Touringkitty

10
Oct
2012

Things I learned from my two year old

For my frequent blog readers, it is no secret how much I adore my little makulit… and how much I get tired chasing her lately. And I can’t understand how in the world, this little marionette turned us, her dear parents, into her dummies. Oh yes. In our house she IS the boss. But I am thankful. I have learned so much from her. Things I never imagine a two year old can teach me, her own mother.

LOVE is spelled as T-I-M-E. And that’s the way it’s meant to be. We learned this “earworm” (in other words, a Last Song Syndrome-song) via Hi 5, which, she religiously watches over at Disney Junior. She’s memorized the whole song, albeit her gibberish words.

Time, for Aria is synonymous to love. Living in a working parents’ household, Aria wants ALL our time for her. We pity her every crying time as we leave the doorstep for another long working day. Much as we try to maximize our weekends, more often than not, we also have work or other social engagements that we have to attend. That’s why I make it a point to go home during lunch to steal 30 minutes of so of Aria time. I like it that my work is ten minutes away from home! We nurse, cuddle, play, eat, everything! In the morning and evening, she plays with Daddy for a few minutes before waking up and going to sleep. Precious times indeed which not any of our jobs can pay off!

LESS is MORE. Aria doesn’t go to toddler school yet. And I can conclude we don’t have any plans of sending her to one. So we invested on homeschooling her. We bought iPad apps, books, toys, which have helped us one way or the other and have contributed to her vast vocabulary at 25 months.

We tend to “over-teach” Aria that she gets bored. So she controls us. Yeah. She shoos away our hands to stop lesson time cos she wants to sleep or play or eat. So now we learned to limit teaching time. Actually, there is no fixed time unlike before–three times a day every day. But amazing how she absorbs things, even when she hears or learns it only once!

Strengthen relationships. Admittedly, it is only now that my husband and I have a daughter of our own that we build, nurture, and keep relationships with our families, extended families, close friends, etc. When we can, the family of three attends parties, get-togethers, reunions, or sometimes we create an occasion just to be with our loved ones, no matter how much we’ll be spending on food. Yes, sometimes we spend more in food — GOOD food — when we have gatherings! Good company deserves good food, don’t they?

We create occasions, like the eve of Aria’s birthday, just to be together.

She’s JUST two, they would say. She will not remember anything. But I will kill myself knowing I didn’t get to build as much memories as I can while she’s young, no matter how young. And that’s what I’ll be working on–spending more time without compromising quality and building the relationship strong as a rock.

~ Touringkitty

05
Oct
2012

Sharing my bit of pride today

categories: Working Mama

In both English and Filipino vernaculars, pride could mean good or bad. I did research as I’m doing this post, and found out that pride is positive according to some philosophers, and negative to some religions! It can even be a sin.

But of course, we’ll be talking about the positive pride, which I felt today!

I should just have this tweeted (follow me!), but I want to share the whole story. So, I must not end tonight without telling you this: I played with some members of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra today.

Repeat: I PLAYED WITH THE PPO TODAY!!!

I’m so giddy, happy, honored, and privileged to play piano with some PPO members–Ms. Bonnie on Viola, Ms. Vicky on cello, and Sir Hercules on flute. It was actually for the First Friday Mass at work, held at the Main Theater Lobby of the Cultural Center of the Philippines!

Wow. It was a dream to play with an orchestra, but I don’t know any orchestral instrument. This experience, though, is far better than none!

With just an hour before the mass, we practiced the songs and I felt so blessed during the mass, especially during our playing. I mean, who am I to play with these great people?! Thanks to the training I got since grade school, reading notes and chords is a breeze!

Ms. Bonnie also told me that it’s a blessing that she was able to chance upon me at our office. The usual pianists– my boss and one from another department– were both absent. Ya, it was a blessing for me and a great honor! I used to just sing with the orchestra–as soloist and as a chorister, but now, I played with them, and for Him!

And that ends my story of pride.

Have some “pride” story to share? Let Elmo and the Goo Goo Dolls inspire you to share yours!

~ Touringkitty

30
Sep
2012

Quiet 29th

categories: Uncategorized

Last Monday the 24th, I quietly celebrated my 29th. Woke up and doing a self-check on the mirror–I’m 29?! A year befor the big 3-0 and I told my husband to throw party for me. Yeah, I want a party to celebrate this milestone in my life.

