Today, my mom’s friend took us to lunch, followed by a nice, long stroll on the grounds of Chiang Kai-Shek’s former residence. Unfortunately, the official residence is under repair, so we couldn’t go inside and check it out, but we did get to walk around the beautiful gardens. It was overcast but not too cold, so it was a nice day for a stroll.

Jack and I with my mom’s friend, posing with some cow topiaries, in honor of the Year of the Ox

My mom, Jack and I

Check out that creepy face topiary!

See that leaf-covered structure on the left behind me in the pic above? Well, here’s a close-up of the tiny “leaves” that were covering it! I loved how they were shaped like little rosebuds

A tree that was covered by a type of fern

I found it funny that this tree was wearing a huge bandage

Jack loved running around this big stage in the amphitheater. I got my exercise chasing him around!

That’s all for today. Tomorrow, we’re spending the day with Uncle Scott and Daniel. Should be lots of fun!

Today, we went out to lunch with my good Xanga friend, Wawa, and her mom, who are also visiting Taiwan from California. Some of you may remember that I first met Wa in person when I was about six months pregnant with Jack, when Johnny and I had dinner and Pinkberry with Yue (another Xanga friend) and her friend Mike. Despite both being Southern Californians, Wa and I haven’t managed to meet up since that time, almost two years ago. So, when we found out that we would both be in Taiwan in February, we agreed to meet up, so we could chat in person, and so she could meet Jack!

My mom, Jack and I met Wa and her mom, along with my Uncle Scott, at a restaurant in the upscale New Sogo building. We all had such a great time chatting. Jack was a bit shy at first, but soon warmed up. He enjoyed his lunch of noodles and chicken while overlooking the entire mall. We were seated by a window that looked down on the floors below. Wa and I were so busy chatting about weddings, kids and future plans that I don’t think we remembered what we ate!

My mom and I on the left, and Wa and her mom on the right

Me, Uncle Scott and a very happy Jack. I don’t look great in this pic, but I couldn’t not post such an adorable one of Jack!

My mom and I in the Japanese garden on the floor below the restaurant where we ate

Wa’s mom, me and Wa

I’m also going to play a bit of picture catch-up. Yesterday, my mom took me and Jack to Shimen, a famous bargain-shopping district in Taipei. My mom used to hang out there when she was a teenager. We bought a ton of American Eagle sweaters for about $10 apiece. They’re the latest styles and really have the American Eagle tag (and embroidered eagle) on them. June bought them when she was here this past winter — she and I suspect that they’re actual AE sweaters stolen from the factories in China, but we’re not sure. No guilt here — if I can get in on the cheap, more power to me!  We also got a bunch of cute clothes for Jack.

Jack and I at the entrance to the shopping district

The day before yesterday, we went back to RT Mart, where Jack picked up this new hatpot:

And, I asked my mom to take a belly pic today, since it’s been three weeks since the last one. I think I’ve popped! It depends on the time of day and what I’m wearing — not everyone can tell all the time, but it’s pretty obvious when I’m wearing something form-fitting, and when it’s late afternoon.  I love baby bumps! The only thing is, I don’t love being short — when my lower belly pops out, the upper part of my belly comes out with it. I’d love to be one of those women whose pregnant bellies only protrude from below the navel! Oh well.

The 17.5-week bump

Now for a small Jack update. He is picking up so many words here. Today, he called June “Ah-Yi” (Mandarin for aunt) for the first time, and even made up a cute nickname for her (“Yi-Yi”). He’s also been saying “Shu-Shu” (the generic term for “uncle,” applied to any man in the same generation as the child’s father). And, best of all, he says “Mommy” now! Jack will run toward me from afar, saying, “Mommy!” It’s still not as often as he calls for Johnny, but it’s better than nothing, and it totally makes my heart melt. He also says the Chinese words for cup and fruit. It’s amazing what being around a ton of conversing adults does for language. At home, Jack only hears me talking to him all day, and of course people talking when we’re out and about, but here, he’s surrounded by people talking to each other. At the very least, he hears me and my mom talking all the time, and he’s learning a ton just from that.

OK, time for me to get going … more later!

I’m sure you guys have all figured out by now that any trip to Taiwan is rather food-centric. So, this post is 99% about food!  (Regardless of where I am these days, as a pregnant woman, my life as a whole is all about food, anyway!) 

Saturday, we hung out with Uncle Scott, Daniel and Alisa all afternoon. They took us to the I-Mei plant in Taoyuan. I-Mei is a huge packaged foods manufacturer in Taiwan — they have a really long history, comparable to Kraft in the States. I grew up on a lot of I-Mei snacks and candies, so I was eager to visit.

Here I am, pretending to crank the lever of a machine that was used to make I-Mei’s famous chewy milk-flavored candies

Yup, this is what the plaque says it is

Jack loved touching the cold metal of this giant milk bottle in the basement museum

My mom and Uncle Scott with an old-school delivery bike

After looking at all the vintage I-Mei production line items, of course we had to indulge in some actual products. We headed to the store, where we had ice cream cones, and my mom bought tons of chocolate- and strawberry-flavored I-Mei cream puffs for me. Yummy!

