Honeybees

Setting Up New Digs

2008-11-11T23:08:00.002-04:00

We are moving house, blog-wise.

Find new stuff at http://honeybeesdeux.blogspot.com/

Ahh!!! I'm Outta Photo Room on this Blog!!!

2008-11-11T09:03:00.002-04:00

I kept trying to upload a couple more pics last night but was repeatedly told, "You have exceeded your photo storage limit." I figured I'd deal with this in the morning and now it's the morning and it's true!

I'm at 99.98% capacity on 1024MB. I can upgrade or I can scootch over to a different blog address - which I think I'll try first cuz I don't wanna pay for storage space and I've already got other blogs with similar names set up...

So let's try here. I probably won't do much at wordpress cuz upoading photos there is a pain, you have to do it one-by-one.

To see my (unorganized) photo acct at Blogger/Picasa click here.

It's night nime and I have new pics of Ivo and Burl playing in their first snowfall - today, 11/11! I'm gonna set up another blogspot acct...

It's News to Me That's Not a Moose on the Quarter

2008-11-10T22:04:00.005-04:00

Today was a nice day, not too bad.

Gail is visiting Joanne and so we're all missing her and it's all rainy, but still we were able to play outside a little ball-tag, swinging and a little baseball. At Ivo's suggestion, the boys took a bubble bath when we came inside this afternoon, which was a very good idea. Ivo has been pointing out ideas and claiming any and all good ones as his own, true or not, with all seriousness. "Dat was my idea."

Ivo had hot almond-milk chocolate-ovaltine and some noodles for lunch. Burl had zucchini, broccoli, a piece of carrot, noodles, veggie hotdog, dip...He ate everything.

We played a lot in the basement today, vacuumed, did some laundry and dishes, ate left-overs for dinner, colored in coloring books with Papa, whom Burl and Ivo have taken to calling "Daddy." In fact, Burl said "Papa" to me - shaking his head - "Papa." ... "Daaaddy." Very cute.

Pictures are from tonight.

I wish I were going to this concert Tuesday night. Dirt Star.

Speaking of Daddy, Burl BabelOn;

100's of times, during the days that Ryan is at work, Burl raises his outstretched palms-turned-upward, shrugs and says, "Daddy?" When told Daddy's at work-school, Burl asks, "Why?" I have to get this on video - it's hilarious! The why? is sooo sincere and high-pitched, so well-intended and curious. Even though he asks this exact same "question"100's of times - a day. I usually tell him that Daddy has to teach the kids or what day of the week it is, that it's a school day or some such. Burl often follows-up with "why?" culminating in a nod, a serious turn of the head, a knowing look in his eyes, "Oh," he says.
"ta-da!!!" sometimes just "daaa!" - which is a little more subtle and takes a lot more intuitive listening. He says this after he does most things as though his whole life were some sort of performance.
Burl says "rice crispees." Yes, he does.
Also, Burl likes to get his hands on change, he calls it "money." He says this in a way that sounds an awful lot like, "mommy." Anyway, on a morning he had a shiny quarter in his hands and was saying "money" so I taught him that one side had a moose on it - Burl said, "moo(se)." I told him the other side had the queen on it, he said, "keen." Burl likes animals. He was interested and excited to keep repeating these 3 words while pointing said thing out. Anyway, days later, I find out, that's not a moose at all. It's a caribou or something.

Ivo Overheard:

"Obama. Barack Obama."
As it was raining, while making a fire, "Is the water coming down the chimney?”
"I'm gonna dream about being awake."
"That's a good idea."
"That was my idea."
"I'm a super hero."

Burlslide1

2008-11-09T13:03:00.001-04:00

Burlslide1
Video sent by thehoneybees

20081106 Burl says "WEE!!!" when he slides (and swings)!

Video Fix Testing

2008-11-09T09:25:00.002-04:00

I've been having sooo much trouble with Google video that I've set up a DailyMotion acct. Daily Motion has an option to post directly to yr blog - but this option worked only once, I am now gonna try to embed a video of Ivo and Burl on the tireswing at Connell Park, Thursday 6 Nov - the last outside play-day - it's been raining ever since!

