Our Journey to the Other Side of The World

Dear Children,

It has been quite the week. We've been very busy since the last post and we are now literally, on the other side of the world. Our first leg of the trip lasted about 4 hour from Austin to San Francisco. We were very blessed to have the whole row to ourselves. We could spread out and not worry about bothering other passengers. You guys did amazingly well. Lots of compliments from the people around us.

 We only watched one 30 minute episode of Curious George on the entire flight.

The 3 hour layover in San Francisco flew by quickly. We arrived before Ama, so we walked to her gate and watched the planes outside as we waited for her plane to arrive. We then had lunch and Nathan was able to run around. We found a children's area with a few things to climb and before we knew it, it was time to board our long 15 hour flight.

We had requested a child's meal for Nathan and it arrived first, before all the other meals were served. Chicken nuggets. A bit soggy, but Nathan approved. (Plus, no green stuff)

 After dinner, Nathan watched part of a movie and then we got ready to go to sleep. Nathan slept on the floor starting at his normal bedtime and didn't wake up until about an hour before the plane landed. Hannah slept on me and woke up several times. We walked the plane a lot. While I didn't get much sleep with a baby lying on me the whole time, I did manage to watch a movie and a total of a couple hours of shut eye due to me dozing off. It was a long flight to endure, but everything went smoothly.

When we arrived in Taiwan, it was a bit after dinner time (breakfast time for Texans). We arrived to Gong Gong's home and then we walked to a restaurant to have a late dinner. Nathan was pretty excited about seeing all the scooters and lights at night. We went home and the kids fell asleep quickly after a bath and new PJs.

4 Hours later, they were back up, awake. It was 2:30 am Taiwan time so it's not like we could just go out and do something, so we just hung out and played until the sun rose at 6:30 and went outside for a walk. We walked to the outdoor market and had breakfast at a place my grandfather used to take me when I was a kid. Then we walked to my grandfather's old neighborhood. It is now a historic village and nobody lives there, but that day, it was being used to film a movie. On the way, we picked some raspberries off of trees and ate them on the spot. I forgot that they were there and I remember feeding my pet silkworm leaves from those trees when I was a kid. In the village we found a banana tree, which Nathan thought was pretty cool.

We came home for an early lunch and then we all took a nice nap in the afternoon from about noon to 4. Afterwards, we went to my Aunt's house and met up with the rest of the family. Nathan was a mess. He was grumpy and just not fun to be around. Hannah was a bit quiet, but she was not fussy. We all went out for dinner at a restaurant that serves steamed buns. Hannah slept in the ergo baby the whole time and Nathan only wanted me to help him do stuff. I got lots of practice juggling both kids around. When it got too much, we all went outside for a short walk.

That night the kids were so tired, we just skipped bath and went straight to bed. Poor Nathan was so tired on the way home that he just fell out of the taxi. The second "night" they slept an hour longer and woke up at 3:30.

After Gong Gong woke up, he got us breakfast and then took us all on a motorcycle (scooter) ride to the riverside park. Nathan stood in the front and I sat behind him with Hannah strapped to my back. I wish we got a picture of this because I thought it was quite impressive. We found a playground and Nathan had a great time playing. The grandmas at the park all thought the kids were super cute.

 Nathan loves these exercise machines. They can be found in almost every park.

That afternoon, we all took a super long nap from 1 - 6. Gong gong came in at 4 to tell me the time and then at 5, and 6. Each time he came in, I thought it was morning, and I was really glad that you two were still asleep. When it dawned on me that it was still the afternoon, I tried to get you two up. You two were so tired.

 Tuesday morning, you guys woke up at 4:30. We had breakfast and then we went to a super nice playground that is close to Gong Gong's home. We then went home to rest a bit and then rode the bus and MRT (subway) to meet up with Ama. We went shopping and had lunch at a department store.

The bathrooms were super nice. I was so impressed with the family stall that I just had to take a picture.

There was a mini-urinal inside the women's bathroom. I had to walk back outside to check the door to make sure I was in the right one. I guess they have it there for the little boys that go in there with their mommies. Of course, Nathan was super excited to use it.

