4M

happy 4th month, Kian!
weight: 7.72kg (16.98lbs)

kuya showing some love!

here you are imitating daddy:

kian is now at the "playful" stage. sometimes when the daddy and kuya are playing, he watches them intently, like he wants to join them already. but im sure, in no time, he'll be running around with them, jumping up and down, adding mess to the already chaotic house that we have. he drools a lot, blows raspberries already and watches keenly when we are eating! dont worry, soon you'll be eating with us =D. in the morning when you wake up and you want to "get up" already, you'll fuss and try to lift your body like saying "pick me up already!" but of course, mommy is still not a morning person despite having two little kids =D. and when i give you my breast, you'll gladly sleep for at least another hour giving me time to refresh some more after a late night (not bec of you, but bec of the internet) lol.

thank you for not giving me a hard time. thank you for waking up with a very sweet smile each time despite being woken up by your kuya prematurely (in fairness, he wakes you up with a very cheerful "G'MORNING!!!"). thank you for always chuckling at our funny faces and enduring kuya's (sometimes) rough play. we love you very much!!

Maabilidad

watching tv at the same time!

it has been raining on/off for the past couple of weeks (and when it's not, it feels chilly) which means cayden cant go outside, in our backyard, to play. the other day, i was surprised when he placed his sled** on our sofa, with one end on the armrest and slid while saying "slide". i dont know where he got the idea from (not from the shows he watches on tv) but really, i shouldnt be surprised anymore because he's really good at imitating things. he loves experimenting and we actually allow him to (more his dad than me) that sometimes, he thinks he can get away with anything.

** tantan bought a sled last winter, obviously for when it snowed. and the one time it snowed hard (perfect time for sledding), he left the sled in the office!! - it doesnt snow much here where we are. it hasnt served its main purpose yet but cayden has played with it in a lot of ways =D

anyways, i will admit, he still doesnt know his numbers and alphabet. but it's not for lack of trying. everytime i attempt to teach him, he'll feign something (i.e booboo here or there, sleepiness) and will even close his eyes - silly child =D! he'll recite them with assistance but with a lot of prodding. we're not bothered though and we're definitely not in a hurry. he'll learn them in time (he's just 2 for crying out loud!). but what amazes us is his ability to learn things (except academics that is!), everyday things, by just seeing them once. tantan said this is how he wants cayden to be - street smart! he can figure out things easily. he can work around things if the first strategy doesnt work. he also knows how to "subsitute". he's creative and very resourceful.

sorry about the mess, it's around 7pm. cayden has already taken out all his toys lol

kian's imitating his dad (playing with the tongue) but that deserves another post!

so who said you cant have fun if you're stuck indoors? all you need is just a little imagination!

and a little cheekiness!

sorry naman sa pag-overemphasise ng "-ck" sa stuck lol!!

Strike Anywhere

as i've said many times, kian is a very low maintenance baby compared to his older brother. but i think we're partly to blame for cayden's fussiness before. of course, as first time parents, we really didnt have a clue as to how to raise a baby. although my mom guided us, we had to learn most things by ourselves.

with cayden, we were always on our toes. we worried too much with him. it's like cayden commanded us. we were scared of him. so when kian was born, we said we'd correct our mistakes. we knew better. initially, it made me feel guilty - that im not "loving" him as much as i did his older brother just because i dont fuss too much with his every cry. i always tell myself it's also for kian's own good. i have to show him im the boss! =D

because of that, kian doesnt cry much (cayden wasnt a cry baby either but putting him to sleep and feeding got a bit stressful. we had to devise strategies because he liked things done a certain way). kian does not even cry when he's soiled his nappy. he can sleep with a gentle rocking, sometimes, he can soothe himself to sleep. he doesnt need my boobs to fall asleep as cayden did. he sleeps through the night (i dreamfeed him though). he only gets grumpy when he couldnt sleep in the afternoon because his kuya has been shouting and making so much noise lol. but even that doesnt take long =D

touch wood, i dont jinx it with this post lol

he falls asleep instantly whenever my brother looks after him

kian sleeps from 9pm until his brother wakes him up the next day =D

on his bouncer

while waiting for us to get ready

while lola's watching her telenovelas

on the rocking chair

Almost Perfect

my sibling's holiday here would have been perfect if not for something really stupid i did while they were here.

one lovely sunny afternoon, my sister and i went out to do some grocery shopping. it was her first time to go with me (it's usually my brother who goes with me). it was also the first time that she sat beside me in front. whenever we travel, she sits at the back between her son and my youngest, kian.  my brother always sits in front (my alalay: hands me this and that lol)

driving here is different from the philippines as it's right-hand drive. she would often comment how more difficult it is to drive on the left side of the road bec of some blind spot thingy with our left eye (she drives in the phils). i would contradict her saying the principle's just the same, whether you drive on the left or right.

