Trick or Treat

Halloween is certainly not a local Singaporean holiday, however, there are certainly celebrations of the ritual amongst the large number of American expats living here.
As lack of luck would have it, I was on a top secret mission to Tokyo during the fateful week and was sorely disappointed to miss the Party of Five first annual Halloween special. Luckily though, the Wicked Witch of Weight Loss was good enough to capture some defining moments for all of us to share.

For the Blaus this year we had the following cast of characters...

Savanna, starring as Ariel, the Mermaid Princess who enraptures sailors with her voice and can stuff a whole pumpkin cupcake into her mouth while fighting off peers seeking to touch her mysterious Ariel backpack.

Sienna, featured this year as a Disney Hula Girl preparing for her video trials of Mickey Mouse Club 2010.

For 2007, the year of the new homerun king in baseball, Colten chose to honor his San Franciso hero with a dedication to Giants Baseball.
(Please note that there is still a pending investigation as to how Colt was able to exceed 8 kilos in his last five months. Local press reports have suggested performance enhancing drugs may have been supplied by his father, something the family vehemently denies)

Brandon and Jen were not to be outdone and managed a respectable showing as Fashionable Witch and Rather Dubious Pirate. Seven years ago we started our courtship on Halloween and thus it's also been a special holiday for us. This year we managed to show up at another family's Halloween Party, without our kids, and as the only adults in costume. To top it off, all the other families were French so we spent the rest of the night drinking Bourdeax, chomping on baguettes with extraordinarily smelly cheese and casually chiming in Je ne parle pas français bien mais ce vin est délicieux as appropriate.

You've got to love Halloween!

Time Flies

There's a very fine line between appreciating how blessed we are to have 3 such wonderful young children...and wondering how the hell we're going to get through the next day. Lately, the former warm fuzzy thoughts have outnumbered the feelings of desperation. Although I'm certainly jinxing myself with this post.

For infants Singapore is a fantastic breeding ground for colds as you're either in the sauna that is everyday in Singapore, or you're passing through a blizzard of competitive freon producers at local malls, apartments and doctors offices. Hot and Cold, Cold and Hot. The vicious cycle continues and the sniffles bound. Fortunately, medical attention here is excellent and easy to come by.

The twins have grown increasingly aware of us, one another, and a crazy 3 year old that puts on dance shows for them and occasionally attempts loving wrestling moves. They are now squawking and yelling, just on the cusp of first words. My weekends are dedicated to planting subliminal messages that will trigger their first statement of "Daddy" or "Shake & bake". However, I believe this is a losing effort with the obligatory "Mama" sure to take the pole position in their race to verbalize inner thoughts.

Rare Shot

It's always fascinating to identify trends in your parenting efforts. One clear tendency is that all your pictures are of your kids...with no good shots of the couple that made it all possible. These shots go out as testaments to the "way we were" AND will be for years to come. 3 under 3 may occasionally inhibit romance but it doesn't tarnish the luster. (cut to Barry White tune & fade out)

Personality

Day by day, the kids change and grow...with different moods greeting us each morning. Colten's previous preoccupation with chugging as much milk as possible has now passed, and his sister has overtaken him in feeding efficiency.




Sienna, the touchy infant, is now all laughs...be it in the morning in the bath or in the stroller. It continually amazes me upon returning from a few days in Japan how many updates there are -- it's like they're both test driving new personalities to determine best fit


Through it all, Savanna's evolution from Only Child to Big Sister is also underway. There are certainly moments of attention deficit that drive her to outlandish acts and regressive behavior, but that's all pretty normal. Big picture -- she really enjoys playing with them and pulls herself together to help when needed.

"He's smiling at me!!" is a frequently cited phrase

Family Bandwagon

Ok folks...we're back online with a new set of updates. The intent is always to knock these down a few each week, but reality acts as deterrent to our best laid plans. Father, it's been two months since my last blog and there have been many wins, sins and adventures in parenting.



Over the past months we've been blessed by a barrage of grandparents. Singapore is about 15,000 miles from New York so it's not as if it's possible to stop by on the way to the grocery store or for a long weekend visit. We really enjoy life in Singapore , however, it's a long way from home and there's nothing like deploying sorties of eager grandfolk to keep the kids entertained and off-balance.


Here's some shots of the family fun...

Focus

It's a proud moment when you realize that occasionally your children listen to what you say. Who cares if the derived meaning might be 180 degrees from that which you had originally intended. What matters is that you've made a breakthrough.

A few months back, MBA Dad .employed numerous Pavlovian cues to convince one Savanna Hope Blau of the virtues of using the restroom like a big girl, and shedding her baby safeguards along the way.

We reviewed the positive impact on the environment and even the psychological virtues of Dora the Explorer panties vs Pampers, however, ironically, what eventually stuck was the catch cry of "Let's focus on the potty".

