The Balik Bukid Experience

I've been wanting to visit Sta. Elena Fun Farms ever since I've read about it in My Mom-Friday's post. They also have the Balik Bukid fair which happens twice a year, one during summer and one in the last quarter of the year.On their first year, we were busy with the wedding preps and I didn't know about them then, the following year, we were busy with parenthood. But finally this year, it happened! Just right on time for Mother's Day! :)))

Since it was our first time, I would like to share with you some of our learnings so you can enjoy your Balik Bukid experience more.

1. It is best to choose the right time you want to go to the fair. Check the schedule posted on their Facebook Page to see what activities will interest you. The fair starts at 8:00am and ends till 6:00pm. If you're coming with babies and toddlers, I suggest going early morning, or late afternoon. Otherwise, lunch time could be a little uncomfortable especially if you're going on a hot summer day.
2. Don't forget to bring stuff that will protect you from the sun. Hats, umbrellas, abanikos, sunscreen, etc. There are available stuff on site as well, but it's still best to bring your own so you won't need to buy and spend extra.
3. Think about having a picnic! Because that's one of the best things you can do during the fair. Bring blankets, pillows, etc. You can just choose a spot and setup and enjoy munching some food you got from the participating stalls or just enjoy an afternoon nap. We're definitely doing this next time.

Here are some of the photos during our visit. We particularly enjoyed watching Ava interact with the animals. She was so ecstatic. Just look at that face. :)

Babywearing and Breastfeeding in a SaYa

I think I was more emotional now that Ava turned 18 months old compared when she turned one. Lol. I wonder why. Maybe because we are also celebrating some of the milestones she did at 6 months or maybe because it's Mother's Day. Or most likely, one of those times when I can't help but think that my baby's growing up so fast. #nanaysentiments

Breastfeeding while babywearing my 18m.o. darling daughter. 

So one result of my senti moment, I posted a photo of Ava breastfeeding while I wore her in our much loved SaYa carrier. And the beautiful Miss Buding, took notice and asked if I could make a simple video tutorial. I just love sharing and learning to and from other moms so I told her that I'll surely make one. And this is also my Mother's Day gift to my fellow babywearing Mamas. :)

Celebrating One Year of BLW

It was exactly on Ava's 6th month celebration when we introduced her to solids. Her first food was avocado. That was one year ago already.

When we started out with the whole parenting thing, we were basically relying on our doctors, parents and siblings for advises. That meant doing everything the traditional way. As we adjusted a few months later, we began to have a better understanding that we are already building a family of our own. I, particularly, wanted to break from my family's norm of raising up kids. Don't get me wrong, I am forever grateful to my parents and I respect my siblings' decisions in raising up their own kids. It's just that I think, our generations have evolved immensely and there are significant information that we didn't know back then that we know now. That's where our choice for Attachment Parenting (AP) came in.

Our Darling Daughter's Birth Story

As our toddler turns 18 months old today, I would like to finally share the story of her birth.

October 30, 2012 | Wednesday. It was two weeks before my due date. I was sitting outside my OB's clinic after my office, waiting for Cholo and for my turn to be checked. Ava, like the impatient baby that she is, was kicking and somersaulting like an olympic gold medalist inside my tummy. I was not complaining because any movement was always a good indication for us during that time. Cholo arrived around 7pm and not too long after, it was our turn to be checked. During the ultrasound, our OB told me that she can't seem to scan any movements, apparently Ava fell asleep right before we went inside. She instructed me to turn to my left side so we can wake Ava up. Still scanning, our OB told me that she's gonna send me to the ER if she didn't see any movements so we can have a stress test. A few minutes later, Ava twitched. What a good girl! :) My cervix was also checked via IE, I was already 1cm dilated. But we were allowed to go home since I was not experiencing any contractions yet.

After our checkup, while having our dinner, Mr. T and I were even talking about the possibility of Ava being born on November 1. And we thought we were just kidding. I still have a little blood discharge when we got home, thinking it was from my IE earlier, I went about my nightly routine and prepared to rest for the night. My discharge, though small in amount, seemed to be more than just an effect of my IE so we decided to message our OB. She immediately instructed us to proceed to the ER to be checked. So I took a bath (because if this was really it, who knows when's the next time I'd be able to get a full bath. :P), got our stuff ready and went straight to the ER. When we got to the hospital, the residents immediately checked on my cervix. I was admitted at around 11pm, 3cm dilated. It was a long night.

