MY VIRTUAL CHILD

CAIDEN APOLLO AT 0 MONTHS OLD

1. You want Caiden to be active and curious about the environment so you:

Talk to, hold and interact with Caiden whenever he seems interested. You figure you are the most interesting and complex "toy" in his environment.

• For me, it is very important to interact with Caiden as much as possible so that he will be able to get used to me and later on, with other people. For now, it is also important to be able to create a bond between the both of us.

2. For the first week or so Caiden wasn't very hungry and actually lost a little weight. However, now Caiden has begun to feed heartily and gain some weight back.

You try to make feeding time as pleasant and relaxing as possible and feed him only as much as he wants.

• It is important for the to have a relaxing and calm environment so that he won't feel stressed. Stress on babies can be very dangerous because it could later on affect their mental, physical, and emotional problems. Regarding the amount of food intake, it is important not to force him to eat any more than he wants because he knows himself better than I do.

3. Caiden spends most of his time falling asleep, sleeping, or slowly waking up. When he is awake, you take advantage of the waking time by:

Talking quietly to Caiden and holding him soothingly.

• Being cautious with him is my main priority so as not to cause any stress because of the sudden change of environment and emotion.

4.  Will you breast feed Caiden?

Yes, Caiden will only be breast fed.

• Breast milk contains all the vitamins and nutrients that the baby needs in the first six months of life. It was also discovered that breast milk is packed with disease-fighting substances that protect the baby from illness and from developing allergies.

5. What kind of diapers will you use? The cloth diapers are more environmentally sound, but a lot more work than the disposable diapers. And those diaper safety pins are hard to work on a squirming baby!

You decided to use the disposable diapers.

• Using disposable diapers is easier and will save more time. It is also less of a struggle for the baby to put on and can give me more time to do other household work.

6. You are starting to notice that Caiden Apollo's crying is rhythmic and moderately loud when he is hungry, wet, or cold. If he is startled, there is a sudden intake of breath and a loud wail, followed by more deep breaths and loud wails.

You try to respond to the different types of crying by changing, feeding, or soothing little Caiden Apollo.

• Seeing as Caiden cannot speak yet, it's quite hard to determine what he really wants so I try to guess what he wants by doing a variety of things hoping that it's what he wants.

Mary Laurenz J. Barbaton, Ryan Cordova, Edel Rose Rivera

BSPT-2C