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..

10 pairs of eyes..

Our boy is getting stronger everyday.

He's just getting so active everyday; he doesn't like us to carry him in a lying down position (unless he's sleepy), also so inquisitive and kaypoh, wanna see the amazing world around him.. so we constantly have to hang him over our shoulders, he likes that position best.. haha.. and then when u put him in that position, his legs will start to kick and kick, as if he's trying to climb up our bodies.. it's painful!

So today I told his daddy - Buy him a Jumperoo!!! Since his little legs are so active, he will love the jumperoo. So off we went to get him one from Fisherprice, gonna set it up tomorrow and put him in and see if he likes it.

It's high time we buy him more toys.. think he's tired of his gym mat. Babies attention spans are so short... they get tired of whatever they're playing after 10 mins.. 10 precious minutes for u to do whatever u need to do before they start wailing.

Gosh, He's so active now, I constantly have to keep 10 pairs of eyes on the little fella. A few days back, I left him on the gym mat; 10 mins later, I found him half-body under the play pen. He had kicked himself there. On sat morning, we put him on the swing where he usually falls asleep, His daddy was sleeping beside the swing. 1hr later, I go back into the bedroom to find the boy half body OUT of the swing.. and he din make a single noise or cry.. he was just still kicking his legs up and down .. and Daddy Saw was still ASLEEP!! Goodness knows how long he has been in that position.

Its really tough managing him these days, especially with my right wrist which is still injuried. For 3.5 mths, I have suffered from the wrist pain which i had always suspected was cause by the IV drip that was inserted into my wrist when I delivered Lucas, because the day they took the IV drip out, my wrist started to hurt since then.

It has become worse these days; I just have to leave my right hand in the same position for 10 mins (say, bottle-feeding lucas), and my wrist will just go numb and become painful. The worse is when I wake up after sleeping... my hand takes 1/2 hr to 1hr to un-numb itself. Thus I cant do much for the first 1hr im awake.. which means, when it comes to the first morning feed, Hubby has to settle Lucas - if he cries, Hubby will have to wake up and soothe him. I try to feed him with my left hand sometimes, but I cant burp him, so daddy usually has to wake up and burp him for me.

It's just so super frustrating and so super painful. Finally went to see the Doc at the Base Hospital, who confirmed the IV drip hit my nerve, thus causing this pain. But there's nothing they can do as nerve injuries have to heal on their own, usually taking many months to do so. All they could do is prescribe me some painkiller (equivilant to our Panadol) and told me to take it round the clock for 2 weeks and then if the pain is still there abt 2 mths down the road, I shud go back and see them again.

I know the painkiller is not gonna help, cos its not a localised painkiller.. I can only just grind and bear with the pain for now.

3 Mths and counting..

Sorry for the lack of updates!!

Have been pretty busy this month.. Mom visited us for 1 week, it was a good time for me to sleep more and relax a bit while Mom helped to settle Lucas + cooking + household chores.

Lucas is now almost 3.5mths old!! He has improved so much since... He's now able to play on hsi own, he loves his gym mat.. He's able to start grabbing things, flipping himself around the gym mat as well. This morning I was so amazed when I left him on the gym mat to play on his own, and he ended up on the other side of it 20 mins later.. I dunno how he managed to kicked/wriggle/crawl his way there...

He's also so chatty.. he loves to smile and make lots of baby noises and coo... he usually smiles after his milktime, when he's super contended..and wants to start a conversation with u. He's also starting to squeal in delight when he's on the gym mat playing on his own.. love to watch him do that.

He's also found his thumb, so he has taken to sucking it. So his mittens are constantly wet! He's alos slowly discovering his hands and legs. He's so funny; he would lift his arms and stare at them.. and then try to turn them and continue to stare, like as if they're the most amazing things he's ever since.. so cutee...

Never fail to amaze and amuse us everyday. He's now able to sleep through the night. I have stopped the middle-of-the-night feedings already, usually giving him his last feed at about 11pm, and then he can last til 6-7am.. which gives me and the papa much needed sleep nowadays.. Thank Goodness..

We're also, as kiasu parents I guess, always eager to expose him to new things everyday, to expose him to the world. I bring Lucas out quite often on weekdays, to the supermarket, to the nearby department stores. Brought him swimming as well, but think I may stop for now as his face's ezcema is still healing. We also bought him Baby Einstein DVDs, which are very good for babies. He loves to watch them! And Mommy bought him a portable DVD player so now he can even watch them on the go, in the car etc..

Lucas' gf..

We have a couple friend here who gave birth to twins - 1 boy and 1 girl. They were born 5 days before Lucas. Boy's name is Lucas, girl's name is Olivia.

