Lucas' 3rd year

You never fail to make us laugh with your funny antics.

Preschool has been great for you.You can write your full name and count to 100 before 3 years old.

But coloring and drawing isn't one of your best skills yet.

You still love all things numbers, shapes and alphabets. And PlayDoh and Kinetic sand.

You enjoy going to school especially on the days that you are the Calendar helper or the Weather person or the Leader.

We still struggle with your eating habits. It is chicken tenders/nuggets every day. And occasional fried okra or fried fish. And seaweed and black sesame paste. You quit eating fried shrimp and applesauce. Oh how I wish you would try rice and cereal, and vege! But you would at least eat cake and icing now!

And we found out you could read! We just happened to hear you reading everything out loud one day so I don't know when you actually started reading. You would just read all the signs you see at the grocery store, and store fronts, lyrics to your favorite songs, and sometimes you would read over our shoulders when we are trying to read our book. And now that you can read, you can also change channels on the TV and have full control of the remote. Your favorite channel is NickJr. You know all the names of every cartoon character.

And you also remember every name and person that come across your path. Even the kids you met briefly at Chick-Fil-A. You never forget a name or a face.

You are also our grocery list maker, because you remember all the things we need. I found a paper with your writing "Eggs, Bread, Milk" in my purse one day

Dada is now Daddy. MahMo is now MawMaw. Mommy is still Mommy, but some times you will try a Mom or Bernadette when you are trying to get my attention.

Your 3rd birthday cake you wanted an elephant cake so Mommy made you one.

We went for our annual beach vacation with the family and you had a blast with your cousins. Not a fan of sunblock, and not afraid of the water at all.

It is time to sign you up for swim lessons.

You enjoyed PorPor and Kung Kung's visit and was sad when they left after 5 months. Then we have 6 Yee and Yat Onn come to visit for 2 weeks. You had lots of fun on the mountains with them and at the beach again. Again, you were really sad when they left.

Lucas' 2nd year

You are obsessed with all electronic devices. Every evening you demand for the phone or iPad so you could call your grandparents, over and over again. You will say 'papa pa dette", which I think means Dette's papa.
Seeing a little 18 month old so proficient with the phone or tablet is quite amazing. You just know what to click and swipe your little fingers. You even showed your mama how to get hidden emoticons on the tango app that I never even knew existed! And you love watching videos of yourself over and over again, giggling and imitating yourself.

In September, we went to the Apple festival in Hendersonville. Dada had a gig. You were eating your vege chips. But you picked out all the colors and left the red ones behind.

September 2 was your first day in playschool. Only twice a week for 4 hours. You cried. And when they moved you to the playroom or playground, you cried again. Perhaps you were afraid your family wouldn't be able to find you if you moved.

The First Year

Dear Son,

You have brought us a year of joy, excitement and filled our hearts with love.

It was the biggest anticipation waiting for your birth. And you decided to show up late. 12 days late. And mummy’s belly got bigger and bigger. The 24 hours leading to your birth was an excruciating wait and when the doctor finally pulled you out and we heard your loud cry, that was the best moment in our lives. You were perfect in every way.

Your eyes were opened the moment you were born and your eyes were bright and never missed a thing. They still are. They tell us all babies slept for 10 hours. But not you my dear son. You were awake every hour for your feeding and loved to be held in our arms. In fact, that was the only time you slept. You did not like to be wrapped up and liked your arms and legs free. And those strong legs of yours could really kick. You were also very tall. 21 inches at birth. And 9 pounds.

You had both sets of grandparents wrapped around your little finger. You loved talking (blabbering) to them especially to Kung Kung every morning.

Your first words were Baba, Mama, Dada, La, Mek.. You would say Ba (for bus) each time the school bus came by. Baba (for your milk bottle), Ah Mer (for Summer the doggie) and Ber (for bear). You loved Aspen the Owl that Godma Fiona gave you. And you went to sleep each night with your Goodnight Moon Bunny Lovey (you named him Tata). We would read Goodnight Moon together every night.. over and over again.