Ivo & Burl Tireswinging
Uploaded by thehoneybees

Burlsays

2008-11-09T09:19:00.001-04:00

Burlsays
Video sent by thehoneybees

20081028 Burl on his 20-month bday talking. He says Ivo which he pronounces "(W/V)oe-wee." Burl says "Burl," a bunchof other stuff and then some animals, which he indicates by making the sound; "nee" for horse's neigh, "noo" for cow's moo, "eee" for elepant's whinny, etc.

We Like to Move It Move It

2008-11-08T19:18:00.006-04:00

Today Ryan, Ivo, Burl and I went to see Madagscar 2 - it was a gooooood time.

Burl is really into animals these days - he already knows and loves lions, giraffes and zebras. The other night he brought the lion toy into the bath with him - when Ivo indicates by word or grabbiness that he wants the lion, Burl shakes his head saying "No, no, Owee - Mine!" Burl knows hippos - but is not in love with them as evidenced by his dissenting opinion when all of us were taking on roles from the movie, Burl did not want me to be the hippo - no one else seemed to disagree with the casting, however, ahem.

Ivo laughed and giggled and ate a lot of pop corn. This was his second movie in Canada, the first was Wall-E, same theatre, back in August. Ivo got to sit on a booster chair that velcros onto the seat. He loved it.

Ivo's been having a difficult time lately - and I have only theories and guesses including; actual growing pains, flu, low-grade undiagnosed infection somewhere, appendicitis, giardia... It's a chicken and egg situation over here; is he acting out cuz he feels bad? is he feeling bad cuz of all the lectures he's getting for acting out? Am I an awful parent? Am I ruining his life and his chances for future happiness?

This afternoon, after the movie and the unnecessary trip to mcDevils - where I thought we could get Madagascar movie toys - but we couldn't and it was too late (maybe the ad I saw was on UStv...), Ivo had a possibly sugar induced meltdown/tantrum that took an hour to diffuse. I think it was ice-cream related, but, I'm not gonna lie, it seems like he's been tantrumming everyday over something (or things) fairly inconsequential for over a month. The most frustrating, because nothing can be done about it, is when he freaks out over something irreversible, ie, "I WANTED TO FLUSH THE TOILET!" "I WANTED TO BRING THE CAR IN THE GARAGE!" "I WANTED TO ANSWER THE PHONE!" He will not let whatever it is go. WILL NOT. Even when the situation is reproduced so he can do whatever it is, he refuses to accept/adapt, what he wanted is gone and we all have to suffer, for ever.

Poor guy. We actually took him to the emergency room/urgent care center at the hospital on Wednesday night because he was having severe abdominal pain... The dr found nothing. We're waiting for urine test - but not expecting anything. Ivo's got an appt to see a family physician on Nov 19th - this is something he needs anyway - and now that he doesn't have appendicitis, I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong, but g-d, I'll just leave it at that.

Otherwise Ivo is awesome. He's got amazing ideas, imagination, energy and heart. The boys and I went to the park on Wednesday after Ivo's preschool (which he's taken to loudly refusing to go to at the last minute at least once/week). It was a great time and some of these pics are from then. Ivo's schoolmate Lindsay and her mom and brother showed up which was great great fun. On the way home, Ivo asked me why Lindsay had come to the park. I told him she probably had asked her mom and thought, "maybe Ivo will be there." And that her little brother thought, "maybe Burl will be there." And then Ivo said, "...and Lindsay Mom thought, "hey, maybe Sandy will be there." Sweet.

Today while he was singing loudly at the kitchen table and had been asked twice to use an inside voice, Ivo told me "but I wanna sing 'yo gabba gabba' loud so everyone can hear me." There was something so cute and perverse about that... I don't know what it is...

This morning I went to my first yoga class in NB. There were only 2 other students today and here's how small the town is; when asked where I had relocated from, one woman said, "Oh, you're Ryan's wife?" and then the other told me that she grew up next door to Ryan. This seemed a little too much. Here's how small the world is, the teacher has recently moved to Canada (and is in the process of getting her perm res) after teaching English in Singapore.

How About Ladymans?

2008-11-04T08:27:00.007-04:00

Pics from the last week of October

It's election day in the US - I voted by mail weeks ago - so I'm free all day...

If you have a spare hour watch Naomi Klein talking about the economic crisis or listen here.

This morning Burl will be getting meningitis C and varicella vaccinations.

