Very Simple

I love this brief entry in zen habits. This is from Leo Babauta. This has captured the very essence of how to enjoy life. Too many material things have clouded our meaning of happiness. Time to change that perspective and go back to basics.

A BRIEF GUIDE TO LIFE

Life can be ridiculously complicated, if you let it. I suggest we simplify.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote, which I’ve stolen as this site’s subtitle, is the shortest guide to life you’ll ever need:

“Smile, breath, and go slowly.”

If you live your life by those five words, you’ll do pretty well. For those who need a little more guidance, I’ve distilled the lessons I’ve learned (so far) into a few guidelines, or reminders, really.

And as always, these rules are meant to be broken. Life wouldn’t be any fun if they weren’t.

THE BRIEF GUIDE

less tv, more reading

less shopping, more outdoors

less clutter, more space

less rush, more slowness

less consuming, more creating

less junk, more real food

less busywork, more impact

less driving, more walking

less noise, more solitude

less focus on the future, more on the present

less work, more play

less worry, more smiles

breathe

happy weekend!

Slowly but surely

The past week has been a good one. D has been showing good progress in therapy.

Aside from being able to answer "What's your name?", he now knows other basics such as "How old are you?" and "How are you?". Being echolaleic, these are huge improvements in such a short time!

He also has started learning to grasp two critical elements/concepts in a statement. At first he would only remember the last object in a statement, with a little push, he is able to understand that there are 2 objects he needs to focus on.

This week, he has also started to learn colors. I'm very happy hearing him answer my question, "What color is this?" :-D

With all these things, he has started to be very interested in conversations. He would say, "Look at this, mommy!" or "What is this?". Huge, huge improvement!

I'm praying these milestones continue. The only catch is that he is performing very well during therapy but we still have some challenges at home. The tantrums, the hyperactivity, the babbling and the hyperfocus are still there. I think he sees school and therapy as formal venues where he needs to respond to questions, write and trace letters, color pictures and answer puzzles. He sees home as a place where he can let loose. I'm keeping it that way for now, of course, there is still structure at home but we don't overdo the writing and studying. I try to make learning fun.

I look forward to another good week!

Top Thing To Do: Spring Cleaning!

Inspiring message from Bertrand Russell:
"It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly."

Well said, Mr. Russell!

I need to start spring cleaning. We've accumulated too much stuff through the years and never gotten around to doing an inventory of things we have. The motto is buy, buy, buy.

No more delaying...I need to DO.THIS.NOW.

Dress Up Game for Grown-up Girls

My daughter is a dress up game addict. She could play several dress up (or makeover) games for hours! She gets her games from dressupgames.com or games2girls.com. My favorite is poupee girl where you can even upload your items and use them to dress up your character! Cute!!!

Recently, we found a site for grown-up girls (yep, mommy just won't be left out on this game trend!). I've been spending hours on this site, super fun! Mix and match, change your background, make it look like a fashion editorial (karir!!!).

Here's what I recently made - what I would wear on a normal day to work (of course, just the look, not the brands!)



This is great for when you just want to kill idle time or relax during lunch break...I'm killing 'em all idle minutes now!

Malunggay Galore and an Oatmeal Cookie Recipe!

Finally, I'm slowly building up my milk supply that I leave at home for nights when I'm in the office. I have my pumping schedule in the office down pat. I could bring home around 3 4oz packs of pumped milk everyday.

When I'm at home I nurse Damian the whole day. This would mean he'd sleep by my side or the yaya would bring him to me when he's hungry then take him when he's done. I'm happy that this way, we're still able to bond even if I'm sleeping.

Thank God for the wonderful malunggay!

I started taking Natalac capsules last Friday. I take this twice a day - once in the morning and then in the evening. Of course, I still take my pre-natal vitamins so I don't lose out on important nutrients.

My mom also made me special malunggay dishes. First off, the Ilocano dish called patalbog. Basically, the vegetables are added to boiling water with fish bagoong. No sauteeing thus no oil :-) Her weekend patalbog had malunggay, saluyot, ginger, tomatoes, okra and ampalaya leaves. Talk about green!

Then on Sunday, my mom made tinola without the chicken LOL! How is that possible, you say? She cooked the chicken in water so she had a broth, took out the chicken then added the vegetables (sayote and malunggay). What did we do with the chicken? We made it into adobo of course! Instant double dish :-)

I've also discovered a recipe for oatmeal cookies from Chronicles of a Nursing Mom. Great recipe! I think this will taste yummy! Honestly, I didn't know that oatmeal is a galactagogue until I read Jenny's entry. Good news for me! I loooovvveee oatmeal! I can eat oatmeal everyday for breakfast. Having it as a cookie is a super treat! Here's the recipe:

* 1 cup butter
* 1 cup sugar – we’ve reduced this to ½ cup
* 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar – we’ve reduced this to ½ cup
* 4 tablespoons water
* 2 tablespoons flax seed meal – available at healthy options
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 cups oats - You can use the “quaker oats” brand – choose quick cooking not instant. You can also buy oats from Healthy Options
* 1 cup chocolate chips – Some moms replace this with toffee chips or chopped-up pieces of Heath bar.
* 2-4 tablespoons brewer's yeast – available at Healthy Options. I also sprinkle brewer’s yeast on my daily oatmeal bowl.

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar well. Add eggs and mix well. Add flaxseed mix and vanilla, beat well. Sift together flour, brewers yeast, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mix. Stir in oats and chips. Scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Let set for a couple minutes then remove from tray.

Yum, yum, yum!!! I will definitely try this one soon and post pictures!

In my Dreams

I don't buy designer anything - bag, shoes, clothes, anything. I feel like the money I will spend on those things, I can use to buy things for my kids. It also doesn't help that a price of a bag can send 10 kids to school in the Philippines!

But I like to read fashion magazines and look at fashion blogs. I like to play Looklet and Poupee Girls. Simply because I think of fashion (and that includes those pretty designer things) as work of art. I admire how someone can look at a pile of stuff and arrange them into something beautiful with the human body as the canvass.
Here is one bag I absolutely adore. I like things simple, plain but elegant - Alexander McQueen's Faithful black-polished leather bag. Beautiful.

Parenting.com: ADHD Overview

This article from Parenting.com gives a good overview of ADHD which includes information on symptoms, diagnosis, therapy, medication and prevention. Though not very comprehensive, the article gives important information any parent suspecting their child has ADHD should know. I find the section on the Child's Experience very useful.

Read the full article here: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder