i want my nap

The little man was whiny earlier. I asked him what the reason was and he just whined some more. So I gave him his lunch then cleaned him up, gave him his milk and surprisingly, when I put him in his bed he didn't complain. In fact he looked so happy and relieved, lol. In a matter of minutes he was asleep. Yes, that was only when Mama knew what was wrong. Bad, eh?

I thought he just wanted to play with our new ac that was why he wanted to be in our room. I didn't have any idea he had other plans. But all is well. He is sound asleep right now and I am sure he will be good as new when he gets up later. He just couldn't give up his nap time yet and I am glad.

box 'em up

Since we are getting ready to send a box to our relatives in Leyte, I dug through old clothes on our closet. There are a lot of still new clothes that doesn't fit me anymore which I will put in the box for my cousins and nieces. I asked the husband if I can send the little man's clothes too and he said that was the purpose of the box, to send whatever we don't need anymore so somebody on another side of the world can use it. As I took the little man's clothes off the hangers I found the funny t-shirts that his Aunt Sandy bought for him when we visited them last year. He only wore the shirts a few times since at first those were too big for him and then when it fit him the weather started getting hot. I hate to let his things go but we can't keep on accumulating things that we don't use anymore.

The husband still has to go through his closet and decide which he will keep or give away. He even told me I have to go over my boxes of sandals and shoes and send some too. Ahm, I don't think I will. Because even if I don't use my sandals and shoes all the time, I don't want to part with them. He calls me Imelda because of my collection :)

a few good deals

We went to Target for some sale the husband was after and like most times when we go to stores I hit the toddler isle like a metal drawn to magnet. And that was where I saw a few good deals which I hurriedly took. No sense in waiting for stuff to ran out, lol.

I bought cute little shorts for my niece Aliyah. And also a pair of shorts and shirt for my cousin's son. These will go on the box which we will send to Leyte in a few weeks. Of course I had to buy clothes for the little man as well. There were nice deals on shorts for only ninety eight cents which I grabbed four. Then a number of shirts and a pair of pajamas. That was the first time I bought toddler clothes that cheap and I was happy with my accomplishment that even if the husband didn't bring me to Penney's as planned I didn't complain. There was no reason to, unless it gets too cold :) Just give me a few good deals and I will be happy.

a few more weeks

The little man's birthday is coming up. He will be two then. Yes, my little boy is growing every day and is showing a lot of attitude both good and bad. I have to be firm with him sometimes to make him realize his mistakes but he is learning.

I still haven't made up my mind where we will celebrate his birthday. He seemed to like Chuck E Cheese last time we were there so that is one option. Or we can just go out and eat. Or maybe just like his first birthday we will just celebrate it at home with balloons and party hats and a birthday cake. And since we don't know many people here we might just celebrate his day with his siblings and nephew and niece. If we were in Leyte it probably will be a big thing knowing how they celebrate birthdays there. There might even be loot bags for the kids. Definitely not personalized pens though but maybe toys and candies and chocolates and items kids will like.

Whatever we decide to do on his day, I hope he will have a good time. My wish for him is to be healthy and good all the time.

expressions

My boy picked up some expressions from me that he uses at certain times. Here are his favorites:

Uh, oh! - Mostly when he does something embarrassing like farting loudly or after throwing his sippy cup. Or when mama sees him standing beside the television on the entertainment center. But mostly when he sees mama holding a diaper.

Oh no! -He says this over and over again when something doesn't suit him. Or if he tears up something. Or if mama does something he doesn't like.

Oh boy! -I use this expression when we ran out of stuff we really need and he picked up on it. The other night the little man was holding his toy truck when he said Oh, boy! and his father wondered what it was for, lol.

It is funny to listen to him figure out how and when to use these words. It took him a long time before he started talking a little though. Used to, he grunted (he still does) and growled that we call him our little gremlin. At night before bedtime, when I say night, night to him he replies with a gruff nigh', nigh' but when his father says the words he replies in a normal voice. The husband said it seems like the little man wants to act and sound all grown up for mama. Could be. Or he might just be playing with me. I love this little fellow so much!

it is almost time

For bed. I am listening to the little man grunting and making all kinds of noises while in his playpen. He is waiting for me to clean him up so we can go to bed. Him and the husband are waiting for me to finish my stuff online which I will try to do in a few minutes since I am sleepy too.

The little man was being a good boy today. I let him play all he wanted and only put him in his playpen when he got too bad with climbing and slapping the television. I showed him pictures earlier with animals and insects in it and after I named the animals he pointed at each one and named them though the words weren't clear. But he is trying so hard and that is what matters. I am happy that he is learning and he absorbs things he hears and watches. In fact it may be time for me to tell the husband to minimize using adult words when his son is around. We don't want him calling us names, lol.

baby pictures

When the little man was born we didn't have many pictures of him. We only brought a roll of film to the hospital where the husband acted as the photographer. When he was holding my hands during my operation (c-section) he gave the film to one of the doctors. I think it might have been the anaesthesiologist but I am not very sure. I was groggy from the epidural and sleepless night prior to the delivery.

