Titbits

Pic of the dog's beds upstairs, they also have beds downstairs. amazingly they haven't bitten a hole in them like when they were younger in Singapore.

Conversations overheard...

1.) Thembi and Olivia having breaskfast.
T: I am so afraid of Bullet...
O: Oh he looks scary but he is just a gentle goofy dog, not scary at all
T: But his farts smell so bad and they are silent
O: giggling
T: I swear, if there were other people around, no one would believe me if I said it was bullet, they would think I am blaming an innocent dog!
O: laughing with tears....

2.) Thembi and the neighbour's helper (translated), lunch time.
N: Oi... what are you cooking again, it smells so good.
T: eat you own meal ok, stop being so nosy
N: Oi... you guys are killing us you know, everyday the food smells so good and the wind brings over the smell. They only feed us bread here. Oh I still feel so hungry, I have doubled my bread intake smelling your food. I am gaining weight because of you! you make me fat!

The girls feel grateful for they are allowed to eat what we eat, by law we only need to provide tea and bread! Thembi has lost 2kg since working for us and Nomsa 10kg, I think from working and moving and eating better. Thembi said her heart has grown bigger though and she enjoys working here.

3.) Nate in School at story time, teacher finished telling a story about snails (his favourite thing now) and caterpillars
T: Steven, sit down... and so the snail went on its way and what did it see?
N: oooo luulalluuuooo (no idea what he is trying to make out) mao mao cong (caterpillar in chinese) and wo niu (snail in chinese) walking apu the hillu (walking up the hill, why he speaks like a japanese i don't know!)
T: (bursts out into a big smile), Mr. Nate, you are very talkative today.

4.) Dada comes home early to say good night, nate is in bed, they are looking into each others eyes....
N: Rafiyu
Loren: huh? (looks to me) do you know what he is saying?
Me: no idea... oh I think he said Love You
N: (big smile, good translation).
L: love you too
N: Lab you.

Nate's new friend two doors down is Ethan, he turned 3 in January and is slightly taller than Nate and they seem to understand each other. His mom thought Nate was older... so I guess they will still not be talking by 3? I do miss the time from taipei when he would come back with a new chinese word that I have not heard in a long time.

Nate is now into Nemo, olivia seems hooked onto it as well.

Air is SO dry

and it is summer of which it is supposed to be the wettest time. The rains have not come down in 2 weeks, but somehow water is cheap here and everyone's lawns are still green from the sprinkler systems. I need to get Nate used to wearing lip stuff and I need to start wearing slippers too as feet here are proned to cracked heels. i tried but just don't like slippers. Everyone wears shoes in the house and drags dirt in. I also need ot get good hand moisturizers at every washing station, I can understand why people don't want to wash their hands often but maybe the nice smelling moisturizers will help, my finger tips are so dry, they are going to peel too.

Bullet's nose is dry... so is ikes, tho thembi said for their kids, they use a bit of vaseline in the nose and last night that worked really well, he only woke twice, instead of a few times. The meter that measures the dryness in the air is always stuck at 20%, which is the lowest indicator, I wonder if we could be at 10% or lower?

I thought i tossed out my dehumidifiers in taipei but they got shipped here, I tried selling them at cash converters but they laughed and were surprised such a product exsited. I will try and hunt for a large humidifier soon.

I signed nate up for broadacres nursery school, they should have a spot for him next term, which is april. I checked out two other schools but they weren't as nice as broadacres... am happy that ike would also go to broadacres when he is ready. Next step apparently I have to start looking at primary schools as I have to put his name down or he may have no spot when the time comes and if we are still here.

Am planning to tackle our bedsheet and towel situation next, I have not done any shopping in that area as Taipei just had a very limited variety. The bookshelves arrived but I think i made have amde a measurement mistake, they look a bit short will have to think how to remedy that situation.

Settling in

Finally I feel that we are settling in. I bought some plants over the weekend and today took the plunge to buy one of my favourite ferns, they are quite expensive here and in Singapore I could practically pick them off the ground, I may have my mom bring a tupperware of small baby ferns for me to raise. There is one fern though near our house, but it is on a tall tall palm that serves as the mini round about, now way I can go harvest baby ones or pluck that one!

I"ve also been trying to buy baskets, there are quite a number of them but nothing that is perfect yet. The US is still the land of consumers, I clicked on to crate and barrel and there were my perfect baskets!

Some of you asked about the dogs, they are doing fine, bullet today jumped over the pool corner, barely making it, just to try and catch a Uaaark uaark bird. There were 2 in our garden today looking for fat earthworms. I do need to take a pic of them! Jake and pistol both used ot have black fur under their chins but both have turned white now, jakes eye brows and whiskers have also turned white. Ourd dogs are entering middle age.

I have instituted a new way to put ike to sleep, no more carrying and singing and 4 different methods... he cried some on sunday as we now put him down before he sleeps, so he learns to sleep unassisted but today did the best naps so far, 2 solid ones. A perfect nap day.

The bookshelves arrive on weds and then we will be all unpacked! yay.

Posted pics

I uploaded some pictures, some of them are on older posts. I need to figure out how to get smaller image sizes from the camera otherwise the uploading takes a long time!

Here are some flowers in our garden. Its a miracle how they just keep popping up. Nate likes taking the rose petals and throwing them in the air and running through them like a bride, we tell him congratulations and he has learnt the word, he thinks the rose petal game is called "congratulations". After pruning the roses, more buds just keep coming!

Other pics included Nomsa and Ike, Thembi is the one by the clothes line, Peter is the gardener and pool man. Nate likes seeing him everyday.

The dogs went for a run with loren today, at least they aren't barking at other dogs and loren likes to run and now they are passed out.

Ike is growing up

Ike determines to sleep at 730pm everynight, its pitch dark at about 720pm with my new black out curtains, sometimes he appears tired at 630 or 645 and I try to put him to sleep but its a struggle, light still seeps in and he just refuses to go down, thena t 725 he will suddenly put his head down and finallly go to sleep.

Last night as soon as he slept, loren and I went out to dinner. Olivia said he woke at about 915 and was patted back to sleep, he does a first waking at 915 to 930. Then I was so tired I slept, the room has a double bed and ike was right smack in the middle, I also moved his cot there but the girls don't like using it, so I also have a mattress on the floor. I slept on the floor as my new experiment to not wake ike while I toss and turn and vice versa. 1215am, ike asleep, I sleep on, 2am, no noise, this is good zzzzzz. 330am, shirt wet, do I go pump? how come this guy is sleeping so much? hover hover, ike is breathing but sleeping. 345 a stir and feed and change of diaper. Will he make it to 7am??? 4am, argh now I can't sleep, so I am mentally planning his new routine day.

He has more wakeful hours, I have been taking him to nate's school if he is awake during that time, yesterday he went with me to check out the broadacres nursery school, tomorrow maybe i take him swimming, I also remembered that I have a bouncy toy that I should use before he is too big and I think also a new bedtime routine which will include reading. Poor guy just gets led into a dark room. I should try and get him a CD player too for some classical music.

So 430am am at the blog... I can think of a few more stories to write but will save that. I will take the camera with me everywhere tomorrow and get shots to upload. I mananged to hook up the new printer/scanner yesterday and I will try and hit the plant shop tomorrow for smaller potted plants around the house and will try to go when ike is awake, 25mins more and Thembi's shift starts and I can switch on the baby monitor and head back to sleep in the main bedroom.

Will Ike sleep through tomorrow?

This week, while checkin gout the Dainfern nursery (15min walk fm home), the owner called Ike, "fatty". Ike is really not quite pleased with the dr's plan to give him a teaspoon increase of rice cereal a day. Yesterday, he grabbed the spoon from olivia and fed himself. The rice cereal is creating a bit of havoc to his tummy, very smelly farties and just as olivia was preparing a suppository yesterday, he made a BIG one, three days worth for Thembi, the new jackpot winner.

