Christmas Party

Every year the group of Moms, we call "coffee morning" get together and celebrate Christmas with our families.  It's become a bit of tradition really.  The past two years it's been held at at hotel, but this year we opted to do potluck at our friend Sarah's house.   To be honest, there was a lot of running around the week before and organizing involved, but it was all worth it.  We had a feast of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, mulled wine, plus plenty of christmas baking-- all home made!

Also part of the tradition is the appearance of Santa Claus, which is definitely the highlight for Tyler.  We had a last minute "personnel" change, which caused a bit of scrambling at the end to find the costume, and a willing Santa. In the end, we had a wonderful Santa, who "ho ho ho'd" and handed out gifts to the delight of all the kids.

At the beginning of the week, Tyler wrote a letter to Santa with the help of mom of course. When I asked what he wanted to say, I thought his response was very sweet... "I want to say Happy New Year Santa..."  Well, mom explained that Santa needed some help with picking the right gift for him, so we did add "I would like an Ultraman Seven."  And lo and behold, that was the gift Tyler received... After unwrapping the present, Tyler pointed out a price tag (which Mom forgot to remove) "Look, Santa got this from Sogo!"  Hope he hasn't put two and two together.  =P

Had some bad luck and all my pictures from the Christmas party were erased... so here's a link to Sarah's Christmas Party pictures.  Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.buerkle/CoffeeMorningAndXmasParty2008?authkey=LmO3DW_ecCQ&feat=email#

Out Come the Ear Tubes

Tomorrow morning, Tyler is scheduled for doctor's appointment to take out the tubes in his ear.  The tubes in the right ear came out on it's own but the ear drum needs a little help to heal.  The left one is still in and no sign of it coming out.  Unfortunately Tyler won't let the Doctor reach in their with his tweezers to grab them, so Tyler needs to go under again....  Basically go through the same process more than a year ago when he had the procedure.  To make this as untraumatic as possible, we haven't told him he'll be going into the surgical room.

But today we had a wonderful day spent doing some Christmas baking at our friend's Sarah's house.  Making sugar cookies and gingerbread men.  The moms had as much fun as the kiddos decorating the Gingerbread Men and Women.  The cookies are for the Christmas party on Saturday (yup this Saturday.  A bit early, but necessary given everyone's travel plans).  Really looking forward to the event.  Being in Taiwan, you're not bombarded with the Christmas Carols playing in the stores, and Christmas decorations in store windows, or even having Thanksgiving Holiday to remind you that Christmas is around the corner.  So you really need to create your own little Christmas winter wonderland.

Here's a link to more pictures from cookie baking...

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.buerkle/CookieMaking?authkey=9Rw-GIqGaqc&feat=email#

Car Troubles

Over the weekend on the way to meet Grandpa for dinner in Taipei, we were hit on the highway by an unknown object.  It was pretty dark (around 7pm) and it came from the side, so to this time we still don't know what hit us.  Luckily we're ok, but our new car was dented pretty badly headlights + side panel+ bumper.   Tyler was sleeping so he didn't really experience it.  For insurance purposes, we went to the police station to file a report which took forever.  It was almost 2am by the time we stepped into the house.  Add this to my car batteries dying, and towed to the pound earlier last week, this is car incident #3.  Like my friend Sarah advised, it's time to go "bai bai" at the temple to try to ward off any more bad luck.

Election Day at the Beach

It was a beautiful day for the beach.  And to help us remember this momentous election day, we wrote the name of the new U.S. president in the sand.
Here's Karen and I working on our masterpiece.

Good Prognosis for Byrdie

Today we drove to the Taipei University Veterinary Hospital to get Byrdie checked out.  We had an appointment to see their Central Nervous System specialist, but luck would have it the doctor was in a meeting and they couldn't contact me since they had our old phone number in their records.  Anyhow, we saw a generalist which I wasn't too happy about, but what can you do... we've already made the 1 hour trip from Hsinchu.  

