Taking a break from posts

I have been taking a break from posts because Kimi has been sick. She started with a cold two weeks ago, she seemed better. The day after meeting with her new MD last week and some vaccinations, she started having high fevers (not uncommon in toddlers). The MD decided to rush with the numerous testing that we were going to have done over time. Luckily he did because we found a very high white blood cell count which means she has an infection. Basically it is an infection of unknown origin. She started on antibiotic injections and is doing a little better, she will continue treatments and tests over the next 2 weeks. She has been so brave through the numerous blood draws, poking and prodding by different people. She is a trooper, it has been hard to tell she is sick except she sleeps soundly through the night. We are going a little crazy with watching videos and quiet indoor play. On a positive note she woke up Sat speaking a lot of English and continues more every day. She now says all the animals on baby dolittle video and when we are out she recognizes pictures and screams the names. As soon as we are back in action I'll continue with posts.

A Day In The Life

One day when I'm bigger can I go out there?

Yo.... check out my hat
Can someone turn the lights on?

Seriously, check out my hat

These boots were made for walking ( or making mommy taller) haha!

Daddy's shoes are kind of boring.

I don't know why I'm riding on Marissa's rabbit, but I'm pretty cute huh?

A blue little box I wonder what this could be, I thought Daddy said I was too young to start getting blue boxes.


OMG........... just what I wanted a beautiful ballerina box! Thanks Tripp, Dawn, Vanessa, and Nina. I can't wait to put my Tiffany trinkets in it.

These photos sum up a typical day in the life of Kimi. We have all been sick so having the UPS guy ring the bell and deliver gifts has been a highlight of our day. Kimi had her first American cold, and it wasn't pretty. I'm a nurse for kids but I was a wreck making sure her temp didn't get too high and she stayed hydrated, got enough rest etc...... Then Ken got sick and I was next. She sneezed so much she learned to say tissue and get the box. She also learned to blow her nose but usually forgets to wait for the tissue she says uh oh and laughs! A week later we had our first MD apt. Kimi did great he was very impressed with how advanced she is, language, physically, and developmentally. She shook his hand and had a lot of fun with him he said she seems happy (she is). He was also pleased she is way ahead of the curve on potty training (so are we). She now tells me in the morning she has to go to the bathroom and waits until I take her, she gets to pull the toilet paper as her reward haha. I just broke my promise of never discussing my daughters bathroom habits now it's all over the internet I can't help it I'm so proud of her!

A few cute she does she says Shhhhh with finger in front of mouth to tell us quite at nap time..she got this from me doing this to Kenny when I was trying to get her to sleep. She'll lock any safety latch if she sees it undone (which are to keep her out of things). If she sees the back door open she will run and close it luckily because it's not done being baby proofed. She will find a dog anywhere in a crowd or on a photo and scream go go with excitement (dog in Mandarin) this one never ends. For cat she says youm (meow backwards) she is working on saying cat! She has memorized the baby Einstein video of animals.....unfortunately so have we. She lives on rice, seaweed rice crackers, noodle soup, and broccoli.

Gifts.....thank you everyone for the amazing gifts just to mention a few. Tracy Lane, gave us a gift card and we will have to post the awesome turtle outfit we got. Aunt Kathryn and cousin Kathy and Bill White sent us two cute outfits on baby guess and the other too cute to describe but she loves them both I'll post photos soon. She got the beautiful Tiffany keepsake box she loved it and could not believe there was something else inside the blue box. Hopefully thank you cards will make it out soon.

The New World

"I came to the new world, and started my own business...Kimi's Kickin' Dog Walking Service!"

"first I have to get the leashes in order."

"This job is so chill since I'm the real dog whisperer"

"Sometimes I have to push the dogs to go, they stop to sniff a lot!"

"This is not my day, the dogs won't listen, and my mom has to carry me across the street."

"I'm the dog whisperer...with treats!"

"One for Daddy, one for dogs and two for me haha!"

" Of course my hands are clean, the dogs just licked em "

This was Kimi's first pizza, it was friend mark's party..she ended up eating dinner rolls and didn't like the pizza.


Kimi and Mommy at Mark's party! Hope you had a great 40th!

