Zoe's first visit to the dentist

We've been planning to take Zoe to the pedia dentist for quite some time now but managed to keep on delaying for some reasons. We knew that it would be a painful task since brushing Zoe's teeth alone requires plenty of patience and creative theatrics. I couldn't imagine how I can make her open her mouth in front of the good dentist. So when my cousin told me that she was taking her 2 kids, Cacai and Jessalyn, to the dentist last Saturday, I grabbed the opportunity and brought along my 2 year old as well.

Jessalyn was first to go since she had more procedures to be done. While waiting, we practiced with Zoe on how she would open her mouth (with Cacai's help) and crossed our fingers that she would really do it when her turn came. After Jessalyn, it was supposed to be Cacai's turn but our excited toddler wanted to go next so she did. The pedia dentist said that since she's still quite young, she'd skip on the dentist's chair and would go for a knee-to-knee cleaning instead. However, Zoe insisted on sitting on the chair, at least until the dentist turned the lights on on the machine and she got scared. So yes, we did the knee-to-knee thing.

I was quite surprised that it only took a couple of swipes of dental wipes to clean my daughter's teeth. After wiping the teeth (which I could've done myself), the dentist put some berry fluoride on. Finished. In 10 minutes tops and it already cost Php 1000. I'm not sure of the going rate but my husband and I kinda thought that it was a bit too steep for just a simple procedure that we could've done had we have fluoride at home.

Oh well, I guess we paid for the 'her teeth is spaced really nicely and brushed quite well' comment coming from the good dentist. Yes, I was quite proud of myself knowing the daily pains it takes to brush my toddler's teeth. I guess  our patience and efforts have paid off =)

Insanity: Plyometric Cardio

Plyometric Cardio -- yes, it already sounds intimidating but it's worse when you actually try it. The name itself suggests that this routine involves jumping and popping heart rates. Boy, Shaun T wasn't kidding. The first 9 minutes of this 42-minute workout focused on warm up. Warm up that already included jogging, jumping jacks, heismans (which took me quite longer to perform), 123, butt kicks, high knees, and mummy kicks. Oh and wait, you do the 'warm up' routine TWICE. Gosh, I was already tired by the time the warm up routine was finished. Jillian Michaels, what a shame, I thought you've already prepared me for this..

This routine involved 5 circuits which were repeated twice with 30-second water breaks in between. Here are the sequences of the circuits:

WARM UP:
- jogging
- jumping jacks
- heismans
- 123
- butt kicks
- high knees
- mummy kicks

CIRCUIT 1:
- suicide drills
- power squats
- mountain climbers
- ski down

CIRCUIT 2:
- switch feet
- football wide sprints

CIRCUIT 3:
- basketball drills
- ski drills
- in and out

CIRCUIT 4
- jabs
- cross jacks
- uppercuts
- attacks

I would love to say that I performed all exercises but I honestly wasn't able to. I told you that I was already tired by the time warm up was done but I still tried my best to keep up although I really did falter most of the time. It was sort of nice to see that even the people on the video were human enough to get tired and get some rest even while the others were pushing themselves to the limit. It actually kinda inspired me to push even harder. They say that this routine is the hardest among the Insanity routines so hopefully I'd get better at it the next time. Tomorrow I start with Cardio power and resistance. Sounds scary too, goodluck to me! Dig deep!!

Insanity Workout

After going through 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30, Yoga meltdown, and Killer buns and thighs -- all by Jillian Michaels, I found myself bored with the routines. Sure it was still a little bit challenging but sometimes boredom is a far worse enemy. So I finally decided to try the Insanity workout program after putting it off for so long (cus I was scared of the reviews).

I did the fit test today and boy, did I sweat like crazy. I think even my ears produced sweat, if that was even possible. However, being that I haven't worked out in about a week gave me pitiful results in the fit test. Still, I was glad to have done the first step. Here are my results and what I looked like 25 minutes after:

Do you see the prominent vein on my forehead? That usually comes out when I'm very angry or very tired :P

Tomorrow is my first official day for the workout program. Below is a timetable of the exercises which should be done for a total of 9 weeks:



I have great hopes (and fear) for this workout. I wil also take my measurements again later when I get home so I can do a progress report for myself. Wish me luck! 

Sweet treats at Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

Last weekend, we went to Greenbelt and Rustan's to celebrate my Jamie Dimon money. When I say celebrate, that of course meant shopping and eating out -- two of our favorite things. We had lunch at Chili's (and was saddened by the fact that they dont serve their tomato basil pasta anymore, sniff sniff) before starting with the first leg of our shopping trip. Well actually, I already started the first leg the day before so let me correct the statement by saying 'we started the second leg of our shoppig trip' by going through the kids' shops at Greenbelt 5.

Dan promised dessert and while I wanted to have donuts and coffee, we stumbled upon a quaint and cute cupcake shop called Vanilla Cupcake Bakery in Glorietta. I've passed this shop before and had mentally promised myself to check it out so i figured , it was the right time to do so.

