the native tongue when speaking with your little one otherwise your child will pick up your accent and that won't go well when it's time to go to school. So speak the native tongue since your child will easily pick up the local language at school or around the neighborhood anyway.

So that's it for now. Hope you find these useful.

Sa uulitin!

Meeting More Bubs

by Aqui

Mom and I attended another mommies and babies gathering around the neighborhood, this time, it was the Plunket In Neighborhood (PIN) group. I got to meet other babies and saw Orion again (it turns out that we fell under the same PIN group because we're neighbors). Orion was surprised to see me wide awake! We watched a Plunket DVD on baby exercises and activities. I got tired from our get together and dozed off the moment I got home.

Look at our pics. I do get around, don't I?