Interesting Sleeping Position

One of the favorite sleeping positions that I like about my princess. These pictures were taken when she was still 8-month old. But now (10 months), I am having a hard time breathing - just imagine a small 10-kilo sack of rice on top of your breast; worseif she kicks inward!

As early as now, I want her exposed to different culture. The Keffyieh (red/white clothe on top of her) is just a start.

Tux the Penguin and KT

It's my vocation that my kid would be exposed to technology, specifically computing, regardless if she's going to be a doctor, engineer or a teacher. Technology is an excellent tool to further one's career or objectives.
I am hoping to see that KT would be exposed more on open source solutions, aka Linux and related apps. It would be a good force multiplier when she grows up. Thus, I am starting with her getting to know Linux's favorite mascot - Tux the Penguin. Eventually, I will start exposing her on the apps itself, especially games (Ubuntu is quite neat on this one - auto-download).

KT's First Time to Shop

My first gift to KT

June 2006

One time when Tito Arnel and myself were on our way to back to Manila from Baguio City, we stopped by the wood carving shops near the Benguet-La Union border. These are the shops on the left side of the road when going to the mountain city via Marcos Highway.

While checking for presents for our European colleagues (3 of my former subordinates are leaving for Malta then), I saw this small chair carved in a form of a hand. There are versions for adults and for kids; if I remember it right, there are 3 sizes. That gave me an idea to buy one for any of my future kid; I was to get married that year.

So I bought the smallest chair for my future daughter (I didn't a slightest idea that the kid would be a "she"). This reminded me of my late grandfather who gave me a small bamboo chair when I was around 3 or 4 years old. It lasted until college; but I didn't realize how important it was for me when my aunt started looking for old stuff from my lolo.

After barely 1.5 years since then, I have a kid of my own. And now she's starting to use it. She loves to slide from the chair to the floor.

So here I was, trying to do the same with my kid. And when I see this chair, it reminds me of my great time with my late lolo Uning.

Attack of the Mosquitoes

Last night, I had my daughter sleep beside me. I thought that with windows closed, mosquitoes couldn't go hunting. I was horribly wrong - one window wasn't closed at all, and I thought it was.

From time to time, I would get up and swing the mosquito racket against the air just to check if I would catch a mosquito or not (I did, more than 20 of them). At first, I caught 5 and I thought that was a reasonable number that stayed in the room after I closed the window. Then I noticed a couple of boggies (airforce parlance for enemy planes) passed above my face while reading WSJ. So I put down the papers and search for the boggies; I found them and caught them.

So I went back reading the papers. And I saw another couple of mosquitoes... not two, three of them... And this went one for the next couple of hours. Around 12am, that's the only time I realized that we are under attack and the perimeter was breached (actually left open).

So I simply closed the window and sanitized the area. One or two survived because before we went to sleep, KT's face had around 5 hits from the mosquitoes. When we woke up, her right eyelid is swollen and her forehead is all red.

Next time - double-check and triple-check!!! Or simply let her sleep in the crib with mosquite net installed....

My wife will surely kill me for this when she sees our baby...

Epilogue: In the morning, my mom told me that parents normally learn the hardware. And she reminded me that we have a mosquito net with us that she was hoping I installed it last night. Now I remember!

My Wife is in the Internet!!! OMG!!!!

Quality Time with my Kid

I guess there comes a point in your life as a married person to show your kid around or catch up with her growing years. And lately I was pretty busy (an understatement) in the office that when I leave or come hom, she's always asleep. My wife already noticed this sooner than I did. And there was an incident last week wherein KT woke up seeing me but didn't recognize me. She actually cried when I took her from the nanny. Hard it may be, it's the reality.

After realizing this, I have to make a decision. I know work will always be around the corner and will not end. I also need to work effectively so that I can support my family. And I realized how much creativity and will is needed in this part of the married life.

So I would take the whole family for a walk in UP Diliman campus on Sundays; it was KT's first time to attend a mass and it was Easter that day. This is, at least, every weekend.

Last weekend, we were in UP Diliman; but for a change, I took them to the housing area of the faculty members. The place reminds me our province 20 years back with 1960s house design (I always remember my cousins' house in Balogo and Talisay where I had fun growing up).

