My Hubby is a Great Daddy! :)

If Lia could talk, she would tell you her daddy is the best.  I am very certain of that because I see every day how much she loves her dada, how excited she gets when he comes home, how loud and clear her laughter is when the two of them play, and how glum she feels when she's about to sleep and he's still not around.  The moment she wakes up each morning, her eyes would look for her daddy first, and she would either crawl to him and kiss his lips or put her cheeks on his tummy, then she'd close her eyes again.  If Lia could talk, she'd be very proud to tell you she's a certified daddy's girl, and that her nose and lips and ears and fingers and toes and blood type are all like her dada's.

My little girl's favorite person in the world is her daddy, and all this for good reason.  My husband is a great father.

Since Lia came into our lives, more of my husband has been revealed to me. Between the two of us, he's the one with less sleeping hours, he changes our baby's diapers more frequently than I do, he lovingly carries her in his arms more than I do, he plays with her more than I do.  This is not to say that I am not a good mommy, it's just that he's an extremely great daddy that it's hard to beat the things that he does.  My husband is selfless and patient and loving and amazing; I and Lia and her future sibling/s are super blessed.

I read this quote once on Pinterest:, "The only thing better than having you for a husband is our children having you for a daddy."  My heart has the exact same words.

Thank you for everything, Mahal! Happy Father's Day! You know that we love you soooo much!



Cheers,

Lia's First Sweet Steps

Major achievement unlocked! Our little girl is finally walking! Hooray! :)

She actually took her first sweet steps on her own, without support, on June 9 when she was exactly 14 months and 12 days old.  Though the range when a baby starts walking varies from as young as 9 months up to 18 months, I think Lia is a relatively late walker if I would base it on many babies I know (parents should never compare, I know that, but I'm stating this as a matter of fact :)).  Her pedia actually gave her a 'deadline' to walk (at 15 months), and thank heavens she's able to beat it! Hehe. Good job, little munchkin!  You're as conscious of deadlines as your mommy here! :)

This was taken a week before she finally had the confidence to walk. :)
See how scared she looked? She wouldn't let go!

I think the main reason why Lia's walking took a while was the lack of opportunity and practice. Because I was always on my toes whenever she tried cruising from one spot to another out of fear that she'd fall, my tendency was just to scoop her up and hold her or put her in the crib or on the bed, anywhere safe and soft.  Her yaya was like that too, until we were sort of mandated to "let her go" and make her practice more.  That's what we did, and now she can do it, albeit still wobbly. :) She's still in the "tumbling" phase now, so we're staying very close to catch her when she falls.

My wobbly walker. She's focusing more on her pouting

than her walking. Hehe!

This time, she was distracted because of her hair clips! :))

Pretty soon, we know she'll be fully confident and she'd be walking as if she'd been doing it for months.  We gotta prepare ourselves for a lot of habulan when that time comes. :)

Cheers,

Baby Immunizations and Costs

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," says a popular line from Benjamin Franklin.  This is very true especially when we're talking about preventing diseases in babies who are very fragile and delicate.  Thank God for vaccines, ailments that used to claim countless lives can now be prevented!  We can all have peace of mind knowing that our frail babies are not at risk of infectious illnesses once they've received immunization.

Of course, prevention has a price.  In my baby's immunization record, not a single vaccine was worth less than a thousand pesos.  It could be less (or more) with other pedias or clinics, but I don't think the price difference would be significant.  Listing down below the vaccines Lia has received so far, the cost of each, and the dates when she got them.  Her pedia is Dr. Trinidad 'Nik' Lombos and her clinic that we go to is the one at Asian Hospital.

BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin)

• What it does:  protects babies from serious forms of Tuberculosis (TB) such as TB Meningitis (an infection of the brain) and Miliary TB (wide spread infection)
• Cost:  PhP 1,400
• Given on:  March 28, 2015 (the day she was born)

Hep B

• What it does: protects against the hepatitis B virus 
• Cost:  PhP 1,400
• Given on:  March 28 (the day she was born), June 11 (at 2.5 mos), October 03, 2015 (at 6.5 mos), and July 10, 2020 (5 years and 3 months)

Rotavirus

• What it does:  protects against Rotavirus which causes severe acute gastroenteritis with diarrhea and vomiting
• Cost:  PhP 3,200
• Given on:  May 09 (at 1.5 mos) and July 11, 2015 (at 3.5 mos)

6 in 1

• What it does:  protects against Hep B, DPT (bacterial infection affecting the nose and throat, and sometimes the skin), OPV/IPV (polio), and H. Influenza (bacterial infections including meningitis, septicaemia, pneumonia, etc.)
• Cost:  PhP 3,500
• Given on:  June 11 (at 2.5 mos) and October 03, 2015 (at 6.5 mos)

DPT, OPV/IPV, H. Influenza

• What it does:  similiar to the 6-in-1 vaccine but doesn't include Hep B
• Cost:  PhP 3,000
• Given on:  June 11 (at 2.5 mos) and August 15 (at 5 mos) and October 3, 2015 (at 6.5 mos); October 15 (at 1.5 years old), December 10, 2016 (at 1 year & 8 mos), and June 04, 2020 (at 5 years & 2 mos)

Measles

• What it does:  protects against the virus that causes measles
• Cost:  PhP 1,300
• Given on:  November 21, 2015 (at 8 mos)

Varicella

• What it does:  protects against chickenpox 
• Cost:  PhP 3,600 in 2016; PhP 3,900 in 2019
• Given on:  April 02, 2016 (at 1 year old); April 13, 2019 (at 4 years old)

MMR

• What it does:  protects against measles, mumps, and rubella (similar to measles)
• Cost:  PhP 1,500, booster shot PhP 1,600
• Given on:  May 07, 2016 (at 1 year & 1 mo); booster shot on March 16, 2019 (3 years and 11mos)

Hep A

• What it does: protects against the hepatitis A virus 
• Cost:  PhP 2,200
• Given on:  June 11 (at 1 year & 2.5 mos) and December 10, 2016 (at 1 year & 8.5 mos)

Flu Shot

• What it does: protects kids from the flu and the problems that come along with it
• Cost: PhP 1,500
• Given on: July 16 (at 1 year & 4 mos) and August 20, 2016 (at 1 year & 5 mos) and September 9, 2017 (at 2 years & 5.5 mos) July 7, 2018 (at 3 years & 3 mos), and June 04, 2020 (at 5 years & 2 mos)

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)

• What it does: protects against diseases caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae that can lead to infections in the lungs, blood, and brain
• Cost: PhP 5,000
• Given on: November 18, 2016 (at 1 year & 8 mos) and February 18, 2017 (at 1 year & 11 mos)

Imojev

• What it does:  protects against Japanese encephalitis, a disease spread through mosquito bites
• Cost: PhP 3,100
• Given on: May 6, 2017 (at 2 years & 1 mo)

Pneumo23

• What it does: prevents pneumonia caused by the 23 different types of pneumococci bacteria 
• Cost: PhP 2,600
• Given on: June 3, 2017 (at 2 years & 2 mos)

Menactra

• What it does:  prevents invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135
• Cost: PhP 3,900
• Given on: July 8, 2017 (at 2 years & 3 mos)

For sure, the schedule and costs may not be the same for all pedias. but this is how it is for my Lia. :) As of this update (15 Sept 2017), Lia is done! We will just go back to the doctor next year, after she turns three, then again after she turns four.  I'll still keep on updating this post as we go along.

***********

UPDATE as of November 2018: I am now a mother of two! This section below will state the costs and dates of my second baby's shots so that our list is more recent. :)  Like what I did above, I will keep on updating this as my baby and I go along.

