It's Mommy Jen's Checklist to a Healthy Toddler

Having a very active and makulit na toddler requires a lot of patience. Jami was a lot like that specially when he turned two. I thought makulit na sya when he turned 1 pero may ikukulit pa pala ang batang to!

Anyway, it wasn't a secret naman that Jami doesn't eat a lot of rice and ulam. Partly, I have a fault on that since hindi ako daily nakakapag luto ng ulam in the morning before going to work. He would then wait for his Daddy to eat na lang for lunch tapos sasabay sya. I am actually trying my best to work on it and make sure na we will eat rice before I go to work. With that, mejo nakakain sya ng slight and I think it’s a start. I just have to make sure na continuous yung ginagawa ko din.

Anyhow, One of the things that I am worried about was his body type. I know I have mentioned on my previous post that he looked slim especially now that he vomited several times this past weekend. Every time na something unusual happened to him, I felt na pumapayat sya agad. Nagninipisan ang braso and legs which really makes me worried. I had him checked this Monday and found out that he’s weighing 14.5kgs. The last time I had it checked was in September where he weighed 13.1kgs so that means in 3 months, he earned 1 kg. His pedia noted that Jami’s weight is still more than his age bracket so there’s no need to panic naman.

Me: Kawawa naman ang baby ko, ang payat – payat na.
Daryl: Payat pa ba yan? Eh napakabigat nga nyang Anak mo!

May point naman din diba? Hindi ibig sabihin mataba, healthy na.

With that, I made a self checklist on how to identify that your toddler is healthy.

Weight – There were babies whom at first look, akala mo walang nutrients sa katawan – meaning napakapayat. It doesn’t supposed to be like that naman pala. There were other factors like the built of their parents. Kung payatot din ang mga magulang or isa sa mga magulang, there’s a possibility that your kids will inherit their body type. As long as they are not underweight, there’s nothing to worry about.

Active -  Toddlers are very adventurous in nature so most likely, you’ll see them very active in a lot of things. I, for example, see Jami as Aktibo’t Malakas because of his daily dose of Nutri10 Plus. He will be everywhere in a matter of seconds not to mention the jumping, running and going up and down.

Smart – Every childs development are unique. Other kids can talk straight at the age of 1 to 2 while others may take a while before the excel in this part of development. I for example have a toddler who’s a lot of a talker. He can speak a full sentence that are understandable. As much as possible, I lessened the mis pronounce of the word and correct him immediately. He’s also remember things easily. Example is whenever we buy siomai in Sucat, Paranaque. Whenever we pass by, (which is not every day), he remembers our conversations like “Bili na ng siomai”.

Appetite – For me, It’s necessary that toddlers have a good appetite. This is something that I want to improve on with Jami. I like him to love table food. I don’t want to make him very dependent on his milk since I would like to slowly reduce his intake as he age until he learns to drink his milk in a cup. Lately, I saw a lot of improvements on his appetite and that made me hopeful that he’ll at least gain a little fat.

The checklist that I have mentioned above can be found in Nutri10 Plus.

Imagine, in every 5ml, your child could get all this Nutrients that can’t be found in other vitamins in the market.

source from Mommy Blogger friend Sai of mytwinkletwinklestar.blogspot.com

photo grabbed from Mommy Bloggers Philippines Website

Our bipolar weather requires additional help for our kids not to get sickly. This multivitamins carries Vitamin C which is also an important factor to make sure our kids won't catch common viruses. It's been a month since Jami started taking Nutri10 Plus and so far, we are getting a positive trend.

We are continuing our journey with Nutri10 Plus. Can't wait to get you updated of how our little toddler keeps up with Mommy's checklist. =)

Baby Love Studio Review

It’s been a while since we had our First Photoshoot and it’s just now that I am posting a review about the studio where we had the shoot. As I have mentioned previously, it was my sister who introduced me to Baby LoveStudio as she had their photoshoot done here early this year.