My wife and I want her to understand what it's like to grow up in the province. We want her exposed that having trees around is good for everyone (until it falls on top of your house). Also, being exposed on different structures would expand her horizon and will not be confined to the thought that old structures are things of the past.

Personally, I like her to appreciate old structures and the history of the place, thereby preserving the right values and having a sense of history. And UP Diliman campus is quite historic. Lest I forget, I want her to be part of that school when she goes to college (to some extent that Tin and I discussed the possibility of KT joining a sorority and its consequences).

The challenge is that I miss my daughter a lot; also my wife is always out as well, the only difference is that my schedule is variable, hers is fixed. So the once-a-week walk is not enough for me. This time, I decided to have nakaw-na-mga-sandali event - I take her out before I go to the office, around 530am (one time, I took her out at 5am).

Today, I took her out around 530am. I was excited for her to use the new stroller (the blue one that my friend gave me is now too small for her). She's too small for the new stroller, thus, the nanny put 2 pillows on her sides to ensure that she doesn't bang her head when I start pushing the stroller.

She fits well on the new stroller with the pillows on her sides. She was also holding tight on the tray. When I tried removing the tray so that I could see her reaction without anything blocking her, she wouldn't let it go at first. And this time, she was smiling most of the time.

And this experience is priceless!!

Note: KT would always fall asleep after a walk.

Kitchen Interest

When I was growing up, my parents never trained me to learn how to cook. I remember one time when my mom was out for one month and I was all alone at home, it was summer time. I tried cooking rice and frying hotdog (I didn't know how to determine fresh fish) for several days. Then, I decided that it's faster to eat if I only fry bacon or hotdog and eat it with sliced bread bought from the bakery just a stonethrow away. And if you ask me if I survived in sliced bread and bacon/hotdog alone. Nope! I am way better than that. I got to enjoy food straight from the stove - I normally would visit my relatives around the town and time it during lunch or dinner time (bread/bacon/hotdog was only good for breakfast or dinner when I didn't want to go to the town proper).

Even when I got older but before getting married, I was just a gourmand and wasn't interested to cook. Well I would like to cook, it's just that the drive wasn't there.... That until I got married...

My interest to cooking didn't start right after the wedding, rather when my mother in-law joined us right after our daughter was born. My mom-in-law is one of the best cook i've ever knew (I would visit my wife-to-be back in high school to taste her mom's dinuguan with home-made puto, or home-made hot chocolate or turon); I remember one time when we were descending from the mountain after a couple of days of hiking and we didn't know where to ascend - I suggested that we just check Tin's house as a reference point (their house is situated near the mountain side) and get down there and hopefully have free snack from her mom.

Mama taught me the basic of cooking that all starts with ginisa. I started with Bicol Express and Carne con Ampalaya. Eventually, I tried pasta with white sauce (I cooked it twice with my wife already but I cannot remember it's name). And last night, I cooked Ginisang Sayote - half-cooked, with less than 1/4 kg of pork... And I forgot to put some salt... My wife called it dietary menu (in the hospital, they don't put salt on the patient's food). Luckily, our maid improvised and put some salt after I cooked it - I didn't notice that there was no salt at all (aah, admitting mistakes is really hard).

Anytime this month, I am planning to cook my daughter sutanghon which she tried when we were staying in Paranaque. She liked it more than her regular mashed potato for breakfast.

Married life really made a dent on my behavior... It's hard to admit but I am becoming domesticated.

Poolside

I hope this place is worth it.

New phase in my life

In a few weeks we will be ready to move to our new home - a condo unit in Cainta, Rizal. I have my anxiety about moving in; it's only 1.5 years since I moved in to Tin's pad; and now we are moving to a place that we haven't been yet until we first visited the site.

It was an experience having to leave in a condo unit. Most of the time, I am seeing concrete walls, smaller rooms, security process that you don't decide on but the building admin, monthly dues that are supposed to be used to maintain the compound. Even the color of the curtain should comply to their policies.

While the admin guy was discussing this with me, I wanted to scream to him, 'WHAT ABOUT ME???!! DO I GET TO DECIDE FOR MYSELF REGARDING MY UNIT???!!!'

