Charlie

I play this video once in a while and I don't think I'll ever grow tired of watching these siblings. Charlie is adorable, but his brother is even more endearing. What older brother--a kid himself--would be so patient as to easily forget what his little bro did and just smile it off after a few seconds? A loving brother, that's what. One taught early about being generous and kind.

A new read

How do you soothe an infant who's crying his lungs out?

Does the choice of story books affect a baby's learning his ABCs?

What's the real deal about little boys and playing "bang! bang!" with those toy guns?

What items go into a layette? What is a layette?

Why do some babies develop UTI?

Does the adage "boys don't cry" help your little boy in any way?

How does natural family planning enhance the husband and wife's relationship?

What's the difference between probable, presumptive and positive signs of pregnancy?

How can you assuage feelings of regret when you got a boy but wanted a girl (and vice versa)?

What's a parent to do to keep the kids from being TV junkies?

So many questions, so few pages!

Those and more will be answered when you read the latest issue of Baby magazine from cover to cover. There's even an illustrated step-by-step guide for daddies who are still learning the ropes when it comes to changing their baby's diaper. The guide, written by John-D Borra and illustrated by Leo Alvarado, will turn the most clueless newbie-Dad into a diaper jock in no time (as long as he practices, of course)!

On the cover is Boston Ryan Phillips, who was all of 7 months when he was photographed by lensman George Cabig at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel. He looks like a charming little pirate with that bandanna wrapped around his head...

Published by Marathon Publishing Co., Baby comes out 12 times a year and is available nationwide at National Bookstore, SM Dept. Store baby section, Baby & Co. (branches are at Powerplant Mall and The Podium), Babyland, Bufini, Big & Small Co. (Shangri-la Plaza mall branch), and selected Powerbooks and mag:net plus outlets.

Want to subscribe? There's a subscription form in every issue; otherwise, you may give us a call at 728-3655/56.

Oh by the way, there's a question to answer again in between the pages! And the lucky winners get to have a pretty cool prize for their baby. We're accepting emailed answers till June 30 -- the same deadline as the one for the Mother's Day Giveaway contests.

Expo Mom

Photos from the May 17 event at the Rockwell Tent...



...but let me begin with this one, featuring May cover baby Sofia! Here she is with her equally pretty mom. Sofia and her parents dropped by and looked around the pretty crowded place, as the event was well-attended. The only thing I didn't like was the noise the band made at one point. To me it is noise; a mommy-baby event is no place for alternative rock, or even pop, music -- except if it's piped-in music. But this was live -- with guitars, drums and all! It was really difficult to hold a decent conversation for quite a long time...



Here I am carrying the little angel. Does she look like she's scared of me??




There were talks by experts all day, like this highly informative one that delved on breastfeeding, given by La Leche League leader Abbie Yabot.




And here's Nicole with the cute Baby mascot, hehe.

Was supposed to post more pictures, but need to do something else for now.

More next time...

More behind-the-scenes shots

Our writer, Nicole, gets to shoot more behind-the-scene pictures than I do whenever we have pictorials. I've been asking her to give me temporary access to her Multiply site so I can take a peek and download some of the shots she has taken. That one up there was during the playtime fashion shoot in February (the kids were a bit stiff in the beginning, so Teacher Jamie got them together for some fun activities on the blanket first). Here are some of the other pictures from months back:




They've warmed up and are simply having fun with the rocking animals, courtesy of Rina Garcia. With Dharmma (or Vanna) and Raffy is Tesa Alejandrino, Raffy's mom and wife of photographer Ralph Alejandrino.




For one of the summer issues we featured smoothies that kids can easily make with the help of their elders. Kamias smoothie was my most memorable discovery that day -- how delectable (and that's not said with any sarcasm; it really is good)!



Managing editor Ditas Bermudez, herself a whiz with the camera, took the photos for this one. Where? In a Japanese-inspired home in the middle of Cubao.