Wipes Does It All

Stinky butt, fingers with melted chocolates, spilled table and a tired mom that still has make up on her face has one thing in common. Y'all know what I'm talking about... Yep, wipes does it all! For us, wipes is one of the most important thing as parents. It's so awesome that in a snap you can make it all clean and destinkyfy (oops, did I just made up a new word again? my apologies).

So, what qualify as a wipes that does it all?

1. Texture - The most important thing that we should look into is the texture, it should be soft as a cotton. A lot of wipes in the market are very affordable but also has a sand paper texture and we don't want that, unless you aren't gonna use it to destinkify.

2. Wetness - While some wipes are properly hydrated also some are quite dry, ofcourse, we need 'em to be wet enough to clean whatever mess we encounter every day! It's so annoying that they are in a wrong category, they should be in-between tissue and wipes - twipes?

3. Alcohol-free- Skin wise, we should go for alcohol-free wipes. We shouldn't take for granted our little one's sensitive skin.

4. Size - Wipes comes in different sizes but for me it would be awesome if you can tear 'em up and just get the size of what you really need, in that case you can both save money and our planet.

5. Packaging - For a handy-dandy wipes, especially those who reside on your diaper bag, good packaging is a must. Your baby can have a peaceful nappy change using only a pair of hands not needing an extra hand to hold the thing that cover the wipes' packaging hole or whatever and it can prevent you from getting yourself messy.


I would highly recommend HUGGIES® Natural Baby Wipes (click here for my personal review), It works well for us... The only brand in the market that has an incredible texture, firmness and moisture.

What brand would you recommend?

Happy wiping! =D

Unexpected Spectacles

Our son has recently diagnosed with myopic astigmatism. 

(Nearsighted Astigmatism, usually occurs when the front surface of the eye, the cornea, has an irregular curvature. Astigmatism is one of a group of eye conditions known as refractive errors.  Refractive errors cause a disturbance in the way that light rays are focused within the eye. Astigmatism often occurs with nearsightedness and farsightedness, conditions also resulting from refractive errors. Astigmatism is not a disease nor does it mean that you have "bad eyes." It simply means that you have a variation or disturbance in the shape of your cornea. By:University of Michigan)

We didn't really see it coming, My husband's eyes are perfectly fine, mine are just starting to get blurry but it's not that serious and I'm already 28. It took me almost a month to accept it and I shed a lot of tears since the day that we found out... cried outside the clinic, when we got home, a couple of nights after that and lastly, when we picked up his prescription glasses. After I heard him saying "uh, this is awesome mommy, everything is so clear" the first time that he tried his glasses on, it made me melancholic and relieved at the same time.

Heavy thoughts are always on my head, I kept on worrying that my son will not live the normal life that I've always prayed and hoped for. In search for more information and comfort, I spend a lot of time googling and researching about refractive errors. Here are some of the facts for parents out there, these made me relieved:

1. Put down your guilt, it's not your fault! Astigmatism is already present at birth, obviously we cannot do anything about it. The design and curvature of our eyes is just 1 of the many things in life that are not in our hands.

2. Kids who have refractive errors usually do not complain simply because they thought whatever vision they have is just normal so there is no way that you will find out what's happening in your little one's eyes unless you have them check by an eye doctor so don't blame yourself for not noticing any signs, finding it soon and giving them the treatment needed.

3. Lastly, if ever you are wondering if putting them in front of the TV, Computer and iPad caused it, No! they did not, because before they even know how to use those devices, their corneas are already been formed to be like a shape of a football instead of a basketball.

Astigmatism is very common that's why they already developed a lot of treatment these days. Prescription glasses, contact lenses and Eye surgeries like Lasik is now much more precise and effective. We just need to know what will suite best for our kids. Our son is currently wearing a quite expensive specs. We gave him the best of what we can give, A lightweight comfortable frame with a thin carl zeiss lens that really makes everything more beautiful and defined than ever.

Our son is comfortably wearing his spectacles since we got them. It's part of his daily routine, he is so consistent and responsible about it and that makes him a good candidate to wear contact lenses soon. My worry that he will not live a normal life that he deserved shrunk down day by day as we saw our son doing whatever comes on his mind. I don't have to worry at all! We noticed that he is much active and ready to do things that he didn't even tried before.

Though we didn't expect it, we learned to embraced the situation as a blessing and an opportunity to be much closer as a family. Also, it made me realize that my son is not a baby anymore, he can already do countless things now and overcome situations that his mother couldn't even let go. Since the day that we got his spectacles, he showed a lot of improvements. He is much braver and confident than ever. Maybe it's his way of comforting his momma and its working!  =)

Fun To Make Diaper Cake

Diaper cake is not only fun to make, it's also a practical gift and a cute baby shower decoration. Made this for a friend who's havin' a baby boy.

Newborn Size Drypers and Ribbons

                                   

Materials: 

Newborn Diapers (56 pcs)

Ribbons

Big rubber band (to hold the diapers)

Cardboard (for the base)

Cloth-like Paper

Scissors             

                                                                                                                      

Drypers' Baby Wipes, Robe, Pyjamas, Hat, Pair of Booties

I also included these goodies and put them on the pile of diapers. 