Broadacres Farm Nursery School

It is Nate's mid term and his montesorri school is closed for 3 days, I signed him up for the Dainfern nursery which is a 15 min walk from home or a 2 minute drive in the car. He seems to adjust to the new place really fast, yesterday i got a hug when I picked him up, today he didn't even want to come home! I think he is just hoping to avoid his naps. When his teacher started laying out nap mats, he said "go home". The difference I think is that Nate spends more indoor time and doing indoor things like craft than running around outside.

I also finally checked out the Farm nursery school, its not far from our home, maybe a 10 minute drive, they also have buses doing pick up and nate misses sitting on a bus. Its quite a large place, different sections for different age groups, there are lots of farm animals, a resident hog, a group of geese, ducks, chickens and they get to ride a horse once a week! There are about 250 students but it did not feel like it. It is run by a husband and wife team and they also get healthy meals there. They try to create group pressure to get the kids to learn from each other. There is also the same teachers that teach golf, ballet, action ball, swimming etc here. The school also only closes for the December holidays and none of this mid term then end of term breaks. I really like this school, there is unfrotunately no space for Nate's age group. I think i will just sign him up and then when they do have space move him over.

The other thing I like is that they have big shady trees, his montesori school has some shade but not as much. Some parents I spoke to did not liek the place because they thought it was too grimy but I think it is not much more so than the present school and kids at this age should get grimy anyway.

Bubbi marcia is now booked to come out in April, missing the lovely montreal spring into summer for SA's autumn into winter. I hope I get my car by then, otherwise we will have one man band bubbi....

Ikes first meal and shopping here

Ike at first rolled his tongue about then decided he liked the rice cereal and I saw olivia sneaking him another teaspoon when he is only supposed to have 2 today, 3 tomorrow, 4 the day after and so on. He was not happy when the food was taken away from him, like sometimes when he is hungry and sees me walk in the opposite direction, he gets quite distressed.

He is so plump he has a huge double chin, I got a pic of him eating, now to figure out how to upload!

I also swung by a place called Design Quarters, I feel like I have gone from the home shopping desert of Taipei, where the only exciting shopping is costco and ikea, where if there is an interesting shop, parking would be impossible to malls, malls and more malls with free parking and endless large parking spots.

Anyway at design center, I found many shops to finally buy the things I have been putting off, like replacing our sun bleached pillow cases to finally getting a set of dishes that looks alike, the variety is overwhelming and the pressure now to create a lovely dinner setting for shabbat has increased! Help marcia!

Ike is on solids! yay!

Took Ike for his check up and "poo review" with the dr today, he is now 8 kg which is quite big compared to the dr's daughter who was there and is a 2.5 year old walking child and they are the same size (he says she is on the small side). They had the same sized feet, hands, head... only one was still more of a blob.

Dr is happy with his poo progress and has agreed to start him on solids, tomorrow he will have 2 teaspoons of rice cereal for breakfast, two weeks later then vege's then fruit then progress to dinner by 7 months with meat etc. The time for weaning is near, which spells freedom for me and better sleep. I am so happy that there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

He also ok-ed some dimetapp as he may be getting nate's cold. Nate if his cough doesn't improve by thurs, I'll bring him in on friday. Today nate helped me make lemon and honey juice. The next appointment I bring both of them for the developmental check up with the dr around mid march.

I came home and nate found loren's big exercise ball, which we took out and rolled around the street, nate racing with the ball, bumping into the ball... I also got to admire the rose bushes in our front area, last week nate helped me put the dead flower stems that I cut off into a pile, at first I was reluctant to have him help me as there are thorns but he managed well. This week there are many new buds and we will have alot of roses popping up again.

Nate with his new running speed has also had a number of boo boos. In the last week, he fell and cut his lip twice, his knees are scratched up, now he asks for long pants so they don't hurt as much when he falls, he goes everywhere barefoot but likes to kick rocks so.... a boo boo on his big toe too.

One man band

This is the sound of me and the stick shift car passing through the security gates, within sort of a 20 second range the following tune is played... voom, squeek squeek, click click click, BEEEP, pause pause pause, VOOOM, mama Sai Qe, shuga shuga shuga, pupuupurrrrrr.... and if its raining, add swish swish swish to the background...

voom : changing to a lower gear as I apporach the gate
squeek squeek : as I wind down the window
click click click beeeeep : as I fumble with the access card and beep the gate
pause : 3 seconds for gate to rise
VOOOOM : as I am on low gear and don't want the engine to die
MAMA SAI QE : nate says, mama's sports car!
shuga shuga shuga : as I wind up the window
pupuupupurrrrr : as I change gears again

I can't wait till I get my Scenic, a renault I think with many small compartments to put things away and all the driver does is stick in the key, and put forward or reverse, the car will switch on the lights if needed, switch on the wipers if needed! Its now been in service check for a month as we are buying it second hand from loren's predecessor.

TIA or This is Africa is the latest phrase word from Blood Diamonds or TISA, this is south africa, you can't pay for express service, two weeks delivery means probably three.

Today I snet nate to school and there was a big pile of cut grass, the boys took a wheelbarrow and chucked a pile of grass in, ran to the geese and fed them, i got some pix, now to learn to download fm new camera!

Sniffles

Nate has caught some bug... I hope Ike doesn't get it though he did have a stuffyish nose last night which meant he woke up more than twice in the night.

I found Nate's train set and he has definitely grown since the last time he played with it, he now puts the little sign posts up though he can't quite fix the tracks himself.

My family thinks Ike looks like Wendy so Olivia is now nicknaming him, "wendel".

I finally got to join a yoga class today, it was quite good just to stretch and so when mom and marcia come they can come with me in the morning, half the class time is done outside which is really nice to absorb the positive energy around us from the environment. Bernie can go with loren for the father and son, HOT yoga.

We have several fountains in the garden and I have converted one into an herb garden.

We have our new camera!

Conversation overheard

Am upstairs on my computer sorting through bills, Ike took a short nap and not settling in yet for his first am nap...

Olivia : oh I smell something, oh oh you are making poo poo?
Nomsa: no I think its another fake call, just air...
O : No, I smell it, its strong... oh oh here its coming out, oh thats why you don't want to sleep yet...
N : eeee what a big one....

well at least a glycerine averted. Now he should sleep? Dr. W didn't have a chapter on these types of sleep diversions.

Camera Kaput!

After finding the cables, the docking station, charging the camera.... we took some pictures on saturday... I was about to take pictures today of ike, the house... well the camera is broken. Sigh, loren says he will pick up another camera, now that he is in dubai.

Nate is very into Thomas the train, today he wore thomas shirt and his thomas slippers and wanted to go to this toy store that had a thomas table with thomas traacks and all thomas's friends. I now know how kids bankrupt their parents, these toys are really expensive! TOMY the maker is making a killing, I must check out their stock! A matchbox toy car is between US$1 to 3. The train is like US$8 onwards. I am now motivated to look on ebay.

Ike did a great sleep schedule today, a good am nap, a 2 hour pm nap (the longest ever, otherwise its 40 mins, max an hour) and then another short 3rd pm nap. Sleep begets sleep, or is this the illusion of things getting better and tonight will be a bad night for me?

Peter's sister was offered another job so back to the grapevine.

Teeth and feet

Ike has had 2 bottm teeth sprout out about a month ago and now the next two bottom teeth are coming out too. He's been a grumpy little pot. The african's say if they have teeth young they are supposed to be quite intelligent. I've also stopped using a swaddle for him.

Nate on the other hand now runs like all kids here, barefooted. he started going to school with sneakers on (tekkies they are called here), then i got a note saying that its summer and all kids should come in slippers. Now as soon as he gets to school he takes off his slippers and races barefoot to see the geese (whom he calls donald duck).

