Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Meal Times

2 years 1 month and 12 days old and Mama is still breastfeeding exclusively!! (only milk he takes)

From 24 months onward: Continue breastfeeding if both mother and child wish and give family foods five times a day.

Babies fall ill frequently as they begin to crawl, walk, play, drink and eat foods other than breastmilk. A sick child needs plenty of breastmilk. Breastmilk is a nutritious, easily digestible food when a child loses appetite for other foods.

Breastfeeding can comfort a child who is upset.

http://www.unicef.org/ffl/04/7.htm

http://oregon.gov/DHS/ph/bf/benefits.shtml

http://www.motheringfromtheheart.com/Benefits.htm

I wish others will STOP telling me that breastfeeding is no longer beneficial for children after 1 year, what do they know?? Ok, enough on the milk. Next topic...

Food & Chewing & Swallowing!! How do I get my lil B to chew and SWALLOW his food?? He ain't no hamster!! Why does he keep his food in the mouth?? So, mealtimes can be an agonizing 2-3 hrs....... HELP!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

3 Whole Days!!

That's right! Papa spent 3 whole days with us! Papa has been extremely busy with work and hasn't spend much time at home at all except for Sundays so to have him for 3 whole days is simply just WONDERFUL!! :) Thanks Typhoon Fung Wong!



On Saturday, Mama brought me to have ramen, we walked the entire ShinKong area in search for a Japanese Restaurant but we just couldn't find no ramen! So we ended up in Neo19, Azabu Soba for some ramen. Then we went to get some bubbles and headed to SYS Memorial Park to wait for Papa.










I had so much fun blowing bubbles and feeding the fish and turtles in the park with Papa, wish we could do it every Saturday! Then it was time to head home to get ready for Ah Gong's Birthday Dinner @ Shin Yeh. Mama managed to get out of dinner and went shopping! Boy, was she happy meeting us again with bags of shopping!!


Mama's thoughts:

It was great having Larry around for 3 days!! (after many months!!) Though he's always busy with work, he still makes it a point to leave Sundays for us. :) I managed to go for 2.5-3 hrs of foot massage, back rub and facial on Sunday! The rub 'tui na' hurt a little but I felt so good after, still feeling good... and I also managed to make my guacamole after my 3rd attempt of buying avocados!! Finally, I didn't have to discard them! Now I need some nachos!! Ok K, I've 'skip updated' my blog... would you like to try my guacamole?

Maokong Gondola

http://www.taipeitravel.net/maokong/en/index.asp

Summer & Mossies

Summers in Taiwan. I was born in summer, am a summer boy! But at times it can get TOO hot, it may even go up to 41-43 celsius!! Mossies & Summers... they seem to go hand in hand, see what the mossies did to my eye!

Vicious Mossies!!





Mama rushed me to the PD when I woke up that morning with half an eye shut, the PD said it was some 'allergy reaction to the mosquito bite'. She gave me some oral medication and refused to give me any cream to apply despite Mama requesting for them. Mama was not convinced and decided to take me to good old Dr Hippo that evening. Dr Hippo gave us oral medication, application and some eye drops.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Saturday Playground: SYS Memorial Hall


I've seen occasional post about afternoon weekend playgroups on parentpages before and have been meaning to make it to one.



Saturday Playgroup July 19 at 3:30pm

Hello Everyone,
I hope that this rain would go away tomorrow. If so, then we will meet at Big Tom ice cream shop at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. We will meet there sometime between 3:30pm to 4pm. There will not be an indoor alternative due to the crazy virus that is going around. Anyways..you can get there by MRT and get off at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. We can have some ice cream and feed the fish and turtles there. There are also grassy areas for ball and frisbee. Hope to see you there!!!


The rain did go away so Mama decided to take me there, she called Conrad's Mama and asked if they'll be interested in going too, we met up at 3.30pm and walked to the park. I wanted so badly to play with my new toy "Bubble Lawn Mower"!! And Mama would only let me play with it outdoors after the mess I've created indoors!




My bubble mower was a HIT! Everyone wanted a go at it but it wasn't working very well... where were the bubbles? Then Mama went to get me a bubble gun so I can play with the gun while the others played with my mower. Everyone ended up owning a bubble gun that day! :)


After the bubbles, we went to feed the fish and turtles, boy was that fun! Thanks Auntie Sherry for organizing and thank you Uncle Brian for the lovely pictures! The next playgroup will be at Uncle Brian's house, I can't wait to see my new friends!!

Art: Imprints

Monday, July 14, 2008

My Taiwanese Papa

Taipei Toy Fair

Date Night

Go Away Bug!! (Enterovirus)

With a report like that, how can any parent not be alarmed??

