World Down Syndrome Day: 21st March 2014

Today, it will be almost 3 years since we welcomed Gabriel into our lives. I cannot believe we have gotten so far. There were so many struggles and challenges, I honestly didn`t know if we`d make it in one piece. Yet, here we are today, standing tall and strong.

Gabriel has been going from strength to strength, surprising us all with his will to fight and loving, sunny character. Yes, he is like most children, having tantrums and being so stubborn at times. He learnt to walk late at 2yrs 4 months about. He cannot talk in sentences yet, but can say quite a few words. He understands ALOT. It`s whether he wants to listen to you or not. He gets into trouble every single day doing the dumbest things sometimes. He is so loving and generous with his hugs and kisses. He has so many funny dance moves. And he loves Mickey Mouse.

His heart problem which was our main concern, is doing fine now after 3 surgeries, 2 of them open heart surgery. I love this kid, so courageous and brave. His Down Syndrome will never go away, but you know what, it`s OK, we`re happy, he`s happy.

So today, we celebrate this day with peace in our hearts and minds, grateful that we have this adorable little boy whom we proudly call our son. And this is for you Gabe...

Dearest Gabe Gabe as we so fondly call you,

Mummy cannot believe how fast time flies and you are now a TODDLER!! A big boy yah...You are ever so full of mischief and so naughty at times we just want to smack you. Your smile lights up our world and your funny moves never fail to amuse us.

Mummy and Daddy are so proud of you. You have gone through so many struggles and obstacles, yet you always come out of it fighting like a brave warrior. We have never been ashamed of having you in our lives and why would we. You are indeed smart darling...sometimes too smart for your own good. Obviously, taking instructions was never your strong point and you are forever testing our patience. Feeding you when you were younger was such a horror, thank God you are better now. We love seeing you muck around and how you are obsessed with Mickey Mouse. We Thank God for you everyday.

My hope is that you grow strong & well. You did not choose to come into this so called `perfect world`, with your imperfections. It was all part of God`s master plan and no one could have seen it coming. Mummy hopes that society will be accepting of you and this sometimes cruel world will be kind to you. I hope that people will see the beautiful side of you and not judge you by your looks or so called `Down Syndrome` label.

Continue to shine Gabe and bask in your world. Be happy always my darling lil boy and never lose that infectious smile of yours. Mummy loves you so so much, always remember that.

With All The Love in My Heart

Mummy

Daily Activities at School

The other day, Gabe`s teacher gave me some photos of him at school. These were taken last year. So for you people who wonder what they do, these photos will give you an idea:)

Brotherly Adoration

There is nothing sweeter than seeing your kids cozy up to one another and being loving...yes, Lucas does adore his big brother. You can see it everytime GAbe goes to him and Lucas will have this big smile on his face, and look at Gabe adoringly. It`s truly very sweet.

So now, I@ve decided to start training Gabe for early babysitting services. When I`m busy with something, I`ll ask Gabe to go to Lucas` swing and talk to him and show him the starts n sheep hanging on his swing. And yup, Gabe will do just that and keep saying `Star` to Lucas. Then he`ll do Twinkle Twinkle Little Star actions...and Lucas loves it.

My 2 boys

Doing the Twinkle Twinkle Action

Umm...he helped swing the swing...too fast and i had to tell him to stop

But of course there are times when Gabe`s help is not needed, but he tries to anyway. When Lucas is asleep, he`ll go n take out his pacifier...then when Lucas is awake, Gabe tries to stuff it in. And then there are instances he takes Lucas` bolster and tries to put it on his body....yup, that`s when i have to stop brotherly love..

Lucas says : My Mummy is NOT Paranoid!!!

Things have been a little frustrating at home for the past few weeks. You see, this time round, i had expected motherhood to be quite smooth sailing. I keep thinking well, now i will have a baby who will drink gallons of milk and sleep like a baby...so u imagine my disappointment when nothing, and i mean nothing, went my way.

First, Lucas rejected my breast, then my breast milk, and now to top it all off, he sometimes rejects milk itself. Yes, we have been struggling to get him to drink much. And, he vomits too after feeds. And lately he keeps gagging on the bottle nipple. Wonderful...I have no idea what is wrong and that goes for his doctor as well. I was quite sure he had a case of severe reflux at first and begged the doctor to take a look at him even though she was off duty in the clinic that day. Went there, our friend drank like a good boy and we even did a blood test & X ray on poor Lucas. Nope, nothing wrong there either. And the doctor doesn`t think it`s reflux, rather, from what i hear from other mamma friends, Jap docs do not believe in the wrods REFLUX & COLIC. So, we went home. Lucas didn`t improve and i was getting frustrated. I mean then, why would a perfectly healthy baby NOT want to drink milk and struggle so hard he turns red and sweats?? It doesn`t make sense at all. So, off we went i insisted to do an allergy test to rule out milk allergy...sigh, yup, allergy test came back negative...so now, everyone thinks i`m this loony mother. Great, Thanks Lucas.

At the age of 2months, he should be drinking much more than the measly 50-80ml per feed every 2 hours. SOmetimes he can even manage to go by 3 hours without feeling hungry...or maybe he is super hungry but doesn`t wanna drink??? So yes I`m this paranoid mother worried sick. Look, i went down this awful path with Gabe, i simply cannot go through it again. And Lucas does NOT have a good reason to not want to drink, unlike Gabe who had heart problems PLUS DS.

Everytime i need to feed Lucas, i really feel stressed and burdened, coz if he continues like this, he will surely not put on weight sooner or later.

The Hubby is going for biz trip next week and i think is super worried what tests i will bring Lucas to do when he is not around...hmm, come to think of it, just to play safe perhaps I should consider seeing a mouth specialist to confirm and make sure Lucas` mouth is sucking correctly? Or maybe see a stomach specialst to see if there is too much acid in his tummy causing it to be painful when drinking too much milk? Whaddya think?

Yeah yeah, call me paranoid....whatever...

Gabe Falls Asleep

Poor Gabe has been having a hard time adjusting from being an Only Child. I used to lavish so much attention on him, and now it`s heartbreaking to see him want that but me not being able to do so much. So basically he has been whiny and throwing tantrums especially in the evenings. More so when he is tired and near bedtime.

So much so, the other day i was feeding Lucas before his bedtime and had the white noise machine on, plus the baby lullaby..and Gabe had been crying wanting me to carry him. In the end, i have only 2 hands and Lucas needed to eat, so i told Gabe to wait, which of course he totally went ballistic and started rolling on the floor crying his eyes out. What was i to do? Sigh, anyway, in the end it got quiet after a few minutes and i thought he just stopped crying. So i looked down and umm..the poor boy had fallen asleep on the floor next to me.

I guess he was really really tired...poor baby..Mummy loves you Gabe, I`m so sorry, let`s hang in there for a few more weeks okay till it`s not so hectic....

Daddy came home just in time and carried Gabe to his room to sleep.....

My Smile Lights Up Mummy`s World

Not many words this post...these pics speak for themselves...

And don`t you love his bright outfit???