Cheeky Lucas turns 4!

Cheeky Lucas turns 4. Somehow after going through all the photos I took, this photo just kept my smiling. It looked like Ethan, the boy on the left who photobombed, was going "Orh, Lucas have a girlfriend".

Okay back to the Lucas 4th birthday. Its seems to be the routine where we will have a bigger cake for their class celebration, complete with goodies bag and all, and a smaller close family celebration on the actual day.

Lucas seems extremely shy when the birthday song was sang.


Photos from the school celebration.

Happy faces and goodie bags give away.

We had the small family celebration at the function room of our new place. Lucas finally decided to have Bumblebee as his cake after repeated changes over the two weeks leading to his birthday.

Group shots and more happy faces.

Happy 4th Birthday Cheeky Lucas!

Mother's Day Celebration at LV - 2014

Mummies were in for a surprise this year.

The boys' school, Learning Vision @ Raffles Place organised a Mother's Day cocktail for the mummies. There will be the usual food and drinks prepared by the teachers and kids performance put up by the children. What the mummies didn't know was that the teachers roped in the daddies to do a little dance for them.

It was suppose to be a secret. But Xavier "I cannot keep any secrets" Lee let the cat of of the bag and told Lilian almost everything. All this while I pretended I did not know what Xavier was talking about.

We were all given the link to the dance and the music we will be doing. The daddies then tried to practice in secret. I did it when Lilian was asleep. Think the auntie across my unit enjoyed the free show. Then 1/2 hour before the cocktail, daddies stream into the school to do some last minute practice. It was pretty funny when we had to practice in the dark so the mummies would not know the surprise.

Xavier's class then perform Skidamarink and Inside My Heart.


The teachers also prepared activities for the children to do with their mummies, like a instant photo booth and cupcake decoration.

Wishing all mummies Happy Mother's Day.

Lucas is 2!!

Lucas turns two! What a journey it has been, and we are only just began...

We were in two minds whether to celebrate his birthday with our family as Xavier had HFMD (again? yeah I know. It's like an annual thingy for Xavier) the week before. Thankfully he recovered in time and Lucas didn't show symptoms of it. We celebrated his birthday with our families 2 days earlier on a Saturday.

That morning, Xavier made a birthday cake for Lucas out of Duplo blocks, complete with zoo animals and the zookeeper on it. That was really sweet of him.

He loves Lucas, most of the time.

Afternoon was the celebration with my parents and my in-laws. Plenty of food of course.

Lucas has always been a mummy's boy since birth, sticking to Lilian like a koala bear.

Time to bring out the real birthday cake. Nothing fancy, just a simple cake from Bengawan Solo. But any birthday cakes will excite the kids.

Let's clap and sing the birthday song. Drama by Xavier over blowing of candles.

Family shots.

We had a small cake and birthday song singing on Lucas actual day.

Happy Birthday Lucas! Hope you let us brush your teeth without making it a wrestling match every day.

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2013!

It's Chinese New Year again, my favourite part of the year. Two national holidays, non-stop feasting and snacking, meeting up with people you seldom see, it's all fun.

This year, Xavier is able to sing all of you two Chinese songs, accompanied by cute dancing from Lucas. Wishing everyone a Healthy and Wealthy Year of the Snake.


Thank you, thank you. I hear shouts for encore! Here are some Gangdam Style Dance attempts by the XL boys. I like Take 2 best. Lucas was so game with his "platform dancing".

Lucas Promotion to Toddler Class

Today is a big day for Lucas as he is promoted from infant care to toddler class.

The school had been transiting him for the past two weeks, bringing him to his new class to mingle with his future teachers and classmates during the afternoon snack and to take part in some of the class activities.

We are more relax this time, tasking Xavier to play his big brother role and help Lucas ease into his new environment.

Both boys were all cheerful in that morning. Guess Lucas is still unsure what's gonna happen later.

Xavier is happy to show his little brother where to wash his hands in the morning. Then the little boy realise today is different, very different. Turned on his "koala bear" mode and glued himself to Lilian.

Then the time comes for us to leave for work. The teacher has to "peel" crying Lucas off Lilian. Welcome to the Toddler class Lucas.

Well at least the consolation is he didn't cry for long after we left and blend in with his class well. He does try to run off to see his brother in the other class but that should ease after he gets use to the new surrounding.

Tooth Day

There are Good Days, there are Bad Days. Then there are Tooth Days. This weekend happen to be one of those tooth days.

So what are tooth days? Typically days when nothing goes right. Your baby is not his usual self, is cracky, super sticky to one of the parents, refuse to eat, refuse to sleep, refuse to stop crying, etc (you get the picture).

It looks like Lucas's Canine teeth are coming out of its gum. And he gave us hell by exhibiting all of the above behaviours. I am just so glad the weekend is over.

Xavier however took it better than both of us. He practise his writing while we deal with the mayhem.

Dancing...