We had our first Dr.'s apt today, sorry no photos but I had to run after her in the office and Ken had to carry all the stuff and make a bottle etc. Everything went well, she is very healthy, a little under weight, but nothing American food can't cure. She said she also seems very smart, and was amazed at how much she can understand and say already (in both Mandarin and English). She was also impressed at her ability to focus on one task with fairly long attention span. She did tell us in 2mos she will probably lose her Mandarin language skills, which we hope to help her retain with classes. We have already been doing Mandarin videos and speak to her in broken English/Mandarin for example for head is (toe in Mandarin) we learned the body parts. Today I was telling he her feet in Mandarin then English (I'll say gio-foot and point to her foot) then I said this is your toe and she pointed to her head...which is correct. So we have developed our own crazy language. We are not worried at all about her learning English, but more about trying to keep her Mandarin.

She is still adjusting and doing well except for some issues with sleeping. The last two nights we have not had her video on thankfully, and she went to bed pretty easy so things are working out. The adjustment can take a while so we appreciate everyone helping us.

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year! It is the year of the Rat! Here are a few pics from our New Year's Day!

This is Kimi's new friend Rex, his mommy and I went to RN school together. Rex has been waiting to meet Kimi for a long time. Isn't he cute going down the slide!

Kimi can't believe Rex takes on those big slides by himself!

"Rex, I'll catch you, don't you need someone to catch you?"


Later that night we went to New Taiwan for dinner with Todd and Deidre, Kimi's favorite grown ups in the new world! First they brought a gift the cutest out fit (thank you!), they played games all night at dinner, like sing with the spoon while wearing the monkey hat. They took us to the fish store and ice cream store. You Guys Rock!

'Um..Mom does dad's hat match this outfit and can I wear it to New Years Dinner ?"

"I'm showing Daddy how to use chop stix and look at my red envelope I got a $2.00 bill, and some NT money... YIPEE!"


"Mommy and me at dinner before I took off my bow."

After dinner we went to the fish emporium next door, thanks to Tod and Dee for an awesome night!

After the fishies we went to Toy Boat, an ice cream parlor with a horse! "This horsie is going really fast Daddy, n ot sure if I like it!"

"More quarters please?"

"A short horsie break for my first rainbow ice cream ....YUM!"

" If I can stay awake, I'll ride this horse all night long !"

1st week home

Kimi loves her dogs Apollo and Sabrina, she insists on feeding them every morning and night and holding them when we go for a walk. I'm not sure why we even got a stroller.

This is in front of our local coffee shop on a very cold day.

Kimi loves her rocking unicorn from BFF Sophia (also from Taiwan). She often puts on a hat or on this night mouse ears and rides the unicorn. I think she is falling off in this photo she doesn't care she just loves it and drags it around the house.

Kimi and her new doggie BFF's, she loves them more than anything. She will constantly ask Ken for snacks pretending like she is going to eat them then gives them to the dogs. They love her for her easy access to treats. We do ring around the rosie at night and Apollo who surprisingly loves Kimi follows in the circle with us it's really cute. She also insists on feeding them in the morning and at night. She is so excited when they eat the food she has given them, I hope the novelty on this one does not wear off.

The third day we were home cousin Marissa came to visit, Kimi loves her and can't wait to play with her again.

This is our first time with Ken sister Sharon and cousin Marissa.

"Hey to my peeps in Taiwan" check me out at my cool park!

Going down the slide together.

On the spinny wheel, just taking it all in.

