I'm really fond of Miguel's pediatrician. She's warm and personal, more like a friend who helps me cope with the challenges of being a mom. Since Miguel was born, she's been a great source of comfort and confidence. I could send her a text message in the middle of the night or very early in the morning about my agony and she would respond. I could tell her honestly that I sought another doctor's opinion or care and she would give fair advice.
She's one person I'm going to miss when we move to Dubai. During our last visit to her clinic, I told her about our decision to relocate and she was delighted. When I mentioned that my challenge would be to find a good pediatrician for Miguel, she gave me several tips and advice. And I was happy when she suggested that I phone her if necessary because that's what I would like to request from her.
I am thinking now of an appropriate thank you gift to give her when we come for our last visit in June. I know she's a golf enthusiast but I'm not sure if we can afford to give her golf clubs. And I learned from her secretary that her birthday is also in June. Any idea of a nice gift that befits a loving person that she is?
I've been invited by nice to answer her question of the week.
Here’s the drill:
The aim of these questions is to share opinions and experiences among moms (or dads) in the blogosphere. Each week a new question will be posted and I’m inviting mom and dads to answer and share their thoughts about it. If you are participating, leave your links in the comments section. Link back to this site inviting other parents to join the fun.Try to visit the other participants…you will love their answers, that’s for sure.
Now, for this week’s question: What are the names of your kids? Who picked them? Any significance of that name/s?
Name: Isaiah Miguel
Meaning:
Isaiah - salvation of God; the Lord helps
Miguel - who resembles God
Nicknames: he goes by a lot--miguel, chik, mimi, papa, manyu! don't ask me what they mean...these names just come out of me whenever i'm so gigil :)
Isaiah wasn't actually our first choice of name. We were still choosing between Miguel and Gabriel but Nico's cousin whose wife gave birth to a boy months before I was due already named their son Gabriel. It so happened that when I was pregnant, my sister and two other relatives were also pregnant with boys, so before we ran out of nice names we decided to announce to the world that we're naming him miguel. And then we researched for a second name. Antonio, Alfonzo, Inigo, Isaiah, Marco, Lorenzo, etc. But either the name is already given to a cousin or I just didn't find them appealing. Until Nico suggested that we choose Isaiah since my nickname happens to be one variation of Isaiah. And Miguel sounds like his name "Nicoell", hahaha :) ang babaw!
I wasn't too happy with the name we settled for, but one thing I realized now is that it doesn't matter whether you find the name odd, you will eventually find it the most special, most precious name in the world, simply because that's how you feel towards your baby. And I wouldn't have named him something else. :)
Nico reminded me about teaching Miguel to pray, so a few days ago we started taking turns in praying with Miguel as part of our bedtime routine. He learns really fast that after the first night he already knows how to put his hands together in a prayer gesture when he hears us say "it's time to pray."
Tonight when we were almost set to go to bed, he took out a book from the stack and so I volunteered to read a story to him. The story's entitled "Young Jesus." After reading a few lines, I was amazed to see that he put his hands together in prayer! Apparently, he understands the association between "prayer" and "Jesus." So I confirmed that he's right in associating the prayer gesture to Jesus and we went on to say our bedtime prayer. :)
It seems I'm running out of ideas to keep my little boy entertained. Being an active tot, you wouldn't catch him sitting on a single activity for a long period. Recently though, I've been feeling really stressed over his obsession with "The Circle of Life."
It started when Kuya Pei popped in the Lion King dvd. I was surprised to see that Miguel was interested to watch. Whereas before, when I tried to let him watch Barney, he didn't pay any attention. I didn't mind that he watched simba's tale that day. Fortunately, he's only interested in the part when rafiki would lift simba up in presentation. (You may notice by now that I've watched it several times already that I know the names of the characters, hehehe:)) But when he kept on "asking" me to play it again the following day, I got concerned.
You see, the problem with our house is that you can find TV in every corner, literally! And there's one that's meant for magic sing and radio and dvd. Miguel would take my hand and lead me to where that TV is so I could put in the dvd for him. Apparently I have a Disney sing-along DVD which has the circle of life as the first song, so one time that's what I put in so I could take it out again after his fave part is done. It worked for a while until the once a day tv time progressed to twice then three times a day. At times I am successful at distracting him with other activities but there are just too many things that remind him of tv!!
