Learn to cherish each moment with our love one

This is a true story. It is hard to imagine that in an instant things that it used to be will all of a sudden went black. If this happened to me i will never know if i can go on with our lives or how to handle the job being a single parent. Most probably i'm going to cry everyday, every hour, every minute. I feel sorry for you Carlo Cruz but you need so be brave enough to continue what's left with you (easy to say if you're not in the position). So dear reader here's the letter that breaks my heart read on.

Good day everyone,

I wish I were writing under different circumstances.

I would like to inform you that my wife Leslie Cruz was part of the casualties in the Glorietta 2 Mall bombing in Makati City , Philippines . She was supposed to have a minor out patient surgery at Makati Medical Center at 230pm.

I had taken a leave from work to accompany her there. We dropped off our daughter, Amber, at my parents place in QC to babysit at around 10am . We then proceeded to Makati and was there at 1230pm. Since she had been fasting in preparation for her procedure, she wanted to move ar ound and listen to some music while I grabbed a bite to eat. We parked at the basement of Park Square 2, and headed for the Glorietta 2 entrance. We parted at the top of the escalator, she turned right towards Filbar's while I went left towards the restaurants. That was the last time I would see her.

Around 120pm, she had called me so that we can meet at the Glorietta 2 exit just in time to make her appointment. As I made my way there from Glorietta 1 through the connecting hallways, and was about to turn the corner, I heard 2 deep thumps and the shock-wave from the blast hit me. At that moment my heart dropped as I knew that the origin of the blast came from the same place where we were supposed to meet. I tried getting to where my wife was, but the dust was too much and it was as if I was staring at a white wall.

I still tried to convince myself that she was able to make it out, and that after ringing her mobile without a response only meant that she dropped it in the confusion. After 6 hours of searching from Makati Med. to Ospital ng Makati , the blast site, and back again to MMC - with the help of all the people I could get hold of, that I was able to get confirmation in what the state of my wife was.

My Dad and Uncle signaled me in from the ER of MMC. My Uncle (who's a doctor) asked me to describe Leslie's appearance to another group of doctors. I saw in the eyes of one that the description made sense. Instead of confirming it to me, they huddled together, then brought me to a small examination room. It was only through a digital camera that I was able to confirm (and deny) that she was indeed gone.

I have so many regrets. I should have met her sooner. I should have ran instead of a brisk walk. I should have not chose to park where I did. I should have braved the dust and went in the blast site. I should have ...

Today's the 4th day. It is still terribly difficult to breathe, let alone wake up realizing that your source of strength, your best friend doesn't lie beside you on your bed. That my deepest worry is when Amber starts asking for her Mama.

I am glad that Amber's too young to understand the loss and pain. In time I would like to tell her the details of how her mother died, but more importantly I would like to raise her as how her mother lived - a loving person, strong willed, decisive, caring, and nurturing. She has always cared for her family and friends, and sacrfied her career for being a full time mom and home maker.

As with all couples we had our ups and downs - none of which I regret not going through. The sweet is never as sweet without the sour. For almost 4 years of marriage, we've finally hit our balance in life only to be taken away in an instant. I have no regrets about our marriage. She has loved me and Amber beyond her capacity. I will always love her.

It is my first time to write to egroup as I've lurked and watched emails being sent to and fro. All I want now is that for each of the couples here is to cherish each moment that we spend with our loved ones. Pretty simple to say, very easy to take for granted.

Thank you all for the prayers. I would still like to ask you to please include Leslie in them until her 40th day so that the path to God's kingdom is well lit and she is no longer in the dark.

Sincerely,

Carlo Cruz

I hope this is a lesson for everyone. We need to spend more time with our family because we really don't know when and where will the last time were going to see them. Show them how much we care and love them by being in their as much as you can.

Glorietta 2 Blasts

Me and my wife had a lunch out date on a pizza restaurant at Greenbelt 1 we have spend more than 1 hour there. We almost decided to go to Glorietta and check some baby clothes but instead of proceeding I have decided to go back to work since its almost 1pm. When i arrived at the office my co-workers seems to have their own lunch out breaks. After a few minutes they had arrived and told us that they ate at KFC Glorietta 2 and when they are going out they noticed that they are police rushing in and that was it the blasts already occurred at the basement of Glorietta 2.

