Building Blocks: The Lego Story

The most famous brick in the world is celebrating its 80th birthday! 

Check out the video below and be inspired by its humble beginnings...

Thank you, Lego, for 80 years of inspiring curiosity and imagination!

My Favorite Kimpura is at 50% OFF!

If I could eat in one place everyday for the rest of my life, it would be in Kimpura! My family has been eating there since I was a little girl. My ultimate favorite is the Mixed Fried Rice. My little boy loves it, too!

Man, I would love to learn how to make this! So yum!

Other staple orders include Salmon Sashimi, Ebi Tempura, Gindara, Chicken Teppanyaki and Yaki Udon. For dessert, I always get a Gelatin a la Mode. 

Below are more photos to make your tummy grumble:

Lapu Lapu Fillet Teppanyaki

Ebi Tempura (Dumpling loves this, too!)

Kobachi Tofu

Yaki Udon

Dumpling enjoying Yaki Udon! He loves this, too!

Did the food pics whet your appetite? Well, I have some fabulous news for you! Kimpura is at 50% OFF until Sept 29, 2012 if you are a Metrobank Platinum or World cardholder. Even drinks are included in the discount! Aaah, I might just eat here everyday!!!

The promo is offered daily except Saturday nights and Sundays.

Kimpura has three branches: Trinoma, Greenhills and Greenbelt 5.
This promotion is also offered in Peking Garden, by the way, because Kimpura and Peking Garden have the same owners (a little bit of trivia for ya!) 

So whip out those cards and haul your hungry tums to Kimpura!

I've Got My Eye on You

One of the first things I bought for Baby Zee's arrival was a baby monitor. With Dumpling, we were able to manage without one. But now that they are two, well, it will be harder to keep a close watch on both of them at the same time.

I went through a lot of baby monitors: Chicco, Baby First, Avent, Summer... before I decided on a Motorola MBP36 Baby Monitor. It was a risk since I bought it off Amazon so I couldn't test the unit first. But I figured since I was buying an electronic gadget, I would go for a brand trusted in that field rather than a baby brand. Well, my risk paid off because I am super happy with this product! 

Why it rocks:

1) It has a large screen - 3.5" color screen LCD plus infrared night vision so I can see my baby even if it's pitch black in the room

Love the huge screen!

2) Audio quality is very good - I can hear every hiccup and fart
3) It has a remote pan, tilt and zoom function so I can change the view from the parent unit
4) It functions as an intercom - I can talk to the kids or the nanny without going to the other room. This feature freaks out dumpling because he doesn't know where my voice is coming from :)
5) The room temperature is seen on-screen so you'll know if the baby's room is too hot or too cold
6) I also love the sleek design of this product. Some of the baby monitors I saw were too pa-cute which I didn't care for that much.
7) They programmed 5 lulllabies in the unit! So if your baby is crying, you can play her a lullaby through the camera and help soothe her back to sleep. I've never used this function though but it's kinda cool they thought of it.
8) You can add more cameras and hook it up with your existing parent unit. Perfect for parents who have lots of kids! You can surf through different rooms with just a press of a button!

What they could have done better:

I only have one complaint - when the parent unit is not plugged in, the video shuts off after awhile. This is the automatic power saver feature forced upon the user. You can't disable this function. To wake up the screen, you just have to press any button. Audio is still on, though. Still a bit of a hassle that's why I just leave it plugged in.

Here's a video review on this product:

This baby monitor was especially useful to me when Dumpling and I were sick and Baby Zee was quarantined in the nursery. I was able to monitor her the entire time. My husband would put her near the camera and I would talk to her through the intercom. 

Sleeping Zee on night vision

Having this also prevents the nanny from doing something naughty since she knows she's being watched ALL.THE.TIME.

I'm watching you.

On a blogging maternity break

It's been a little over two months since I gave birth to Baby Zee... and also two months since my last blog post. There are so many things I want to write about  but I've been having a challenging recovery from pregnancy...

Baby Zee is 10 weeks old, and I've been sick (we're talking 40-degree fevers, joint pains, headaches) 7 times already - which means I've been sick almost every week! I've been to 3 doctors then on my 7th fever, I heard about Dr. Patricia Kho, who is an internationally-certified lactation consultant. Turns out, I have a recurring case of mastitis. Mastitis is a breast infection that causes swelling and plugs the milk ducts. It's still safe to breastfeed (in fact, it is encouraged) but momma suffers a LOT. It is really, really painful. I had to undergo an uncomfortable breast ultrasound to make sure that the lumps are not something more serious than clumped up milk. Then Dr. Kho gave me antibiotics to fight the recurring infection. 

