Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Day 4- Still no poop
Sara is napping again. I haven’t even bothered to turn on Fox News today. There is only so many ways you can say that Democrats are bad and Republicans should inherit the earth without boring me.
Yesterday after blogging I had worked up an appetite so we caught a taxi to downtown. We found a traditional market--one of the photos has already been posted. I think they leave the chicken heads and feet on the dead chickens so that you know it is a chicken. There were definitely things there that were not chickens.
We found more unidentified fried protein that Tyler and I both enjoyed. Sara’s pallet has definitely expended over the past years that we have been together but I can tell we are pushing the upper boundaries at this point.
We then took Ty to the shopping equivalent of an old Woonsocket Caldors. He loves to run in stores. It was funny for everyone…the first 10 times. Based on the variety of food we had eaten the past few days it was decided that McDonalds was the appropriate way to end day 3. What could be better? A playground, Ronald McDonald, and food tried and tested to promote acute bowel function.
Interestingly most people here speak at least broken English. Sara and I have been very impressed and it has made our trip easier. Unfortunately at McDonalds the kid I had help me who was sporting a faux-hawk or a “D.A.” haircut knew more about U.S. style than the language. Somehow two cheese burgers and a shake turned into one Big-Mac minus no cheese. The situation was quickly resolved and we were on our way to enjoying our delicious grease treat. Ty ate the entire burger, glutinous American already.
Hours later, still no poop. Seriously?
Now Sara and I are starting to be a bit concerned. We call the nanny and she confirms that no BM in 36 hours is definitely not normal. It is clear he is more than just embarrassed to poop in front of new people. Luckily we already had a doctor appointment today. This doctor specializes in child development. Oddly enough she also can check temperature and fill a prescription for a child laxative.
Tyler is healthy. Three doctors said so. Developmentally he is doing well and we should not be concerned about his limited speech. He speaks all the time when we are alone in our room but is very quiet around others. We show him books and say the English words and he often repeats. His first word repeated unmistakably was puppy. Sara and I cheered so he screamed puppy. Good times.
He really does talk a lot when we are in our room. I pretend he is speaking in full Chinese sentences and not baby talk. He is like Stewie from The Family Guy show except his head is slightly smaller. Not a lot smaller…but smaller. 18 month shirts fit his body but not always his head. He has a full size two year old head. The nanny says it makes him smart. Is it wrong to make fun of our kid? Probably, but while I am at it his taste in clothing in questionable. We are told he picked out the clothes that he wore the day we first met. You all saw the pictures.
A laxative on top of McDonalds. Time to bring Tyler back to his nanny’s facility! We dropped Ty at the facility fully loaded and ready to explode feces. We really did need to drop him off. We had to spend 4 hours in a lawyers office signing paperwork. No place for a kid full of processed meat and stool softener.
I don’t think I said anything to embarrass Sara yet so I should mention that she and the baby are having similar bowel issues. Sara’s problems in this area are a great source of humor but don’t expect a daily journal on her issues. I will be surprised if this paragraph makes it past her.
Last night Sara started to show Tyler how to give kisses. It was really cute and he would pucker then grab her by the face to bring her in for a kiss.
Sara stirs in her sleep now. Soon she will be awake. My time is short. I am really starting to enjoy this blogging time. Hopefully Sara and Ty take a nap tomorrow.
Yesterday after blogging I had worked up an appetite so we caught a taxi to downtown. We found a traditional market--one of the photos has already been posted. I think they leave the chicken heads and feet on the dead chickens so that you know it is a chicken. There were definitely things there that were not chickens.
We found more unidentified fried protein that Tyler and I both enjoyed. Sara’s pallet has definitely expended over the past years that we have been together but I can tell we are pushing the upper boundaries at this point.
We then took Ty to the shopping equivalent of an old Woonsocket Caldors. He loves to run in stores. It was funny for everyone…the first 10 times. Based on the variety of food we had eaten the past few days it was decided that McDonalds was the appropriate way to end day 3. What could be better? A playground, Ronald McDonald, and food tried and tested to promote acute bowel function.
Interestingly most people here speak at least broken English. Sara and I have been very impressed and it has made our trip easier. Unfortunately at McDonalds the kid I had help me who was sporting a faux-hawk or a “D.A.” haircut knew more about U.S. style than the language. Somehow two cheese burgers and a shake turned into one Big-Mac minus no cheese. The situation was quickly resolved and we were on our way to enjoying our delicious grease treat. Ty ate the entire burger, glutinous American already.
Hours later, still no poop. Seriously?
Now Sara and I are starting to be a bit concerned. We call the nanny and she confirms that no BM in 36 hours is definitely not normal. It is clear he is more than just embarrassed to poop in front of new people. Luckily we already had a doctor appointment today. This doctor specializes in child development. Oddly enough she also can check temperature and fill a prescription for a child laxative.
Tyler is healthy. Three doctors said so. Developmentally he is doing well and we should not be concerned about his limited speech. He speaks all the time when we are alone in our room but is very quiet around others. We show him books and say the English words and he often repeats. His first word repeated unmistakably was puppy. Sara and I cheered so he screamed puppy. Good times.
He really does talk a lot when we are in our room. I pretend he is speaking in full Chinese sentences and not baby talk. He is like Stewie from The Family Guy show except his head is slightly smaller. Not a lot smaller…but smaller. 18 month shirts fit his body but not always his head. He has a full size two year old head. The nanny says it makes him smart. Is it wrong to make fun of our kid? Probably, but while I am at it his taste in clothing in questionable. We are told he picked out the clothes that he wore the day we first met. You all saw the pictures.
A laxative on top of McDonalds. Time to bring Tyler back to his nanny’s facility! We dropped Ty at the facility fully loaded and ready to explode feces. We really did need to drop him off. We had to spend 4 hours in a lawyers office signing paperwork. No place for a kid full of processed meat and stool softener.
I don’t think I said anything to embarrass Sara yet so I should mention that she and the baby are having similar bowel issues. Sara’s problems in this area are a great source of humor but don’t expect a daily journal on her issues. I will be surprised if this paragraph makes it past her.
Last night Sara started to show Tyler how to give kisses. It was really cute and he would pucker then grab her by the face to bring her in for a kiss.
Sara stirs in her sleep now. Soon she will be awake. My time is short. I am really starting to enjoy this blogging time. Hopefully Sara and Ty take a nap tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Some more pictures
Here are some more pictures. Some were taken at the lake and some at the lantern festival last night.
Day 3-- Justin's first post
Everything is going as good as we could have expected. Yesterday we spend our first full day with Tyler. After you hear everything we did you will understand why we didn’t post anything.
It is noon on Tuesday. Sara and Ty are sleeping so if I begin to ramble on it is because I have nothing to do besides watch Fox News our only real English news channel. Fair and balanced as long as you are a Republican…but I digress. You want to know about our trip, not Bill O’Reilly and Rupert Murdock dominating the Asian market.
We just got back from the doctors office. Everything medically seems good. The doctor’s English name was Justin and he worked at Boston’s Children Hospital for one year. He attended two Red Sox games while he was in Boston so we know he is a good doctor. Ty’s size and speech is a little behind but we knew that before and there is nothing serious. We have read that this can be typical for children who spend time at a facility like he has been. The doctor told us we should have nothing to worry about.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Cheng Ching Lake park. It is a nice park with great views and architecture. There was lots of walking, running and playing which all alone would have been a full day for a typical sedentary person which I fancy myself.
But, yesterday was also the last day of the New Year festival. How many chances do you get in ones life to attend this kind of celebration? So in all our wisdom we decided on our first full night with Ty to pack up our stuff and take a taxi to the party. It actually went really well. We ate all kinds of stuff that tasted great but alas we will never know what it was or what it was called. For blogging purposes so you can picture it, let us refer to them as shrimp cakes on a stick and corn dog like foods. That said I have no valid reason to really think it was shrimp, it could have been any seafood. I hope it was seafood. Ty was great, he didn’t fuss, ate everything, and had an all around fun time. I got some great video of Sara and Ty dancing in the street.
