SBCA: Sto. Nino Day Celebration

Lucas with SBCA's Nursery Class dancing to the tune of Bahay Kubo and portions of E-heads' Toyang. Yes, hindi sila sabay sabay but that didn't make them less adorable :-)

 

This is Take 2 already. Take 1 is for the parents to watch the presentation and Take 2 is for documentation. 

 Lucas Ethan with Lucas Felipe

Lucas with Germaine



 We're so happy because Lucas danced during both takes :-) Family Day last year, he only participated during the first take and sat and played with his classmates during the second take.

 

 Our cutie pie

With Daddy

With Mommy

 

KUYA Lucas

This little space has been dormant for quite a few months now. A lot has happened since my last post but the most important news of all is that our little Lucas will be a KUYA soon. Yes, we're pregnant with baby no. 2 :-)

I am 26 weeks on the way today. Much as I'd wanted to announce the pregnancy the very moment we found out, I was afraid I'd jinx it so I kept quiet (an effort really!). Unlike my first pregnancy, this one's more complicated because I was put on bed rest for almost two weeks total during my first trimester. The incident made me keep the pregnancy a secret for a little while longer. Thankfully, we got past the dangerous first tri and I can't believe that in a few weeks time I'd be on my third trimester (final stretch!) already.

With the second baby coming and all, we also decided to move houses. It's been two weeks since we moved out of Daddy G and Mommy E's home and all the challenges and continued learnings of living on our own will have its own post one of these days.

Lucas's first year of school flew by so fast. We were planning to enroll him to an Arts and Crafts class at Cradle to Crayons but it looks like we have to reconsider given the updates on Beda's minimum age requirement per preschool level. We found out that Lucas can skip Junior Kinder and move on to Senior Kinder next school year. However, he'd have to take a bridging program this summer to help/arm him for Senior Kinder. Jj and I are still mulling this over. Bottomline is, if skipping a level will stress out our four-year old, we'd rather say No Thanks to the opportunity. But nothing is final yet as we're to attend the school's orientation on the program next week. So, we'll still see.

That's it for now. Hopefully, I can post updates more often in the coming days.
Have a blessed Holy week.

Another Milestone

... and NOT the good milestone kind.

Monday: Lucas had a small mosquito bite-like thing near his upper lip. I decided not to put anything on it because it is quite near his lips and whatever I put on the bite might accidentally find its way inside his mouth. My big mistake here was not warning him NEVER EVER to touch it.

Tuesday: I came home from the office and Lolo G reported two things: (1) Lucas has a swollen left cheek and (2) Lucas Felipe, one of his friends from school, punched him on the cheek. I was honestly a bit hesitant to believe him because Lucas Felipe seems like a sweet boy when I met him and well, he's a lot smaller than my Lucas. I already suspected that the swelling might be from the bite.

Wednesday: Just to confirm, we brought Lucas to school to talk to his teacher. For one, I am thinking that if someone punches Lucas, my son probably provoked him. If not, then the teacher should talk to the other boy's parents to inform them of their son's behavior. When we talked to his teacher, we were assured that no punching happened. They probably were just playing. My son, in a separate conversation, confirmed this. (Oh, how I felt was worthy of another post). If no punching happened, the swelling must be because of the bite. To cut the long story short, Lucas, JJ and I ended up waiting at the school clinic for the pedia. After the check-up, we were asked if we can see his pedia that day. Cannot do because his pedia does not have clinic hours on Wednesdays. She told us to go to the ER and that the doctors there will call our pedia anyway. NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER. We brought Lucas back to class and Lolo G just brought Lucas to our cousin pedia after lunch that day. Ate Mai prescribed antibiotics but Kuya Larry said that if the swelling increases, we must bring him to the ER asap.

Thursday:  By 1:30 AM, we woke Lucas up for his medicines. We weren't sure if the swelling increased so we just packed up and decided to bring him to the ER. When the doctor-on-duty saw him, confinement was her immediate recommendation saying that the swelling was within the dangerous triangle zone sorrounding the nose area and that infections there might affect the brain :-( Quite scary stuff. So, Lucas was admitted in the hospital for the first time. Preparing him for IV treatment was really challenging (there were 3 nurses plus me and JJ) but everything was a breeze from there. What's positive here was that apart from the swelling, Lucas was his old self. Chatty, malikot and he still eats.

