Lucas goes to a wedding banquet

Weddings are great fun for everyone except babies. Raymond's cousin Pauline got married and was asked to photograph their wedding. So Raymond had to be there from 8AM to 10PM luckily Cathy and Patrick opened up their beautiful home and Paulina and Lucas was able to stay and attend the banquet only. He didn't miss his meals and naps so was fully ready for the banquet. Unfortunately, they played the music too loud and we had to move towards the back of the hall. Poor Lucas, he was so tired on the way back home.

Are babies trophies to flaunt around? At the banquet, my mother pulled Lucas out of the car seat while he was just barely awake and brought him to almost every table to show people her grandson. Lots of people got to squeeze and poke him. Some did it after coughing into their hands!?!?! Good thing breastmilk has antibodies to help him fight the germs other people pass around. So far he has not been sick yet... fingers crossed.

Lucas meets co-workers

We brought Lucas to our company's Christmas lunch to see many of our co-workers. This is the second time Lucas visited our workplace. He seem to do well with strangers and many people got to hold him even some people we don't shake hands with. Let's just say he stayed in the bath a bit longer that night.

Proud of Lucas sleeping without crying

Tonight, Lucas amazed us. What did he do that was so amazing? Can he crawl yet? No. Can he stand up by himself? No. Can he read? No. Then what can a five month old baby do that is so amazing? He went to sleep. Yes, we are very proud of Lucas going to sleep. In particular, he went to sleep without assistance or crying.



For the first few months, Lucas would fall asleep in the car, in our arms, or while nursing. But he almost never fall asleep on his own by himself. Starting his fourth month, we decided to try out the Ferber method and let him cry. Why? Well, when he gets sleepy, he doesn't fall asleep, rather he gets frustrated and cry for a while until one of us picks him up and calm him down. If we do not, he'll cry, cry, and cry. So on the fourth month, we decided to let him cry. At first he cry for more than three hours so we gave up and picked him up. Ever since we let him cry to that long, he continued to cry for an hour or two before falling asleep. It was difficult to see him so frustrated and his voice so coarse from crying.



But tonight, we put him down and he just fell asleep. We are just so amazed and proud of this milestone in baby history. We should remember this date and celebrate it every year. We still can't get over it. Amazing!

Poem about Fatherhood

A Father's Prayer

Lord I'm askin? for Your help
To raise my newborn son,
Give me strength and guide me
Cause I know that You're the one.

That sent this angel to me
A little heaven here on earth,
For now I know my place in life...
I'm no longer who comes first.

Once I had no answer
As to why it is I'm here,
But when I looked into my baby's eyes....
It all became so clear.

This little bit of heaven
Owns me, heart and soul
And it's You that sent him to me
A greater love I'll never know.

So take these rugged hands of mine
Help me to understand,
Just what it is I need to do
To raise this little man.

Help me build a boy that knows
It's You that holds the key,
To all that heaven holds for us
Show him Your love through me.

by Mitch Speed

Christmas Family Pictures

Back to the main subject - Lucas

Enough with excuses for being absent, back to the main purpose of this blog: the journal of raising little-trinhs, for now it will be the recording of the life of Lucas Jared Trinh.

Lucas turned four months on October 26 and five months on November 26. Here is a collage for those dates:

The fourth month, we tried sleep training using the Feber method and letting him cry to sleep but after several hours and hearing his voice straining, we let him back into our bed. We did this for about two weeks and decided to postpone it until he get a bit older. Now, everytime he is sleeping he gets very frustrated and cries a bit even while being held. He also discovered his voice after crying for so long. Our house is no longing quiet and serene while little mild chirps of baby sounds, it is filled with loud baby talk and intermittent screams of excitement. We also introduce Lucas with the exersaucer where he bounces and screams with delightment.

The fifth month brought about the squirming and kicking when lying down. With increased tummy time, he can now roll over from back to stomach with his head perched high for very long periods. Unfortunately, he gets tired without the ability to roll back to his back and ends up with his face buried on the bed. We also found out tickling his ribs and back brings loud burst of giggles and screams. We finally order "Your baby can read" but he seems somewhat disinterested. He is noticing our cats walking around and stares at them with confusion when they walk by. During dinner time, he stares at our food and smacks his lips... no teeth yet but plenty of drool.

Busy - Reasons for not blogging

Wow the last time we blogged was in October, a good month and a half of absence. Good thing we don't get paid for this or we probably have used up our vacation and sick time already.

The month of October and November was very busy for the whole family. We had an outreach in October and remodeled our kitchen in November. We also had the annual family Thanksgiving potluck with over 70 relatives in one house.

We had a fellowship outreach on October 17 with drama skit, testimony, and gospel message. Three people came to Christ and one re-commit so all the work we put into it beared some fruit. We had about forty new comers so hopefully we sowed the seeds in the hearts for future harvest. Paulina and I were responsible for the light and sound. This includes coming up with a powerpoint background for each scene, background sound effects and lighting to enhance mood along with Paulina singing three songs solo with another sister. It took us four weeks of intense preparation and iterations to get the details worked out, a lot of work for small details. This really helped us appreciate the enormous task it takes for sound and light professionals for movies and other productions.

Here is Paulina attentively waiting for the right time to play a car scene sound effect. She really enjoyed sitting behind a piano hidden from the audience.

Here is a picture with Danny and Conkyo using blinking LED flashlights for effects:

Here is a group picture of the cast involved in the outreach.

Two of Raymond's uncles had birthday banquets in October, one turned 61 and other 51.

Here is a collage of Raymond's family on his mother's side:

Mom has six other brothers and sisters, averaging five kids in each family.