So here's my review about them. I have been bugging their FB page about the theme that I prefer. I thought I would have to let them know in advance so that they could also prepare for it. I was then told that we’ll discuss the theme on our appointment date. So okay, mejo excited lang ako. Hahahah!

I want our appointment to be scheduled at 1pm-3pm however, the slot has been filled so I have to choose a different one. I want to have the photoshoot done a week after his birthday so we could have the photos posted sana on his birthday. Unfortunately, I have an appointment na on October 17 for Mommy Bloggers Philippines Halloween Party and I have another appointment on a Sunday after. The only date left for me was on October 11 which was a Saturday. I can't have it on weekdays since it's too late for me to file a Vacation Leave. I had 2 weeks left to prepare for the shoot. You can read how we prepared for the shoot in 2 weeks time which made me realize na wala palang maisusuot si Jami. hayyy..

Anyway, I was thinking of a time that Jami is so playful so we won’t get a grumpy pictures from him nor a moody baby. We finalized the schedule at 11am-1pm instead. Early morning of our appointment, I received a text from Sir Edilbert if we could re-schedule the appointment on later time since his wife is giving birth. Syempre naintindihan ko naman so I said, it’s fine and settled for a 6pm schedule. He said he could do it by 4pm but I insisted on 6pm because Jami’s nap time is 4pm.

We were running late of our appointment because of traffic in Sucat. We arrived in the studio at 6:15pm and sent a text message to Sir Edilbert that we’re outside. As they welcome us into their studio, I was surprised with a lot.. I mean A LOT of props that they invested on. I enjoyed looking at them, I thought, they must have really invested a lot of money on those props alone. They have crates, clothes and costumes for kids, toys, etc. I was so happy to know that those were a real props. Yung old school kasi na photoshoot diba background lang? Hehehe.

We were ushered to where the shoot will be held, it was a big studio apartment and everything there are being used on their shoot lang. The airconditioned was cool as well so I didn’t have problems with Jami dahil sobrang pawisin nga. He was giddy to be inside Baby Love Studio as well. I had a little chat with Sir Edilbert explaining what the theme will look like. There was just one problem, I can’t decide what the second theme will look like. I want sana that Jami will go topless however, he’s too old for it na daw. I then want to throw a summer theme or their ‘baby genius’ theme. We have then decided to have the baby genius theme since I don’t have nice clothes for Jami for a summer theme.

After our short discussion, Sir Edilbert and his assistant immediately had the set up done while I change Jami’s clothes to his Pilot costume. I was really worried he won’t smile since he wanted to ride the airplane agad. Good thing we had the best shots. =)

When the first theme is done, we immediately changed Jami’s clothes to Sir Edilbert’s set of clothes that he let Jami borrow. 

When it was our time to have our family shoot, Jami cried because the toys were kept na para naman hindi makalat sa set. He wanted to play with the cars pa. Good thing, Sir Edilbert was there to comfort Jami, he let him borrow the car so his mood won’t change. After some time, we had to sit on the set for our turn but we have to get the car near Jami so he would still cooperate. 

Over all, I highly recommend Baby Love Studio. I had a very positive experience with them and that the price is just right. He also gave us a discount since we were referred by my sister. Yehey! They offer a wide variety of props that you can use during your photoshoot. Don’t worry too much about what your child will wear since they also have costumes that you can borrow. Of course, it’s still up to you if you wish to bring your own. =)

I loved how the photos turned out because even the raw files looked wonderful. There was just a little confusion with the edited files since those that were sent to me were not the once I wish to edit. It was my fault though since I downloaded all the file, I trimmed down those that I want without realizing that the file name has sort of changed. I chose sana 2 photos from first set, 2 photos on 2nd set then 2 photos for our family shoot. Anyway, I still loved the edited photos. =)

Thank you Baby Love Studio for taking good care of us during our session. Kapag nakapag ipon, we’re looking forward to go back. =)

Jami’s First Movie Date + Tips for Toddlers in Watching Movies in Cinema

Last weekend was another milestone for Jami. We had our first movie date together!! Yehey!!!!