I don't dream of ever having a kid whose eyes are glued to tv all the time so I'm taking every possible precaution. Besides it's easier to not let him get addicted to tv than to reason out with him someday why he couldn't watch barney and thomas and what-have-you all day long. And besides, I believe there are a lot of other activities that are worthy of our time than watching tv.
I took the opportunity this morning to introduce him to a new activity. Since he's an early riser, we would normally be running around the neighborhood at 530am. This morning was no exception. At around 630am, we went back in the house and he spent a few minutes scattering all his clothes and putting them back in the closet. I just let him. When he got bored he took out a book and I read a few lines. After a while, he tugged at my shirt again and led me to the moondeck (this is our laundry area that doubles as a garden). We don't normally spend time here but since it's summer and we couldn't head off to the beach, an idea came to me. We went up to the moondeck and I filled two basins with water, gave him a few tools (plastic toys such as a seahorse, crab, shovel and sprinkler) and we're set. He had the grandest time of his life sprinkling water on the plants, getting soil from the pot and just messing up. I'm happy to have found a new activity he could enjoy.
And he didn't remember to watch TV. :)
PS.
Dear moms, can you share your toddler's activities with us, please? We need more ideas. Thanks!
It's supposed to be a fun day today. But we need to go to the lab in a while to get some tests done on the little boy. This will be the third and hopefully the last test he'd need to endure during his toddlerhood (lifetime sana). I almost wanted to skip this one, but I realized I'd want to know if the meds did work.
You may be wondering what's this I'm babbling about. Well, I certainly hope to blog more extensively about why Miguel has been on meds for months now and has to undergo series of tests. Promise, I'll do that one day.
But oh, I hope you don't think of him as a sickly little boy! He's the opposite, in fact. He's one happy boy. Always smiling and giggling and "talking." He may not be chubby, but he sure knows how to sap every bit of my energy during playtime! :)
Waaaaaa :( I thought we 'd make it to the next doctor's appointment without any incident.
I've kept my fingers crossed since last check up. The next one is on Saturday, May 3.
And then there's the nosedrip again! Waaaaaa! :(
If my memory serves me right, there was never a month this year that he hasn't got colds. And it's usually clear and dripping. The last time we went to the doc, it was confirmed to be an allergic reaction. To something, I don't know! It could be the chickens, darn chickens. He's not eating chicken but he loves chasing them! Or it could be the haystack at the neighbor's yard. But whatever, I'm dead sure he's allergic to something that's here around us.
Probably the most acceptable reason we have for deciding to ship out.
So yes, the neb's at work again. And zyrtec, too. Pray it will work.
This was the first time I was able to interfere with an impending asthma attack. Previously I would either hesitate on checking with Miguel's pedia about the necessary meds or remain complacent about using the neb, though she's told me many times to start neb at the onset of coughing. I've learned my lesson after two hospital confinements.
Nose drip started showing off on Sunday, and I heard his first cough on Monday. I just knew I had to put him on regular neb with salbutamol and NSS. And so I did every four hours. On Wednesday, coughing was still present, I called the doc to check if there is anything else I needed to do. I was told to give him zyrtec.
Today, the cough's almost gone. I did it. I'm happy. Commend me. :)
Babies are born with a great need for comfort and security and parents, especially mothers, are supposed to be the main providers of comfort. When such security isn't available, babies tend to look somewhere else. And they often develop an attachment to an object which become powerful soothers.
with new pal, kermit
Darn digital cameras! They made my life a bit more complicated especially since I've been having a really tough time choosing which photos to include in Miguel's first year book. I want them all in! It's impractical, surely. Finally, I'm able to narrow it down to a reasonable number. And it's just about time that I pursue this photo book project. Much as I'd like to diy this one--oh how I envy those who can really digiscrap!--unfortunately, I'm not one of those who are gifted with an artistic side. Anyway, I discovered a local printer of photo books and they make really nice picture books at a reasonable price. I'll be trying out their services this weekend and see what comes of my little boy's baby book. It has to be nice!
