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.