We then headed to TaiMall to walk off those snack calories before an Italian dinner. To give Jack the chance to run around, we went to the basement of the mall, which was a sports arena. It featured a huge track on which people could rollerblade. In the center of the track were fenced-off areas for extreme rollerblading (with skate park-like ramps) and basketball playing. Jack was fascinated and thought the track was the greatest thing.

Jack and Daniel walking down the track. Well, Daniel was walking, while Jack was half-running, half-toddling

Jack found this pillar of balloons alongside the track. It was all fun and games until we had to leave, at which point it was all flailing toddler limbs on the floor as Jack threw a huge temper tantrum

That night, the group of us had dinner at Nini Cafe, an Italian joint. It was Daniel’s birthday, so he had the choice of restaurants, but I suspected he picked the one that Jack the Spaghetti Fiend would like best! Anyway, Jack enjoyed the chance to perform for such a large group of fellow diners. He began by fashioning the paper placemat on the table in front of him into a hat.

See my beautiful hat?

However, he did begin eating once his food arrived; whew!

On to more food … this morning, my parents and I went to the Nanmen Market in Taipei. It’s a century-old market with three floors. The basement level sells groceries and meat; the first floor hosts dozens of stalls selling ready-to-eat items, from dried fruit to freshly prepared main and side dishes; and the top floor sells clothing. We went there for the first floor, because my mom and I had seen a TV segment featuring a famous food stall, and we were practically drooling in front of the TV.  My mom had never been to the market before, and I certainly haven’t been, so it was fun and new for all of us.

Jack and I in the market

Delicious dried fruit. We bought a bag of dried Taiwanese guava, which Jack really enjoyed

We didn’t buy anything in this stall, but I couldn’t leave you all hanging (no pun intended) without this quintessential picture on a trip to Taiwan!

This is the stall that was featured on TV. This stall employs 40 to 50 people. The proprietors get up at 3 or 4 a.m. every morning to buy the freshest ingredients; then, a group of ladies washes all the vegetables, leaf by leaf, trimming off any bruised or hole-ridden parts. The owner’s son then oversees the cooking, and the owner’s daughter (these are both adults, not kids ) oversees the weighing of the food and customer relations. I lost count of how many dishes they had!

Just a small sampling of the foods available at the stall. We did get the spicy jellyfish (center, first row) and the pickled cucumbers, red chili pepper and agar (on the right in the first row).

OK, it looks better in person, but this is a vat of deliciousness: Kombu (seaweed), hard-boiled eggs and dried bean curd, all marinated and cooked in a soy sauce-based sauce. We bought six of every item in the pot

Fish, ready to be cooked and sold in the stall

A neighboring stall sold lucky sweets — I thought these red buns were cute. Then again, they kind of resemble painful, engorged postpartum breasts … not so cute (sorry, I have babies on the mind!)

All told, we spent US$90 on food at that stall! That is a lot here in Taiwan, where good food usually comes cheap. We did buy about one of every item.  It’ll feed us for, oh, a week or more. Oh, and yes, by the way, everything is delicious!

OK, so the last picture is not food-centric, but I wanted to show you all where we got Jack’s haircut. I’m not sure why the picture turned out so dark online, but you can click on it to get the larger version.

Jack, riding on a motorcycle toy post-cut

I’ll post more about our gustatory adventures in the weeks to come, I’m sure! I just wish Johnny could sample all these things with me.  Speaking of whom, my sweet husband has been making video letters for me and Jack and posting them on YouTube (under the private setting, of course, so the world doesn’t have to hear how much we miss each other). Jack loves seeing his Baba (and Johnny featured Elmo as a special guest the other day), and usually cries when the video is over. So cute (and sad)!

Hope everyone had great weekends!

After all the Chinese New Year hubbub, Jack and I have been enjoying a more relaxing few days. We wake up at Jack’s usual time — a little before 7 a.m., play during the morning (and I manage to get a bit of work done), then Jack goes down for his nap between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. I use the time to either get more work done, hang out with my mom, sleep for a bit, or exercise (but not all four … I’m not Superwoman!). We then have lunch, and we try to find something to occupy our time in the afternoon; otherwise, six and a half hours with a toddler cooped up in a condo is not fun!  Besides, I want to do as much as I can while I’m here. By the way, this is a great time during my pregnancy to be here — at 17 weeks, I’m not too tired, my belly isn’t huge yet, and there are entire days when I kind of forget I’m pregnant in terms of physical symptoms, so I think the timing all worked out, especially since this trip was planned before I knew I was pregnant.

The days are blurring together for me, so I’ll just show you some pictures of what we’ve done in the last few days.

Some family friends treated us to lunch at a spectacular buffet at the Hotel Shangri-La. Here, Jack and I are in the lobby. Too bad Jack’s not looking at the camera!

My mom and I also took Jack on a walk one afternoon to the junior high near my parents’ condo. The track and courtyard are always open to the public, and there were lots of people there exercising. Jack enjoyed the opportunity to run around — literally.

Future track star?

He has time to turn around and strike a pose!

Jack and I on a pretty wooden walkway in the school’s courtyard

How cute are my mom and Jack??

My parents and I also took Jack to Sogo (a big mall). We bought some “American groceries” in the supermarket below the mall for Jack — cheese slices, peanut butter, toast. Jack likes all the food here, but we thought it would be good to have some staples on hand, some familiar things from home, in case he gets finicky sometime.

Of course, the mall means that Jack gets to participate in his favorite activity: riding down the escalator!

While at the supermarket, we passed by a Mr. Donut stall, and of course we had to buy some. Mr. Donut is the best donut place. Johnny can vouch for this; we pigged out on these donuts last time we were here. The “pon de rings” (which look like flowers or, to some perverse people, anal beads) are chewy in the center!

Drool. The pon de rings are on the middle rack

After Sogo, we let Jack run around a bit on an outdoor playground that we passed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t used to the small play structure, which was basically a platform between two steep, covered slides. He’s used to the sprawling crawl structures in the park at home, so he cried to get off of the structure. Instead, Jack delighted in the rocking horse.

Yay, a park!

I also took some scenery shots en route to Sogo.

Motorcycles galore!

Today, my mom, Jack and I went to another mall, the Miramar, close to where my parents live. For those of you who are familiar with Taipei, that’s where the ferris wheel and the IMAX theater are. While we were there, we took Jack to get a haircut at a kids’ haircuttery. Unfortunately, Jack cried from start to finish, even though this was his third haircut. Oh well. He’s sure handsome now, though!

Post-cut

OK, so back to the mall — after browsing a bit, we headed to the Carrefour (a Wal-Mart like place, but with independent retail stores on the bottom floor) across the street. There, I saw this sign in a bakery:

Yes, folks, that does say “Obama Butter Bread,” and yes, there is a reason why the bread is “black!” At first, I thought it was just a coincidence that the bakery had a brand of bread called Obama. But then I noticed the “Yes we can!” printed in English in the red circle, and I noticed that the line of Chinese below “Yes we can” translates to “Moving into and owning the White House,” and that the line below that loosely translates to “Black frenzy.” I thought it was so funny — and cute — that the bakery came out with a special line of “black bread” that “explodes with butter” (don’t know what that means) to show its support of Obama. I was going to buy some, but then someone from the bakery came out and chastised me for taking a picture of the advertisement. Apparently that’s not allowed. So then I got kind of annoyed, and we scurried from the scene.

And tonight, my dad took us to an awesome beef noodle soup place. It was small, with only round chairs, and no high chairs, so we actually brought our own folding chair, onto which we could secure Jack’s booster seat. It was so worth the extra effort, because Jack thoroughly enjoyed his meal of noodles and scallion pancake, washed down with a sippy cup of milk. This left me time to inhale a bowl of beef noodle soup, three bowls of hot and sour soup (I wouldn’t normally have soup with soup, but the hot and sour soup was so good), and several pieces of scallion pancake.

Here we are, waiting for our delicious food

We had to share a round table with another family because seating was so scarce (pretty common practice here), and they also had a baby with them. Their baby, as per usual custom here, sat quietly on her mother’s lap the entire time, not fussing or squirming, and eating nicely from her mom’s spoon. The mom looked upon Jack’s self-feeding (or rather, self-shoveling, in tonight’s case) with a mixture of horror and admiration. Whatever, the other mom had to wait until her husband was done eating to really start digging into her food, whereas I ate from beginning to finish, so there. What I really want to know is how to get Jack to sit on my lap quietly for 30 minutes at a time, because gosh, that sure would be useful sometimes! Anyway, Jack enjoyed the scallion pancake so much that we ordered another one to go for tomorrow, and we got to watch it being made.

Mmm, flaky and dripping with grease!

In other news, as I’d hoped, Jack has picked up two more Mandarin words already: fruit and Grandpa. He also said “One, two, throw!” today — something my mom and I say to him when tossing the ball back and forth. I can’t wait to see what else he learns. However, one thing I’m not looking forward to is paci weaning. At home, he pretty much only had it for naps and bedtime, and long car rides. As you’ve probably noticed in the photos, though, here Jack demands it every time he’s bored — riding in the stroller, waiting for food in restaurants, etc. — and certainly anytime he feels insecure, as when meeting new people. The result is that he has it so much of the time — the only times he doesn’t have it are when he’s eating or playing. My plan is to take it away from him when we return from Taiwan, cold-turkey, as I tend to do so many of his other transitions, but I am not looking forward to it. I know the paci isn’t a big deal, and frankly, it’s convenient in public places, but you wouldn’t believe the number of comments I get (probably because Jack looks older than his age) — you’d think I was giving him crack or something. And, more importantly, I don’t want Jack and baby boy to both have pacis. So, when we get home, I’m throwing away all the pacis to rid temptation (for both me and Jack) and buying earplugs for me and Johnny. I figure in a week or so, Jack will have forgotten the existence of the paci, like he did the existence of the bottle and the existence of swaddling when he was younger.

OK, I didn’t mean to get onto a paci tangent. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend, everyone!

p.s. Sorry, one more thing. Some of you have asked about potty training while here. I did bring the Baby Bjorn toilet ring with me, and Jack’s been pooping consistently on the potty here. Yay!

Jack and I have had an eventful couple of days. It’s Chinese New Year today (Happy Year of the Ox!), and although my family’s always celebrated with a hot pot meal and red envelopes, it’s just not the same type of celebration in the States. Here, everyone gets nine days off of work, and it’s the biggest holiday of the year. Although Jack won’t remember, I’m still glad I got to experience this with him; I just wish Johnny could see it, too!

My parents’ good friends invited us over to their home for a Chinese New Year’s Eve feast, so we started off the day by going to the agricultural mart in Taipei to buy some fruit as a hostess gift. It’s this huge warehouse where you can buy cases and cases of sweet, delicious fruit.

Fruit heaven. See, now you all understand why I’m such a fruitarian; it’s part of my heritage!

Check out the pommelos, tangerines and kumquats, all packaged for the New Year

Jack was overwhelmed by all the people fawning over him at the agricultural mart, so he kept asking for his paci

Jack fell asleep on his way home from our successful fruit-buying mission

After resting for the remainder of the afternoon to ensure that Jack wouldn’t have a meltdown during dinner, we headed out to my parents’ friends’ house — really, it was a mansion. I was really excited because I’ve never been in a standalone house, much less a huge one, in Taipei. (Also, our hosts were really nice people, very down to earth despite their wealth.) Owning an actual house (versus condo or apartment) in Taipei is as rare as owning a house in Manhattan. Space is just really limited. Anyway, this house was in a secluded gated community in the hills. Once you get into the gates, a security guard on a motorcycle has to lead you to the actual house you’re visiting.

Our guide

I think the house was one of the largest I’ve ever been in! Each window boasted beautiful mountain views.

Here I am, sitting in front of the window in a small tea area right off of the big living room

Our hosts had gone all out and set their coffee table with a wide array of fruit, candies and tea, in the Chinese New Year tradition. All the candy was handmade by well-known confectioners, and the dried fruit was organic … definitely classier than what I’d bother to get for myself!

Our hosts have a grandson only a month younger than Jack, who was also visiting for the New Year with his mom, so they had a whole playroom set up with brand-new toys for the boys. This was really awesome, because it rendered Jack’s usual stranger anxiety (which is in full force right now) a moot point. That, coupled with the fact that he got plenty of rest that day, made the evening a complete success in terms of avoiding a toddler meltdown. I was glad because this meant I got to enjoy the tradional feast! I’m not even sure how to describe this meal. I didn’t even know this, but apparently, a traditional New Year’s Eve feast is supposed to last hours and hours, with dozens of different courses. Obviously, most families can’t pull this off — there aren’t enough people or resources (certainly, my family never did this, and none of my Chinese friends’ families did, either). But, my parents’ friends are really traditional, and they also have a cook, and there were 12 of us around the table, so they were able to plan a huge menu.

The table, all set up for the meal

When we all sat down, there were already a dozen or so appetizers on the lazy susan (you can see them in the picture above). The appetizer selection included Chinese sausage; cold cuts of goose, duck and chicken; a braised tofu and vegetable dish; fried fish; a couple of different kinds of vegetables; spicy bamboo shoots; and a few more that I fail to remember. The cook also brought out a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice (as in, “I’ve just squeezed 20 organic oranges by hand in the last five minutes”) for me, since I was the only one who couldn’t indulge in the fine wines being served. 

Then, the meal began in earnest. We had at least 15 different courses, all made in stages by the lone cook. The food just kept on coming. We had five different types of soup throughout the meal: a pumpkin and abalone bisque; a chicken and ginger broth; a seafood soup (including huge king crab legs to gnaw on!); a light broth with fresh peas in it; and a fish and tofu bouillabaise. There were at least four different kinds of vegetables, a few types of meat dishes, and of course fish. I think my favorite was a dish involving Chinese celery and goose intestine. So yummy! I know it sounds gross, but it was good. Seriously, I had no room in my stomach after dinner.

A perfectly fried and sectioned fish — those sections just came off like that, and very neatly!

The dessert that capped off the meal — dates stuffed with mochi (sticky rice cake), drizzled with syrup

The meal lasted for about four hours, no kidding. If you’re wondering about Jack, no, he didn’t stay up until 10 p.m. That would not be a pretty picture. Instead, he had dinner at 6 p.m., when the adults sat down — he ate a really good variety of food that I wasn’t sure he would eat. He sampled Chinese sausage, goose, duck, chicken and fish, and gobbled them all up! He then had a dessert of two huge Asian pear slices.

Double-fisting it

After Jack’s dinner, I changed him into PJs, and he stayed up a while longer to socialize with everyone. He and Aaron (the other baby) took turns playing with a toy cell phone.

Jack makes his call while Aaron waits patiently in his high chair

By 7:30 p.m., Jack was tired, so we set up his Pack N Play in the kids playroom, and he fell asleep without so much as a peep. Aaron’s bedtime wasn’t until 9 p.m., and while it was fun to watch him enjoying the festivities, I was also glad that I didn’t have to look over my shoulder at Jack constantly while trying to eat.  

After dinner, it was time to pass out red envelopes stuffed with cash! My parents and relatives have always given them to me and June, but in our family, we never had to kneel in front of our parents and kowtow to them — that’s something that families don’t do much these days, but our hosts still do this, and it was neat to watch. The grown-up kids kneel and kowtow to their parents (and it’s especially important for daughters-in-law to do this to their in-laws, to show deference and respect), present their parents with a red envelope, and the parents give them a red envelope (presumably stuffed with lots more cash) in return. I didn’t take a picture of this, since that seemed weird, somehow, but I did take a picture of the grandparents (our hosts) giving a red envelope to Aaron.

No, Aaron didn’t have to kneel for his cash!

I got not only Jack’s red envelope, but one for myself, too. Actually, speaking of red envelopes, I’ve made out a like a bandit here — so far, I’ve gotten the equivalent of more than $500, and we haven’t even seen all the people we’re going to see for Chinese New Year yet! It’s all thanks to Jack … since I’m married, technically, I wouldn’t really get red envelopes from people other than my parents, but now people are giving the envelopes to Jack, who doesn’t yet grasp the concept of money, so that means it all goes to Mommy and Daddy, woot! It’s all going toward the down payment, baby.

After the red envelopes, we all enjoyed some candy (yes, even after that huge feast), then it was time to retrieve sleeping Jack and go home.

My parents and I before we left

Today, we had lunch with my Uncle Scott and my cousins Daniel and Alisa. They’ve never met Jack before, so that was fun.

Uncle Scott, Alisa, my dad, Jack and I, Daniel and my mom

Daniel and Jack

Jack did have some stranger anxiety, but that was eased greatly by the appearance of a noodle dish. Jack went from being anxious to being eager to stuff his face.

Mmm, noodles! He ate three bowls like this!

After lunch, we walked around the mall a bit, and Jack was captivated by this iPod Nano ad. He played with it, squealing and trying to press the nonexistent buttons, for about 15 minutes.

“I want this one!”

After parting ways with Uncle Scott and my cousins, we headed home, making a couple of stops to pick up some dessert for tonight. At one point, my mom left the car to buy some donuts from Mr. Donut (so good!), and Jack called out to her from the car window. She turned around and got this adorable picture.

Hi, world!

So that’s what my little monkey and I have been up to. I hope you all had great weekends!

Sorry for the uninventive title, guys! It’s not even 10 p.m. on Saturday here, but it’s before 6 a.m. my body time, so I’m a bit groggy and uncreative.  But, I did want to share some pictures from our first couple of days here in Taiwan. I promised Johnny that I would update regularly with pictures, so he can get his Jack fix, so here we go!

Friday

You all know that the flight went well, but I don’t really think that has so much to do with Jack as it does with the fact that the flight was really empty, and we had an entire row for Jack to stretch out. Here he is, enjoying his “bed.”

My parents were waiting eagerly for us at the airport when we arrived, camera in hand to capture Jack’s first moments in Taiwan. I was so happy to arrive after our long flight. Luckily, a nice employee from China Airlines helped me get my heavy luggage off the carousel and pushed the luggage cart out to the arrivals area. Otherwise, I’m not sure how I would have managed to get my luggage and Jack, especially since I’m pregnant. Thank goodness for nice people! Side note: They really should design luggage carts with an area for a child to sit in, like grocery carts.

My dad, me and Jack at the airport

After we arrived at my parents’ condo in Taipei, Jack busied himself by looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at all the cars passing beneath, and goofing around with my dad.

Dancing with Grandpa

After resting up a bit, we headed out to run a few errands. We went to RT Mart, which sells everything under the sun, it seems. Imagine a Super Target (you know, the kind with a grocery store), a food court and a mini shopping mall (some RT Marts have standalone retail stores near the entrance, as part of an entire complex). You can get everything from furniture to diapers to produce to ready-to-eat foods to sporting goods. It’s just amazing. Right now, the streets and stores in Taipei are super crowded, as people get ready for Chinese New Year, so being at RT Mart was a bit overwhelming, but Jack really enjoyed himself.

He wanted to run and grab everything!

After our shopping, we grabbed a quick snack at KFC. No, it didn’t involve fried chicken. It was a flaky, freshly baked egg custard tart, filled with sweet potato. I was amazed that they sold this type of dessert at KFC … I love fast food restaurants in Asia!

See the freshly-flamed top, kind of like creme brulee?

We ate at a beef noodle soup restaurant last night, then went home for an early bedtime. I couldn’t bear to keep Jack up until his usual 7 p.m. bedtime. By 6:15 p.m., he was practically asleep on the couch while watching SpongeBob SquarePants (by the way, it is really strange to watch SpongeBob in Mandarin). I was in bed by 8 p.m. I think for our first jetlagged day, we did pretty well.

Saturday

This morning, we got up bright and early — at 5 a.m. — thanks to our early bedtimes. Luckily, my dad was up at that time anyway to get ready for a golf game, so my mom was also awake. We had breakfast together — part of mine consisted of this creamy Yoplait strawberry yogurt with whole strawberries inside and little bits of gelatin! It was so refreshing, and came in an adorable ice cream-like container. I wish they sold it stateside! I always find it interesting to see the different nationalized products from the brands that I’m familiar with at home.

Adorable yogurt with gelatin pieces — I washed out the container and plan to keep it to hold spare buttons or something. It’s so cute!

Jack enjoys bouncing on my mom’s lap while enjoying some banana puffs

We also enjoyed some fruit with breakfast — I don’t know what the English name for this fruit is. It’s kind of apple like, but with a spongy — yet crunchy — interior. Jack ate about three of them over the entire day, along with half of a huge guava. He’s a fruitarian like his mommy!

Also, check out this weird fruit. It’s one of the only fruits I don’t like because it’s so complicated to eat, but it looks neat. You take the little lobes off. Underneath the green exterior is a creamy, sweet while interior, but each lobe has a black pit inside, so you have to spit it out. I’m not patient enough to exert the effort, but my mom is!

Freaky fruit

While I’m showing food pictures, I also want to show you the most delicious dessert I’ve ever had. We got these “half-baked” cheesecake bites at Milkhouse. They’re squares of cheesecake that are molten, or pudding-like in consistency, in the center. The centers come in different flavors — we got a box of original cheesecake and chocolate cheesecake centers. They’re beautifully packaged and come with individual spoons for eating. I’ll get a picture of the package next time, but here is the delicious cheesecake square in its individual box, with its spoon

Yumminess

After breakfast, Jack indulged in his favorite activity: Hiding among pillows on my parents’ couch.

A familiar sight

This afternoon, we went out for some more errands. I realized I had forgotten some things for Jack, so we went back to the RT Mart — a different, even larger one this time. A lot of stores in Taiwan are built vertically due to lack of horizontal space, and RT Mart is no different. There were, what, six floors in this one. Sloped conveyor belts connect each floor — they go in both directions, like escalators, but without the steps. What’s cool is that if you push a shopping cart on there, the belt is designed to automatically lock the wheels, so the cart can’t slip or move in any way while you’re on the belt. Jack loved riding up and down the belts in the cart. He kept giggling and saying “Whee!”

I knew you brought me to a foreign land for a reason, Mommy!

Exhilirating times with Grandma

Jack and I in the shampoo aisle — yes, that’s all shampoo — at RT Mart

After picking up what we needed at RT Mart, we decided to walk over to Costco, which was next door. We didn’t need to buy anything, but I wanted to check out what Costco was like in Taiwan, after June told me that one of their samples is wine. Yup, they just hand out wine in paper cups! Of course, I didn’t sample it, but I wanted to see what else was different. It was very similar in terms of design (except for the fact that it’s on several floors) and food court items, but a ton more crowded than the worst Costco day in the States. Imagine the most crowded you’ve ever seen Costco, and multiply by 10. They had “traffic directors” prompting people not to stop their carts after getting off of those conveyor belts. Oh, and it was funny to see things like bean burritos and chicken-and-ginger porridge next to each other on the shelves!

Jack in the Costco cart, blatantly ignoring the warning on the cart handle (that’s very Asian of him, haha)

Look at how crowded it is at Costco! Those are all people in that center aisle

Familiar food court items

Here I am, posing with a huge jar of Kirkland Salsa. I don’t know why, but I found it really funny that they sold Kirkland Salsa at a Taiwanese Costco. Shortly after my mom took this picture, some people came by and eagerly inspected and grabbed the salsa, thinking it must be great if I wanted a picture with it!

We passed by a sample stand, where a long, orderly line had formed. I went to check out what the delicious item was. It turned out to be … dinner rolls! Seriously, just dinner rolls.

Mmm-mmm, Kirkland dinner rolls

After our shopping trip, Jack was tired and made use of his new step stool on the sidewalk, while we waited for my dad to pick us up

Just waitin’ for my ride

Tonight, we went out to dinner with one of my dad’s business friends and his wife and 10-month-old son. Unfortunately, Jack was very tired, so it was a tantrumy dinner. There was a cute moment where he pretended to feed my dad, though.

Here, eat this!

We tried to get a family picture (while my mom was holding the couple’s baby), but it didn’t work. I look nice, though! (I’m so modest, ha.)

Thanks for looking, everyone! Tomorrow we’re celebrating Chinese New Year’s Eve. After the hubbub of the New Year, we’ll take Jack out to the city again and take more touristy pics! I’m off to roll myself to bed … I think I’ve already packed on about five pounds in two days, from all the yummy food!

Hi, guys! I’ll post more later, and with pictures, but I just wanted to let you all know that Jack and I arrived safely. The flight couldn’t have been more successful. Jack slept for about 11 hours of the 14-hour flight. It really helped that we had a whole row to ourselves. Jack sprawled out and could turn over in his sleep. He was just out like a light! When he was awake, he watched cartoons on the seatback TV screens and ate his special kids breakfast of pancakes, mini weiners and tater tots.  The flight was only about half full, so that was nice, too.

I have to say that if you must fly 14 hours, an international airline is the way to go! I got two hot meals, including a Chinese breakfast of porridge with yummy shrimp, edamame and pickled vegetables. For dinner right after takeoff, I chose a chicken with rice dish, which also included steamed vegetables and a square of the best cheesecake ever (complete with a dusting of orange zest). Yum!

Jack and I are loving it here, despite missing Johnny a lot. I’d say that Jack asks for his “baba” about every two hours. But, my parents’ condo is awesome, filled with floor-to-ceiling windows that fascinate Jack, and we’ve already had lots of yummy food (including freshly baked egg custard tarts filled with sweet potato at the local KFC, of all places). I’ll be sure to post more soon! For now I should shower and get ready for our day here.

Oh, and another thing … after a fun but tiring outing yesterday, running errands around Taipei, I have to say that I doubly appreciate all the childcentric amenities in the U.S. For example, very, very few restaurants and food courts here have high chairs, and getting around with a stroller is difficult, especially if you don’t have a car and need to fold up the stroller to get into a cab. It’s one thing if you do have your own car (then again, driving here is kind of worse than driving in Manhattan!), but quite another if you don’t. And even when you’re pushing around a child in a stroller, a lot of stores don’t have ramps, they have stairs in front. I never think twice about just loading Jack and his gear into my car, and take it for granted that wherever we go, there will be ramps for the stroller, or an elevator, or (if it’s a restaurant) high chairs. It’s a great thing that my mom really knows where she’s going, and that she’s an extra set of hands to lug around all of Jack’s stuff!  I’ll also never complain again about the trek from our apartment complex parking spot up to our apartment.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

… but I do know when I’ll be back again.  Jack and I leave for Taiwan tonight. Our flight is at 11 p.m., which is wonderful, because (hopefully) Jack will sleep for much of the flight. A few of you have asked whether I am flying alone with Jack, and the answer is yes. My mom is already in Taiwan, June has classes, and Johnny has work, so it’s quality time for me and Jack for 14 hours. On the way back to Los Angeles, though, my mom’s flying with us — yay! For a pregnant woman flying with a toddler, I have it made: My aunt works for China Airlines, so she’s blocked off a whole row of four seats for us, the flight tonight is not crowded, and my aunt told me just to show up at the airport a mere hour before the flight, look for her at the counter, and she’ll personally escort me through security, VIP-style. Yee-haw!

I’m really looking forward to the trip … all except saying goodbye to Johnny.  Except for one summer in college, we’ve never been apart this long. During the seven months when he lived in New York, and I was still in Chicago, we ended up flying to see each other nearly every weekend (we had started out saying that one of us would fly each month, so that we could see each other twice a month, but in the end, one of us flew every other weekend). We’ll talk and email every day, and hopefully we can figure out a way to use web cams so that Jack can see his beloved Daddy once in a while. Yesterday, I whipped up about two weeks’ worth of dinners and froze them for Johnny. The fridge is also stocked with lots of sandwich-making ingredients — I even got fresh sub rolls and split them in half, then froze them, and besides the homemade dinners, I also have frozen dumplings, Totino’s Pizza Rolls (per Johnny’s request), ice cream and chicken nuggets (OK, so those are usually for Jack) in the freezer. Don’t get me wrong, my husband is perfectly competent enough to get food for himself (I think), but somehow it’s nice to know that I’ve done something for him that he can enjoy in my absence.

There are lots of things for me to do today, like stock my diaper bag, finish last-minute packing, and get our household finances in order (I’m the one who manages our bills and stuff, so I have to make sure the checkbook is balanced and that I leave Johnny a rent check for February). Of course, I am procrastinating … and what better way than to post some new pictures on Xanga?

First, the long-awaited ultrasound pictures from Saturday, of Baby Boy Surprise!

OK, so this is a bit creepy, but here’s a 4D image of the side of the baby’s body, at 15 weeks. Kinda cute, though, huh? Amazing to know that there’s a miniature baby inside me!

This one’s even higher on the creep-o-meter, but it’s a good shot of his face and arms!

And, of course, the money shot. We’re looking up at his butt (on the left), and the arrow is pointing to his wee-wee. Those of you who have looked at many ultrasounds will know that this baby is unmistakably a boy! Apparently we’re good at makin’ those, haha

Yes, I suppose he might be embarrassed one day to realize that his mom posted a picture of his penis online, but hey, we did the same for Jack! Fair’s fair. If we do end up having a daughter one day (or, a third boy???), I’m sure we’ll post her, uh, parts online too. While we’re on the topic of the new baby, yesterday I had my 15-week checkup (since I’ll be in Taiwan when I’m 16 weeks, we went ahead and did this one a week early). The midwife said my fundus (that’s a great word; I love it!) is right where it should be, a couple of inches below my belly button. We also heard the baby’s heartbeat, galloping away around 155 beats per minute. That’s always a great sound to hear. As of yesterday, I’d gained just shy of five pounds, bringing me up to 121. Let’s see how much I weigh after returning from Taiwan … I’m going to wager a lot more! I also got the results of my first-trimester screening back. When I had the first-trimester ultrasound, the technician said that the measurements were normal, but they also took my blood, and those were the results I got yesterday. Apparently, the “acceptable” (meaning not elevated) level of risk for Down’s Syndrome and Trisomy 18 are 1 in 314, and Baby Boy Surprise’s chances, according to my blood sample, are less than 1 in 10,000 for both. It’s not a guarantee that everything will be dandy, of course, but that’s always good to hear! I wasn’t too worried in the first place, but it’s a nice reassurance. Yesterday I also got my blood drawn for the AFP test; we’ll find out those results in a couple of weeks. They won’t test for Down’s and Trisomy 18 again, but they’ll test for other genetic abnormalities. I have to say, all these tests are the worst part of being pregnant for me … I hate getting my blood drawn!

Oh, and thank you guys for your congratulations in my last post. I’m getting excited about my new son. Just think, I’ll be the queen bee of the household, calling all the shots.  Jack and his little brother will be close enough in age where they’ll be able to share some interests, I hope, and it will be fascinating to see how they are alike and similar. It’s been so amazing to see Jack’s big personality unfold, and now we’ll get to do the same with our new son.

Now, on to some fun pictures of Jack.

He loves to hug Elmo and whisper secrets to him! (I should add that moments after this was taken, Jack threw Elmo to the ground rather violently)

A hilarious illustration of Jack’s bedhead

Pre-bathtime ticklefest

Wait, Mommy, I need a moment to drink milk before the ticklefest continues

Seriously, when did Jack get this big?

That’s all for now, folks! I’ll check in from Taiwan. I’m bringing my laptop and will be working as usual, so you’ll get semi-regular Xanga updates from me. Wish me luck on the flight tonight!

Thanks to everyone for your congratulations on Baby Boy Surprise! I’ve made some strides in adjusting to the idea that he’s a he, and have started to scope out new bedding and imagining how cute it will be when Jack is old enough to show his little brother how to do things, like play fetch with Atari.  Johnny and I have also started reading and talking to the baby, like we did with Jack, and soon we’ll open up a naming contest for our immediate families (they submit names; we choose which name we like best, because we’re lazy. Of course, if no one submits a good name, we’ll just do the dirty work ourselves. And no, you all don’t get to know before the birth). I can also feel the baby now, which is really exciting!

I wanted to give some general updates, too. First, on the potty training front, we’ve made even more progress! Since the day before yesterday, all of Jack’s pooping has been done on the potty. Johnny discovered that if we put him on the toilet and walk away (around the corner, there’s a full-length mirror from which we can look into the open bathroom), he’ll poop or pee right away. What, the kid wants privacy to poop? Imagine that. Anyway, now we just need to work on Jack letting us know before he needs to pee, but I think he’s getting there. When he pees now, he’ll grab at his crotch and kind of cry or whine, and a few times, he’s come to get us before he peed. We still have a long way to go, but I think Jack is gradually understanding that elimination is something to be done in the bathroom.

I know Jody requested this, and others of you were probably curious, so here’s a cute picture of Jack on the toilet:

Yes, Jack, we do promise to embarrass your little brother in the same way!

And, just for kicks, an adorable father-son picture before bedtime:

Gosh, and Jack is getting to be so big. He’s only 25.5 pounds, but he’s just filling out and looking more like a boy each day. When did that happen? He’s also been eating a ton. Today for lunch, he had a full serving of spaghetti, two Hawaiian sweet rolls and a quarter of a navel orange, plus a full sippy cup of milk.  That’s pretty typical for him these days. According to the pediatrician, Jack is on track to be about six feet tall as an adult. This means I’ll be able to ask him to reach things on tall shelves for me in 14 years or so, yay.

In other news, Johnny and I met our realtor today. She’s very professional, nice and not overly chipper. I cannot stand that quality in a realtor. She really listened to our wish list, and out of the five houses we looked at today, one was a clear winner. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a really nicely sized backyard. Jack kept running around the backyard, spinning with his arms out and saying, “Oh, wow! Oh, wow!” There’s a family room and a living room, and the kitchen, while not huge, had a really open layout. It just felt like a home for a family. Clearly, lots of other people felt the same way — the price was pretty good, and there were lots of other families coming in to look at the house. Depending on what else we see in the next few months, this house will be on our “short list.” Our realtor feels that in the next month or two, prices will reach a new low — I hope she’s right! Our meeting with the bank also went well on Friday; they’re willing to lend us more than we’d feel comfortable borrowing, so my anxiety about home-buying is now greatly reduced. Johnny will continue working with the realtor and meeting with a couple more lenders while I’m in Taiwan, but the search will resume in earnest once I return. We hope to move by the end of May, giving me a few weeks to settle in before the baby comes.

That’s about it! I hope you all had great weekends. Johnny has tomorrow off. I don’t, but since I work from home, it’ll feel like a holiday for me, too.

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another BOY!

Yes, folks, Jack will have a little brother to torment.  The ultrasound technician proclaimed that the baby was a boy within the first five seconds. I wasn’t surprised — as much as I was hoping for a girl, I knew in my heart it was a boy. I will post the pictures later. The technician got about five clear “money shots,” so there’s no ambiguity. Our son (eeek! Now we can call him that) was moving around a lot, and looked very healthy and adorably alien (it was a 4-D ultrasound, so we got to see him very up close and personal!). He kept snuggling into the placenta, using it like a pillow (ain’t nothin’ more comfy than a placenta, apparently!), and sucking his little fists.

I know you guys will ask how I’m feeling. Of course I’m going to be honest with you guys and say that I was a bit disappointed to hear my suspicions confirmed, and then I felt horrible for feeling that way. Then, Johnny reminded me that I was a little disappointed to find out that Jack was a boy, too, and I really wouldn’t have him any other way. He is just such a wonderful, delightful child — and I know this baby will be, too. Jack will love having a little brother to play with, and on the practical side, Johnny and I can save tons of money because our next son can wear a lot of Jack’s clothes.  And, I’m grateful to be having another uneventful, smooth-sailing pregnancy, and to have a healthy, wriggly little baby boy growing inside me. That being said, I am definitely glad I found out — it gives me time to process my feelings, instead of hoping and hoping the entire pregnancy, and then being hit with reality at the time of birth.

So, it was a good day: We got another peek at Baby Boy Surprise, and he’s kicking up a storm. I’m off to change my ticker from pink to blue!