Over the months that followed we took pictures of him from time to time and sent some to his grandparents in Leyte. It was only early this year when we bought a digital camera and I took tons of pictures which I saved on our old desktop. Unfortunately, the desktop crashed. I don't know if it is still possible to retrieve the pictures I saved on it. I don't have any back ups on anything. It may be possible that the pictures I took of the little man will be lost forever. Shame! If I only listened to my sister in law and bought memory cards I would still have those pictures. The husband didn't say a word when I asked him what is going to happen to our pictures. I admit it is my fault. I wish I can do something to retrieve everything.

time to shop for clothes

As I went through the little man's closet, I realized we need new clothes for him for the cold season. It is starting to get chilly in the mornings and we don't want him to get cold much less sick. We planned on going to the mall last weekend to shop for toddler clothes but we got side tracked. We went to the park instead.

It just dawned on me that our little man is definitely growing quick to be a big boy. I used to have a hard time looking for baby clothes for him that the husband had to intervene. And just when I got used to it, here he is, all grown up. Well, almost. I clearly am being silly. I like it that he is now a big boy but I still long for the days when he was just a helpless baby. Perhaps the husband is right, it is high time to have another baby in the house :)

a banana a day

The little man loves to eat banana. I used to share a banana with him, just giving him half of mine but that was before he almost choked on it. You see, he loves it so much that in the hopes of being given more he shoved the piece he was holding in his hands. It scared the living day lights out of me. For one, I don't know how to administer first aid for choking. And two, I panic right away when he gets into incidents like that which makes the husband worry about me and his son's safety.

So to save myself worry, I now cut the banana in small sizes then put the slices in a plate before giving it to him. He seems to like that there is more fruit left in his plate so he eats it in moderation. Of course I still keep an eye on him just for safety's sake. You have to be alert when dealing with a toddler. You just don't know what he might do.

festival of lights

The Festival of Lights here in our place is about to start. We drove to the park yesterday and we saw lights and figures being put up beside the road. There are different kinds of animal figures as well as houses and booths and even a replica of the bridge here. It will be a pretty sight when it is done.

Ever since we moved down south, we always go to the Festival of Lights. The first time we went there I was pregnant with the little man. We brought him with us the next year but he didn't appreciate it much. Was even afraid when we rode on the merry-go-round. Perhaps this year he will like it. I know how he loves to look at his little lantern that his father bought him so maybe it will be an indication he will like the festival.


It is not only animals and buildings they are trying to recreate but there are also advertisements from sponsors to which I thought a digital signage would have been more appropriate but then it probably won't go well with the overall theme. Anyways, they try to blend so I guess that is what matters.

sweat it

We went bicycle riding yesterday. The little man had a really good time and he was good the whole time too. Only when we stopped did he kick and grab his father's shirt prompting him to continue riding.

It was so much fun. We had plans of going for bicycle rides when we bought my bicycle a couple months ago but for a lot of reason we didn't. But now that it is cooler and the husband is not too busy, he said we will try to do more of this on weekends.

Now I don't have to buy diet pills in hopes of losing weight. Surely, the rides will take care of that. It was a fun and relaxing day at the park with my family. I hope we will do more productive activities like this.

self portrait

This is what happens when you let a 23 months old boy get hold of a camera. It took him a while to figure out how the buttons work so mama had to help him. When he did, he just went a-clicking nonstop. And these, my dear friends, are the result. I also found out later on that he kinda liked me as his subject given the fact that there were a lot of pictures of me on the camera when I checked on it. Unfortunately, I don't make a pretty subject so to save myself from embarrassment I didn't post it here, lol.

love to shop

This mother, like most women, loves to shop. May it be window shopping or the real deal. It is my therapy for stress and boredom. Plus I feel better when I get good deals while shopping because I make sure I get the most value for my money. I used to use cash when shopping though. It is the norm where I came from. There are only a few stores which accept credit cards as form of payment and let us admit, cash is a lot easier to use while shopping.

That mentality was changed when I got here though. The husband taught me to shop without having to use cash all the time. He said I need to pay using credit card so my credit score will improve. I am fairly new to this country and didn't have any credit history of any kind so we have to build it little by little. Now whenever I have to buy something, I use my credit card, even in grocery stores. I now know how to use my cards responsibly. And I am starting to love it.

tv time

I used to make the little man watch cartoons so he will get out of my hair while I was doing my chores. But I now limit it to about two hours a day. I don't want him to be a couch potato and stay in front of the television for hours on end. So when he gets to watch cartoons he enjoys it. The other day I let him watch Disney cartoons and he had a blast jumping up and down and turning around in circles mimicking what he saw on tv. I enjoyed watching him since he tried to sing too and acted like he was part of the show.

When the show ended he settled down and played with his toys and I turned the television off. We spent our quite time with me reading while he played with his toys and checked on me from time to time instead of the other way around, lol. Like any normal toddler he gets nervous when mama is gone longer than five minutes.

rashes

The little man has rashes on his legs. It started out as bumps but he scratched it and now it doesn't look good. We don't know what the cause is and thought it might be the detergent we are using. But we have used this detergent before. I am using anti-allergy cream on his skin and hope that whatever is in it will disappear.

