Santa, Here We Come!

Posted by Analyse at 4:38 PM

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Do you believe in Santa Claus? Louna does. And at the moment, it's only Santa Claus that counts.

Last night, she accidentally peed on her bed and while I was changing her pajama, she sadly told me that Père Noël va être déçu (Santa Clause will be disappointed). So I told her Yes, he will be disappointed so next time, you have to wake up and call Maman or Papa to help you go to the toilet. Talking about taking advantage of Santa story, lol.

Since this Santa Clause period doesn't last a lifetime, we want her to experience a one-of-a-kind adventure with Santa - something which she will cherish at least during her childhood years. So why not go Paris Disneyland?

I've received an invitation from Paris Disneyland offering me a free entrance ticket. But the ticket is good only up to December 25. Since my mom will be arriving on December 27, we thought we could only go there on December 28. I started to check their site for opening hours and ticket prices. My, the prices made me scratch my head - ang mahal naman ng ticket (50€ for adults and 42€ for kids). My kuripot attitude started to hit me again. Then I received an email from this site which finally saved me from ruining my pocket. I had 4 tickets for only 80€! What a steal.

Now, Louna will surely meet Santa Claus in person. Hope it will be sunny on that day. I don't want my mom to freeze on her 2nd day in France, lol.

Home Alone with the 2 Girls

Posted by Analyse at 9:52 AM

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Frenchguy left for Ireland today and will be back Friday night. My much awaited break after office hour, when Frenchguy's home will be suspended till this weekend. The 2 girls will surely know how to overload my schedule. To start, I have to wake up earlier to bring Louna to school. The cold weather will surely not play to our advantage. Then in the afternoon, I need to stretch my patience so I could attend to their exigences. Wish me energy, patience and enough sleep.

Would You Let Your Baby Cry?

Posted by Analyse at 10:04 AM

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Parenting style had always been a hot topic between Frenchguy and I. Too hot that we often raise voices each time we talk about it. The biggest culprit are none other than the differences in culture and education we received as individuals. Co-sleeping for example, though tolerated at home is not practiced in Frenchguy's family. And since they just can't just shrug their shoulders to such kind of idea, they would talk about the dangers of co-sleeping and how a child could develop a certain degree of dependence to their parents. Why the heck are they so afraid to be too close to their kids? When discussions are focused on such topic, I have this feeling that I need to defend my culture and tradition to the same people who already heard what I needed to say 3 years ago, when Louna was born.

Breastfeeding was half-heartedly accepted this time. No comments from MIL who had a word warning from Frenchguy during Louna's time. But in one of Kyla's fussy nights (pre-osteopath time), Frenchguy asked me if I was sure my breastfeeding was effective. That's a comment too much to an already worried and tired mom. He had his dose of my motherhood-induced katarayan in no time.

Since they know that I would accept but a little compromise in terms of motherhood, they would often accept shut their mouth and let me react according to what I feel and think is right. I'm the mother after all.

But crying is another problem. Frenchguy would often suggest to let Kyla cry. He's afraid I'm spoiling my daughter. But leaving a baby cry should depend on the moment. I wouldn't leave her cry when all she claims is to rock her to sleep, right? And I'm just doing the same as I did for Louna. And honestly, Louna was and is never a cry baby. She's even surprised to see kids cry or throw tantrums in malls or playgrounds. What I'm afraid in allowing babies cry too long is that they get used to it and use it to get what they want.

Hayy. It's during these moments when I want to send Frenchguy back to his mom. Buti na lang, my mom will be here end of December and will stay for 3 months. May kakampi na ako.

The Power of Osteopathy

Posted by Analyse at 3:08 PM

Monday, November 10, 2008

Kyla's arrival had certainly changed our life. The joy of finally having her around and cuddle her anytime we want is unexplainable. But to say that she brought but joy at home is an exaggeration. She brought more than that.

She'd been fussy. She had been regurgitating a lot, even close to vomitting sometimes. This disturbs her even when asleep, thus, not sleeping a lot especially at daytime. This is also one of the reasons why I started mixing between breast and bottle feeding - I thought my milk wasn't enough and good enough.

But there must be something more aside from regurgitation. She's too sensitive. She could be awakened by the smallest of noise and movement. She cries not even 5 minutes after I lay her down on bed. The only solution I found was to carry her almost all the time so she could get the dose of sleep she needed for her age. At first, I thought, that must be her reaction to what I had undergone after giving birth. Afraid of separation, she wanted to keep me this time.

Her behaviour had made our organization at home off balanced. Louna's jealousy had been intensified by the fact that I was needed by Kyla 24h a day.

When my FIL went here to pay us a visit, I was indirectly criticized because of my method (MIL in particular). They thought I was instauring a bad habit to Kyla. But after days of stay with us, they finally understood why I had to resort to my method. Kyla was crying a lot.

Her fussiness made me a worried mom. I unintentionally repeated several times to Frenchguy my hope that nothing is wrong with Kyla days before her 1st month visit to the pediatrician.

During those rare free time that I got, I search on the net for solutions. When my SIL talked about an osteopath and after reading reactions from the net, I thought I need to give it a try.

It's been 5 days now after our visit to the osteopath. Kyla regurgitates less, sleeps longer and could stay awake for an hour, observing things around her. Whoa! That's a big change. She still cries of course, but I could now decode the meaning of her cries. I could now attend to what she really needs. Calm is slowly gaining place at home. Louna is now enjoying her sister's company. What a joy!

A Month and a Half Later..

Posted by Analyse at 2:38 PM

Thursday, November 06, 2008

During times when Kyla cries unconsolably and I start to cry myself, I wish time flies faster so she could be older and fill our house with laughter - just 6 months older would be perfect. But reality hits me big time when I think that I need to get back to work end of December - that's just too soon. I need to remind myself that the little miss won't stay this small forever and I need to take advantage, especially now that she starts to smile and focus on objects infront of her.

But the little angel is giving me a real hard time. She's regurgitating a lot and that wakes her up most of the time. She's got an agitated sleep too. Even the smallest of noise could wake her up. All that results to a fussy Kyla who lacks sleep which she badly needs for her development.

We brought her to an osteopath yesterday who did a series of massage particularly on her head. He apparently put all nerves which help in digestion in place to spare Kyla from any discomfort. The result could be observed progressively but so far, so good. Proof is, I could blog!

Ambiance at home is starting to get more harmonious than it was when Kyla just arrived at home. Louna got used to having her sister around and jealousy, I should say, is a thing of the past now. She's even becoming a protective sister, not wanting to bring her sister to her pediatrician because the doctor will just do some injections, as how she puts it. Yesterday, when the osteopath was massaging Kyla, Louna wanted me to take Kyla in my arms because the doctor made her sister cry. When I explained that the doctor needed to do the massage so Kyla could stop crying, she just contented herself in asking the doctor not to break her sister. That's just so sweet.

Yesterday, I submitted my request to work part-time to my employer. Since there's no school on Wednesdays, I'll take this day off so I could spend time with my daughters. The boss of my boss was apparently surprised and worried because he'll have less employee of my decision but finally signed the request. He even told Frenchguy that I'd be working on subjects which won't oblige me to travel at least for the coming year. That's cool.

It's Louna's 3rd birthday this Saturday. She already blew her candles last week when the family was here but I would still bake something for her tomorrow as she would be celebrating her birthday at school with her classmates. We would then bring her to an attraction park this weekend. That would be her birthday gift she already have a lot of toys and books, tired of picking them up one by one, the big girl is not arranging her stuffs!

Louna blowing her candles while showing her age with her fingers.