Swimming & Haircut Weekend

Went to El Madero Farm & Resort last saturday with H's family and then met up with his relatives from Batangas. We were expecting a sunny afternoon but when we got to the resort, we were welcomed by heavy rain. Yeah, the perfect weather for our outing. It still rained till night so I did not allow Jared to swim as it was too cold. Since we stayed there overnight, Jared got to swim (with his baby float) the following morning. I only have few photos since I stayed in our room most of the time so I wasn't able to explore the resort.

At around 10 in the morning, we decided to go home while my In-laws headed to their Batangas house for an extended vacation. On our way home, my sister Tin texted me that they'll be going to SM North for some hair treatment sponsored by my ever generous sis. I felt that I'll be missing a lot if I don't go with them so I asked H if we could join them for lunch and then me joins them for the sponsored hair treatment. And my ever loving H agreed! We were the first to arrived so while waiting for my 2 sisses, H and I decided to bring Jared to the salon as he really needed an emergency hair cut. OK, I cut Jared's bangs last friday night and it turned out so bad.. that's why. Went to the same salon where he had his first hair cut - Cuts for Tots.



At first he was enjoying the toys given to him by the cutter but after a while he got so bored he wanted so bad to get out of his chair. The cutter couldn't do anything but to give in to Jared's demands and followed him to the play area. :)

After Jared's haircut, we headed to Tony and Jackey, a korean salon in SM Annex and had our hair treatments. Thanks sistah! You're the best! :)

Avilon Zoo

Nec and I decided to visit the Avilon zoo with our "chikitings" for them to see different animals. It was Lily and Jared's first time to visit a zoo. We arrived at 10 in the morning while Nec's family got there an hour after. The entrance fee is 250 for adults and 200 for children. We had lunch first before we started our exploration of the zoo.

the pink team

the green team

The Avilon Montalban Zoological Park is the largest zoological park in the Philippines, to date. It took us more than 2 hours to explore the 7.5-hectare zoo. Good thing we hired a guide to lead and give us some information about the animals. At first, I was hesitant to get one because it's just an added expense but later then I realized that it's a must or else we'll get lost inside the zoo.

mountain lion - edward's favorite :)

kingkong

flamingos

Our guide also shared with us the history of Avilon zoo. It started with a man's collection of different animals in his home. And when his collection started to grow bigger, he decided to purchase a land where it can house all his animals and later then decided to transform it into a zoo.

The zoo has large exhibits of exotic and endemic animals which include species of birds, reptiles, mammals, and fishes. The animal that really caught our attention is the giant arapaima fish from South America - largest fresh water fish in the world. I think they are 8-9 feet long. They looked like giant tilapias for me. And because we are amazed by them, we decided to join in feeding them. Their food costs 10 peso/pack. We also had the photo op with the yellow python. I was able to touch it but I got a bit scared as I felt something inside his body is waving.
We all enjoyed our visit to Avilon. It was worth visiting and brings out the inner kid in me :). I think the tots enjoyed it too as Jared was always imitating the sounds of the animals we visited. They still don't have the big mammals like the elephants, giraffes & zebras but our guide said that they will be arriving this year, and many new attractions will be open soon.

More photos here

Gagging in toddlers

Jared has been refusing rice meals since the day he got mouth sores. When he had it, he refused to eat anything maybe because it hurts when he chews food. So I decided to process his food in a blender so he can just swallow it and won't feel the pain. But when he got well and I started feeding him textured foods (rice meals), he still refused. He always wanted it smooth so he can just swallow it. He gags or throws up when he eats something textured but this is only on rice meals. At most times, he spits out when he sensed that the food is not blended/processed. On the other hand, he loves eating crackers and cookies. I wonder if he really dislikes the taste and texture of rice or he just liked the idea of eating soft foods effortlessly.