Then a few days after recovering from my fever, my little dumpling gets sick. He caught a flu bug in school and we are now nursing a 39-degree fever, a cough and a cold. And to make matters worse, I caught his virus, too! Baby Zee is now under isolation in her room while Dumpling and I are fighting this bug. I miss holding my baby girl! We can't go near her because the doctor said what we have is very contagious. The only good thing about this is Dumpling and I get to spend a lot of quality time. But still, it's quite a challenge to take care of a sick, feisty toddler when you're sick yourself.

So please pray for me and my little boy that we get better soon! I promise to write again as soon as we are both back to fighting form - I have so much to tell you!

In the meantime, I'd like to share with you this video clip from the movie "Love Affair". I love, love, love this song. I used to sing this to K when he was Z's age. And now that he's on sick bay, I've been singing this to him again to help him sleep and help him forget about his clogged nose and persistent cough...

Just a quick note to my co-parents: Please, please, please keep your children at home when they are sick, even if it's just a mild cold. Putting other kids at risk is totally not cool. Let's spread love, not germs :)

Kian's First Visit to the Dentist

Toothbrush time is always a challenge with Kian (which is a polite way of saying HE HATES IT!). To make it a wee bit easier and more fun, I got him a toothbrush that lights up while he brushes.

It lights up for a minute so Mommy knows when to stop brushing!

But even with this fun toothbrush, my active toddler would only allow us a few seconds to clean his teeth before he scoots away. And because of this, I've been worrying a lot about his oral hygiene. So yesterday, I brought him to his very first visit to the dentist.

The dental clinic we chose is highly specialized in Pediatric Dentistry. They had a lot of toys for the kids to play with and even 2 flatscreen TVs complete with Sony Playstations in the waiting room! After registering, the assistant told us that Dr. Caparas would like to talk to the us first before they bring in Kian.

Dr. Lourdes Caparas - the best pedia dentist for me!
(photo grabbed from their website) 

When we entered the room, Dr. Caparas greeted us with a warm smile! She asked us a couple of questions - our expectations from the visit, how we currently take care of his teeth, Kian's personality. She went on to explain what will happen when we bring in Kian inside the room. Lots of crying for sure but it's normal. She taught us the best way to help Kian get through this is to show him a confident smile during the entire session and to avoid saying things like, "It's okay! Mommy/Daddy's here! We'll buy you a toy later! It won't hurt I promise"  as this will NOT soothe him and just make him feel more agitated.

It was finally time to bring in the star of the show! He entered the room without hesitation and Dr. Caparas immediately bonded with him. I could tell that Dr. Caparas had a natural way with children. Kian generally isn't fond of doctors but she instantly won him over with her soothing and motherly voice. 

Since it's Kian's first time, Dr. Caparas felt the dental chair might intimidate him so he placed his head on her lap instead while my husband held the other half of his body. He also held Kian's hands for support.

Daddy, am I getting a massage?

Pretty, pretty light!

Oh, and there's a TV in the ceiling! I want that for my room!

Dr. Caparas first applied a special blue ink on Kian's teeth. We should expect to see 3 different colors: areas colored in pink are plaque from that same day, areas colored in purple are plaque from the day before and areas colored in blue are plaque from the 3 days ago. So how did Kian's teeth fare? She said we were doing an OK job of cleaning his teeth but we could do better to ensure we avoid cavities!

Then she began to clean Kian's teeth...

Dr. Caparas showing Kian her special toothbrush.

Cleaning his teeth one by one!
Kian cried but he didn't struggle as much as we expected.

After cleaning Kian's teeth, Dr. Caparas applied a special flouride vitamin on Kian's teeth to make them strong!

And because Kian was such a good sport, Dr. Caparas opened her drawer of goodies and Kian chose his prize! He chose the Angry Birds eraser.

Dr. Caparas also gave him an orange balloon! Dumpling was a happy camper!

Before we left, Dr. Caparas showed us the proper way of brushing Kian's teeth. It should be two teeth at a time, brushing in circular motions (and not side to side). And to make sure all the dirt and grime are removed, we have to wipe down his teeth with a damp gauze or cloth. 