Thank God they are all safe, that were all safe. They are a lot of speculations about the incident that they're planned by terrorists, government diversion and the Ayala mall itself. Who knows if this where made by terrorists it surely be inhumane the victims has nothing to do with what they are fighting for. If it is the government plot hmmm.... i hope who wont get away with this since they are having a problem with the ZTE scam it may be a successful diversion.

Currently the FBI, NBI, Investigators from Australia says that it was from the mall maintenance itself. Methane Gas + Diesel Fume may caused the blasts but the owners of Glorietta is completely disagree with the findings. Who knows who were responsible for the incident and just all hope that the truth will come out and that this will not happen again to other.

Condolence to all the family who lost their loved onces during this incident.

The Father-Child Connection

For six-month old babies, for example, the more actively involved the fathers are, the higher the babies score on mental and motor development tests. Babies whose dads do a lot of basic, mundane childcare activities such as feeding, changing diapers, giving baths, and dressing, handle stressful situations better than babies whose dads aren't as involved. Some researchers have linked high levels of father involvement with higher math scores later on in school and to generally higher than age-level scores on verbal intelligence tests. And active fathering seems to be positively correlated with children's increased social adjustment and competence, and to higher levels of self esteem.

The bottom line is that children who live with involved, sensitive, and responsible fathers are better off than kids whose don't. They get along better with their peers, stay in school longer and do better while they're there, are less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol or to get pregnant (or get someone else pregnant) while in their teens, and they grow up to be more caring and sensitive adults.

Women, too, benefit from father involvement. Division of labor issues are the number one marital stressor, and the more support mothers get from their husbands, the less depressed they are, the happier they are in their marriages, and the better they perform their parenting duties. Finally, men themselves benefit from their own increased involvement with their families and children. Involved fathers tend to be more "generative" (giving, nurturing, and helpful), more occupationally mobile, more successful in their careers, and more likely to choose jobs that are people-oriented. In addition, men whose wives are happy in their marriages tend to be happier themselves. And men who are happy in their marriages are generally more involved in their fathering role.

Wonderful Sounds for Sleep

The environment that your baby enjoyed for nine long months in the womb was not one of absolute quiet. There was a constant symphony of sound -- your heartbeat and fluids rushing in and out of the placenta. (Remember those sounds from when you listened to your baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler stethoscope?) Research indicates that “white noise” sounds or soft bedtime music helps many babies to relax and fall asleep more easily. This is most certainly because these sounds create an environment more familiar to your baby than a very quiet room.

Many people enjoy using soothing music as their baby’s sleep sound. If you do, choose bedtime music carefully. Some music (including jazz and much classical music) is too complex and stimulating. For music to be soothing to your baby, pick simple, repetitive, predictable music, like traditional lullabies. Tapes created especially for putting babies to sleep are great choices. Pick something that you will enjoy listening to night after night, too. (Using a tape player with an automatic repeat function is helpful for keeping the music going as long as you need it to play.)

There are widely available, and very lovely, "nature sounds" tapes that work nicely, too, as well those small sound-generating or white-noise devices and clocks you may have seen in stores. The sounds on these -- raindrops, a bubbling brook or running water -- often are similar to those sounds your baby heard in utero. A ticking clock or a bubbling fish tank also make wonderful white-noise options.

You can find some suitable tapes and CDs made especially for babies or those made for adults to listen to when they want to relax. Whatever you choose, listen to it first and ask yourself: Does this relax me? Would it make me feel sleepy if I listened to it in bed?

If you must put your baby to sleep in a noisy, active house full of people, keeping the tape running (auto rewind) will help mask baby-waking noises like dishes clanking, people talking, siblings giggling, TV, dogs barking, etc. This can also help transition your sleeping baby from a noisy daytime house to which he’s become accustomed subconsciously to one of absolute nighttime quiet.

Once your baby is familiar with his calming noise, or music, you can use these to help your baby fall back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Simply sooth him by playing the music (very quietly) during the calming and falling-asleep time. If he wakes and cries, repeat this process.

If your baby gets used to his sleep time sounds you can take advantage of this and take the tape with you if you will be away from home for naptime or bedtime. The familiarity of these sounds will help your baby sleep in an unfamiliar environment.

Eventually your baby will rely on this technique less and less to fall and stay asleep. Don’t feel you must rush the process; there is no harm in your baby falling asleep to these gentle sounds. When you are ready to wean him of these you can help this process along by reducing the volume by a small amount every night until you finally don’t turn the music or sounds on at all.

