The Fifth Month

Five months. How quickly time flies!

This little man is getting more entertaining as each day passes. He keeps rolling and rolling and rolling (you're right, Ric, he didn't forget!), and as he does so, I sing all these songs with "roll" in them ("You gotta roll with it..." "Rollin' with the homies..." "Rollin' in the deeeeeep..."). He says "mmmammmaaaaa." He super enjoys his bath. He has started showing an interest in food--he was looking at a cake display and we could see him smacking his lips! He's all serious around his daddy. He also tries to get my attention by crying, and sometimes he doesn't stop until I pick him up. Sometimes he cries before I leave for work. Worst part of my day! (Personal update: My hair has seriously started falling out. Ack!)

A few photos from this past month...

My first official Mother's Day! 

Baby's first road trip!

Babiators borrowed from cousin Xabi

I couldn't resist buying him a hat and swimming trunks that could only fit him that one time (and, horrors, I had to squeeze into a swimsuit)...

Baby's first swim! He was just quiet and he kicked the water a bit. I think he couldn't wrap his head around the giant palanggana.

I now truly understand that saying about the days being long but the years being short. I've had some pretty long days and nights, especially this past week! He seems to be in the middle of a growth spurt, so he feeds every one to two hours. It's insane. I haven't had straight two hours' sleep in ages. Oh, what I would give for four straight hours of sleep! It's amazing though how one's body adjusts. I can still manage to play with him when he wakes up at 6 am, and even function at work. Motherhood is an upper unlike any other.

Even with the lack of sleep, I just want to hit the pause button. It's going by so so so fast. He'll be crawling then walking then running in no time. I am enjoying this phase immensely--he still wants to be carried and cuddled, he still makes the funniest sounds, don't have to run after him yet. I get why mothers of older kids just want to carry him!

Before the Month Ends...

...do grab a copy of Good Housekeeping's very special 15th anniversary issue! Not only is it our thickest issue evur, it also has a brand new look. (Check out that logo!)

We took our cue from our 128-year-old big sister, US GH, and revamped the entire mag. And I must say, it's beautiful and much more fun! If you want to find out more about this massive undertaking, read this interview with the US bosses, this press release, and this blog entry by one of the people on the redesign team (our stalker-art director tells me he's Filipino).

So, how do we look? Let me know what you think of the new GH!

The Fourth Month

On his fourth month, A:

• Gained 17 grams a day (above the average 10 to 15 grams a day).
• Grew 4 cm.
• Started showing off--he now easily rolls over from his back to his stomach, both left and right sides. And he does this again and again and again. But he seems to have forgotten how to roll from his stomach to back.
• Would wake up at 4 am, wanting to play. This is supposedly called reverse cycling--when baby wakes up at odd hours to spend time with mommy, who's at work all day. I'm flattered, sure, but I also need my sleep! I try not to make eye contact when I change his nappy in the middle of the night, and when he gets chatty, I just turn off the light and let him babble away in his crib til he falls asleep again.
• Started using cloth diapers. Yay Mother Earth!
• Discovered that next to milk, he likes the taste of his lampin.
• Started really laughing. (He loves our helper's antics, and I can get him to laugh sometimes by having him do a boxing combination. In the words of my former trainer: "Jab-strit-uppercut-right hook-lip hook!") Such a joy to hear!
• Started changing...on some days he looks like his daddy, on others, he looks like me. And since I was once told that I look like Jericho Rosales (whut?), it looks like we've got a future Mr. Pogi!

How you doin'?

We be chillin'.

Shopping from a Stylist's Closet (Or, The Best Ukay Ever)

What do you do when one of the country's top stylists (and my good friend and life peg) posts this announcement?

You text the damn number.

And you set a budget, because you can seriously go broke at The Best Sale Ever.

Super stylist Pam Quinones finally decided to let go of a lot of stuff--clothes, shoes, accessories from her styling jobs as well as her own personal stash. Pam is my go-to girl whenever I need specific outfits ("Pam, I have a beach wedding!" "Pam, I need a 20s outfit!" "Pam, my niece's birthday party is safari-themed!"), plus the girl is never less than uber-chic, so I HAD to go to this sale. I also needed new clothes for this unrecognizable post-preggo body, but was unwilling to spend a bundle when I now have other priorities (like the kid's monthly vaccines!).

So, off to the sale I went. And let me tell you, it was the best decision I ever made.

We walked into the first floor of Pam's gorgeous studio (she's a frustrated interior designer) and were told that "shorts and pants are on this floor, dresses are upstairs."

Nina (GH's assistant fashion editor, whom I dragged along) and I went straight to the second floor. And ZOMG it was a frickin' black hole.

There was a room just for accessories and shoes (thankfully not my size!).

And another room with racks and racks of dresses.

