Lucas's Lip Sucking Sound

Nobody taught Lucas how to make that sound but he does it whenever he wants milk from mommy.


Or maybe he wanna befriend with girl across my block??

Mechanical Keyboards

After contemplating for a long time, I finally got myself a mechanical keyboard. What the hell is that?? Well it's like going back to the old PC days when each keys under the keyboard has a key switch.

So what difference does it make? I was been told it suppose to improve the typing feel, since you do not need to "bottom out" each key to register them, allowing your fingers to "dance" while typing. I'm still getting use to it but it does feel better to type on. Maybe it just physiological. Maybe it will make me type and blog more.

Seems like the only readily available key switches are made by this German company call Cherry. There are a number of switches available from them, colour-named as blue, brown, black, red, etc. Each switch has it's own characteristically like clicky/non clicky (think typewriter sound), tactile/non tactile, and the force need to actuate (register the key).

This Mechanical Keyboard Guide contains very useful information about mechanical keyboards and the VR-Forum has a easy to understand table to help you decide which switch is suitable for you. However the best way to know which to get is to actually try out the keyboards with different switches.

The other really cool thing about mechanical keyboards is that you can change the individual keycaps and customise the way you want your keyboard to look. Of course not as power (or over!) the Optimus Maximus keyboard but good enough for me to have some fun spicing up the dull keyboard. Below is my first. :)

Daddy Bloggers Get Together Organised by Julia Gabriel Centre

I got a surprised facebook friend's request recently from my university's course-mate's sister. It's surprising because we haven't kept in touch since year 2000 when she went to visit her sister in Sydney.

Actually she found me by chance as she was looking to invite daddies who blogs about parenting to a Daddy Bloggers Get Together organised by Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning. I said yes but didn't really know what to expect as I have never been to such get togethers before. I even had thoughts that it was for Julie Gabriel to promote their services since their principal director Fiona Walker will be there.

It turned out to be a great, informal and very relaxed sharing session about parenting. Andy (Sengkangbabies), Kelvin (Daddy NiVleK) and Pete (Aussie Pete) were the other bloggers who attended and together with Fiona and William from Julie Gabriel, we talked about a number of things from reading (to children) to sneaky kids who will melt your hearts (just before they get punished).

I picked up a number of useful tips and insights from the night. Here are some of them:
- Reading to your child is important, even when they can read on their own. Its a different skill set to read and to listen and often, reading to them allows them to enjoy the story more and let their imagination run while they listen to you read.

William's tip: Continue to read till they don't want you to read to them anymore. NLB has been running a program call 10,000 & More Fathers Reading and this year marks the 5th anniversary.

- Jealousy among siblings are quite common and Andy's experience is that it affects all four of his kids, usually at different periods.

Andy's tip: Explain the privileges of being older or bigger and to empower the older kid with responsibilities so he/she feels important.

- Raising a bilingual is not easy. I find it hard to consistently speak Mandarin to Xavier, even though I came from a Mandarin speaking family. Xavier only replies in English and after a few sentences, I would unknowingly reply back in English too.

Fiona says it takes a whole lot of persistency and the success stories she sees usually involves one parent speaking to the child solely in one language and the other speaking in a second language.   

Fiona's tip: Set a specific time each day (e.g. dinner time) where we would only converse in the particular language.

I totally enjoyed the session and hope I can join more of such informal sharing sessions.

Lucas is One Month Old!

Lucas just turned one month old and we would like to thank all relatives and friend for attending the full month celebration and for their wonderful gifts and hongbaos.

Both Lilian and I have never seen so many hongbaos before.There were also a few very thoughtful gifts, like the "cake" from Rick and Zhen Zhen.They ordered from Baby's 1st Cake and it's baby gifts packed into the shape of a 2-tier cake.

Xavier was very quick to "chope" the big blue truck on the top of the cake and readily announced it's his and the smaller purple car below is for di-di.

We had three sessions this time, as we didn't want to accommodate too many people each session in our tiny house. This also allows us to interact better with our guest. Lilian ordered from three different caterers. Kim's Kitchen failed as their Mango Sago dessert went bad barely after we started the buffet. YSL Catering was not bad, guests liked their "Braised Pork w/ Bun". We find Angeli Catering (bottom left in the photo) tasted the best among the three. Mum also made her own glutinous rice and it was covered with mushrooms.

For friends and colleagues whom we were not able to invite, we ordered cakes and cookies for them instead. The cakes were from Pine Garden's Cake, the cake shop we got Xavier's 1st year birthday cake from. Lilian liked the message "Of all life's miracles, the biggest ones come in the smallest packages". The cookies were from Happy Bakes.

Lucas is growing well, hitting a weight of 5kg and a length of 52cm now. Looks like he become a sumo baby too, just like Xavier.

Lucas's Delivery is a Different Experience

As a second-time parent, I thought I am fairly experienced and prepared to welcome Lucas. I had my hospital bag packed and ready, my mindset tuned for sleepless nights ahead and more chores to be done. But it's different this time, very different.

