Settling Down

It is almost a week now that we are home. I must say our jet lag is almost gone. Lucas's routine and sleeping time is back to normal. Dominic and myself are getting there. We have finally unpacked and store away some of Lucas's out grown things to make space. We stored away Lucas's out grown clothes (it all came out to be 3 big bags), his bouncer and infant car seat. The house is filled with his toys, playpen etc scattered everywhere. My brother came to visit last weekend and the his first comment was 'You need a bigger house'. At times, the house looks really messy. Well, we don't get many visitor, so it is okay.
I have been sending Lucas to his grandparents for 3 days. Each visit lasted 2-3 hours. The first day, he cried after 1 1/2 hour. The second and third day were fine. The grandparents were very proud and said he was such a good boy. We need to get him used to seeing other people besides both of us.
I had a phone job interview today. Thought it was okay, I did not ace all the questions but managed to impressed them on 2-3 questions. Will know the outcome next week. This is job mainly working on a 'virtual' environment ...whatever it means - working from home??

Nursing Jet Lag

On the first day, our time system is all fused up. Lucas slept at 4pm (all M'sian time) and woke up at 3.30am! I slept at 7.30pm and have to wake up when Lucas wakes up. Dominic was up at 4am. We looked at each other and wondering what do to with Lucas. It is too early for anything. By 5am, we already had our breakfast. That was the earliest breakfast we ever had.
And when it comes to feeding, I am still lost. It took me a minute to recall his last feed and if I should be giving him milk or solid. And today is Lucas first time rejecting his porridge. Wondering if he does not like the fish (I don't even remember what fish did I buy this morning) or the spinach (usually it is brocolli) or both. Will have to try again tomorrow with the chicken. He is asleep by 5pm today. Let's see what time will he get up tomorrow.

Home Sweet Home

It was a mixed feeling leaving LA; sad to leave and at the same time happy to be going home. We knew from the start that LA stint is only temporary and we tried our best to make full use of our stay. And sure we did. We did so much that we fell like we have been in LA for a year.
The journey was good. Lucas slept for about 9-10 hours in the 20 hours flight. That was a great relief. We caught some sleep and a movie too. Baggage were not an issue too. We did not exceed the weight allowance and the customs did not give us any trouble in KL.
When we first get into the house, it was nice to see how Lucas reacted. He enjoyed his toys like he never have them before. He doesn't remember his bed or room. Look around for a few good minutes until he is satisfied. Forgot all about his bath equipment and changing table he had here. Basically, it is a brand new place for him to explore.
With the 15 hours time difference, even I am confused. It is like should he has his solid or milk? should he go to sleep or stay awake? He has been sleeping since 4pm here (that's 1am LA time) and I have no idea if he is napping or is that his 12 hours sleep.
Guess I better get some sleep too (it's 7pm here, that's 4am LA). Else, I will have difficulty staying awake when he wakes up.

Pack, pack and pack

It is the most dreadful time of any journey..packing especially with baby. We came with 3 check-in baggage, and we are leaving with 5 check-in baggage!! The addition are Lucas's car seat, and a bag with our shopping accumulated during our stay here. I am still wondering how did we accumulate so much during 4 months stay here. We hardly bought anything for ourselves except Lucas. Yes, blame it all on Lucas...haha
I am almost done with 2 baggage. Aim to finish another 2 tomorrow. And 1 on the last day. The saddest thing about this packing is we have to throw away so many things, despite giving away Lucas's outgrown clothes. All the unfinished food in the kitchen will have to go to the dustbin - olive oil, garlic, onions, bread etc...They are people without enough food and here we are throwing away food. We should have plan this better.

Lucas bids farewell to his playgroup

Today is a happy and sad day. It is Lucas's last time at his playgroup. The mommies throw Lucas a going away party and it is also Morgan's first birthday on Tuesday. We had food, cakes, balloons and lots of fun.

Dominic and I have been discussing this for sometime now. When we get back, we need to find activities and friends for Lucas. Every morning, we took Lucas for a walk to the apartment lobby to collect our newspaper. On the way, the apartment maintenance workers will greet him, he will point to the pool, fountain, flowers, and smile to the apartment manager's dog. In KL, newspaper is delivered to our doorstep.

No more playgroup, and no more kiddie swing. One of the first thing we need to do is find a park with kiddie swing! Then see if we can start a playgroup or get invited to one by friends.

No more beach and sand on weekend. Nice beaches in KL are a few hours drive and cannot be done on a day trip.

No more leisure walk. KL is always hot and humid. It is very unpleasant to put him on the stroller for a leisure walk.

It is really amazing during our short stay here, we get to meet so many nice people. We should thank Lucas for bringing friends to us. Good job Lucas.

Hmm..now we really have to think hard what to do with his time.

Last Week

Last weekend was our last weekend in LA. Dominic was off on Friday and we took the opportunity to do last minute activities. We went shopping on Friday..mostly Lucas's items and gifts. Bought him some toys and clothes. I am going to miss children shopping here. The clothes are adult looking (not necessary cartoon all over the place) yet so cute, and toy varieties are plentiful. Saturday was a long day. We went to Irvine, an hour drive from here to visit friends, Yee Hooi and Seng Kee. We intended to stay until 6 pm but instead got home at 11pm. It was a good trip. Went to Corona Del Mar (a beach) and ate very good Chinese noodles, and more importantly catching up. Sunday was spent at Long Beach Aquarium. Went with Isis, Maricel, Cymbie, Anastasia, Azan and Phil. I was a bit skeptical at first if Lucas is going to like it as he did not like Getty Museum. Lucas loved it. He was all excited and did not want to sit on his stroller. He wanted to be carried to get better view, and managed to stay awake for the whole outing despite being tired from Saturday's trip. Glad we did it.

