2025, August.

First of all, paanong -ber months na agad??

August has been a lot and nothing at the same time – ang bilis na parang dumaan lang, but also, ang daming nangyari personally and everywhere.

My son turned 5 months old and weighs 11 kg!

Come on, pang 1 yo yung timbang na yun, as we were told. But look at him!! Is he the cutest??? For this month, I chose Little Russel from the movie, Up. Also this month, mas magaling na siya magpaikot ikot sa kama, dapa, tihaya, and he can literally move around the bed already. That’s why we already upsized our bed now – from queen to king-sized since he co-sleeps with us. I also bought his playpen already, the size of the extra space in our room HAHAHA grabe bakit ang mahal ng gamit ng bata?? Even the simple toys will cost you P400+++ sa mall which is crazy because you can get one online for P100++. UGH. But we made a conscious decision to buy his toys sa mall, from trusted brands, since nasa stage siya na sinusubo niya lahat ng mahawakan niya. We want it to be safe from any chemicals so kahit mas mahal, mas pinili namin ang peace of mind.

He can also hold his milk bottle already, although still unstable. Next week, we’ll start him on his solids. HUHU I AM GOING TO CRY. As per our pedia, kung gusto na niya, we can feed him mashed potatoes already. Then every week, we’ll introduce something else, just so we would be able to track if he has any allergies. Sana naman wala.

AND SPEAKING OF PEACE OF MIND – we had him injected for rabies. Huhu, poor baby. Na-scratch siya ng pug namin. Although our dog is fully vaccinated and really a clean house pet, our pedia told us na for peace of mind, ipa-inject nalang namin. And so we did. GRABE, THE ATTENTION THIS KID GETS FROM STRANGERS EVERYWHERE WE GO!!! From malls, to restaurants, to hospitals – grabe pinagkakaguluhan ‘tong batang ‘to.

As a mom, I am flattered, of course. But also, it makes me uncomfortable when strangers start to touch him, hold his hand, for example. And I don’t know any nice way to tell them to stop touching my son! LOL. Especially when we were in the ER, a mother of another patient started talking to us, until she started reaching out for my son. Even the ER doctor and nurses asked for my permission if pwede niya kargahin si Seth. And how could I say no politely???? Pano ko sasabihin na doc, no offense, but I don’t know what hospital germs you have, please don’t touch my son HAHA So it’s been an added task to us na lagi dapat kami may easy reach na wet wipes and alcohol.

Although ayaw naman namin maging sensitive yung anak ko, so we started bringing him to public spaces already, like malls and restaurants, and sinasama na din namin siya pag nag-grocery kami. Although the challenge really is yung bigat niya. Most of the time, naka carrier siya, but after a while, sasakit na talaga balakang mo. LOL wala padin siya sa stage na marunong siya umupo ng maayos and mabait sa stroller so we can’t really use our stroller as much as we want to.

Also, mas gusto na niya ngayon matulog ng nakatagilid. I don’t know if side-sleeping is safe already for 5 mo olds, but what we do is hinahayaan namin makatulog siya ng nakatagilid, and once he’s deep asleep already, tinitihaya nalang namin siya.

Grabe, daming milestones. So lucky to witness everything.

I tried doing discovery calls again

After almost 2 yrs since the last time, I tried doing discovery calls again!!!

Not to brag but you know what, I am grateful na never ako kinakabahan sa mga ganito. I mean, di ako takot sa mga job interviews, client calls, etc. Never kahit nung fresh grad ako. In fact, I enjoy it. Maybe because I know how to express myself well, medyo maboka din ako kasi due to my years of sales experience HAHA

Anyway, I did well on the interview but medyo hindi kami nagkasundo sa rates so pending siya until now. Nasa point na ko ng buhay ko (and work experience) na I’d rather not get the job than getting it pero I am not paid well. Yes, dagdag income siya. But the amount of time and tasks added to my plate, if it’s not worth it, I don’t want it. Thank God for the freedom and luxury to say no. If I did this call 4-5 years ago, I would def say yes kahit alam kong lugi.

Also, nagbunga din siguro talaga yung paghhoard ko ng courses, because I can sell myself better and I have reasons not to settle and lower my rates. The thing with freelancing is, after a while, you don’t want to get paid by the hour anymore but by the value you’ll be able to provide.

Kaya if you’re a freelancer – never be too complacent, never stop learning, upskill when you can, keep improving, learn new skills.

By now, I (re)learned to just be.

I’ll talk about this more in the next entry. But as you can see, I am now blogging more for myself than SEO or any audience. Which I am really really really grateful about – to reach this point again. This blog became more like my digital diary than anything else. Wala na kong pakielam sa SEO, sa niche, sa language that I use. And I’ve been waiting for this for yearsssss kasi at one point, naging alipin ako ng algorithm – I want to blog for others and for the platform. But now, balik ako sa 2007 self ko.

I also started drinking coffee again without guilt and buts, after 14 long months. The main reason is, I decided to stop breastfeeding. Well, not really stop, but no pressure now. Kung meron, meron. Pag wala, wala. Now, I only pump once a day or once every 2 days. Pag masakit na bewbs ko, saka lang ako magppump. No pressure. HAHA.

May mom guilt, of course. 20% of the time. HAHA. But I was never happy breastfeeding. I know the importance of breastmilk and I was able to provide my son that. I still am. But if my body doesn’t have anything to give today, that’s okay. Maybe tomorrow. One of my (new) priorities as a mom is for me to be happy. Because happy mommy, happy baby.

Although I have to say, ang mahal na ng kape ha! Well, mas mahal! Medyo hindi na worth it mag-kape sa labas, tbh. HAHAHAHAHAHHA but minsan kailangan ko talaga, especially pag may errands kami in the morning and 2 hours palang tulog ko from work. UGH. I need to learn how to use that fucking coffee maker.

I am old, confirmed.

Speaking – ako lang ba yung tumatanda na wala nang tyaga matuto gumamit ng mga latest appliances??? HAHAHAHHA. I used to pride myself with the fact na I am good with technology. But as I grow older, nakakatamad na aralin. Like how I refuse to learn how to use our Japanese rice cooker taena. Seryoso, nagsasaing ako manually than learn how to use it!!! Same with our washing machine. And the fucking coffee maker kahit na gustong gusto ko ng masarap na kape HUHU even when we upgraded our stove, mas pinili ko nalang tumawag sa asawa ko and ask how to fucking operate it than figure it out on my own, like I used to. Hay fucking technologies, nakakapagod mag-keep up.

Nakwento ko na ba how I DO NOT LIKE to upgrade my phone, but I had to because sira na phone ko???? Inis na inis talaga ako because I was never the type na obsessed with having the latest phone models. Gusto ko nga bumalik sa Nokia days eh tbh – tamang call and text lang. Hay, I miss those days na wala sa kamay mo yung email mo and yung trabaho mo. You literally need to be at home or settled somewhere to start working. Now kasi, kahit nasa banyo ka, even while driving (oops), you can check your emails, and can repond to work messages, etc. Wala nang excuse ngayon to be out of reach, which sucks.

Oh well.

Okay. It’s 0219am and I need to bounce. Bye lol