After checking her over, the Vet said that given how she is recovering from the stroke it's definitely not due to a tumor, but a blockage of some sort.  And recurrence is unlikely in the near term.  We ran some tests to rule out certain causes, so I do feel better having taken her to Taipei.  Byrdie is also a lot more energetic compared to the weekend, and is wagging her tail again.  She's not 100% yet, but she's getting better.

Byrdie isn't feeling well...

I noticed two days ago that Byrdie was definitely not herself.  Her tail was down, and she was eating out of one side of her food bowl.  She was also favoring one side, her left side, which means she always turned left, sometimes circling an area.  She also seemed disoriented, not wagging her tail or coming when her name was called.  Yesterday, I took her to the Vet and he said that these were symptoms having to do with the nervous system.  Her symptoms aren't so bad, he said.  Besides prescribing some vitamin B and steroids for if the symptoms got worse, there wasn't specifically anything he could do.  He recommended going to Taipei to run some tests.

Basically, I think Byrdie had a stroke and I suspect she can't see out of her right eye. It's hard to say what the cause was until we run the tests when I take her next week.  It could be anything from heart disease, fat deposits, to old age. Based on internet reading, dogs recover from strokes faster than humans.  And I'm hopeful that since her symptoms aren't so bad, that she still can walk around on her own, that she'll recover soon.  

Greetings from Hokkaido, Japan!

This is my first and probably last posting from Japan. For the past week, we've been travelling around the beautiful island of Hokkaido (western part). We've been of course enjoying the freshest sashimi / seafood ever, and soaking in the oh-so relaxing japanese baths. There's something quite nice and liberating having a soak outdoors. It's also been fun practicing my Japanese whｉｃｈ　Ｉhaven't used in ten years!!!


We'll be spending our last day tomorrow in Sapporo, and planning to visit the Sapporo Beer Factory which should be interesting. It's been a nice family vacation, something fun for everyone... of course at the moment is probably not the best time to visit Japan with the yen at a high of 95 yen to a dollar!!! Anyhow, will post some pictures when I get home.



Ja, Mata ato de.... ( until later....)

Monday Blues

Steve left for a conference on Sunday, so it's just me, Tyler and Byrdie for the next few days.  Both Tyler and I came down with a bug this weekend so no "wild parties" while daddy is away.  =)  When we found out that the costumes are out at RT Mart (the local supermarket), of course we had to make a special trip.  Here's Tyler in his new amazing Spidey costume.  We miss you Daddy, if you're checking into the blog.

Cousin Chen Yi's Wedding

Here's my cousin Chen Yi with his bride Yu Ching... moments before walking down the aisle.  Their wedding was held at one of the banquet hall in the Mitsukoshi Taipei.  Moments before the groom was running around ironing out the last minute details.. he seemed happy, nervous, all at the same time.  Little brother Chen Wei was the ring bearer.  While they were waiting to walk, the diamond ring fell off the pillow and rolled to the ground.  The officiant kept it for safekeeping thereafter.  

Here is Tyler with the rest of the flower girls and boys.  Being the youngest of the bunch (5 yrs, and over 10 yrs) I think he handled himself incredibly well!  All the jitters and nerves left as he was waiting for the cue to walk down the aisle.  

This very morning, Tyler had a little spill which left him with a big goose egg right on his forehead.  Thankfully, we nursed it with a ice pack and it virtually went away.  Here's Tyler waiting so patiently.  If I can figure out how to upload videos to picasa, I'll try to get the clip of the procession.

Double Ten Day Off

 
For Double Ten Holiday (birth of Taiwan Republic) we planned to spend the day at Flying cow ranch, but took a little detour in SanYi.  We just drove around, and decided to stay in the little town of Sheng Shing.  It was the 100th anniversary of the Sheng Shing Train station (no longer operational).  It was packed with people, and I imagine when the Tong Hua trees are in bloom, another draw of this place, it would be crazy busy.  So here's a picture of the remnants of a nearby bridge.



We're enjoying our little fan tuan (rice balls) picnic in front of the train station.  