We went to Salt Lake City together as well.. and we jokingly kept referring to Olivia as my Lucas' girlfriend.. haha.. we also took cute pictures of the two of them!! hehe!

How we came out with this reference was because my hubby is always bugging me to have twins.. or at least he wish he could have twins. But neither side of our family have twin genetics.. so its virtually impossible for that to happen! So.. I came out with this grand plan - Let my boy marry a girl who has twins-genetics in her family, then maybe we might have twins grandsons/daughters! So Olivia is the perfect candidate! Hehe!

Of cos, we all know that kids who are being "matchmake" by their parents when they are young, might actually grow up disliking each other.. "Eww.. u mean i held his hand?! Eeee! I don't want to hold hands with boys!" hahaha.. =)

Back from our short getaway!

I wish I could say I really enjoyed myself during this trip, but I can't. And thats because I spent many hours camping in the toilet because I had a UTI attack for 2 days straight. And because I was not able to see a doc, I could only self treat by drinking lots of water to flush out the infection.

So because of that, I had little mood to shop and didn't have enough time on the last day to buy the things I wanted to get.. still, manage to get some stuff like Levi's, Polo Ralph Lauren, BB's clothes from BabyGap, and only one bag from COACH.

Baby was also quite cranky during the trip.. the ride there was gd, he slept thru the entire 5 hrs drive.. but coming back, gosh, he was crying and feeling restless and refused to sit still. He fussed alot during the times we were shopping and having meals. Maybe he's not used to be outside for so long.

When we returned to Mountain Home last night, we headed straight to the Hospital to see the doc and got some antibiotics. But today, feeling nauseous , headache, and weak the whole day. NOt sure if whether its a sign that the infection is getting worse or side effect of the antibiotics. Can feel myself falling ill.

And today, we changed the milk powder to Soy formula for Lucas. And today, its been a nightmare cos he has been crying and fussing for the past 9hrs, not able to sleep well etc... prob due to the change in the milk powder;his body is adjusting to it. As with all other change of milk powders, will have to let him go thru this pharse for a while more until his disgestive system is fully adjusted.

And hopefully, we will see some improvement in his skin soon...

Lucas is in his 12th week now. Weighing at 4.75kg. We're quite pleased by his slow but steady improvements day by day.

The only thing that worries us is his eczema on his face. It has become worse despite us applying the mositurising cream for him; his skin is now dry, brownish and flaky, with a hard rough layer on top.

Today we consulted the Head Peditrician Dr Bush, abt his condition. Dr Bush was the ped who was in the OT when Lucas was borned, so he has seen Lucas since birth, thus we trust him more as he gives us very detailed explainations abt Lucas' condition. He strongly recommended us to change Lucas' milk powder to Soy, as the eczema could be an allergy to cow's milk. He mentioned he has seen alot of babies with this facial ezcema and changing to soy formula usually cures that. So finally, we are convinced we will have to try Soy formula to see if it will cure his ezcema, because we have exhuasted all other options except using steriod cream on his face, which will be the last resort.

It is quite heartpain to see the eczema on his face.. in the middle of the night, he would moan and rub and rub his face with his mittens when his eczema flares up and becomes very red and itchy for him.. =( we really wanna cure it for him so he won't feel so uncomfortable..

On a happier note, its really fun to see him being able to do little things bit by bit, day by day.. its quite a delight!

Milestones we have seen in him so far:-
1) Able to sleep for 6hrs straight on certain nights without waking up for milk.. (baby sleeps more = parents get more sleep too!)

2) Able to smile in respond to my smile (but must see his mood de), able to turn his head in the direction of my voice, his eyes able to follow me as I walk across the room

3) Being able to lift his head up 90degrees when carried or on tummy, but still doesn't really like tummy time.

4) ABle to say baby blabber like "Ooh" and "Ahh"

5) Still hasn't wasted a single bottle of milk .. he's quite the milk guzzler.. Im surprised he hasn't reached 5kg yet!

6) Able to stretch day milk timings to abt 4hs interval

7) ABle to reach up and touch Mr Hippo and Mr Lion when in the car seat

8) Able to flip one direction tummy-to-back (with a little bit of assistance..)

Some improvements we would like to see happen soon:
1) Stop crying during bath time and diaper changing time! YES! It's still a battle for us during bath time!!!! The bathroom is a total battlefield, and the Papa always loses...

2) Sit quietly in his car seat.. he used to be able to do this, but now that he's bigger, he hates being strapped down. Grrr....