From tiny tot...
to handsome little man...
Allow me to brag, it's my blog and it's my boy! :) My 13 month old has mastered the following skills and is learning loads everyday...
*he confidently walks unsupported, oftentimes runs, and even bends over to pick up things
*he dances to the tune of "let's twist again", with that funny little action of his hands that resembles someone who's wiping the floor :)
*he goes up and down the stairs
*he imitates our actions
*he points to objects, and even points to some body parts (mouth, teeth, nose), when asked
*he responds to instructions (kiss mommy; stick out your tongue)
*brushes his teeth; uses spoon (most of the time plays with them)
*pushes and pulls toys and other stuff while walking
*says mama, dada, baba, tata, da-ung, daw-dow (or at least that's what it sounds to me!)
*babbles while scanning the pages of his books (as if he's actually reading)
*uses different tones and volume when talking
These are the reasons I am keen on staying home everyday. Always glad to have the chance to witness Miguel's progress firsthand.
I've been tagged by Nice. This reminds me that I haven't yet posted Miguel's 12th month milestones so let me just share with you these 8 random things about him:
1. He started walking unsupported before his 11th month.
2. He's the first paternal grandson. Imagine the joy of my in-laws upon learning it's a boy :)
3. He's been checked by a total of 6 pediatricians during his first year! No, he's not sickly, guess as first time parents, we'd been way too cautious. :)
4. At night, he sleeps on his own, doesn't need to be rocked to sleep
5. He's breastfed for 11 months. Self-weaned gradually.
6. He's super sweet. He would rest his head on my shoulders and hug me tight occassionally.
7. He's a bit sensitive. He would give you that super cute pouty-lip gesture whenever he's hurt.
8. He's fond of (or should I say, amazed at) four-legged creatures--cats, dogs, even lion and tiger, though he's only seen them on NatGeo :)
Now tagging May, Vannie, Manel.
No more tickly, uncomfortable curls! We finally had his hair trimmed. After months of struggling with unruly, girly-like curls that usually caught people's attention (we usually hear the comment "oh he's got curly hair"! as if it's the most unusual thing on earth), Miguel had his first haircut a week after his birthday.
The party was supposed to be at the poolside of Renaissance Towers in Ortigas. It wasn't a rain-free saturday afternoon. In fact, at 11am, there was a heavy downpour in that side of the world! Kidstar Kastles, the team I hired to do the venue dress up, was already at the venue. According to accuweather.com, there would be showers at around 12noon which was forecasted to last for 2 hours, and the sky would be cloudy at 3pm. We had no choice but to move the party to an indoor venue. Good thing, we were accommodated at the Bramante Ballroom. Thing is, this ballroom's good for about 500 people and we were expecting around 70! Sigh...
Anyways, the invite said 3pm, and guests started arriving around 330pm. The early birds busied themselves with the chocolate fountain (thanks to my sisters who generously paid for it!) while waiting for the others. I had a brief discussion with Flooch, the host and game master, about the program flow, and we agreed that the entire program would be done in 2 hours. I thought this is the ideal length of a kiddie party--longer than this would tire the kids and bore the adults. The program officially started at around 4pm.
Flooch was a great host; he can connect to his audience--both kids and adults. He started off with establishing the reason for the party through an interview with one of the kids--Miguel's cousin, Ate Betina and went on with a set of games. When the games were done, it was eating time. We opted for the non-traditional set of food for this party--not the typical rice and viand combination-- and most of our guests loved the food (well, you can never please everybody!). 
After everyone had their fill, Flooch went on with his magic. This time, the ballroom echoed with scream, laughter and excitement, as if there actually were 500 guests! :) Both kids and adults were amazed and entertained.
