Formula 1 Race

Singapore is hosting its first ever Formula 1 race this weekend and it also happens to be the world's first night F1 race, so it's been a big deal here all year. Since Singapore is such a tiny country (only 250 square miles) they tend to get really excited here about anything that will get them recognized in the world. And since Matt has gone through Nascar withdrawals here, he has been among those people who couldn't wait for the race to get here. Formula 1 is like Indy car racing in the states with the low race cars following a street track in the city, so it is pretty amazing to see how they transform the familiar roads into a racetrack.

It was fun for Matt and I to go out last night and watch the practice laps because it was our first time out without kids in 3 months! We tucked the boys in bed and then headed to the city to see the action. Our seats faced Marina Bay and had a beautiful view of downtown at night.

The fun thing about this kind of racing as opposed to Nascar (where the cars drive in circle for hours) is that we were able to walk all along the track and stand a few feet away from the cars as they screamed past. As you can see from the pictures, they were moving!

Here are a couple of video clips from two different vantage points.

It was more exciting than I expected, but I still didn't mind giving my ticket to Matt's friend so the two of them can enjoy the real race tomorrow night. It coincides with the boys' bedtimes so I'll catch the action from the comfort (and airconditioning!) of our living room.

Wish Me Luck!

Ben has been watching Elmo's Potty Time every day for two weeks now and he's interested in sitting on his own potty, so I think it's time to start training. I hadn't really planned on starting yet, mostly because I'm not sure I'm ready to put in the effort, but I don't want to pass up a good opportunity. Diapers are really easy right now but it would be pretty convenient to only have one boy in diapers. I think I'm going to try the quick and dirty (literally) method that many moms here suggest - just roll up the carpets, strip down the kid, and let him figure out what happens when he needs to pee. The nice thing about our condo is that we only have marble and wood floors so it will be easy to mop! Now I just need to teach Ben that his potty isn't a toy...

After he emptied the contents of his pockets into the potty (just the usual - keys, money, and a phone) Ben stepped into the potty himself. He said "one foot, two foots". While I'm proud of his counting, I'm not so excited about using the potty for storage or entertainment. Right now it's totally sterilized but I cringe to think about what might happen after it's been used a few times!

After Ben retrieved his phone from the potty, he shared an important call with Alex. Ben is becoming much nicer to Alex these days, doing things like climbing up on the crib to say good morning to his brother and saying goodbye to him when he goes to school. Ben loves when Alex smiles and I really look forward to the day that Alex will respond to Ben's antics.

Every day when Ben notices my camera he's been asking to have his picture taken...I thought this was a pretty cute one! He had just finished brushing his teeth, which also requires washing the face and hair.

We hosted a playgroup here last week and had 9 2-year olds and 3 infants in the house...it was pretty crazy! Ben loved sharing his big bed with everyone. He's the one playing "night-night" in the middle of the bed.

Afterward it looked like a tornado had passed through! Luckily there were no casualties except for a few books with movable parts.

And what has little Alex been up to? Eating and growing! He's such a good baby, even on the days he barely naps and I can tell he's exhausted he is still a happy boy.

His neck is getting really strong, as you can tell by the way he can lift that big old head! It takes some work :)

And here's a recent conversation with Ben. I love to hear big words come out in that little voice.

Latest Pictures

It was not an eventful week at our house, to say the least. We barely got out at all because little Alex was giving me fits all day. He suddenly won't stay asleep during the day so we suffered through hours of screaming because the poor guy was exhausted but wouldn't sleep more than 10-15 minutes once I put him down. I've tried every possible thing I could think of with no success, except for rocking him for half an hour and ever so gently sneaking him into his crib, but even that doesn't always do the trick. He's still sleeping fine at night, which tells me he's healthy and capable of good sleep, but I can't figure out the daytimes. If any of you moms have advice, please send it my way! Thank goodness he's still a happy little guy the rest of the time.

Ben had his best friend Ryan over one day and they finally played together! We've had a playdate at least once a week together for over a year and the boys would always play next to each other but suddenly they're interested in doing things together. It was so cute to watch.

Look at our little chunker! I think he's well over 13 lbs now but I'll check at the end of the week on a true baby scale. He has the softest skin and it makes me wonder when Ben lost that baby skin because I never noticed it change. Things like that already make me a little sad because they're both growing up so fast!