It is probably a good time to mention that a white male approaching 6 feet tall wearing a t-shirt and shorts has a tendency to stick out. That said, everyone has been very nice. It is a very safe city. My only criticism is that the people here have very poor internal body temperature control. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is 75 degrees and more than half the people are wearing thick winter coats. I may try and get a picture of me sweating in my t-shirt standing next to one of these guys wearing a puffy Nike down coat looking chilly.
When we got back from the festival we gave Tyler his first bath with us. He is a very neat kid. He likes everything just so. He hates when his hands are dirty. Clearly he and I were destined to be together. He loved the bath Sara gave him so much that he cried a little when we made him get out.
Time for bedtime. Based on the amount of running and playing during the day and how late it was getting this should have been easy. It couldn’t be harder than attending a festival where you don’t speak that language with a two year old boy right? Laying in a darkened room with soft classical music seemed like a recipe for success. But there he was standing up and dancing. Let’s try laying him down again. Boom, more standing and dancing. It was soft Beethoven not Pussy Cat Dolls! Let’s try shutting off the CD. No luck. So I tried walking him in the stroller. Seemed logical every other stroller ride he took he napped. There I am walking up and down the hall catching looks…refer to earlier sticking out like a sore thumb paragraph…with Ty who was sat quietly but was clearly ready to wait me out. 20 minutes of walking in circles later I tried to put him back in the crib. Tears…lovely. After a quick debate, I can’t let this kid cry our first night. So I pick him up. Let the spoiling begin. But, this is when we started making headway. He was content to lay against my chest in our bed. Several still, hopeful minutes later SUCCESS! A few minutes later I put him in the crib and he slept all night without waking.
Sara just woke up and can’t believe I am still typing. She is afraid I am going to say something embarrassing in our blog. I hope I didn’t disappoint. That reminds me, Tyler hasn’t done a poop since we got him 24 hours ago. This next one is going to be a mess of biblical proportions! He eats so much! Oh my god, he ate those “shrimp cakes” and a cornish dog! He is saving it specifically for when it is my turn to change him, I can tell. I think that is why he smiles at me. If Sara doesn’t let me blog again we miss and love everyone.
It is noon on Tuesday. Sara and Ty are sleeping so if I begin to ramble on it is because I have nothing to do besides watch Fox News our only real English news channel. Fair and balanced as long as you are a Republican…but I digress. You want to know about our trip, not Bill O’Reilly and Rupert Murdock dominating the Asian market.
We just got back from the doctors office. Everything medically seems good. The doctor’s English name was Justin and he worked at Boston’s Children Hospital for one year. He attended two Red Sox games while he was in Boston so we know he is a good doctor. Ty’s size and speech is a little behind but we knew that before and there is nothing serious. We have read that this can be typical for children who spend time at a facility like he has been. The doctor told us we should have nothing to worry about.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Cheng Ching Lake park. It is a nice park with great views and architecture. There was lots of walking, running and playing which all alone would have been a full day for a typical sedentary person which I fancy myself.
But, yesterday was also the last day of the New Year festival. How many chances do you get in ones life to attend this kind of celebration? So in all our wisdom we decided on our first full night with Ty to pack up our stuff and take a taxi to the party. It actually went really well. We ate all kinds of stuff that tasted great but alas we will never know what it was or what it was called. For blogging purposes so you can picture it, let us refer to them as shrimp cakes on a stick and corn dog like foods. That said I have no valid reason to really think it was shrimp, it could have been any seafood. I hope it was seafood. Ty was great, he didn’t fuss, ate everything, and had an all around fun time. I got some great video of Sara and Ty dancing in the street.
It is probably a good time to mention that a white male approaching 6 feet tall wearing a t-shirt and shorts has a tendency to stick out. That said, everyone has been very nice. It is a very safe city. My only criticism is that the people here have very poor internal body temperature control. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is 75 degrees and more than half the people are wearing thick winter coats. I may try and get a picture of me sweating in my t-shirt standing next to one of these guys wearing a puffy Nike down coat looking chilly.