Then we went into the family stall. There was a bidet, another urinal, and a tiny toilet. On the other side was a changing table and a small fold down seat with a harness. Why don't they have bathrooms like that in the states for families?

We rode the train back home and Nathan actually got scared of the sounds. I figured he was getting tired. Hopefully our next MRT ride won't be too scary for him.

Nathan absolutely loves riding the MRT trains. He gets so excited when he sees one arrive at the station.

We met up with family again that night and Nathan was still a bit fussy, but not as bad as last time. I had to use ice cream to bribe him to be a "happy boy."

The next night, the kids all woke up at 2:30. After about 1.5 hours, I got Hannah to go back to sleep, but Nathan was wide awake and wanting to play. I eventually talked him into resting quietly and soon we were both asleep. The kids didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning. Score.

This morning Nathan and I went to the park and Hannah napped at home. I really like this playground because it has lots of different things for a little boy to do.

We pretty much just hung out at the house all morning and then took a nap from 2-5. We then packed up and rode a taxi to a night market. There we had some street food and Nathan played some games.

 Nathan really liked eating the grilled scallops. He also drank some herbal jelly drink. Hannah slept the whole time. One of the things we had tonight actually had peanuts in it. The traditional preparation does not include peanuts, but I guess this vendor decided to add that to her stuff. Luckily Nathan only had a bite before I realized that there was peanuts. When we got home I gave him some benedryl and he seems ok for now. I am glad that he doesn't have a super sensitive, life threatening peanut allergy.

Nathan loves playing on my Grandfather's rocking chair. One day he played on it for an hour.

My Grandfather's Rocking Chair

Today was the first day  that we followed our normal nap schedule. Both of you went to bed a bit later tonight, (9:30 and 10:00) but I don't mind you getting up later too, considering that most businesses here don't open until 9 and 11o'clock. Let's see how you two sleep tonight. This is day 3 of us being here. They say expect a day for each time zone you travel through. That would be 13 for us, we may be able to get it done in 3-4, which is what I remember from when I was younger.

It's pretty tough handling 2 sleep deprived children under the age of 3 in a foreign country. I don't know how single parents do it. I'm sure I will get into a groove soon.

Just today, I found Hannah sitting up in her crib. She is now able to sit up herself!

So far, the trip has been rough. We have one more week until Daddy comes. Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy

Eight Month Baby and Getting Ready for Travel

Dear Nathan, 

Just a quick reminder that not everything can be fixed with tape. I remember days in the past, long, long ago where I thought the same thing, but in time, you will see that some things are just not fixable. 

Here's a great picture of you and daddy in similar outfits. When we went to the store to get you some new shirts, we just had to get this one because it is like many of the shirts that daddy likes to wear. 

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 We have been quite busy this past week. We've done some new activities...

 Met up with a few fetus-hood friends for a post-Easter egg hunt,

 And even made a sign for your room.

This craft was definitely not found on Pinterest, but it darn well should be! It was a pretty organic project, and we used stuff that we already had around the house. Plus, it helped you practice recognizing and even writing letters. I first drew a letter on a piece of card board and then you traced over it with glue (which you pronounce, "blue" and so I was confused for a long time this morning when you said that you needed blue)

 Then you sprinkle the beans over the glue that you painted on...

 And when you shake off the extra beans, you have letters!

The finished product! 

 

Earlier this week, we met up with your favorite friend, Abigail at the wildflower center. We attended their sprouts program, which I was very impressed with. After the lesson, you knew what a seed was and can identify the seed coat. (In fact, you ate a bunch of beans that night, pulling off the seed coat of each one) You also know that a sprouting seed with a tail is going to become the root, which goes into the ground.

During story time, you did such a great job sitting still and listening to the story!

 Then you used a hand lens to examine a seed.

 In the meantime, Hannah was snacking on some wood chips.

 Afterwards, you and your best friend went to the swings and you guys had so much fun.

 It's been awhile since you've seen your best friend, Abigail and you were wanting her to come over to our house afterwards. I know you miss her, but we will see her a lot this summer. In fact you guys will be learning how to swim together with a lady known as the "Austin Swim Nazi." Sounds scary, but I've heard kids love her.

