it pays to save... early

for my birthday.

May is just around the corner, and I promised myself I’m never having a party. The budget for that can go to Xofia's (planned) intimate 1 year birthday party.

Still, I want this turning 25 (way palag!) be as memorable. So, how can this be memorable for me, you may ask. Oh, this duo can make that day extra special, swear:

Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast (Hardcover) because hey, I’m a homemaker and a careerwoman, I do need inspirations from the luscious Nigella.

Happiest Toddler on the Block: How to Eliminate Tantrums and Raise a Patient, Respectful and Cooperative One- to Four-Year-Old: Revised Edition because most of all, I’m a new parent and my little peanut is about to turn 1. Help me!!!

Only two books. I promise these gifts will be well-appreciated and well-used. And oh, if they're too heavy for you to be lugging around (because they're hardcovers), I accept GCs from Powerbooks :-)

Xofia (is still sick) update

I am such a bad mommy; all the while I thought my little peanut is still 8 months old. She's actually 9 months already and well on her way to her 10th month on May. What was I thinking? Time does fly fast when there's this little cookie keeping you up and busy. So unlike the loooong, painfully bloated 9 months of pregnancy.

These past days haven't been good to us. Especially to the little one. She got the fever on Wednesday night, which dismissed thinking it's just the way babies are, their body temp are always higher than ours. So I ignored my instincts and went ahead to prepare for our badminton game. When we got back, she was still feverish. I noticed a tiny cough every now and then. Panic button is now flashing. I can't find the paracetamol. Because really, Xofie is one baby who's never had fever before, this tells me that if she gets one, it must be something super serious. Needless to say, we almost hadn't had any sleep that night. And it doesn't help that his daddy has to be out of town the next day for the weekend.

We saw her doctor on Friday. She was given a mucolytic and an examination of her throat reveals slightly reddish tonsils, so it must be viral -- and here I was hoping it was just the upper incisors cutting through her gums. If it were my way, I’d choose the latter.

The cough developed into something more serious. successive and leaving her catching her breath. She'd cry every time she coughs and you could see the pain in her face. One time she was coughing and she turned bright red gasping for breath. I can't just stay holding and cuddling her, I had to do something. There must be something I can do to ease my baby's discomfort other than crying my eyes out.

Her doctor advised I nebulize her. With tears still clouding my vision, I ran and went to the nearest pharmacy to purchase a nebulizer. Emotional as I was, I still found time to swear that a machine this expensive should do something for my baby or only God knows what I’m gonna do. (Yeah, mommies do this!) These companies sure know how to milk desperate moms like me. Good thing it only takes one try for Xofie to actually like the thing. I can see she now looks forward to our nebulizing sessions, which I fondly call sheesha time.

Still, the saline solution that we use to nebulize her only makes the phlegm easier for her to expel and swallow (yes, babies swallow them because it's the only way they know how) and not really stop it. I notice a certain off smell from her mouth. The visit to her doctor on Monday reveals pus on her tonsils. Time for antibiotics, and because she now has colds, Neozep drops before bedtime.

She's getting better every single day at least, and sleeps through most of the nights, enough for me to not worry about how much drugs she's ingesting. On the other hand, I think my daughter will grow up into a sheesha-loving chick.

ma-ma-maaa-prrrrrrffft!

(or Xofia-talk meaning Mommy, wake up now or else!)

Xofia usually wakes up at 5:30 am. Nanay (the Nanny) doesn't get her from the bed up until 6:30, and I don't get up (even if I’m half awake most of the time) until when it's 6:30 and I have to go look for Nanay to come get her. And then I go back to sleep.

It usually works fine for the first 10 minutes. She’d lie on her back, fiddle with her blinky, suck on it, and talk ta-ta-taaaa-ta or ma-ma-maaa-prrrrrrffft! I’d open one eye and if she'd seen me doing that, she'd let out a dimpled smile. I’d smile back, but really, 530 in the morning? The eye just involuntarily shuts down. I’d think she'd scream anyway, and I’m a light sleeper. Wouldn’t be much of a problem to attend to some emergency if need be. (Mothers instinctively develop this skill throughout months of sleepless nights.)

Today, she was "thankfully" preoccupied until 630. I sneaked a peek from awhile back, and she seemed to be enjoying whatever she's doing. This time, she's already on her stomach. I went back to sleep. The next thing I know, wet, clammy and super cold little tentacles exploring the holes of my nose, gouging my eye out and poking my mouth. Icky dream!!!

When I opened my eyes, it was Xofia's tiny little fingers all over my face. Must have lost interest from whatever's preoccupying her beforehand. I was extremely curious why her hands are so wet and cold and kinda sticky.

I groped to where her milk was so I can at least feed her, and there it was, or what could have been a puddle of milk, now a milk-soaked mattress. She must have had a grand time splashing it all over, raced time before the mattress absorbed it all down, and when she got bored, she went over to mommy and played with her face.

Right. I should've known.