Lunch with the Girls

Had lunch with A and R today and I really enjoyed it. It's been so long since I was able to get out and enjoy the company of good friends w/o having to worry about chasing a toddler intent on getting into trouble.

We got to exchange stories of toddlers having fun & misbehaving - toddlers making sungit, testing our patience and stories of escape - over a good Popeye's meal. I miss having days like this. Mauulit ulit to, ha ?

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Have to dip into our frozen milk stash again today. Since we started using milk from our stash, we've probably used 3 or 4 bags. Not a lot,... but it just shows that my milk production is getting lesser and lesser (or that Swe cha is drinking more and more, which he is).

I used to dread that day when I will finally stop pumping milk but now, I think I just look forward to missing being the moo-cow of the house. It's not such a scary prospect anymore.

Central AC

So our Central A/C unit is struggling, says the technician who came by to do the maintenance service last week.

We could wait this out and replace the unit when it dies, but then again, the technician pointed out that winter is coming upon us and we don't want to take the chance of this dying in the midst of winter and us having to go w/o heat for days.

That made sense, especially with a child in the house. We could probably survive the winter w/o central heat because we do have a portable heater and we do like it cold but I'm sure that the combination of a portable heater + an energetic toddler is an accident waiting to happen.

So I've set up appointments with a few AC companies to get a quote on the replacement. The first companies drops by today and after he gave me his quote, I asked for the brand of the equipment.

salestech: We carry and sell different brands but the one I quoted for you is Payne.

me: Pain ? As in it's going to be a lot of pain to pay for it ?

salestech: *blink blink* huh ? (looks at me like I'm so silly) Payne. You spell it like P-A-Y-N-E. Carrier makes it, same quality, but it's cheaper because you're not paying for marketing & branding.

My pitiful attempt at humor failed and my hopes & dreams (drama!) were dashed when I saw the contract. It wasn't the 10k I feared but this was still a very Payne-ful 6.5k.

Oh well. This is only the first quote. Hope to do better w/ the others.

Kitchen on strike

Our kitchen has reached an all-time low.

I defrosted some meat last night, thinking I'd get a chance to cook dinner tonight. But I didn't realize until this evening that I didn't have anything to cook w/ the meat. That is all we have - ground pork.

Oh, we do have onions and garlic but we've run out of carrots, peppers, potatos - we don't have the basic sahog (or those that I know how to use).

Hay!

Looks like hubby will be picking up some dinner tonight. Anyway, I'll be off for a few days next week so hopefully, I get the chance to catch up on housechores and errands.... and some personal time for me too (I really do need a haircut!).

My list for next week:

- laundry - wash, fold / iron / hang. Hopefully, the crib-full of clothes will be clear by next week. (We've been using Swe-cha's crib as a huge laundry bin for clean clothes that need to be folded / ironed.)

- grocery shopping & costco run (thanks for offering to bring me to Costco, R!)

- haircut

- clean the house (asa pa!)

Toddlers and Medicines

Medicine time has always been a struggle in our household, even for medications that taste good. Lately, we've discovered a way that works for our child.

Our issues from the different dosing methods we've tried are:

1) The droppers that come with the medicine are cr*p. This is true for Loviscol and Disudrin drops. They have markings for up to 1.2ml or 1ml but you keep squeezing and squeezing and the medicine level never gets up to that point.

2) The droppers are too small. For Tylenol or any store-brand infant's acetamenophen, my son's weight and age require him to have 1.6ml but the droppers come to only 0.8 ml only. So you have to get 0.8ml, chase a toddler, hold him down & get him to take the medicine and after all that, you're only halfway! You have to do it all over again.

3) Measuring cups are hard to use for thicker medications (for example, suspension antibiotics) so after measuring out the correct amount of liquid, the next problem is how to get all of that into your toddler's mouth ? He will not sit patiently with his mouth open just so you could pour the medicine in.

With that, here are our recommendations:

(1) Bigger droppers

We got this last month when we had Swe-cha's antibiotics filled at Stop & Shop's pharmacy. The pharmacist asked us if we wanted a measuring spoon or a dropper and I asked which was easier to use for a toddler, she gave us this giant dropper.

I was so happy when I first used this because previously, we had to make do with a measuring spoon (shaped like a test tube) and it took such a long time for the medicine to slide out.

You don't have to go to the pharmacy for these, I've seen this on sale at baby stores, I just never realized that they were that useful. Oh, and note that your bottle has to have a wide mouth for you to be able to use this.

(2) Syringe

At friend R's recommendation, we tried out Target's pharmacy last weekend. She's been telling me about the syringe that they give and how easy it was to give medicine using that.

Totoo nga! How could I have doubted her experience ? *smile*

It's easy to just squeeze out a little at a time into my toddler's mouth and wait till he swallows it before I squeeze out a little bit more.

I also like Target's medicine bottle. It comes with this cap at the top, the hole is just big enough to insert the tip of the syringe. To get medicine, you're supposed to:

- insert tip of the syringe into the hole at the cap until it is snug

- invert bottle & measure out the correct dose

- turn bottle right side up and twist the syringe out

Oh, and for anyone wondering what that green ring is ? At Target pharmacy, you can specify a ring color and assign a color to a member of your family. Say, Daddy's are blue, Mommy's are red and so on. The color coded rings make it easier to recognize medications at a glance (because the bottles are all alike).

MacGyver

I'm currently watching MacGyver episodes (via Netflix) starting from Season 1 and it's brought back memories of my childhood :)

I was afraid to start watching this again because I wasn't sure if it was going to live up to the hype in my head. I've always thought that MacGyver was the coolest person on TV ever and I loved watching each and every episode.

The thing is, when you start watching shows from the 80s and the 90s and then start comparing them to similar-themed ones in the 2000s, the older ones suddenly seem so.. well.. baduy.

But so far, MacGyver is still the coolest and I'm loving it. Walang kakupas-kupas!

Inis

Bakit ganon ?

Parang sadyang may mga tao talagang hilig nila ang magbaba ng kapwa. Parang doon lang sila sumasaya pag pinag di diinan nilang nasa mas mabuting kalagayan sila - mas magaling, mas matalino, mas mayaman, mas maabilidad, mas nakakataas ng sweldo, mas nakakataas ng posisyon?

Mabait naman itong taong ito, kaya lang, minsan imbes na makatulong siya, mas lalo lang akong naiinis, kailangan pa talagang haluan ng konting yabang yung sasabihin sa akin eh.

Oo na, magaling ka.

Oo na, talented ka.

Oo na, swerte ka.

May nakalimutan pa ba ako ?

At oo, nag br breastfeed pa ako. BAKET ? MASAMA BA ? Bakit ba pinagpipilitan mong itigil ko na ? Nagrereklamo ba ako ? Nahihirapan ka ba ? Hindi kaya naiinggit ka lang dahil hindi mo ito nagawa sa anak mo ? kaya't pinatitigil mo na ako ? o sadyang pakialamera ka lang talaga ?

Ang palaisipan lang sa akin ngayon ay sa akin ka lang ba ganyan ? o ganyan ka rin sa mga ibang kaibigan mo ? di ba sila nakakahalata ? o ayaw lang rin magsalita ?

O siya. Nailabas ko na ang sama ng loob ko at di na kita iisipin sa araw na ito. Hindi ka rin naman dapat binibigyan ng importansya, darami lang ang wrinkles sa fez ko pag lagi kitang iniintindi.

Basta, Miss, hindi ka nakakatuwa.

Hindi talaga.