Lucas' 1st Halloween :)

Halloween 2010! Lucas' first halloween!

We had this grand plan to dress him up in his Tigger outfit (Since he's a little Tiger baby!), then go walk the streets and knock on people's doors and get sweets, like what all the American kinds here would do.. Halloween is on 31st Oct, which is a Sunday this year. So we tot that the Americans would be out on the streets on Sunday.

On Saturday, we had to attend one of our friend's daughter's full month celebrations. And as we drove out of our compound, we saw alot of the kids dressed up and walking around already.. we were like "Huh?? Though they would be doing this on Sun instead?" We were contemplating whther to turn ard, go back and dress Lucas up then maybe we could go trick-or-treating after the party. In the end, we decided to just go ahead with the party, thinking that on Sunday there shud be people going around as well.

Boy were we wrong. When we dressed Lucas up on sunday evening, and then headed out, total ghost town! No one was dressed up or walking around! :( Then later on we were told the Base's official trick-or-treat day was Sat instead. Boo!!! We missed it!!

So anyway, luckily we still had a few houses that we could go to so Lucas could have some fun getting sweets. We walked around our 'kumpung' compound and knocked on a few of the Singaporeans' doors.. we picked up some 'kids' along the way.. Jessica and Vincent were good sports, they dressed up and went along with us as well..Jeremy and jolin as well... then Little Brandon all dressed up as a pirate joined us as well, together with his Mommy and Daddy. So there we were, a big group of us walking the kampung compounds and knocking on people's doors.. hahaa... it was cold walking in the night... and my little Tigger fell asleep while we were still knocking on people's doors! Guess he was just really tired... all the excitement wore him out. :)

7.5mths and growing..

Lucas @ day 2

Lucas @ 1mth

Lucas @ 2mths


Lucas @ 3mths



Lucas @ 4mths



Lucas @ 5mths

Lucas @ 6mths

Lucas @ 7mths

Oh dear me, I've really been neglecting this space, haven't I?

I have made up for it by posting tonnes of photos and videos of Luca on Facebooks as he grows..

But now I hope to put my 7.5mths journey into words..

7.5mths, where did all that time go to? I remember so clearly still the day (and time) I walked into the Operating Theatre of the Mountain Home AFB hospital, got a jab down my spine, and then they cut me open and I heard Lucas' first cry.

And sometimes, I cant believe today, how big, and how fast he has grown. I'm a full-time SAHM (Stay-at-home Mom). And sometimes, on bad days, being a SAHM drives me nuts and makes me think "Ok, maybe Im better off being back at my job of dealing with the airlines and running events..."

Having none, or little help when u have to take care of a baby 24/7 is really no joke. I don't have the luxury of having my parents or my parent-in-law to help me out when the going gets tough. Being so far away from Home and in a foreign land and taking care of a baby for the 1st time, really puts alot of stress both physically and mentally on you. I really don't know how I managed to survived the past 7.5mth. There were good days, and then there were bad days. Sometimes, Lucas gets so cranky and needs me every waking hour, I get so frustrated with him, with my hubby etc... that I lock myself in the toilet and cry. Then I wipe my tears and tell myself.. Lucas only has me. Daddy is away at work for 12 hrs on weekdays. Lucas only has me. I need to be strong for him.

Weekends are def a relief for me. His daddy gets more time with him, so I get to do a little lesser on weekends. I get to take a breather, go out shopping or having a proper meal with my little family or with friends.. not a meal when im rushing to cook and handling Lucas at the same time...

But as hard as the days sometimes are, that little smile u see from him when u open your eyes first thing in the mornings, just melts everything away.

Lucas is now 7.5mths, weighing about 7.3kg. He can sit up on his own.. he's learning to crawl, startin with crawling backwards for now... Today, I taught him to stand on his own (thus, my this emotional entry in this blog), and he did a great job out of it. Since he was abt 4mths old, Ive been training him to stand up by pulling him up to his feet and having to balance on them pretty often. And everytime he's on his feet, he gives this reeally proud smile, like "I'm on my feet! I can see the world!" So today, I finally let go.. I put him on the bed edge and ta-da! He was able to stand all on his own.. soon he'll learn to walk.. and my boy is really growing up..