Ventriloquism was the last part of his show. He had a dialogue with Spike the dog, and it drew more laughter from the audience. He invited Miguel to sit on his lap and touch Spike, and fortunately, Miguel stayed long enough for the photographer to get good shots. :)
We were invited to come up the stage along with the kids for the candle-blowing ceremony. Miguel has mastered the proper way of blowing candles (much like doing raspberries:)) but I guess he was overwhelmed by the presence of so many kids trying to do the same, that he just stared at them instead of actually blowing. :)
Next, it was time to pull the pinata. It was a fake. Miguel pulled it with all his might and it didn't come off *lol*. The kids were all ready to catch some goodies but had to wait longer until Flooch's assistant was able to pull it open. :)
The kids lined up in front to get their loot and then went on to get their sesame cupcakes. Before picture taking was over, the floating balloons were all gone. The table centerpieces had been taken and the cupcakes were no more. And rightfully so. I really wanted the guests to get their share of these party goodies.
To our dear Isaiah Miguel, happy birthday. We love you! :)
To see more of the birthday photos, click here.
It was music to my ears. My heart skipped a beat and I almost jumped with joy. All because Miguel finally called me mummy! You see, I've been teaching him to say mommy or mama for months now and each time he would either ignore me or he would say dada, tata or papa--sounds which nico would take to mean "daddy". Yesterday, though, was a different story.
He was playing in his pen and I went to get his sippy. He shouted "mamam" (which means he wants to drink water) and when I ignored him, shouted "mum-my" for everyone else, including his daddy, to hear! It sounded really sweet! I was overjoyed! I stopped and went back inside the room and gave him a big hug.
Of course when I asked him to say it again he wouldn't obey. It might have been accidental; it might have meant differently, but it still gave me the most wonderful feeling in such a long while. :)
Isn't it amazing how little kids can learn so fast? You would think they don't understand a thing you say only to realize later on how much information has already been picked up.
It has been my habit to talk as I go about doing my daily chores and all for the benefit of my avid listener. I would relate how I fix the bed and clean the room and prepare the bath and I would make sure to emphasize on keywords in my sentences. At other times when there's just not much interesting activities to talk about, I would sing nursery rhymes or make up stories.
I fairly remember the time I taught Miguel how to blow raspberries. He succeeded after a few failed attempts. And I commended him with a cheery clap and a great, big hug, just like the way I do it everytime he does something good.
Months passed and I have forgotten about the raspberry antic already. Just this afternoon, as I was giving Miguel a bath, I grabbed the nearest item and handed it to him to keep his hands busy. And it happened to be a nail file with strawberry design. Of course I made up a story again about the nail file to make it interesting to him, and to my great delight, he did the raspberry once more upon hearing me say the word "strawberry".
Obviously, his brain works really fast that he's able to associate the word "berry" to the tounge and lip action that I taught him months ago. Really amazing! :)
One Sunday afternoon, exactly two weeks before Miguel’s first birthday, we went to a nearby mall to buy a few items for the party. When we reached home several hours later, I noticed that Miguel had a fever. Late that evening I decided to give him paracetamol as his temp went up to 38.5degrees celsius. The following morning, his fever did not subside so I thought it better to bring him to the nearest pedia. Routine check was done and there was nothing found, so she just prescribed to continue giving paracetamol and Disudrin (which I thought weird since wala naman sipon si Miguel that time except when he cried, so why give Disudrin?)
On Tuesday, I brought him again to the same pedia since rashes started appearing and I noticed occasional coughing. A CBC was requested which returned normal results. In the afternoon, upon the advice of the elders, we brought him to a ‘manghihilot’, and of course, he was diagnosed as pilay since manghihilot nga ang tumingin e. :))
That night he slept soundly. I almost turned into a believer of the manghihilot! LOL! Apparently, his fever went up again the following morning (Wed) so we decided to bring him to his real pedia na at Cardinal Santos who said it was German Measles as evidenced by rashes and on/off fever and that his cough is viral–an expected effect of German Measles. She prescribed paracetamol pa din and mucolytic and salbutamol for the cough. She said the rashes had to appear before the fever subsided and that she expected it to last until Friday.