Today, peter our gardener's sister will arrive to work for us on trial. If she is anything like her brother, who is nice, Nate likes him and he is diligent, honest and trustworthy then we would be on the right track.

Nate has a new girlfriend here, she just turned 2 and he went to her birthday party, her name is Sophia. They moved recently from Surabaya in Indonesia, her mom is polish and her dad is american. Looks like we will have more than enough families with kids here to have afternoon playdates. One of the mom's told me about another nursery school near us that resembles a farmyard, where they have farm animals and also classrooms, which sounds quite interesting. Will have to check that one out.

It was Olivia's birthday yesterday and we took her to Moyo, a nice african restaurant, which we will bring all visitors and tourists when they come visit. They sang her happy birthday with drums and in native african fashion and we also had our faces painted with little dots, hers was a flower, ike had a little caterpillar and nate was too shy to get one.

Today i finally went to the birdpark and its not far from where we are. Outside the birdpark is a big balloon ride, it goes up to 120 meters, another tourist attraction for those who want to go way up there. The birdpark is really nice too, seems more lush than KL, its smaller but neater and cleaner and less smells.

Cockle doodle doooooo

In Taipei, our farmer neighbours have chickens and when Nate was a baby, the crow would be my signal that morning is coming, I was awake anyway.... once I misread my watch and though nate slept through the night all the way to 5 am (yay!) only to wonder why there was no crowing, then I realised it was only 2 am (sigh~).

Here, there are all sorts of birds, tiny red ones to big ones that look like mini emus with a long curved beak, they seem to find worms everywhere. Anyway these birds make this piercing noise 30 mins before the sun comes up, a UUUAAAARRRK, even if you were asleep, you would be jolted awake and these birds travel in flocks of 3 ish, so its UUUUAAARKKKK UAAAARRKKK UAAAARRRK. I wonder if they grill well or are good on a braai (SA for BBQ).

Nate is back to his 530 am schedule, even with the double dark curtains. Ike seems to take really well to Nomsa. Today she was able to put him to sleep quite quickly much to our amazement and as I write this, she has the hardest time slot the 6-7pm. I've fed him at 6 and tried to put him to sleep, his nose wakes him up then it takes effort to get him to sleep again. Worse today he has discovered the fan, that rotating thing that blows a breeze and can't stop staring (I hope those indian curtain makers have my blackouts tomorrow!). Anyway, today for the first time he did a long first pm nap and a decent second one, soon he will be sleeping well at night too... and with that I will light an incense to the deity of baby sleep for why would one want any other deity of luck, happiness and longevity when if your baby sleeps, you are lucky, happy and will live long!

Having said that, I read an article recently that all studies point to pets prolonging one's life and kids shortening it.

Ballet

Looks like the ballet teacher thinks twinkle toes is too young! He is however very fascinated by cars. Our latest routine is to walk to the playground after his nap, there he plays at the junkle gym and meets other kids. He often takes a toy car so that he can exchange with another kid for a bike to ride or this bluedozer (bulldozer).

On the walk there we hit the main artery road of Dainfern, he would name cars and he can recognize the difference between a Toyota, a BMW and a Mercedes.... boys heads must be wired differently.

Nate goes to an art class to and the other day came back with a candle holder for dehdeh.

Today I got a tonne of giggles out of Ike. We swayed next to the big mirror and everything he was closer to his own reflection, he giggled out in a series of giggles.

I also found our camera and the cables, it is being charged as we speak so soon there will be more images.

Found a place that sells bookshelves, the next area I plan to tackle. I also fired our childminder today and will be on the interviewing route again.

Patron Deity of Sleep

I think if I were still in Taipei I would have a clay bust or porcelain statue made of Dr. Weisbluth and then a little altar and place a little inscense there make it the space for the Deity of Sleep. I finally found his book among our things, the library is the last to be unpacked as we have no shelves there, I knew I should have packed it in my suitcase.

Ike had such a nice sleep pattern developing according to his age in Taipei, it all went pear shaped here and the log I kept was just terrible, small naps, no consolidation in sleep, lots of wakings at night. After rereading the chapter on am sleep, it was so easy to rectify and he now has regained his am nap nicely! a lovely 2-3 hour chunk where we are free! now his pm naps are starting to get into place as well. ahhhhhhh. bow-bow-bow, thank you patron deity of sleep!

Yesterday after Ike had his big am nap, Olivia had the jackpot, a big poo. He was fussy in the afternoon and I left him to soothe himself while taking nate to the playground. He was still fussing an hour later so olivia picked him up and hit another jackpot! if this were a casino, she'd be rich! The good news is he poo-ed in time so no need for glycerine today.

Today, I went to the garden center, we have a really nice garderner called Peter. It is a bit further than my normal radius and so its was nice to go explore with someone else. I didn't find my herb pot but I did see that they sell large metal masks, which i think I will pick up next week with Peter and hang in our outdoor area. Loren has a big wall of masks and has proclaimed that his mask collection will increase by 500%, so I have left him several bare walls. He is eyeing a coffee table that has lions or elephants underneath (urgh!) but I think I have managed to steer him to a african door that we can make into a coffee table. We also saw in a restaurant a bench that has a crocodile head on both ends, that can be our stool to put and take off shoes.

The floor tiles here are strange, no matter how we mop, the floor still feels dirty. Olivia tried scrubbing it and voila, it was so nice and clean and nice to walk on, now she and Nomsa will probably over time scrub all the tiles, hopefully we can maintain it, I still can't get used to wearing slippers at home.

Congrats to T and SF with a new cousin for Nate and Ike.

Schools

Today I went to check out the nursery school at Dainfern College, the way the schools work here are that there is a nursery school, then an aftercare center that takes young children all the way up, some of these colleges have kids gong from nursery to end of primary school sometimes secondary. Nate goes to the Montesorri at Summit college which is about 15-20 mins away with traffic which is about 1 hour in the car to and fro, to and fro. Dainfern College is 5-10 mins to and fro.

In the mornings, there is a big jam going on the major artery, William Nichol highway, luckily it is in the opposite direction to Nate's school and the traffic is moving as opposed to Asian traffic, it does however add on 10 mins sometimes. The school is quite isolated and it is not like I can go pick up groceries or other items, I have to basically travel another 15 minutes or more so alot of time is spent in the car. I now listen to classical music but I should maybe get theTteaching Company series on Chinese History, tho to nate's school its FEEEE-FEEE-AI-OOOOOOOO and Cookie Monster.

Ike had his shots today, I am about 20 days late, though the clinics were not open for 10 days in early January and then our container came. I also spoke to the doctor as his nose isn't getting better and I have everything, humidifier, steam, vaporisor, eucalyptus drops, sterimar nose spray, nose drops and also "Maddie" the blowfish. So I have to bite the bullet on sleep and do this for about a month more then maybe we can consider antihistamines or something. By then his nostrils should also be bigger and he can deal with this dry air better.

I have also unpacked my baby sleep bible by Dr Weisbluth and will read it tonight. Since we moved here, he has gone off the bottle, refuses it! and is fussy when we put him down, as we didn't have furniture for some time, he was spoilt! I also have been keeping a log of his naps and sleep hours, it is not good, not consolidating and comparing to nate at the same age, its dismal. The longest stretch we ever get is 2 hours, mainly 1.5 hours or less.

Apart from that, his hairline is growing nicely, parted at the side he looks very smart! also Nate has been watching disney's "A Bugs Life", Ike resembles that chubby caterpillar. He doesn't have cradle cap like Nate did but instead has....... cradle cap on his face!!!! luckily, it is more like a heat rash and comes and goes. There is no air conditioning in this place and maybe that is contributing to his lack of sleep? in Taipei he could sleep in length only when it was cold enough. Must be the Canadian genes or Uncle T is like that too.