Our first week home was one of exhaustion/jet lag for us grown ups, and luckily not for Kimi. She has learned and done so many new things this last week. She is a delight to be with and we are having so much fun showing her around town. Today marks 1 week home and 2 weeks with Kimi. She is sleeping a little earlier around 9pm and still wakes at 4am to see the dogs and daddy but goes back to sleep by 6am until 10 or 11am. We go to the park or an outing everyday to keep her busy (hoping it will help her nap/sleep better) on a schedule. Our lives have changed in the most enjoyable way we ever could have imagined. To see her face light up with joy is almost overwhelming. She does this scream with pleasure when she loves something like the first time with daddy on the tetter totter, yes everyone kind of looked at us but it was awesome. We have been teaching her more Mandarin by watching Mei Mei videos. It has been helpful in communicating, for example when we want her to sit we say pigo down that means bottom. She knows shake your hand (wa wa shaw), all parts of the body, and some songs. Ken and I love ring around the rosie at the all fall down part we lay down for at least 5 or 10 min or as long as we can get away with haha! She also understands and says some English. She says Apollo, please, bye bye, and red clearly with understanding. She learned patty cake, give high five (which she usually does to your hand and sometimes to your face) oopsy. She understands going out, put your shoes on, put that away, and unfortunately no no. She had learned that before in the US. She will touch the VCR and hold her finger up and gently say no no to her self. Her game of peek a boo has greatly advanced and includes clever hiding places. She does loves her dogs, she is learning to be gentle all the time and not pull the soft ears or give them a hard high five. Apollo who never liked children and is now deaf loves Kimi and follows her around even during ring around the rosie. She will give all of her food if able to the dogs, she love taking care of them. She learned how to bring the bowls to feed them and pretty much does it her self with little help. If she wakes up in the morning crying we show her a dog or tell her it's time to feed the dogs she quickly smiles. We are such a perfect match as a family it's amazing. She has been given many new toys this from the Wilde's and Perry/Downings she is enjoying all of them and says a big thanks.

Travel Tips to Taiwan

It has taken me a while to post this, so here are a few tips when picking up baby in Taiwan. We found a good deal leaving out of LAX on EVA in the evergreen deluxe section $1,100.00US. We flew Virgin America to LAX. You have to exit with luggage to bus A takes you all the way around airport to International terminal. You need to go to 3rd level to find EVA check in. Check in opens @11am. There is a large food court up stairs where we waited for airline to open. Deluxe is between coach and 1st. The seats are bigger and recline slightly more than coach. I found them to be hard as a rock on the 14 1/2 hour trip going. The food came and it was a meat dish, it looked bad so I asked to switch to vegetarian which was rice and something good (can't remember exactly). Ken did like the meat dish though. 3/4 way to Taiwan they serve a noodle cup which was not served on the return flight. The second dish was not good looking I would suggest the western breakfast choice. I recommend sitting in the back of the plane in coach possibly will not have others near and can lift armrests to lay down. Deluxe and 1st armrests do not lift.

The way back we had basinette seating which has a 20lb weight limit. We sis not use the basinette but it was great to have the extra room since it is bulk head seating. We first had made a bed on the floor as we heard others had done, they told us she could not lay there, she refused to use the basinette so sat on my lap crying on and off the flight home. I still suggest using coach and not basinette because armrests do not life in bulkhead and you may get more room if you can find three seats in a row. One baby across form us coming from Hanoi cried every hour the entire flight she wished she had sat in coach too since there were many empty seats in back.

Once in Taiwan we were totally exhausted, especially since I did not sleep on the flight. When you exit after getting luggage there are people trying to give you a cab ride for 2500NT. Go past these people toward the left and next to information booth there is a Limo stand the ride to Hyatt in 1500NT this a Mercedes car. The ride is about 40min to Hyatt. You can get advanced reservation to any hotel from Taipei Airport this is the info Mickey International Director Michael Lee, email phyliss8536@yahoo.com.tw cell (886)+ 0913-513-753

We stayed @ The Grand Hyatt in Taipei the entire time. We stayed grand suite on club level. The hotel is beautiful and huge lobby for Kimi to run around. Our room was awesome, it had a living room, close off bedroom, and two huge bathrooms and closets. There were 2 50" plasmas, computer with internet included, and a hot water dispenser I assume for tea but we used it for bottles. We had access to the 22nd floor which had food available most of the day, more food from 6-10 and 5-8, you could also order room service from that level. The club was quite and we were able to sit in our own section which was great for us and Kimi. The service was great at the hotel, they loved Kimi. They had a crib in the room that we did not end up using. I forgot to ask if they had a stroller to borrow as Les Suites de Ahn does have one. There is an outdoor pool on the 5th floor we did not use because it was raining and cold. They do not have a spa. We had asked for the ipod player a few times but is was not available-they do have one so you can reserve early. There are a few places to eat downstairs (looked expensive and good). The hotel is directly across the street from Taipei 101.

