jan's christmas gifts

we’ve already secured most of jan’s christmas gifts, mostly from amazon — books, videos and cds, all in german (otherwise we would have placed our orders in the US site).



if you speak german, you can tell that jan has an advanced german vocabulary, diction and sentence construction for his age. we knew, however, that with his strengthening english and introductory mandarin, he’s running the risk of slipping on his german, so we countered this with a rich exposure to german literature at home, particularly books and audiobooks. it seems like it does help; when my FIL was here just recently, he has been positively surprised that jan has kept this, using complex sentences with clauses and almost perfect grammar.

what would we be without amazon?

nikolaustag

yup, even though we've moved to singapore, we're keeping the german christmas traditions jan grew up with. like the nikolaus tag.

In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot, called Nikolaus-Stiefel, outside the front door on the night of December 5 to December 6. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (rute) in their boots instead. Sometimes, a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they "have been good" (sometimes ostensibly checking a book for their record), handing out presents on a per-behaviour basis. This has become more lenient in recent decades.

this year, jan got the usual fillers: apples, oranges, chocolates. and a laser sword.

jan's food allergies

early on, we found out that jan breaks out in rashes when coming into contact with cow’s milk and products made out of cow’s milk. but slowly, the last few weeks, he has been showing greater and greater tolerance, and he is now able to finish a cup of yoghurt or a slice of cheese without breaking into hives, nor suffering from diarrhea. because jan is slowly outgrowing his milk allergy, we have been getting complacent and less vigilant with what he puts in his mouth. he himself knows what he can and cannot eat. he asks if he’s not sure and readily accepts the fact if he can’t.

but then we discovered he's allergic to nuts, too!

co-sleeping

now and again, i encounter scientific literature that goes against the grain, against instinct, if i may call parenting that. see, we’ve adapted the “attachment parenting” approach in bringing up jan: lots of physical contact and no cry-til-you-can’t-breathe-anymore and the you-have-to-learn-how-to-soothe-yourself disciplinary approach. together with attachment parenting naturally comes breast-feeding and co-sleeping; jan has been breastfed for more than a year, and is still with us on the matrimonial bed to date.

so being a breastfeeding advocate, i am confounded by a recent report saying that breastmilk cause more cavities than cow’s milk. i say, huh? and then there’s the new guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics saying that infants should sleep in their cribs, not in their parents’ beds.

“The recommendations are very straightforward and clear: Babies should not be asleep in the same bed that their parents are sleeping in,” said James Kemp, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University and a world-recognized researcher on SIDS.

so will I follow the AAP recommendation? No way!

wedding photos

cousins

dear jan,

today, we're nearly halfway through our philippine vacation. you have been enjoying yourself so much, revelling in the company of your pinoy relatives who dote on you hand and foot. we visited your cousins bea and jack last week and you enjoyed it immensely. they were also so eager to be with you each waking moment. i wish it will stay this way as you all grow up. i, myself, have drifted away from my own cousins and was never able to see them very often during my growing up years. i blame it on geography. it's always nice to go and visit them in pampanga or nueva ecija, yes, i wouldn't describe the relationships as close. i hope it will different for you. you will have far less cousins than i did (your dad having just one brother, and you having just 2 cousins on my side), so each one matters. bea is now 7 and she will have fond memories of our visit (and the last one in september 2003). i have faith that she will always be eager to see you again. as for jack, i'm not sure if he will remember more than you will. he's just 3 and i'm not sure how far back memory goes. should your (our) memory falter, i have taken photos and videos ;) ...

love,
mama

jan, year one

dear jan,

in your first year, we made sure you had as little exposure to television as possible. and since we were almost inseparable, that also made me unaware of the goings-on in the world. my world revolved around taking care of you and the war- and terrorism-riddled newcasts wouldn't move me in the same way as you made your first step, or compare with the angst i went through as you had your first fever. actually, until now, you show very little interest in watching tv or cartoon movies. which i find great. we spend comparatively little time together now and there's so many other interesting things to do instead of sitting in front of that box! things that will develop your motor skills and make your bones strong. things that will pique your curiosity and make your mind sharp and creative. things that will improve your speech and comprehension. yes, these are the things i think of when i plan our activities. and it's not easy, because there are times that i'm tired, uninspired, or simply not in the mood. but i'm doing the best i can. and you make it all worth it.

love,
mama