On Thursday, his cough worsened. The entire day he vomitted everytime he coughed and it seemed all the milk he drank was also expelled. He lost a lot of weight too! I feared he might get dehydrated so I texted his pedia who recommended that he be hooked on an IV for hydration. She asked me to find a doctor in a nearby hospital who would agree to put him on an IV instead of us going to Cardinal Santos just for this purpose. Apparently, the pedia we consulted wanted to have a repeat CBC, a chest xray and a urinalysis as part of her management. This is exactly what Miguel’s pedia didn’t want to happen since he had just been checked and diagnosed for German Measles, there was no point in doing these tests. We left this pedia’s clinic and went to the pedia who first checked him on Monday. The hospital where she was connected agreed to put him on dextrose so he was hooked. Kawawang Miguel, na-IV na naman :(. It was already around 8pm so the pedia was no longer around to check Miguel, instead he was attended to by the resident doctor on duty.
The following morning I so wanted to be discharged as the hospital was super mega over yucky! You wouldn’t believe it was a legal hospital at all! The pedia went to check on Miguel and she insisted that I submit him for chest xray. I didn’t have a choice since Miguel was under her care. The official reading of the xray result was bilateral medial lung zone pneumonitis (almost but not quite pneumonia yata yun), so the pedia prescribed antibiotics.
All this time I was texting Miguel’s pedia at Cardinal about the happenings and she said there was no role for antibiotics. I believed her because I know my son didn’t have infection. But then again, I had no choice but to follow this pedia’s advice since he’s the one in charge of Miguel that time so I gave him antibiotics as soon as we were home.
After three doses of antibiotics, I didn’t see any improvement in Miguel’s condition and so we decided on Saturday to bring him to a pedia-pulmo (the same one we went to before who cleared him of primary complex) to get a confirmation reading of his chest xray. True enough, it wasn’t pneumonia at all but asthma! Goodness. I already noticed that the sound of his cough changed later that week but did not think he was having asthma attack again! So it was actually the viral cough that prompted his asthma. He prescribed prednisone and we were advised to come back on Tuesday for check up.
I know prednisone was supposed to work since Miguel already took this med after his first admission due to asthma attack few months back, however, the vomitting continued till the following day (Sunday), which prompted us to contact his pedia again who said he better be admitted at Cardinal Santos. And so in the afternoon of January 13, we went to Cardinal Santos and have him hooked for the third time on an IV. Kawawang kawawa :(.
The worst thing was, after the doctors in the ER put him on IV, we were told the hospital was fully booked and there was no room available! I was thinking we will be spending the night in the ER–great! Fortunately, after Nico made kulit at the admission, they were able to find a room for us–the one reserved daw for maternity patients–e wala pa naman manganganak bakit magrereserve, hmp!
We stayed there until Tuesday and those days witnessed a series of crying everytime some unfamiliar faces–those people in white and those in different colored uniforms–would come in our room either to check on the IV or to check on Miguel. He really was traumatized already.
Tuesday afternoon–four days before his birthday–we were discharged. His cheeks were beginning to look chubby again and his cough had subsided. He had to continue taking his medicine until Friday and he was expected to be back to his old jolly self on his birthday. And sure enough, he was.
Because Miguel is eating finally! I’m not sure if it is his new vitamins working or he really likes the taste of Earth’s Best botlled food, but whatever, what’s important is for two consecutive days already–that means six main meals–I’ve been able to feed him without struggle. I’m praying this will continue and he will get used to eating solids regularly.
I’ve been struggling with Miguel’s poor appetite since long ago and have done every possible trick I could think of to get him to eat. I even “dreamt” of feeding him only homemade foods at first but soon gave in and offered him commercial food when he wouldn’t have any of the food I lovingly prepared, and he even puked at the first taste of my mashed potato–is my cooking that bad?!
So for months now, I’ve been offering him taho, beef soup or fruits but none seemed to appeal to his picky tastebuds. After he got tired of Gerber Stage 1 I was only able to feed him cereals and table food occasionally, and every feeding time was a battle. I had been exasperated of this ordeal especially this last week when he wouldn’t eat even his cereals. Add to that the fact that he only consumes 16oz of formula at daytime and would breastfeed twice at night.