Back to Basics with a Twist

One year of cloth diapering, we have 35 cloth diapers in rotation, plus boosters and extra inserts and other cloth diaper accessories. And oh, we're still expecting a fluffy mail coming in soon. No, that wasn't bragging. If you've been into the whole cloth diapering community, you'll know that that's the average number for an ideal stash.

Let me share our cloth diapering story. :)

We were typical new parents when Ava came along, we had problems with breastfeeding, we were bickering because of exhaustion from the lack of sleep and other typical issues. Getting myself together after the CS operation, taking care of a newborn without a Yaya, going back to work and managing my milk supply were just some of the things we had to overcome. After a couple of months, we eventually got our rhythm as parents and things started getting easier. That's also the time when I found ways how we can go about the whole new world of parenting.

The answer: Fellow parents, especially Mothers, with newborns and toddlers alike from different online communities. One of them was the MCNP Facebook Group.

Before I gave birth to Ava, I've been reading a lot about cloth diapers but the whole thing seemed to be a little too overwhelming with all the do's and don't's so we decided to just skip the whole thing and go for disposables. We were buying a disposable diaper that was 14Php a piece that only lasted for a maximum of 4 hours depending on whether Ava's gonna poop on a new one or not. After a couple of months, we downgraded to a brand that's a little cheaper but still at 10Php a piece. Apparently, the bigger the size the more expensive it becomes. It was about the same time last year, summer time, and the heat was as bad as what we are experiencing right now. And that, is an instant recipe for baby bum rashes. Ava was five months then. Luckily, an Expo Mom was happening that time and we were able to get 3 cloth diapers for trial. A week later, we were exclusively cloth diapering Ava. And as they say, the rest was history. :)

Baby's Safety Online

This has been an on-going topic amongst parents and it seems like it's going to continue along with the evolving virtual world of social media internet. And ever since our very own little belle entered toddlerhood, this has become a part of our discussion as parents as well.

Amongst the articles I've read discussing/debating this issue, I've come across two questions that are always being asked. (1) Are you violating your own child's right to privacy? (2) Is it safe to post photos of your child?

And these are my takes.

(1) Violation of my child's privacy. This sounds silly to me, trying to imagine my toddler, who can't even control her bladder yet, invoking the right to control her own photos.

"The violation of personal privacy doesn’t start until an individual has the ability to understand what the violation means." - New York Times

Makes a lot of sense to me. That's why it becomes part of our many responsibilities as parents -  to make sure that our children are safe and protected - whenever, wherever. For me, bum-naked is already a violation of my child's privacy. I once posted a photo of her right after birth, blurred out except for her face. But eventually took it down after a while because I find it too much for sharing. The context of how photos are being shared should also be considered.

(2) Safety of my child. This one I find a bit too much.

“Research shows that there is virtually no risk of pedophiles coming to get kids because they found them online,” said Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute. While the debate makes this crime seem common, he said, all the talk is really just “techno-panic.”

Exactly my point. Of course protecting children from dangerous people should be a concern to all parents. However, these people are more likely to target children they know and who trust them already, instead of those they have only seen on the Internet.

Little Miss Audrey

Mr. T's company usually hosts a Trick or Treat party for the family of their employees. Last year, we were still pregnant with Ava so Mr. T was on the other side of the party, giving out treats to children. And that time, I remember him telling me how he'll bring our baby to next year's trick or treat. Which is this year! :)

He reminded me about the party a couple of weeks earlier and that's when we started looking for costumes. The DIY Mama started Pinteresting and stumbled upon a lot of really cute costumes. But the problem was, Ava can't walk yet. And most of the costumes look nice if the baby's walking already. So it came down to one, The Baby Octopus.

Photo from Mom Inc Daily

We were all set for this so I listed down the stuff we need. A few days before the party we went to SM to buy everything we need. We already had everything, but I couldn't find a black onesie to complete the costume. I needed to think of a plan B, quickly because the OC/Stage Mama in me won't settle for something na pinagpwede na. Either we get all the stuff I need acording to plan or ditch the whole thing and go to/think of a Plan B which was exactly what we did. So little Baby Octopus became Little Miss Audrey.

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.

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.