Happy 96th Anniversary!!!

To all Iglesia Ni Cristo brethren all over the world...

Praise be unto God as we celebrate this very special day! Let us continue to rejoice and be grateful for all the triumph of His Church worldwide. I'm sure everyone is ready for the celebration/Grand Evangelical Mission today, July 27, 2010. God Bless us all!!!

Getting Bigger at 24 Weeks

I'm on the 24th week, yay!!! I am  much bigger and heavier now. We'll probably know our baby's sex before the end of this month.

Here's the details of fetal development at week 24 or 6th month:

• The child is now gaining around 3 ounces (90 grams) a week.
• Baby weighs about 1.3 pounds and is 12 inches long.
• Baby weighs about 600 grams and is 30cm (crown to heel) long.
• The eyelids can be seen very clearly.
• If born at this stage is officially considered viable, they may well be able to survive.

At this stage, my baby is already producing surfactant. This is stuff that keeps the small air sacs in our lungs from collapsing. The unborn baby is covered with a fine, downy hair and the skin is protected by a waxy substance. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into developing lungs.

Baby gains about 3 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs. The body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn. Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his or her distaste.

Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of the hands has improved as they sucks their thumb. Over the next week or so, the sweat glands will be forming in the skin. The lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Source: http://www.baby2see.com

She's Loving Nutella Chocolate Spread

My little one is getting "addicted" to Nutella chocolate spread which was bought by her Papa. Yesterday, she consumed more than 2 Nutella sandwiches. She loves it being partnered with a glass of milk. Perhaps, this will be her new favorite haha. 

Her cravings even encouraged me to search for Nutella recipes online that she'll surely enjoy. I found one that look pretty amazing. I copied the recipe and might try it this coming weekend. Sounds exciting eh. 

I Want a New Blog

Yeah, I desperately want a new blog... I'm still thinking what would be its theme and contents. I hope I can  set it up within this month. 

credits: wordpress.hayscisd.net/it/2009/08/

My Preschooler is Left-Handed

One of the traits that my daughter Althea got acquired from me is being left-handed. Now, that she's already in Kindergarten class, learning to write is quite difficult for her. My sister and I need an extra ounce of patience in teaching her to write. We're not pressuring her though. :) 

Today, the teacher asked her to write her name 5 times as well as the alphabet. I'm happy that her handwriting is improving except for few letters which she finds quite difficult such as "S", and "R".  (I'll post the photo of her assignment booklet later...)

Experiencing this kind of dilemma caused me to search for some handwriting tips for left-handed. I found a relevant article on International Children's Education and these are some of their words of advice:

1. Sitting posture - It is more comfortable for the child to have a chair that has a flat seat and back. The chair should be at a height that allows the child's feet to rest flat with the hips, knees, and ankles all at 90-degree angles. This will help the child to have a smooth postural adjustments as the writing arm moves across the paper. 

2. Type of Pencil and Pencil Grasp - The recommended pencil is Number 3 instead of a Number 2, because it has a hard lead and does not smear easily. In holding the pencil, the forearm should rest on the writing surface in a neutral position, with the hand resting on the little finger. This position will allow the write to move freely, thus the child can write more comfortably. 

photo courtesy of: http://www.iched.org

3. Positioning of Paper - Turn the writing paper to the right rather than the left to enable lefties to see their work better, to have better leverage and to write faster. (I believe this is true!) 

4. Spatial Organization - This is one of my problems with Thea. Start writing instruction with directional letter like F, P, and B, and guide the left-handed child to produce the most legible letter forms as possible. For those having problem with spacing, a prompt such as placing a finger between words may serve as a helpful reminder.

I hope the these friendly reminders may help other parents of left-handed preschoolers. You can view the full article here: http://www.iched.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=iched&item_id=lefthanded_handwriting

Happy Weekend!

Most of us look forward for another weekend, right? And so am I. Having a two-day off from (office work) is very important for a working mom like me. 

 

Happy Weekend, Everyone!!!!