The weekend before that, we visited and saw that mostly, Second Chance is shown on every cinemas in SM Southmall. It was the chapter two of One More Chance of Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz. I was looking for a movie that is interesting for Daryl and I to watch but then, it’ll be best if we could tag along Jami. I saw they offered 'The Good Dinosaur' in one of the 8 cinemas and decided that we'll watch it last weekend! Yehey..

I don’t have an idea what the movie was about until I saw the trailer at Disney Junior.It was from the creators of Finding Nemo and Toy Story ata so I expected the maganda ang movie. I'll post a review about it after this post. =)

The day we watched the movie, Daryl went to Pasay because he’s running a basketball league there. I still decided to go ahead with the plan kasi tampu – tampuhan ako kay De Castro eh.

We arrived at 2:30pm in Cinema and found out that there was a 2pm movie pala. The next showing will be at 4:30pm pa so I bought tickets then went down so we could play on Timezone na lang muna. Jami saw the inflatable slides and wanted to go inside. Since the next movie is 1 hour pa, I bought tickets for 1 hour for P150. Unfortunately, Jami doesn’t like inflatables so much and wants to go out na agad. I have to use all my powers to convince him to stay even for 30 minutes dahil no refund ang payment namin. Lesson learned: Never overestimate. Akala ko kasi Jami would enjoy the inflatable slides yun pala, matatakot sya. Hay.. Sayang ang P150 ko.

We went out 30 minutes after since he saw Timezone na. We stayed for a bit and Jami rode the cars muna. When it was 4pm, I have decided to go back to Cinema so we could buy food before the movie starts at 4:30pm.

It was quite hard to be with Jami alone because I look terrible while buying our stuff. I can’t focus because I kept on looking after Jami wherever he goes. Well, I would risk looking like that than having to go through what it feels like when I almost lost Jami.
 

We came inside the movie house at 4:20pm and decided to sit sa taas para less people so we won’t bother anyone when Jami gets so malikot.

I was quite worried with the plan because I anticipated that Jami will get scared or he would want to go out in the middle of watching the movie. I was quite prepared for it but when I had him seated, I saw he got interested in the big screen. I got worried again when the light turned off dahil baka matakot but I was wrong, he remained calm and seated. I offered him hotdog sandwich and konting popcorn that he munched on while the movie went on.

Half way of the movie, he became uncomfortable and wanted to stand up na so I let him sit on my lap and we cuddled like we’re at home. I bet he’s getting a little sleepy that time but then the movie ended na. It was funny because Jami didn’t realize the movie ended until everyone was standing and going out na. hehehe. It was really a joy to see my baby boy watch movies sa cinema. I even posted a photo on IG saying that I have a new date. Sorry babe! =)

After the movie, he willingly sat down so they he can have a picture with Dinosaur. Anyhow, I’ll give you tips on how to make your toddler remain interested in the movie while inside the cinema.

1. Let them know that you’re going to watch a movie first hand. While we were on our way to the mall, I kept on telling Jami that we’ll watch a movie, we’ll watch Dinosaur. I used the term “watch” since he’s familiar with it and knows what it means. I kept on repeating to him that we’ll watch para makundisyon ang isip nya that later on, manonood kami ng movie. Don't forget to keep your promise that you'll watch a movie ha?! Di pwede yung sasabihin mo na you'll guys watch but then hindi naman.

2. Choose a film that he’s interested on. Jami knows Dinosaurs although it wasn’t his favorite. He loves car more than Dinosaurs but he pretty know how they look like because he has a toy Dinosaurs at home. I also let him watch the trailer on the TVs in the mall so he could see what we are going to watch. He even heard a baby girl say “Wow” while the trailer was repeatedly shown so napa “wow” din sya. Haha!

3. Offer food. It’s necessary that he has something to eat while watching a movie or maybe a milk will do.

4. Get him involved. Discuss some part of the movie to him. Like “Wala na yung Daddy nya”. Explain to him what’s happening on the movie with the language that he knows. The Good Dinosaur says Mama and Papa but since Jami got used in calling us Mommy and Daddy, I explain details to him as “Wala na yung Mommy nya.” Although there were some part of the movies that he understand, like the character Spot says “Awwoooo”, he would say the same when asked “what did the dinosaur say?”