We started going through the clothes, neatly arranged by color. Some items hadn't even been used, tags on and everything. One of Pam's assistants encouraged us to start in another room, where all the designer duds were. We figured our budgets were just enough for this room, so we politely said, "No, thank you." Then he said, "The prices are almost the same." That was our cue!

The designer room also had several racks of dresses. Amid the Martin Bautistas and Charina Sartes, I found this confection.

An absolutely dreamy Lanvin dress for--wait for it--P2,500!!! WHERE ELSE AM I GOING TO FIND A FRICKIN' LANVIN FOR $60?!

I had to be smart about my shopping trip though. I had a small budget, and I wanted to stretch it as much as I could, and a Lanvin that I couldn't wear that often just didn't make sense. But I figured my best friend would LOVE the dress. So I sent her a photo, and next thing I knew, she was reserving it. Which means I could borrow it some day. Yay!

I couldn't resist trying it on though. Tee-hee. Sigh, so pretty!

I ended up getting a Chloe dress (!) instead. And a couple of other dresses, a top, and a cover-up. All for P2,000!!!

Nins had a similar budget, and she thought long and hard about her purchases:

Nina: There's a cute leather jacket, pero hindi ko alam kung magagamit ko kasi ang init dito (I don't know if I'll be able to use it since it's so hot here.)

Me: Magkano ba? (How much?)

Nina: P100.

Me: PINAG-IISIPAN PA BA YON?! (Do you even have to think about it?!)

Here's Nins with her haul--her "splurge" was a P500 Zara dress, then she got a bunch of P100 dresses and tops! (Btw, you might want to check out her fashion blog, ninyacolada.tumblr.com--super cute outfit posts!)

As our totals were being tallied, more stuff was coming in, including some YSLs and Charlotte Olympias.
 

 

THANK YOU, PAM.

Will probably do another post on my finds. So happy!

Work through the Eyes of Instagram

So this is what work looks like.

A cover shoot at a super cute store (more in a future post).

An outfit photo for our OOTD posts.

Lunch at a new restaurant.

Mad for Garlic, an Italian resto from Korea

A date with a star(fish).

Shocking pink nails from the launch of Orly's new line of polish.

 Hmm my phone didn't save the Instagram version. I thought this thing was supposed to be smart?

Invitations to events. "Special dessert buffet," you say?

 

...I'm there!

P.S. We got to take home six cupcakes of our choice!

A malunggay bouquet from our office security guard--he says he has an abundance of it at home and he thought I, being a nursing mother, would want some. Aww.

A sweet treat!

I can't see myself ever going back to a desk job.

Follow me on Instagram, @tishietishie.

Be-you-tiful!

Confession: In the weeks leading up to my maternity leave, I was so worried about leaving my staff. Not because they aren't a capable bunch, but because they're all so young! I just kept thinking about how they would manage without their mom around. 

Well, I shouldn't have worried. Behold the fashion and beauty issue they worked on while I was away (and not yet working from home):

A big big thank you to Yvette Fernandez of Town&Country for babysitting my girls!

I believe this is one of the most beautiful issues of GH ever! They sure showed me huh? What an incredibly talented, hardworking, fantastic team I've got! I thank God for them every single day.

Do grab a copy of this gorgeous issue. An interesting tidbit: The writer actually tried Botox for that story mentioned on the cover!

The Third Month

My little monstar is now three months old! Hurray! He's growing so fast--I've had to put away some clothes that are a bit too snug now. *sniff* Some highlights:

• He got baptized! I was so worried that he would cry, especially when the priest poured water on him, but he was such a trooper! He didn't cry at all. But dude kept farting! Haha. He wore a really cute outfit (below, left) which H's sister got from Singapore; my brother's wife gave the shoes. For church, he also wore the baptismal gown (below, right) that my three brothers, nephews, niece, and I all wore to our own baptisms. He wore (or was made to wear) it against his father's will. Har. Sorry H. Kinda reminded me of an episode of The New Normal!

• He's been flipping over onto his back. His nanny tells me that he can flip over from back to front as well, but I haven't seen it.
• I heard him laugh for the first time.:)
• He's figured out how to suck his thumb. (I can hear him sucking away as I type.)
• He seems to be getting rounder. We aren't scheduled to see his doctor til next week so I don't know how much he weighs now. But it's immensely satisfying seeing his double chin and chubby thighs, and knowing it's all because of my milk.
• He's no longer gassy! (Knock on wood.) I had to give up dairy, which seemed to be causing all the gassiness and crying and sleepless nights. When I said goodbye to milk (which I love, by the way), he became less fussy and much happier. And that is a reason to celebrate!

Photo by Jun Pinzon. My makeup by Elaine Ganuelas, hair by Jerry Javier. Flying balloons c/o the GH team!