Look at this sweet face! Alex wakes up in such a good mood every day so it's a joy to greet him, no matter how he treated me overnight.


Every time I lay a blanket on the floor for Alex, Ben grabs his puppy and blankie to join him. Ben pretends to take a nap but is always careful to keep that invisible line between himself and his brother even if his eyes are closed.

Ben has started talking to Alex (usually in his special little Ben language, so what he's actually saying remains a mystery to most of us) and it's hilarious to watch them. Apparently the message gets across better the closer you say it.

I pulled out the old bumbo seat to see how Alex would fit in it and it turns out Ben can still fit himself!

He played in it for a while and carried it all around the house until he tipped it over and bumped his head, so I had to hide it.

I'm not sure this little guy will fit in his bathtub much longer!

Who Needs a Pool?

The summer monsoon rains have been hanging on here lately and it's been a wet month. I think it has rained every single day except one since Grammy and Grumpy left in August, so we were fortunate to have such good weather while they were visiting. Unfortunately, it makes for a cold pool and little boys that like to swim have had to find other places to do it! Ben is happy to float and play in the bathtub all night.

Here's Mr. Alex at 10 weeks old...every week he looks just a little thicker! I love that he's such a big boy because he's been sleeping better each night, even going 8 hours the past two nights. That's a great way to make momma happy! I've switched to pumping and bottles to end the frustration of breastfeeding and he hasn't argued a bit. I don't think he cares where the milk is coming from as long as there's plenty of it. He wore a bib for the first time today to catch some dribbles from the bottle and it reminded me again how nice it has been to have a baby that's not constantly spitting up! Ben would go through 3-4 bibs a day because his reflux was so bad even with medication, and that doesn't include all the projectile vomit. He was a messy little baby and there was nothing more frustrating than spending an hour getting a bottle in him only to have the entire thing come back up in just a few seconds. Every ounce mattered with Ben...we're not too worried if Alex misses a meal!

Here are our sweet boys at bedtime. Ben still loves his footed pajamas...I'm not sure we'll ever get him out! Thank goodness I bought size 3's last year in Houston because these size 2's are getting short and we never would have made it two more months in them.

We had a barbeque outside yesterday and the heat just wore little Alex out. I tried to wake him up from his nap after he slept most of the afternoon and all he did was throw his arms up and go back to sleep.

Ben has been enjoying his new hat that Daddy picked up in Perth last week. At first he wouldn't wear it, so I put it on Alex's head and said "baby's hat"....Ben hasn't put it down since! I guess we know how he feels about sharing with his little brother.


To all of our friends and family in the Houston area, we have been thinking of you and praying for your safety and well-being throughout the weekend. We have talked to our parents and know that they are all fine but the phone lines have been sketchy so we haven't been able to contact anyone else yet and of course most people don't have electricity for email. Please send us updates whenever you are able so that we'll know how you fared through the hurricane. We hope to hear that you, your families, pets, and property are all safe and undamaged.

The Silver Lining

The past two days have been pretty rough. Alex and I are both getting over some kind of cold we came down with on Sunday, including fever, sore throat, congestion, and all that fun stuff. Yesterday he refused to take a nap most of the day and would cry after sleeping 10-15 minutes every time I put him down. So he was a pretty cranky guy by the end of the day. Meanwhile, Ben started running a fever so I knew he'd probably caught our cold. I got Ben in bed at 7 like usual and spent the next 3 hours trying to get Alex to sleep, so I was exhausted by the time I got to bed. I woke up to Ben mumbling over the baby monitor about midnight, but that turned out to be really cute because once he woke up completely a little while later he started singing instead of crying. This from the kid that wakes up crying every healthy day...funny guy. So I went to check on him and he was burning up with fever. I got him back to sleep and had to get up with Alex a few hours later, then both boys were awake at 7am. Ben was acting like he felt terrible and just crawled into my bed while I fed Alex, which is totally out of character for him. He perked up after breakfast but stayed home from school and was pretty whiny all morning because he just didn't feel good. Alex was just on his worst behavior all morning....fussy about eating (and breastfeeding is a whole different issue right now - I've done my best but my patience is wearing thin for his sloppy eating habits!) and refusing to nap again. To make matters worse, we still have the ever-present construction noise right outside every window of our condo, and they recently started working 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week, through lunch to meet their deadline. I called to complain because 12-1pm used to be our one hour of peace where I could get Ben to sleep but the foreman said they'd be done with the drilling and pile-driving in 2 months(!!) so "not to worry"....sigh... On days where my patience is already wearing thin, that sometimes just about puts me over the edge because it's completely out of my control and I can't help either kid sleep through it. Through all the noise, somehow both boys got to sleep and I finally got in bed myself for a little blissful sleep when no more than 5 minutes later, someone in the unit above us started jackhammering tile. I just wanted to cry. Even though it was in their kitchen, the pictures all the way in our bedroom were vibrating because the deafening noise just resonates across the marble floors. Both boys woke up immediately but thank goodness Alex went back to sleep somehow and slept through the rest of the afternoon. Ben, on the other hand, came flying out of bed screaming and threw up his lunch everywhere. He was so upset he was shaking.