Oh I had to give a bond during renovation. So I asked the admin guy wheb I can get it back. And he said it's after a month job is finished. So I asked him, 'who takes care of the interest?' he told me that he's assuming it goes to the association. And that's the time he reminded me to pay my monthly dues. And I even haven't transferred yet!

The truth is Tin and I did an impulsive buying. When we saw the model unit, we fell in love. I realized how expensive the romance was. But I had to decide if I am going to let my family stay in this place. Andi will be.

It does give me a peculiar feeling that I have to adjust to the place, the policies, new expenses, neighbors, etc..

I still strongly feel that I should be financially capable in transferring to a bigger house and lot in the next 8 years or so...

The poolside has a good view though..

Waiting for delivery

I am currently writing this blog while waiting for the delivery of the stuff we recently purchased. I don't know what time the vendors, Anson's and SM, will deliver the goods. What they told me that it can be anytime of the day.

I was here since 9am hoping that the trucks would come. You see, I just came from night shift, my very first after several years. And quite sleepy.....

I woke up with a sore throat after an hour of nap. It must be, either the paint or the odor from the plastic mat I am lying in (i did sweep the floor before taking a nap on the mat). I can't take it... I need air...

Indoctrination of KT Has Started

I remember a story of my friend who graduated from UP-Diliman - at the very early stage, she was being convinced by her parents that there's only one university she can go to and that's University of the Philippines. She grew up with such idea that she ended up in the said university.

Last weekend, we took KT to UP Diliman for a walk. This is the second time that we brought her with us. The first time was in La Mesa Dam Eco Park (I have yet to compose a blog on this).

The nanny and Mama was also with us. It was a last minute decision because Tin and I wanted to bring Mama somewhere before she leaves for the province.

UP-Diliman campus has been a common place for me to visit since college; my cousins maintained a house near the Kalayaan Hall; I would bring my ex-GF (now my wife) to the (grilled chicken intestines) stand infront of the Kalayaan Hall; jog around the area; and sometimes a dating place as well. And it's nearby our place, approx. 15min away by car. Sometimes, some people would mistake me as a collegian because of my knowledge of some buildings and courses (including the Los Banos campus); I would always reply, "feeling lang."

As usual, Mama, the nanny and Tin was exchanging turns in pushing KT's stroller. Meanwhile, I was busy scouting the place for the best sari-sari store to get our fave fishballs and squidballs. Unfortunately, they ran out of buko juice. I bought Php60.00 worth of fishballs for the rest of us. KT was busy checking the place and kids running around would always catch her attention.

The place is really a good place to bring the kids with you. The
air is relatively fresh (the authorities would close the 2 university main roads so that joggers have a safe place to jog) and during this time, there are lots of activities because of Feb Fair (that's what they call the event). During our visit, there was a singing event behind the Quezon hall; Tin and I enjoyed it; KT never complained.

Tin and I exchanged turns carrying KT around the area. It really felt different; and I was also staring at some kids clinging on the tree branches with their dads below them (hoping to catch them if they fall). I said to myself that I will get on that stage as well....

Having a kid of your own and playing with her is really something new to me. I feel excited to see and be there when she grows. I am excited to do the stuff that my parents and relatives did to me when I was also a kid.

It was a fun day for the whole family indeed!

She can be a F1 driver...

A friend of mine, Benedict, donated his kids' stroller. I readily accepted. I got it several weeks before we travelled to Bicol. After taking it home, I didn't know where to store it. At the same time, I wasn't sure if KT is ready to take the new challenge (her body was still fragile then).

One day, Tin was around so I decided to ask her to take KT out of the house and try the stroller at the same time. So we put KT on the stroller without a fuzz. Then I pushed the stroller with the matching sound of a car engine. Initially, I pushed the stroller slowly; then I decided to push it a little bit faster just to check if the kid will react. She didn't.. She actually smiled.

Tin was on the stroller's side checking if KT was still okay. Because of my weight, I got tired easily and took it slowly. And I stopped pushing it - KT cried. So as not to move farther, I just pushed the stroller a bit faster in a circular motion - she actually stopped complaining.

A race car driver in the making!

