Books Over iPads

I was supposed to just put a post up on Facebook but Mr. T suggested I blog about it as well. Thought it was a good idea since I really haven’t published anything for quite some time. 

One of the things we made sure to work hard on as parents is to not let Ava become so hooked on watching TV and using our iPhones and/or iPads. At this digital age, it’s really hard work. For one thing, it should start with us as her parents and I tell you, up to this day we are still trying. This is in no way a swipe against parents and children who liberally use smartphones and tablets. I really believe that it's a personal preference. I think it only becomes bad when the use of tablets and other similar gadgets are way too excessive that it grows into a bad dependency and starts replacing human interaction. But if managed well, like any other technology and digitalization, it's an awesome help for parents in teaching young children.

Earlier on while Ava was still a chunky little belle, I chanced upon this video from one of the mommy groups I was in. If you have time, please do watch this video because it explains a lot about the effects of screen time to toddlers, even babies.

After watching, I immediately shared the link to Mr. T and right after we've both agreed that this is something we really want to work hard on. We uninstalled Youtube, a lot of game and baby apps on out iPhones and iPads. Ava was not entitled to any of our gadgets. She knows it's not hers, and she needs to ask and borrow only if and when we allow her.

Since we bring our stuff (phones and tablets) with us, a huge struggle in this practice was how to teach our Ate to adapt and make sure that Ava will not be glued to the TV all day while we're out. I'd like to believe that we've succeeded with teaching because we see positive results. We thoroughly explained what was discussed in this video, making sure they actually understand. Instead of totally cutting off watching TV, we just asked that it won't be a whole-day-watching-spree. Late afternoons, Ava is allowed to go out of the house and play, allowing her to interact and socialize with other people. After a while, we also shifted from battery-operated toys to wooden toys and other educational toys.

Writing Letters and More

In my previous posts, I have shared some of our favorite montessori-inspired toddler activities as well as some of our favorite books for reading. I am big on the fun approach when it comes to teaching your child. And it has proven us that Ava responds to fun learning very well. 

I tried introducing writing to Ava earlier this year but she didn't seem to be interested, not a bit.  We have been enjoying reading, counting and playing (of course!) so I think it's about time we give writing another chance. Two weeks into these sheets/activities and we've made little progress! Lol. Progress is still progress right?

Earlier this year, I was able to get these worksheets from Powerbooks. The overall layout and colors look fun and the size variations are perfect for little tots who are just starting to trace/learn writing. Definitely something I would love to work on if I were a kid, that's why I assumed Ava would love it too. Lol.

Baguio in September

This year is probably the busiest so far, for both my work and our tiny family. And just before it gets even busier come Christmas season, our little family was gifted with two overnight stays at Baguio Country Club. It's a perfect break after all the crayyy and definitely an awesome down time before another wave of busy that is coming before the year ends.

Since it's been raining cats and dogs lately, going to Baguio - the summer capital of the Philippines, might seem like a crazy idea. A lot of the touristy activities here are mostly outdoors which are best enjoyed when it's bright and sunny. Thinking about it, not a lot of things we can do really.

Sounding like a boring trip already? Nope. While the things to do were very limited in the rainy season, Baguio offers a lot of nice places to eat that are equally worth your time. 

This is a lengthy and photo-heavy post so I hope you'll enjoy reading. Here are some of the places we visited and the yummy eats we had from this trip!

Our Little Book Club

If there's one thing I want to push for Ava to love and enjoy, hands down, it's gonna be reading. But since we allow her to enjoy things at her own phase, I cannot really force her. So what I did was to set her up by collecting books! And it worked! Lol.

I started buying books by popularity. Checked online which books were highly recommended and bought some of them. Before I got fixated on completing Google's most popular books, I realized that I don't have a guarantee if Ava will love them. It's important that you understand your child's interests and see how he/she responds to things, in this case of choosing books, observe how they respond to the visuals and the contents. By doing this, we ended up with a small library of books that we all enjoy reading. Our setting allows Ava to reach the first and second (using a chair) that's why we see to it that we rotate our books.

We love reading together. Ava loves it when we read with her, instead of just reading for her. Notice the difference. As parents, we need to be expressive, intentional and entertaining all at the same time. The rewards come in giggles, hugs and kisses.

After much reading and searching, we're finally able to fill our very own library that we love, like really, really love. See below which ones are our favorites, authors and books!

Toddler Fun and Play

Ava is currently 2 years and 8 months old.

A couple of months ago we started noticing how her curiosity and interest in a lot of things were developing rapidly. She communicates very well now and she's very interested in interactive and creative play. With the rate she was learning, she eventually outgrew her toys, about 70% of them - most of which were made of plastic and battery-operated.

When Ava was still a newborn, we used to go to Numa along E. Rodriguez to get some of our nursing stuff. That's where and when I actually noticed how cute wooden toys are. But at that time Ava was still too young and I haven't understood its advantages. At the same time, we received a lot of gifts from our families and friends and they were all wonderful which Ava loved playing with. But as I've mentioned earlier, she outgrew most of these toys and playtime has turn into chaos. Something needs to be done

It was only a month ago when we finally decided to ditch most of her toys. We knew that changing our play environment as well as our materials will definitely catch up and hopefully sustain the needs of our ever-growing tot. I researched about toddler activities that are fun but will be a great learning experience at the same time. That’s when I stumbled upon the How We Montessori website. The simplicity of the Montessori approach was interesting and are very similar to the activities that homeschooling families do. I am totally open to the idea of homeschooling Ava if our family’s setup will allow it when it’s time for her to start school. We'll where we'll be in the next years to come.

For the meantime, let me share some of the activities that we are currently doing in rotation. 

Creative Building

Having a set of wooden blocks is definitely a must-have for every curious toddler, even babies. We have an Ikea set and a basic block set which I’ve had (actually a Jenga set) since college. These pieces in different geometric shapes and forms highly encourage imagination and creativity.

Mula Building Blocks with Wagon, Ikea

Keep Calm and Write On

So I've been MIA, what's new? :)

It has been crazy busy the last couple of months, with my work mostly but I'm grateful that we were still able to keep our work-life balanced. And since it's summer, we made sure we'll have some family fun. There was one weekend when we visited Kidzoona and then for Mother's Day, we went on a road trip to Bataan. I'll save the details for my next posts because what I'll be sharing now is what I was doing in between.

For the month of May, I started a new hobby which is lettering and calligraphy. I've been stalking The Fozzy Book and other calligraphers online but I just couldn't find the right timing to start. Meanwhile on Instagram, I started seeing posts of different people writing the same phrases or quotes in their own styles. Each post was tagged #letteritapril, I got curious and found out later that it's called the Letter It challenge being hosted by @jennymaiedae. For May, I finally decided to join. :)

Of Nappies and Potties

Two years of exclusive cloth diapering for Ava.

While it has not come to a close yet, I felt the huge change that came with our potty training. From 6-8 diapers a day, we are now down to one. Looking back, using cloth is one of those decision that we are glad we pursued. It may not be a lot, but it's nice to know that in our own little ways, our little fambam is helping the environment. It's definitely a good feeling.