When we got back from the festival we gave Tyler his first bath with us. He is a very neat kid. He likes everything just so. He hates when his hands are dirty. Clearly he and I were destined to be together. He loved the bath Sara gave him so much that he cried a little when we made him get out.
Time for bedtime. Based on the amount of running and playing during the day and how late it was getting this should have been easy. It couldn’t be harder than attending a festival where you don’t speak that language with a two year old boy right? Laying in a darkened room with soft classical music seemed like a recipe for success. But there he was standing up and dancing. Let’s try laying him down again. Boom, more standing and dancing. It was soft Beethoven not Pussy Cat Dolls! Let’s try shutting off the CD. No luck. So I tried walking him in the stroller. Seemed logical every other stroller ride he took he napped. There I am walking up and down the hall catching looks…refer to earlier sticking out like a sore thumb paragraph…with Ty who was sat quietly but was clearly ready to wait me out. 20 minutes of walking in circles later I tried to put him back in the crib. Tears…lovely. After a quick debate, I can’t let this kid cry our first night. So I pick him up. Let the spoiling begin. But, this is when we started making headway. He was content to lay against my chest in our bed. Several still, hopeful minutes later SUCCESS! A few minutes later I put him in the crib and he slept all night without waking.
Sara just woke up and can’t believe I am still typing. She is afraid I am going to say something embarrassing in our blog. I hope I didn’t disappoint. That reminds me, Tyler hasn’t done a poop since we got him 24 hours ago. This next one is going to be a mess of biblical proportions! He eats so much! Oh my god, he ate those “shrimp cakes” and a cornish dog! He is saving it specifically for when it is my turn to change him, I can tell. I think that is why he smiles at me. If Sara doesn’t let me blog again we miss and love everyone.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Day 1-- Meet Tyler
It’s Sunday night and we’re here in Taiwan giving you the long awaited update. We got in last night and couldn’t sleep primarily because of nerves and excitement but also jet lag. The flight was long but very uneventful. This morning we finally met Jhih-Yuan who we have decided to name Tyler (Ty for short). We had 23 hours of traveling to debate names and this one seemed to fit when we met him.
When we first met him he was a little apprehensive but seemed to like the toys we brought so we knew we had an “in”. After a little playing we stopped for lunch and I was finally able to get a smile out of him. He’s got the most contagious laugh (we'll post a video when we can). Playing catch and peek-a-boo seem to be the funniest things he’s ever seen. During lunch we also discovered that he’ll eat just about anything you put in front of him—from cod livers to shrimp to tofu.
After lunch we stopped at the Shoushan zoo. The entire day we had Grace with us who is our translator. She has been so wonderful in helping us navigate around the city and Taiwanese customs.
Today was a great day but we have a long week ahead of us. We will take him to at least one doctor later in the week and we’ll meet a social worker who will basically decide whether or not we are going to be fit parents. Her recommendation will be very important during the court process.
We’ll keep you updated as the week progresses but now we’re exhausted so good night! One funny note—it was about 80 degrees and humid today and they brought him in a wool sweater and corduroys. When I took the sweater off, he had a sweatshirt on underneath!
When we first met him he was a little apprehensive but seemed to like the toys we brought so we knew we had an “in”. After a little playing we stopped for lunch and I was finally able to get a smile out of him. He’s got the most contagious laugh (we'll post a video when we can). Playing catch and peek-a-boo seem to be the funniest things he’s ever seen. During lunch we also discovered that he’ll eat just about anything you put in front of him—from cod livers to shrimp to tofu.
After lunch we stopped at the Shoushan zoo. The entire day we had Grace with us who is our translator. She has been so wonderful in helping us navigate around the city and Taiwanese customs.
Today was a great day but we have a long week ahead of us. We will take him to at least one doctor later in the week and we’ll meet a social worker who will basically decide whether or not we are going to be fit parents. Her recommendation will be very important during the court process.
We’ll keep you updated as the week progresses but now we’re exhausted so good night! One funny note—it was about 80 degrees and humid today and they brought him in a wool sweater and corduroys. When I took the sweater off, he had a sweatshirt on underneath!
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