Gong Xi Fat Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year! Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Rat (and the conclusion of the Year of the Pig). Be sure to enjoy long life noodles and dumplings today to bring you good food and good fortune throughout the year!

We celebrated last night and yes, our son was far more interested in the money itself than in the red envelope it came in. Smart boy!

Sign Us Up!

Mommy and Me (or the more politically correct and certainly fitting "Parent and Me") classes are quite the thing to do here in LA (possibly everywhere). Unfortunately, a lot of these types of classes involve a fair amount of discussion about breast feeding, wobbly necks and other topics that are of little interest to us at this point.

Still, Island Boy is quite the little socializer, so we like to get him out and about and I'm always interested in meeting other moms. Sign Language class seemed like a perfect opportunity. Not only does it give our little guy an hour a week to hang out with friends, sing some songs and play with some toys, it may also be good for him.

Some research suggests that teaching babies sign language may increase their vocabulary and possibly even IQ scores. I don't know if I buy any of that, but I can tell you that Island Boy is simply delighted when he learns a new sign and so are we!!

Microbewery

Our physician friends and many others have told us that children are little incubators of all kinds of germs. We believed them. We didn't need any proof.

Unfortunately, we've been getting proof anyway as hubby and I have been sick more since November than we've ever been and yes, before I was fully recovered from my bout earlier this month, I got hit again. I am sick of being sick! Arrgh!!

Welcome to a whole new world of germs indeed.

Fortunately, and seemingly miraculously, Island Boy has been faring much better than Mommy and Daddy throughout. How does he do it? We don't know, but we are happy that he's been pulling through ok. Hopefully, we will all soon be back to 100%.

Status Report

We have a status report of sorts. Island Boy was checking out Daddy's luggage this morning, so we can use the luggage as a gauge of how much our little guy has grown - not very official, but much more fun. Besides, those measurements at the doctor's offices are a bit suspect anyway, aren't they? Wiggly babies just don't make for easy or accurate measurements, so we'll go with the suitcase status report.

Just how big is he?? THIS big, according to a new Party Trick he picked up over the holidays at Grandpa's house. It goes something like what you see in this photo (although this isn't the full version of the "trick" - I'll try and post a better photo of it if I can capture one!).

Island Boy is becoming a bit like a vampire in that he is increasingly difficult to photograph. As soon as the camera (or really any electronic device) comes out, he heads for it and he is shockingly fast.

I haven't posted photos in a little while, so here are a few more random shots of our little sweetie having fun. As you can see, he loves to get into the luggage - literally!

Obesity Training

I've been going to the gym again and man, it feels good!! Fortunately, my gym has a decent childcare program. Well, at least it seemed like a decent childcare program, until this last time.

First, I need to say that the "Kids Club" consists of a great little play area complete with lots of toys and typically, a friendly staff member. Often when we go, Island Boy is the only child there, and the staff members have always enjoyed spending time with him.

This past Friday, I was happy to see that there were a few other children at the Kids Club when we arrived, so we signed in and I headed off to work out. Before I even got started with my workout I was summoned back to the Kids Club. My heart raced! What could have happened so quickly? He must have fallen and hit his head. On what?! I couldn't imagine. There weren't any sharp corners for him to hit his head on, were there? By the time I had time to think all of these thoughts I was back at the Kids Club and guess what the problem was?

The two children that were in there with him were sitting in chairs up against the wall. Each had his own bag of Pirate's Booty. (Note: the Pirate's Booty was supplied by the children's parents, not by the facility.) Naturally, Island Boy was curious to see what these two were up to (not surprising since this particular staff member didn't seem very interested in actually having to interact with any of the children) and, what a surprise, these two little children didn't like it that a baby was interested in what they were doing. They didn't want to share a single bite of their giant bags of booty and I am so thankful for that.

How many things are wrong with this picture? I probably don't need to point them all out, so let me just say that I solved the "problem" by giving Island Boy a bite of banana (fresh fruit! ever heard of it??!), introducing him to a nice little girl who had just arrived and showing them both some interesting toys to play with. Island Boy had fun playing. I had a great workout and someone's kids got to eat an entire bag of Pirate's Booty each.

Remembering a Friend

A friend of ours passed away in October, but we just learned of his passing yesterday. He was a young man and his death came as a shock. Our relationship isn't one that I would describe as particularly close, although I always enjoyed talking to him. He was one of those people that you just felt good talking to every now and then, especially when the world was misbehaving in a certain way.

I remember thinking about him in November and thinking that I should call him, but I didn't get around to it. I thought about calling him again yesterday and was looking up his phone number when I found his obituary instead.

I am surprised at how much his death has affected me. I'm very sad to know that he won't be there to make me feel better in his unique way when the world is misbehaving in its. He left behind a wife and two young children and that is also very hard to think about.

Whenever someone you know dies, particularly when their death is untimely as our friend's was, you're reminded of the relationships you find precious. The death of our friend has me thinking about the people in my life that I haven't talked to for a while. Although I think of them often, I don't always do anything about it. I'm going to try to do a better job of that.

Customs and Immigration

There are a whole slew of families traveling to Taiwan to bring their children home within the next few weeks, so I wanted to share some additional travel experiences, including the all-important topic what to expect when you reach the United States.

Although we flew non-stop from Taipei to LAX, experiences entering the US via San Francisco International should be similar.

Customs was, for a change, a very smooth and welcome end to our long journey. We were actually a bit nervous, having tromped all over Vietnam and Cambodia after leaving the US for Taiwan, so we braced ourselves.

We were near the front of the new immigrant stampede, so I think the folks guiding people to the various lines identified us as parents of a newly adopted baby right away (perhaps from the "deer in the headlights" looks on our faces). We were whisked right through to the front of the line and let me tell you, it felt gooood to be whisked, especially as we looked back at the poor, tired new immigrants piling up in line behind us.

The gentleman manning our line smiled(!) at us and asked us for our paperwork. We handed over the mysterious sealed envelope that we had been given back at the American Institute in Taiwan (Note: Remember to have that thing handy! Do NOT check it in your luggage!!) and were told to go get our luggage and come back.

I held Island Boy (in the Baby Bjorn) off to the side of the luggage carousel while hubby dove in to the crowd to grab the bags. There was the part where I almost got arrested for taking a photo. Yes, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to snap a photo of hubby grabbing the bags - such a critical part of the journey as it was. The minute the camera came out, a very burly federal agent appeared and stood very, VERY close to me and ordered me to delete the photo. Yes, Sir! Consider it done, Sir! Yikes!!!

Once we had our bags, we went back to the very nice gentleman that had our paperwork. Although there were plenty of people waiting in his line and he was helping someone else at that moment, he handed us our papers, smiled and said "Welcome to the United States!". I got a chill when he said those words. It was such a thrill to be reminded how much I love this country and what a terror it was to think that the journey had just begun!

Overall, customs was really smooth and easy. If for some reason no one shows up to whisk you to the front of the line, seek out someone official looking and tell them that you have a new baby and you would like to know where the expedited line for that is. Insist on being whisked! It's one of the few opportunities for you to do that in life, so carpe diem!

p.s. Don't forget to "go" before you land! You may not have access to facilities until you make it through immigration and customs!