I am thinking if it might be the seawater which caused it. Because the times we went to the beach and let him play in the water he had rashes though not as bad as now. I will keep an eye on this and if it won't disappear by itself we might have to pay his doctor a visit.

Anyways, even with my suspicion of the cause of his rashes, we still went to the beach today. We didn't let him walk even though he really wanted to. The husband strapped his son on his stroller but later complained because out of several strollers we have at home he decided to bring the umbrella stroller. Push that in the sand and you will be stuck for a pretty long time. Fortunately, we found a solution and the walk went pretty good.

living with boys

The husband was lying on the couch earlier and was surfing channels to watch the latest news but the remote control won't work since the little man was standing in front of the television like he always does to annoy his father. Now, instead of telling his son to stay away from the tv he called me and told me what his son was doing as if I couldn't see what was happening. It annoyed me to hear him complain and so I told him to do what he had to do to make the little man stop but he won't. He wanted me to do it with a reasoning that the little man doesn't cry as loud when I interfere. And this after he said he will handle his son when he gets ornery.

Yes, I have two boys in the house (sigh). If they're not fighting over the television, they chase each other all over the house which sometimes drives me crazy. I worry too because the little man doesn't care whether he bump into something so long as he gets away from his father. They are not as bad though. In fact they are cute when they play but a woman can only have so much some days.

who wants ice cream?

Certainly not my boy. I haven't known a kid who seemed to have an aversion for ice cream. And this is not a random thing either. The husband wants his son to be like any normal kid, eat ice cream or cookies or candies even if he knows it is not good when not eaten in moderation. So he tries to tempt his son with this goodies. Well, let me tell you something, the little man doesn't care. At all!

It is funny how after tasting the ice cream he doesn't want more. When his father tries to give him more he always ends up chasing the little man and I find it so hilarious while the former said it is not funny. You should see them running around the house and decide if it isn't.

I actually like it that he is not into sweets much. He eats snack cakes from time to time but not something I should get worried about. I hope he will continue this way. I won't ever stop him if he decides later on that he likes ice cream or sweets but I hope he will learn to be responsible for his own health.

fighting it

The little man is still awake and it is already an hour past nap time. He is fighting it and I don't like it one bit. I know what he is like when he doesn't get enough sleep.

I will wait another thirty minutes and see if he will settle down. If not then maybe he is giving up his naps for good. I sure am not loving it but then I can't dictate him on what to do. I am only here to assist him.

I hate the screeching he does. It annoys me. But I am not going to give in to him. This will be a battle of wills. Sort of. Lol.

thank you!

This blog got over a hundred drops (and counting) today, of all days. We were out basically the whole day today. We went to Myrtle Beach to unwind and for a much needed change of scenery. I thought nobody will ever drop on my EC but was I wrong. This is in fact the first time that I got this many drops in a day in one single blog. Amazing!

I am not a religious ec dropper but I am not a slacker either. With a few blogs I have to make drops every single day it isn't an easy job but I manage. And that is in between taking care of my boy and doing chores here at home. I am happy that my visiting other people's blogs is paying off little by little.

To all who dropped on JT's World today, thank you. I will hit you back later tonight. Momma's gotta take care of her boys first.

recovering

When I recovered from an upset stomach and nausea, I feel hungry all the time. Boy, I crave for certain food all the time. Instead of eating twice in a day I already ate thrice and it is only 5 pm. It feels good but the after effect will surely be depressing. Weight gain, what else? Just when I thought about really working on losing weight and making it work without my health suffering. And then I got sick and now I start eating three (possibly four) times in a day because I am afraid my stomach's going to get upset again. What am I going to do now? Perhaps you have a diet pill you can recommend I can use to trim down easy? Or do I have to just resign to the fact that this is what life is going to be from now on? Why is it that some people are lucky? It is unfair!

ready to go

It looks beautiful outside but the husband called earlier for me to pack up some clothes and stuff we might need in case we have to evacuate tomorrow evening. There has been hurricane warning where we are at and it is said to storm starting tomorrow with possible hurricane strength. I don't know what that means to be honest. We can't do anything but pray that the weather will be fine and the storm will pass without any damage at all.

and the letter of the day is..

H. The little man calls it as ets. He runs around the house holding the letter H saying ets all the time. One day last week it was the letter Y. Prior to that it was the letter E. I don't know what it will be tomorrow. He is a funny boy. He is happy just to be able to play with his letters and his blankies. And as long as mama is somewhere near he is a happy little tot.

quick post

We are up early today. The little man is watching Disney cartoons after drinking his milk. The husband is up on the shop again today to finish fixing a friend's car. We are all hoping he will finish it before noon so we still will have time to do things and run errands. Tomorrow will be work day again. He promised when it slows down at work he will take a few days off so he can make up for the times he isn't with us on weekends. That is good news and both mother and son are happy to hear about it.

I have to do my stuff online and then off I will be to spend quality time with my little man. The cartoons seemed to have lost appeal and here he is running around the kitchen, trying to get mama's attention. Gotta hurry before he thinks of tearing the cabinets down, lol.