Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The magic of time

Happy times really go by fast.  My 3 months of maternity leave is quickly coming to an end.  I don't know if I am ready but I will be returning to work full-time beginning Oct 20.  By then, Lucas will be 18 month old while Saria will be 3 months old.  It feels just like yesterday that I delivered Saria at Kaiser SF.  Here's how much she has changed over 3 months:


Today, Lucas followed his usual routine of wandering around the house and exploring everything remotely interesting.  He dragged baby Saria's infant carseat around and picked up her newborn hat, thinking it was a toy.  As he fiddled around with his "new toy", I suddenly got curious and wondered if he could still fit into that hat.  And haha, here's the answer:


The hat was really really snug and I could barely keep it on for more than a few seconds.  It came off the moment after I snapped the photo.  Not sure if Lucas realized his head was too big for that hat, and his body was too big for the infant carseat.  But if he did, it could well be his first lesson of life -- There's no turning back in time.    

As for mama, I am sure I will miss this wonderful time staying home with my babies.  So guess what, I better start planning my 6 weeks of baby bonding leave.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Lucas's first potty experience...

It's a little early at 17 months but we decided to let Nanny May start potty training Lucas.  Our goal for now is simple -- Have Lucas get into the routine of sitting on the potty at specific times of the day, like after a meal.  Then at some point when he is ready, he will hopefully pee or poo into the potty.

Last night, we took the froggy potty out and Lucas was extremely interested in the "new toy".  He dragged it along with him in the living room and at one point even sat on it.  Wow, what a wonderful start!

Today marks the official first day of potty training.  But regretfully, I have to declare it a failure as besides some tears, nothing came out of Lucas.

Oh well, it's nothing surprising.  Like learning to bike, it will take many more days of trying (and failing).  But I know very soon I will be able to take a picture with Lucas smiling proudly at the camera, showing me his "success".  Until then...

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Sick child, well child

It's been a while since this blog was updated as the Lum household was busy battling with colds.  We are all finally recovered, thank God!  But looking back, it was two long miserable weeks for everyone!

It all started with Lucas having a runny nose.  Then Ryan began to feel a sore throat, followed by me getting the same and finally, Saria breathing with a congested nose.  It is not fun to be sick.  But as a parent, I now realize nothing is worst than when the kids are sick at the same time.  For us adults, we strive to rest up and drink fluids to get better.  But for kids, they tend to do the opposite --  They have trouble falling and staying asleep, and they refuse all food and water.  Lucas, for example, would only doze off momentarily during the day when he felt extremely tired. It was perhaps the congestion making him uncomfortable so he fought every attempt of us trying to put him down for a nap.  He would not eat anything other than small bites of fruits and sips of water. So his tummy disappeared within a few days.  If we tried to force anything onto him, the end result would be ugly -- An unconsolable toddler crying hysterically and inexorably.  At night, while he could sleep a bit longer he would wake up several times crying, needing comfort and company which meant no sleep for daddy and mommy.  So for more than a week, Ryan and I were dragging our sick bodies to attend to our sick kids, day and night.  Nanny May was of tremendous help during the day, though it was also impossible for her to deal with two needy children alone.  So she and I tagged team during the day, while Ryan and I shared the load at night.  Comparing that with night feedings, waking up just 2 to 3 times to feed and fall right back to sleep feels so much easier all of a sudden. 

After 2 weeks of couping up in the house, Lucas and Saria finally recovered.  Lucas went back to his usual naughty self and I was so glad to see him smiling, running/climbing everywhere and eating like a piggy again.  I decided to bring him out for some fresh air since the weather warmed up a bit that week.  I brought him to Ocean Beach for the first time and boy was the bugger ecstatic seeing so much sand!  Not only did he dig his hands in to play with it, he also dove into it and had his first taste of Ocean Beach sand.



As for Saria, she had her 2 month appointment with Dr. Lee a week ago.  Without further adieu, here are her latest statistics:
Weight11 lb 12.5 oz (74%)
Height1' 9.85" (28%)  note: The nurse probably made a mistake as this didn't make any sense at all.
Head Circumference39.4 cm (67%)

Poor girl also had her first 3 shots, though luckily she did not cry as loud as I thought she would.  All in all, not a bad progress considering she was only around 30th percentile across the board at birth.  At this rate of eating and sleeping though, I suspect she could well beat Lucas's record by 4 months.  We'll see.

Finally, before I forget, here're 2 snaps of my little girl's first real smile @ 8 weeks.  She is such a darling when not screaming and crying bloody murder, hehe!