You are getting to be such a big boy. You are a great helper around the house. You can turn on and off lights, get things for me, and help out with Hannah. You really like feeding her and she loves to eat.

 You love going to Sunday school with the bigger kids. There you sing songs, listen to stories, and each week you also make a craft. This week, you made a wind sock that you are really proud of.

 And you know how once in awhile you ask to see if you are big enough to drive a car? Well, you asked us if you could drive this lawn mower when we were at Costco. We said, "Yes" and you did a double take, making sure that you heard the correct answer. When you got on, you were pretty happy, moving levers, asking what each one of them did.

We have slowly started to talk about our upcoming trip to Taiwan. You are pretty excited about it. I will be sure to document all the important moments so that we can share them with our loved ones.

Dear Hannah,
You are growing up to be cuter and cuter each day. I feel like you are calmer than Nathan was when he was a baby (and he was pretty calm too). You are also more gentle, so Teddy is really not afraid to come near you. For now, he trusts you. Continue you to be gentle with him and he will become your biggest fan.

 While Nathan and his friends were looking for Easter eggs, you and your friend Gus, just chilled and watched.

 And this week you turned 8 months old!

 While you were playing, the sleeve of your dress slipped off of your shoulder a bit. Daddy and I both exclaimed, "Scandalous!"

 and you gave us the look (already!).

 Besides being a happy baby and on the verge of crawling, you absolutely love your food. I love the faces that you make while you are eating. You really like apples and pears. I just give you a little stick of it and you just gnaw away.

 You are also starting to develop your pincer grasp. We now have to be extra vigilant about picking up small things that are within your reach...Nathan, that means beads, beans, and big-boy legos! Hannah loves to put stuff in her mouth. Nathan was a bit more atypical and his put-everything-in mouth phase really only lasted a little while.

In 2 days, we make the long trip to literally, the other side of the world. Daddy is going to take us to the airport Friday morning and we first fly to San Francisco. As of now, we have the whole row of seats to ourselves for the entire 4 hour flight. I'm sure anyone who picks that extra seat in our row will be more than happy to switch to another one...or maybe your cuteness will entice them to stay. Regardless, I hope we can have the whole row to ourselves. It will make things just so much easier.

We get to San Francisco around noon (Texas time) and will meet up with Ama. We have a 3.5 hour layover there, so we will grab some lunch and explore the airport some. I already have a list of things we can do at that airport to kill time and energy. I'm still debating on whether or not to make you take a short nap while before we board, or just follow your cues and see if you get tired or not.

We then board our long, almost 14 hour flight to Taipei. You two are sitting with me in a bulkhead row and we have a bassinet reserved for Hannah. Ama is sitting a few rows behind us. I have lots of little toys wrapped, snacks, and videos loaded onto the Kindle. I'm hoping that the flight attendant will let Nathan sleep on the floor, but I have a feeling that it will not be allowed. We have reserved a kid's meal for Nathan so I hope the food will be more appealing to him.

We land in Taipei 6:30 pm (Taipei time, which means 5:30 am, Texas time) and then we will have to deal with an 11 hour jet-lag. Hopefully everyone will be tired enough to sleep for a bit when it got later.

Please pray for us. I am really glad that both children are pretty well behaved, but 24 hours of travel is tough on anyone, so I'm praying that things just go as smoothly as possible.

I'm so excited about this trip and I know that whatever hardships that we encounter along the way will be worth it in the end. I'm so proud of both of you and I just want to show you off to our family in Taiwan.

Until next week!
Love,
Mommy

Week 34: Life's Never a Bore.

Dear Children, 

I can truly say that there is never a dull moment in the Havlir household as long as you guys are awake. Between Nathan's constant stream of questions and Hannah's bursts of cuteness, I find that our days seem to go by faster and faster. 

Even though we have been spending most of our time indoors, due to my oak allergy, we've come up with lots of things to pass the time. A new activity that we've started to do is beading with cheerios. The first time we did this activity, Nathan was occupied for at least 30 minutes. He was able to make 3 necklaces, one for himself and one each for mommy and daddy. 