3)Flip from back-to-tummy

4) Start playing with all the hanging stuff on his baby gym mat. He cries after 5 mins on the gym mat.

5) Laugh or squeal. He has yet to do it.

Buccaneers Anniversary..

Monday night, we attended the squadron's 1st Anniversary Dinner, along with 300+ Singaporeans here.. Proud to be part of the pioneering batch of Singaporeans here in MHAFB, being part of the community here.

Almost 10 mths here in the States have gone by, time really flies. I remember packing up and leaving Singapore for MHAFB as clearly as it were yesterday. I remember going to Ikea and buying furniture. I remember stocking up on long sleeves clothes and lotsa canned food. I remember packing the sky high pile of moving boxes, boxes and more boxes..

I remember arriving here and feeling homesick for the 1st few months. The culture shock, learning to cook, running an entire household on my own.. 10 mths here, and being pregnant for the 8 of those months, being able to get plenty of rest (although i was bored to tears half the time)..

The friends here who have become as close as family; They're really the only family we've got here.. the many BBQ and steamboat sessions we've had throughout the festivities - Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year..

Snow, shoving ice out of our driveway, mowing our lawn, shopping trips, holidays...

And then, giving birth right here in MHAFB, an experience I wil never, ever forget.

SO many has happened, so many has been done the past 10 mths. Just a mere 10mths.. and we're not even half way through this journey; about 1.5 years to go before we return to Singapore.

It's truly been a great 10 mths. Looking forward to more exciting memories ahead!

Haphazard Weather..

The weather here in Mountain Home AFB is really acting up..

Summer is almost here, yet its snowing today!! Gosh! It was very hot last weekend; we got burnt last Saturday when we were out, but weather forecasts show cold weather again next week.. single digit at night again.. Brrr... It's Spring now! But feels like Winter all over again.

Anyone can get sick easily in this kind of crazy weather man... It's so dry here as well, my skin is flaking..

Yesterday, I experienced a scene which really got me thinking "My son really got character". I was in one of the wives' car with Lucas in the car seat. I noticed my boy suddenly reaching up to touch his 2 hanging mobiles (Mr Lion and Mr Hippo) which we had hung from the top of the car seat handle. It was the first time seeing him reach up and play with them, so I was very excited when I saw him do that!!

So I quickly took off his scratch mittens so that he could have freeplay with his fingers. But the minute I took off his mittens, Lucas turned and STARED at me.. and stared.. and stared.. and gave me a face which said "Why did u take my mittens off huh?!" And he never took his eyes off me.. nor did that look on his fave wavered. I even pretended to look away, but he still continued to stare at me til I put his mittens back on!!

The Little Tiger (Year 2010) eats up the Mother Pig (Year 1983)..

Tummy Time..

Lucas during Tummy time~!

Tummy time is important for babies.. Lucas, erm, doesn't like tummy time very much, but still, we try to put him on his tummy at least once a day. The good thing is, he can pretty much lift his head up high already :)

I had to fill up a questionaire on Lucas' progress during the last house visit by the base hospital's nurse who comes every 2 weeks to check on Lucas. After adding up all the scores, Lucas falls behind in certain areas such as Communication, Fine motor skills and problem skills. But we were told not to be too worried since he's only 2mths, and we were given a list of activities to do with Lucas to allow him to develop his skills in those areas.

So this week, I started doing some of the activities, and much to my delight, Lucas has started to respond quite well. He is now trying to lift his hands up to touch things above him.. its the moment when he is slowly discovering that he has hands now!

Baby's 1st Road Trip!

Lurveee this photo!

We're planning Baby's first Road Trip!

Memorial Day is coming up at end-May, so there's a long weekend for us. We're planning to drive up to Salt Lake again for some shopping and to explore the City. Our last trip there, we mainly shopped alot @ the factory outlets. Hubby and I spent more than a thousand bucks there!! Not more crazy shopping this time around, I hope. But we were told Memorial day have the best sales!! I'm just hoping to go there and buy some cute, cheap, branded clothes for Lucas hehehe..

So far, Baby has been pretty good with car rides. From our home to Boise, 1 hr away, he can still take it.. he just sleeps thru out the entire journey. The min the car moves, he will fall asleep.When the car stops, he will wake up and wonder how come my car stopped??? So we're pretty confident he will do well for the 5-hr car ride to Salt Lake. :)

Oh, my mummy is coming again to visit me! Well, think she is more eager to visit her Grandson rather than me.. hahaha... Mommy is going for a business trip in Dallas, Texas, so she'll fly over here for a week once she's done with work. A week is better than nothing!! She can bring me more Singapore food again!

2 mths...