anyways, i parked my car beside a pedestrian walkway. there is a post at the very end. as i was pulling out, my sister suddenly said "ate, babangga ka" (on the post). i dont know what i was thinking then (well it's more like i wasnt thinking at all!), i looked at my side mirror (left side) but instead of reversing (lessening the damage), i still went on. i heard the sound of metal on metal. it's depressing and scary!!! i parked again and i asked my sister to look at the damage first. i had to force myself to get out of the car to look at the damage myself. it was bad!!! i phoned tantan and told him what i did. fortunately, he's a very calm and understanding person (if he was the one who did it, he would never hear the end of it! lol). he just said "it's ok, nothing we can do now". of course we're not gonna claim on our insurance. it will only increase our premium. and looking at the damage, it's not that sore looking. i can put up with it (say 1000 times to psyche oneself lol)

of course my sister went on again saying that i've just proven her point (blind spot - left side). i tease her that she's the bad luck lol. anyways, everytime i remember what happened, i just shake my head thinking how daft and thick i was.

parang ni-rolling pin lang!

Look Alike

as pointed out by my brother's girlfriend (wen), kian looks like russell from disney-pixar's UP here:

russell pic from google

and how about this? kian looking like chuckie lol (only without teeth hahaha!)

pic from cheezburger.com

so, who does kian look like more? hehehe

3M

kian is turning 4 months old on thursday. and before i forget to blog about his 3rd, here it is....

at 13 weeks, he weighed 7.2kg (15.84lbs). he's on the 75th percentile, which basically means that he is as heavy or heavier than 75% of babies his age. well, he feeds a lot and sleeps a lot, that's why! =D

his bones are quite strong as he can already support himself standing and sitting up, of course while leaning on something. he is a bit lazy though. he doesnt like tummy time so much lol!

he is very sociable. he coos and smiles a lot especially if talked to. and i love his facial expressions when you converse with him. it's as if he's really talking to you and making sense! haha!

we celebrated his 3rd month with my sister, nephew and youngest brother, who came for a holiday. he got a bit spoilt as he'd be picked up and carried when he cried. lots of yayas to comfort him and to answer to his back and call! now im trying to re-train him to get used to lying down and playing by himself again.

anyways, here he was on his 3rd month:

more pics here

I'm Back!

i have a really good excuse for not blogging this long. the household has only been quiet for more than a week since i last blogged and that time was spent tidying up. i cant delay blogging anymore - i have lots to tell and if i dont start now, i dont think i'll be able to blog about them anymore.

there's kian's christening. there's cayden's 2nd birthday. and of course, the many adventures we had with our special guests - my sister, youngest brother and nephew! another brother arrived on the 21st of april but he only stayed for 10 days.

to start of, my sibs arrived on the 11th of april. i picked them up by myself at the airport because tantan has work and since my car is just big enough to accomodate my sibs and their luggages, my mom stayed home with the kids. last time i saw them was when we went home to the philippines the previous year. i was really looking forward to their stay and of course, the many pasalubongs and bilins they brought for us!

i already had our I.T for the whole of their stay sorted and planned. we did most of our road trips during weekends when tantan can join us. he just started his new job and couldnt take long breaks yet. fortunately, there were quite a few long weekends so he didnt need to ask for time off beyond what's allowed.

first stop was london (15-16 april). there were loads to see and because we had little kids in tow, i made sure i planned it as laid back as possible. it's challenging because we have a breastfeeding baby with us - we had to follow HIS schedule! fortunately, kian's low maintenance. he slept most of the time =D. we just had to go around his feeding sched and even so, didnt really demand a lot! we stayed the night at our friend's house (thank you, el and merc!) because we didnt want to spend for accomodations (we're cheap like that lol!). they live closer to london and we just parked our car at the tube station and took the undergound train to london. it's quicker like that.

at high barnet tube station

figuring out where to go next

kian's first time in london.
i love his onesie: i ♥ mommy!

on our first day, we went to madame tussaud's. we (me and tantan) were glad that there are new wax figures on display. we've been there countless of times before (accompanying guests) and it gets boring seeing the same thing over and over and over. there's also the 4D show, which we all loved! it was a new experience for everyone except me (i've been to one in NY) and to top it all, it was about super heroes, which my nephew is into!

we also went to st. pancras tube station to see the olympic rings. then to king's cross train station to see platform 9 and 3/4 made famous by harry potter. but to our dismay, that part of the station is under construction and they moved the "scene" to another area and what they did was just printed out a big poster of the wall and attached the trolley to it. it was disappointing as the original one was a real wall!

last stop for the day was at tower bridge

to be continued...