And here's some drummer boys making it more festive.

Byrdie on the mend

 
We noticed Byrdie was sluggish and not herself this past week.  She didn't come to the door right away to greet Steve and seemed to lose her appetite which is a rare occurrence indeed.  After a blood test at the Vet, we found out her gall bladder count was abnormally high.  It ended up that the pack of peanuts Byrdie managed to get her paws on when she was home alone put too much stress on her organs. (salt and fat)  The doctor said at her age, this could be quite serious if her organs shut down.  It was no fun to see her sick.  After two days on the IV at the clinic, she was on the mend.  Byrdie usually rides shot gun, and this time she didn't curl up in the chair as she had the past week.  She perched herself on the armrest and I rolled down the window as she looked out the window.  Thank goodness, Byrdie's back.

Mr. GQ

Fresh off of the runways, is Mr. Tyler GQ!  Tyler is looking dapper in the 3-piece suit grandmother, sent from the states.  Just one more week until the wedding for Uncle Chen Yi, when Tyler walks down the aisle as honorary ring bearer.  

duh, dum-dum...

To Tyler, this is his "going to work" clothes.  He was quick to try it on for size, when I said he will look just like Daddy when he goes to work.   So cute!

17 KM Scenic Route by Nanliao Beach

We rented two bikes by Nanliao Beach and off we went, Tyler riding behind Steve, and Byrdie rode in style in her "Pizza Box" with me on a 2nd bike.   The scenery varied from oceanside right on the boardwalk, to narrow path shaded by trees (mangrove?) on both sides, over a few bridges, and right by a canal.  There were a few parks along the way, so one the way back we took a long pit stop and got some 'baboo' (ice cream).  The cooler Mom got us came in handy and kept our water and little snacks nice and cool on the hot day!  

We didn't actually finish the 17 km (34 round trip) since we needed to head up to Taipei, so we our ride was about 20km in total.  Next time hopefully on a cooler day, we can do the whole ride.  

Our eight year anniversary

Yesterday was our eighth wedding anniversary.  Just for giggles, I checked afterwards and it's the year of bronze.  It sounds so impressive when you've hit a metal year.  =)  

We celebrated it by going out to dinner.  And brought Tyler along.  He took this photo of us.  We had a nice evening, all three of us.  Maybe we'll look into babysitters... not that we mind taking Tyler, but would be nice to dine at a table for two.

Moon Festival

This past weekend was the moon festival, and also when the Typhoon landed.  The last few typhoons were none events, but this one had really heavy rains.  I'm sure many a barbeques (a tradition on moon festival for many) were cancelled.  We were planning to visit grandma in Taipei on Sunday, but the Typhoon hit hard Saturday and didn't leave till late Sunday.  

We were disappointed at being rained in, but I think Tyler had fun playing with Daddy all weekend.

Music Class

The insect theme continues in Music class... I think Tyler has buddhist inclinations .  As part of the whole mosquito song and dance, the teacher at the end does a clap and pretends to kill the mosquito.  Last week, Tyler was a bit reticent when the teacher did that.  And this week, he just sat to the side and didn't want to participate.  He was actually ok for the rest of the class.  Truth be told, I've zapped a real mosquito in front of Tyler before with no negative responses from him.  Not too clear what exactly bothered Ty, and he's not forthcoming with the details either...

Actually I was a bit put off by the whole "killing the mosquito" song too.  Not that I think the kids will grow up into murdering psychopaths, but there's really no need.  Another song I thought could've taken a more positive spin was the "bee song."  Buzzing from flower to flower and pollination and the whole bit... could be fun.  Rather, the teacher handed out a gauzy fabric and at certain parts of the music had them cover their heads so they wouldn't "get stung."  

Ok, chill mom.  It's not a big deal, but just not how I would go about these classes.