Ivo and Burl just underwent their very first daylight saving time-standard time shift. We're trying to not adjust their bedtime b/c these guys are a bit night-owlish - so 9:30 converting to 8:30 seems wonderful.

Burl is talking away and can ride Ivo's scooter! He must be teething cuz he's nursing like it's going outta style - which, it is - every hour and sometimes more throughout the night... Not so cute.

Ivo can somersault! Without further ado, a long overdue Ivo Overheard:

"Why ladybugs are ladies?" That's a good question. After a moment, "How about this, 'ladymans'? - I mean ladyman bugs?"

While Ivo and Burl were looking through a Sears Halloween costume flier, Ivo told Burl, "...Yea, a bear, dat's right. Yea, allbody dead on Halloween...

After I told Ivo he's getting cuter and cuter he said, "Why I getting cuter and cuter?" So I told him it's b/c you're looking more and more like Papa. "When I grow bigger like Papa, will Grammie be my mom?"

While Ivo was looking for his boots, I told him where they might be, he told me, "NO! I can't find my boots anywhere. I think you're a fool."

While playing with Play-dough, Ivo made "medicine cookies" - and said, "I made deese cookies to feel you better."

Ivo heard about the Boogieman on an episode of the Simpsons and decided that "The Boogieman is my Super Ivo enemy!"

In what may be a healthy genetic distrust of the state, Ivo told me that "I will not let the police beat you and take you to jail. I will keep you with me and our whole family."

I have a long story about Ivo and his pretend rocket boots that I hope to post soon.

A Little Halloween Action

2008-11-01T23:35:00.005-03:00

Trick o treated mostly by car.

Puppet show at library. Found out why Ivo has been refusing to view puppet shows at Buttercreek Festival and today - he thought they were all scary - like a Taiwan puppet show - this is what he said, I kinda didn't realize he didn't like puppet shows in Taiwan...

will expand tomorrow:)

I know, I know, I know...

2008-10-30T23:35:00.004-03:00

It's been a long time. Obviously we've been busy. Everything's great.

Burl turned 20 months old! He is TALKING - he TALKS! A lot. Today I asked him if he wanted some goldfish crackers and he said, "Goldfish." Everything he says, he says in appropriate context - we are in the midst of a wonderful verbal explosion! So fun! - and so happy that Ryan's last day of classes is tomorrow - his workload and travel time will be (hopefully - much) lighter, than the current 24-hour clock he's on, cuz Ryan's gotta be around Burl during the talk-blossom!

Here are things Burl is saying in a super delux Burly BabelOn:

"nummy" for yummy after drinking banana smoothie, eating goldfish, and mushroom tapenade...

"Wye" for Ryan - also "Baba" & "Daddy" - which is what Ivo sometimes calls Ryan

"I," "My," "Mine," "Me..." with great enthusiasm and energy. Tonight Burl was playing with a puzzle while we were cleaning up dishes, Ivo took some of the pieces causes Burl to yell, "Woe-wee, Woe-wee!" then turning tear-streaked toward the kitchen saying "My! My!" - "Woe-wee" and "O-wee" are how Burl pronounces Ivo

"Nice" - upon receiving an ice-cream bar during a particularly awesome (and singular) trip the boys and I took to DQ

"dat" and "dis"

boot, shoe, dark, money (coins), shark, apple, banana, bowl, ball,

Burl makes different noises for animals: squeals for pigs, "Nooo!" for moo-cow, "Nie!" for neigh-horse, roars for tigers, lions, dinosaurs, "Weeee!" for whinny-elephant

Burl has 2x expressed anegative to me by stating the word and shaking his head; "Ha(t)" while shaking his head to tell me he hadn't a hat on his head and "Ho(t)" to tell me his food wasn't too hot to eat

Burl likes to play with the plastic animals, he likes to group the doubles together and calls the smaller of the 2 same animals, "baby"

He says "No(se)" for when he wants his nose wiped

"Ready" as an affirmative answer

This isn't exactly exhaustive but it's as much as I can cobble together tonight. We are all sooo excited for Halloween! All day, Ivo has been wearing a superhero mask, wrist-cuffs, emblem and cape from the cool Superhero book Berton and Sasha gave him this summer. He's decided that he's (gonna be) "The Super Amazing Honeybee Kid" tomorrow instead of a bat. I've got a lot of Ivo Overheard to write up... tomorrow:)

Beware the Company You Keep

2008-10-22T14:30:00.003-03:00

The illustrious crowd at a Palin rally in Ohio:

This must be the desired effect of all the Republican education cuts... My g-d.

