Working Mommy Blogger from the Philippines
The African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child”, may be a cliche but this will always hold true. But for a fledgling family like us with our only daughter, Gwen, the greatest foundation a child can have is from her parents. While we still need all the help we can get from the yaya and from my Nanay, nothing compares to the bond formed between the child and her mommy and daddy.
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Me: Gwen, alam mo kung anong song yung may lyrics na “…I’ll be there to save the day…”. Hahanapin ko kasi sa Spotify eh.
Gwen: One Call Away po, meron po ako sa tablet ko…
The inevitable just happened, I woke up one morning and the baby I just held in my arms yesterday is now 5 years old. Jeff and I often tells this story to Gwen, that when she’s still a baby, we wished that she’s big enough to talk and walk so that we’ll know why she cried, what she did, etc… But now we would tell her otherwise… that we miss her being a baby, we miss carrying her, I miss waking up at night to breastfeed, etc.
Before, we watched Peppa Pig, Charlie and Lola, and other nursery rhymes on YouTube. Now, she requested me to make her own YouTube channel. Shopping for her clothes will take forever because there will be debates between Mommy’s style, Daddy’s style, and her style, guess who won?
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After stressing myself for Gwen’s United Nations costume last week, here comes Halloween that needs…a costume. I was pushing her to just use her UN costume, she was Ms. Greece and she dressed up as a Greek goddess. Costume na sana yun di ba? Buuuut….just like last year, she had other characters in mind.
Just a throwback since I wasn’t able to blog about her halloween costume last 2015, she dressed as Yayadub. Aldub is at its peak that time, and she’s hooked watching them. She dressed up as Maine Mendoza by wearing a white polo shirt, black leggings, red bag, white watch, AND of course, polka dot apron, pak!
Trick or Treat 2015 costume: Yayadub
This year, she wanted to dress up as Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie. Nung sinabi nya sa akin, I googled it just to make sure.
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Gwen took ballet lessons when she was 4 before she entered Prep school. She watches Peppa Pig then and Peppa goes to ballet. So when I asked her if she wants to enroll in a class, she said yes. She loved every part of it and is always looking forward to her Saturday classes. In our part, we signed her up to improve her social skills. Gwen has separation anxiety, during her Junior Kinder days, her yaya was inside the classroom the entire school year because she cries after realizing she’s just her with her classmates. But during her ballet lessons, she goes inside the room all by herself, plays with her classmates, and happily dances and twirls. Aside from tremendous improvement that we noticed in her social skills, it also has benefits in her posture and confidence.
She always tell me that she misses dancing ballet, I’d tell her that she’s going to one in the summer. But an invite came for Gwen to try the ballet lessons at the newly opened The Lisa Macuja School of Ballet Manila at the 4th level of Fisher Mall in Quezon City. You know what’s so surreal, they will be taught by THE Prima Ballerina herself, Ms. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.
circle time with Teacher Lisa Macuja-Elizalde
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Ever since Gwen stopped breastfeeding when she was 4 years old, she relies on growing up milk in addition to her meals. She is a picky eater, even though some articles said that breastfed babies will not likely to be one. So Jeff and I mutually agreed that Gwen will drink milk as long as she wants just to make sure she’ll get the nutrients her body needs.
The question is, what milk should we give to her? We tried one or two brands, followed what her doctor suggested and some recommendations from friends too. There are plenty of options, from cow’s milk to goat’s milk, full cream to skim, liquid to powder. Does it matter? Aren’t all milks the same in terms of the nutrition they provide?
The answer is NO.
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February has the least number of days, hence I didn’t notice that it’s already March. (Edit: This is just an excuse, truth is, let me ask for an apology for the lack of updates :p). Anyway, February has some important activities for my toddler, Gwen, so I’m sharing it to you.
For 2 consecutive years now, Ate Rose always helps Gwen in making V-day cards. Si Ate Rose talaga ang nag-iinitiate nyan. They don’t do art activities in school that’s why I’m glad that Ate Rose is creative to help Gwen practice her creativity.
#MultipleIntelligence unlocked: Brain Smart
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