Black big bird

This is a picture of me and nate at dinner, loren's phone seems to be able to send images to email but mine can't yet! so this is a rare picture till I figure out my phone. The haircut btw was done by loren and his clippers, what you don't see is a big chunk missing at the back of his head.

A few weeks ago, loren was sick of hearing sesame street over and over again and he convinced nate that the rap radio channel was a big bird but a "black" one and he should listen to the music. Nate did for a while then said, "no black big bird". Yesterday while he was in the car, there was another rap on and he said oh Black big bird here....

I hope I can get to the bike shop soon to get his bike fixed up, that should keep him occupied for a while!

Things are slowly shaping up here but slowly is the key word. Loren has put up his 50 inch TV and nate seems to like watching his DVDs there. He hasn't learnt the concept of continuation and insists on watching the DVD from the beginning everytime.

I really don't know what to do with Ike's nose! the humidifiers don't work, the water spritzing work a bit and it sure seems harder to pull/suck boogers out of his nose with the device we have, than it was with nate. Even the eucalyptus patches don't seem to work.

Ikey's revenge

A day later after the suppository insertion and around 830pm, I head to bed, exhausted from the move, I open the room door and something smells!!! I have not set up the bedside lamp so I have to scamper downstairs to get the torchlight, it has two modes a dim and a bright, with the dim light I approach ike, I smell his bum, oh oh can it be? he made another poo? with the strong light I shine into the diaper, wah! big one, the first night clean up job I have had to do in a long time, it was everywhere, somehow I manage cleaning without smearing any on the blanket or bedsheet!

Another day later as I lay down to sleep also around the 8pm mark (after reading to nate), I am falling asleep and TOOOOT he went, it was not a small toot, it was a TOOOT, in the dark I swear I could see him smile. I awake fearing another clean up job, with my torch light I go looking again, luckily for me there is none but then I still can't believe the sound, I think he will make it into the orchestra quite easily as the tuba or trombonist if his mouth is as talented as his other end.

He hasn't been sleeping well because of his nose, the dr also gave him an allergy test which he scored 40, low allergies are 1-4, some kids score over 100. Now I have to note what I eat so we can cut out stuff that will give him a reaction. Apparently the tests say he is not allergic to six items including wheat, eggs, nuts, fish and two others. The dr also suggested buyint somthing called Maddy the blowfish, it is a toy fish that distracts the kid while we squirt moisture up his nose and that apparently clears the gunk as he sucks.... hmmm!

Today finally the house is coming into some shape, the handy man was here to hang up pictures but he is the s-l-o-w-e-s-t one I have ever met! he seems really measuring and doing everything well, when he drills no plaster flies off. This is in contrast to (try and envision this), the singaporean guy with drill in one hand and vacuum cleaner in the other. He can drill and vacuum the dust away at the same time, this no need to clean up. He hangs a picture in 3 minutes, the guy today took an average of an hour a painting.

Jake has to be in a cast for about a month, he must be sad, no ball chasing and tied to a leash when pee pee and walk and eat and drink, otherwise he would run and not heal.

Agh Shame

is an expression used here alot, I think it means "what a shame"... agh shame, I can't remember why I put that as a heading! I wanted to also answer some of the many questions posed by the readers of this blog, but agh shame, now that I am typing, I can't remember a single question, of course tomorrow as I am driving nate to school, it will all come back to me.

Today is third day of unpacking. everything is still messy but I can't believe how much stuff we have, how do we reduce and de-accumulate? the mover in taiwan told me that with kids there will be even more stuff at the next move as they have stuff too.... scary.

Ike went in yesterday and had a big suppository placed in him, an hour later nothing! Dr said, to put a glycerine in everyday if nothing happens then on saturday we will have to admit him into the hospital and then he swallows some colored liquid and they xray that to see the passage through the large intestine... luckily an hour later ike did it! a BIG BIG BIG poo!

Nate still asks to go to school but today he did not want to join in the swim class, I guess he is a bit too young. oh and the ballet teacher, I mean stretch class teacher was sick, so he didn't get to try that one out.

Its only 8ish but I am heading to bed!

The dogs

Loren walked Jake and Bullet on saturday morning, pistol usually doesn't get to go as he wants to be carried after a while. It was probably a good idea since a BIG dog darted out and suddenly caught Jake and shook him like a rag doll. Poor Jake has a fractured leg and has now spent 2 days at the doggy clinic.

The doggy clinic looks really nice and clean, he has a big cage and clean towel, looks like I can bring him home today. Loren pounded on the door of the owner who turns out to be a sleazy chinese looking man who first claimed its his neighbours dog. Later I went with him and the owner agreed to pay for the hospital fees but at no time did he even apologize. He claimed his home was robbed and his dog abused. His dog wasn't very well kept in any case but wagged his tail and went into that home... so much for "not my dog".

I spoke to the chinese grocery owner and he said that guy was robbed last month, apparently he had something like US$100k in cash. Also apparently the chinese residents are rather flashy with their cars, jewelry and cash and hit the casinos often. So much so that also apparently the robbers have rented a house in dainfern to track these big whales and then rob them.

Today it rained, its quite cool, down to 17 degrees, everyone is back and the road back from nate's school, there was a traffic jam. Its quiet now but our shipment will be arriving anytime soon and then it will be all chaotic again. A moment of calm before the storm.

Will take Ike to the dr to rule out Hirshbaum's disease or "lazy gut", he hasn't pooed in over a week, he is trying but sure has smelly farts. Bullet too which must be his dog food (sometimes I can't tell if its Bullet, Nate or Ike smelling bad!). Olivia was just commenting on the days when Ike was a newborn and pooing several big ones a day, always seeming to be aiming at Wendy's shirt...

I need to try and post some pictures, so far have failed twice. Am glad the internet connection on my mac is up but also need to adjust the mail settings, then I will be fully up and running!

Tiger Kaikai

Nate had his first taste of golf on Friday at a demonstration in school, he really likes the tiny clubs and his concentration is intense. It will be about a term before he can get all coordinated in holding and swinging the club.

The last 3 days he has been intensely studying the wheelbarrow, turning it upside down, playing with the wheel and wheeling it everywhere, wobbling around at first and now he's racing over bumps.

I spoke to the ballet teacher who said the class is more like a stretch and balance class, so that is what we refer to at home, "the stretch class".

I also made some Yimai Fuzhuk (barley, gingko nuts and soya skin) dessert here, the barley cools down one's body heat and nate really likes it.

Today I took him to the garden center and at the back they have a really nice area for food and a large play area for kids, they have little plastic scooters for toddlers to zoom around in. Again it took a long time to leave.

Ike is sitting up and is much more responsive these days but he is a very white and fair baby.

nate's new school

is called the Happy Days Montessori. It is about a 10 minute drive from our place and a nice pleasant drive, everything is quite flat here so one has a view of alot of sky.

Nate absolutely loves this school, he didn't want to leave after being there for 2 hours, we had to go home as I had to feed ike. They accept kids from 7 am to 12:30 pm which would have worked great in Taipei as Nate was such an early riser (I think now it must be the piping in the house). Here he sleeps till 7:30 or even 8.

The school sits on like at least 50,000 square feet of land and with 50 students that is 1,000 sqft per child! Today he ran straight to the basketball hoop (under two great big pine trees) and started throwing balls with the other kids. Then we went to see Mr. goose and Mr. duck and the guinea pigs. Then he discovered the wheelbarrow and was learning how to lift and balance pushing on one wheel. Then he discovered another area, a sandbox with all sorts of small trucks and spinning wheels when you pour sand down the area. Then he took a break had a snack and back to some slides, then someone had a birthday cake and he sang happy birthday.

When it was time to go, he discovered the inside part of the school, there was a paint area and a playdoh making area, he has his eye on making paydoh tomorrow. On the way out he saw the goldfish and stared for a long time.