How I celebrated the countdown to 30?

During the day, I heard Mass with sleeping Aria in the nearby mall. I let the helper go around the mall since we have different religions (not an issue to us, we’ve been very understanding especially with her schedule of church services). We had lunch and did some grocery before heading home to rest. I then went to my high school to teach the choir and drum and lyre groups for their Founding Anniversary.

We planned a family dinner at wherelse, Friday’s! We got coupons and doscount card during Aria’s birthday and we want to maximize the discounts. Plus, I want to eat their kid’s pizza again!

Then my husband bought the yummiest, richest chocolate cake, and has a dedication written. So sweet of him!

There you go. Uneventful, really, but happy to have spent it with the people I love.

~ Touringkitty

14
Sep
2012

Of toddlers and (very long) naps

categories: Breastfeeding, Health, Parenting

Ever since her waking world began, Aria has sleeping issues.

No, make that, ever since in utero, Aria had sleeping issues — when she used to rock my whole body in the middle of the morning with her strong kicks and punches.

In the past two years, you could only count the times she slept on her own without having to nurse. With much excitement, I tweeted, took pics, and posted on Facebook those few precious times that she slept without the aid of the “dede!” We achieved this by rocking her, singing to her, tapping her thighs. But it’s hit or miss, and always, a miss.

As expected, her schedule is erratic during daytime. Generally she sleeps well in the evening, as long as I’m beside her for easy boob access. Sometimes she takes one morning nap of about 1 hour, then another hour of nap in the afternoon. Last month, her pattern is four to five hour naps. Yes, as long as FIVE HOURS! Imagine what time she sleeps in the evening!

Poor Nonna (my mom), who sacrifices carrying sleepyhead Aria just to make her nap as long as she wants.

The past days, she naps for no more than two hours. The shortest is about 30 minutes. If this is the case, she can sleep early, maybe around 9 or 10 PM. We could notice that she exhausts her energies first by trying to be awake and play with us until she feels really really sleepy. The vampire Aria wakes up as early as we do–at 6 AM! Sleep deprived is she, nevertheless she’s still full of energy all the time.

But this week is a different story. Few days back, my mom called me at work to tell me that Aria napped for 45 minutes. My husband came home earlier and texted Aria slept–with her nightgown already–at 6:30 PM! I came home from grocery at 9PM and she’s still asleep. My arrival was just in time for her to be half awake and look for the “dede.” So I change to my night clothes and laid down beside her to nurse–switching boob every two seconds! I hope she doesn’t wake up way too early!

Should I cut the long naps, then? My only worry is that Aria is so unpredictably cranky when she doesn’t get a good sleep, or if she is disturbed by some tiny sound. Her bionic ears are so bionic that she wakes up when we’re whispering, or when a fork moves. I pity her when she got her deep sleep and when she’s in the REM stage, even a small noise wakes her up. She ends up just crying and crying and waking up already.

One more thing is night nursing. We still aren’t successful with this. But should we really cut the night nursing at this stage? Me and my husband says not yet but some reading materials say otherwise. Surprisingly, there are nights when she asks for fresh milk instead of mommy’s milk, so we give her before sleeping.

How about you, mommies, do you sleep train? How do you do it?

~ Touringkitty

12
Sep
2012

Breastfeeding for all seasons and reasons: post-breastfeeding month post

categories: Breastfeeding

August came by too quick that I wasn’t able to post something about breastfeeding. So let me do it now!

It’s been exactly two years and twelve days that I’m breastfeeding. Not a day missed, not a feeding missed. Not a drop of formula. No pacifiers. Attended breastfeeding meetings to increase knowledge in breastfeeding and parenting. Donated a few bags of frozen breastmilk to strangers. Promoted breastfeeding in all ways. Nursed in public–lately without nursing cover (thank heavens for tank tops and shawls and ring slings!).

I have surpassed all my breastfeeding goals that I’ve set since pregnancy.

Sometimes I ask myself if it’s still normal, that at two she still breastfeeds for whatever reason she has. I wonder what could her reason be. Hungry? Thirsty? Sleepy? Bored? Tired? Scared? Excited? Crying? Learning a new word or skill? Missing Mommy? I don’t know.