Children's Museum in Taipei

Tyler and I drove up to Taipei today for a little field trip to see Nai Nai (grandmother).  We met at the Children's Museum in Taipei and basically stayed there for the entire day.  There were plenty of activities to keep us occupied.  Here's Tyler pretending to be a newscaster.
Pretending to be a dentist.  Tyler was sporting a doctor's lab coat checking out Nai Nai's teeth.  Note to self --- please charge camera to avoid running out of juice next time.
And a checkout clerk, with a real cash register, UPC code scan and the whole shebang.  Playing with Nai Nai, is always lots of fun.  We plan to visit the museum again soon, before they close in November =(.  (at least temporarily until they find a new location)

Sushi Anyone?

Tyler's Clay Creation

Day at Nanliao Beach

We had a lovely weekend.  We went up to Taipei as usual and managed to run an errand or two, but the pace this weekend just didn't seem as frenetic. Whatever it was, taking the High Speed Rail?  Going on a Saturday instead of Sunday? Or not trying to hit too places?  I just found myself more relaxed than usual and enjoying it more.

Sunday at around sunset, we headed out to NanLiao Beach to the vista my friend showed me recently.  And this time it was with the whole family... Me, Steve, Tyler and Byrdie too.  Pictures are worth a thousand words--  take a look at the pictures I posted.  It really was a perfect end to a pretty fabulous weekend.  

  

English Class

Today was the first day meeting the new teacher who is to replace Ms. Helen.  Ms. Helen's English class within our housing complex was quite popular, and actually had a waiting list.  For the pre-schoolers, the one hour classes (twice a week) were really more play with stories, games, songs, and arts and crafts around a theme.  Some of the fun activities that come to mind was the class on dinosaurs where the kids had to go on an archeological dig and find the dinosaurs buried in the playgrounds (hidden before class), make fossil imprints using clay...  the list goes on.  Initially, I enrolled Tyler mainly for group socialization and just plain old fun, but was pleasantly surprised afterwards at all the new words/concepts he was exposed to, e.g, the little dipper, the word "locomotive" came up at some point...  Although I've tried to explain that Ms. Helen had to move back to the U.S. starting this summer, Tyler still asks about her class from time to time.  He misses Ms. Helen's class, and probably Ms. Helen herself too.

The new teacher's approach seems to be more traditional, starting with the ABCs.  And there is already practice writing the letters which I think is a bit early for Tyler.  Tyler said he liked the class when I asked him afterwards.   But I think the highlight today for him was seeing so many of his old classmates after the summer hiatus.   It's really too bad that all of them are one year older.  So when he does start school, wherever it is, he'll most likely not have a friend already in the class.

Anyhow that's it for now... For my next blog entry, I'll try to write about something else other than Tyler's classes.  So far that seems to be the focus of the blog so far.... actually to put it in perspective, T's classes are really just 1 hour of the day.  Guess it's just easier to focus on something self-contained like a class.  

Back to Classes

It's September, back to school month, and all of Tyler's old classes have started up again.  Today was music class (the teacher tells a story, sings a song, and there's a few activities which lets the kiddies run around the classroom).  Usually there's a theme, maybe a holiday, animals, flowers, etc...  The theme today was mosquitos?!?Of all the things the teacher can choose I wonder...  Anyhow, next week will be cicadas.  Did you know that it's the female mosquitos that feed on the blood, and the male cicadas that sing?  A bit of insect trivia.  =)

As Tyler was happily beating away on his tambourine, I noticed that there were some familiar faces but many were newbies, mostly between the ages of 2 - 3.  It seemed like yesterday, Tyler was the youngest one, barely 2.  And here he is now a big boy at 3 and 1/2!!  

No longer needing the backup diaper at night, and sleeping in his own room through the night (most of the time), Ty's hit some big milestones in the last month.  Of course there's some biggies we're still trying to conquer, like eating our meal without running around between bites and within 1 hour!!!  We shall persevere....  There are times when they really do surprise you.  Little chores and habits that used to take constant chasing after usually accompanied by some whining and tears , all of a sudden became a bit easier -- like flossing/brushing teeth, putting shoes in the closet, washing hands as first order of business after getting home.  So good job Tyler!  