Cake Topper Booties

I tied the ribbon (with wordings: for a charming baby boy) on the boxed pair of booties and put it on the top of the cake.  

Diaper Cake is a no brainer craft, you can play or do whatever you want and be creative.

Instructions are no longer necessary, it will be more fun and exciting to make your own!

Diaper Cake

Diaper Cake

Appropriate TV Channels for our Kids

Different channels has evolved in these times and it's a good thing! Remember those days when we have no choice but to wait for TV programs which are appropriate for us? Now our kids can enjoy lots of channels but our obligation must not be forgotten. Screening every show that my kids are watching is one of my responsibility, up to this day, my kids (6 and 2 years old) mostly watch Disney Junior, Nick Junior, and  babytv. Even though our eldest was recently permitted to watch some of cartoon network's show, he insisted not too as he finds a lot of violence from the shows.

A lot of us believe in the notion that if it's cartoon/animated, kids can watch it. We must think twice or thrice, responsible parenting start with this very small detail in our kid's daily lives. The effect of brutality and violence that they will see over and over from the shows will crash their innocence, sure they need to know what our world looks like but we can educate them about reality in a way that it will be beneficial to them and will not harm their young minds.

Can I leave my kids unattended while this channel is running on the TV? That is my guide question in choosing channels and shows. We have different parenting style, maybe some of you may not agree on this, I just want to share and make a difference (if possible) in our kids generation.

Enjoy watching with your kids, Happy mommying!

Harry Potter Inspired Birthday Party

Our son's harry potter obsession was our inspiration in preparing for his 6th birthday party, aside from watching the movie series, he also play lego harry potter. He also keeps on pretending and waving a piece of chopstick as a magical wand. He didn't insisted it, it's of course the idea of a mother and father who wants to give a memorable party to their son, we don't want to miss this opportunity because maybe next year, harry potter is not a big deal for him anymore.

Aside from the party, few days before his birthday we went to the Art Science Museum here in Singapore, great timing that the Harry Potter: The Exhibition was here.

Ron's Flying Car

(Souvenir Photo) wearing Gryffindor's scarves

We started planning and preparing for the party 2 weeks before. We have lots of ideas but due to a limited time, only these came into reality.

Party Invites

Party Banner

Platform 9 3/4 Hogwart's Express 

Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw Flags

Olivander's Wands (Chocolate biscuit sticks) and Snitch (Ferrero Rocher)

Honeydukes Paper Bags

Drinks and Potions

Potions

Party Favors

...and of course to complete the theme, Harry Potter Movie series was playing the entire time. =)

Happy partying!

Breast feeding, One of the best feeling

The ultimate benefit of breastfeeding remains unquestionable, my son is one of it's byproduct, being sick only once a year is just a proof that his immune system reaps a lot on this miracle milk and this was the primary factor why we decided to do this once again, but this time it will be a year+.

The feeling of security to provide the needs of your little one in a snap is just one of the benefits of a breastfeeder. before I gave birth to my daughter, my husband and I already agreed on this, living overseas by ourselves without any help, we really saved tons of time and energy doing this instead of scooping formula, washing baby bottles, waiting for it to be sterilized and so on... 

Everything works very well until my daughter turns 1, we decided to get her off the boob as advised by  her pediatrician to let her gain some more weight and also, i'm planning to start working some time this year.

We tried almost every bottle in the market but none of them works. :( Every weekend, i tried not to nurse, usually i will leave the room during feeding times expecting that she will grab the bottle out of hungriness... but na-ah, she was so competent on what she was fighting for... the boob, and so we gave up.

Keira's last sip of breast milk.

Two months after, we went to the Philippines, my mother was so persuasive and supportive on  weaning my daughter so i let her handle it, she ask me not to show myself to my daughter... it was a heartbreaking process, i can only hug and kiss her while she's asleep but it didn't take that long, after two days, my baby girl was officially off-the-breast, drinking her milk on a cup! she totally skipped the bottle stage. Mamu (my mom) did an amazing job on this!

I got off the plane, back to singapore with a pair of painful, huge and hard boobies... and with a sentiment of my baby was already grown up, I will certainly miss breastfeeding... (one of) the best feeling (as a mother).

Teething

Drooling, irritated at all times, Munching toys, clothes, well as you can see... a laptop, are just few of the common signs of teething...

Many of us suffer sleepless night and the culprit is usually our litte one's close-to-erupt tooth. One of the worst night you can imagine is a screaming baby with a sleepy parent... Giving them a pain reliever can ease the pain, but are we sure we want to pinch our baby's tiny liver? We've set a rule in our home that no one can take any pain meds if you can still sleep with it and this rule also applies to our baby, a little sacrifice will pay off, after an hour of lulling her to sleep, we can finally shut our eyes and no harm done!

Quick tip: Before your baby got into the teething stage, manage to established a unique soothing technique (a song with a combination of massage/tap) which will calm and remind your baby that everything is going to be fine.

Have fun waking up at night! Happy mommying!