Not that I’m pressured to wean her. Not at all! I gave my full dedication, determination, and trust that I can provide the milk that she needed, especially the past two years where it is part and parcel integral to her health. Especially with the new studies coming out about breastmilk, there is no other way I could have nourished her well!

But my daughter is still my baby, my dear one, who needs to suckle to satisfy whatever it is that has to be satisfied. So it will be a mutual agreement between us when she will wean. Besides, my husband might be the happiest and the one who benefits to my breastfeeding the most–imagine if he had to learn how to prepare formula milk in the middle of the night and after a hard day’s work?!

Plus, the money which we were supposed to spend on formula gets spent on food, food, and more food! Especially now that we’re raising a foodie who likes yogurt, raisins, bread, and fresh milk (yes, the ones in carton, waaaay better than formula–BUT only for those ABOVE ONE YEAR OLD–breastmilk should still there to fill in their nutritional and immunological requirements!).

Tips for new and soon to be moms:

1. There’s no harm in trying. Who said breastfeeding is easy? And who said preparing formula milk is easier?

2. Attitude, dedication, determination, patience. Those four are all self-emanating. It starts with you and your baby.

3. Support. Lots of it. From your husband most especially. And involve the whole family and extended family in the process, especially those who are planning to go back to the workforce after a couple of months. Attend breastfeeding meets as a whole barangay if you can! The more you make people around you aware, the more they will realize the need for support.

4. Do your homework. Research, read, ask around. The internet was super useful to me because my mom had only limited experience breastfeeding me and my sister. I made lots of friends who share the same passion and dedication about breastfeeding.

5. Prayers. He listens. Whenever I feel like giving up, I have the Blessed Mother to ask Divine Intervention to. My devotion to Our Lady of La Leche is one of the strongest and most special devotions I have right now.

Happy breastfeeding from our breastfeeding family!

~ Touringkitty

07
Sep
2012

Birthday Gift to Aria

categories: Parenting

Of all the things I forgot, a gift!!!

But this one I wrote one late night in early August. Will definitely have this framed soon. In the meantime, hope you’ll read and like this, too!

—

What joy, what bliss
To see our daughter grow
In our arms, in our eyes
Her body and spirit glow.

What happiness can compare
To this gem so rare
Her wit, her laughter
Our hearts she has captured.

What pride we feel
Now that she turned two
And we anticipate
More things she can do.

Happy Birthday, dearest Ariadne!
To God we pray
That you’ll be a better you
Each passing day.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

06
Sep
2012

A Mother’s Prayer

categories: Uncategorized

Dear Lord,

We acknowledge that You are our mighty God. The earth is indeed filled with Your goodness, and words aren’t enough to express our gratefulness unto You.

I come to You as a mother. And I am now aware that a mother’s love is boundless, timeless, and selfless.

I thank You for giving me Mama Mary, Your own mother. Her genuine love for You is inspiring. She followed Your ways, not hers. She gave her trust to You, completely and without question.

I thank You for giving my own Mommy Luz. She is the wind beneath my wings. Her support and care to me and my sister, even extending it to my own family, is admirable. We may argue about a lot of things but the love is there. I pray that You bless her and grant her with a long, happy life. May we make more time with her as her children and always remember how it is to be young, helpless, and dependent of our mother. And may we replicate exactly, or even more, how much of a mother she is to us.

I thank You for the blessing of making me a mother of my own. It is such a wonderful thing and I only realized it until I became one. Please turn my envy into admiration, procrastination into productivity, whining into winning, and mommy pride into more mommy pride! I am such a stage mother this early in the game. I am confident that my daughter will be the person she ought to be, even though she’s makulit, malikot, and maingay.

I thank You and Our Lady of La Leche for allowing me to breastfeed. It’s the most important gift I have given my daughter for the past two years. And I was able to share some milk with babies we don’t know, even if it’s only how many bags. That is in itself a testament that mothers CAN produce enough, and in some cases, MORE than ENOUGH breastmilk. This coupled with sacrifice, dedication, and support.

I pray for my husband. He’s my hero in every sense of the word. May he be more patient to me and our daughter. Grant him good health always.

