As we are going to the Philippines mid of September, this week is Little Dynamo’s last week in school.
waiting for the school bus
This will be his last week to wait for the school bus.
This will be the last time he will wear his school uniform.
Till next year…
My toddler and I are going to the Philippines mid-September. With a pregnant belly and without hubby around, I couldn’t carry much baggage so we decided that we avail of the My Pasalubong service - a door to door service for OFWs to the Philippines.
Good thing, I still have the Sambayanan newsletter which I got from Hyehwa in 2006 (so long ago). The company had an advertisement in the newsletter’s May 2006 issue and they still have the same contact number. I asked for a Jumbo size box without really knowing how big it would be. Aside from the necessary stuff that we need in the Philippines (those that I can’t include in my luggage) I ended up putting as many old clothes and shoes as I can. Our families back home do not really expect much pasalubong and so I just had to buy 4 boxes of Maxim coffee to fill up the box. LOL. Oh, plus boxes of those Korean chocolate sandwiches that are often on sale. Fillers!
Contact numbers are 02-929-7766 and 010-3212-3100 and you may ask for Ms. Precy Niebres. The cell phone number reflected in the box was just changed recently. Somebody will deliver your requested box. Just call them again when your box is ready.
Rates are as follows:
|
Destination |
Regular Box (715×59x56) |
Jumbo Box (715×59x73) |
| Metro Manila | W 85,000 | W 95,000 |
| Luzon ACavite, Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bataan, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Zambales, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Baguio City | W 85,000 | W 100,000 |
| Luzon BQuezon Province, Ilocos Sur,/Norte, Albay, Appari, Isabela, Sorsogon, Quirino, Cagayan Valley, Ifugao | W 95,000 | W115,000 |
| Off-shore Islands and VisayasCatanduanes, Masbate, Marinduque, Palawan, Romblon, Visayas Islands | W 110,000 | W 130,000 |
| Mindanao | W 115,000 | W 140,000 |
I will be on my 25th week tomorrow. Yesterday, I weighed 56.10kg.
I stopped wearing jeans on my second or third month, but I can’t exactly remember when. To begin with, I am not really a jeans person. 
While preparing for our trip to the Philippines, I checked on all of hubby’s jeans… which to retain.. which to discard. A sudden thought… why not try his jeans on? And I did.
Not so bad, eh? I decided I will comfortably wear that as long as I can while I am on this pregnancy. A pregnant woman in jeans sometimes look good. I hope I will.
I have never bought maternity clothes… just because. But my clothes look they are MATERNITY clothes when I don them on. LOL. Anyway, I don’t mean to hide my pregnancy. A pregnant woman’s best accessory is her bulging tummy, this much I believe in. I just didn’t give maternity clothes or buying maternity clothes a thought.
Anyhow, pregnancy shouldn’t limit a woman to her choices of clothes. The best thing about it is, one’s pregnancy is a good excuse to share with your hubby a piece of his clothing… his jeans.
Oh, have you ever tried using your husband’s underwear when yours isn’t comfortable enough anymore because of your ever-growing belly?
I had my first taste of receiving my toddler’s progress report yesterday.
I was so filled with excitement. I didn’t think this was coming. Of course, he got all 4s (above average) and 5s (excellent). The teacher’s comment was very positive and encouraging, as well. I happily reported this to my husband during our chat last night and wondered out loud “Do teachers ever give negative comments? Hahaha.” To which my husband replied, “They wouldn’t dare. Or else parents will flock to school.”
Really, do teachers give out not-so-postive comments about a toddler to their respective parents?
I sleep soundly when hubby is at home. That is to say, I don’t sleep until he comes home. So, when he’s out with colleagues after office hours I can’t bring myself to sleep until he’s on the bed with me.
What do I do when he’s out on business trips? I hardly sleep! Sleep eludes me.
I had been sleeping at 3am - 4am for more than three weeks already… It will even be longer.
So, what is VUR? VUR stands for vesicoureteral reflux - this is a pediatric condition that allows urine to flow backwards - from the bladder to the kidneys - through one or both of the connecting tubes (ureters).
I have never heard of VUR before nor have known of any child diagnosed with this condition so learning about VUR consumed my nights and days. There’s always something new to learn each time I open a link from the articles I read.
VUR is an anatomical condition which could be diagnosed as early as pregnancy - through ultrasound. At 21 weeks of my current pregnancy, I immediately went to check with my Obgyne for an ultrasound diagnosis. My baby is fine, he said. But he added, it was too early to tell. In some cases, VUR is diagnosed through ultrasound. In other cases, VUR is diagnosed immediately after birth. Others are diagnosed when the child is between 1 - 3 years old. And for others, VUR is diagnosed when the kidney has been totally damaged:-). But when an older child has VUR, the younger sibling is likely to have one, too.
I’ve read that VUR itself is not dangerous. The danger lies when the urine becomes infected and some of which goes back to the kidney. That is why, when a child has VUR it is important to prevent urinary tract infection (UTI). In most cases though, VUR is diagnosed after a child has UTI. Other pediatricians make it a point to conduct follow-up tests for children diagnosed with UTI. In some cases, children undergo ultrasonogram to check their kidneys. If scars are seen, children are referred to the corresponding specialists. A nephrologist can discuss about the kidney scars present. Depending on his assessment, he may recommend further tests. A DMSA (dimercatosucconic acid) scan may be necessary to further check on the scars on the kidney. To check if a child has VUR, the doctor may recommend a VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram) test. The VCUG is an X-ray procedure where the radiologist will watch the monitor while the bladder is filling up to see if any liquid goes back into one or both ureters.
