Julius & Tintin’s Antonia a star in her own right

Some babies are born celebrities. Some become celebrities even before they are born. And baby Antonia Julia Sofia Babao is one of them.

Even before Julius Babao and Tintin Bersola’s Antonia was born, she was a twinkling star. Her birth was awaited by family and friends. And when she was born she immediately did her first video shoot and print pictorial with daddy Julius as photographer.

Her young life is chronicled diligently by mommy Tintin. Her little burps, smiles and tiny moves are well-recorded. When she was still in her mother’s womb, she was already offered an endorsement for EQ diapers. And when she started to crawl, TV cameras crawled with her. She now has her own shooting schedules, but only when she can, and only when she likes. After all, Antonia is a star.

Antonia Julia Sofia stars with her mom, Tintin, in the EQ Dry diaper ad. She has her own fans, her own group of admirers. The EQ Dry TVC has made such a big impact that people would now call out Antonia’s name instead of Tintin or Julius. Shares Tintin, "One time we were at a hotel in Makati. A yaya and her young ward came up to me and said they love seeing Antonia on TV. And people would mimic the way I call Antonia on the TVC, the same melodious sound when I call her name. Nakakatuwa talaga." She also receives countless fan mails, text messages saying Antonia is such a joy to see. Manang mana at kamukha daw ni Julius!"

Antonia shares equal billing with her mom, Tintin. Fact is, Tintin has become a sidekick to her daughter. She is her daughter’s clippings queen, her videographer and collector of photos and videos. She is also her most ardent fan and admirer, short of being the quintessential stage mother. "Gusto ko paglaki ni Antonia, makikita niya yung cute na commercial na ginawa niya." At five months, Tintin breastfeeds Antonia, and will continue to breastfeed her until she’s one or two years old when mama’s milk is still abundant. A breastfeeding advocate, Tintin shares with other mothers through her daily show Magandang Umaga Pilipinas (MUP), the wisdom, joys as well as the art of breastfeeding.

"Breastfeeding is a lifesaving act," says Tintin who juggles successfully mothering and hosting for MUP. "Breast milk is the white blood of humankind," adds Tintin who obviously is still trying to shed off those post-partum weight through trampoline exercises. "After my daily show, I am homebound by 10 a.m. I eat heavy breakfast because I have to breastfeed Antonia."

Tintin and Julius share responsibility in taking care of Antonia. "Julius is good at making Antonia laugh. He is so funny when he makes faces. I read books to Antonia everyday. Julius and I sing to Antonia the Alphabet Song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star which are the same songs I sang when she was still in my womb, and some Bible songs." Siesta time for mom and dad takes place when Antonia is taking her nap.

As a first time mother, Tintin is learning new things. She says that babies who are hugged and cuddled are 99 percent more intelligent and emotionally sensitive and they show signs of high emotional quotient. They have a yaya and a midwife for Antonia but they are assigned only when both of them are not around. "We bond with Antonia. We spend time with her and we kiss her a lot."

Tintin also gets useful tips from other mothers. She reads Lucy Torres column in The Philippine Star while Maricel Laxa gave her a copy of the book, Mommy Talk.

And from her own mother, Tintin is thankful because, "she gave me wings to fly."

Tintin will do nothing less for baby Antonia.

BenQ invades the local scene

The highly-anticipated BenQ P50 PDA Phone was recently launched in the country. BenQ is a Wi-Fi enabled quad band GSM/GPRS PDA phone which integrates Wi-Fi technology with Microsoft Windows Mobile Operating system. The phone enables users to benefit from both GSM/GPRS and WLAN networks to access mail, use instant messaging and all the functional applications that they expect from a PDA phone.

The quad-band GSM-compatible device offers various connectivity options such as Bluetooth, IrDA and USB. Supported by the Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC Phone Edition operating system, the P50 also comes with Word, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF viewer.

Other applications found in the P50 include the Universal Remocon, Speech Commander, Photo Caller ID and Java manager. The Universal Remocon allows one to use the BenQ P50 as a remote control to electronic appliances like airconditioners, TV sets, video and DVD players.

BenQ P50 is on display at the I^Tech showroom at RM 1404 Goldhill Tower # 5 Annapolis St., Greenhills.