on being parents to a toddler

We're enjoying being parents to our toddler. She is 2+ years old now and she's at this stage where she tries to be an independent child in terms of deciding what she wants to wear, what to do, etc. She's also at this stage in her life, though, where she would almost always seek for parental attention. She hates it very much when both of us are in front of our computers. So, we make it a point that at least one of us should put off facing the computer until she's busy playing with her toys or until she falls asleep. Time management is indeed an important element in being parents, most especially to toddlers.



Overall, our daughter is generally a happy baby. She's only irritable when she's feeling sick. Just recently, she's had one of those toddler ear infections. Good thing she can already clearly express herself and would quickly tell us the source of her pain - her ears. Her pediatrician explained the usual reason why babies and toddlers commonly get ear infections. This usually happens when their Eustachian tubes are blocked due to common colds. Indeed, we can confirm that her episodes of ear aches came after she's had runny nose or bad cold. She's also had fever along with her painful ears. Thank God, she felt better after 7 days of prescribed antibiotics and 4 days of ibuprofen.

approaching the second year of our life as parents

Some time next month, my toddler will be two years old. Wow, I am really looking forward to year two of our life as parents even though they say that one of the hardest times in the life of parents is when the child turns two years old because it will be a time where the parents' patience and tolerance will be tested in terms of their ability in dealing with and managing toddler tantrums and other irritating to unpleasant behavior. In fact, I had mentioned in my previous post that we already started dealing with her occasional tantrums. I guess it came early, huh!

One thing I noticed about our toddler these days is that she's all prim and proper when we're outside the house. I mean she wouldn't show off any signs of being cranky except when we're at home. I guess she knows how to place herself. My analysis was that she's really just too comfortable in showing her crankiness only with us.  Her crankiness doesn't happen too often, though. Most of the time she's lovable, sweet and clingy (trying not to sound like a defensive parent here).

How about you guys, care to share your toddler's manifestation of unpleasant or irritating behavior? How do you deal with it?


Anyway, I've been meaning to share this video of my toddler when she first learned to love a Justin Bieber song. I just love the way she had obediently sang her part here. :-)

on self-control, success and modeling the behavior you want

I just read an interesting article today linking self-control behavior to success. Research has it that toddlers at the age of three who had a lot more self-control are likely to end up healthier and more successful when reaching adulthood.

The research and findings make a lot of sense to me because self-control teaches a child to become more disciplined when it comes to the way he would handle his life and in coming up with sound decisions later on that will truly impact his future.

We all learned that the toddler years are the formative years of a child. This is why, as much as possible, parents should be there for their children to nurture and guide them especially at this stage in their lives.

Not tolerating and learning how to manage a toddler's temper tantrums, for example, is very important in teaching a child that he cannot always get what he wants by displaying anger and improper behavior.

Right now, whenever our toddler wants something done her way and shows her tantrums by crying almost uncontrollably, we would not try to pacify her crying by giving in to her wishes. If it's not something we approve of, it's definitely non-negotiable. However, since she's not even reached the age of two, we make it a point to distract her into doing activities that she would also like to do eventually.

Self-control is also important for parents. Even though it is already very tempting to yell at every irritating situation, parents should practice holding on to their anger in front of the child. Modeling the behavior you want is even most important.

teething discomfort and then fever

She bites!

About a week ago, my daughter was not again in her best mood due to her teething discomfort. Yes, it's her molars again! I don't know how many molars more she'd have to endure - I might have to do a research about this pretty soon.

I think it was her worst teething discomfort  because she's had fever for two days that sent us a panicky feeling because her temperature has reached a 39.8ºC!  I can even feel the extra heat on her palms as well as the soles of her feet. We let her drink medicine for fever (every 4 hours) that was appropriate for her age.

I realized that when babies are sick, they would usually want their moms to hold and cuddle them. This was the case with my daughter - she wants me with her almost all the time, clamoring for attention.

It was really hard to see my baby getting uncomfortable and sick. I can't describe what I was feeling when I found out her fever went as high as 39.8. I was crying and I really didn't want to wait until the second day to see if she feels better. I just want to rush her to the doctor but husband said, we'll wait till the second day because we also believe that her teething was the cause of her fever. And we were right about it.

You know it was really hard for us to let her drink medicine for fever. Even though it has fruity flavor, we still had to force her to drink the medicine. Well, we really had a problem in letting her drink fluids because she would usually refuse take to take any except when she's given ice cubes! Occasionally, she would drink milk but we couldn't count on it because she would usually throw up when she's offered milk.

We knew it's important that she has fluid intake especially that she was eating less solid food. Glad we realized her fondness for ice cubes.  Thankfully, her fever went away even before we decided to see her pediatrician. Wiping her body with damp cloth has also helped in lowering down her temperature.

9 proven solutions that help parents avoid the undetectable problems that keep toddlers unsafe

Did you know the way to distinguish the "Musts" from the "Shoulds" for your infant safety equipment?

Have you ever made your list? Here are the actual baby-proofing items that should be at the must-have tippy top.

I know that we don't all have hundreds of dollars to be able to throw down the all-critical childproofing budget gap. To help the protection of the serious yet financially fainthearted, I've classified them into the "musts", that means that you should not care where you get them, but good parenting requires them.

For those who have more than 1 kid (or are often distracted), consider the more distractions you have at your residence, the more distractable you are, the more important your baby-proofing is.

