parentinglife

As Kaitlyn my youngest is getting older her temper and tantrum are getting worse and worse. I don’t know  where this is coming from. She use to be such a sweet mild mannered baby but lately she has been very bad tempered. At 16 months old she has been getting around the house and pretty much do whatever she wants. She is a very active, independent little person. If she doesnt get her way she throws such a fit, screams and hits herself. I’m at a loss, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to read about advice from doctors, I want to hear from other parents that deal with this situation on a day to day basis. It scares me that she might grow up with this temper and I don’t want that. What do you do when your child throws a temper tantrum? Is this really natural? I feel so embarrass and helpless when she has this episodes. I try to soothe her but the more she cries and fights me. I don’t know what to do. She is into jumping up and down screaming at the top of her lungs while covering her mouth and sometimes biting her hand from frustration. Ralph said that this is natural and that maybe she is just going on that terrible two’s stage. I really hope that Ralph is right.

Kaitlyn’s first chompers are finally  visible to the naked eyes. As of the moment there is only one tooth in her tiny little mouth. Her upper and lower gums are still swollen showing signs that she is still in the process of cutting more teeth. Every morning i check her mouth asking her to show me her “teethsis” and she would open her mouth and put her forefinger near her tooth as if saying ” there it is”. Its at night that Kaitlyn is fussy and cries all of a sudden. I guess since she is not active she feels the pain of her tooth coming out. At least she is in tip top shape in the morning and eats like crazy. I was getting worried before since she was already a year old but had no teeth. It really is true that children develop on different ways, she was an early walker but late on the teeth area. The important thing now is that she is healthy and have overcome her first ear infection and is surviving teething.

After how many months of waiting, checking and worrying Kaitlyn has finally cut her first tooth at 14 months. Yes, she got her chompers late and all i can say its about time! Its not fully out yet but we can see the top of the tooth and hopefully the second tooth will come out in just a few days after the first one. I was so happy to finally see that she is going to get her first tooth and just beaming with happiness and pride. Hopefully before New Years it will be fully seen by everyone in the family. Even without any tooth, teeth or chompers she is still one heck of a good eater. On Christmas day Ralph’s other brother Larry was so shocked, amazed to see how much she eats. I’m just happy that she has teeth under her gum , lol.

Today we took Kaitlyn to the LAB CORP to have her blood drawn. It suppose to be a routine blood test for a kids between 12-18 months old to check for lead. While Ralph walk Kayla to the bus stop i took the chance to dress Kaitlyn and have the two of us ready when daddy came back. I dressed her with a heavy heart. My baby is going to be stuck with a needle and blood taken from her small little arms. The anticipation of that was making me depress and so sad. When we finally got to the LAB CORP, I told Ralph again that i will not be holding Kaitlyn and I will be outside sitting int he waiting area. I of course went in with them but when the lady told us to take off her jacket i started getting nervous, anxious and i felt faint. Hurriedly i got the jacket off and went outside to wait. I literally had to take deep breath to calm my nerves and the butterflies in my stomach. I strained to hear screams of pain coming out of the room they were in. Finally i heard the technician say ” What a brave little girl you are!” still i was not convinced i waited for a cry coz i thought she was just about to start. I was wringing my hands waiting and then i heard Ralph saying ” your done, I’m so proud of you baby you didn’t cry at all”. I almost tripped rushing inside the room i was so relieved to see her smiling and just looking around. She didn’t not flinch or cry out one bit. Ralph was amazed at how calm and peaceful she was in his arm. They took two tubes of blood and yet she never whimpered or stiffened up when they stuck the needle in her arm. My heart was fluttering that my baby was so BRAVE and i just scooped her in my arms and gave her a big kiss, nuzzled her hair and just held her. My agony was done for the day,lol…

After the LAB CORP Ralph decided that we were going to have shrimp for dinner so we stopped of at a local store Path-mark. While we were there i got a call from my cousin telling me that they would like to come over for Thanksgiving. Not having seen my cousin since January, i said of her i would love to have them over. While talking on the phone i was holding a couple of packs of yeast. We paid all our purchase and proceeded to load all the stuff in the car. On our way home i looked for my cellphone and found two packs of yeast in my purse!!!!!!! I said to Ralph ” honey, I’m a shop lifter! Lets go back and pay for it”. Ralph would have none of that and said well pay them when we come back,lol… I feel so horrible. The next time I go back to Path-mark i will pay for it. I never meant to put it in my purse without paying for it. I must have been distracted on the phone that’s why i put it in my purse.

What a day for the brave little girl and the mommy shop lifter,lol…. I swear i have never stolen anything in my life.

Last night November 4, 2008 The United States of American has finally come full circle.  We were elated that Obama won the election and with the Biden our very own here in Delaware as the new President and Vice President. We were on edge watching the news and the result, i was so nervous for Obama and wondered what he could be feeling at that instant when the electoral votes were being counted. Unfortunately i went to bed early and really didn’t get to watch the acceptance speech of the new President of the United States of American Barrack Obama live in Chicago. But no matter as soon as i woke up, i got a text msg from my MIL who was staying over at Angelo’s house that Obama had won. As soon as i hustle up the breakfast of the kids i turned the television on and watched the news.