Grand Hyatt to left and Taipei 101 from in front of 7-11 across the street. Taipei 101 is awesome it is one of the tallest buildings in the world. There is a huge mall about 10 stories form what we could tell. We kept getting turned around inside. There is every high end and retail store you would find in US. Down stairs is a great food court even has a KFC for those less adventurous. The noodle places are amazing and the fruit stand in the center is very refreshing for drinks. There is a huge market Jasons that sells everything you might need. It was a great place to let Kimi loose, they have child mini shopping carts it is so cute. She spent many hours watching the live crab and food stands that are low enough for her to see.

Next we took the high speed rail it is about 20min cab from Hyatt. You buy tickets downstairs in an automated machine. You need to pick reserve seating it is $80.00/per person round trip. There si also a business class which did not seem worth it. The train was not crowded we took middle of day on Tue and slightly more crowded the way back. There is a food trolley that comes by with snacks which saved us since we did not have much time to eat in that morning.

Gifts you can buy on the HSR

Trolley menu on the HSR, note the larger dishes are not served during the day. There are vending machines and bathrooms in between cars.
Ken is happy to be on the HSR, it is clean and nice.

Here is a map of the train car configuration. They announce the stops in English get off at Tainan for St. Lucy's it is 1:45 min from Taipei. We used Stephen the cab driver, he is so friendly and speaks some English. We arrived early and asked him to give us a tour of Tainan. He took us to the Confusious Temple and took our picture. He also told us about things as we drove by.

This is the famous cab driver in Tainan, Stephen, his number is 0933-346347. We called him in the morning when we left he met us at the train station. Some info gets lost in translation so this is his photo if he can't find you look for him.


This is a list of places he can take you to in the area, we loved the Temple as there is a wonderful rustic gift shop.

Other places to see in Taipei were, Lunshan temple & LSD, Shinlin Night Market, you need to take MRT shuttle from taipei 101 to red lint switch to blue it's very easy. The Market is the oldes and largest it is crazy and bring a baby carrier not a stroller it's crowded but worth seeing. The craft mart which is 5 stories we never found, Botanical garden we did not visit it was too cold and rainy. kids play is a park we did not go either because of weather, CKS memorial, and jade market. I think the jade market is only open weekends so did not go either but it is a few blocks from Hyatt.

AIT is about 15 to 20 min from Hyatt, be sure to get address in Chinese for cab driver. We also always brought the hotel card with us to give to cab drivers. AIT is now $400.00 dollars we paid cash not sure if you can use credit card. Go to the 3rd floor window 7 they open at 8am. Bring snacks for the baby as can be somewhat of a wait for the interview. Interview is not a big deal just asked us about jobs. They have an area with toys so you don't need to bring any with you.
Internet people have suggested getting a wifly @ Starbucks for 500NT since hotel internet can be expensive. There is a Starbucks in Taipei 101.

Pacifiers The kind the babies use at SLC are called nac nac you can find them at SOGo Ren Ai Road Sect 4 418 2nd floor across from San Yet Sen memorial above KFC. Also branch store Ren Ai Road 4 ally 112 across Chung San hospital (9:30-8:30).

Watson's A pharmacy type store in taipei 101 the only place we found diaper rash cream (we have not used it yet). They keep it behind the counter so you need to ask for it. The only word I knew was pego (butt) in mandarin so it was very funny using mime and mandarin to get the cream.

Cabs There usually is not tipping so we did not tip. Most trips to AIT and train were about 200-500NT.

The trip can be exhausting with the 15hour trip there, preparations before, baby pick up, trip home. Try to enjoy your time in taiwanwith your baby before the final adjustment of getting used to US time schedule. We just celebrated our 1st week home and 2nd week with Kimi and not quite on US time but getting very close. Good Luck with your trip.

There is a 7-11 across from Hyatt, this was one of the item of interest it read chicken with collagen, I could not figure if it was face cream or soup by Quaker?

This is one of the old gates in Tainan, it used to be the capital 400 hundred years ago.

This looked like a rice store next to the 7-11 across from the Hyatt.

These were cute kids at the temple, we were only moments away from picking up Kimi.

This is the University Hospital in tainan, some of you rchildren may have been born here if born in Tainan. the city is known for many good colleges.

Look who's wearing the helmet.... Our daughter lights up when she saw scooters in Taiwan, I hope she wasn't on one.

The scooter nation is huge in Taipei and Tainan, this was in Tainan. Oh it is very warm in Tainan, we brought many sweaters and jackets we were very hot even in the winter.