And Flashcards. You were curious why the circle, orange and ball all looked alike but were named differently. It was always a joy to see how your little mind worked.

Your laughter is probably the best. That little chuckle warms my heart and the way you raise your eyebrows is too cute. Everyone says you looked like a little man the minute you were born.

You first rolled over at 10 weeks old. Sat up at 5 months. And took your first steps on November 8 – around 11.5 months old.

You will eat anything pureed but will gag at just about anything not pureed or textured, but you will eat puffs, rice crackers and saltine crackers and even a couple of potato chips. So I think we have to work on this eating activity with you some.

The zoo was your first roadtrip adventure with your cousins, grandparents and Aunt. And your first weeklong vacation without Mommy and Daddy was to the Tennessee mountains and to Dollywood.

We went to the beach this summer. You enjoyed the early morning walks with Mommy by the beach and being carried in the Ergo. The cousins adored you and always wanted to play with you. But you did not want your feet in the sand, nor in the water.

You had the little cyst on your ear removed on September 20. Mommy could not sleep all night even though it was just a little surgery. You were so brave going in. But was not happy after the surgery. With all the tubes sticking into you, that is not fun at all.

Por Por got to come back for a 5 months visit to spend time with you watching you grow.

You love watching other children play. And always gave a smile to strangers at the grocery store or in restaurants. You laughed at the employee in Costco who was arranging meat in the freezer.

When we say “love love”, you will touch your forehead to ours and you give the best hugs.

You love looking at yourself in the mirror. And you think the snot sucker is funny. You will watch videos of yourself laughing over and over again and burst into uncontrollable giggles each time. Cutest thing ever.

Riding in the red wagon is one of your favorite activities with your Paw Paw. Paw Paw also made you a swing and you enjoyed it so much, even in the cold.

For Halloween, you were supposed to be a giraffe but you had a fit when we put the costume on you so you went as Calvin and Hobbes and rode in your red wagon.

On your first birthday, Mommy planned a cupcake themed party with family and our friends, The Austins. We tried to get you to taste your very first cake but you would not even touch it. A poke was all we got from you. And that is okay.

We look forward to many more years with you.

I love you, son.

Baby Shower

Sophie and Susan hosted our baby shower yesterday. The day before, a group of girls at work organized a little shower just amongst six girls. And my department will organize one at work next month. I feel loved! Baby is lucky boy.

The Home Stretch

29 weeks! We have 11 weeks to go. We can do this baby!

But first I have to stop scratching. Two days ago, I came down with PUPPP (Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy). They say it is a common rash in pregnancy but it is driving me crazy. The itch is beyond imagination!! I need mittens. It started on the belly. Went to my neck and now my hands are on fire.
I called up the clinic nurse last night and she told me to go to the emergency room. But I did not. Because they will just put me on steroids and I'd rather not go that route.

After googling about this for hours, I have decided to try taking dandelion root capsules. Many pregnant mammas and midwives swear by this. So we'll see. I am also applying calamine lotion, hydrocortisone cream and fresh aloe.

Just when I thought I was so over with the shingles, now this. (I had the shingles on Friday, July 13)

Baby has been very entertaining with all his little kicks and punches. And occasional hiccups. Tho I still have a hard time telling the difference between a hiccup and his rhythmic kick. He "moves like jagger" when  Maroon 5 is playing. And is soothed by Debussy and Mozart. And dislikes Adele.
He wakes me up at 4am every morning and pretty much sleeps all afternoon.

The foot that kicks and dances

He should be 2.5lbs now and about the size of a butternut squash. People are still asking if I am carrying twins. Nope, just one lovable butternut squash swimming in lots of fluid.

Pregnancy blahs

I have a ton of things to do on my list to prepare for baby's arrival.
We are turning my craft room into a makeshift nursery, and eventually convert the guest room into a toddler room.
The Expedit shelves and desk from Ikea will make a great changing table. So all we need is a crib and a chest of drawers.
But before all that can come into place, I have six year's worth of crafting goodness that needs to be put away some where. Where? I don't know. So it's all sitting in the middle of the room while I scratch my head in vain.