As i watched i felt goosebumps, after all this years America has finally come full circle. In history African Americans were mere slaves of White people mostly plantation owners, they had no voice, no choice and they were treated like dirt. Look at America now, the most powerful person is a descendant of an African American. As my husband said to me ” now, i hope that African American Men/ Women will no longer say that they being held back and talk anymore about racism. People of different race, Asian, Latinos, African American, Spanish and many more made a choice to elect a President that is of African American descent.”

I believe people this time looked beyond the color of the skin, the race, the religion and see a man instead. America has finally opened its eyes and is now looking at a new dawn, a new era of change.

Its been no secret to mine and Ralph’s family that we are trying to conceive again. We have in fact been trying to have a baby ever since Kaitlyn turned 6 months old. So far i still haven’t gotten pregnant. Before we got married we talked about how many children we would like to have and how many years apart do we want out kids to be. We decided it should be like a year apart so that the kids will grow up together.That was the plan but it looks like its not going to happen the way we want it. If i do get pregnant they will be almost 2 years apart.

I’m the youngest of 2 girls and Ralph is the youngest of 3 boys. My sister and I were never lonely, we had our cousins to play with, fight with, laugh with, eat with and hide with. I never really wished for another brother or sister, i was content with just having a big sister. We did have a big family when you include maternal grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. It was and still is pure magic, harmony, fun, joyous when the whole family gets together. Ralph is also the same way and he is very very family oriented like me. What irks me is when other people say something about us having another kid again. I just hate it when people say : “your crazy to have another baby when the youngest is only a year old or wait at least 2-3 years before having another baby”. I just want to scream in there faces and say shut up!!! Just keep your opinions to yourself, your not going to feed nor take care of my kids anyway so what are you worried about? Of course this people don’t understand and all they think about is what problems are going to arise when having a big family, only the negative side. They forgot to think about the positive side of having a big family where there is lots of love, patience, understanding, laughter and harmony. I see Michelle and Jimbob Duggars (if I’m not mistaken)and they are the picture of happiness and love. Now that is the right parents to author a book about parenting. They may not be professional psychologist, pediatricians, doctors but they are real parents.

I want to have at least 3-4 kids, its going to be hard work but once they turn a certain age they get much easier. All i know is that no matter what, we will be a parent to each one of our children.

Four more days until it is Halloween and its crunch time for parents to get the candies, goodies for the trick or treat  and for the children to have the costumes picked, ready and for them to finish planning who and where to go to get the most candies. I got to experience my first every Halloween last year when Kaitlyn was only a few days old. I didn’t really get the essence, the rush, excitement of going trick or treating. I did have fun oohing and ahhing over the kids costumes when they stop by out door for trick or treat. I was surprised that there was a very big turn out and there is going to be more this year I’m sure.

Last year, we carved out pumpkin way way to early. Imagine i was still pregnant with Kaitlyn when we carved out pumpkin. I didn’t do any carving as i left it to Ralph and Kayla. I however did all the cleaning and taking out the inside or the gut out of the pumpkins. I think i did an exceptional joy cleaning out the guts, even our neighbour’s was impress on how clean  the inside of the pumpkins where. This year I thought we were going to skip the pumpkin but Ralph went out this morning to buy pumpkins. To bad i was not here when they were carving and taking out the gut of the poor pumpkin, MIL and I were at the store getting the candies. Ralph was left home cooking dinner and he had the two girls with him. When we got home i was bracing myself to the mess that would greet me when i walk into the dinning room. I was  very much surprised that there was no mess at all! The pumpkins where already lit and outside. The baby was in her highchair and from what Ralph told me she was very well behaved and just watched them. The only mess i was left to sort out was the pumpkin seeds in all the guts.

Ralph knew not to throw out the pumpkin seed. I cleaned washed and soaked  it in salt water for a little bit then baked it in the oven. That was the only thing i was looking forward to was the seeds,lol. Now i got my little snack of pumpkin seeds and soda while I’m doing my blogs. Bon appetito!!!!!

Kaitlyn and her daddy just celebrated there 1st birthday together today. She turned the big 1 yr. old and daddy turned 39. We just had spaghetti and birthday cake after whew, what a mess it was! It was so fun so watch her eat spaghetti without any teeth at all! Yes she just turned one but has not a single tooth in her mouth. I took upon myself to read and search about teething.