Job Search Again..

My job search has resumed. Sent my CV for a few headhunters but nothing materialize yet. It is either the job requires travelling, which I tried to avoid as I have Lucas now, or the pay it too low. Let see what works out. When I told Dominic about my job search, it will usually ends with two options:
Option 1:
Me: If I don't get a job, you will have to bring home the bread and butter.
Dom: Bread and butter is not a problem, just no caviar or lobster or US steak everyday.
Me: Bread and butter everyday is boring. Must have some varieties like vege and meat.
Conclusion: No problem if he is the sole bread winner, just need to be frugal.

Option 2:
Dom: You sure you want to go back to work? Looked at this messed up kid (some misbehaved kid we encountered). You want caviar or lobster or US steak or a messed up Lucas?
Me: We make sure he doesn't grow up to be messed up.
Conclusion: Trying to make me feel guilty.

Lucas at birth, 4 days old, 5 weeks old, 3 months old

Lucas was 2.82 kg (6 lbs +) when he was born. Looks like the okay size to be in.

We, being the first time parents, under-fed him during his first week. He lost 18% of his birth weight in the first week, where most babies lost 10% only. He looks like an old man in his bath, with the wrinkles on his forehead.

Then on the end of first month, we must have over-fed him. He ballooned to about 4kg (9 lbs).

By his third month, he lost most of his hair!

Talk about fluctuation, just look at the new-borns!

Cheerios, Green Peas and San Diego

We had some relatives over and drove to San Diego for the weekend. I always thought San Diego's only attraction is Sea World. How wrong was I! It is a big city and has numerous interesting attractions. One need to spend a few days to see San Diego. We spent a night there and managed to see quite a fair bit. Went to the Balboa Park (not the world famous zoo though), Old Town, Coronado, and Embarcado. Not bad considering there were 6 of us and a baby.
Lucas had to eat commercial baby food. I got him new flavours - turkey, vegetable and cereal; green peas and rice cereal. The turkey was fine but the green peas sure reacted. He farted the whole night. I guessed that must be the green pea's work! He also ate non-stop. When we sat down to have our meal, he had to have something to eat too. I gave him Cheerios and he was gulping them. That was like an hour non-stop eating cheerios. He has learned to feed himself. He can pick up food using his thumb and index finger and put them in his mouth. Gone were the days where he pulled my hand to ask for food. Now, he just helped himself until the cheerios on this tray is finished.
It was quite hot in San Diego. On the second day, we walked along the bay and Lucas has a mild 'California tan'. When we got home, his body was feeling warm but luckily it was not high temperature. Must be too much sun. With the fart, warm body and excitement, it took us till midnight to put him to bed!

Clingy

Since I am the primary care-taker of Lucas, he has been extremely clingy to me. He must be able to see me at all times..never mind if I don't carry him. When I am in the bathroom, we will knock the bathroom door. When I am in the kitchen, he will crawl there and hang on to my leg. When he doesn't see me, he will crawl around the house looking for me. I have a lists of to-dos when we get back to KL:

- childproof the house!

- Send him to the grandparents more often. He needs to socialize more, and it is good for him to be close to his grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins.

- take him out more often to playground, outing.

- potty train him.

- train him to fall asleep on his own. Right now either me or Dominic has to accompany him until he falls asleep.

Lucas is 10 months old

We desperately wanted to weigh Lucas as he was last weighed in May at 18lbs (8.2kg). We have no weighing scale in our apartment here, we had to go to Target to 'borrow' the scale. He is now 20lbs (9 kg), but he definitely feels heavier. The growth looks marginal, but he is eating well. We are not too worry at the moment. Our next mission is to 'borrow' measuring tape from a shop, if we find any.
Lucas has his adventure in various food now. He likes cheese (especially mozzarella), peach (he used to refuse to open his mouth for peach), grapes, and strawberry.
He has yet to stand on his own and walk. He has been crawling since he was six and a half month but no sign of walking yet. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise - easier to keep an eye on him.
Lucas still enjoys swimming. Dominic is teaching him is to blow bubble in the water. He has been drinking lots of pool water. And he does not like to sit on his ducky float anymore...not exciting enough.

Sleeping Well

My sister called yesterday, and after chatting for a while, she suddenly asked:
Sis: Why it is so quiet? Is Lucas sleeping?
Me: Yes.
Sis: What time it is?
Me: 8.30pm.
Sis: You mean Lucas will sleep until tomorrow morning?
Me: Ya. He will wake up between 7.30am to 8am.
Sis: No food for 11 - 12 hours?
Me: No.
Sis: Wow...is that why he is fat? Sleep so much.
Me: Urg...

Yes, Lucas sleeps quite well. He sleeps 11-12 hours at night (occasionally he cries in the middle of the night - dreaming) and naps 3 times in the daytime ranging 45 mins to 1 hour each nap.The difficult part is putting him to sleep!
And just as we said this, he woke up twice yesterday night!!