 It was definitely a fine and gross motor skill exercise because while he was carefully threading the cereal pieces, he also had to make sure he kept the bunch of cereal away from Teddy, who pretty much has learned to stalk both of you anytime food is involved.

We finally remembered to break out the paint for bath time. Nathan likes to take his bath in different colored water.

 Nathan has become a bit more independent lately. I can be doing something on a different floor and he is usually ok with playing on his own for a little while. One day I was changing Hannah's diaper upstairs and when I came down, I found Nathan doing this...

 He wanted to try to get milk out. The funnel shaped thing he's holding is a breast pump piece...just in case you didn't know. I tried to explain to him that milk only comes out of mommies but convinced him that he could get ice cream out of his belly button. So he placed the breast pump on his belly and started to squeeze. Then he unscrewed the bottle and pretended to eat the ice cream. I actually thought it was pretty cool that he knew that I was joking and he played along so nonchalantly.

Afterwards he started coming up with more ridiculous things that we could get out of his belly. It was really cute.

Nathan has also become really interested in playing with legos, like real big boy legos. For awhile he was "building" things and we always just nodded our heads and kept encouraging him to create more buildings, towers, and sometimes even cats. Just recently he started building recognizable things like houses, and cars, or trains. He made this one all by himself and was really proud of it. We are proud of Nathan too!

Another thing Nathan has been playing with is this ball that's attached to a bracelet. You throw the ball and it comes back to you. It was really neat seeing him throw the ball towards different things (like down the stairs, or at the diaper pail) to see what would happen.

 Nathan exercises his independence more and more these days. This morning I took him to the bathroom and proceeded to help him take off his jammies. He quickly said, "No, mommy, you stand over there, I do it." (Sometimes he's not so nice and will actually say, "You go away.") So sure enough, he took off his jammies,

 and then his diaper...

 and then climbed onto the toilet by himself. Sniff... my little boy is growing up too fast!

Quick update on the drooling situation. After seeing the ENT, we now know that there is nothing structurally wrong with his sinuses. I am about 80% sure that he is allergic/sensitive to dairy. We've been giving him flax milk instead of cows milk and it seems to help a lot. But after he eats yogurt or cheese, which is at practically every meal, the drool starts to flow.

When we go to Taiwan, we will try eliminating dairy from his diet. It should be pretty easy to do so because dairy is just not as big a part of the Taiwanese diet as it is here.  We will try to go 2 weeks without dairy and if his drooling improves, we will then try introducing dairy back slowly to see if the drooling starts again.  According to the ENT, allergies like this usually go away by the time the kid turns 5, so if it turns out that he is allergic to dairy, it will just be a temporary inconvenience.

And then there's this little girl...

 Who is growing up so fast and eating so much food. We usually feed her the most solids around dinner time. Gone are the days of pureeing food. Hannah pretty much eats what we are eating and she loves it.

Hannah has tried meatloaf, chicken, beets, taro, salmon, tuna, bread, pancakes, mangos, and apples this week. She loves everything and she definitely will let you know if she wants some more. That is really the only time she fusses, when she sees food and wants to eat it.

 Hannah has gotten to be less afraid of other people holding her. Today we went to a baby shower and she pretty much let all the ladies who wanted to hold her do so. I even saw a few smiles. Sometimes she likes to sing and talk to herself and babbles different sounds. I love hearing her voice. She started blowing raspberries a lot recently as well.  If I'm holding her she will just start "p-l-p-p-p" out of nowhere. It's actually really cute.

Oh, also I think Hannah is starting to understand what we are saying. For example, if I put Hannah on the exersaucer and prompt her to jump (in chinese, of course), she will start bouncing up and down. And when I ask if she wants milk, if she is hungry, she will lean towards me and start grunting. Feedback, I like this.

Aah, in a week we will be getting ready to go to Taiwan! I think we will keep up with the updates, although I'm not quite sure how the timing will work. So much to prepare. Until next week!

Love,
Mommy