Lucas was delivered via voluntary C-section (Caesarean section) as recommended by our gynae (gynaecologist) for valid reasons. This also meant we can choose the date and timing we like to welcome Lucas. This sort of took away the surprise element, and waiting time, that natural birth has. It's really fast but not as "fun" (to me).

Then after birth, the PD (pediatrician) explained he wants to put Lucas under NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for observation as he seem to be grunting. When the PD tells you something like that right after birth, almost all parents would just go with whatever the PD says. Thankfully Lucas went back to the nursery after half a day as they found he seems okay after observation.

Then came the news that Lucas has G6PD deficiency. While people with G6PD deficiency can lead a normal life as long as they avoid the ban list food and medication, newborn with  G6PD deficiency and jaundice are usually treated with extra care. I heard stories of friends who are only allowed to bring their newborns home after 1-2 weeks in hospital doing the photo treatment, for fear that the deadly combo can lead to Kernicterus.

So we were fairly surprised when the PD allowed us to discharge Lucas after two days of photo treatment, with no need to continue the treatment at home (like the case of Xavier). We were to go back to the clinic for a follow-up check 4 days later and if the "yellowing" becomes serious we should bring him back earlier.

When we went back for the follow-up check, his jaundice level shot up higher than norm and he was admitted back to the nursery again for photo treatment for another 2 days. Thankfully again we was able to be discharge after a 2 days stay.

Next shock was when I got all the bills together and how much more this delivery and hospital bill this was and compared to Xavier's delivery. Most of the increase was the doctor fee of our gynae, the NICU 1/2 day stay and the additional two days re-admitted.

But when you see your baby smile, you would feel that all the effort (and money) was worth it.

Here are some tips to help you "fight" and save on the bills:
1) Choose a gynae wisely: The gynae you choose usually determines the hospital you will deliver in. Also check on her likely fee for check-ups and scans before delivery as well as the fee for delivery. Some clinics do have package which was generally cheaper than pay per visit.

2) Choose your ward wisely: This would determine the cost of your bills. Some actually charge higher for the same item/treatment received/done when you are at higher ward. There are also other restrictions like if the daddy wants to stay by the wife during the whole stay (as a lodger), it is only allowed if they take a single bed ward.

3) Choose your hospital wisely: We should have done that when Lucas was re-admitted for photo treatment. The nurse from our usual PD told us that we could actually admit Lucas to a less expensive hospital for the same treatment, given that the PD attending to Lucas also goes to the other less expensive hospital.

Dadsforlife Sand Castle Event

Dadsforlife organised a Meet Up and Sand Castle Event for at East Coast Park recently. I was hesitant to join initially as it would mean attending with just Xavier (since Lilian is still in confinement). The thought of sand and sea and Xavier running around just didn't gel well in my head.

But Andy was going with his four kids and he said it would be fun if we all go together. So I reluctantly agreed. And I'm glad I did. It was a fun event and Xavier thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Having to keep an eye on him also meant I didn't really have a chance to take much photos and mingle with the rest to make new friends. Well I'll leave the photos to Andy (can see more at his blog), and I did introduced to Isaiah (from J Babies' Dad) and Nick (from nickpan.com). And it did boast my confidence taking Xavier out alone and I should do that more often.

Looking forward to more Dadsforlife event and knowing more parents.

Cars 2 Akang Datang (coming soon)!

Xavier loves the movie Cars. He can watch the disc again and again and never gets bored of it. And I got him all excited when I showed him the trailer for the up-coming Car 2.


This time is not only about cars and racing and drifting, there are also spies and missiles.

Now if Xavier has a spy name, think he will be called Xavier Coolman. The nurses at the clinic nickname him Cool Man after his deadly cold stares.I'm sure you would agree from the photos below.

Catch Cars 2 movie starting from 25th August 2011 and join the official Disney Studios Singapore Facebook & Twitter page!

Tomato Photo Shoot - Part 3: The Selection

Tomato Photo has finished the newborn photos and now is time for us to choose. I have attached the Maternity photos in part 1. Here are the photos from the newborn shoot. Which are the must-haves??

National Day 2011

Happy Birthday Singapore!

Xavier like to do his part for National Day with a march around the living room.

Tomato Photo Shoot - Part 2: Newborn Shoot

We did the Newborn Shoot today and it was pretty relaxed and enjoyable. Well up till both boys became cracky and sleepy. Below is a collage of Hart at work.

These images are from our own camera. Hart's final pictures will definitely be better. :P

Lucas showed Hart how an angry baby cries and Xavier could stop moving as he tries to get the attention of everyone. But once Lucas sleeps, Hart worked his magic and came up with the lovely positions.

I can't wait for to see the final pictures from Hart. If you wish to find out more about Tomato Photo, click on the link.

Xavier Cycles!

I have to admit I underestimated Xavier. I thought he doesn't know how to cycle but my dad has been teaching him how to cycle on the tricycle. And he could control it pretty well.



I'm impressed Xavier. But he would probably need to work on his goalie skills. :P