Friday:   Still under observation. Not much change in the swelling on his face. I guess medicines were yet to take effect by this time.

Saturday: An ENT was sent by his pedia. He recommended that the abscess be removed via incision (minor surgery). Due to our son's age (resistance, possibility of trauma), the procedure will be done while Lucas is under general anesthesia. We weighed the pros and cons of having the abscess removed surgically and if we just let it run its course naturally. The doctors we consulted said that the best option really is to have it removed surgically. This will mean faster healing for my son.

Sunday:  By 9 AM, we were already at the surgery area. JJ accompanied him inside and he was only sent out after Lucas fell asleep, before the surgery began. The procedure lasted for less than an hour. When Lucas was inside the recovery room already, JJ called and asked me to go to the recovery area as Lucas was looking for me. I was happy to see my baby and I guess he was glad Mommy's there because he stopped being fuzzy and fell asleep after a few minutes.
8:58 PM Sunday: My son ate his dinner already and is happily watching Thomas videos on his daddy's Ipad. I am really glad the minor surgery was over and that we'll probably be discharged tomorrow :-)

~*~
Funny Lucas Moments

We had to measure his wiwi and we were a given a cup to use. The first time he made wiwi in the cup he said, "Mommy, I will not drink that....".  :-)

When my dad asked him if he wanted  to go home already he said, "Uhmm, no Lolo...". (Lagot. Mukhang hindi na namin puedeng ipantakot ang hospital stay whenever he doesn't want to take his medicines...)

Little Vallesteroses

It's been said lots of times but I will dare to say it again. When it comes to our children, time really does fly so fast.

 

Case in point: Here's my Lucas. All grown up. (Well, okay. He's just 4. But still, I cannot help but compare him to the 6-month old baby who looks at me then like I am his next meal (which, at that time, I admittedly am in  a way...)

 



 Last October 1. Bonding with cousins @ Rub Ribs

 

Our littlest. Eugene's look-a-like, Alexa

 

Kuya Lucas and our little princess

 

~*~

Fast forward to October 26. We took advantage of the long weekend by driving up to Tagaytay to celebrate our birthdays. We had lunch at Tootsie's and had dessert at Bag of Beans.

 Kuya Einar, Kuya Enrico, Lucas and Alexa @ Tootsie's

 

 Alexa's chubby kagigil cheeks. Another case on how fast they grow, this pic and the one of her above were taken just three weeks apart. See how she grew?

 

 The boys on our way home from the fun trip.
I still remember when JJ and I were just bf/gf. Kuya Einar was around Lucas's age and Kuya Enrico was just weeks old when i first met them, look at them now. Binata na.

 

Hay. Can we selectively stop time?

Lucas's 4th Birthday Party

Here are the highlights of Lucas's 4th Birthday Party. It was a family-only party (much as we want to invite all our friends, we just have to meet our set budget...) that our little boy obviously enjoyed.

Family picture before his party started

 

Lucas and Kuya Migs

 



Our pamangkins as game participants

 



Uh oh.. no  more chair?

 



 Lucas's chocolate cake from Shopwise

 

Jollibee was extra kulit that day. He had tons of funny poses with the kids

 

Lucas's favorite part of the party

 

 

Happy 4th Birthday anak. Love love.

 

Lucas's 4th Birthday

Our little boy is now four (4) years old!

He was quite content with his chocolate cake. I guess, as long as it has lots of candles :)



 He asked Lolo G to light the candles 4 times... of course, we sang Happy Birthday all those times

 He was looking forward to his gifts... we've been giving him hints on what he's bound to get

From Ninong B, Flynn the Fire Truck

Happy 4th Birthday sweetheart. Daddy and Mommy love you very much.

Lolo G and Lola E's Olympic Babies...

I find it quite amazing that all four (4) of Lolo G and Lola E's grandkids are born on "Olympics" years.

If they will go by where the Olympics was held the year they were born, our Kuya Einar will be named Sydney. Kuya Enrico will be Athens. Lucas will be Beijing and our little Alexa will be named London.

SYDNEY: Einar (February 20, 2000) 

ATHENS: Enrico (July 20, 2004) 

BEIJING: Lucas (August 15, 2008)

LONDON: Alexa (July 11, 2012)

Wonder if the family's next little one will wait until 2016's Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro...