My Baby Snake

To start things off for the day, MH's aunt treated us to brunch at a nearby dim sum restaurant. Yum! MBS ate her share of congee and liked it too! Brunch time :) Any additional orders, MBS? :) Afterwards, we went to a nearby grocery mall. We had dinner plans with other uncles and aunties that night, and wine was in order. Spotted humongous strawberries on sale, and bought a box for MBS. There were pumpkins on sale as well and I found it fascinating how the pumpkins were being sold by piece and not by weight. Naturally, I got one of the bigger pieces. :) Say, "Aaaah." It might be a bit too early for pumpkin carving :) Juicy much, MBS? :) Night time came before we knew it, and it was time to prepare for the big night. MBS would like to thank her great aunt for her beautiful dress, and her aunt for her pink tiara :) On our way to celebrate MBS's first ride on the MTR  Certified Daddy's girl :) MH's cousin surprised ...

MBS was such an angel on her first airplane ride abroad. :) I could not have wished for a better experience!  She fell asleep during take off and didn't wake up until the pilot announced that we were landing in a few minutes. Such an angel, really.  Preparing for the trip - what to bring, where to go, how to go from point A to point B with MBS in tow - was a whole different ball game.  While packing, MBS just didn't seem to have enough clothes, even if one side of my hard cased luggage was already filled with her clothes. One outfit a day never seemed enough. What if she got wet? What if she threw up? What if she soiled herself?  I would say that I packed around 20 outfits for MBS for our 5 day trip, excluding her outfit on the day itself and three more just-in-case outfits to be packed in her carry on. When MH saw what I had been doing, he talked some sense into me and asked me to pack lightly.  We were going to HK, not the North Pole.  ...

"Half the world is sleeping... Half the world's awake..." Best excuse to be emotional.  MBS is entering the big 1 in a few weeks' time. She's actually turning 1 already! Where did the time go?  It's funny how things change when you have a family. MH and I were just talking about the topic when he mentioned, "It's funny how I don't know the TV shows my friends talk about anymore, but I can tell them everything they'd ever want to know about breastfeeding."  That pretty much sums up our experience as parents. We've literally put our social lives on hold. We haven't gone out on a decent date, let alone watch a movie in the theaters, for the longest time. We've skipped out on lots of spur-of-the-moment get togethers. We don't even know what the trends are these days anymore. It's because after every single day of work, the only thing MH and I want to do is go home and see our baby girl. And hearing her laugh with ...

When I heard that a chicken chop (ji-pai) shop had opened in Manila this March, I was looking forward to the day I was going to taste my favorite Taiwanese street food again. It's been too long since I've had ji pai, and I was already drooling thinking about it.  And so, with a couple of free hours on our hands, I got MH to drive me to Blue Bay Walk (just across Blue Wave, near MOA) to go and satisfy my cravings.   Hot Star Large Fried Chicken did NOT disappoint. :)  Oh, Taiwan chi-pai, how I've missed you so! Facade of Hot Star, which is located beside Army Navy (Blue Bay walk, Macapagal Avenue) This is what you see when you enter. You order at the counter and pick up your food at the blue window.  I love how the order counter and pick up counter of the restaurant looks like it was made out of container vans.  After paying for your order, you can sit down and wait. The number on your receipt will appear on the black TV hanging on the left...

Celebrating MBS's first Christmas at Edsa Shangri-la hotel :) I was more than excited to buy a female Santa Claus costume for MBS to celebrate the season to be jolly :) I saw the perfect attire being sold at Cutie Tots online shop. My little Ms. Santa Claus My two Christmas gifts :)  What do you want for Christmas? :) A merry Christmas from MBS and family :)

Today is a bittersweet day for the breastfeeding mother in me.  Today, MBS officially starts with formula milk. I still have a few bags of breast milk left in the freezer, but the advice of many is to test the formula milk first to see if MBS gets any allergies.  I tasted the milk a bit; I couldn't resist. And, surprisingly, it does taste like breast milk. hehe :)  Let's see how the feeding goes! :)

The thought of having to buy formula milk saddens me.  MBS is 7 months now, and my milk supply is decreasing. I have, at most, a week's supply of frozen breast milk in my chest freezer right now.  I know that I should buy formula milk already, but the thought really saddens me. I feel like something really personal and meaningful to me is being taken away.  I've been feeling stressed out lately due to my minimal milk supply. And I know that stress is one main factor that causes that decrease. But the worry kicks in when I know that my milk supply isn't enough for MBS anymore.  I'm not giving up though. I just have to give in to the fact that I need to mix feed MBS with formula milk and breast milk.  MBS's pediatrician recommended Enfalac A+. I need to go formula milk shopping soon. :( ...at least it was a good 7 months of pure breastfeeding - that's something that I can still be proud of.