If a child has VUR, the importance of the VCUG lies in its determination of the grade of the VUR. There are 5 grades, the least severe of which is Grade 1. Needless to say, the most severe is Grade 5. For Grades 1 - 3, the VUR may spontaneously correct itself as the child matures. But the child would need to take a low-dose antibiotics daily to prevent infection until the VUR is corrected. This make take 12 months to 18 months or even more of the daily intake of low-dose antibiotic. The frequency (more aptly, the prevention) of the infection is very vital to the condition of the kidney. For, at the end of the day, it is really the kidney which is being protected here. For those who have Grades 4 - 5, it is highly unlikely that the VUR will correct on its own. A urologist is most likely to (highly) recommend surgical procedure.
A surgical procedure for a very young child is not something every parent has to face with. This is the very reason why I am blogging about this.
Little Dynamo and I had a movie date last Friday.
I know how he loves dinosaurs. His dinosaur toys are everywhere in the house. They even accompany him on the dining table. So, when I checked on the movies last week and saw that Ice Age 3: the Dawn of the Dinosaurs was showing, we just had to watch it on the big screen.
Off we went to CGV Mokdong for the 3:05pm show time. A movie date with our Little Dynamo is never complete without popcorn and tortilla chips, minus the coke this time.
We got a square foam designed for toddlers to serve as his elevated seat in the movie theatre but as soon as it turned dark, he asked to sit down on mommy’s lap. So there goes mommy’s bag, the popcorn, the tortilla chips and the pretzels on his reserved seat.
The Ice Age 3 movie experience added to his fascination with dinosaurs. When will he outgrow them?
My pregnant body succumb to an early sleep last night… the earliest since my husband left for his monthlong business trip.
Our Wednesday playgroup scheduled an afternoon of fun at the swimming pool. We chose a newly-opened pool along the Han River. It isn’t fully-developed yet so we had to content ourselves parking a good 500 meters away and walk on an unpaved road towards the pool. Construction is still going on and, as with every construction here in Seoul, it looks promising to be another family summer destination. Along the way, Little Dynamo had to insist that I clean his Crocs as he passed by a sandy road. He didn’t settle with “I’ll clean your feet later”. Sorry, he isn’t used to dirty feet yet:-).
We were greeted by the sight of an Infinity pool especially designed for kids, swarmed by children with their ommas and appas and halmonis. The pool is only ankle-deep on the sides and the deepest part is just below my waist.
Look at the far end of the pool. It has a safety rope installed to secure children from jumping to the river below. But what’s a safety rope for a 33-month old boy? That’s where my son exhausted me! He ran towards that end… very fast! But, of course, I had to run to get to him. He was laughing really loud when I got him. Naughty, naughty kid. He didn’t do it once. Several times, he ran towards that far end playfully always expecting that I ran after him. Thankfully, he is a toddler and he can, in a snap, change his interest and turn his attention to something else.
Of course, inflatable pool toys and floats in various designs are everywhere. One of my friends was thoughtful enough to bring one for my son. He had a grand time pushing it around the pool. He was too scared to ride on it, lest mommy will bring him to the deeper side of the pool. LOL. Still a scary cat, my Litte Dynamo is!
Nope, the water isn't as murky as it looks in the picture. For some reason, the designer chose an ash brown bottom for the pool.
But it wasn’t long before he got used to the water. He became more confident that he repeatedly jumped from the stones located in the deeper part of the pool.
How did the day end at the pool? Mommies having a hard time dragging our boys from the pool. They were only convinced when we promised a good dinner in a restaurant. We ended up having food delivery in my house. Moms are still smarter hahaha.
How did the night end? I didn’t have to read several bedtime stories. One story sufficed and my Little Dynamo was snoring soon after.
For the first time since my husband left, I slept at 11pm. That’s a great improvement from my usual 2am, 3am sleeping time. My unborn boy must have been smiling peacefully in my tummy.
I have blogged before about the safety and convenience of the transportation system here in Seoul and since our family of three rarely goes out of town unless well-meaning friends invite us (and drive us around), we have not had any reason to get a car. This is going to change, however. With another baby coming in December, it is imperative for us to have one already.
I am now checking on some hybrid cars and there are just many manufacturers and even many more models to choose from, my head is spinning. I have never been interested in cars and I, maybe, am one of the few remaining women out there who thinks that choosing a car is a man’s domain. In fact, I wouldn’t know what brand one is driving. I can only say, “She’s driving a silver car”. On a get-together with friends last Saturday, I opened up the idea of buying a second-hand car. Somebody suggested that we just get a brand-new one as we intend to have a car for the children, anyway. So, here I am dutifully checking cars out.
Good thing, aside from the car photos, there are also reviews available on the internet. The internet is really a one-stop-shop for anything and everything. Anyway, the photos and reviews are really helpful. I may not still be able to confidently say which brand one is driving but at least, I have less reason to declare I know nothing about cars.
Since we are living here in Seoul, it is practical to choose a Korean-manufactured car. Saying that imported cars are expensive is an understatement! I focused reading on made in Korea cars, particularly Kia. Personally, I would prefer an SUV so I could just throw in all of the kid’s stuff inside and still have ample room. I checked the 2009 Kia Borrego and I like it. But, of course, hubby is the authority on this one so we will have to wait and see.
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