Probably everyone has seen that Sarah Palin cheats on her taxes. The republican party has spent over $150,000 on clothes and make-up for her family since her pick as vp nominee in late August - that's more than 3x a generous estimate of the medium ANNUAL income in the US - and that's just for clothes for 2 month! Note to all you Carhartt-wearing Joe-Six-Packs, even though she flirts like a cheap whore - she's never gonna do anything for you - it's called pandering, a very useful manipulation-tool for solipsistic liars.

There's a lot of other infuriating public domainy things about Palin to cast doubt both on her ability to serve as vp as well on the campaign who chose her. The NYTmag has an article coming out on Sunday which shoul cover how Palin actually got picked.

McCain's a liar too.

Next post won't mention such distateful subject matter:)

Ivo & Burl Sitting in a Tree

2008-10-18T22:30:00.004-03:00

Well, lots is happening. We are getting ready for winter, rearranging furniture to free up space around the woodstove, clearing out the garage – stuff like that.

Ivo pretty much refuses to wear jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts, vest, mittens and hats. It was about 6C in the sun today. It was windy. My parenting approach here is to offer him a coat and accept his answer – as much as it kills me. If we’re leaving the house, I put what I’d like Ivo to wear in the car. I tell him that if he gets cold, just let me know and we’ll get him a jacket. About half the time, he asks for his jacket. Today was not one of those times. Neither was yesterday. It’s very strange.

Last weekend when we went to the pumpkin patch, Ivo didn’t want his jacket-hat-etc, but while walking with Ryan, he kept turning his head away from the wind and said, “I want the wind to stop.” One day this week – which has been pretty and sunny but cold which is a bizarre juxtaposition for Ivo, he said, “I just want it to be warm outside.”

A little more Ivo Overheard:

“Maybe we can sing that song about the breaking bridge…” -meaning London Bridge

"When I don’t have a teddybear I CAN’T go to sleep!” – while prevaricating over which toy to take to bed.

“I’m the pirate!” No, I’m the pirate. “…I’m the boss of the pirates!”

After I had said, “I doubt it.” about something, Ivo asked what “doubt” means. I told him it means “I don’t think so” and he’s been using it like crazy. He tries to rope people – including Burl - into situations where he can tell them “I doubt it.” Very funny.

"eleventeen" -when counting
"yi, er, san, si, wu, lio, trois" Frang-nese counting
When trying to get his jammie pants on, in a whiney whiney voice, “Moooom – my pants is missing a leg... My pants are missing a leg. It can’t work!”

Burl BabelOn

Burl has been talking sooo much more. He’s said some stunning things too, mostly – but not all – repetition; hamburger, ready… (Sadly, I can’t find my notes:()

Burly has also said, “I-o” which is quite like how Ivo used to say his own name. But more often than not, Burl calls and refers to Ivo as “O-eee” - just the opposite of “I-o.”

"on" & "off" for clothes, tops of things, lights...

"this"

"peas," "noodles"

Ooh, one more thing, over the past month or so, Ivo has been calling Ryan “Dad.” It was his idea.
So tired more soon. Pics from 13 Oct 08.

Burl & Ivo Receive Couriered Booty!!!

2008-10-15T22:29:00.004-03:00

Yay! Yay! Yay!!!

On Friday, there was a note on the door that a courier had come by with a delivery but no one was home. The note didn’t say whom the delivery was for not did it say whom the package was from. When we called up, the courier company said we could pick it up in Fredericton ourselves on Tuesday or else they’d bring it back to us on Tuesday. We had them please bring it back. The truck arrived yesterday – we were very excited! But the courier had no idea from whence these big boxes came. He said, “oh, no, we wouldn’t have that information. It seemed strange – but I wasn’t gonna complain! I put a note on Fcbk, but only Andrew answered saying he hadn’t had anything couriered to Ivo and Burl. Since no one else answered, I called Sasha cuz I kinda had an inkling it may have been she and Berton. And BINGO!

Whoo-hoo THANK YOU!!!

The boys LOVE them! Pictures of boys riding tomorrow:)

Thanksgiving Weekend Update

2008-10-12T23:17:00.004-03:00

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving – YAY!!! Superfun and super-yummy!!!