The interiors of the shop are very cozy and girly with white, sky blue, and baby pink as dominant colors. The furniture are also very dainty and I was pleasantly surprised to see Daphne Osena's chairs as part of the furnish. There weren't a lot of cupcakes to choose from unlike at Sonja's but I immediately chose the ones I liked: banana nutella and banana cream cheese while Dan chose luscious mocha.

The cupcakes were moist and overall, quite good but I preferred the cream cheese over nutella. I still would like to say that Sonja's are still better, although Vanilla Cupcake Bakery is a sure good contender too. What I didn't like about this experience though was that ordering the cupcakes was quite stressful and disorganized. While there were several attendants, I wasnt sure they were deployed into their own responsibilities accordingly. There was no line nor instructions on where to begin forming a line, except for one attendant who simply told me 'dito na lang po' when I asked where to start getting in line. In fact, if I stood by the 'line', it wouldve taken me hours to get my order  since customers who come in would just announce their orders to the attendants not knowing where to start. AND the annoying attendants would entertain just whoever comes their way regardless of who was there first. It was uberly annoying, my husband sensed a tantrum coming and sent me to the table to wait. That was a good catch.

So if asked if I would try this bakeshop again, I possibly would although I probably wouldn't crave it out of the blue. The price range is quite reasonable, my husband paid almost P300 for 3 cupcakes and a cup of brewed coffee.

Eyes see what you mean

If there's one regret that I have in my life, it's not putting on eye cream consistently and early on. I mean, I have been putting some, but only when I have creams available (ehem, given..). Recently though, I have been noticing lines at the outer corner of my eyes each time I smile. I'm sure there have been smile lines there before but they weren't too obvious until recently. Oh no!

see the lines right there?

I asked my cousin for eye cream recommendations since she works in a beauty department in Germany. She recommended Shiseido Benefiance Anti-Wrinkle eye cream 

and Clinique All About Eyes. 

I've read more raves about Shiseido so I sweetly asked my dear cousin to bring me a tub when she comes home this March. I swear, I promise, and I vow to keep maintain my eye routine forever and ever.

Summer School

I've read so many articles and forums about the best age for kids to start schooling and I've had several discussions regarding this with Dan (my husband). Zoe is currently 2 years and 4 months old and we were originally planning to send her to school this school year. However, one of our aversions is that she won't turn 3 until September and we feel that she is a bit too young to go to school on a daily basis. I tried scouting for junior nursery schools that offer 3 days of classes per week but unfortunately, I couldn't find such anywhere near our area that matches my requirements.

Ultimately, Dan and I decided not to send her to school this year yet but we are looking into enrolling her to a summer program in a school called ISYC (Integrated School for Young Children) in Marikina. I have heard nothing but good feedback from parents about this school so I called them for more information. I spoke with Teacher Leah and she mentioned that they offer the Summer Fun program for kids ages 2-6 years. It is a 2-hour daily program that runs for three weeks and is designed to give kids an opportunity to acclimate themselves in a school setting (mostly in preparation for the school year). It focuses on 'having fun while learning' where they do activities like painting, drawing, playing games, dancing, and singing. They also explore activities that are done during the summer like swimming.

The first batch starts on April 8 and the second batch starts on May 6 with the class schedule 9am-11am. The tuition rate is Php 8,000 inclusive of snacks, art materials, and 1 field trip. Teacher Leah encouraged us to visit the school with Zoe so we can show her around and get a feel of the school environment.

So now, Dan and I are in the process of fixing our work schedules for April and May so we can properly decide when we can enroll Zoe. While I would want Dan to be able to see Zoe 'in school', I think I will likely be the parent in charge for this being that my work schedule is mostly mid-shift. We both believe that while this isn't a regular school experience for Zoe this is still a good way for her to spend summer. Depending on our experience with ISYC, it is the pre-school that we are considering for Zoe before we transition her to a big school (which we are already decided on: Assumption Antipolo). 

Monster Mom =(

It's been two years and three months since I became a parent. I thought I would already know better by this time but I still often find myself sulking in one corner with regrets of what I did or did not do. Sometimes I honestly think that I'm not fit to become a mother :(

Zoe is at her trying two's and it's been a crazy ride. A lot of people commend me on how behaved she is whenever we go out. Yes, at her age, I definitely have a lot of things to be proud of but I think that it is with that fact that I have also come to raise my expectations  from her. Expectations that are sometimes too high for a kid of her age. 

Earlier I had another temper blow out with her and I was so frustrated over something that was actually petty. She got terrified of me but instead of moving away from me, she just cried on my shoulders. What kind of a monster have I become? And while I was preparing for work, she tried to make it up to me by being sweet. She even complimented me while I was putting my pants on and said 'Wow, Mommy, ganda ganda.' and helped me put my belt on. It just crushed my heart that even when I showed immaturity and pointless anger at her earlier, she still found it in her young heart to make ammends and make me happy. What have I ever done in my life to deserve this sweet little girl? 

And so I went to work with a heavy heart full of guilt over what I did today. I pray that God may give me more patience and wisdom to be the parent that I should be.