Below (in order of importance) 9 baby proofing items you "must" have to keep the baby safe:

1. A Good Gate: Even if you live in a ranch-style home or an apartment with no stairways, there will be rooms or areas you will not want your baby wandering into, so an excellent gate is definitely a must-have babyproofing purchase.

2. A Blind Winder: The number of babies strangled every year due to dangling blind and also shade cords is devastating. In fact, the Customer Product Safety Commission lists cords as one of the "hidden hazards" parent's don't think of. There are numerous affordable window blind winders out there, however if you have to manually re-wind the cord immediately after every use, you won't use it.

3. Anti-Tip Anchors: If you have a climber (or possible climber) on your hands, furniture straps are a must. Whether it's a dresser or a shelf, attach these heavy pieces of furniture to the wall with anti-tip connectors to stop the furniture from tipping over.

4. Fireplace Safety: Hard stone around the fireplace hearth can be very unsafe with little ones all-around. Its sharp edges and rough stone corners can cut, and seriously hurt a tripping child. You have to choose one of the numerous good hearth bumper pads available in the marketplace.

5. Corner Edge Bumpers: You can protect the corners of the end-tables and coffee tables with corner and side guards. One-size-fits all because you reduce the foam to fit your particular table exactly.

6. Outlet Covers: For used outlets with cords, you may buy a cover that could prevent your baby from unplugging the cord and playing with the electric outlet. They are best for high-traffic areas where you will be inserting and un-plugging items often.

7. Childproof Latches for Cabinets and Drawers: Drawer latches are also an essential-have for childproofing your home. They may prevent your growing infant from hitting intact drawers with sharp or small items stored on the inside. Ideal for the kitchen, bathroom, or home office. Choose childproof latches that won't allow your little one to have even a hand inside.

8. Railing Net: Stair and railing nets are also a must if your railing spindles are usually further than 2.5 to 3 in . apart.

9. Bathtub Safety Items: Bath-time is always exciting for a growing baby. Keep it safe by using a few of these little accessories.

 - A bathtub thermometer to gauge water temperature.
 - A bathtub safety rail to help your own little one get in and out of the tub safely.
 - A faucet cover that will protect her little head from nasty bumps.

These are the most significant baby safety gear items out there. Consider them as an crucial investment you will make in the years of growth and exploration still ahead of you.

Bonnie M. Ryan is currently writing for the designer baby bags for mums website, her personal hobby blog focused on rules to help moms and dads to get details to become more eco-conscious and make their own eco-friendly baby diaper bags. 

mommy moments #2: "hair" is that moment

Hello mommies! Sorry for missing out last week's Mommy Moments because I just can't catch my little girl jumping on camera or video. :-)

Anyway, Our Life As Parents is joining this week. I hope I can still catch up. The topic is about hairstyles.

This is how my little toddler sports her hair right now.

No, she's not going to school. She's just a year and a half. Happy Mommy Moments!

reading with the toddler

We have been reading to Dipdip one particular book about Jesus and the angels. Her attention span seems to have increased as she gets older. She loves to listen and sit with any of us so we could read to her the contents as we leaf through the pages of the book. This was a used book that we bought on sale at a  department store.

Lately though she would also like to have the book to herself so that she could just leaf through the pages herself. It was when she tried tearing the front page (glad it was just the foreword page) that we decided to keep it for the time being until she is responsible enough to handle it with care.

showcasing my daughter's talent

It's been a while since my last update. I didn't realize I've concentrated with my walk through life blog more than being here. My apologies for I have been busy. I hope to update this more in the future. For now, let me just brag about my daughter's talent.

This is just a short video of my toddler dancing through the music of a nursery rhyme. She likes music a lot. Everytime she hears music, she would dance to it, no matter how slow or fast the beat is. To explain what's that thing on the side of her face, she was actually taking her breakfast when she started to dance. :-)



We are really enjoying our life as parents a lot!

toddler's safety concerns

Today, I looked into one of my little girl's old photos when she was about four months old. I compared it with how she looked recently and noticed that there's really a BIG difference.

look at the stuffed cheeks...

The photo above was edited (courtesy of introvertedwriter ) to make it look like an ID because it was used for her health insurance ID, back when I was still working in an office setting.

Back then, it was so easy to watch and look after her safety but today it looks like we're going to have to deal with our toddler's safety concerns when she's on her playpen crib. She doesn't want to be held prisoner inside the converted crib anymore. It's not all the time that we're putting her there though - only when we still have to take our breakfast or to babyproof the area in the house where she will run and walk (although there's really not a lot of space here to run around, LOL).

Look at how desperate she is to go down... :-)

she's playing the crying toddler here ...

No, it's not for her early toddler ballet lessons, she just simply wants to climb out!

here's another attempt...

One of these days, the playpen crib has to retire...

too early for what?

It's too early for her to go to school but my one year and two months' old toddler looks like she's excited to go to school. LOL.

small girl going to school?

What's up with the pink bag? Well, it's called a back-to-school gift from the makers of Enfagrow, her milk formula. You buy the milk, you get that bag. They also included some school supplies inside (paper, pencil, notebook, crayons, etc.). Now, I'm beginning to imagine her going to school. I wish she would really do well in school and land on a scholarship!

Oh, you're not going to school. You're going to the neighbor's house!

Oh, she really makes my heart melt with joy...

She really loves the outdoors. She knows when it's already time to go outside. If we don't let her enjoy the outdoors, then we had better prepare for her toddler tantrums. :-)