So what's my point in relating all my woes? While I was mopping vomit out of Ben's hair, I prayed for something to make my day happy and some reason to be excited to wake up tomorrow morning. Not that my life is so terrible I can't get out of bed in the mornings, because I have so much to be thankful for, but it just wasn't feeling that way this afternoon. And I do firmly believe in the power of prayer. And how did God answer? When Alex woke up from his nap today, he gave me the biggest smile in the world. It brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't have seen anything more beautiful or more needed today. He just smiled and gurgled to me all afternoon and my day completely turned around. Both kiddos were in bed and asleep by 8pm tonight, so hopefully the night will be better for all of us as well!

Here are several of Alex's expressions this afternoon:




And my other sweet boy got creative with the markers...he started drawing on his upper lip and I couldn't resist finishing the job! Once he saw it in the mirror he hated it and we had to wash it off immediately. I guess Ben won't be much of a facial hair kind of guy.

Pictures

Here are last week's pictures from my camera...

This was a big surprise - a beautiful orchid from our dentist! She's an American as well and sent these for little Alex. The funny part was that they are as tall as Ben already. I love living somewhere so tropical that the most abundant and affordable flowers are orchids. I had no idea how much I loved them until we started having them around the house all the time.
Well, Ben has found a fun new toy in his bedroom. First, he climbs up on the forbidden steps (which I didn't consider when we bought these drawers).

Then he plays with the light switch...over...and over....and over....

2 months old already! Alex had his checkup last Friday and he has already crossed the 12 lb mark, so he has nearly doubled his birth weight already. I can't express how exciting it is for us to have a baby that is healthy and gains weight so easily! I went back to Ben's baby book and he didn't reach 12 lbs until he was 6 months corrected, so really about 9 1/2 months old. Another good thing about the weight gain is that Alex is a great sleeper so far, lately usually waking up once overnight and taking a really nice afternoon nap each day. The little guy did not like all of his shots, though, and felt pretty crummy this weekend with a fever. I told him that his big brother could handle 6 shots in one visit but Alex wasn't impressed.

The boys all spent their first afternoon together on Saturday so I would have the chance to do a little shopping by myself, which was such a treat! What I didn't expect was that I found myself getting lonely after an hour or two because I'm so used to having at least one other little body with me at all times.
Ben still loves to color on himself more than anything else around here, except maybe the walls. We dotted his face one afternoon and he thought it was just hilarious. I'm not sure the people at the mall later thought it was quite as funny when I didn't quite wash it all off and my child looked like he had some ugly contagious disease!

Ben and his #1 blankie. We used to rotate between this one and his blue and purple blankie, so I had a backup in case of an emergency laundry event, but now it's all about this particular blankie. I don't know what I'll do if something happens to either one because they were both handmade gifts that won't be replaceable!

Cute boy playing on his piano.

Ben has become quite adept at begging for videos and knows how to change the DVD so I don't have to do it! He'll turn on the receiver and hand me the TV remote because that's the one button he can't reach. He completely surprised me yesterday because he handed me a DVD he watched once (and didn't even like...he only sat for about 30 seconds of it) and called it by name. He's just a little sponge right now soaking up so much information every day!

Sweet little guy! I just love his long eyelashes and precious smile.

After hearing so much about the terrible twos I was pretty scared to approach this age but (like every other age so far) I think it has been my favorite! Every day we see more and more personality in Ben and now we can see his imagination growing and his memory getting better. That's good sometimes, like when we're looking for something around the house and he finds it first, and bad sometimes, like when I tell him we can watch Thomas the Train after dinner and he remembers!

Now that we have a true newborn at home, I'm reminded every day of how different Ben was from an average baby. He didn't sleep much during the day and ate on a fixed schedule, hardly ever acting hungry at other times. He was really alert and expected more entertainment from day one, so I've been really surprised to live with Alex and realize that real newborns pretty much eat and sleep all day. And go through lots of diapers. Even now, Alex still sleeps a lot and isn't even interested in playing on the floor much yet because he'd rather eat or take a nap. I guess that would explain his weight!

Ben's true due date passed again last week, so he would have actually just turned two. This is the age when most doctors officially quit correcting for his prematurity so I'll finally do the same. There is some freedom in finally just saying "he's two" instead of explaining to people why a 9-month old baby can't sit up or a 1-year old isn't crawling, then having to go into the details of his birth and hospitalization. People that have no experience with preemies just can't understand the struggles they face or how exceptionally well Ben has done by starting life nearly 15 weeks earlier than most kids. It's not that Ben has finally "caught up" with other kids his true age, it's just that there is a wider range of abilities at two years old so now he blends in with the crowd. Unless, of course, there is music playing and then it's easy to pick out the little boy dancing circles around the other kids :)

In other good news, we just booked our tickets to come back to Texas for Christmas! I'll come back by myself with the boys for Thanksgiving, which either makes me glutton for punishment or just plain crazy to tackle a 24-hour trip with baby and toddler, but that will give us several weeks to get adjusted and visit people before Matt comes in mid-December. We are SO excited!! Mexican food and Blue Bell ice cream, here we come!

The Big Move

We had a very productive weekend - we got Ben all settled in his new room and Alex out of our bedroom. Here's a look at Ben's room with all his toys and Elmos. Even though he really only sleeps holding puppy and blankie, and occasionally his new kitty, he notices if even one Elmo is missing from his bed. Who knew they were all so important? The good news is that Ben had no trouble at all settling into his new room and bed and has slept all night every night in there so far. His naps have been short, I think because he's excited to wake up and play, but we can live with that.
Ben and his favorite shoes...they are required for pushing the cart around the house and out on the porch.

And here's Alex hanging out in his new bed. He could care less where he sleeps at night but he is really happy watching the mobile over the crib.

And here's a look at the room turned into a nursery again for Alex. It's nice for us as well because Matt gets a full night's sleep now and I can feed Alex in the rocker at night. And now that Alex is in the next room instead of a few feet away, I can hear him crying but I don't hear all the grunts and mumbles all night. I think we're all happy with the new arrangement!

Here's my little burrito baby! He hates to be swaddled but it sure helps him sleep well so I'm going to continue for a while longer. Last night he only woke up once between 9pm-7am so I'd say it's worth hearing him complain when I wrap him up.

Wow...look at the difference between our boys.
Here is Ben at 4 months (his corrected age, he was actually nearly 8 months old) when he had just started wearing 3-6 month clothes.
And here's Alex at nearly 2 months in the same onesie and swing. He's a bit shorter than Ben in the other picture but what a little chunker! I think the sentiment on the shirt is much more appropriate for this guy than for Ben. Alex hasn't skipped many meals but we had to put in a lot of time and effort getting Ben to eat...what am I talking about? that hasn't changed for the most part - Ben still doesn't care much about food in general. He very rarely comes and asks for a snack and we have to talk him into eating most meals. I don't think we'll ever have that problem with Alex!

Ben has been counting a lot lately and it's so cute to hear him! Just don't ask me where the number 5 has gone. Or why 7 sometimes comes after 10.

And in toddler news, Ben had his first time out today. He slapped my leg (hard!) in frustration when I wouldn't give him my pen and I made him sit in time out for what seemed like forever, but was probably about 3 minutes. He kept trying to look at me and say "sorry, sorry, sorry" and "please, mama" so I think he got the idea that he'd done something wrong. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to spank this guy because he seems to have an incredibly high pain tolerance and it doesn't even phase him. Hopefully other forms of punishment will get his attention.