He's adapted very well to eating solids.. he's now chewing on biter biscuits meant for 10-mth olds.. He's also eating 3rd stage baby foods, meant for 10-mth-olds as well.. he eats porridge, bread, apples.. He's started blabbering.. he no longer cries whenever we change his diapers.. he loves his baths.. He gives little hugs.. He's such a sweetie..

The one thing I am grateful for (and will always recommend to new mothers!!), is having Lucas on a routine. Putting Lucas on a routine since young has helped me tremendously to manage him, my time and my sanity all at the same time.. The persistence of months of doing the same thing in the same order and at almost the same time everyday, has paid off; Lucas knows what to expect everyday, and he started to sleep well into the night at a very young age.. since he was abt 3-4mths old, he was already stuck to his routine, so practically every night, I had my own time to do the things I needed to do.. household chores, Me-time, hubby-and-me time. NOw, we can even have out weekly MJ session at our house while he sleeps soundly. A routine for a happier Baby: Highly recommended! (Caution: Lots of patience needed!)

Very grateful for the friendships forged with the wives here at MHAFB as well... look forward to our every Tuesday Macs hi tea-Walmart-Commisary sessions.. where the wives will drive on our own to the nearest town of Mountain Home, have macs and our fave sweet-tea-with-creamer (which tastes like Mos Burger Ice Milk Tea back home), then usually on to Walmart, the most exciting place in the town.. and then lastly, to the Commisory, where we do our weekly grocery shopping. Lucas goes along with me almost everywhere I go; wanna expose him to people, to different environment, different situations..

They say parenting is the hardest job, but it reaps the best rewards. and I believe it to be so true. The best reward is one where Lucas give me his biggest, brightest smile, stretches out his hand wanting to be hugged.. The best rewards is when he topples over, yet rolls over and smiles at you.. The best reward is when he gives the loudest fart, and then his brightest, cheekiest and most innocent smile... =)

Back from our trip about 2 weeks ago!

Lucas was, as usual, a lil cranky throughout the trip.. I've resigned to the fact that he gets cranky easily, so we've more or less learnt to live with it. Hubby clocked about 30hrs of drive time, 1,600miles.. pretty lucky that for most of the time in the car, Lucas was asleep, so I didn't have a very hard time with him in the car this time around.

It's really a challenge bringing a baby on holiday, esp one as long as ours (5 nights). The number of things to bring (I practically packed his entire wardrobe in), the number of bottles to wash and the hunt for hot water... but we would never give up anything just to have our baby come along with us and be part of our daily aspect of life, and that includes going on holidays! This time round, it was a good experience. The next trip, we hope to be able to go by plane, which is another challenge altogether. We're planning to bring Lucas to Hawaii and Florida soon, prob early next year, before we go back to Singapore in Nov 2011.

Autum, or Fall as it is called here, is setting in soon here in the States.. Mom will be here in Nov again, yippee! Cos Hubby is going to another State for 3 weeks' training, so Mom is flying over to help me out with Lucas.. cos I def wun be able to handle him all on my own 24/7 for 3 whole weeks.

Lucas is now 5.5 mths.. He has mastered his back-to-tummy flips perfectly, and has resorted to scaring the papa and me by flipping around during his sleeptimes.. he seems to dislike being on his back now. We have to pay extra attention to him nowadays, in case he flips off the bed himself.

We are also slowly introducing semi-solids to him now starting with brown rice cerals, which we have been feeding him once a day for the past week or so. He's still slowly learning to chew and swallow.. but he opens his big mouth and keeps wanting more.. and if he doesn't get as much as he wants or as quick as he wants it, he starts to wail! The silly boy.

Suspect that he is teething, or at least is starting to soon, as he has been extra fussy, esp during milk feeds, he always cry and struggling while drinking his milk. But he would still finish every single bottle he is given despite the pain. We were, at first, trying to deduce where he feels pain, which leads him to cry. So far, it seems the pain is coming from his mouth.

