We survived the fire drill in TU!!!

This is ALPAP Building that houses TU-Makati. Alpap is a 7-storey old building along Leviste St in Salcedo Village. It also houses Starbucks, Metrobank and Freudnick Neumann Foundation among the others. This is the building where Elle Marie and I had the "fire drill" this morning.

Blame it on the epidural again but I totally forgot about the "Fire drill" in TU today! I came unprepared. I made Elle Marie wear her white keds rubber shoes which is very difficult to wear with all the shoe laces!; I didn't have breakfast hence, i didn't have the energy to carry Elle Marie from the 7th floor down to the ground floor; I wore my maong mini skirt! (which i always does); I wore my white slippers that were too big and loose for me... Good thing, Teacher Gabby reminded me that the alarm will ring in few minutes to signal the fire drill! Or else... Hahaha

So, the bell rang and off I went to the Yellow room to get Elle Marie. I decided to leave my bag in the waiting area because it was too heavy for me (I brought my laptop with me today) I bet if it was the actual thing, I wouldn't even bother to bring my bag as long as I have Elle Marie with me!!! Funny, while on our way out of TU Elle Marie picked up a red ball and she played with it the whole time we are going down the stair! There were a couple of times that I had to carry Elle Marie but the whole time she walked and held hands with me; and at times would let go from my hand and walk on her own!

Whew! Congratulations to me and Elle Marie for surviving the "fire drill" this morning!

H1N1 vs Impetigo Contagiosa

Everyone is going gaga over H1N1 but I don't, I have Impetigo Contagiosa to treat!

Last June 11, I went to TU for the annual parents orientation. The first thing that the teachers asked me was "do you have a load in DLSU?, What are you they doing about H1N1?". From that moment on, I know H1N1 will be part of the orientation agenda.

Indeed it was. When Teacher Gabby started to discuss what they are doing for H1N1 prevention, all ears where on her. The silence turned into murmurs; murmurs turned into questions; and questions turned into votes... They wanted the kids as young as 1 1/2 to wash their hands with sanitizers upon entrance to TU and checked for body temperature. A 27.5c is automatic "go home". This is applicable to yayas as well. Fine with me. They wanted kids with traveling parents to self-quarantine for 10 days. Fine with me, but a number of parents complained that they shouldn't have enrolled their kids if that's the case. They travel very often that their kids might end up "self-quarantining" the whole school year! Funny, but it's true.

All the fuss for H1N1... Doctors are saying that H1N1 was blown out of proportion, ordinary flu or dengue can be as much deadlier nowadays because of all the raining. I wonder, there is just too much media hype on H1N1... could this be a part of a grand conspiracy to hide the "CON ASS" move in the lower house of the House of the Representatives?! (I don't want to go into that)

Anyways, I really don't care about H1N1. My heart and brain are overwhelmed with the "Impetigo Contagiosa" that infected my daughter's beautiful, fine, long neck! It started as "bungang araw" which i treated with Curash, then J&J cornstarch powder, then Petroleum Jelly. Elle Marie scratched it, left a tinnie winnie wound that turned into red, swelling-like, peeling-off big wound that is slowly spreading on her neck. Worse, we cannot contact her pedia for consultation! So, we called her ninang doctor for advise and she told us to give her Elica. After a few days, the wound is getting bigger and bigger. Every time we go out to the mall, people would look at her as if she has "ketong"... I just could not take it. I prayed hard to God to free Elle Marie with that infection and give it to me! It is just not fair for her to have it!

Good thing we remembered that Elle Marie has a Tita Dematologist so we called her for advise. At first she thought it was "Intertrigo" and gave us 3 creams to put on her neck but they didn't work! So, we went to their house in Cavite for a better physical examination and as soon as she saw Elle Marie, she said it is "Impetigo Contagiosa" and gave us another set of oral-medicines.

Impetigo Contagiosa I researched in the net, is an infectious superficial infection of the skin due to streptococci, staphylococci, or both. It is characterized by superficial vesicular lesions that later become pustular and then crusted, the resultant crusts being often honey-coloured. Lesions predominantly occur on the face, arms and legs of infants and children.

The treatment of this affection is exceedingly simple; all that is necessary is to remove the crusts and to apply a mercurial or a sulphur ointment, two or three times a day, and in a short time all traces of the affeection wil1 disappear, except the macules, which mark the previous site of the eruption. These gradually fade, and ultimately the skin assumes a normal aspect, without mark or scar.

Thank God for Ninang Dea and Tita Marie, Elle Marie is slowly recovering. Yes, TU accepted her in class. They should because we have a medical certificate from Tita Marie saying that she is fit to go to class! But, I cannot do anything with the "stares" that the yayas in TU have been giving Elle Marie. I know that they are just concerned with their charges health. It is ok, I would want my yaya to do the same thing for Elle Marie!

P.S. for more information on Impetigo Contagiosa please see:

http://www.logoi.com/health/skin_diseases/impetigo_contagiosa.html

http://www.dermis.net/dermisroot/en/27004/diagnose.htm

http://chestofbooks.com/health/materia-medica-drugs/Treatise-On-Materia-Medica-Therapeutics-Skin/Impetigo-Contagiosa-Porrigo.html

The Little Lamb Yearbook is out!!!

