Fambam Hits: Mom and Tina's

Mr. T and I have been foodies ever since, food is our guilty pleasure. It slowed down because of pregnancy restrictions but we were still hunting for hole in the wall places every now and then. I remember during our 7th month when big meaty burgers were my cravings, we drove to Taft after a storm just to get a taste of Zark's Burger.

Me and my fatty face posing with the Jawbreaker

Fast-forward to today, now that we have A, it became more fun. Since she already eats, she can now enjoy our little fambam's bonding over food, which usually happens during weekends. :)

Why my Husband is my Husband

Everyone, this is my husband, Mr. T. And this is one of our regular conversations when we're both in the office.

I was having my random babbles (as seen on my twitter feed) and I thought of sending it to him so he'll get the message. He got it alright.

You see, he doesn't give me crappy replies and promises me the moon and the stars. Maybe that's one of the reasons why our relationship works. We let each other dream but we also make each other realize that we both have to work hard for our dreams. And when I say both of us, that means equal sharing with all our responsibilities. Both of us doing what we do best and helping each other in areas where we don't do well. He doesn't let me just sit around and order things to be done nor wait for people to do things for me. And the humour and language in our relationship! Lol. It's the kind that will embarrass our children in their teenage years. And yes, that probably is one of our goals as parents.

Conversations like this usually end up on a high note.

So yeah, we peestpamp like rockstars! Hahah!

100 Days of BLW

Baby Led Weaning (BLW) is defined as:

Quite simply, means letting your child feed themselves from the very start of weaning.
* re ‘wean’. This is meant in the Brit sense, not the American. In the UK, ‘weaning’ means ‘adding complementary foods’, whereas in the States it means ‘giving up breastfeeding’.

I learned about BLW during one of the breastfeeding meetups we attended earlier this year. A was just around three months then. Then I started reading about it and introduced it to Mr. T as well. After reading articles, watching videos and more, I was finally ready and confident enough to do it. Yes, I had to build my confidence level and had to learn the difference between choking and gagging.

And as A turned six months on May 1 of this year, we started our BLW journey.

Our little foodie in training. Her first solid food - avocado. No, she didn't eat cake. Lol.

In the Kitchen: Crispy Kulitis

If I have to choose which of the wife duties I love the most, I will pick cooking in a heartbeat. Just about anything that has something to do with preparing and making meals for my little fambam, I enjoy a lot. Probably because the hubee is such a foodie and the little miss A is looking like becoming one as well. Happy tummies equals a happy family. :)

While I have my typical go-to recipes, every once in a while, I would try and cook something new just to give our palates something different. Or sometimes, the folks will bring some fresh goodies all the way from Nueva Ecija - longganisa, fish but veggies most of the time. Just recently I learned how to eat Kulitis (Chinese Spinach) leaves so my dad would bring me some everytime they're in Manila for a visit.

The only way I know how to cook it is to sauteé with garlic, onion, tomato and mackerel or sardines. And since my dad brought heaps of these greens last weekend, I think someone will eventually complain if I cook it that way over and over again. So I thought maybe I can make a Crispy Kulitis just like the Crispy Kangkong. :)

And here's what I came up with.

Ingredients:

50 pieces of Kulitis leaves

(Choose the big ones, wash then lay flat on a plate)

For the batter:

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup Ice Cold Water

1 Egg

1 cup Cooking Oil

How to cook:

1. Start by heating the pan with the cooking oil.
2. Combine the flour, water and egg then beat until the lumps of flour are gone.
3. Hold the stem of the kulitis and brush both sides of the leaf in the batter until completely covered.
4. Cook until it turns slightly brown.
5. Remove from pan and transfer to a strainer lined with a tissue or coffee filter to absorb oil.
6. Serve and enjoy. :)

I made two dips:

1. Mayonaisse, dried oregano, dried basil, salt and pepper.
2. Soy sauce, lemon, garlic powder and sesame oil.

Recipe adapted from Crispy Spinach Recipe by Panlasang Pinoy

The World Stops..

..when your child gets sick. Well at least that's what I thought, because mine did.

I came home to a feverish A last night. It was not her first time actually, because during her 4th monthly checkup, she reacted to her vaccine with a very low-grade fever. In less than 24 hours, she was back to her normal self. But this time was different.

She was holding on to me, telling me something's wrong. 

I was trying to convince myself that it was just like the first time and A will just shrug it off once again. But my little nursling was telling me something else. She was just nursing quietly, holding on to me. No acrobatics, no wrestling. She'd fall asleep but quickly wakes up at the slightest move I make. We monitored her temperature round the clock and it went from 36.7°C up to 38.3°C. It was still a low-grade fever but I knew that something else was going on. It was a long night and I was constantly reminding myself not to message A's pedia in the middle of the night and wait till morning instead. She advised us to keep monitoring and bring A in for her to see should she become uninterested or totally stopped nursing. But my little nursling didn't slow down, but her temperature went up to 39°C. It was then that we decided to bring her in.

7 Days without Facebook

I was disconnected to Facebook for a week. Here are the reasons why:

1. I hated the news. The ratio between the good and the bad was very disappointing. And then you'll see people sharing and reposting. There was even this news about two kids missing. Then someone posted about the details of how they were found, lifeless inside an abandoned car, then people added more details by posting comments. Heartbreaking.
2. People became superficial. Not all but some. And it was irritating. Posting statuses about everything they were doing, posting photos of food they were eating, etc. just for the purpose of having something to post. Creating an image very far from reality. You'll see a big difference between people who just want to share and those who go out of their way just so they'll have something to post.
3. Photos of people with tubes and other medical stuff, looking so frail and weak. See, I get the message. But I don't want to see them looking so helpless over and over again. I'd rather see them full of life, fighting.
4. Narcicists! Lol. Seriously, I have friends on my list posting selfies, album after album. Doing this, doing that.

The Invisible Mother

Becoming a mother can be exhausting, daunting and challenging all at the same time. But I love being one because the rewards are more than enough to compensate me. Just one smile from my little belle and all the exhaustion go away. Just one look of approval and all my anxieties disappear. And by just seeing her grow into a beautiful person, day by day, assures me that I've overcome my challenges from yesterday.

People will only see the surface of how you are as a mother. They won't know the little big things that we do. Unless they (1) are with you every second of the day, or (2) they become mothers themselves. But I'd like to think that one day, when someone sees my little belle all grownup, someone will come up to me and say, "Hey, you did a fantastic job!"

I guess it's a universal feeling shared by mothers everywhere. Just like this story I am sharing. I'm pretty sure we can all relate in one or another.

One super power achieved: INVISIBILITY.