Lucas turns 6 mths on his Daddy's birthday! 10 Sept! So far, the parenthood journey has been tiring, not just for me, but for hubby as well. But nothing beats having such a joy around us.. its rewarding.. esp to see your lilttle one smile at you, it seems like all the sleepless nights and the milk spit-ups on your clothes and looking like crap everyday doesnt matter anymore. =)

Our Family's Road trip!!

Whoops.. have kindda been neglecting this space a bit..

Our holiday has finally arrived! We missed the last trip to seattle cos Lucas fell ill. Now, we'll be off to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver for 6 days in total! Just our little family, just the 3 of us.. packing for baby is, whoa, stressful! At final count, we are at 1 large Suitcase + 3 baby bags... all mostly lucas' stuff.. think I practically packed his entire wardrobe in..

Lucas is now almost 5mths old.. he's been starting to flip around more often now.. tummy to back, back to tummy.. he seems to prefer being on his tummy now as he gets a better perspective of the world. He's also starting to sit up with assistance.. even in the car seat and the bathtub, he's been trying to sit up on his own as well.He's began to grip everything he sees.. like my necklace.. and my hair..

When we're back from the trip, we'll start him on semi-solid foods.. rice ceral to begin with.. and once he can eat.. the fun begins.. :)

4mths!

Lucas went for his 4mths well-baby check-up today, got his immunization shots as well. 3 jabs today for him, and this time there was no running away for me since I had to be in the same room as him. I just looked away.. the minute I heard him start to cry in pain.. couldn't take it..

Lucas is weighing at 5.45kg.. as heavy as a small sack of rice.. growing well. Our biggest concern is still his ezcema, which the doc - Dr Bush, today agreed seems to be getting worse. Now his face is red, patchy and peeling, probably from the steriod cream. Dr Bush (who is the Head of pedaitrics) still strongly feels it has something to do with what he is eating..we told him we tried Soy milk, and Lucas' eczema still did not improve. So he recommended us to try Nutrimigen or Alimentum.. which is another special kind of formula.. a REALLY EXPENSIVE kind.. for babies with colic and allergies. We bought nutrimigen previously for him when he had colic, but he din react too well to it, so we stopped.

So when Dr Bush recommended us to try it again, we were a bit hesitant. But seriously, we're at our wits end.. it's really hard to keep seeing Lucas keep scratching his face, esp at night, he can scratch til he cant sleep. We have to constantly keep our home cool so that his eczema doesn't flare up. We asked Dr Bush if we could do a allergy test for him instead, but Dr bush says allergy tests are not appropriate for babies his age, and since he's just taking formula and not solid foods, its easy to eliminate what type of formula he shud not be taking..

Dr Bush then gave us 3 sample tins of Similac Alimentum for us to try it on him and see if his eczema improves.. wow 3 tins.. saves us some money for now. we will also put off starting him on his semi-solids cerals for 1 more mth while we try the Alimentum on him.

PM Lee's Visit to MHAFB,,

A photo op with the Chief of the Singapore Air Force during

PM Lee's Visit to Mountain Home AFB

"Future Air Force pilot!"

That is what he said when he saw Lucas :)

Hitting the big 4

Lucas turns 4 mths soon! :) Time flies!

In a few weeks time, we might able to start him on soft solids. How exciting! Babies just grow up too fast.

Lucas is recovering.. He was sick a couple of days ago and we had to abandon our road trip plans at the very last minute. Our friends went on without us; we stayed behind to nurse Lucas. Doc said he has a viral infection - he had red spots on his body + cough+ cold + throat full of pheglm. These couple of days, he's been very manja, keep on wanting us to carry him and hug him, probably cos he fells unwell and wants some soothing. He also haven really been able to sleep very well, cries alot but we're not sure where is he feeling uncomfortable.. on top of that his face is still itchy from the Ezcema. Sigh, poor Baby suffering so much, really breaks out hearts..