Babies enjoy these peaceful sounds, and they are just one more piece in the puzzle that helps you to help your baby sleep – gently, without any crying at all.

Source: BabiesOnline

How to notify Yahoo bot

Yahoo’s Ping service allows you to notify Yahoo when your blog changes. By sending a small ping to Yahoo you let them know you’ve updated your blog.

How do you ping Yahoo?

To ping Yahoo you use the following address

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping?u=(your blog address)

EX: http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping?u=http://garanablogtrip.blogspot.com/

(replace the garanablogtrip.blogspot.com part with your own blog URL)

Copy and paste the URL (complete with your blog’s address at the end) into your browser and hit enter.

This will automatically ping “My Yahoo” and notify the spider bot that it needs to visit your blog and update your content.

If you use Wordpress you can set your blog software up to ping Yahoo automatically by clicking on options, writing and entering http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping in the update services box.

Why Father-Daughter Relationships?

Now here's something we daddy's need to read. i can put myself to the first type of daddy "the Prince" Chloe is now 1 yr and almost 4 months old and i know while she's growing up she always admires her dad. Every time I go out for work every morning she cries she always want me to be by her side. I know i'll be this type of dad until she's a grown up lady. I hope that she will learn a lot from me and her mom.

So, feel free and read the article and you will learn what type of dad are you.

Daddy Dearest: Why Father-Daughter Relationships Are Important?

Now, more than ever, fathers want to become better dads to their daughters. In the past, it was often assumed that moms played the primary role in shaping girls into young women. However, recent research suggests that the role of fathers can be just as influential, especially when it comes to a daughter's self-image and decision making.

How a daughter perceives her father begins at a very early age. Her perceptions may change with age, but it seems that those perceptions can be categorized into four general types of dads: Prince, Buddy, Ghost and Boss.

PRINCE DAD

He is a knight in shining armor because he treats his daughter like a princess. He is always willing to talk to her about the things she is interested in, and he spends time doing things she likes to do, including playing tea party or doll games. When they go out to dinner, he pulls out her chair and compliments her appearance. As an adult, the daughter views her father as someone who knew how to listen and who taught her not to be afraid of being feminine.

BUDDY DAD

He is his daughter's pal. They often do things he enjoys together. He encourages his daughter to try new things, even if it is predominantly a male activity. Buddy Dad is a great storyteller, but often his stories are about things he is interested in. As an adult, the daughter often sees her father as the one who taught her to stand up for herself and strive for what she wants. He may not have taken the time to talk about girl stuff, but he always supported his daughter's choices.

BOSS DAD

He is the authority figure in the home. He doesn't spend as much time listening as he does laying down the law. His daughter sees him as harsh and sometimes critical. He occasionally spends time talking about her concerns, but he often tells her what to do. The daughter views her dad as loving but rigid.

GHOST DAD

He is the father she hardly ever sees. When Ghost Dad is home, he hides behind a newspaper or in front of a TV. He is not available to talk to anyone. He is a busy man who works hard for the family but hardly ever sees them. He is not willing or able to talk to his daughter and provide her with self-assurance. As an adult, the daughter usually insists he did show love but did not give his time. She grew up thinking that talking and spending time together is not something she can get from others.

Additional research is required to determine how behavior and other factors shape father-daughter relationships, including how the relationship influences a woman's choice in life mate…if at all. What we do know is that the bonds between dads and daughters begin very early in life.

How would your daughter describe you, and how would you label yourself?

Source: Parenting.org

Educational DVD hindering baby's verbal development

Now this is a big concern for modern parents like me. Our baby is now 1 year and almost 4 months old she's on her toddler stage. She loves to watch Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby and if these article is true she might have difficulties on her verbal development. Currently she can only say the words: Dad, Ma, Tige (tiger with no R yet) and a local language "Wala na". I would like to share this article so please read the following for more information.

Those "educational" DVDs may be hindering your baby's verbal development.

Want an articulate kid? Keep the TV off. Letting your infant regularly tune in to videos like Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby not only won't help boost her vocab, it may actually derail verbal development, according to a new study from The Journal of Pediatrics. Here, what study author Andrew Meltzoff, PhD, co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, wants you to know when it comes to tots and the tube:

1. It's all about age. Babies 8 to 16 months old knew an average of 6 to 8 fewer words for every hour a day they tuned in to such videos compared to babies who didn't watch them. But for toddlers 17 to 24 months old, the study found no evidence that DVD-watching did any harm -- or good. "This effect may only come into play when children are learning their very first words," says Meltzoff. (Not so surprising, considering that these videos contain very few words; rather, they're mainly filled with random abstract images like lava lamps).