The kids range from 2 to 6 years old and they all mix in the different areas. There are about 8 staff, each overseeing a certain area. Kids come and go as they please. Several kids came up to him to play. Another boy, Ethan who is 4 months older than him and never went to school before had a rather more traumatic time, when his mom dissappeared, he was crying and screaming. When I wanted to leave, nate said, see you bye!

Maybe tomorrow I can leave him there the whole time? Before his nap he said, I want to go to school, after dinner he wanted to continue watching his DVD till we told him that if he slept earlier, school time will come sooner, I have never seen him zip upstairs for his bath so fast. This school transition is definitely looking easier than I thought.

1811 Spyglass Village

I feel like our house has too much space and loren chose a smallish house. I just had two women over who can help out with a few things I wanted to do (bookshelves etc.) and they had good suggestions on how to rearrange my initial thoughts on furniture layout etc. I had really wanted to start reducing and deaccumulating but I think it may be hard here!

The shopping is great, esp. after 2+ years of being pent up in Taipei with not much to buy, there are just malls after malls of very interesting things. The house has space of an informal living room, a formal one then also an outdoor one. A formal dining and an informal dining and then even a place for a bigger TV room and then a smaller TV room. But somehow no main rooms that would make a great library or study, those rooms are tiny.

The garden is lovely, Aunt Edna, only yours is a nicer garden! the weather is very conducive for growing and I hope to try my hand at more of these plants. The neighbours have these big bushes of lavender that I am tempted to crop for lavender cookies and cakes or drying them, just a breeze and whiff of air smells so nice.

The landlord has agreed for us to convert all the fountains to planting areas. We really are not big fountain people. The house is only about 3.5 years old, in a newer area of Dainfern and I am also looking into maybe buying the place.

The pro's - Dainfern has great security, a golf course, limited housing so likely a shortage if the economy keeps growing.

The con's or uncertainties.... mortgage rates here are 12% and the yield on the house is only 8% which points to renting instead of buying. If we bought we'd pay cash and the opportunity cost of this place vs. the markets is evenish. Also we would stay only between 2-4 years so not sure if we can sell when we want to. For it to be a really good investment, the price will have to go up and the rand is another issue.... its down 20% against the US$ last year and seems to be correlated to gold (is gold over or undervalued?)

Anyway... will speak to a few agents and economists and run some numbers, in the meantime anyone with interest in sharing a property investment in SA... send me an email! :)

Life here

I posted two notes and I see that both did not make it on the blog, hopefully this one does!

Nate starts school on weds, I just filled out the form and his extracurriculur activities include golf, swimming, action ball, pottery, kindermusik and ballet! loren thinks I should not send him to ballet... tho I think i may sneak that activity in. I am also going to have him try out Karate at the estate's clubhouse.

There is also a music group for younger kids on weds and I will try and bring Ike for next weeks one.

Things are moving into shape, we have wireless internet but I still need cables to set that up with my laptop for the first run. Our container will arrive tomorrow and clear customs etc for delivery next monday.

The two people we hired (olivia has staff!) will come tomorrow. Our bank services will be set up soon too.

Will try and post this before anything happens!

Happy New Year

Nate has gone off with dada who today was excited to find the jewsih bakery and jewish butcher shop. Ike is asleep for his morning nap and seems in less pain after the sprouting of his first tooth. Hopefully the rest come much later. I bought him a NUK bottle which resembles his pacifier and so now he is happily back to having the bottle when I am out.

This place is really child friendly, the pizza place around the corner has a high bench for kids near the pizza making area and oven and kids can go there to make there own pizza's, they also get priority in the oven. Nate so far has made 2 and likes it... spreading the cheese, then the onions and placing the mushrooms then gobbling up his creation. They also have an outdoor area where kids can jump on big blown up things and slides and swings with a child minder there to watch them.

The malls have a car that nate can sit in while the parents push them and have a more enjoyable shopping experience, same with the zoo and the supermarkets all have small carts for kids to push and pick up their own groceries.

Next week as life slowly returns, Nate is already signed up for karate, will have to look for a swim teacher for him as well. His school starts on the 10th and the headmistress says we can ease him in there by spending 2 hours a day hanging out.

Our things hopefully arrive on the 15th. The dogs seem happy with their big walks. Since I last wrote, Nate has been to a croc farm, a place called carnivore where they serve deer, bok, impala, crocodile, ostrich and other meats, he liked the chips best.

Dada is teaching or should I say bribing him alot, every time he wants something he has to say, "dada I love you" or his version is "I lub you".

we went to a jewish play a few nights ago and that was quite funny. Loren is off to Dubai tomorrow and then end of the month he has a trip to the "real" africa.

In South Africa

So we arrived almost 2 weeks ago, the flight was ok, though olivia was airsick the whole way and took 24 hours to recover, we weren't sure if she was going to make it but she was up and bouncy after staying in bed and alive enough to go for the christmas church service at the clubhouse.

We are living with minimum furniture at the moment and averytime I am up in the middle of the night breastfeeding I am thinking where to place our furniture...

I think i better make this short, the computer beeped at me. Nate is bored at home, we need ot find more activities and structure his day, his school starts Jan 10... he has some rash now and is on antibiotics again, his cough is much better and since arriving he has fed giraffes, pat baby lion cubs, had a bird kiss his nose, been to the zoo, the craft market, swimming and maybe sometime this week the zoo.

ike has sprouted a tooth and prob one more on the way, just as his nose got better and his sleep extended.... he is now waking up again often. sigh... he does get out more often here, on long walks...

the walks are lovely, lots of birds and small streams and interesting things to see. Everyone has such lovely gardens and things are blooming nicely. We also have big big thunderstorms with big cracking lightnings. Nate isn't scared as he thinks and can "relate" to the sky "farting".

Bullet and Jake like their long walks, pistol wants to be carried... today he sat on the back of the stroller home. The trail unfortunately has ticks and we need to take them on an alternative route.

I have interviewed some help hopefully the ones I like will take a medical test and come up HIV negative. One woman I really liked tested positive, so sad as the gap for rich and poor is quite big. The part time help all seem so grateful to get our leftovers.

Loren is in olive and feta cheese heaven, he's bought all sorts of breat, cheese, olives, dips... and we have been to a number of the restaurants which serve up BIG portions.

Anyway I hope this gets posted and will also hope to get our permanent internet connetion once these people come back to work which is mid Jan and then I can start posting properly again.

Up and down

After a good nite, then a not so great day! Didn't get to nap as I gave nate some of the steam medication and one of the side effects is that it makes them hyper but happy, so he didn't sleep. Just as i driffted off to a nap, we hear a BANG and he had climbed his set of drawers, it ahd fallen down, luckily he wasn't hurt just a bit shaken.

That night Ike didn't sleep so well big globs of nose stuff, even with the steam it didn't help too much, no sleep for me. Today I go to the clinic and there is no more medicine of the second dose for cough, we have to make do with the stuffy nose dose and if serious cough then the dr still has some but low on supply too till tues or weds.

Ike made his poo yesterday and nate's last words before sleeping today is "kaikai do yoga"

Finally a break...

Brought Nate to the dr, he said nate's condition is quite bad, the stuff is in his lungs so we had to rent a cold steam machine that delivers steam and the medicine. He said to plop nate in front of the tv so that he isn't running everywhere and can breathe the stuff in. It is also very contagious and to keep ike away tho ike has early signs of the flu already.

he gave me doses for both of them. it is quite complicated, you have to stick a needle to take out the liquid from the plastic sealedcontainer because you are not using all the liquids at once but it didn't work for me, several bent needles later, I decide to just drip out from the holes in the syringe (try doing this in the dark with a wee light). Nate had two doses, once when we got home and once before sleeping, no cough that night and slept well.

