Tantrums Central

Last night Raine had a major tantrum attack that lasted for almost an hour. I hadn't realized that it was getting late and the little girl's eyes were still fixated on the TV. It was on Disney Channel and she was watching a rerun of one of her favorites, "Handy Manny". I told her that it was time for bed and I turned off the TV. She immediately went into hysterics and started crying. She asked for me to turn off the TV, wailing, "TV, Mandy!" (which is what she calls the lead character of the cartoon). Despite all her pleas, I turned a deaf ear. She lay down on the carpet and kicked her legs. When her Lolo came into the room she stood up and hid in a corner of the bed, still crying and asking for the TV to be turned on.

We tried everything. Offered her other toys to distract her, told her that the TV wasn't working by pretending to turn it on, suggested that she drink milk or have some of her favorite fruit; grapes. But she was insistent. She would get the remote control, give it to me and ask me to turn on the TV. Hubby relented after 20 minutes of Raine's wailing, we turned on the TV for a few seconds but I said this wasn't the way for her to learn discipline so we turned it off again. Sure enough, the cries started again. My mom said we shouldn't give in and just let her cry it out. She had earlier told us about a time that my brother used to cry and throw tantrums just like Raine when he didn't get his way and she just let him be. Now she says he's the calmest among us siblings. But Raine was at her element. I went to the kitchen to fill up her bottles and she wailed even more. She followed me and kept on her plea. Tears were rolling down her eyes and she looked really "kawawa". My dad even told her finally that she could watch TV in their room instead but nothing seemed to get through.

Finally, after almost an hour, her Dad got through to her. They played with a golf ball with shiny streamers attached to it and soon Raine was smiling again through her tear-streaked face. Whew! Our ears finally got to rest from her cries. We were all surprised by Raine's reaction, it was a first for all of us. I really hope it will be the last. Wishful thinking of a toddler's mommy? At least it happened at home and not in public where it would be harder to control the situation.

Terrible but Terrific Twos

My little one has been acting up a lot these past couple of months. She loves to say "no" and "stop it", even when she means "yes". It has become quite annoying, especially around strangers or even relatives she is shy towards. I feel an early preview of the so-called "terrible twos".

She is like two different personas in one little body. Most of the time she likes to assert her independence by trying to do things her own way. She likes to feed herself and when I get the spoon from her, she would hold it really tight and wrestle it away from me. She tries to put on her slippers by herself even though sometimes they're on the wrong feet. She puts on a pair of shorts or pants or a t-shirt through her legs. But she bawls out, "I can't, I can't!" when she realizes she's put both legs in just one hole of the shorts and is unable to get out by herself.

Raine seems to have a fascination with lotions, creams and other beauty products. She has now mastered how to open most bottles and jars, much to my dismay. She's very fast too. Before I know it, she has smeared lotion all over her legs and her cheeks. I once caught her putting baby oil on her thighs. Another time she opened her grandmother's lipstick and started poking it with her finger and then applying it to her chin. I spend half the time taking her to the bathroom to wash her face and wipe her legs, then clean up the mess she left behind. An aunt advised me to be "lovingly tough" during times when she is naughty or misbehaves.

The little girl is indeed a curious soul She likes to open cabinets and drawers, rummage through what's inside until she finds something that catches her fancy. I think for my next baby I'll baby-proof our home a whole lot more.

The other night she was just one big ball of energy. She didn't want to go to sleep despite my stern warnings. She just lay in bed babbling away. I was typing on my laptop with my back to her when I heard her reach for a toy on the headboard behind the bed. When she saw me look at her she immediately closed her eyes while still clutching the toy. I put the toy back in its place and went back to the computer. But then I heard her get up again and reach for her Dora doll. I looked at her and she promptly closed her eyes, still holding Dora on top of her tummy. I wanted to laugh because she looked so funny, pretending to be asleep despite her awkward position. I firmly told her it was time to go to sleep and pried Dora from her hands. All was quiet after that but after awhile I sneaked a peek and there she was again, now with a book in her hands. She shut her eyes once again as I whirled around to look at her. It was the last straw, I let out a laugh. Raine is turning into a little comedienne with her antics.

Raine will be two years old soon. How time flies by! She can get on my nerves more quickly these days but just as suddenly, she gives me an "awwww" moment to treasure. I've been coughing a lot lately and when she sees this she will rub her hand on my back as if to soothe me and say, "it's okay mom." She sounded so grown up then! A few days ago she woke up saying "I love you" to me, although it sounded more like, "I loveoo." It made me smile from ear-to-ear.

Terrible twos you say? Bring it on!

For the First Time

Nope, this isn't about the Richard Gutierrez - KC Concepcion movie but about my little Raine's first time ever to get really sick. Last week, as we were on our way to meet a friend for dinner, Raine threw up the milk she had just drank inside the car. She also seemed like she was running a fever so we headed back home.

My brother who's a doctor immediately examined her and said that despite her temperature, which went up to about 38 degrees Celsius, she seemed fine. No colds nor cough. Since she threw up maybe she just had something that didn't agree with her tummy. But all she had was milk, bread, cornflakes and cookies. We bought her medicine for fever. After a few hours she was already feeling better, then just as quickly her temp went up again, this time to 39 degrees. My mom, who's also a doctor, told me to bring her to the pediatrician in the morning if her fever didn't go down. We were also concerned with the rashes that appeared on her hands and legs.

Raine has never gotten sick before, save for the occasional cough and colds which never really dampened her spirits. But this time she was obviously weak and listless. She had thrown up 2 more times. My poor little girl. I gave her lukewarm sponge baths and placed an icebag on her head to cool her down. By morning her temperature had see-sawed from 37 to 39 degrees. The pedia prescribed antibiotics and medicines for high fever and a suppository in case she vomited again. She was to get a blood test in 2 days if her fever continued to go up.

We had to meet a friend for lunch to give her her husband's "padala" and Raine perked up then. But soon Raine seemed to feel sick again. We prayed hard that she would get well by nightfall so she wouldn't need to undergo any lab tests. True enough by morning her fever had gone down. She slept most of the day but sans fever.

Now I know why some parents wish they were the ones who were sick, instead of their kids. It's really hard to see your little angel ill, especially when they aren't able to fully express themselves yet. It makes it more difficult for you to really understand how they feel and pinpoint their exact symptoms.

Raine is well now. We even went to the beach over the weekend and looking at her it looks like she hadn't gotten sick at all. Babies are indeed very resilient and bounce back much faster than most adults when it comes to recovering from illness.

The Small Bang Theory

Raine’s hair has been taking its sweet time in growing. I thought by this time I would already be tying her hair in pigtails with colorful clips and barrettes. However, she’s now 20 months old and has never had a haircut except for a bangs trim last May. Her bangs have grown longer since then, thankfully, and were already touching her eyes so I thought of cutting them myself.

Early this week while she took her afternoon nap I decided to give her a cut. It was trickier than I thought. Hair after all, unlike paper, doesn’t stay still when you move the scissors across it. Needless to say, I kind of botched it up. I ended up cutting too much and now Raine’s bangs are halfway up her forehead, making her look like a little Bruce Lee. Haha! My cousin-in-law said she looks like a cute Korean babydoll. Hubby tried to remedy it by making her bangs look feathery and not too straight across. Well, to us she’s still as adorable as ever. What do you think?