We are THANK-FULL. Ivo is thankful for his toys. Ryan and I are thankful to be HERE with Gail and Doug in Canada. We are thankful for never being hungry, never being thirsty and never being (really) cold. We are thankful to have Ivo and Burl. And on and on.

And like Ivo said when he was telling me what he learned about thanksgiving at school, “We say thank you and thanks …to somebody… I don’t know their name.” We are grateful.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's deer and moose mating season, and maybe that’s why you have to "be careful" when you’re driving. I am constantly advised to be careful - careful not to hit a moose, a moose that might leap lightning-fast from out of nowhere onto the hiway in front of you. Yet, all this advice comes with no real instruction. It’s tricky. Exactly how am I to be careful? When we drove back from the party in Fredericton at midnight or 1am last week, I went 90km on the unlit, low-visibility stretches of hiway and I flashed the headlights every now and then just to give all the ruminants an extra heads-up – cuz, surely, they don’t wanna tangle with me anymore than I do with them.

While we were driving Ryan and I thought there should be some kind of sonic boom pulse-maker people who have to drive through the wilderness could put on their vehicles. We thought we had a(nother) million $ idea but the next day we found out that for 5$, you can get a set of whistles that affix to your car and are supposed to do what our sonic-boom-pulse-emitter was meant to do.

Anyway, it was a relief to find out that something already existed and Gail suggested checking at Canadian Tire. I asked a clerk and a guy in line behind me said, "O - you don't want them." Why? "Cuz they startle the deer and make them run at ya." Ooh, hmm. I found his opinion compelling but not convincing - I mean, it’s still a sound and why would they want to run toward it? The main flaw I forecasted was that the whole thing was a scam- since this sound is at a register I will never hear, there's a chance I'm just sticking plastic Xanax on the hood.

I still wanted to see them. The woman who was loud-speakered over to help me had no idea what the man had said (and frankly, he seemed insulted that I was still interested, but, come on). I told her that I was new to the area and asked her what she thought of these things. She said, and I am not joking or exaggerating, "Oh, they work. My father has used them for years and has never seen a deer or moose on the road." Well, that's great, I said and thought. She went on, "My mother never used them and she hit a moose and was killed." Whaa!?!?!? Yikes - and she wasn't putting me on - they only cost 5$ - it's not a commission item... I bought 2 sets.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Good news if you’re craving words from Ivo and Burl. I’ve recently received emails from my mom and my sister extolling Ivo’s genius based on different things, but I do not think the following will disappoint:)

Ivo Overheard:

“Everything grows except hard things don’t grow.” Upon questioning Ivo identified "hard things" as stuff like cars, tables, toys... (!)

“All babies grow up to be mans.” Half-right:)

“I need my practacy.” (a portmanteau of practice and privacy) He says this while sitting on the toilet when he wants me to “close the door, Burly don’t come in.”

“Farties” for the Canadian candy “Smarties”

A British kid on teletubbies (Burl’s favorite show – Ivo prefers “big-kid shows”) said “I like chameleons.” Ivo repeated, “I like Canadians.”

“Spider in da hole!!!”

“I’m thankful for my toys.”

Burly BabelOn:

eggs, hat, hand, geese, nunu, fish

“ooo-ooo”= “choo choo”= train

NEW CAMERA!!!

2008-10-10T20:34:00.008-03:00

It's been a busy week - lots happening, lots of interesting and awesome things coming out of Ivo and Burl's psyches. Alas, without pictures to accompany... my enthusiasm was muted. Also, I was sick a couple days in there.

So, last Saturday night Ryan and I went into Fredericton for dinner and a party hosted by Lindsay and Geoff, who both lived in Taichung for 6 years. Geoff is in the same program at STU as Ryan. While we were in town we stopped at Future Shop and looked at the cameras. Today - 6 days later - we returned and bought a Canon S5 IS... YAY!!! And so far AWESOME!!!

I've read the whole short book of instructions, installed the software and loaded up the picsI took today. The camera can do A LOT - most of which I haven't had a chance to explore... can't wait!!! YAY!!!