Lucas turns 2mths today! :)

Time really flies... its been 2 amazing months.. and no doubt, 2 very tough months as well..

We would not have being able to pull thru these couple of months without the help of alot of people.. we have been really blessed to recieve alot in many ways .. help, gifts, well-wishes, and lots of love from the people around us.

Many thanks to our both sets of parents + sibilings. My mom and Dad who took the time off to fly over and help us out. My siblings + Cass & Anne Marie for helping us to buy stuff back home + the gifts. My in-laws who gave us Hong Bao + celebrated Lucas' 1 mth for us back in Singapore as well. We even skyped on his 1 mth birthday and they all sang him a birthday song and had a birthday cake and kuehs etc all laid out. It was really heart-warming.

My relatives who gave us presents, hong baos, bought confinement herbs for me for my mom to bring over.

Thanks to the wives here, who gave us a tremendous amt of help. To Steph and Lawrence, your selflessness and readiness to help us out is really appreciated. Thanks for all the time taken to cook for us and helped us out when I was desperately in need of an extra pair of hands. Jolin, Phyllis, Shiyun, Qing Qing - always looking out for me, helping me with the 1st mth celebration, dropping by to keep me company.

And to all those who had visited us, gave us gifts, sent us presents from back home..and anyone else we missed out.. we really appreciate all that we have recieved for BB Lucas. We never fail to tell him often how lucky he is to have everyone love him so much.

Thank you all.

Battle scars..

Two things that can leave a woman feeling depressed after her pregnancy - weight (not) loss and stretchmarks. The battle scars of pregnancy.

Every woman's body will change dramatically after childbirth. Even if you didn't have to go through pushing out the baby but went for a c-section instead like I did, you'll still not spared. I have ugly red stretchmarks which appeared after I gave birth.. I did not religiously apply stretchmark cream while I was preggy because I inspected my tummy often and did not see any stretchmarks at all... until the last few weeks of my pregnancy when some fine lines appeared.

NOw staring at the mirror can really make me depressed. SO hubby has decided to let me invest in a good stretchmark cream which was recommended by my Singapore Gyane. When i went to see her before coming over to the States, she had told me to get this cream called Stri-vectin. She said that she carries this fabulous product in her clinic from the States, but that it was too expensive for most of her patients to buy @ almost SIN$200 per bottle. She says it's THAT GOOD! So she had told me to buy it in the States instead cos it's cheaper.

So now is the time to put on my battle gear! The twins' (Lucas and Olivia) mother - Irene, and myself, we each bought one tube @ SIN$100+ each to try. Expensive investment! BUt I hope it works... 3 times a day for a min of 4 weeks and we're supposed to see results!

Brave Little Lucas!!

You'd think that after going through 10 mths of prgenancy, more than 20 tubes of blood tests and major abdominal surgery, would leave someone feeling that she'd be able to take any kind of pain now.

But today at Lucas' 2 mth well-baby check-up at the hospital, I was the one freaking out when we were told Lucas has to take 4 immunization jabs today. 4!!!!!! Omigosh!

And I told Hubby, erm, I'm staying outside, he can go in with Lucas and accompany him. I don't think I can go through seeing him take the jabs. It's too painful for me to watch and hear him cry.

So Lucas was braver than mummy. Mummy was outside pretending to read a magzine and covering her ears and having goosebumps! He cried abit, then after we held him, he stopped crying le. Brave boy!! And then after that he had 2 cute plasters on his thighs.

Lucas is at a good weight now - 4.4kg. Our boy is growing well. He has never wasted a single bottle of milk, sometimes still cry for more! He's also fussing lesser now. But he has yet to show us his real smile or respond to us when we smile at him. Still cries quite a bit.

Trying my best to do regular updates of videos and photos for everyone to see in fB, especially for our families back home who has never gotten a chance yet to meet our little boy in person. We hope to be able to make a trip back home before he turns 1.

Bathtime~!

Lucas is starting to like bathtime now. He used to cry the entire house down at every bath session (and every diaper changing session). He still does cry sometimes when we bathe him or change his diapers, but its really a vast improvement.

We have good days when he can go thru the entire bath session without even crying at all! :) The minute he hits the warm water in the tub, he's happy le :) Now we have even started shampooing his hair, and he's really good!

His Daddy bathes him most of the time, and I usually leave them alone in the bathroom to let them bond.. Bathtime is their special father-and-son bonding time :)

Will upload some bath videos in FB soon. Meanwhile, Bath pics!

Family shots!

Family shots!! :)

I love this shot the most!