The Little Lamb Yearbook is finally out!!! It features the Little Lambs class of Toddlers Unlimited for the School Year 2008-2009. The Little Lambs class is composed of (seated in the first row) Lucas, Elle and Max; (seated on the second row) cyro, lili and finn. Completing the group are Teacher Lei (right) and Teacher Liza (left).

Elle Marie started going to Toddlers Unlimited in July. We got to know Toddlers because of Jina, Lili's mom. We met her in Gymboree where Elle and Lili are classmates in Gym Class Level 4 (Elle is now doing Music Class). We talked about toddler schools and she mentioned about Toddlers Unlimited so, Noy and I went to check and ended up enrolling Elle Marie.
Elle enjoys going to school! I never had to convince her to get up around 7:30 in the morning so that we'll make it to her 8:30 class. I guess she enjoys playing with her classmates. At home, she would call out her classmate's names one by one! We are happy that Elle enjoys going to school. Seeing Elle socialize with her classmates make all the sacrifices worth it...

I am proud of you, Anak!

I am so proud of my daughter Elle Marie. Ever since she started her Gym Classes she has been exhibiting different level of confidence in her physical and cognitive activities. She would climb anything, anytime and anywhere!!! She would utter words that makes us look at her and wonder where those words have been hiding all the while!!! She would smile, smile and smile...

Last weekend, Elle learned how to play basketball and ride the donut with confidence. Last Saturday, I almost fainted when I saw Elle crawl in a long tunnel from one end to another! I remembered that she doesn't like going inside a tunnel BUT last saturday she crawled inside with confidence! But, I think she felt my nervousness and wanted to comfort me that is why she gave me a big smile when she completed the tunnel!

Elle, I am sooo proud of your progress anak... I love you!

Reasons why we are enrolling Elle Marie at Gymboree-Manila Polo Club...

After the tiring toddler school search and trial classes that Elle had to attend, Noy and I finally met half way and decided to enroll Elle to the Gymboree Level 4 program at Manila Polo Club.

Through exploration and play, the program would help build the cognitive, physical and social skills Elle Marie needs to become happy, confident and successful learner.

1. Good Price for the Quality.

We availed of the once a week for 48 weeks Gymboree Learning Program Level 4 for Elle Marie. The price for the whole program is half compared to the other gym class that we tried. For the same quality, we went for Gymboree.

2. No Gym class-related-expenses.

Noy is very particular about the parking fee that we need to pay should we enroll Elle in a gym class inside a mall or commercial area. At Manila Polo Club, the parking is free of charge! This gives us at least P1,740.00 minimum savings from parking fee! (Market! Market! Parking fee: P30X[48+10]=P1,740.00).

But for me, the best part about this is that I am saved from the temptation of shopping inside the mall! I am estimating that I am spending a minimum of P150.00 everytime Elle and I go to the mall (be it on purpose or just passing through) hence, I get to save P8,700.00 from impulsive buying! (P150.x[48+10]=P8,700.00).

3. Longer GymPlay time.

The program comes with free GymPlay on the day of class which means after Elle’s 10:00-11:00a.m. class she can either stay and play for more or have merienda break and come back to play again inside the gym.

On the other hand, the annual Gym Club membership fee comes with 10 GymPlay coupons that Elle can use any day other than her day of class.

4. Bigger and Safer Gym area.

We went to one gym school last week to see what they have to offer. The area was really big! Relatively, bigger than what Gymboree has. However during my chat with the teacher, she told me that kids are really uncontrollable. They have instances where kids fell from the slide or bars and ended with a broken arm or leg. The latest they had (just last school year?!) was a boy who broke his legs after falling from the big slide and his bone surfaced (gruesome!) I only had one question in mind while she was talking… WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD MAKE ME ENROLL MY DAUGHTER IN YOUR SCHOOL AFTER HEARING THAT STORY?!

Anyway with gymboree, teacher Welly assured me that they regularly clean their facility and equipments. In fact, every Sunday morning they are closed because they do their regular cleaning. She also shared with me that she personally test their toys. Take for instance the bubble, she shared with me that she literally tasted the bubble to make sure that it is not poisonous for the kids should they accidentally drink it.

5. Secured environment.

I need not elaborate on this because the name Manila Polo Club spells s-e-c-u-r-i-t-y! The security is very strict, nobody can enter without the MPC sticker, forbes-dasma sticker or official business with MPC member.

6. Passionate Teacher.

The cover page of the gymboree brochure says “If your living room had: passionate teachers… then it would be a lot like Gymboree”. Indeed, one of the critical factors that made us decide to enroll Elle in Gymboree is teacher Welly.

Teacher Welly is pretty, young, energetic, speaks straight English and has a really cute smile. I remembered during our trial class, we were a few minutes late and the class already started. At first Elle was hesitating but teacher Welly called her to join the group and I know that it made Elle comfortable with the group. After the class, Elle even went to teacher Welly and held her hand as she goes down the steps! Elle is very picky with people she plays with but I can sense that she liked teacher Welly... and we both look forward to her next class!