Today Ryan and I also went to Value Village and did some SHOPPING - we got a teletubbies costume for Burl and a fleece vest for Ivo, several blazer/work-suitable jackets and a couple of ties for Ryan, and a wool cape for me. YAYAYAYAYAY!!! Wool:)

Here are a few pics from our moving car...

A few pics from Connell Park...

A little Ivo Overheard:

When Ivo was mad mad mad at me he sang, “Just a bad mom
Bad bad bad bad bad mom
…I didn’t like dat”
“When I grow up to be a man – what will papa be?
...I don’t want you to be a grammie when I grow up.”

“My dreams come true.”

“Why there are no wires on this road?” (on a really rural road b/w Waterville and Florenceville – Ivo noticed that there were no telephone poles and wires)

When Ivo's exasperated or his quest frustrated, he growl-sighs "Rrrrhhh!" - I'm gonna try to get it on video - it's hilarious:)

Burly BabelOn:

Eggs, toast, numnum = booby
He still says “Tub-tub” for teletubbies and does a version of each’s name, the most transcribable being; LaLa and Do=Po.

When Burl notices there isn’t any (left) he points and says, “no, no, no, no”

When Burl wants a toy or a turn or doesn’t want something snatched away, he says, “I, I, I, I…”

Ivo and Burl Speak

2008-10-02T22:01:00.004-03:00

Why my name is Ivo?
Because Papa and I love that name
Me too. I love that name too.
I think it a good name for me.
I think it the coolest name.
I like Burly name too.

Ivo made a collage of a turkey at school on Wednesday. He held it proudly and said, “Tour-key. Gobble gobble. Thanksgiving.” I asked Ivo what people like to do on Thanksgiving, thinking his answer would have something to do with the tour-key but instead, he said, “Say thank you and thanks.” To whom? “To somebody – but I don’t know their name.”

Burl has loved cows since he first saw them across the road here. We see and hear them everyday. Ivo and I say “moo,” Burl says his own version of moo which sounds ridiculously close to the Chinese word for cow. This is incredible as he also hails Grammie Gail something that sounds like “amah.” The sound Burl makes for “moo” starts with n- followed by such a long ooo sound it’s almost multisyllabic and I swear I hear a little –iii-ooo in there.

US vp debate afoot. Jeez...

Also, my camera seems to be officially dead.

Pics from 24 Sep - just a little window on the power and the glory of Tim Horton's chocolate covered chocolate donuts...

Burl couldn't believe his tastebuds!!! He gave the donut a thumbs-up.

Ivo Pushing Burl & Burl Pushing Ivo - Videos

2008-09-30T23:26:00.004-03:00

Ivo pushing Burl in the swing on a windy day, 25 sep 08. He sings the abc's to Burl - which is what we do to give the swinger a nice wind-down cuz he's about to find his turn coming to an end. Ivo still is skipping over "tuvwx" cuz he hears "s" as "x" - so I've been adding ...q,r,s - like Sandy, t, u, v -violin, w, x, y and z. Now I know my abc's next time won't you sing with me." We're still trying to find out how z=zed works out in this song:)

Burl pushing Ivo the next day. Also a windy day. Ivo likes to be pushed "fast and straight," he also likes to go "higher." Burl does a good job while refusing to sing "row row row yr boat."

Skating and Rescue

2008-09-30T22:31:00.005-03:00

I know this sounds ridiculous – but I’m convinced my camera is calibrated to a subtropical climate – the lens will not open unless I warm the camera up against my belly, and yes, this realization has taken several weeks and it may not be the final word but this is why I have no pics of our first skating trip at Carleton Civic Center.

It was pretty cold in there – I think it was the ice. Ivo wanted to observe, just touching the ice with his hand. Burl got suited up! Helmet, bob skates, and mittens. He slid around clinging desperately to my legs and agreed to staying on the ice so long as he was held. When free-skate period ended, poor Ivo decided he really did want to go skating. We’ll try asap.

I just looked at the extended forecast and am chagrinned to see that by the weekend, the high temp will be 9C. Eek! I’m so glad that we took advantage of today’s 21C temp and beautiful blue autumn skies!

At the park, Ivo - I mean “Bat-Ivo” – announced to strangers who were super-receptive to superheroes, that “When I’m not savin’ the day, I’m Bruce Wayne.” Later one of these folks asked Ivo what he eats to make himself so strong. Ivo replied, “I eat healthy food, makes my muscles so big.” I don’t know where he got this… maybe school?

