To bounce or not to bounce

I never bought a baby bouncer. I have always feared the "shaken baby syndrome" and I felt that the stands (on the ones I usually see in malls) looked "unsteady" and not that sturdy (that it might break or snap anytime!).

What I did buy was a carrier that attaches to a rocking base (swings at one level only), it looked safer and I can use it to carry my newborn with more comfort and ease especially during the earlier periods and without the fear of shaking her.

But I'm puzzled how so many bouncers are available in the market and that a lot of people do buy them.


Courtesy of BabyBjörn

This type goes for about $115 in the US or roughly around Php7,750. But with importation fees here, it's going to cost almost 10k (or more) for sure.

There are also the ones in the Php3-5k range, the colorful ones you see in the malls from China, Australia and the US.

But how necessary is it to get a bouncer?

As per the brand's website:

BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance

Everyday balance… when you know that your child is happy and healthy, and at the same time are able to do everything that you need to get done.

For the child, rocking in the babysitter is both soothing and fun. When a child rocks and moves on his or her own in the babysitter, motor skills and balance are being refined in a natural way.

BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance was developed in close collaboration with pediatricians, and is the result of over 45 years of product development and experience.

BABYBJÖRN Babysitter Balance is easy to fold and take with you. It has three positions: play, rest and sleep. The fabric is machine-washable and approved in accordance with Oeko-Tex Standard 100, class 1, in other words, guaranteed free from hazardous substances. Reversible fabric gives you four color schemes in one.

It's usually for the parents' convenience, as per looking at other brands' description. It's about keeping baby "occupied". I'm still "iffy". I know we're busy parents but I think little ones should be attended to regularly, I even watch my baby sleep (I may sound, yeah, neurotic, but I got scared of SIDS too, who won't be).

So maybe I'll consult the pedia for this since I never brought this up, until I saw a lot of these now in malls (more than what was out there before).

On other news:

I wish I looked this good (but I'm just thankful that my baby's congenital scan is A-Ok), but still...it pays to be in Hollywood


Claudia Schiffer
Bauer-Griffin

Love her coat/cardigan, but it will take me a year (or more) to knit one like this!
Claudia Schiffer
Jack/FilmMagic

Amanda Peet

Matt Carr/Getty


Since I can't have the CELEB toned preggy body, I'd rather take on the style tip.

Knits!

I know it's SUMMER but there are nice knits (I found a lot at the Landmark Dept Store), which are light, stretchy and are actually cool enough to wear in this heat.

:)

Searching for Summer Fun

It seems that due to El Niño, summer came quite early.

The AC seems to be working double time.

Everyone's extra thirsty.

The breeze leaves you such a sticky, icky feeling. ugh.

I don't like to swim when I'm pregnant, because I get irritated a lot by pool chlorine plus people might mistake me for a floater or a tadpole. (hehehe)

Anyway, my daughter seems restless than ever. Swimming at the condo pool takes the boredom off a bit but I don't want her exposed to too much chlorine either because we both have skin asthma.

I'm waiting for the pre-school's call (they're inside our condo complex so my kid can go without me having to worry about her traveling in a school bus since I have work) if they'll push through with the summer classes.

Weekend classes don't cut it. Imagine being restless for 5 days. That's quite long for a kid. But I won't have a choice because I can't commit to bringing her on weekdays due to work plus hubby's out of the country, I might not be able to manage.

So I'm searching for the following:

- Art Classes
- Dancing Classes
- Musical Theater
- Voice Lessons

Just in case there will be no summer classes offered in the condo complex Montessori.

How I wish the Admin here at CGS make the closed function area rentable already! So workshops can be hosted here, heck, I'll organize one!

In my hunt, I'll be posting them here. I'm sure other moms and dads out there are already looking for activities.

Hoping and praying that I can work from home next year so I can take my kids to lots of activities and venues.

Internet Convenience

If you're a busy parent and is working 8-5, you'd find that it's quite hard to do banking transactions especially since banking during your limited lunch break schedule will eat up the entire 45 minutes of your only time to rest during a day of work.

So here comes internet banking. A very convenient way introduced quite sometime ago.