Ike woke up at 1130pm with quite a clogged nose and small coughs.... now the dr said babies are easy you just put the steamer thing in front of them and let them breathe, he didn't say how one could load the container with the medicine while carrying the baby and that the machine is so loud that the baby is suspicious.... so with the help of my toes (holding the steamer tube), and dexterity of my big toe (thanks mom for that genetic material), I pour the medicine carefully into the container (haha kidding), I use my hands while ike is draped over my shoulder. The loud buzz scares him, so I have to breast feed him while sneaking the steam near his nose, it doesn't smell bad but isn't that great either. Sometimes he is mesmerized by the steam other times he is upset at the sound and smell but quickly he sleeps, which makes it challenging to load the part 2 medicine to complete a course.

In anycase, he sleeps with a clear nose for 5 and a half hours tho the last hour he is tossing again as the nose gets cloggy again. First time I got a 5 hour stretch......

Loren Trovolta

I never thought I'd see loren in saturday nite fever gear so here it is for a laugh!

I realised that poor ike only sees stuff at home and the dr's office, I think i read to nate at this age but ike just gets swaddled and eats and sleeps and grows.... today I took him in the baby bjorn around the nieghborhood and soon he was asleep, probably too much stimulation. He slept pretty well last night, except for the last 1.5 hours into 6am, he woke up around every 3 hours and fed and went back to sleep

Afterwards I have to take him along to go and pick nate up from school as Olivia is at the ministry of manpower to have her exit interview.

Poor nate too, he had about 2 days of clear nose, all better after last friday's dr appointment but yesterday his nose was like a waterfall, just poring out! poor guy also started coughing at night, the whole night. He woke up with hair plastered (by snot) to his head (which may have been how hair gel was invented?) and lots of coughing. Will be off to see the dr again after his nap.

Hope Ike doesn't get this but I see small signs of coughing!!! oh oh!

Feefaifeediai O

Nate like a few of the songs from sesame street, one of them involves an old banjo that cookie monster eats up at the end and says, "num num num". I always get a laugh out of him when I sing feefifeediai O, feefifeediaiiii O O O O, feefideediaiiiiiii OOOOOOOO, strumming on the old banjo and then he says, num num num, cookie monster. Today he started singing it too, but his version is peepeediaiOOOOOOO num num num.

Took him to Tom ball, I now too have Tom dragon socks as I forgot my own pair, today is much warmer, the cold front has gone which means the mosquitoes are back... I wanted to get him a small rubber ball but the machine was broken, he looked at the woman behind the counter with big big eyes and said broken? and she pulled out a free ball for him. He was so happy showing his new ball the Tom dragon layout, then how to eat then how to bathe then how to brush teeth. That is a magical ball!

Ike poor ike had a stressful morning. The pediatrician said that he may take up to 7 days to poo which is still ok for breastfed babies. She decided to helphim clear his bowels and he had two shots of liquid up his bum and he cried alot but still no poo. Hope he does before sunday otherwise back to the dr's again.

Since the weather is warmer, I did manage to take both of them out for a walk in the neighborhood, Ike's world consists of the house and the dr. I think he doesn't know that there are parks.... Sally the dog came up to nate affectionately (she doesn't like strangers) and nate did his rounds around the neighborhood. The por pors seem sad that we are leaving and even know how many days to go!

Spoke to the vet... seems that there are no sand flea incidences in Taiwan and if Jake has them the other two should as well. I think we have a strong case.

Poor Jake

First apologies to the new readers of the blog who had to see those scary teeth pictures and wrote to tell me so... but hopefully will be motivated go and see your dentist soon!

So, Jake apparently has been diagnosed with some sandfly thing and we are waiting an email to find out more about that. He will be tested again on Thursday with results next monday. If he fails he has to leave for Taiwan or get euthanised!!!! :(

The test is apprently very sensitive so it is likely to be wrong, anyway Jake and Pistol sleep together in the same cage if Jake has it, Pistol should have it too? Bullet tested positive for something as well but apparently treatable and he is being treated for it. Pistol has passed with flying colors.

Everyone, fingers and toes crossed, send all your acuumulated mitzvahs, accumulated good deeds and positive energy in the direction of the quarantine area in South Africa!

As for Ike, 3 days no poo poo again! tomorrow may have to take him to get a baby colonic again! poor guy.

Took Nate to the park today, he sure likes running, he was playing speedy gonzales running round and round and fast, till I showed him how to run backwards then he had to figure that one out a bit. He doesnt take the steps on the slide anymore but the ladder... then he started pulling weeds at some point in time and throwing a tantrum of which I walked 10 feet away and the Taiwanese seemed perplexed at the method but then he stopped and came running over.

8 days to go....

Brush brush brush

Took Nate to the dentist today for his teeth cleaning, not bad experience for him, tho he sure had bright shiny teeth afterwards! I have to now think of ways to clean his teeth... they were not in the cleanest of shape although we brush them twice a day and he does his own teeth in school.

Here are some pictures of his before and after cleaning, am sure only his grandparents will even enjoy these pictures. The pink one is the staining bit, he had strawberry flavoured coloring and then chocolate tasting cleaning paste. He got alot of dental things to play with post and of course balloons and stickers.

I think Nate does not have a peanut allergy, he had a quarter of a cashew nut and seems fine.

Ikes nose doesn't seem to be getting better, last night he woke up screaming because his nose was blocked, he was sleeping on his back and tilted upwards, he also could not sleep well on his belly, maybe I try his side tonight. He is wearing Olivia down in the day and me at night... hopefully in SA it is warmer and his nose stops acting up. The cold front isn't helping.

Nate hit 15 kg and Ike is known as the giant baby at 7 kg, everyone that sees him says, WAH big baby! My left arm hurts from carrying him.

Holding Hands

First of all.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBY! Today, nate suddenly said Bubby... and I said its her birthday and he said... cake? banoons? (balloons), then Hooray.

I bought him his own portable DVD player that plays VCDs as well, now my computer is free! Free from him hogging it and free from the food that sometimes gets catapulted on my screen, luckily the keyboard has a protector.

He finally can watch Thomas the Train which I bought some time back but was a VCD. He now has the habit of holding his own hands (clasping them), when i say hold hands to go up the stairs, sometimes he clasps his hands and says he is holding his own hands and no need to hold mine. When he watches a part of video that he is scared he wants to hold my hand but today he held his own hand... until a really scary part (a big boulder chasing the trains) then he started to cry and want to hold my hand! I think the VCDs may be too scary for his age?! then another scene the station blew up in flames (violent!!)

Ike is much better, no more spots, his skin has cleared up too, very handsome... (we are all biased!) but his nose is still blocked, today was much better. Nate still has hi cough and his runny nose, tho less runny. Debating whether to take him to the dr but they just give him cough medicine and send him away. Loren also caught a cold and went to get his flu shot. I got mine a month back and coupled with breastfeeding (body apparently has higher immunity) have yet to fall sick.

less than 2 weeks now to SA.

Loren has been sending information to me on Childminders, aupairs and governesses.... not sure which ones yet to choose and the rhythm of our life there. I'd like to restart nate on swimming and music and in a few more months ike can take a few classes too! Wonder what their extra curriculur activities will be like.

Baby Einstein and Story House

Yesterday someone sent nate a Baby Einstein audio CD, today we played it in the car.... he could recognize a few of the songs that are same as the ones played on the DVDs he watches. He esp likes the one with the race cars, which is "Trish Trash Polka" by Johann Straus and Schubert'e Militaire. I was stuck in the car for two songs after we reached home, he kept asking for another last song. At least he really enjoys classical music.

Today I brought him to Story House, not a bad place, nice story rooms but too bad we were the only people there otherwise he would have had more fun watching other children react to the stories.

Ike's rash is worse, will wait till tomorrow to decide whether to bring him in to see the dr again. Its been raining really hard and the weather is much cooler at 17 degrees.

I bought nate a new high chair which he can now sit at the dining table with us. Its quite a nice design but without the dogs, i now see how much he does not eat. He is really quite messy!

