Test of my conviction

I had to look twice or thrice when i checked my stock portfolio at COL today. I'm seeing MOSTLY RED in my account! Wait, what? Even my prime blue chips are in the red? I was so used to  just seeing 1 or 2 of my basura stocks plunging. But in the last few days my entire portfolio is in that deep, pathetic bloody color. Is the dreaded market correction finally here?

Of course don't trust me on that. I am a newbie stock market investor, just got in last September! That's why i get so jittery whenever I log in to my COL account these days. Hhmmm i need to relax and think this through. I have to look at the bigger picture.

A bank account for your little one

Finally, after months of meaning to do so, i was able to open a deposit account for my son. The husband and i have long been planning to open a deposit account for him. We plan to park his aguinaldo (Christmas cash gifts) here. Well, until the amount is big enough, we'll store it here then transfer to a higher yielding investment. Para dito namin sya ituturo kapag hinanap nya ung mga kinita nyang aguinaldo. hehehe 
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How to Store Expressed Breast Milk

If you are a working mama, you must master how to properly and efficiently store your precious breast milk. From my experience, i think moms must develop her own system of storing breast milk 2 to 3 weeks before the end of their maternity leave.  

The first thing you have to decide on is whether to  refrigerate or freeze breast milk or to leave in the fridge. This depends on the amount of milk you have on hand.  Do you think you have enough to freeze or do you have just enough supply for until tomorrow? Some "lucky" moms do have the problem of whether to freeze or not because, yeah, they have that much breast milk. Oh... i remember those days when i was able to fill the entire freezer with breast milk. I remember grinning from ear to ear, amazed at how much milk i produced for my son.   

#YolandaPH : Yet Another Reason to Go Back to the Breast

Being able to breastfeed is equal to empowering all moms to feed a hungry baby at any time, no matter how worse the situation may be! I can only imagine how bad the situation in Yolanda-hit areas - still no electricity after more than a week since the brunt of the storm and almost all the establishments leveled - but I am sure that among the supplies quickly depleted is clean and potable water.  Such water plus clean feeding bottles are the among the things you need should you decide to formula feed.  Such may be difficult or in most cases, impossible to come by during emergency situations. This is the main reason why breastfeeding is the safest option, emergency or not.

The World Health Organization puts is in much simpler terms, " Infant formula usually needs to be mixed with water. When there isn’t sufficient safe water available, babies who drink it can get very sick".  

The Art of Saying "Nooooh!"

My son is a big talker now! Wooohhoooo...

He's been naming several basic body parts in English and in Filipino!
He's been repeating most word's we've been teaching him, like a parrot!
He's talking to us too! He's replying to almost all our questions in one to two syllables! We hardly understand what he means, but at least he's babbling!

We can't be any prouder.

But my oh my...... i did not expect these:

Mommy: "Anak,Ligo na?"
P: "No!"

Mommy: "Baby, wanna read?"
P: "No!"(with head shaking)

Mommy:"Anak, tulog na."
P: "Hindi" (Halos mabali na ang leeg sa pag-iling)

Breastfeeding Stats in the Philippines

'Been swamped at work and family time, but as i was doing some research i found this! I just want to share some findings from National Statistics Office' 2011 Family Health Survey. The survey has some interesting breastfeeding statistics!

The good news: 92% of children were breastfed for some time! Hooray for moms who attempt and keep on breastfeeding! Some breastfeeding is better than none at all right?

Some more good news -  higher percentage of poor children than non-poor children were exclusively breastfed. 34% of babies from poor household are exclusively breastfed. For higher-earning households, that only24%. This means that babies from poor families usually get breast milk. That's good news because this means poor households won't spend on formula.

Eating Out with a Toddler

I have to admit it, i dread dining out with my 22-month old! Don't get me wrong, i do love eating out and I love being with my child. But i'm just really bothered by the mess he makes when he eats! I've been letting him eat on his own. This is the only way he'll learn to eat independently.

As he eats food gets all over his face! I find this really cute. Actually i don't mind the mess he makes when he eats. At home, he's eating a lot, He also makes so much mess, half his food just lands on floor.  I think this is just ok and we cleanup right away.

But when we dine out, cleaning is all up to the restaurant crew and  I'm shy about leaving behind crumbs of food on the floor or spills of drinks on the table.