I envy all the other kids of his age who are eating adult foods so well. I have already consulted this to his pedia and she told us to just start with soft rice and keep reintroducing things and then he will eventually grow out of it. I wish that this 'eventually' becomes 'instantly'.. sigh..

The holy week that was

We spent the holy week in Batangas with H's family. Since the place is near the beach, we spent most of the time there. I did not join them swimming as I just came from a surgery last week, but the good thing was I got lots of time for reading. Here are some photos..

Jared with his batchmates (2nd cousins) - they're all born in the month of May

Will add more photos when I got the pics from my SIL..

Water babies

It was a nice Sunday morning and Jared got rid of the colds he's been having for a week. We were all waiting for him to get well so that he can use his new inflatable pool given by his lola M. It was also that same Sunday (afternoon) when we went to the hospital to have my then pregnancy checked. Anyways, he really enjoyed the water. At first he was so hesitant to swim or just move in the pool as it was his first time to try it so I requested H to join him. And it helped, once H was there Jared started to play with water. He likes splashing water to everyone around him and says "basa ang mami", "basa ang lola" and whenever we ask him to get out of the pool, he strongly refuses and says "ayaw, ayaw, ayaw".

waiting for the pool to be filled

"tagal naman mommy"

bonding time

23 months

...He's getting more talkative and loves to sing.

...He knows how to make the sign of the cross and pray the "Angel of God" He likes to fill in the blanks. He can say the last word of every line in the said prayer.

...He can recite the numbers 1-10. But usually it's 2 to 10. Always starts with 2 and forgets number 1.

...He's closed to being completely potty trained. He always says poopoo whenever he feels like making a bm. Before he usually says "umihi" after he has already peed but now he says it just before he pees and waits till he reached the toilet.

...I think his fear of the elevator has somewhat subsided. We tried to take him inside one and his reaction was relaxed compared before.

...Can recognize colors such as blue and red. He knows other colors such as gree, yellow, white but not that consistent in identifying them.

...He just loves the water so much. He loves swimming whether in a pool or beach.

...Loves playing basketball with his papi and sometimes with his yaya

...And the biggest issue, he hardly chews his food when he eats anything with rice.

And.. I guess that's all I can recall right now. So there. I will continue to keep track of Jared's progress, for memory's sake! :)

Happy 23 months Jared!

Sad

I have mentioned in my previous post that I've been experiencing some stomach cramps and spotting. Then a day after that post, the spotting suddenly became menstrual like bleeding. I immediately informed my ob about it and she advised us to go to the hospital right away to check if I already had miscarriage. I knew something was wrong. I sort of knew it was happening because I didn't experience this when I carried Jared. So off we went to the hospital to have it checked. The results found that my cervix was 2cm dilated and that the placenta was on its way out so I needed to undergo D&C immediately. But because we grabbed a snack just before going to the delivery room, they cannot do the D&C right away so we have to wait for 5 hours for the food to be digested. It was a very long 5 hours of waiting. I'm a bit nervous of the procedure since I've read that the pain was the same as when you gave birth. But actually, I did not experience any pain since I'm under anesthesia.. thank God. We stayed there overnight and went home the following day. It's sad but we're all okay. I was so glad that H was there with me all throughout.

We're pregnant (again)

After posting all that getting back in shape goals last week, here I am posting about being pregnant. I took a few home pregnancy tests few days ago which all came back positive (you can never believe your eyes after just one) and decided to visit the doctor this weekend for the confirmation. But then I had spotting and some contractions at the middle of the week so we went off to see the doctor immediately. Then I was requested to undergo the TVS (ultrasound) to check the condition of the pregnancy.

According to my ob, it is still in the early stage which was less than 5 weeks and they are not yet sure if it is a healthy pregnancy so we just have to observe first and then repeat the scan after 2 weeks. In the ultrasound result, the yolk sac is visible but the fetus isn't yet. I know that this is a delicate time of development so we need all your prayers.

We are thinking positive and hoping that things will get better soon.