Going to the Post Office

One of our favorite bedtime books right now is "Busy, Busy Town" by Richard Scarry.  It's an oldie but a goodie.   Each section takes you through different jobs in Busytown (Huckle the cat and Lowly the worm's home).  Tyler gets a kick out of the "post office" where it starts with Huckle writing a letter to Grandma and takes you through the different stages until Grandma Cat receives the letter.  So this week we took a little trip to the local post office, bought a stamp, and made a drop into the mail box.  Tyler insisted doing it all himself of course.

Tyler's latest craze is Ultraman, and has been for a few months now.  He likes to draw Ultraman stick figures and include them in his correspondences.  So if you should receive a drawing in the mail, that's who the stick figure is.  For "Ba Ba Jie" Chinese Father's Day (Aug. 8), Tyler made a card for his daddy.  (see picture)  With each picture he has different embellishments... this ultraman has fingers.  But there will always be two ultraman buddies.  It's important he has a friend.

Busy Day (Visiting Schools)

Visited two very different schools for Tyler today...  American Eagle (in the science park) and a Montessori school (Bilingual).  A friend was nice enough to offer to drive and accompany me, so I thought why not do a little bit more research with the plan to still wait until Tyler turns 4 for enrollment.  Before going to Eagle, I always thought it was really more like an after school activity. So after seeing it first hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the environment.  The curriculum is really modeled more after the kindergartens in the US (there's show and tell etc...), so if Tyler attended Eagle the transition back to the US would be seamless.  Their strength and focus is really on language proficiency.  Facilities wise,  there are about 15 - 20 per class with 3 teachers, the classroom layout accomodated the group nicely with a raised/loft area for story and circle time.  The details are planned out down to the copious storage/cubby holes separate for bookbags, toothbrushes, things to take home, and shoes (indoor slippers/shoes).  The price tag of course reflects what you get, the number of teachers per class and the beautiful classrooms.  In Taiwan there's also a premium on an English-speaking environment, with a preference for U.S. and Canadian teachers.  

The Montessori school was a new experience.  The pre-K (small), K-1(medium) and K-2 are in one large space with subgroups for special activities.  The classrooms are bright with large windows and spacious to accomodate the 30 students per class. Not familiar with the Montessori Method, it took me a while to understand how the classroom would operate with the subgroups.  There were stations throughout the classroom (sensory, math/logic, science etc...) and chock full of activities to stimulate and delight kids as well as parents.  I can see the environment will foster independence quite quickly -- not sure if I'm ready to cut the apron strings so quickly yet.

After a long day, we hit NanLiao beach where my friend showed me a part I haven't been (a beach about 15 minutes drive from home).  The overlook was grassy and hilly and a great place to romp and fly kites.  We watched the sunset, while Tyler and his friends ran up and down the grassy hills and then down to the beach to make cakes and snow balls out of sand.  A pretty nice way to end an activity-filled day!

To Pre-K or not?

Monday morning is clay class.  This is the 7th class and Tyler's little fingers are getting quite good at rolling and kneading.  Teacher Serena commented that Tyler tends to be very neat in his work -- hmm, probably takes after Steve in this regard.  Last night I mapped out Ty's activities in September, and without attending pre-k, it looks like Tyler will still have one major activity/class per day.  Most of the classes, like the clay class will still right in our apt. complex which is convenient.  So the plan is  pre-k in the spring if Mom can find a Chinese-speaking environment, with less than 10 per class, and nice facilities (ideally with a nice outdoor playground).  So the search for pre-k continues....

Painting Wood Animals at SanYi

This past weekend we went to SanYi (known for wood carvings) to paint wood ducks.  Originally an exporter of duck decoys, this little workshop in SanYi provides the paint, the animal wood carving, and materials to anyone who wants to get creative.  Tyler insisted on painting his duck in Spiderman colors (of course) and Steve's green egret(?) with intricate spirals and detailing came out quite beautiful.  It's nice to see Steve unwind after a long week, and for the whole family to spend some quality time together.