Before, I used to ignore it and still go to the bank thinking I need to submit this and that, then I might as well just do the errand directly.

But times have changed. We've been much busier than usual and (I know you'll agree with me), some banks take forever to transact with! Talk about 30+ customers with 1 or 2 bank tellers only then here comes a corporate account who is a "preferred" or "loyal" customer who cuts the line and submits like a gazillion items for deposit or encashment...the horror!

Goodbye lunch break.

Hello Overlunch break + Memo from HR (no haven't experienced it personally because If I can't transact at a certain number of minutes, I leave but some office pals and friends have experienced it...plus I don't like Memos, I happen to have good HR stats at work..hehe).

So one time, I finally had the courage to go to the online site of BDO application, printed it out and went to the nearest branches to submit the signed document.

For BPI, I also enrolled online and went to an ATM and activated it.

Quick Review: BPI's system is much more convenient in terms of enrolling for online

Below are a few things I can do without having to run to the bank branches all the time:

BDO
- Check balances

- Pay Bills (enroll online, as long as you have your account number or subscriber number for the bill, it's so easy)

- Enrolling other accounts - you can request this for BDO accounts (not yet sure for other banks), you can do this online and wait for the confirmation. I have yet to get confirmation for my husband's account being enrolled into mine in case I need to transfer funds

- Enroll credit card to check balance, due date (but not the entire statement - you need to do this separately, request a PIN from customer service and you will get it in 2-3 weeks then you need to go to the BDO website and follow the steps)

BPI
- Check balances

- Pay Bills (same as BDO)

- Enroll other accounts - it's much more tedious for this one as you have to print out, sign 4 times on the sheet and send it a branch and wait a couple of days to get them enrolled (I enrolled my husband's and mom's accounts for easy fund transfer, will see how it goes)

- Enroll credit card (same as BDO)

Obviously, if you need to fund your account, you still need to go to the bank and make a deposit unless you have a trusted messenger or helper to do it for you.

But for me, online banking has been a great convenience since I don't need to go to Bayad Centers (unless that merchant isn't available in the options) or transfer or get deposits from my husband or mom (will enjoy more of this later on when they're all activated).

Please do take note that bills payments made online will take around 3-5 banking days for some institutions. So in case they're following up on your due date, just pull up your transaction history and give them the transaction number they are asking for so they can update their system if they haven't done so yet.

Now I'm trying to figure out this Mobile Banking thing and will post about it once it's done


=)

Puzzle Dazzle

Image from Google

Sorry, I can't think of a better title for this entry...anyway...

I always though puzzles were just a lot of pieces of toys for kids and that they usually end up making a mess out of them.

Lo and behold, for the heck of it, I bought my daughter 1 piece of My Friends Tigger and Pooh small puzzle (just because I couldn't find a "pasalubong" for her and that was the only one at the nearest store that I could find plus, I promised to bring her home something for being good that morning).

She spent like 30 minutes.

Imagine, 30 minutes of quiet time for her (and me).

She didn't even want me or her yaya to help nor touch any of the pieces!

She did it all on her own, like 3 to 4 times over.

So every time I see a new puzzle (bigger pieces for now), I buy her every week.

It's cheap. They usually cost 29-69 pesos and it's not just fun for them, it stimulates a lot of thinking and problem solving.

She also hasn't lost any of the pieces of her now 5 set puzzle collection. Which is nice (and a miracle!).

So try it. Maybe your 3 year old (and up) will like it if you haven't discovered it yet.

The Crib Hunt: Almost Done

I decided that I wasn't sold just yet on the cribs I saw (for 12k) in SM.

So I called up my ever so loving Dad and asked him to have a crib made instead using the design I saw online from the US.

I want solid wood, since this crib will be used from Newborn to Toddler or can even become a day bed.

He said cost estimate with the contractor was around 4-5k (not bad at all!) and lead time would be around 3 weeks. (He did promise to have it at the house by April 1st week...so I'm quite excited).

All I need to buy is a nice mattress

I saw one in SM, Uratex Brand for around Php1,500

Here is one of the designs I printed out for the contractor to follow though I opted for natural varnish as I don't want any paint smells or toxic chemicals:

:



So once it's done, I'll post a picture here. :)