Xavier would burst into a dance every now and then. His interpretation of dance seems to involve lots of jumping and floor action.


Lucas on the other hand prefer swaying to the music. Here is him swaying in at the beginning of the video.

Their favourite toy now seems to be the Kungfu Hamster. I actually brought it out to throw as it was old and very dirty. But they can't get enought of the Kungfu Fighting song...

HFMD Strikes Three

HFMD is back to visit us again. This time it strikes Xavier in a stealth silent manner, compared to the first time he got it and when Lucas got it earlier this year.

I first notice some very small red shots on Xavier's leg on Friday. My first thought was its probably allergy since he didn't have fever and his appetite was normal. Then Saturday the spots became more so we brought him to the doctor. That was when the doctor confirmed that Xavier's got HFMD as he had both red spots on his hands and legs and ulcers in his mouth and throat.

It seems that as long as the child has either red spots on hands and legs with either fever or ulcer, its likely to be HFMD. The strain Xavier got his time seems different from the two others we encountered before. He didn't have fever and was as energetic as before. The spots were mainly at the hands and legs and concentration near the joints. And these spots grew bigger and more blister-like.

In order to reduce the chances of Lucas also contacting HFMD, we put Xavier at my parents place. He is making the most out of the situation by asking my parents to buy toys for him when he gets well. Sneaky boy.

Xavier then recovered and got the clearance from the GP to go back to school the following Thursday. Then we got the double whammy of working parents. Lucas got HFMD on Friday and both boys are out of school again. It seems like he caught it from his brother as the symptoms were similar. We went back to their usual PD this time.

The incubation period is from 3-7 days where you can be infecting and spreading HFMD without any symptoms at all. By the time the symptoms appear, one would have already infected others. Hence Lucas could have already caught the virus from Xavier before we segregated them.

The blessing was both Lilian and I were already on leave this period and my parents were also free to help take care of the boys too. Lilian term this block leave as the "Best Block Leave Ever". :p

Xavier's First Love Bite

Xavier got his first love bite, with much tears and crying. It was given to him by his beloved brother Lucas, with fiery love.

New Word Of The Week: Trimethylaminuria

Someone have not been smelling like a baby. In fact, Lucas smelled like a fish.

Photo from Photos8.org

Recently when we pick up Lucas from his infant care center, we were greet by a "fish head". His head smelled like its been coated with Cod Liver Oil. At first I thought maybe cause he perspire alot, and he does. His teacher says that because we didn't provide shampoo for Lucas (we gave them the Johnson and Johnson Top to Toe shower gel), hence it didn't clean his head well.

So Lilian went to buy the most fruity smelling shampoo for Lucas. Oh he smell real fruity after shower. But by bedtime, his head was smelling like a fish again. And so I goggled and the word Trimethylaminuria comes out.

According to Wiki, Trimethylaminuria, also known as fish odor syndrome is an incurable metabolic disorder. Basically the body cannot break down trimethylamine present in certain food and so you end up smelling like a fish your whole life. We were going to seek clarification from his PD on the next visit but I could not help feeling sad for Lucas.

Lilian didn't believe Lucas had this condition and stick to the belief that the center didn't clean him well enough. Strangely, Lucas didn't smell like a fish on weekend. So Monday, Lilian discussed with his teachers about it and from then on, he didn't smell like a fish anymore. Safe to say now it was overreaction by me from the overloaded information from Goggle.

We still do not know how did Lucas get that smell in the first place. Could be his drool during his sleep after his fish porridge lunch that "flow" to his head. But we now know there is such a medical condition that exist so the next time someone beside you smell like a fish, please keep that condition in mind and be more sensitive to their feelings.

Lucas Taking Baby Steps

Following my earlier post On Your Marks, Lucas can now stand on his own without assistance.

In fact earlier this morning, he took three steps on his own before sitting down again. I manage to capture a video clip, later in the day, of him standing and taking a step or two.

Little man will be walking and running pretty soon.

Lucas turns ONE!

Lucas turns the big ONE today. As usual, we opt for the low-key celebration with immediate family.

Lilian ordered mini buffet from Yum Cha Express. The friendly uncle helped us set up our table. Excellent service. And the food is pretty good as well.

Some family shots and happy shots.

Getting ready for the cake and candle blowing. We chose baby Bugs Bunny as Lucas was born in the year of the rabbit. Xavier seems more excited for his brother.

And everybody sing...


We have a tradition where we would lay items for the one year old to pick and what did Lucas pick first? $Money$. Xavier picked that first too when he was one.

Wishing Lucas grow up healthy and wealthy. Happy Birthday Lucas.

On Your Marks...

Get Set... STAND!!!

Well almost. I think Lucas is getting ready to stand without support soon. He has been positioning his butt upwards, getting ready for the big moment.

Mummy got him his first pair of shoe in anticipation that he will be walking about very soon. No worries Lucas, take your time, no rush. I just hope I'm around to capture that moment when you stand on your own without support.

Lucas the Terror(ist)

You might have notice the postings getting lesser, my eyebags getting bigger, my temper becoming "Hulk-like" and the fact that I haven't really post much about Lucas. All because of Lucas.

Let me try to explain this. Lucas has been holding Lilian "hostage" since birth. While he has loosen up abit and now plays with Xavier and myself in the day, he still goes into his terrorist mode at night. It's pretty funny (and I been waiting to get this scene on tape) when sometimes I'm carrying Lucas while Lilian do her stuff. His head and eyes would lock on Lilian like a hawk, much like in the movies where the surveillance camera turns to follow the target around. He would go into frenzy mode when Lilian (the target) is out of sight, sounding his "alarm" by making all sorts of noise.

And partly because we are so tired at the end of the day (looking after two boys) that we just give in to his "demands" just to put him to sleep. It's ironical cos we started him on his own cot in a separate room and was determined to keep him there and now he sleeps on our bed every night. Lilian had to latch him to sleep and whenever he wakes up at night. And he does wake up every single night to "spot check" if Lilian is around, once at 3am, once at 5am, and a random time.

With Xavier sleeping in the same room (on a separate smaller bed), it's gonna be an issue as Lucas grows older. Now I'm just hoping Lucas shows more of his adorable side and keep his terrorist side at bay.

Where have all the time gone?

It's been so long I almost forgot I had a blog. There's just so much to do with a toddler and a baby around that any available time is used to catch up on sleep.

And if I had to carry my baby to sleep just so that I can have some sleep myself, I'll do it.

Baby Lucas vs Mini Godzilla & Mini Lightning Mcqueen

Back in 2009, I used the Q-Steer mini remote control car, Nissan GTR R35 (nickname Godzilla) to "train" Xavier to crawl. See my previous post "Baby Xavier vs Mini Godzilla (GTR) - Part II".

The time has come for Lucas to undergo the training, except this time, there will be two Q-Steers. I bought a Lightning McQueen Q-Steer for Xavier and he is keen to play with it too.

Lucas demonstrated great determination in getting hold of the cars and unlike Xavier, he didn't lose his temper at all. In fact, he is very focus on the task and did catch the cars on a few occasions.

HFMD Strikes Back

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (HFMD) is back with a vengeance. Having claimed 4 infant victims at Lucas's infant care center on 14th February, it has since risen to 11 infants today, including Lucas.

Lucas's fever started on Friday night and we took him to the PD on Saturday since Xavier was having his review. Although he didn't have any of the scary red spots like when Xavier had HFMD, the PD found three throat ulcers.

We were then told that there have been an increasing number of HFMD cases already and this time round, its seems to be of a different strain (from that of Xavier's). This strain do not cause much spots and rashes so its much harder to detect.

Lucas seems to be doing fine. His fever only lasted 1 day and he had some appetite loss and was crankier than usual. But at least he didn't get the scary rashes and spots. Its challenging period now as Xavier can't go to school as well and we have to keep Xavier away from Lucas. We will take it a day at a time. As Lilian say, "船到桥头自然直".

Get well soon Lucas...

Lucas Development Fast Forward

Lucas seems to be developing faster/earlier than the Hokkien saying for baby progression, 7-Sit, 8-Crawl, 9-Teething. He can leopard crawl pretty fast now and his bottom two front teeth are in sight.

It took us by surprise considering Xavier was spot on with the saying; sitting on the 7th month and teething on 9th month. Lucas can sit unsupported for a few seconds but his crawling really surprise us. Below is a video but his speed is double that now. Time to bring out the Q-Steer remote control car to train his crawl. *evil grin*

CNY 2012 - Enter the Dragon

Blink of an eye and it's Chinese New Year again. This Dragon year seems to come particularly fast as it falls on 23rd January, less than a month from Christmas.

This is also the first year we bring our XL (Xavier Lucas) boys out for CNY house visiting and to say we are tired is an understatement. We are totally exhausted and drained by the end of the first day. Having visited 5 houses and with rain not making the whole process easier, we both agreed we should just crash on our beds and leave the washing and cleaning up till the next day.

I didn't even have time to take out the camera and snap photos like the previous years. The two photos above were two of a handful of photos I took for the whole day. I find myself taking cat naps in between visits as I try to regain some energy.

The two boys looked great in their matching outfits though. Xavier seems to enjoy the visiting although it's now much harder to get him to greet the elders or say "Gong Xi Fa Cai" to relatives he only sees once a year. He usually only warms up by the time we are leaving the place.

Hope CNY house visiting would be easier from now on.

Best way to beat the heat...

It's only the beginning of the year but the heat seems to be on in Singapore already. The fact that I'm drenched with perspiration just sitting down and doing nothing, guess that's life on the equator.

So how to beat the heat at home? Lucas shows you how. Whether u go without a towel, put in on top or put in below, dipping in a tub is a sure way to beat the heat. Feeling cooler already?

Happy New Year Everyone!