She also told us to use flouride toothpaste (uh-oh, we've been using Orajel flouride-free toothpaste since his first tooth came out!). She explained that flouride-free toothpastes are only for countries who already have flouride in their drinking water (like the US). But here in the Philippines, we have no flouride in our water! And that's why it's important to use flouride to keep our kids' teeth healthy and cavity-free. 

And this is the toothpaste she recommends:

Locally, you can find this in Healthy Options. 
Also sold in Amazon.

Kian says goodbye to Dr. Caparas and gives her a well-deserved high five!

Thanks for not terrorizing me!

Kian so proud of his sparkling pearly whites! Great job, Dumpling! 

How I wish Dr. Caparas would accept adult patients, as well :)

Caparas-Goduco Dental Clinic is located at Active Fun Building 2nd Floor 9th Avenue Corner 28th Street Bonifacio Global City.
For appointments, please call 815-2396 or 816-7957. 
Note: It took us 2 months to get a slot!

Dumpling's Choice of Slurps

Now that my dumpling is a school boy, I try to find yummy but nutritious snacks for him to bring to pre-school - which includes drinks!


His ultimate favorite is Dutch Mill Yoghurt Drink! He's been drinking this since he turned one (this is how he learned to drink from a straw!) He loves it so much he asks for one the moment I place this in our supermarket cart!

It's a yoghurt drink infused with different natural fruit flavors: Strawberry, Blueberry, Mixed Fruits and Orange! He loves them all! It's rich in calcium, iron and protein and cultured with lactobacilius bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus (great for little tummies' digestion!) 


His pediatrician also gave his stamp of approval! A much better option than chocolate drinks or artificially-flavored juice boxes (like Zesto!).

And here's my little dumpling during snack time!

While in school or while I play, I will drink this everyday!

It comes in a small tetrapak - P7.95 (around $0.18) for 90ml. which is great because it discourages him from drinking too much! But it also comes in a big size, like the one he is holding in the third photo above.


Just to mix it up a bit, he also drinks Nestle Yogurt Fruit Selection. But he only likes the Mango flavor. I love the mini-bottles - super cute! The photo below is just 100mL (will update next time with price)!

How about you, yummy mummy? 
What does your little one have in his snack bag?

March of the Little Penguins

Kian's school had its year-end presentation two weeks ago. The little penguins shaked their little tails to this song from Happy Feet. It was dumpling's first venture on stage! I was worried he would shy away from the crowd but he went up there filled with penguin power confidence! So proud of my little dumpling!

Where is my mama penguin?

Admiring the icebergs 

Watch our happy little feet dance!

Some penguins cried, some penguins danced their heart out and most penguins just stood there wide-eyed, looking out to the crowd (just like the ones in National Geographic!). But whatever each little penguin did, I believe being in front of a crowd for the first time made them just a wee bit braver :) And ain't that a big part of growing up?

Paradise - Here We Come!

So excited for our family trip this year! Can't wait!! Hope I'll get my sexy back by then, haha!

It's also Dumpling's very first beach trip and plane ride! Any mummy tips you'd like to share? 

Color Boot Camp

One of my main focus for Dumpling to learn this summer is for him to master identifying colors. He knows all the names of the colors BUT he has trouble matching the name to the correct color. 


Each time I ask him a color of a certain object, his immediate answer is "Red" (so when I point to an apple, he always gets it right!) or sometimes he just enumerates all the colors till he gets it right...so, I really needed to take his color learning to a higher level!


Here are some of the tools I use for Kian's Color Boot Camp:


This is our favorite color book which I bought from Amazon.

Sturdy board book to withstand kooky toddler hands!
Its small size is perfect to bring everywhere!

This is my favorite part of the book:
Side-by-side comparison of the different colors!

Here are Kian's favorite videos on colors which I have both on the iPad and iPhone.

The Rainbow Song sang by that famous purple dino 

(yeah, you know who I'm talking about)

What I like about this video is that they show the actual colors in full screen for easier word-color association. 

Performed by one of my favorite bands, OK Go!

They partnered with Sesame Street to make color learning just plain cool 

(it's a great way to develop his taste in music, too!)

It's also nice how they teach kids how you can mix colors to make new ones!

Super cute how the little guy sings along to these videos. I even sometimes catch myself singing these songs out of nowhere, too!

