I’m still stuck with ten more pounds on top of my pre-pregnancy weight. It has been more than six weeks since I gave birth so I can now start with some moderate exercises. Since I’m breastfeeding Anika, it is not a good idea to go on a diet to lose those extra ten pounds. For now, exercise is the best way to lose weight for me.

I ‘ve started with a little walking with Mateo and awe even played some soccer on the street in front of our house after our walk a few days ago. It seems that he will be my ‘exercise partner’ for the mean time.

Anika turned a month old last Sunday, September 5. They say that time goes by really fast when you have a baby but I think the past month has been one of the longest month for me. I hate recovering from pregnancy, adjusting to a demanding baby, and dealing with baby blues all at the same time However, even before Anika turned a month old, things were already getting so much better and for that I am extremely grateful.

Since I’ve been delinquent in continuing to post updates on Mateo, let me turn a new leaf since I have two kids now. I need to make a monthly list of updates on both of them now so that I have something to look back on when they’re older and have to make lists of their own too and before Ramil and I need medicare supplement plans

Anika:

• Our little girl, just like most babies less than a month old, is on call center schedule. She sleeps most of the time during the day and keeps us awake at night. What makes it even more difficult is that all she wants to do during the night is to nurse. Being sleep-deprived is not the best condition to nurse a baby for hours.
• Oh boy, could she cry! She cries louder than her kuya. When Anika wants something, she WILL be heard. There is no ignoring her and most of the time, if she wants something, she wants it NOW. The older people’s style of letting the baby cry it out will definitely not work for her because her cries will only get louder and more terrifying. I think we have a personality here.
• She likes to smile and laugh. Unfortunately, we haven’t been diligent enough to capture it on camera. But she easily smiles nowadays especially whenever she hears someone laughing. It seems we are growing a happy-smiley-laughy family, hehe.
• She wants to be carried most of the time and she sleeps better when she’s sleeping on me. Take note, not beside me but ON me, on my chest. Needless to say, I don’t get too much sleep at all.
• She’s attempting to learn thumbsucking. I would sometimes catch her putting her fist to her mouth and trying to lick/suck it.
• She farts a lot.
• She has difficulty burping but she could let out the loudest burps as well.

Mateo:

• We’re having difficulty disciplining him lately. I think it has a lot to do with the adjustments he has to undergo. We’re making extra effort to review how we’ve been talking to him as well because I think with all the adjustments we’ve had to make as well, we’ve been losing it way too much with him. We have to make extra efforts to be nicer to each other even when we’re all stressed out.
• He’s doing well in school. We just got the results of his first quarter exams and he got 88% in almost all subjects except for 84% in Language and 94% in Science. I’m more than satisfied with his results considering that he’s a 3-year-old in a Kinder class and I deliberately did not review him for any of his exams.
• I think he’s having difficulty though with establishing a more solid relationship with his classmates. In his previous school, he was able to develop closer friendships with his classmates. But with his current classmates, even though he’s friends with them he doesn’t really have a buddy among them.
• He is such a pasikat now. I think it also has something to do with having someone to compete with for attention.
• He loves being a kuya and he’s always a very willing helper.

A friend is currently under the process of having their house built. She and her husband has only been married for three years and since they have yet to be blessed with a baby, they decided to have their own house built instead. A few weeks ago, she told me about the old coins that they had cemented on their floor to bring them luck. I jokingly told her that they should have put gold coins instead so that it will bring them even more luck. She said that if they have gold coins or even a gold bullion, she will not put it on their floor but keep it for a long time as an investment. She thinks that despite already having their own house built and having more than enough savings, they should still have sound investments. After reading how reliable it is to invest in gold, she actually thinks it is an idea that is worth trying.

In a few months, we will be house hunting and setting up house once again but this time in a foreign country. There are times when I would get stressed thinking about everything that we need to buy to be able to live there. We would have nothing but our clothes there so aside from looking for a house we can rent we have to buy all other home stuff too.

Some of the items in my ‘must-have’ list are air conditioner, stove, refrigerator, table, mattress, washing machine, and a lot of kitchen stuff. I also told Ramil that a TV or maybe a Slingbox is a candidate in my ‘must-have’ list. Since Mateo might not be able to go to school for our first few weeks there, I absolutely need something to keep him busy at times.

Notice that the air conditioner is the first thing I mentioned. Well, according to my research, Brunei’s climate is pretty much similar to the Philippines but they do not get as many storms as we do so I’m thinking there would be more hot days than cold ones. I love it that we do not have to worry about electricity because most rents cover water and electricity already! So we can savor the cold air conditioning as much as we want to. As for the other stuff we would need to fully furnish the house we will be renting, I know that budget would not permit us to buy everything in one go. So our home stuff shopping list will be strictly on a priority basis. It’s okay though because Ramil and I have been through this five years ago when we were newlyweds. We had to improvise with big boxes by covering them with decorative cloth and using them as multi-functional tables. Hehe! I think as long as we have a decent set of tables and chairs for eating then we will not need a lot.

Notice also that I listed mattress and not bed. Again, since we’re on a priority basis, I think we can do without a bed frame for a few months. Also, Anika would be a happy crawler by then and I wouldn’t want her falling off the bed like what happened with Mateo several times. A big good sturdy mattress on the floor is more than enough. If the Japanese could sleep with just futons then I think a bed frame can be pushed farther down our list.

Even the washing machine is negotiable. If we can find a good and affordable enough laundry service near the house we will be renting then I’m all for it. Nothing beats the convenience of dropping off your laundry and getting them back all clean and folded especially since I totally hate hanging and folding the laundry.

I try not to get too stressed whenever I think about the whole thing. Unfortunately, unlike with our settling down phase when we were newlyweds, we do not have the luxury of being leisurely about the whole thing and always trying to make do with improvisations since we now have a preschooler and a baby. Somehow having the two of them has made us want more of the little comforts at home. I’m just being optimistic and hoping that somehow everything will just work out once we’re there already.

I haven’t had a haircut in a long time and I’m actually itching to have one. However, I’ve been postponing it because I know that my hair will be undergoing a lot of changes in the next few months because of post-pregnancy and breastfeeding. So I guess the most I can do for now are quick trims.

Since I could not do anything about how I look, I’m actually thinking of changing this blog’s template. I haven’t changed it for the longest time and it might be a good change. I chanced upon wprex.com – wordpress templates which offers numerous free wordpress themes. I’m having fun browsing through them and I just might find the time later to make the long overdue makeover here.

In my part of the world, we’ve started feeling the colder weather and I’m loving it! After months of intense heat, I would finally be able to wear all my women’s sweaters that have been tucked away in my closet. I could even shop for more! Of course, the cold weather outfits would serve another purpose because my post-pregnancy body is simply not ready yet for my fitted t-shirts and jeans. Cold weather is the perfect excuse to cover myself and my post-pregnancy belly in a bulky sweater.