Month 7

Dear Ramon,

Happy 7 Months! Oh what a month it has been! A month of firsts, a month of fights, a month of food! Where oh where do I start? It seems like forever had passed since my last letter, because of all the many many things we've been doing. And yet, it's only been a month. Perhaps it's because I'm experiencing twice as much time as normal person, since I don't feel like I got any real sleep this past month. Perhaps it's because of all the many exciting things we've been doing that makes our days seem so full. Whatever it is, I'll do my best to put it all in one coherent letter.



Let's start with food. You've started eating for real! Every day, you have cerelac and some sort of fruit. You've had mangoes, melon, banana, apples, and right now, you're on papaya. Cause your tummy's still trying to get used to all the new foods, you've gotten constipated. Now that you're 7 months, I'm going to start you on vegetables. Let's hope you like them as much as you like fruits, cause you eat A LOT. You eat around 4 heaping table spoons of cerelac and about as much mushed fruit every day. Some days you're just happy to sit in your chair and eat whatever you're given. Some days you get kind of bored while eating. You complain a lot while being fed. You can get your Yaya to take you out of your chair and feed you on her lap and you're happier being fed that way. But whether you're complaining or not, you still eat all your food up. And because of this, you nurse much much less. This probably explains your constipation. But I know your tummy will get used to the new diet soon.



You went to several parties this month. To Kuya Luis' birthday I dressed you up as a tiger. Which is apt since you were born this Year of the Tiger. To Ate Olivia's birthday I dressed you up as one of my seven dwarfs. You can be any one of them, since you're often happy, but sometimes dopey, and when you're sleepy, you tend to get grumpy. Fortunately, you have the power to sleep wherever you are. You slept at both these parties, and even at the Halloween concert at the CCP main theater. And then when you wake up you're ready to party again. You really are such a trooper. Always happy to meet new people, to let them carry you, and then smile at pictures with them. That's why even if you don't have that many pictures in this letter, you certainly have a lot of photos in Facebook. Sorry about that anak. You will learn as you grow up, mahirap talagang maging pogi.



You also had your first out of town trip this month! Sorry it's a bit late. We took both your Ates to the beach when they were 4 months old. You only got to go now, with the Mantarings to Punta Fuego. But that's ok because they weren't allowed to swim in the sea the first time we took them to the beach. I put you right into the ocean for your first swim. You'd never even swam in a pool! Not even Kuya Luis's jacuzzi. And guess what. You hated it! You cried and cried when I put you in the cool, salty water. You didn't like sitting in the water with Mommy, you didn't like taking a dip in the calmer, deeper part. You didn't even like playing in the sand. You were only happy if someone was holding you up so that none of the water or sand was touching you. Poor baby! The following day, I made you swim in the kiddie pool and at first you cried as horribly as you did when I put you in the water in the beach. But after some time, you realized the water feels nice, it's not moving or salty like the sea, it was just like a big bath tub, only with cooler water, and with people and toys to play with inside. You quite enjoyed it once you got the hang of it. Now we'll have to visit Kuya Luis's house more often so you can swim more and enjoy it as much as your Ates do.



Perhaps the biggest adventure we had this past month was the sleep training. Mommy's afraid she isn't doing it exactly right, because I didn't do this with your sisters when they were as little as you. But that's because they didn't keep me up all night quite as badly as you. And that's saying a lot, cause I've been able to endure even having to wake up every two hours to nurse, and we're not talking about a newborn, but a grown infant who's already eating solids during the day. But darling. Every hour? Every 30 minutes? Wanting to be latched on to me all night long? I had to wean you, and train you to only get hungry every 3-4 hours at night. It's not even for the whole night, so I think this is a reasonable compromise. It's been slow going, and we've had a couple of nights of WILD incessant crying. But I think, little by little, it's working. Seriously, if I get to have three hours of uninterrupted sleep once per night, I'm happy. And I really hope you cooperate with this sleep training because Daddy and I are going on a trip for a couple days and I'm afraid you'll drive your yaya and the rest of the household NUTS if I don't teach you to fall asleep on your own before I leave. So. Please learn to sleep! I'm here to help you.

All that being said, I believe my favorite new thing this month is now knowing that you know me. And that even if you spend much of your day with your Yaya, I'm still your favorite person. This month, you've started to do something new. It's that, if you're with someone else, usually your Yaya, and you're happily playing with her, or watching TV, and then you see me, and I say Hi but I don't approach you or hug you, you cry. As in one second you're fine, and then when you see me, you cry until I come and carry you and kiss and hug you and then you're happy na again. It is the sweetest most adorable thing ever. Even at night, if I go out, you tend to refuse to drink milk from a bottle, as much as possible, you would even sleep without drinking milk, and then wake up when I get home as if you were waiting for me to be the one to give you milk. It is very cute how attached you are to me. And darling, I am very much attached to you. I play with you everyday, and for longer now, especially if we spent the night before screaming your head off and me with my heart breaking as I do my best to ignore you. You are such fun and a great delight, with your new-found skills of rolling around, and wrestling with your pillows, and singing "Dadabadananada..." And your infinite precious smiles.



You're growing really fast, and I'm happy and proud of you for that. You are my great delight, my source of joy. My sweetest, awesomest, favorite son, wonderful baby boy. I'm so lucky to have you in my life. And so honored to be your mommy. You make me want to be someone you will respect and be proud of.

I love you forever, no matter what.

Mommy