Car Seating

If we're in the US, naselda na siguro kami over the countless times that we brought Rocco along with us on a car ride without a car seat. We decided to just wait until he's after 1 year old before we get him a car seat kasi kakalakihan din nya agad. Besides, it's not everyday that we bring him out. From 0-12months, we would only bring him out on pedia visits and occasional dining out (Yeah, still a lame excuse. Ang bottomline lang actually, wala kaming pambili.)

Now that he's bigger, I find it hard to constrain him in the car. Sobrang likot na kasi, and sometimes it can be distracting even to Hubby who is driving. So we decided to buy him a car seat na which could last until he's around 4years old.

He wasn't too happy the first time we sat him on his car seat (to the left) but eventually he got the hang of it, and actually loves sitting on it.

Ang mahal lang ng mga car seat ha. Sabagay, there is no greater price for a child's safety kaya cge nalang.

Heavenly Chocolate Chip Cookies

We bought an oven a few months back because I wanted to try baking. I was actually inspired by Garet, my Smartee friend who is behind the amazing blog Kwentong Pinay sa Sverige. Seeing all her yummy posts made me want to try it too.

We sourced out our ingredients from Baking Depot, a standalone wholesale store her in Cebu that sells anything and everything about baking.

Then I just followed the recipe but did some tweakings in between to suit my taste.

Ingredients:
- 2 sticks salted butter, softened to room temperature. I use Magnolia
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar. The original recipe said 1 and 1/2 but I found it too sweet so I adjusted
- 2 eggs, bring to room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract. I use McCormick
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 to 3 cups chocolate chips or mashed chocolate bar

Instructions:
1. Cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3min on medium to high speed in your mixer).
2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix for another 2min.
3. Add baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, flour until cookie batter is well mixed.
4. Add chocolate chips until well distributed.
5. Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees.
6. Scoop the cookie dough into small round servings and place evenly in your baking sheet.
7. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes. Place on the higher shelf of your oven.
8. This can serve around 40 to 48 cookies.

We had a few trial and errors in the baking time which resulted to burned cookies. But we got it right at 11min. I used the Electrolux mixer which is not really heavy duty, but I hope I can save enough for a Kitchen Aid.

The one on the left were my 1st batch of cookies, which were a bit too sweet so I adjusted the sugar measurement. To the right is the adjusted recipe, which turned out to be perfect!!! Crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside, plus not too sweet.

Everybody loved my cookies, especially Rocco who kept on asking for more "Cocos".

Haircut Alert!

Trimming Rocco's hair is always a dilemma. We attempted so many times to bring him to the barber, but he would always resist, kaya we don't force it nalang. The thing is, his hair grows so quickly. We just allow it to grow up to the length that is tolerable and comfortable. Lately though, he's been scratching his eyes often due to hair irritation, kaya we decided to bring him to the barber to have a haircut.

Kung sa first barber visit ay nastress kaming lahat, this time around, we were prepared, physically and emotionally. I knew he would still cry hard, but as long as walang sugat, OK lang. I told the barber to make it quick but pulido pa rin, and just don't mind the crying. Dati kasi, na-rattle yung barber when Rocco wouldn't stop crying.

We made sure Rocco was busog and slept well before his scheduled haircut. As expected, he cried and cried, but this time, the resistance was less. Sana next time, happy na ang aming barber's trip.

Tadaah! I find his new haircut so cute! He looks so fresh :)

21months

Wow, 21 months. I say this often but it's true, parang kelan lang when I gave birth to this chinito boy, and now, he's a few months shy of being a terrible two.

Having a toddler is so exciting, tiring, but fun at the same time. Everyday, Rocco learns new stuff, blurts out new words, which of course amaze us all the time.

But one thing that I've observed all through out this developmental milestones is his desire to be more independent. His favorite word is actually "AKO".

Just to cite, he eats mostly by himself now, although still messy at times. He knows the drill. Wash hands before eating, so he says "Wash" with matching action, then after asks for a "Poon" (Spoon). He sleeps by himself now. Well, he's a very easy sleeper even when he was still an infant. We just encounter difficulties in letting him take his afternoon nap every time we're at home. Understandable naman, because he really does want to spend time with us. Even during playtime, he wants to do it all by himself. He pushes his stroller, and when I try to hold it, he removes my hand, and even gets irritated by saying "Mama!!!". So funny when he does this.

What else is new? He knows the alphabet by heart now. Kahit baliktad pa ang letters at gulo-gulo, he knows them na. He knows how to make sign of the cross, count from 1-10, and he can say a whole lot of words now, I've lost track na.

Dearest Rocco,
I always thank God for giving me the greatest gift of all, and that is you. I pray everyday for your good health, because you know how much it scared me when you got hospitalized twice last July. 
Thank you for bringing life and light into our world. You make so many of us happy with your charming smile, contagious laugh, and those chinito eyes...they just make my heart melt.

I love you anak!
Mama

After 1.5 months, I'm Back!

I'm back!!!

On the record, this is the longest time I haven't blogged. As always, life got in the way :) Still, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my stats are continuously spiking even if I haven't updated for more than a month. In gratitude, I am back with a vengeance, and I will update as long as my willpower allows me to.

The last weekend of August was the last of the series of long weekends this month. Ang gastos kapag long weekend. We ended up doing some interior decorating, and kahit masakit sa bulsa, I am so happy with the outcome.

Last Saturday, Hubby and I were supposed to ONLY buy groceries and run some errands. I was thinking it wouldn't take us two hours so I tried to put Rocco to sleep first for his afternoon nap. I think he has a good radar that senses if we're about to leave because he refused to sleep. Play lang ng play. Because I don't like leaving him alone when he's awake, kaya we brought him with us nalang. Not even five minutes passed by in the car, na TKO na. Ayaw lang talaga magpaiwan.

We ended up in a hardware store to buy wall paint for our perimeter wall, then to the Baker's Depot to buy baking ingredients, then off to the mall to kill off time. We held off the grocery part because I don't like doing groceries at SM, ang gulo kasi. We ate at Bigby's which I surprisingly enjoyed (the last time we ate there, it was blaaahh) then off to Ace Hardware to buy some ready-made shelves.

The next day, we watched Hubby's game which Rocco really enjoyed. He kept on clapping and shouted "shoot the bow" (ball). After the game, we went back to SM to exchange some items we bought at Ace Hardware the previous day.

Yesterday was the holiday, so bago pa kami maubusan ng free day, we went grocery shopping na. We were just supposed to go to the nearby Robinson's Supermarket when I saw a sign that said "Mandaue Foam 40% OFF". I told Hubby what I saw and ginatungan pa ako by saying that there's a nearby Mandaue Foam just a few minutes away. We were contemplating if we would go or not. Actually, we were already at Robinson's when I said, go na! We ended up spending for home items again. Ang gaganda kasi, and sale pa. Because we were already at Mandaue Foam, we just did our groceries at Shopwise, na ang lapit lang sa Mandaue Foam. It's so nice there, kaya lang ang daming "Buy One Take One" na actually hindi naman nakakamura, mas mapapagastos ka pa :) Ang original Robinson's grocery na may budget na x,xxx ay naging xx,xxx dahil sa dami ng side trip.

This is the product of our weekend interior decorating. I bought the two colored vases in the left at 70% off! Would you believe, 600pesos lang for the two items. Super great find! To the right, ang aming ready-made shelves with cute anik-anik. Looks cheap, pero ang mahal din. Ok lang, looks nice naman :)

So there, that was our weekend. Now it's back to work again.
Kailangan kumayod para may panggastos ang mga baboy na politiko na sobrang corrupt.
Nakakagalit diba?