I was feeling too tired of our routine and the only thing that kept me was the prospect of another pedia visit last saturday. His doctor’s words of encouragement and reassurance always give me hope.
When I was done ranting about my frustrations, she recounted her reminders about vitamins, meds, and feeding. And she said I could try feeding him bottled baby foods again. Right, why have I forgotten about that!
So we went to the supermarket and I realized I stopped feeding him bottled baby foods because there’s only Gerber Chicken Dinner available and he can’t eat chicken! Sigh. Then I remembered there’s Healthy Options and they sell organic foods. To my great delight, Earth’s Best has a wide variety of baby food for lunch and dinner, so I bought about five types and so far Miguel enjoys eating them.
The other night Nico was watching Discovery Channel while I was busy playing with Miguel, then I happened to glance at the screen and saw that they were featuring crabs–thousands of them. So I said “eeew, kadiri itsura”. Immediately Miguel looked at the screen and was hooked! My little boy now appreciates TV when I haven’t even started introducing tv time to him.
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He already knows how to assert himself, letting me know in his own little way what activities he prefers–usually, to go see Professor McGonagall, the stray cat that hunts food at our backyard!
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Just this morning he picked up my cellphone and placed it near his ear, and then smiled at me. He’s slowly learning to appreciate proper uses of things, although mouthing, banging and dropping are still a favorite.
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He understands me! He goes to pick up ’sharky’ from among the soft animal toys scattered in his playpen.
Fast facts:
He now has a total of six teeth–four central incisors (upper&lower) and two lateral incisors (upper).
He’s mastered pincer grasp. I would put pieces of biscuit in front of him and he would pick up.
He took his very first shaky step at around 9 months, and now is ever confident in walking unsupported in his playpen. I’m saving the bumps for later, so walking on the floor is yet to be tried.
He mumbles a few monosyllable words which could mean a thousand things! But one word I’m sure I understand is “ka” which means cat.
He points to objects, at least when he’s in the mood. He turns his body to the direction he wants to go.
I realized he’s growing really fast–in a couple of months he may no longer be the baby who seeks comfort in mommy’s hugs. Haaay…
Nakakapag-init ng ulo at talaga namang muntik na akong mag-snap kanina sa hospital dahil sa laboratory nurse na yun! Miguel’s pedia requested some tests to be done and so dinala namin sya kanina sa St. Paul Hospital (here in Bocaue). Pagpasok pa lang namin sa laboratory medyo tensed na ang lab nurse (or whatever you call them) dahil mahirap daw kuhanan ng blood sample ang age ni miguel (kasi nga malikot). I opted to go to a hospital instead of sa mga clinics kahit na lab test lang ang kailangan namin this time for fear na magkamali sila ng ‘tusok’ at lalong masaktan si miguel when they obtain blood sample. But then, it wasn’t a better experience going to this hospital at all!
Imagine she had to prick Miguel three times!!! The first time was in his right arm, hindi nya mapalabas yung blood, aba, akalain mong ginalaw-galaw ang needle while inside Miguel’s arm! E di ba ang sakit non! As usual, though nanginginig ako sa nerbyos e cool lang ako. After a while, nag-give up sya, inilipat naman sa left arm. May lumabas naman na blood kaso, ito namang isa pang nurse who was supposed to hold Miguel’s arm para hind gumalaw, e medyo nakatunganga lang, at ayun nga, naalis yung needle even before they were able to get enough sample! Napasigaw talaga ako ng sh@#! nung makita ko ang daming blood na lumabas, at ang lakas talaga ng iyak ni Miguel. So dahil nga hindi sya nakakuha ng enough sample, she had to prick Miguel’s finger pa, jusko, kawawa ang anak ko! Sobra syang nanghina after that episode that he was sitting very still inside the car. Sobra akong na-guilty that Miguel had to go through so much pain that I promised him last na talaga yun.
Anyway, this blood test is still related with the weight issue. I won’t write the details na muna; later na lang after our next visit to his pedia. Please do pray everything will turn out fine with my brave little boy. Ang hirap pala maging mommy, your heart will surely break everytime the little one is hurt, hay…