PS. She fells asleep in the car when we take a long drive to Sun Valley.

Merry Christmas, KT

KT's first air travel

This month, my wife and I decided to visit our parents in the province. We took our baby, KT, with us (without the nanny).

We were in the domestic airport at 5am on the 19th of December - I was incharge of the luggages and Tin was carrying the baby. Surprisingly, KT didn't complain about the noise of the vehicles going thru the airport. She would be startled from time to time, but she was looking at the people queuing up, disembarking from the cabs, etc.

After getting through the security check, I asked Tin to put KT on the stroller (courtesy of a friend of mine). I thought the baby will complain, but she didn't. The mom-baby tandem was cool to look at. While waiting for us to board the plane, she just sat there sleeping and from time to time would look at the people passing by. I am so proud of her - mana sa itay.

(Before we left Manila, I tried letting her ride the stroller just to be sure that she'll fit and she'll like it. What I and Tin noticed is she prefers the stroller to be moving. She cries when it's not. This is supportive on our previous experiences when taking her to Sun Valley and she stays in the back of the car - she simply fells to sleep.)

When we were about to board, I asked Tin to go ahead so I could take a pix of KT during her first trip to Bicol on a plane.

In the plane, I took KT from Tin since the latter had not slept for the last 2 nights (she came from a hospital duty the night before). I thouight KT would simply sleep in the flight. Nooo!!! She preferred to be carried upright so that she could check on the passengers. At first, I was worried she would cry once the plane starts to accelerate to gain more lift and the landing part; depending on the plane, this would be the noisest part of the travel (ignoring the noise coming from other passengers). Surprise, surprise! She didn't even blink!! (Am I seeing a potential that she can be a good car racer someday??)

I tried my best so that she wouldn't cry on the flight - I would raise her up during some games (Cebu Pacific does on every flight) as if she was one of the participants. And sometimes I would let her see outside the window. The good thing is that she's more responsive when we took her for travel (she's just 3.5 mos old). After the plane taxied to the tarmac of Legazpi Domestic Airport, I found her sleeping on my arms.

Me? My arms were complaining - KT is bigger for her age and I don't have that upper body strength. But it was fun joining my wife and kid for our first family trip outside the city.

Epilogue - when I went out of the airport, I looked like a christmas tree with the luggages hanging around my body! It doesn't end there... Next time, BRING THE NANNY!!!

G6PD and our baby (2)

I got the result last week. The attendant never gave a conclusion, but according to the report - "the result is within range and needs no further testing." I, therefore, conclude that she's negative. Thanks, God!

My Baby's Voice

I am currently out of the office attending our 2008 annual planning. I called my sister just to say, "hi" during breaktime, and ask how's our baby (my wife is also out for hospital duty). Then, I heard the baby cry; it was a different feeling.

I guess being a dad is really different....

G6PD and our baby

Several days ago, my wife called me in the office to inform me that Caitlin (the name of our baby) has G6PD deficiency. Tin explained to me that if Caitlin eats the wrong stuff, she might suffer internal hemorrhage; it didn't sink in yet. When I got home to discuss it with my wife, she told me that Caitlin needs to be brought to National Institute of Health for confirmation test. I was furious when I found out because the resident pediatrician at UDMC informed Tin through SMS; and the result was not even final yet! I found the practice quite unprofessional (I told Tin I never fired somebody through SMS) considering that the pediatrician studied for $@!#$%^^!!! 10 years or so!!

Tin already shed some tears even before I got home; I did, too, when we were having the discussion. It's really a different feeling when you have a kid and she might be in harm's way.

I informed my aunt about it and she didn't sound so alarm. So I assumed it's okay; I also talked to our neighbor who happened to be a resident pedia in a government hospital, and her reaction wasn't alarming. So it must be a good sign.

Last Tueday, early in the morning we prepared for the trip to UP-Manila where NIH is located. Tin couldn't join us since she's on duty (I promised her that I will be with our kid until she becomes a consultant - bawian ko na lang siya 3 years from now). My mother in-law and the maid are with me.

The place is your typical old American building with high ceiling and windows on each room inside the building. The pillars are massive, just like the Sorsogon National High School. It looks pretty good (the restroom is surprisingly clean) for a government building. We were the 20th patient when we got in at 830am. There was a long queue already (chairs were placed on the aisle). I had to fill out one form that asks for the baby's mother's name - I found this weird since either parent should be able to attend to his/her child. It might be because of the nature of the deficiency. Later I noticed that if the father is with the baby, the mom is also close around. Apparently, it's only Caitlin who doesn't have a mom with her. I find it strange, but properly alright (Tin felt very guilty during this time since she also missed the first vaccine of our kid, she was also on duty).

Upon filling out the form, I noticed several instructions on the wall (below 6-month old babies have to fast for 2 hours; beyond 6 months, it would be a 4-hour fasting). Actually, I started checking the posters on the wall since when I asked the nurse/attendant for the day that I can get the result, instead of saying it personally, he pointed me to the instruction pasted on the door. This was one of the challenges since Caitlin had her last bottle of milk around 5am and it was already 9am; it was time for her to take the next bottle. But we couldn't give her otherwise, it can mess up with the test. So we actually starved her until she had the test; she fell asleep in the car on our way home so she had to endure 6 hours or so before she took her next bottle of milk.

The decision I made was quick, but it was different from decisions I made in the office. I couldn't even compare it with the decisions I made that would affect my people's career. It was just totally different!

My mother in-law brought the baby inside the testing room; I couldn't since I had colds (I still have) then. And only the baby carrier can go in - so it was Mama who went inside. After the testing, Mama put Caitlin on the chair to prep her up for our trip back to the house. I saw tears on Caitlin's eyes. Normally, she would cry out loud but there are no tears on her eyes; this is the first time I saw her with tears. And it really pained me to see her on such situation.

Next week, I will be getting the result. Hopefully it will have a negative result.

Note: Tin also mentioned that another had the same experience with the resident pedia at the hospital (different person though). But the patient turned out to be a relative of the high government official. The patient lodged a final complaint.

Married to Doc

When I brought Tin in the hospital, I wasn't alarmed about her situation. I guess it was because of the fact that I know her friends (I couldn't argue with her about her pregnancy since she knows more than I do). When she was rolled to the labor room, I just stayed for a while and left her to the care of her doctor friends.

When I wanted to stop the docs from pressing her gut to squeeze out our baby, I realized that I am dealing with professionals and I am not the expert on that room. I had to trust them that they knew what they were doing. Of course, it was more of my imagination than the skills of the docs that attended her. It was a learning experience and I admire my wife to have the guts to cut someone else's gut and the blood is all over.

They are a sweet bunch! Though when they start talking about medical goblydooks, I just stay on the corner and try to understand the cryptic language they use. Lately, I get to pick out some familiar terms but I am still a foreigner in her field (for some reason, medical industry likes words that run out of vowels).

I do find her field interesting and quite technical as well, and the sakes are higher (which I am not comfy with). But my wife, she just takes it in stride!

These are some pictures of the docs who visited her after she delivered our baby.

My kid and the penguin

One time, on our way to the hospital, Tin and I were talking about the skills that our baby needs to develop. She wants the baby to be exposed in music; she wants her to learn how to play piano (I want her to learn how to play violin).

I shared her my plan - at a very young age, I want her to learn Linux as the operating system. I told my wife that since we are going to have one TV unit in our place, the PC should be placed in our bedroom and can serve as a media server. But it should be running in Linux; this way, our baby will have to figure it out how to use it. And if she wants to play computer games (most of it are running in Microsoft operating system or Windows), she has to figure out a way how to use Linux instead. Linux do not run non-Linux applications, however, there is an application that mimics Windows and let Microsoft-based applications run; but it takes a bit of know how (which I am not even familiar with). So if she can figure this out, she'll really learn a lot about computers.

Also, Linux has a security feature that can restrict the usage of a user. So I plan to teach my kid how to use it for basic purposes; and if she's creative, she has to learn security stuff. She will learn how to run OpenOffice (instead of Microsoft Office Suite), compose graphics in GIMP (instead of Photoshop), browse the internet thru Mozilla or Lynx (instead of Internet Explorer), or archive files thru Gzip (instead of WinZip). She will definitely learn TCP/IP by heart!

