The Loyal Baby

My husband Jeff, my baby Rian and I attended my niece's 7th birthday party.  It was held at a resort in Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines.  We traveled all the way from Alabang to Laguna just to attend that very special day (hey! It's my time to make bawi to my niece...i had not attended her birthday last year!). The party theme was princess theme, since Alyssa (that's my niece's name) really likes princesses, especially Disney princesses such as Cinderella, Snow White, etc.  I knew even before that she likes Disney princesses.  That's why the gift I gave her was a kikay bag with pictures of Disney princesses on it, and I filled it with school supplies (and they have Disney princess characters on them too!).

The party was at 3:00 pm, but we came a bit late because we waited for Rian to wake up from her afternoon nap.  When we arrived at the party, sakto, the hosts (2 clowns...looks llike Boyoyong clowns) started to lead the Happy Birthday song for Alyssa.  There were not so many kids present, but it felt like there were a bunch of them because they were very participative and energetic in the party games.  Anyway, during the first game, (the Bring Me game), one of the clown's request is to bring to him the youngest guest in the party.  I looked around first to see if there was another baby, but to find out that...well...my baby Rian is the only baby in the room!  So I unstrapped Rian from her stroller and carried her and then we went to the front of the crowd to claim our prize (which is a bottle of bubblemaker!).  Rian's reaction?  Her face is like asking, "hey, what's going on here?!". Haha!

The birthday girl, Alyssa, and my baby Rian

Enjoying the party!!!!!!

After several party games, it was time for the food eating part.  Rian ate several Marie Biscuits and drank her milk.  I also gave her bits of watermelon, which was served at the buffet table.  What I loved most at the buffet table is the chocolate fountain and the pineapple juice fountain (how I wish I took a picture of them!).  After the hearty meal, the clowns once again started party games, which this time, the players would be the adults.  And, well, I was one of them.  Hehe. The instruction of the game is, we have to pick an animal and we have to sing Happy Birthday song using the animal's sound.  Good thing I picked BIRD...all I did was make tweet-tweet sound in tune of the Happy Birthday song, and my final note is a whistle.  After everyone had sang their versions, the clowns instructed the audience to applaud for their vote-- who had the best Happy Brithday tune.  When they audience clapped for me, I also clapped for myself, and I realized I got the loudest applaud from the audience (especially from the kids! Haha!).  When I came back to my seat after the game, my brothers and my husband told me that baby Rian also clapped for me too.  And it was a long loud clap. And...dig this everyone...SHE ONLY CLAPPED FOR ME!!!!!  I can't help but to feel so loved by my daughter...and I'm so proud of her.  What a lovely loyal baby I've got!!!!!

A hearty clap just for me!

After the party, we went home to my parent's house, with some yummy leftovers from the party, prizes from the games, a thank you souvenir from Alyssa just for Rian, and a happy memory that I would treasure forever.  I love my baby more and more each day! :)

Find A Reliable Pedia!

My hunny Jeff, our baby Rian and I went to Healthway in Festival Mall, Alabang yesterday afternoon to visit a Pediatrician because we planned to get a new doctor, since we're now staying here at Alabang.  It's a hassle for us if we would travel back to Batangas (which was almost an hour away from Alabang) for my baby's regular check ups and immunization shots.  Since we didn't know any doctors here, we scheduled a visit at Healthway Clinic (which has good service and more comprehensive check up results from doctors than a regular provincial hospital--- as I observed). 

I forgot the name of our new Pediatrician (sorry about that...I'm not good at remembering names...but she's a female doctor).  Anyway, when she asked why we wanted to consult a Pedia, I told her the reason.  She asked for my baby's medical history, and I gladly gave her our baby book (where our former doctor wrote her findings for every check up).  I also let her browse the immunization checklist which is written at the last pages of the baby book.  When she read it, she asked us if we weren't informed about the Rotavirus immunization because according to the immunization checklist, it was not yet given to my baby.  I told her that our former doctor didn't say anything about the Rotavirus shot.  Then our new doctor said that it was too late to give my baby the Rotavirus shot because she already surpassed the age when the shot should be given to a baby.  Silently, I felt angry because our former doctor should have said about that vaccine before.   My husband and I are first time parents and we really trust the doctor on check up results and immunizations.  But then, the trust and respect I had for our former Pedia is already lost because of that information...and I fear for her present and future clients because her service is not that reliable.

Anyway, it's the past and we have a new doctor now, who seemed like more reliable because she explains to us in detail the results of the check up.  She told us that our baby's present height and weight are within normal range and that we should aim for 75 inches height and 10 kg weight on our baby's first birthday.  She told us that 8 month olds can already sit alone (yes, our baby Rian can already sit alone for a long period) and that they have fear of strangers (well, Rian cried a lot when the doctor held her!).  The doctor also checked her ears and throat while Rian was crying aloud).  And she cried harder when she was given the Measles shot! Guess what made Rian calm?  The famous political campaign jingle / song today in our country--- "Hindi bawal mangarap ang mahirap, basta't maaabot ito sa malinis na paraan.  Hindi bawal mangarap ang mahirap, basta's may tiwala sa Maykapal, at may paninindigan.."  Haha! I guess, every kid in the Philippines knows that song.  Even my baby glues her eyes on TV and smiles a lot whenever she sees that commercial and hears that song.  If every kid can vote, well, that politician would surely win!  (and oh my, I actually memorized that song too, just to entertain my baby.  But I'm not that politician's supporter. Hehe).  The moment Rian heard my voice and sang that campaign jingle, she stopped crying.

After the shot, we scheduled another check up with our new doctor (which is on May 8).  She will again give another vaccination to Rian next month (which will be worth P4,600).  Oh, the Measles vaccine costed us P1500.  Our new doctor told us also to take extra care of baby especially in what she puts into her mouth to avoid severe diarrhea (since our baby didn't have the Rotavirus shot.  Rotavirus is severe diarrhea).  I really pray that my baby would be extra healthy so that she wouldn't have diarhhea.

Then we said goodbye to our new doctor, who, hopefully is a better one than the former.

After my baby Rian's check up with her, we went to another doctor...the Ob-Gyne...for my regular check up.  But that's another story.  I'll share it with you next time.

P.S.  Lesson to learn for new parents: Find a reliable Pediatrician.