Thank You for giving us a loving community of family and friends, near and far, who support our family in more ways than one. Thank You for the provisions of a stable job for us both (and jobs that we love doing), security in our small condo unit we call Schatzihaus, the new helper, healthyummy foods, extra gadgets, more than enough budget for expenses. Thank You for those little treats!

We shall continue to give honor and praise to You, dearest Lord. Amen.

31
Aug
2012

Happy Second Birthday, Ariadne!

categories: Uncategorized

Lola Mila loves you!

Lolo Frankie loves you!

Nonna loves you!

Tita playmate loves you!

Mommy and Daddy love you!

To the charming, smart, little girl who drives our everyday life crazy but fun, who’s addicted to Hello Kiity, Elmo, and iPad Photobooth, happy birthday!

We pray for your good health, safety, and happiness as you journey through life. Mommy and Daddy are here for you, always and in all ways.

Gott segne dich, mein Schatz!

Mommy and Daddy 🙂

29
Aug
2012

Thank you, Mom!

categories: Parenting, Uncategorized

Thanks to TVCs, this has been my daughter’s current favorite.

Thank you, Mom!

She then rushes towards me and kisses and hugs me, saying the very same lines:

Thank you, Mom, for believing in me.

And I wish to say the same to my own mother.

I have to thank her so very much for being there for my family every time we needed someone to lean on. She and my sister, actually. They have been very supportive of us and whatever we’ve been doing, and we trust them to take care of our little one when my husband and I can’t. Thank God for mothers!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

;

~ Touringkitty

27
Aug
2012

Half a decade after

categories: Madz, Music

…and it’s still surreal!

Here is the video clip of the announcement of winner of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing back in August 2007.

Check out Touringkitty in the video, my dear lucky charm, the Hello Kitty wand given by my now dear husband.

Let me take you to Arezzo for a few minutes with these pics:

All choirs were given a few minutes to soundcheck. This was when we were waiting for our turn. One is trying not to be too nervous!

This was us after singing our competition set. And just look at the people who came and cheered for us! Some Madz Alumni came from overseas, Filipinos from Italy, Italians from nearby Provinces where we had concerts in, and even Spanish friends!

Sir Mark receiving the trophy, with all calmness and composure. While his singers were rowdy, shouting, thus losing our voices as we came back to Manila the next day!

This was us after the announcement of winners. We partied on the streets of Arezzo, in full costume, screaming our hearts out of joy and thanksgiving for the wonderful and once in a lifetime opportunity, twice for some members who won the same award in Tours, France, in 1997.

This competition capped our three-month journey in Europe. A few days after a quick pit stop in Manila, we flew to the US for another six-week concert tour.

That was my third tour with the Philippine Madrigal Singers in Europe. And that will probably be the most unforgettable.

To my sectionmates Liaa, Rhina, Karlene, Mavic, and Bianca, they say being a soprano in a choir is tough job, and I think it is. Continue to share your music to God’s people.

To the power altos Kuya Chris, Ate Pearl, Ate Melody, Ate Julie, Gladys, you’re all great singers and soloists and I admire you all!

To the tenors Sheen, Weng, Leo, JC, Aldrich, sing on, guys!

To the basses Itay Emman, Enrico, Kuya Jo-honey, Kuya Philip, Melvir, Marvin, your voices gave depth in the circle. May your voices continue to resonate for Him wherever you may be.

And to our dearest Sir Mark, we are so so proud of you! You taught us to work towards excellence yet still be humble of what we achieved. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for believing in me! I never dreamt of this, but you trusted me enough to share the music we’ve worked hard for many months before the EGP.

Five years passed and it still seems like yesterday. The nervousness, the goosebumps, the sweaty hands, making sure I will give the exact pitch at the beginning of each song, making sure they hear the pitch!, and the big sigh of relief after we’re done with our set.

Most of all, in our little way, we represented the Philippines. It brought us great pride to be singing and carrying the name of the country in such an important competition.

Our country must have been bestowed by the Lord with such great and talented singers, that we are just lucky to share it to the world through the Madz. And what better way to celebrate it is by bringing the competition in our own homeland, via the Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival Manila 2013.

More about the competition on the next post!

~ Touringkitty

Photo credit: All photos from the UPMS Multiply Website

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