I'm typing away on my brand new Icy white Sony Vaio! Present from Hubby for delivering BB lucas as well as my belated birthday present combined! Thanks Hubbbss!!! :)

Sony Vaio so expensive back in SIN. Buying it here at a far more cheaper price, more worthwhile!

We also got a wireless router for our house (like finally!), as well as a 640GB portable hard disk that Ive been wanting to get for a long time to store Lucas' photos. Now, me and hubby dun have to fight over the one laptop anymore. Each person one laptop now. And I can surf net while watching over BB sleeping in the bedroom. Makes life easier :)

Poop business

We're getting the hang of things and slowly managing colic better.

We stopped giving Lucas the formula specially for colic (The $20-for-1-small-tin) as within the first 24 hrs that we fed him with that, he seems to be more in pain than previously. So much so that we decided to stopped giving him and switch back to Similac for Sensitive Babies. The effect was obvious. He became much better immediately ater we switched back, although still had the gas pains and crying but not as bad.

Its just horrifying that a formula specially for Colic, actually makes the colic WORSE for Lucas.

Lucas has also been only pooping once every 48 hours, and his poop is green! We were told that there's nothing to worry about though. But he's cute when he poops. He will go all quiet and still, putting his hands down by his sides. And then u can see on his facial expression he is concentrating very hard on his pooping. He will make slight soft grunts when trying to pass his poop. And after a while, he goes back to his normal self. And then the smell comes out.. hahah..

Today during bathtime, he suddenly went into "poop mode" just a few seconds before I was gonna take out his diapers (Thank goodness I didn't!). He looked so cute on my lap, trying so hard to concentrate. So I kept quiet, and let him hold my fingers with both his hands while he pooped. And after that I pat his little head and told him "Good boy!"

Mummy is always so proud of you!

Heartwrenching..

They say Colic is actually a harmless condition.

It is harmless to baby because other than his cries of pain, the baby usually is eating well and still growing strong.

The only reprecussions of Colic is that it causes distress to the parents. It is really totally heart-wrenching to watch and hear the baby cry and cry and nothing u can do abt it.

Today, we bought Enfamil's formula specially for Colic. 1 small tin cost us $20 bucks. Gosh! But after giving him 4 feeds of that formula, baby is still crying and squirming in pain, in fact seems to be crying even worse than usual! But that could be his digestive system getting used to the new formula. I hope things improve within the next few feeds.

Bathing him just now was a real battle. Hubby was on afternoon shift so I had to do it alone. He kept crying and squirming in pain, but I had to at least spongebath him so he can sleep better after that. He kept kicking himself off my lap. And half the time was kicking my c-section wound as well. Suddenly, I was crying along with him. It was just so heart-wrenching to watch him.

Im just feeling stressed out by all these things.. lack of sleep, Baby crying, and some issues at home as well that is causing me much frustration. Sometimes just feel so alone.

I hope things get better soon.

Lucas, Jia you!

Colic..

Lucas was not feeling too well on Sunday ngiht. He kept both Hubby and myself up the entire night with his cries of pains. He kept squirming in his cot; after each feed when we try to burp him, he will curl into a ball, then spread his body out straight again as if he's in pain. He lets out cries of pains, his whole face turns red with all the squirming and crying. It was totally heart-wrenching to watch.

We thought that after changing his milk powder, he would be ok. Cos previously when he was drinking the ifrst milk powder, he also had these same reactions.

So we brough him to the hospital and the doctor diagnosed him as having Colic. Colic is a common problem amongst infants. It is brought abt by the immaturity of the baby's digestive systems, causing the baby to have gas pains Here's a web defination of Colic which totally describes what our poor Lucas is going through:

Definition of Colic
Colic consists of recurrent paroxysms of apparent abdominal pain starting at about the second to the sixth week of life and usually ending by four months. These cycles last from three hours a day to 12 to 15 hours a day in severe cases. The child becomes hypertonic, sometimes alternating body posture from contracting into a little ball (thighs flexed up against the abdomen and arms drawn tightly inward), while beet red in coloration, to suddenly stretching out and stiffening almost spastically.

Description of Colic
Infants cry, it is their means of vocal expression. There is, however, a group of infants who are healthy but show irritability, crying, and signs of discomfort to a greater extent than others. These infants have Colic. This is a common problem arising in the first three months. Babies with colic are prone to lengthy bouts of crying which may or may not stop when the baby is picked up.

Causes and Risk Factors of Colic
Colic occurs in 20 to 30 percent of all infants. The cause remains unknown.