The dogs have made it safely to SA. I miss the cleaning crew.

poor poor baby ike

today he woke up with spots all over!! off to the dr's again soon.

The dogs are now on a plane to SA. They left last night and should land in another 4 hours. Bullet was already trying to break out of the cage as soon as he was in it. Hope the sedatives kicked in and he did not throw up his breakfast on route down our bumpy hill.

Nate said this morning, "oh doggies not in cage". "doggies went to work".

16 days to go...

poor baby ike

finally cleared his bowels but the nurse first tried to stimulate it by sticking a long cotton bud, when that didn't work she used a syringe with saline and then it came spluttering out, lots of it three diapers later.... now he has a fever and is very fussy, its very hard to put him down to sleep. The dr said that he also has the beginnings of a cold. It is going to be a long night.

The radio reported a 40% increase in patients with colds in hospitals.

nates school gave me a note that a kid has some type of sickness where he throws up everything even water, if nate clears the weekend he wouldn't have caught the bug. That sounds like an evil bug, if he catches it then its only water and soda biscuits for him and of course.... the doctor.

Had a big dinner but using alot of energy, two hours later, i am hungry again!

Vets and Doctors

I seem to see the vet adn the boys paeditrician alot, if its not for shots, its for other things... like... Ike is now constipated, I think he was uncomfortable this afternoon, spoke to the nurse in between nate's bath and his bedtime and she said not to worry but bring him in tomorrow. Have been doing biking exercises and tummy massages for him.... only toot-toot-tooting and no splutters...

Today pistol went ot the vet too, has some type of cough, similar to bullet but no throwing up... and bullet went to the dr last friday as he threw up all of thursday nite last week and saturday to get more blood sample and then i saw the vet on monday for more pills for bullet. Two weeks ago it was for blood serum to SA and their teeth cleaning and the week before that was jake's booster and rabies shots.

The good news... they have passed all their blood tests and are now leaving for SA on sunday via singapore, I wonder if they would recognize the smell of the air. I prob have to see the vet tomorrow or saturday to get the sedatives for bullet. He hates cages and is determined to break out of them

Nate still has his cough and sniffles and by early next week I will take him in to the dr as well tho he does seem to be getting better, he also enjoys the use of the nose vacuum to suck and examine all that gunk.

I think i want to get one of those proper mommy diaries and note down all sorts of appointments for these guys and it has features for grocery lists and other lists.

Nate is now very upset when he has to give up his toy car at bed time, one nap when I did take the car away he woke up earlier than usual asked for his car and went back to sleep for another hour, I laid down with him thinking he would probably get up but he actually fell back asleep! That night I let him take his car to bed but parked in the far end corner with his soft toys, after my shower I hear him playing with it, as I open the door he flips like a commando pretending to sleep and hiding his car... then gives himself away by peeking up. I don't yell at him or take his car but say do you want me to fix your blanket and he smiles, gives me the car and gets tucked in. I say, "ok car parked at the end of the bed but if I find you playing again, I will take it away". The next time I check, its still parked there!

Today at nap time I say the same thing, it can stay parked there but you can't play with it, if you do I will take it away, he talks to himself for a long time and I thought he took the car but when I went in it was parked where it was and he looked groggily at me. Tonite his cars are parked at the corner when I went to check. I think I will just build a mini car park at the end of his bed.

Ike is very intent on standing up, jumping and talking, also fly swatting... I get to take him for a short walk around the neighbourhood usually between 3-4 pm, before nate gets up.

kai kai and ming ming

I missed a really good shot today, the teachers dressed him in hi new shirt from Shanghai Tang from Jason and jessica, it is bright blue with yellow and red accents, with a bright red pair of shorts with blue trimming! then he had his spider man boots on (blue and red) and his blue school bag. He looked like a superhero with bad fashion sense. By the time I grabbed my camera his boots and bag were off and he was zipping away to his red match box car.

Since dada allowed him to sleep with one of his toys he has wanted to sleep with his toy car, toy tractor etc, till I take it away if he is still playing 15 mins in bed. The side of his wall is scratched with all sorts of colors.

Today after school he did not want to come home, he does not want to take a nap and so thinks that if he stays in school he would get away with it. His friends were all perplexed why he did not want to leave, his teacher said he could stay in school but he would have to nap too then reluctantly did he come to the car.

M&Ms are called magic beans. The weather looks nice today, hope I can take him to the park and not another day of TOM BALL.

Ike, likes to talk, that guy can sure talk on and on and on. We had to give him emergency formula the other day as I took nate out and he ate everything in the fridge and was still hungry! anyway, now he maybe has constipation, 2 days no sign of poo. We have gone to harvest a tonne of green papaya from the orchard and the papaya is working its magic, more milk in storage now.

Went to the market today, everytime I go, I ask the fishmonger what I do with the bits and pieces of fish, like the head or the bones... he always says make soup, what is this boney fish good for, "making soup"... anyway today I ask for 2 slices of this particular fish and he complains that no one buys the head, I said, well you should make soup, maybe sell soup, he asked me if I wanted to work for him... that fish couple have the greatest smiles! she has a big broad one and he has his cig dangling all the time. I must remember to take my camera and a shot of them next time.

A full day

Today was quite a full day. We picked sasha up and went to the amusement park, rode on the carousel, it was quite scary, I got a big horse and it went up and down, then the choo choo train twice and two types of spinning cups. Then headed to the club and met Enzo. We had lunch with Enzo and they were both racing to eat their fried rice until the potato chips came then it was only chips for kaikai, he is into his ketchup that he even wants it on his cheerios in the morning (yuck!)

We came home and he took his nap and when he woke up we went to Hagen Daz, he likes only the Gweem ice cream (green tea) and was enjoying scooping it up! then to the park with the river, he saw several children fishing small fish from a tank, while he was catching fish he was speaking in chinese to the delight of his audience, he managed to get 1 fish (wo hao bang ah, I am great), yu lai je bian (fish come here), xie xie, thank you, zhang zhang (dirty). Then we went to throw rocks into the river and watch people play badminton, the jiejie's even let him play with their racket and he got a feel of the bounce of the shuttlecock against the racket.

Then home again and Ike was awake, Kaikai pushed him round the front area then wanted to show him off to the neighbours so off we went. The porpors think Ike has smaller eyes than nate and he even talked to their dogs, lucky and sally, about "didi". After dinner dada came back from his yoga and bathed nate and read to him and then tucked him into bed.

Ike does a nice solid 6 hours of sleep, usually 530 - 1130pm then 330 and then 6ish. Then usually a nice solid 3 hours again after 730am... good sleep patterns except the nose in the morning when he struggles abit.

Bullet is getting over his throat infection. Had to take him to xray yesterday, lucky no foreign object in his throat and the night before he threw up the whole night. No food for a day, stil coughing today but better now.

Kaikai's first lurrrve

So i see Sasha's mom today and tell her that Kaikai said "sasha I love you" and she says oh every morning sasha looks forward to school and says "kaikai I love you".... I bet she tells him that a million times and so he repeats it as "sasha I love you". So far I haven't heard a "mama I love you yet!". Age 2 and already another woman controls his emotions.....

Will try and get a picture of the two lovey dove birdy wirdies together for this post. I wonder if they just like images of themselves? since before nate's haircut they definitely were hard to distinguish from behind.

I took nate to the hair dresser, they have little brrooom broom cars to sit in and tv to watch, nate didn't like it so its still me the main hair cutter..... snip snip!

Ketchup and snails

Here is a recent picture of Ike taken with my handphone... he was smiling so broadly after his shot though!

I have been taking Nate to Tom Ball everyday now, lets see if he asks for the park, its gotten cooler and darker so tom ball isn't so bad, plus with their padded floors I can do some stretching exercises too. Today we had a big ball war in the ball pit. I also got to try out the "niu niu qe" where you can basically skid around without putting your legs down, I think Nate somewhat got the concept.