Teething supposedly occurs between 3-7 months in a child’s life but for some will eventually get  the little chompers after the first year. Well, she just turned a year and still nothing. I was kind of hoping that she would sprout one single tooth today,lol no such luck there. Since she was 6 months old i have religiously checking her mouth and gums for any signs of tooth and teething altogether. I have also heard that babies who generally start walking early get there little chompers a little later, i don’t know if there is any truth to that! Lately she has been showing signs of teething and this are usually the ones to look for:

• Drooling
• Gum Swelling and sensitivity 
• biting behavior
• Sleeplessness
• fussiness and irritability
• refusing food
• diarrhea (i know its not in books but i swear i hear these from other moms)
• runny nose
• fever

Babies tooth usually sprout out in this pattern

• two middle teeth on the bottom
• two middle teeth on the top
• each one around the side and back 

The suggested food or object to help sooth babies discomfort while teething ranges from ice cream, teething rings, to fruits like apples, biscuits and of course the gum rub. I can tell you though, even without teeth my daughter eats like she has her full set of pearly whites. She eats toast, waffles, regular crackers and just about anything she associates as food like dog and cat food. She is my little porker, loves to eat and eat. She also got to taste her first cup of whole milk. The look on her face was just priceless, she wanted more and more. I have been delaying giving her whole milk as per the pediatricians order, i have to wait until she was a year old and now that she is I’ll have to ask the doctor again if she could have whole milk and formula. I guess that it, tomorrow is another day of wait and anticipation if her little tooth has sprouted, I’m not holding my breath this time,lol. I’m just going to wait and see, it will happen….

Guavas are said to be super fruits, very rich in Vitamin A and C. A single guava has 4 times more Vitamin  C than an Orange and contains an unusual amount of Calcium. Guava is also a good source of nicotinic acid (niacin), phosphorus, potassium, iron, folate, omega 3 , magnesium and is rich in high fiber. Guavas are pink or yellow pear-shaped fruits which can be found in Asian, west Indian and Hispanic markets. So pick up some guavas today and get all their health benefits and savor their delicious taste. I never knew this things until i came to America, back then guava was just a plain fruit for my sister,cousins and I. We ate it up real good even if we had to climb all the way up the guava tree to taste its sweet and tartiness. If we had wounds all we had to do was pick off the baby eaves of the guava tree put it in our mouth,chew the leaves and then when its chewed put it on the wound. Sounds disgusting right, but it sure did work for us!

Here are some of the benefits of GUAVA that i have learned and seen online :

Benefits of guava

Health Benefits of Guava: Skin Care

 Guava has the health benefit of improving the texture and health of the skin. Guava is an excellent source of astringents, especially immature guava and guava leaves. Astringents are responsible for responsible for shrinking tissues and in the case of the skin, astringents shrink and dissolve the oil in the skin. Guava also has the health benefit of tightening loosened skin. Guava also benefits the skin because it is a good source of vitamins A, B, C and the mineral potassium that keep the skin glowing, fresh and wrinkle-free.

 Health Benefit of Guava: Prevents Cancer

Guava is an excellent source of a carotenoid called lycopene that has the health benefit of preventing cancer. In a study conducted by Harvard University researchers, of a group of 48,000 men in the study, those who had the most lycopene added to their diets had a 45% lower risk of developing prostate cancer than those who didn’t.

 Health Benefits of Guava: Promotes A Healthy Colon

Guava contains an estimated 9 grams of fiber per cup. Guava is an excellent source of fiber and as a result it has the health benefit of cleaning out the intestine, aiding in digestion and lessening the risk of developing colon cancer.

 Health Benefits of Guava: Lowers Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

 Guava is high in fiber. Fiber has the health benefit of lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. Guava helps to lower cholesterol in the blood, while increasing good cholesterol, lipoprotein. Lowering cholesterol in the blood in turn lowers blood pressure.

 Health Benefits of Guava: Antibacterial

The astringents found in guava give them the health benefit of getting rid of bacterial infections. Astringents are alkaline in nature an this makes them potent fighters against bacteria. Not only that, but astringents in guava have disinfectant properties, which help guavas fight against diarrhea and dysentery.

Last night i posted that our oven has finally given up on us. I was kind of hoping that this morning it will finally work and lit up, to my dismay it is still the same. Now, Ralph has a  headache thinking about where would we get the money to buy a new stove. If we buy one its going to screw up all our financial bill, every time we take a step forward we take 3 steps back. If only like was so simple and everything was so cheap. I feel so sorry for my husband that the financial burden has to fall all on him. If i could only work and help out i would. We have been trying to get pregnant again for 6 months now, i guess its not the right time yet. Maybe destiny wants me to finally work as soon as my youngest is old enough to be left with a daycare. Thinking about it breaks my heart, as much as possible i would want to work at home while my kids are still young. I will miss everything they do and i just cant bear that. Were not in dire need for a second income just as of yet but it would be greatly welcomed if their was one.

Why did the oven gave up just when we were planning on cooking this coming Saturday and thanksgiving is coming. Tomorrow MIL is going to call someone to take a look at it. I just hope it can be fixed and buying a new one would be scratched from our list. Ralph, still wants to buy gifts for Kaitlyn. I honestly, didn’t think about it. Toys are so common, i would prefer that she be given books or clothes for winter. Haven’t thought about getting Ralph anything for his birthday which i know i should even just a little something. When Kaitlyn was born on his birthday a year ago, I told him that she was my gift to him for 18 years,lol..For now i just want him to not think about where to get the money for the oven. I just to take away the headache and just replace it with hope that everything will turn out fine on there birthdays.