24 June 2008 - Enterovirus Infection with Severe Complications in Taiwan - Update 5
24 June 2008--As of June 24, 2008, 245 cases have been confirmed (with 8 deaths), while 1 confirmed fatal case was reported, during the same period in 2007. Among 245 confirmed cases, 38 cases were still hospitalized (24 were in ICU and 14 were in general hospital wards), 199 cases were discharged, and 8 cases had died. The majority of the confirmed cases are aged between 1 and 2 years (See Table 1(pdf file)), and most are located in the southern areas of Taiwan, with the highest case number reported from Kaohsiung County. (See Fig. 1(pdf file)) The outbreak is still growing and is estimated to peak in June.

Between June 18 and June 24, 2008, 42 cases were newly confirmed. The majority of the newly confirmed cases are caused by EV71 (37 cases), 4 cases were Coxsackie A2, 1 case was Coxsackie B5, and as of June 24, 22 cases were hospitalized (13 were in ICU and 9 were in general hospital wards), 20 cases were discharged. The majority of the cases are male (28 cases), and the rest are female (14 cases). The majority of the cases are aged below 5 (37 cases), and 17 cases are aged around or below 2. Each 5 cases were reported from Changhwa County, Chiayi County, 4 cases were reported from Taoyuan County, each 3 cases were reported from Taichung City, Taichung County, Tainan City, Tainan County, Kaohsiung County, Penghu County. Each 2 cases were reported from Hsinchu County, Kaohsiung City, Hwalien County. Taichung County, Tainan City, Tainan County, Kaohsiung County, Penghu County. Each 1 case was reported from Miaoli County, Nantou County, Chiayi City, Pingtung County. (See Fig. 2(pdf file))
http://www.cdc.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=17367&ctNode=2054&mp=5


So I am 'banned' from going to playgrounds, indoor play areas, in fact Daddy has told Mommy NOT to go anyhwhere till the virus dies down a little. So my parents bought me more toys to entertain me indoors!! Yay!

I love swimming and am kinda sad that I will not be able to swim so often this summer. Then Mommy got me an inflatable pool! A pool deep enough for us both or for my best frens and I.

A Lil Road Trip VI: Nantou

A Lil Road Trip V: Taroko Gorge


http://www.taroko.gov.tw/TarokoPortalEng/0_0_0/default.aspx

Taroko National Park is located in the east of Taiwan. It lies across 3 administrative areas, Hualien County, Taichung County, and Nantou County. Taiwan's Central Cross-Island Highway crosses the park, which is at the eastern end of the highway.

When Taroko National Park was established on November 28, l986, it was of special significance for the environmental protection movement in Taiwan: it showed that both the public and the government agencies had realized that against the background of the nation's four decades of extraordinary economic success, serious damage was being done to its natural resources.

According to the National Park Act of the Republic of China (passed in l972), parks are established to protect the natural scenery, historic relics and wildlife; to conserve natural resources; and to facilitate scientific research and promote environmental education.

Taroko National Park is famous for its marble gorge. Taroko National Park alone has an area of 92,000 hectares (approximately. 227,336 acres).



We weren't supposed to have covered the entire National Park, we had every intention of turning around halfway BUT turning back would mean going up and down those mountains again and it's indeed a LONG ride back, judging from the map, it made more sense to just go forward. And it'll be like once in a lifetime experience for me?? I would like to see 'He Wan Shan', the peak! Where heaps of visitors go to see snow in the winter and the 'Sacred Tree'.




Despite the long ride, we had a wonderful time going up and down the mountains, stopping for food, snacks, honey, pictures and all... Taroko Gorge is indeed a very picturesque place, every picture you snap can literally be a postcard! We could have snap a million pictures but nothing beats the memory of the place.










I would definitely go back to Taroko Gorge again but it will not be anytime soon, maybe it'll be easier going to the park from Nan Tou?

A Lil Road Trip IV: Ocean Park















The highlight of our road trip: Hualien Ocean Park
http://www.hualienoceanpark.com.tw/e/page01.htm

A Lil Road Trip III: Hualien- Beach


















Hualien: http://tour-hualien.hl.gov.tw/en/index.jsp

So we arrive in Hualien at about 3pm+, thanks to the new tunnel from Taipei to Yilan. We checked in to Lige Hotel, dumped our stuff and explore our lil area searching for food. After a 'light snack' we decided to head for the beach. I named it 'Marble Beach', brings back memories of good old Pebble bay. The entire beach is filled with beautiful marble stones.

We enjoyed the gorgeous sunset at the beach after an evening of splashing around in the water and running from the waves before our tummies started to rumble... Seafood by the beach?

There were only 2 seafood restaurants there, we walked out of 1 (so glad we did!) because they only had 2 lobsters and refused to weigh them as the lady boss claimed that the lobsters will 'die' if she takes them out to weigh!! And she didn't have much variety for a seafood restaurant and 1/2 her items were frozen!

The other restaurant was YUMMY!! I love the '3 cup swordfish', and the miso lobster soup... when the adults were eating and drinking, our lil ones quietly entertain themselves... such cute lil angels!!