At bed time we used flash cards with animals on it, he went, peeg (pig), da xiang (elephant), oog ooog ooo (monkey), bird (chicken), peacock (macaw), horse (horse), zebra (ah finally not horse anymore), changjing lu (giraffe) and then went OOOO (it was a snail) and then said funny animal.... giggle giggle.

The latest thing to get him to eat is a small dish of ketchup, he dips his spoon in it then into his food but he finishes his meal! I need a new trick for his toothbrushing tho......

Bu dan

Today, nate said something surprising, he was hoarding all his tractors (yes now tractors) by sitting on them and then he said "Bu dan" which is the term used when mother hens are sitting on their eggs. Obviously he must be doing this in school? where else would he learn this?

Also he suddenly said in the shower, "Sasha I love you"..... hmmmmm..... not mama or dada.... but sasha! We were in the bath together so I wonder if the soap suds were clogging my ears? I need to get a picture of them together, esp. when she grabs him to kiss him. This friday they are going on a big field trip, olivia will go with him, maybe she can get the shot?

Nate has a cold again. Ike too...... and he seems to be refusing the bottle. Eats to sooth himself fromt he panic state of not being able to breathe... but I think he is gaining alot of weight!

I've been taking him to Tom Ball alot, lets see if I can get it out of his system. He thought he was getting sushi for dinner but deh deh made fried rice and he happily ate it down with his new discovery.... ketchup and last week he discovered Thai sweet chilli sauce. At Tom Ball I was doing some stretches and then realised he had dissappeared in some tunnel system, I called for him and didn't hear anything, I didn't start crawling but I heard something in the bathroom... he had run off and gone to peepee himself! Later at home, I just turned away and the next thing I find him on tippy toes trying to pee over the ledge of the toilet but not quite tall enough. I guess I have to buy stools for every bathroom now?

If you ask nate where bubbi is, he says... onetreeall. If you just say Bubbi, he says Hooray.

Anyway, for the grandparents here are some shots of him at the children's park.

Stuffed up nose

Poor Ike has had a stuffy nose for a few days, hates it when i try to clean it with the salt water spray but he does breathe a bit better. Its the really sticky gunky nose stuff and is like cement in his nose. The worse night I had to sleep upright with him but I think that is a few nights behind us now. If he is relaxed, there isn't even sound to his breathing but when he realises he can't breathe properly then he gets anxious and it gets worse. He's been feeding alot as that is the only way he calms down such that he made 4 big poos yesterday. I took him to the dr on thursday, he grew 0.2 kg from last sat to thurs, I think with friday and saturdays feeding, he's put on another kg? his side profile really resembles that of hitchcock!

Nate has gone off again with dada to the amusement park. Looks like apart from the ferris wheel and choo choo train he is now on the horsie that goes round and round. Yesterday his gege's came over and I think the younger one is now not scared of the dogs anymore. I plan to give Mr. P man lamp to the older gege as he has "taught" nate to pee, its funny seeing him ask nate, "pee pee?", "kaikai peepee?", nate seems to know they are making fun of him and says "NO". But when gege whips off his pants to pee, guess who does it too?!

Bullet seems to like his new big cage, we toss his treats in there, the two smaller dogs and nate seem to like it too. Its our new piece of furniture in the living room!

Passport photos

This photo is of Ike a few days old, he does not frown like this anymore but smiles alot, I am too busy smiling back to take a picture but will try to do so soon. When the picture was taken and loren brought it to the embassy, they insisted that the picture has his ears, so loren came back to do that, unfortunately his cheeks then were SO big that it was impossible to have ears in the picture... No said the embassy, must have ears! so back to the picture taking, this time, we put fingers under his ears to stick them out beyond the massive cheeks.... and so Ike has passport photos.

He slept really well last night, 6pm to 11 pm then feed and clean nose, then did 12 to 4am, woke up with a stuffy nose (no cleaning) but ate and slept to 6am also stuffy nose. Today we were more careful with his awake times and made sure he ate and was soothed to sleep before he was over tired (ie no more than 1.5 to 2 hours) and its like a dream, no fuss, no cry and sleeping much more. The few days before this for some reason or other, mornings usually getting nate out ike suffers... we would miss this window and he is a lot harder to handle, up for 5-6 hours! Now hopefully its sleep beget sleep, thank you Dr. W!!

Nate had a great time on a trampoline yesterday bouncing up and down. He's also found where I keep all his new toys and pull one out when necessary, today he even brought it to school and wanted to take it to bed with him.

We finally got a cage big enough for bullet. The vet was given this massive cage and it fits bullet, now its cleaned, we have to get bullet used to it. Loren should probably just sleep with a towel form now till we leave and we toss that into the cage. Jake and Pistol may be able to travel together in a cage...

Round and round and choo-choo twain

Nate went with dada to the children's recreation park on sunday. It is the old Taipei zoo. Dada took him on a ferris wheel ride and a train ride. Apparently the train goes thru a tunnel. He was so excited he could not calm down for his nap, in bed he talked about the round and round and the choo choo twain. this morning he talked about the tunnel as well.

The weekend was a good one for him, started out with Tom ball on thurs and fri (raining both days), sushi on friday and then sushi at the restaurant on saturday... and on sunday he was so hungry (am tryiing druiker's logical consequences, ie hunger method again) that he wolfed down 90% of the kiddie char siu friend rice. Oh and he had Hagen Daz ice cream at the big Hagen Daz store, he only chooses green colored ice cream and so far its been mint and green tea.

He as learnt the word awake and now says that when people have their eyes open, If closed then he says asleep. Today he said, no nap, kaikai awake. But is quiet and asleep now...

Ike has caught loren's cold, has a snorty nose but I can't seem to get at the snot. I tried the sucking utensil but still nothing at least the salt water spray seems to relieve his breathing abit. Saturday night was bad, I only had 2 hours of sleep, the trick now is to just sleep as early as possible.

The dogs go for their teeth cleaning tomorrow and blood withdrawal for their final tests. If all goes well they will be sent off end of the month and finish quarantine by the time we get there.

Teeth and new shoes

I took nate to the dentist a few days ago. It went really well, I think nate has really grown up since his last appointment maybe 4 or 5 months ago. He got to use the camera to take pictures of his own teeth, press the buttons on the chair. The dentist was very patient, showed him the instruments, pretended to work on me first then nate. We could do better brushing but it is quite hard as he is quite independant and wants to do it himself. I also got him an electric toothbrush. I call plaque, teeth poopoo, he seems to relate to that and wants to clean it out, esp. when I can scrape some to show him. Wanted to have the dentist clean his teeth as well but he said they had such a nice session, better to do it in a few weeks from now so he doesn't have a bad impression of the place. He will get his teeth stained red (strawberry flavour) and then cleaned with a soft spinning sponge, of course with the dvd on for him to watch. He got two balloons at the end and was happily kicking them throughout the clinic which was nice an quiet as they space their patients but charge quite a bit!

Nate also got to wear his new shoes (japanese size 17). He likes them, I threw out his old blue sneakers which were very well worn for 6 months and looking very scruffy. I also bought a cheap pair of sandals with Thomas the train on them and yesterday found a pair of open toes on sale as the seasons here are changing but will be suitable for SA.

Ike.... phew, this guy was hard work the first night wendy left. Between burping and eating and struggling (bottle vs. breast?), he ate small amounts but many times. Last night its a bit better with longer stretches. We also got bigger diapers that we don't have to change so often. He is now due for his 2 month old shots!

Bullet, Jake and Pistol passed their first blood test. Next week they go in for teeth cleaning and more blood drawn for tests.

I managed to also go thru the items in the guest room and will work on the library next. Have managed to sell quite a number of items on the internet.