There and Back

It takes a village...and a hell of a lot of patience to get back and forth to US, but you make it happen. Luckily it's only 18h...

The only saving grace we have is flying Singapore Airlines, truly the best airline in the world with staff that help you out the whole way and don't mind the occasional baby vomit on their freshly pressed jacket.




Luckily Savanna's ok with wearing headsets so she can zombie out into hours worth of Dora the Explorer and High School Musical 2. For intercontinental flights all rules are off...it's all about survival.

Homecoming

It was the best of times and the worst of times. Our trip home to the US represented a significant logistical exercise tainted with illness and a sprinkle of good family fun. Note to self, 18h flights with 3 kids under 3 are to be avoided at all costs.

Actually the clan was very good on the flight and yet again I avoided the moniker of being THAT GUY with the screaming kids. Our day will come soon...I'm sure.


After landing in the US we were kindly introduced to the latest rage sweeping the country, the norovirus. This viral beast knocked out the whole family turning my "Escape to NYC" weekend into an internship in the family sick ward. I was fortunate enough to avoid getting sick, which meant that I was lucky enough to look after the rest of my mates.

Our trip to Indiana saw replication of the contagion across more relatives and friends. Jury is still out on whether we introduced this to the community or not...but let's just say it felt like a Plague Ship crossing the US. We were very blessed however to have many family in town to attend the twins baptism, a wonderful affair followed by dinner hosted at Mom's place along the river.

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...