From that moment on, she could not wait to tell good ole dad about today's achievements "focusing on the potty". Amidst her delight in advising on her progress "focusing", she boldly stepped forward into big girl status and shed the stigma of frumpy pants. This marked one small diaper for daughter, but one massive relief for Blau-kind in Singapore.
And parenting books be damned, I had cracked the code with a bit of BSchool 101 vocab. At the end of the day, it was all about FOCUS wasn't it? Who could imagine the power of FOCUS when applied to future challenges??! Like some wide-eyed fresh recruit she had seized upon the power of Focus like a pig to...well, poo. How had no one ever told me about this magic word??!! Had we cracked the code? Was this the key to stifling the whines, blasting through bathtime??

Much to our chagrin, we quickly discovered that the "FOCUS technique" was not so easily transferable.
"Savanna, I need you to focus on eating your oatmeal"
"Focus on the potty?"
"No...focus on eating all of your oatmeal."
" I focused on the potty like a big girl, right daddy?!"
... ... ...
"Yes, dear. You did a great job focusing on the potty."

Moral of the story is that you can only Focus so much on your kids before insanity overtakes you.

When I grow up

One major milestone that we were happy to celebrate recently was the completion of my MBA. After almost 4 years of part-time study in between weddings, babies and business trips abroad I finally put the ball over the line and secured the degree.








I was fortunate that Vickie & Kathryn were still with us in Singapore for the ceremony and we loaded everyone on the bus, heading into the room like a bad scene from "Clampetts Go to School".


Now that the degree is over I find myself with so much time that I don't know what to do with myself. I read books, eat bon bons, plan constructive projects... ...wait. Hold on...

No, sorry. That was from a final assignment called "What I Plan To Do After My MBA", versus our new world order. Yet another classic case of MBA theory deviating from real world applications based on experience.


Luckily I have no shortage of new "stuff" to do with the following images offered as an abridged
version of our new daily life which offers ample opportunities to seek new synergies, plot sustainable strategies for high performance, prosecute new growth opportunities and re-engineer business practices...and those other things that MBAs are supposed to do. (Just a note that the following passage is MBA-speak for "survive Saturday afternoon with kids while Jen is at gym")

.

Now more than ever, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Feeding frenzy

The twins continue to gain weight, expressions and personality. Colten is an eating machine, devouring bottles as if his last meal was not far away. He's consuming twice as much twice as fast as Sienna and has no regrets. We'll be taking him to rugby practice soon if this keeps up.






Holding fast to the tradition of Blau & Freund younger female siblings, Sienna prefers to dine on her schedule, thank you very much. She's awake at night, asleep during the day and not a happy camper when prodded in a new direction. Jen's doing a fabulous job at keeping her sanity, closely linked to an ever-changing schedule.

Thankfully we have a night nurse coming for this month to help us manage the 2am feeds. I tackled this in June and gained new respect for truck drivers and midnight shift workers around the globe. Sleep is a good thing.

Family Time

Timing is everything now. We run to a schedule, we burn incense to the gods of coordination in hopes that Twin 1 finishes feeding when Twin 2 is ready to go. Heaven forbid that both are hungry/ornery/angry at the same time.

Luckily Gramma Vickie and Aunt Kathryn Freund are in Singapore for June to support the expanded family. It's great to have family in town for the expansion plan. We've enlisted their full support, particularly on Savanna duty. Half of their luggage was dedicated to smuggling Disney Little Mermaid materials into the country to support our daughter's current fascination with princesses and mermaids.

Savanna has reacted well to all the changes. She has assumed the role of the excited big sister, with a few attempted eye gouges here or there. The doting from Gramma has helped to ease the attention deficit from parental units. She's interested in being the good big sister...but isn't quite sure what that means. Next week we'll start the "How to Bottle Feed from 3am" and "Changing Diapers - Best Practice" coursework to fully empower her.

The Process of Leaving Home

We used to plan holidays, nights on the town, dinners out with friends...now we plan to leave the apartment. Suddenly life has changed. The respective baby nutrition packs must be packed, the bus primed for action, reserve clothing prepped just in case...and let's not forget the pump. Again -- it's all about supply & demand.

And did I mention that my wife looks like she's never been pregnant after only 3 weeks from giving birth?!! Amazing...Inspirational.

The thing about Twins

Is the ongoing supply & demand challenges. Of milk, of attention, of sleep, diapers and the outside world. Now that the gang is all home it's busy, but surprisingly normal. The second time around is certainly easier...it's the wild 2 year old that prompts the dramas, and even those are laughable.

Getting Home

Yesterday Savanna met her new brother and sister for the first time. Needless to say she was delighted by the thought of having babies...I think she may just be tired of her dolls. :)

Colten and Sienna each had a present for Savanna which was a big hit and immediately impressed their older sister. Although a bit confused that they would not talk back to her, Savanna was very pleased to gently pet both of them on the head and tell them what good babies they were.

These shots are with sister Sienna.

Tiny

It really is amazing how tiny these kids are. They are full of life and yet fragile. Happy to be here, but rather startled at the madness going on around them. Here's a few shots of Colten on his first day...