Symptoms of Colic
Abdominal distention is common, as are flatus (gas or air in the intestines) and borborygmus (movement of air and fluid in the intestines). Frequently, greenish mucoid stools are passed. The infant sucks with vigor, gulping formula and air; transient relief is achieved, then suddenly the infant is grasped by another episode of apparent gastrocolic cramping and pain, and begins to cry out again. The infant is commonly fretful and inconsolable, and makes piercing cries that wrench parents into despair.

Some infants have spasmodic attacks that last only a few minutes; others appear to be in pain all day. The most common expression of colic however, is evening fussiness after feeding. Infants with colic may have some gastroesophageal reflux but do not have vomiting, diarrhea, persistent abdominal distention or poor growth. The presence of these symptoms should prompt a search for a diagnosis other than colic.

The best treatment for Colic? Lots of love and warmth from us.

Baby with friends!

Pictures of Lucas with his two friends - Mr Hippo and Mr Lion, entertaining him while he's in his car seat on his day out~!

6 weeks

Lucas is 6 weeks old le!

He has put on much weight. Now he's about 4.3kg! At birth he was 2.6! So he really put on quite fast! He loves his milk. He never waste his milk, every single bottle drink to the last drop. Sometimes still cry for more than what we give him too.

It's a good sign that he is feeding well. Except we had to change his milk powder recently to another type for Sensitive babies with fusiness and gassiness. We suspect he's a bit colicky, cos whenever he passes gas or pass motion, he will squirm, turn red in the face, sometimes scream and cry in pain. So when it got worse, we decided to change the powder. So far, 3 days after changing the milk powder, he seems better. Not so much screaming in pain anymore.

We have trained Lucas from Day 1 to stick to a 3-hr feeding schedule. So now he is used to having his milk every 3 hrs on the dot. He's like an alarm clock, usually exactly 3 hrs he will cry and fuss for his milk. Even in the middle of the night, exactly 3 hrs he will cry for his milk.

We also try to put Lucas on a schedule. We have established a night time schedule for him and try to stick to it everyday - Bathtime in the evening, followed by evening feed, then by 9pm put him to bed so that Hubby and I can have some time to oursleves to do other things, get a breather from Baby.

I also try to put him on a schedule in the daytime, according to this very good book tat I read called "The Baby whisperer" which teaches parents to put their babies on a schedule. Usually after his feed, I will play with him a while.. or change his diapers etc.. Then after that put him to nap til his next feed time.. I feel its good to put babies on a routine cos it helps not only the babies, who are creatures of habit, but also helps me as well.

But baby was not very co-operative this week and messed up the schedule cos he refused to sleep in the daytime this week. Never mind, next week will be better! :)

Great weekend :)

It has been a great weekend spent, just the 3 of us, my little family. =)

Saturday, we dropped dad at the airport early in the morning cos he is going to Vegas and San Franciso for 9 days on his own. Then we went for breakfast and we did some shopping after that, walked around boise. I went to Forever 21 and bought new shorts. Oh gosh, I feel so depressed cos I used to be a hip/waist size 27.. but now im like a 29.. cos I haven lost the tummy fats yet. I still look abt 4 mths pregnant lor... and I have about 9kg more to lose... to return to my pre-prgenancy weight... Boohoo....

So i was shopping for new clothes yesterday since my old ones din fit really fit me anymore. We shopped for hours and the best thing is, BB just slept thru the entire time except waking up for feeds and change diapers.. other than that he was quiet.. sleeping from almost 8am when we left the house, til 9pm when we finally got home.

And today, seeing that the weather was so nice.. cool weather with some sun at 22 degrees, we decided to take a walk to the base's department store, abt 20 mins' walk away. So we bundled BB into his stroller and off we went! :)

I always thought having a Baby around means losing the freedom to go out etc.. but so far so good.. BB has been co-operative.. hope this keeps up, so we still can go for long road trips next time. And since BB was quiet.. and there was no one else ard with us, no mothers no fathers etc... it felt like our "Er ren shi jie" again, after such a long time :)

Pictures!

BB all dressed up for his first walk to BX!

BB's stylo milo stroller :P

Our Little family!

Remembered for Life..

For Lucas' first month, I prepared two special gifts for two special people who helped bring Lucas into this world.

1 was for my Gynae Dr Pittard. The other was Colonel Mack, a very motherly lady who was my anasthesologist that day. She was the one who administered the jab into my spine before the op. Col Mack is the one person I will remember for life. She really helped me alot during the op, by making me feel calm, telling me step by step what was happening or what was going to happen throughout the entire op, which put me very much at ease.

She held my hand and stayed by my side when Kelvin went away to look at the baby and I was lying there alone, being stitched up. She was the one who told me "Okay, the baby's coming out now, get ready!" and "Okay, they're gona put your uterus back into you now, you're gonna feel some pressure but dun worry!"

Can u imagine when someone tells u they took something out of your body and they're gonna put it back now, just how frightening it is? But she made me feel so calm and comfortable. And I told her so, I told her I would remember her for life because she helped me thru one of the most frightening experience in my life and she truly made me feel so at ease and made the whole experience less frightening for me. MY ceserean experience was really a breeze , all thanks to her.

So I went to deliver the two gifts but did not manage to catch her, thus I left the present + a thank-you card for her on her table. And I recieved this mail from her thru Kelvin's work email yesterday. It was just as nice to recieve such a nice email from her in return:

Kelvin,

I would like to thank you and Louise for the Easter gift and especially forthe thank you note.

Please tell Louise for me that I really appreciate her lovely note. It isv ery satisfying for us to know that we make a difference during our mothersbirthing experience. We seldom get notes, hers was very thoughtful andheartwarming. I am going to put it in my scrapbook. I am sorry I was notin my office when she came by.

It was a pleasure meeting you both and being able to share in the birth ofyour baby. I hope little Lucas is doing well.

Thank you again for your thoughtfulness.

BONNIE L. MACK, Lt Col, USAF, NC
366 MSGS
90 Hope Drive
Mt Home AFB, ID 83648

Spring is here!

It is now Spring time in Mountain Home AFB. Spring's really beautiful.. cool weather.. wind's not too chilly. And to our delight, we have a really beautiful cherry blossom tree right at our front lawn, blooming beautiful pink flowers!! Dun have to go to Japan to see Cherry blossoms, we have one right outside our door step!

Today, it was 21 degrees in the late afternoon so we took BB out of the house to take photos and to breathe some nice fresh air. Baby seems to enjoy the cool weather too!

Our very own Cherry blossom tree!

Lucas & Grandpa

Lucas & Fat Mummy

Lucas and Papa Saw

Exactly how Hubby and I feel after almost 1 week of being on our own..

SLEEPY!!!

First night..

I surivived the first night on our own without Mommy around to help us.

Stephanie was so kind as to offer to cook for us for the next few days, since I'm still on confinement.. She cooked lunch and dinner for us and her cooking was as usual, yummy!

We sent Mom off at the airport at abt 7am in the morning then headed home. Came back, Hubby and i took shifts to take care of BB. I slept 2 hrs, from 9-11am, hubby slept for a couple of hrs after that. Then we din manage to sleep for the rest of the day cos had to take care of BB together.

Had dinner with Stephanie, then, abt 10.30pm I went to rest with Baby. Baby din want to sleep.. so Hubby carried him out of the room, I think. And then I woke up at 1am to hear Hubby having problems chaning baby's diapers.. he was screaming and wailing away. But Hubby told me to go back to sleep.

Then when I woke up next at 3.30am.. and took care of Baby all the way until now.. which is 11.30am. Baby would sleep for an hr, then wake up cry, then I will have to either feed him or pat him, and then put him back to sleep again, and then the next hour he would cry again.. so you can imagine just how much sleep I had gotten the past 7 hrs... NOt much at all.

And then in between I still have to wash clothes, change baby's diapers and sterilise the bottles.. Its really not easy to do all these with your eyes half opened. I expected MOtherhood to be tough, but I never knew it to be THIS tough. Especially since BB is a lil more fussy.

Nevertheless, Im gonna hang in there...!

Going Home..

Mommy is going home tomorrow morning!!! Boohoo!!

Mom and I had our ups and downs.. there were certain things about taking of Baby that we might not have agreed on during this one month.. but regardless, my mommy was a super duper big great help and we would not have surivied this period without her... Now I have to go back to doing all the cooking again! Bleah.

Wonder if Mommy will miss Lucas when she goes back? She's like so attached to him already.. I'm sure she's gonna be sad when she goes back.. Hopefully she will come back again in the near future to visit him.

Mom cooked up a storm for Lucas' 1 mth celebration yesterday. Stephanie also helped us to cook a couple of dishes, and Shiyun and Jolin also helped us to prepere some of the food. These 3 ladies helped us alot during this one week of preps, Thank you Babes!! :)

Lucas, the Star of the party, slept right through the entire event!!! What a party pooper la he.. and then just when the final guests were about to leave, he finally opened his eyes! Hehe..the notti little boy.. always doing this.. even the first few days when we came back from the hospital, when people came to visit us, he also did the same thing; when guests were ard, he did not want to open his eyes, only when they were abt to leave, he woke up. This little boy really got character!

Lucas is geting slightly better at bathtime. He still pretty much dislikes being naked, but now he doesnt cry so much anymore at bath time. Once we put him into the tub filled with warm water.. he will quietly enjoy as we splash water on him :) He can even sit in the tub and lean against the backrest liao.. what a clever little boy! Keep it up, Lucas! :) Mummy and Daddy are so proud of you!

The Big Day!

Today is Lucas' Big Day!

The day to show him to the rest of the world!

You're the star today, Baby!

Preps for BB Lucas' First month Celebration

It was a long tiring week for all of us.

We're counting down 7 days to my Mom going back to Singapore. We wouldn't have survived these 3 weeks without her. How are we gonna survive the next 1.7 years with Baby on our own????

Lucas has been getting crankier and crankier ever since we brought him to the hospital's Urgent Care on Thurs night. He had raspy breathing, heavy chest, and it seemed like his breathing was very noisy and I was worried. We brought him into Urgent Care when Hubby came back from work at 1am. When the nurse and doc attended to Lucas, we had to strip him naked .. and he wailed and wailed and screamed. He was so traumatised at being naked. I guess it reminded him of the time he was pulled out from the warm womb and into the bright, cold operating theatre and being priced and poked and touched by the surgeons and midwives.

Ever since coming back from the hospital, he would cry and cry at every little thing. He still hasn't been sleeping well at night, waking us up every 2-3 hrs with his cries.. When he's awake, he wouldn't stop crying unless one of us picks him up and holds him close to us. The minute we fiddle with his clothes to change his diapers, he would start crying even before we unbutton him. Even passing him from one person to another, i.e passing him from my arms to my mom's, he would cry.

He still feels very insecure...We would have to hold him more and cuddle him more and try to rid him of his phobia slowly.

Mom is going back next Tuesday. So we're holding Lucas' full month celebration this Sunday, before mom goes back. I'm lucky to have some of the wives here help us out with it.. They're gonna help to dye the red eggs, bake nice cookies, wrap easter chocolates etc to give out to our friends here. We're also gonna cook up a buffet spread for the party.

And amidst all the hustle and bustle of looking after Lucas and preparing for his First month party, I almost forgot my birthday is this Friday. It seems like my birthday is no longer impt anymorehaha.. guess your priorities change when u become a mother. There's so many other things to worry abt. Plus, its my confinement still, so not that I can really celebrate it by going out or something.

The only thing on my mind now is how to take care of Baby when mom is gone.. Hubby is on leave the week that Mom goes off, because my right hand still hurts and I can't manage BB on my own. Hubby will have to stand in for a few days til my Dad arrives on 10 April.

Oh, btw, Doc says Lucas is fine. Afetr all that wailing he did in the hospital, Lucas didn't seem like he was having any more raspy breathing cos he wailed his lungs and airways open.

The 2 most important Men in my life..

15 days old!

Lucas is 15 days old today.

I finally got down to bathing Lucas today. Bathing him is a real challenge. He really doesn't like bath time, and he used to wail the entire house down.

My right hand was injuried when they stick the IV drip into my wrist for 48 hrs when I gave birth in the hospital. I wondered why they stick it into my wrist, of all places! I tot IV drips either went into the top of ur hand, just below your fingers, or at the elbow joints, where they usually draw blood from. My right hand had hurt ever since the day they plucked the needle out. And it hurts quite alot whenever I have to carry Baby, lift him out of the cot etc.. I cant even carry a flask of water with my right hand nor perform a simple act of just brushing my teeth, without it hurting. Thus bathing Lucas, and holding him in the bathtub is painful for me.

Im just worried it might be a permanent damage to my nerve or something. Only time will tell if it is.

Anyway, that aside, I bathed him for the first time today. He din really cry much.. that was a good sign. He's getting used to the water. Cant say the same for the changing of diapers though. Daddy Saw always kenna Lucas 'wet bullets' whenever he tries to change his diapers. Fountain of blessings will rise and hit Daddy Saw. Thats why they say, all male babies without diapers onshould always be considered Armed and Dangerous.

After Bath Pics!

After bathing him, putting 'Ruyi Oil' for him to rid the wind in the stomach.

Covering him with towel to make him feel warm. Ceserean babies are scared of the cold.. cos they were actually happily swimming in mummy's warm belly and suddenly a hand went in and grabbed them out.. thus Lucas has a phobia for the cold.. probably reminds him of the trauma he went through in the OT.

Playing with him and distracting him so he wouldn't cry..

Wearing his little botties for him..

#1 property of Mom! Daddy Saw demoted to #2 le! :P