"But the finding that the baby DVDs and videos do no good for babies and toddlers does not contradict the idea that well-designed educational TV, DVD, videos may be useful for some preschoolers or kindergarten children," Meltzoff explains. "What might be educational for a 3- to 6-year-old is a bit different from what helps younger children."

2. Hands down, you're baby's best teacher. "We know that children under age 2 learn language best from interacting with people, and heavy viewing of these DVDs may be taking time away from that," says Meltzoff. In fact, all babies in the study who were read to at least daily knew slightly more words than those who bonded over books less often.

3. But don't feel too guilty if you've already bought those DVDs. If your baby's logged plenty of tube time, it doesn't mean she's destined for the slow track at school. "Babies are adaptive and resilient, and there are many paths to healthy development," says Meltzoff. But instead of always relying on Baby Einstein to serve as babysitter while you chat on the phone, do try to find other ways to stimulate your increasingly curious babe. Remember, there's nothing wrong with a little downtime. Simply letting baby play on her own with a toy, a mushy picture book, or whatever her obsession du jour may be (a mixing bowl, toy cell phone, whatever) is a great way to help her make sense of the exciting world around her.

Source: Parents.com

Prison Break Fanatic

Well I never thought that i'm going to be addicted to this TV Series. Prison Break is now on it's third season where in more action and suspense will take place. For those who haven't seen the 1st 2 seasons please watch it coz it's not a waste of time.


On this season Michael Scofield is in SONA prison in Panama City and he will have to escape on a prison once more but we will have to face the most brutal and dangerous place on earth others called it "hell on earth" SONA is a fictional prison in this story but this was actually based on Carandiru Prison which is now closed due to the Carandiru Massacre which takes place on the year 1992 where inmates riot and a lot of inmates died by gun shots by the authorities.

So the exciting part for this season is how Michael get out on this kind of prison wherein there's no guard patrolling and every inmates can kill each other whenever they want.

Check the official website of Prison Break

The Basic of Love

How do we show our love and affection to our children? Do we communicate with them every day? Do we say how much we love them? Sometimes words alone are not enough to show and express what we wanted to say. Here are some ways you can make a lasting bonds with your children that will last a lifetime.

* Hug! Never stop hugging your baby. These connect you emotionally and physically like nothing else.
* Spend time reading a lots of books to her. You can do this by napping time read and share stories with her. You can even read her favorite book over and over again.
* Play games with her. Playing is one way of great bonding. You can play peek-a-boo or you can get down on the floor and sit with her and play puzzles, shapes, writing or even roll around and laugh together.
* Try to hold her hands while walking, sway and move it. You can show that walking around while holding hands is fun thing to do.
* Always kiss her this is the greatest way to show how much you love your child.
* And tell her that you love her so much, show her that she is special, that she is unique and that she is a gift by God.

Hmmmm...... I'm getting too emotional well maybe being a father can really change your life.

Experiencing Hands on Parenting

Hands on Parenting, what is it? Usually parents now a days does not experience this simply because of their work. Most of us are now spending more hours in our offices than to our home and since today it is more practical for both parents to work because of our economy. So back to our question what is Hands on Parenting? This is where you are the one who's taking care of your child.

I have experienced this in my life. It was September 2006 when i told my boss that i'll take my 1 month leave of absent coz there is no one who will look for our 3 months old daughter. This is very hard for me at first since i'm the father its kinda awkward at first. Then as soon as i saw my baby laughing and smiling back at me i felt so happy and proud. That no i am a father and as well her full time "yaya".

Were been together for the next 9 months. I never came back to work coz the company is bankrupt a blessing in disguise for me. So those times i been with her i learn new thing like changing her diapers, feeding her in a bottle, bathing her, making her watch educational DVD's and playing with her. I saw my baby crawl, walk, eat solid foods and now saying her first words "ti-ga" meaning tiger and the sound i like the most is "DAD". I was so happy that i experienced this in my life and now i know being a father is not just providing your family basic needs but providing them your time and love.

Here's a picture of my Chloe.

Danielle Chloe is now 1 year and 2 months old. She's a happy baby and now she's showing her love and affection for her Mom and Dad. I love her so much....