It was in the fourth quarter of last year when my son first got excited about collecting change for him to give for our church’s Christmas offering. He made use of my Ice Watch coin bank container and marked it as his gift for Jesus for Christmas.

Even without our convincing our son, he got really excited to be saving his coins for Jesus. He first heard about the church’s plan to dedicate a gift for Jesus as a church this Christmas. He earns his coins whenever he finishes his PACE during our homeschool class. He’d gather even us coins that are randomly placed around the house too. It just blesses my heart that he is learning the ministry of giving in his early age of five.

Ever since my son has learned how to read, he has instantly learned how to send sms to his father. At first I was surprised that he knows how to manipulate a multi-tap phone. A querty phone would have been easier for a child to manipulate given that he only has to click the key once. When I asked him who taught him, he just said that he learned from watching his Tita Rose (my sister) whenever she sends text messages to his Ninong Ted.

Now I know I’d be the first to say that a five year old should not go trotting along with samsung cell phones just yet. I’m with him most of the time anyway. And it really is not advisable for a child to go around with one.

The only console we’ve had for a few years now was a Wii and we were actually convinced that we can stick with just Wii. We do not want to have to concern ourselves with my son getting zombified – addicted to these monster gadgets. We have this particular preference on Wii. Mainly because it is interactive and you actually get your muscles moving with the activities, unlike most game consoles.

But then again, xbox 360 happened. My ruggedly handsome husband won a bidding over at Winila and got it for give or take $50! How cool is that! So before my husband ever got to claim his new toy, I was devising a way that will work for all of us in the household. Our son is now used to having to read a page of a book first before grabbing the wireless controller. In hindsight, the xbox kind of motivated him to love reading. Not because of an xbox educational game we’ve grabbed a hold of. But because it was our deal that he reads a page first before he gets to play. He also has a maximum of 2 hours of playtime and he sticks to the deal. Especially now that he knows how to tell time.

Our son has always been agreeable with a lot of things. It helps a lot that we explain things to him thoroughly rather than just require him to do things without him really understanding why. Last night as my mom was spelling out words for him to read, he breezed through every single word without much effort. It occurred to me that we could give away the Leapfrog toy that helps him with spelling three letter words. One of the toys he never really got to use. It came free with another leapfrog educational toy. My son said yes without batting an eyelash.

As we go through his toy box, I’m sure we will find a whole bunch of other things that we could give away. This includes some truck accessories that he has not touched for a long time. We really should be doing this soon especially after all those holiday toys he got for presents last Christmas.

Parents discovered a new way to bond and help their baby get a healthy start in life through a fun and hip new exercise routine unveiled at the Pampers Yoga Stretchyise press launch.

Developed through a partnership of baby experts – Pampers, the Mother and Child Nurses Association of the Philippines (MCNAP) and Gymboree Play and Music, Pampers Yoga Stretchycise is a fun playtime routine that combines yoga moves with stretching which will help encourage the development of baby’s mind and body.

Participants were treated to a first-hand demonstration of these simple exercises that encourage baby movement and active play, which is essential for babies at this stage of their development. The first two years of life is when a child’s brain is growing fastest and before a child can speak, movement is the most important way for them to explore and learn about their social and physical environment and develop new skills.

“The Active Baby Stage is really a period for developmental achievement and intellectual growth. It’s a time of intense exploration of the environment as children attempt to find out how things work,” said MCNAP President Estelita Galutira.

This is further confirmed by the U.S. National Association of Sports and Physical Education who states that “current research confirms that the physical activity of infants and young children is an important component of early brain development and learning. Positive early movement experiences increase the infant’s chances of achieving full developmental potential throughout life.”

And one way to encourage movement is through the new Pampers Yoga Stretchycise. The series of exercises was inspired by baby yoga, which offers quality physical stimulation including flowing postures, holding, movement, touch, voice and deep relaxation.

“Baby Yoga is a great way to encourage active play which is important because at this stage, the pre-schoolers and below, their way of learning is to play. The Pampers Yoga Stretchycise helps encourage your baby’s development by maximizing body movement.” said baby yoga instructor, Maritoni Tordesillas.

Through the high quality attention they receive, yoga helps babies learn to interact with others and play actively, either with their parents or with other children in the classroom like environment. Physical benefits for the baby include helping his neural development, motor skills and balance aiding in digestion and giving him enough activity to sleep more deeply.

Baby yoga also has the added benefit of nurturing the bond between parents and their child and helping babies feel more relaxed and settled.

The event also celebrated the recent partnership of Gymboree Play and Music with Pampers, who will undertake a joint program this year to help promote active play for better baby development.

“Since Pampers’ mission has always been to help parents nurture their children’s development, we are very happy to have partnered with Gymboree Play & Music as they are the global leader when it comes to creating programs that help boost early childhood development,” said Pampers Brand Manager, Chad Sotelo.

“Together, we hope to give parents even more ways to enjoy an active lifestyle with their babies, such as the Pampers Yoga Stretchycise movements that we’ve shown you today, which you can do very easily with your child at home,“ he added.

Ann Tan, Gymboree Play & Music Managing Director shared, “We are very happy that the partnership between Gymboree and Pampers has finally materialized. This is a very important alliance because we share the same vision and commitment in providing the best channels for growth and development of babies, toddlers and little children.”

Gymboree offers age-appropriate classes to encourage active play for parents and their children, with especially designed equipment, bright foam and air pieces, a variety of props and trained teachers to create an environment that will stimulate a child’s physical, cognitive and social development. Parents interested to learn more can visit the Gymboree website at www.gymboree-ph.com

Meanwhile Pampers’ newest product – Pampers Active Baby – helps encourage movement through its unique stretchy side tapes that follows a baby’s body shape, allowing for a more comfortable fit so babies can play all day.

To learn more about Pampers Yoga Strechycise and Pampers Active Baby, parents can visit www.pampers.ph.