And then there are the unsolicited comments on my size. I'm always getting the 'Wow, you are SO big!' or "Wow, you are really showing!" and someone jokingly(or not) said to me last week, "Are you sure you are not 11 month's pregnant?". I try to laugh it off instead of saying "Yes I am SO big because I have too much amniotic fluid and am risk of losing my baby because he might be born too early, or they might accidentally poke him with the needle while doing an amniocentesis"

And  then there's people touching, poking and patting my belly. This is really awkward especially when it's people I hardly know. Perhaps I should poke their stomach back in response.
Being pregnant does not mean I became public property.

As if I'm not already annoyed because of how uncomfortable I am!

I also like telling people "Are you trying to tell me I am fat?" when they ask me how far along I am, just to see their response.

I am not even going to start on heartburn, back pain, swollen feet, constipation, lack of sleep, and moodiness. You can already tell that I am moody right now.

Why I don't look forward to these monthly visits

So each time I come home from a doctor's visit, I get more disheartening news.
It seems that I am measuring too big at my stage and they are sending me back for another ultrasound next month to measure my amniotic fluid level, and possibly talk me into doing an amniocentesis to draw out some fluid to prevent pre-term labor. And have a diagnostic test for down's syndrome.

On the bright side, I get to see my baby again on screen.

18 weeks + 1 day

We had our second ultrasound today. It was a very detailed scan with measurements of everything taken.
This is when we get to find out the sex of the baby too.

We think it is a boy. But the doctor says he cannot confirm that yet as the umbilical cord was blocking the view. But he says he thinks he saw a scrotum so chances are that it is a boy.

Anyway, he got me all worried when he told me he could not see the stomach (because the baby did not swallow any fluid), which could mean the esophagus is not connected or there may be a leak somewhere, or some sort of birth defect.
I will go back next week for another ultrasound. Baby boy, you better start drinking some fluid and stop freaking your mommy out!
I also have a lot of amniotic fluid. I don't know if that's related to the esophagus problem. The more I read, the more worried I get. So I will stay away from the internet for now.

I told myself I will not be posting any ultrasound photos on Facebook.  So on the blog it goes.
Too bad we didn't get that pic of baby with his right hand pointing upwards saying "number one!". I thought that was cute.

Side profile

Baby loves sucking his left thumb

16 weeks 4 days

Major stabbing pains on my left glute area today.
Pain like I have never experienced before. It happens when I stand or try to walk. And it shoots bolts of spasms to leave me immobile for a few seconds, making my left leg go limp.

I laid on the kitchen floor and cried. Waiting for the spasms to go away. Cat saw me, sniffed and got worried and started howling in Jason's office like he was trying to get help. I guess we need to teach him how to use the speed dial.

I've been using an ice pack on that area every hour. It seems to help stop the spasms. Now it's just the muscle -like cramp. And I have a slight limp when I walk. I can live with this.

Oh and Tylenol doesn't work.

24 weeks more to go. I can do this. I must!

13 weeks 1 day

We had our first ultrasound today.
Since we have a history of twins on both sides of the family, we were anticipating the nurse to tell us that we're having twins. She told us "I see just one baby". 

The baby is about the size of a medium shrimp.

This is starting to feel real.

Sucking his/her thumb

One little lentil

Today, I found out I have a lentil growing in me.

I couldn't believe it. The first test kit had expired so I thought, well, maybe it's giving me a false positive. So I took the test two more times. (I went out and bought different brands). Still positive.
The next day, I went out and bought some diapers, came home, handed the diapers to Jason and said "Start practicing".

He was pleasantly shocked too. I think it took him two days to get over the shock. Then he started ordering books for himself to read.

This has been a five year plus project for us. So it feels like a miracle.

Our lives are about to change.