I was also able to find a cool game called Color Monster (available for both iPad and iPhone). The hungry monster asks for a certain color and Kian has to choose from the different colored fruits and vegetables below and feed it to the Color Monster. Around 95% of the time he gets it right!

Just a caution: this hungry monster can be a bit rude. If you feed him the wrong color, one of the things he'll say is, "Disgusting!" So, if you are quite sensitive to that word, you may want to go with another game. 

Of course, coloring (as the name suggests!) is also a great way to teach kids about colors! I alternate the use of both crayons and watercolor (though the latter can be a bit messy!). Every time he reaches for a new crayon, I ask him to identify the color. Or sometimes, I ask him to color the object "blue" and he needs to find the right color from the box.

For little hands, I would recommend Crayola's Jumbo Crayons. 

The regular-sized ones didn't last a day because dumpling pressed too hard.

And here is Kian hard at work learning the color GREEN!

I allow him to color outside the lines! 

Of course, we use EVERY opportunity to practice his colors. Even as simple as just asking him what color of jammies he is wearing or pointing out objects while we are in the car and asking him to identify the color! He has shown a LOT of improvement since I started this color boot camp. It's still not perfect but we are getting there :)

Co-Sleeping with a Toddler

One of my most favorite things to do with Kian is to sleep beside him. Saw this photo on Facebook and it made me laugh!

Most nights, it's "H is for Hell" for us

And when my husband is extra lucky, we end up like this:

What's your sleeping arrangement? :)

Belly Bonding

With my baby girl's arrival only 3 months away, I've been trying to think of ways to ease my son Kian into being a big brother. 


You see, a friend confided in me that she was super happy that her son loved her newborn sister so much. He would always hug her and kiss her and tell her that he loves her... until, she caught him pinching the baby when he thought no one was looking! (True story!)


I went to Fully Booked and searched for a nice big brother book. I was so happy they had this in their collection:

They also have the big sister version!
It's sold for Php294 (around $7)

Here's a sample page of the book. So cute!

It's an easy read with big letters and cute drawings! It teaches big brother-to-be how he can play and help out with his new sibling! It also tells him how things will be different when the baby comes (but in a good way!) and how the important things (like our love and care for him) will always be the same. I'm pretty sure our little baby in my tummy is listening to the story, too!

At night, I also ask my little dumpling to help put my anti-stretch mark lotion on my belly. I just put a pea-sized amount on his palm and he happily massages my tummy! Recently, he is the one who even reminds me to "put lotion on Shobe (Chinese for little sister)".

They say it's the best stretchmark lotion in the market! (a gift from Startupbabies)
I got awful stretchmarks with my first pregnancy (I used Chicco Mama) so I do hope this works!

Kian is also fond of stickers! Last weekend, I saw him putting the stickers on our wall. So I asked him, "Why don't you put stickers on Shobe?" He gave me a big smile and got to work!

Belly Art!

We used Ben10 stickers which he got from a children's party. He got quite upset when I tried to remove the stickers so I had to sport it overnight. This photo of my belly makes me smile! I will definitely show this to his little sister when she's older, so she'll know that her big brother loved her even before she was born.

Marked for Life

I used to wonder what "terrible twos" really meant. Did these sweet angelic babes suddenly turn into raving little monsters?


Well, I got my first bitter taste of the "terrible twos" syndrome... This morning, I caught my little dumpling using a permanent black marker on our antique narra (Burmese rosewood) bench which was custom-made from our province. Because of my wobbly pregnant legs, I was too late to stop him:

Practicing his scribbles on our antique narra

Even our bedsheet got victimized by my toddler's quick hands! 

Good thing he decided to use his washable markers for this particular work of art.

My first instinct was to use baby wipes. I scrubbed the wood furiously. But the black marks just stayed there... mocking me. I wasn't about to give up! I tried to use different kinds of soap but still the marks did not fade, not even a little bit. I was thinking of using alcohol but I wasn't sure if it would leave a white mark (and that's another nightmare waiting to happen!)

I searched online to see if there was a special wood product I could use to remove the stain.... 

Then I found it, and I bet you'll never guess what it is...

TOOTHPASTE!!!!

No, this is not a sponsored post!

Just a few scrub-a-dub-dub and voila! Our antique wood is as good as new (or should I say, as good as old?)!!!

See, Mummy! You were worried over nothing!

So mummies, just remember that your toothpaste isn't just for your pearly whites! It's also an antique wood's mercenary from naughty little toddler hands :)