I wish. Augh. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the sun. My favorite weather, FYI, is downcast, but I realized that too much of it can bring down one’s spirits. And besides, Baguio is cold already without the help of constant and dark skies. We haven’t been able to go to the park (or anywhere else) because of the dang weather, and Svet’s already showing signs of boredom. First sunshine we get, we will definitely take Svet out to play. Question is, when can we expect a sunshiny day? This being the rainy season and the “Ber” months already at our door, I can only pray hard for a good weather so we can go out.
How depressing is that? Very, I tell you, especially in a city as beautiful as this we live in. You cannot even see the scenery properly most of the time because of the fog. Sheesh. I can’t even wear shorts anymore because it’s too cold. And Svet has to wear socks all the time (which she hates) because she doesn’t want to wear slippers. Me and Paulie are about this close to doing a sun dance, if only we know how to. Especially me, as I have two left feet. Oh please come out sun. We are just about to go stir crazy, and nobody would want that to happen. Hee hee.
Sleep is one of the most important factors in releasing growth hormones, most especially for very young babies.While your baby sleeps, her little body produces 3x more growth hormones.
The good news is there is a way to promote better sleep for your baby: through a consistent nightly bedtime routine.
In addition to the JOHNSON´S® Baby Bedtime Routine and products, there are countless other ways you can help your baby fall asleep and even share bonding moments in the process!
I’ve never known a life outside being a work at home mom because I stopped working full-time even before I gave birth to Svet. I wanted to give her all the mommy attention that she needs from me, something that I promised to give her because I certainly can’t give her all the material things. And bedtime is one time of the day that I can fully indulge in her.
Sleep time is never dull with a child like Svet. She’s as rowdy as a boy, and her energy outlasts both of my and the spousal unit’s combined forces. We used to let her sleep anytime she wants, but my mom said that kids like Svet should be in bed early, and I know moms know best, so we’ve been trying to make Svet sleep before eight since then. Preparing for bed takes a long time for us, since there are a lot of play time in between. When do we start? As early as 7:00 pm after dinner.
It’s pretty cold here in Baguio, so most of the times it’s just a sponge bath at night, but sometimes when Svet gets irritated with the extra hot weather (it does get unusually hot here, and we’ll know because she cries easily at the smallest of things), she gets her well-deserved quick warm bath. I will pour a small amount of JOHNSON’S® Baby BEDTIME® Bath on a wash cloth and massage it on Svet’s body, after which I will allow her to jump right in her small tub for rinsing. This is her favorite part of our first routine, as she gets to play with the warm water and her bottle of baby bath for a bit.
I don’t let her stay on the water for too long lest she gets cold, and she struggles sometimes but when I say “toothbrush time!” she obliges very willingly and with an impish smile. See, brushing her teeth must be her favorite thing to do in the world right now, and I’m glad at least we don’t have to wrestle for tooth brushing time. But before that, a generous amount of JOHNSON’S® Baby BEDTIME® Oil rubbed briskly on her skin to take away some of the chill and dressing for sleep time.
Next stop of our bedtime routine, rubbing time. I massage her with JOHNSON’S® Baby BEDTIME® Lotion because I know this will help her sleep better. I used to massage her without it, but I discovered the quality of Svet’s sleep was noticeably better when we started using the JOHNSON’S® Lotion. Of course, it also gave us more time to bond with each other, so that’s another plus.
I follow-up with JOHNSON’S® Baby BEDTIME® Powder for a fresh, comfortable feeling before falling asleep. I can tell Svet loves the scent of JOHNSON’S® Powder because she always requests for it.
Next part? Reading time! Her favorite, so this part of our bedtime routine is a must before falling fast asleep. Not that we mind, it’s always a delight to hear her repeating words after us.
We’ll know it’s time for our “quiet time” (a relative term, considering Svet’s babbles) when she finally puts the comforter up to her chin and invites (rather, instructs. LOL) Mommy and Daddy to “higa tabi” (lie down beside me). And no, our bedtime routine does not stop there. Paulie taught Svet to pray, and she never forgets to do that before sleeping.
It will be time to switch off the lights after that, as Svet cannot sleep with the lights on. I think she feels there’s still something to do when they’re left on. Hee hee. She will sing a little or mutter some unintelligible words in the dark while Paulie rubs her head gently and I hug her. She will often request for a kiss sandwich, and of course we can’t say no to that.
Minutes later, she’ll be off to dreamland. And usually, when I don’t have work at night and Paulie’s finished with the house work already, we will soon follow suit. And that’s how we spend a better part of the evening everyday. Took us sometime to establish this routine, but seeing how Svet sleeps fitfully during the night, (and that’s largely thanks to the NATURALCALM™ essences found in JOHNSON’S® BEDTIME® products), I’m glad we did, because it’s all worth it.
We have a pretty sturdy door. It is, after all, made of solid steel. Still, I sometimes wish we have been provided better knobs like the Baldwin door hardware I saw the other day at the mall. No, not because of the rash of robberies I mentioned sometime ago that happened in our place. This one’s pretty wily, and with charms to match. The name? Svetlana.
Oh yes, the little imp tries to go out now whenever opportunity presents itself. Which is dangerous considering the precipice situated just a few meters away from us. Well, she has to go up and around the house to get there, but still. And she doesn’t really go out without a footwear, so we always remember not to leave any slippers outside. I wonder if we can request a screen door or something, as an additional measure.
Does your child try to jailbreak like Svet? What measures do you take?
No, definitely not on Twitter. In real life. I found out a couple of days ago about several of my marces and their families being sick, and then Paul got sick. Now it’s Svet’s turn. I blogged several posts back about Svet being too hyperactive and me being super tired because of it. Now I want to eat my words. I’d rather have her naughty and lively all the time than see her sick and always sleeping. It’s just not Svet.
Posting a status about my daughter’s sickness on Facebook led me to the discovery that a lot of other people are getting sick too. Is there a plague or something? Or is our country just too unpredictable (weather-wise) nowadays? Paulie’s feeling way better than he did yesterday, so he’s able to help me take care of Svet and clean the house a bit, but I’m still worried about our baby. She’s too quiet, it’s almost pitiable. And the house is just too darn lonely without her shrieks.
I hope tomorrow’s a better day. Oh if only I can exchange places with her. Now I know why my mom says that to us when we’re sick. It’s exactly how I feel now.
and dark skies. We haven’t been able to go to the park (or anywhere else) because of the dang weather, and Svet’s already showing signs of boredom. First sunshine we get, we will definitely take Svet out to play. Question is, when can we expect a sunshiny day? This being the rainy season and the “Ber” months already at our door, I can only pray hard for a good weather so we can go out.
Oh please come out sun. We are just about to go stir crazy, and nobody would want that to happen. Hee hee.