5. Offer cuddles. When he got tired of sitting, offer your space so you could both have a wonderful time sharing seats. Don’t forget the hugs and kisses. =)

This tips worked on Jami so it might work for you toddlers too. Anyway, you know your kids than anyone else so don't forget to have a strategy first hand.

 It was a very positive experience for Jami and I. Every time the trailer is shown on Disney Junior, he recognizes the movie and would say, ‘watch, Dinosaurs’. I can’t wait to see more Pixar movies in the future. It was a great bonding experience for us and we unlocked a new milestone. Good job, baby! =)

Dear Jami,

You finally had your first movie!! I can’t believe it, Mommy will have a movie companion na moving forward. Time went so fast dati paiyak - iyak ka lang, ngayon pwede na tayo mag movie. Dati kasi kami lang ni Daddy eh tapos ngayon tayo naman. I am so excited for you although I still want to cherish your baby moment. Please know that you were so makulit pa din but I am thankful na hindi ka nagkulit dun, Anak. Nakakatawa nga lang kasi ginagaya mo yung dinosaur ng ‘Awoooo’ yung parang wolf tapos rinig na rinig ng buong sinehan yung ginagawa mo. Yung ibang kalapit natin, natawa sayo. Hahaha! I love you baby and I am looking forward to more movie dates with you. Hindi na lang puro play ang gagawin natin sa mall, pwede na din ng watch. =) Don’t forget na si Mommy ang una mong babaeng naka date. Yan ang sabihin mo sa girlfriend mo. Hahaha! =)

Love you,

Mommy

Press Release : 2015 Best Ramen in Manila by a Japanese Reviewer

Gaku Nakamura is a self-styled Japanese Ramen Consultant living in Manila. Last year, he listed his top 10 ramen with Ramen Nagi topping the list. But with a number of new and authentic restaurants popping up, here is some of Gaku-san’s top ramen for 2015!

#5 Mendokoro Ramenba

MUST TRY: Shoyu Tonkatsu

Gaku says: “Mendokoro has tonkotsu-based ramen with chashu. The restaurant looks just like a Japanese-style kitchen and it reminds me of a good ramen restaurant in Japan, Afuri. The taste of the broth and chasu is very nice.”

#4 Mitsuyado Seimen

 

MUST TRY: Cheese Tsukemen

Gaku says: “Tsukemen soup is yuzu flavor and the noodles are thick. I have never thought that cheese can fit wih Tsukemen, but you will be satisfied once you taste it at Mitsuyado!

#3 Ramen Daisho

 

MUST TRY: Miso Ramen

Gaku says: “The best Miso ramen in Manila! It is located along Shaw Blvd. Although not located in a major mall, lots of people go there just to eat Daisho's delicious ramen. Not only ramen, but their gyoza are also delicious.”

#2 Ramen Nagi

MUST TRY: Butao Ramen

Gaku says: “Nagi’s tonkotsu-based broth tastes like real Japanese tonkotsu. If you’re a first-time visitor, try Butao. When you've eaten half of it, try to add their Fire sauce to change the taste. You can also change the firmness of the ramen and the toppings based on your preference.”

#1 Find out Gaku-san’s #1 best ramen in Manila, check out the full list on www.foozap.ph

Talk about Good Food on Foozap!

Foozap is your personal food diary loaded online. From the words, “Food” and “Usap” (Filipino word for “talk”), Foozap allows you to share your food adventures, search and discover the best restaurants, and create your own foodie community.

You can check out food reviews from the top food bloggers, post photos of restaurants you’ve recently tried, add restaurants on your “Wish” list and get notifications if any of your friends visited and reviewed your wished restaurant.

Check out Foozap to start your own food journey! Simply log-in www.foozap.ph or download the android app. You can also like their facebook page, www.fb.com/foozap to join giveaways to your favorite restaurants.