By exposing the kid at the early stage, she will be more exposed compared to the other kids of her age. She might not take computer science (which I won't force her to), but it will definitely help her early development.

I joked that by the time she reaches high school, she'll know how to develop applications; and by the time she finishes high school, she can crack her way through networks. And this was the point my wife told me that with this plan, I should start saving money for our kid's bail bond!

Feeling of a new dad...

When I found out that my wife's pregnant, I really didn't want to know what's the baby's sex. For me, it wasn't important if he's a "she" or a "he". I felt that it doesn't matter if she was a boy or a girl; what's important is how the parents will raise her. And I never felt that raising a girl would stop me from making her like my profession or hobbies (I am already planning to reformat our PC to Linux so that she will learn how to use Linux at an early stage).

My friends and family members would tell me that it feels different to see your first born child. I never knew what it was until I saw the baby's head appeared while the rest of her body was squeezed out by the docs.

I was excited! I felt protective (if the docs weren't my wife's friend, I would have asked them to stop pressing my wife's gut)! I didn't want to take her with my because I felt I wasn't ready yet and I could end up hurting her.

I checked her nose if she got mine, luckily she didn't . She looks like her mom, which is just okay. What is important was that she was okay when she got out.

This is definitely a "Mastercard" (there are some things money can't buy) experience! (I told my wife that we should make 4 more (and she was there in the recovery room still sedated but enough for her to understand and shook her head several times)!

Delivery of Baby Kristine

I am writing this beside my wife's hospital bed. She's still bound to the bed due to the recent CS she had to go through - 2 days earlier than scheduled.

My wife was supposed to deliver our baby girl tomorrow. But yesterday morning, around 130am, she woke me up. Her bag of water burst; she later complained to me that she had a hard time waking me up - she had to throw a pillow at me to wake me up (to those who haven't seen our bed - it's a queen size bed due to combination of two single beds. I stay on the other end, she stays on the other normally.). The normal 45-minute travel time from Fairview to UDMC took only 20 minutes. My only challenge was that my fuel meter was lighting up from time to time (I didn't gas up the night before hoping that the delivery will be go by schedule). The gas was enough for us to reach the hospital without a glitch (according to our housemaid, who normally gets dizzy when riding an air-conditioned vehicle, she was busy worrying about my driving).

Originally, I wasn't planning to join Tin on the operating room. But when her colleague called me in our room, I decided to go and join her anyway hoping that I won't faint. Stayed on the far end of the table, staring at the back of the doctors operating her; then, I glimpsed on her stomach being cut (I almost puked). I looked like an idiot on the OR; I would glance at the operating table, and every time I saw her stomach being cut, I would lean back and grimaced (as if I was being cut myself).

The climax was when the doctors were now going for the baby; her attending physician put her hand inside her stomach (I almost fainted whan I saw her do it) to scoop out the baby. Then another doctor, Tin's friend, pressed Tin's stomach! I couldn't help myself and ask one of the docs if it was normal to squeeze out the baby; my imagination was working on overdrive giving me an idea that the baby will be crushed when the doc pressed Tin's stomach. And after a couple of minutes, the baby's head went out of the stomach. At that point, I wanted to leave the OR and puke! But there she was, her head was out of her mom's stomach and in a while she will be out completely. I didn't want to lose that opportunity. So I stayed.

The attending physician took the baby's feet and raised her (the doc's other hand was supporting the head). Later on I found out from Tin that this is a practice to ensure that the baby do not aspirate any fluid. A nurse took the baby and put her on the passinet (it's like a staging area for the baby before bringing her to the nursery) with an O2 tank beside it. I was still nauseated when the baby was being cleaned up.

The nurse pinched the baby's nipple and the latter cried. I was thinking of stopping the nurse (dad's instict, I guess), but when I saw the nurse started to press the baby's ribs that was when I realized she was actually checking for the baby' physical defects. The climax was when the nurse inserted this thin but long tube (connected to the O2 tank) to the baby's mouth; I knew she was trying to clear the baby's airway but just imagining that thing inserted in my mouth turned my gut upside down. I wanted to leave, but my baby was still there. I decided to stay on hoping I could last for another 10 minutes.