Oh Toodles!

if you have a young child like me, you probably watch more kid shows than adult ones. and you're probably glued to playhouse disney channel more than others because of mickey mouse (clubhouse). you even know each song lyrics and probably memorised the dialogues after watching the show over and over and over and over......

as much as i want to limit cayden's tv exposure, i cant. the tv is the only thing that can make him sit down in one place for a long period of time. that means, i can do other chores without worrying on what he'll be up to as soon as my back is turned. he only watches the disney playhouse channel (and +1), alternating between mickey mouse clubhouse, handy manny and special agent oso.

anyways, watching the mickey mouse clubhouse, you're probably familiar with toodles.

Once the problem of the episode has been explained, Mickey invites viewers to join him at the Mousekadoer, a giant Mickey-head-shaped computer whose main function is to distribute the day's Mousekatools, a collection of objects needed to solve the day's problem, to Mickey. Once the tools have been shown to Mickey on the Mousekadoer screen, they are quickly downloaded to Toodles, a small, Mickey-head-shaped flying extension of the Mousekadoer. By calling, "Oh Toodles!" Mickey summons him to pop up from where he is hiding and fly up to the screen so that the viewer can pick which tool Mickey needs for the current situation (wiki)

pic from google

now cayden thinks we have a toodles! one time, he wants me to change the channel (to +1) but the remote was on a table a few feet from where we were sitting. i told him to get it. he didnt want to get up so what did he do? he shouted, TOODLES!!!!! it was really a laugh-out-loud moment =D

another time, he came in to my bedroom and asked me to read him a book. i asked him to get his book from his room. instead of getting up, he again shouted TOODLES!! =D

if only there really is such a thing! (and handy helpers too!) but sorry, baby, you would have to do things yourself.

2M

kian turned 2 months old last saturday. he was weighed last thursday and he's already 6.2kg! no wonder my arms ache when i carry him! he can carry his head well already. he coos and smiles a lot when talked to...cute! he's a much easier baby than cayden was. i dont worry as much when i leave him with my mom because he can bottlefeed expressed milk (the guilt is still there, though!) - eventhough he complains at first! he sleeps well through the night, feeding only once or sometimes not at all =D. he's a light sleeper during the day, often waking up to his kuya's noise. but at night, he falls asleep by himself (no rocking, tapping nor singing needed). he's growing up way too fast!!!

All Clear!

i have a lump on my left breast. i've had it for more than 10 years - no pain, no discharge, no dimpling, movable and it didnt change in size or texture. i had it checked "informally" by my friend doctor (no tests done) and i was told it's benign. it didnt bother me. didnt worry me at all.

photo from beyondmedicine.co.uk

(fast forward to the present)
second day into breastfeeding kian, i felt a lump on my right breast. it didnt worry me at first because i am breastfeeding and it could just be some blocked ducts. i did some reading and followed everything that was advised - hot compress, massage, etc. even after doing everything that's listed, it didnt go away. 3, 4 weeks have passed, it's still there.

then i started worrying. for one, i have a very close friend who had a brush with breast cancer recently (fortunately, it was in it's earliest stage, didnt even make it to stage one) and had radiotherapy treatment after having the lump removed. secondly, it's not movable like the one on my left breast and it's not painful (which could easily have been mastitis or blocked duct). i did some research again, in case i missed something, i read that blocked ducts or mastitis should resolve within 2 weeks. i can still feel it on the 5th week!

i went to see my gp. she felt my breasts and armpits. she wasnt worried because she said it's likely to be just a blocked duct and will eventually go away by itself. the lump on my left breast, she said it's been there ages and didnt change so she said she wouldnt start worrying about it. still, she referred me to the breast clinic.

last thursday, i had the breast ultrasound (mammogram not advisable as that would just squeeze the milk out!). it was a doctor who did the scan (im not sure about her specialty) and she said she did not see anything worrying; even with my (true) lump.

earlier this afternoon was my appointment with a male specialist (who looks like Philip Seymour Hoffman!). i waited for more than an hour to be seen in less than 5 minutes! i was ushered in a room, asked to take my top off including my bra and to wear hospital gown. waited again for the consultant. when he came, he just felt my breasts and confirmed what the other doctor said - that there's nothing to worry about. the breast is just probably working hard in producing milk. for the proper lump, he said it's most likely benign bec it's been there ages already and im still ok. i wanted to complain about the wait but im too grateful to do that! i'd rather that than be seen for longer which would mean something's seriously wrong, right?

anyways, im really thankful that there's nothing to worry about. i thought, better be paranoid than leaving it till there's no more hope. so ladies, always be wary of your bodies. any concerns, no matter how trivial,  see a doctor! better safe than sorry!