• Hep B (P1,400) - given on the day he was born, 13 October 2018. 
• BCG (P1,400) - typically given on the day the baby is born, but in my son's case, this was given 2 weeks after, 26 October 2018.
• Rotavirus (P3,300) - given at one month, 23 November 2018.
• 6-in-1 (P3,650) - given at 3 months, 19 January 2019 (but this can be given earlier, Rocco just had colds the previous month so this shot was delayed)
• Rotavirus (P3,300) -  the second dose was given at 3 months, 16 Feb 2019.
• 5-in-1 (P3,200) - given at 4 months, 16 March 2019
• 6-in-1 (P3,650) - second dose given at 6 months, 13 April 2019.
• MMR (P1,600) - given at almost 7 months, 04 May 2019 (this was only given due to the measles outbreak; this is usually given past one year)
• Flu (P1,600) - given at 8 months, 15 June 2019.
• Imojev (P3,500) - given at 9.5 months, 03 August 2019.
• Flu (P1,600) - second dose given at almost 11 months, 08 September 2019.
• Varicella (P3,900)- given at 15 months, 18 January 2020 (but this can be given as soon as the baby turns 12 months, Rocco just had colds last October, and everyone was busy the past two months)
• Hep A (2,200) - given at 16 months, 22 February 2020
• MMR (1,600) - given at 1 year and 7 months, 04 June 2020
• PCV (5,100) - given at 1 year and 8 months, 10 July 2020

To fellow moms asking about baby immunizations and costs in the Philippines, hope this helps! :)

Belo Baby Colognes with Andi & Ellie

I'm delighted to announce the mommy and baby behind the new campaign of Belo Baby colognes, pretty momma Andi Eigenmann and her adorable daughter Ellie! :)  This video material is fresh off the studios, posted just this afternoon on social media.

Do watch it and interact with it! :) This video is one of a kind as it lets the viewers "help" Andi and Ellie put on the different gentle scentsations of Belo Baby colognes - Cool Drizzle (blue), Happy Tickle (yellow), and Sweet Snuggle (pink).  Tap Andi's neck, tickle her, rub Ellie's arm and see the scent filters come out.  It's fun to watch and do, really! :)

Belo Baby colognes are now available nationwide, for PhP 79.75 each.  So moms, kids, teens, and all the babies-at-heart, it's time to discover your Belo Baby scentsation! :)  Visit www.belobaby.ph to learn more. :)

Cheers,

Slow Down

This video made me cry. :(  My darling Lia, please slow down.

SLOW DOWN

by Nichole Nordeman

Here’s to you 

You were pink or blue 

And everything I wanted 

Here’s to you 

Never sleeping through 

From midnight till the morning 

Had to crawl before you walked 

Before you ran 

Before I knew it 

You were trying to free your fingers from my hand 

‘Cause you could do it on your own now somehow

Slow down 

Won’t you stay here a minute more 

I know you want to walk through the door 

But it’s all too fast 

Let’s make it last a little while 

I pointed to the sky and now you wanna fly 

I am your biggest fan 

I hope you know I am 

But do you think you can somehow 

Slow down

Here’s to you 

Every missing tooth 

Every bedtime story 

Here’s to Barbie, cars, light saber, wars 

Sleeping in on Sunday 

Had to crawl 

Before you walked 

Before you ran 

Before I knew it 

You were teaching me 

The only thing love can 

Hold hands through it 

When it’s scary, you’ve got me

Slow down 

Won’t you stay here a minute more 

I know you want to walk through the door 

But it’s all too fast 

Let’s make it last a little while 

I pointed to the sky and now you wanna fly 

I am your biggest fan 

I hope you know I am 

But do you think you can somehow 

Slow down

Please don’t roll your eyes at me 

I know I’m embarrassing 

But someday you’ll understand 

You’ll hold a little hand 

Ask them if they can 

I am your biggest fan 

I hope you know I am 

But do you think you can 

Somehow 

Slow down

Slow down

I love you, Lia.