Ivo also ran around very seriously saying “I’m off to the rescue!”

Afterwards at home, Ivo was reviewing his time at the park, chattering about how Emily “…said ‘rescue’ after I said rescue. We were two kids! I was the boy and she was the girl!”

I’m thinking of changing Burl’s name to SweetBurl.

Burl could feel the static stand up his hair, reaching back and "uh" -ing. Unlike Ivo's standing hair, it was unphotographable due to the short-fineness of it all.

I Had a Clever Title but...

2008-09-29T21:14:00.006-03:00

Just a little bit of dissipation over here... Tired. But things are very good. I got my permanent residence visa last Monday and on Friday, I went to Maine to come back into Canada, thereby activating my new visa status.

As is the way in Autumn, at the ME/NB border, there were 7 obese US hunters in line ahead of me. They were registering their weapons. And then, the guy right in front of me was a US citizen who'd "gotten in trouble up in Centreville for buying liquor for minors." Guy was at least 40 - minors here, would have to be... 18 or younger. What a cool guy!

Burl is mimicking almost everything Ivo does - good and bad, safe and trecherous. Very cute. He understands everything said around him and if something has snything to do with him or holds any interest for him, he raises his hand or points at his chest! So we're thinking Burl may not ever need to use words cuz his self-developed sign language is awesome. When he wants to go somewhere he points out the window at the car "DE!" and then turns an imaginary steering wheel!!!

Ivo told Burl tonight, "Burly, I gotta tell you something" -at this point, Ivo held Burl's head in both his hands and turned it so they were eye-to-eye - "...you can't watch Tubbies tonight but you can watch it tomorrow morning." Ivo's new favorite song is "Head, shoulders, knees and toes." He's heard it before but only really learned it this week at school.

Ryan is starting to get some grades back - and it's all A's, baby! Comments like "Classroom ready!" appear on the curriculum he wrote, to name just one of his triumphs:) Yay Ryan!

These are pics from last Wed, 24 Sep on the old RxR bridge where the Meduxnekeag meets the St John. It was such a beautiful day - lots of spider webs on the bridge with spiders to investigate.

Oh yea, can anyone tell me/us how the abc song is sung in Canada? Specifically this part, "...w, x, y and zed. Now I know my abc's, next time won't you sing with ____?" Who -Ted? Fred?

Ivo & Burl: Indian Summer Snot Festival!!!

2008-09-25T21:33:00.007-03:00

Oh - it's festive!!!

The weather has turned warm and sunny - giant cloudless skies - warm, like 24C. Cold and frosty at night. We wake up thinking and feeling like it's irredeemably cold - no matter what the (unnervingly accurate) weather forecast predicts. Plus both Ivo and Burl have either allergies or colds - Gail and I are thinking allergies, but it's anyone's guess. Hay, goldenrod and then mold in wet hay are the allergens people in the know have suggested... Neither Ivo nor Burl has run into any of that stuff - and no one else around here is snotty, drippy, sneezy, coughy.

Maybe I should change the name to Fall Phlegm Festival...

So, I've been dabbling a little more over on facebk with videos but I'll probably post them here too. Ivo is in such a sweet, charming clever phase - it's wonderful to be around him. He says things like, I a big boy, I don't need help doing anything. He narrates almost everything he does. Today he saw an ad for bread that featured a cartoon slice of bread with a red cape and face flying around. He was taken aback and asked, "...but why...why he only a bread and he have superpowers like me?"

I have been remiss in posting about Ivo's recent love of rhymes. It's been percolating for a month or two and just exploded this past couple weeks. He used to say that words which rhymed "are the same like." So he'd say "Cat is the same word like bat." When we were in Cleveland he walked into the Trivial Pursuit room and announced, "Viper, viper the same word like diaper." If I hadn't already known, that statement would have clued me in, the kid's a genius. So he now knows the word "rhyme" and often asks for words that rhyme with a word he's chewing on. This week the words he's wanting to match up are a little... tricky; elephant and other 3-syllable words. I'm starting to talk to him about syllables and beats in words. Anyway, he is now able to rhyme words all by himself and recognize when things kinda sound alike but don't really rhyme. The other day Ivo said, "I know what rhyme with Burl." What? "Girl! Girl rhyme with Burl!"

So today a contemplative Ivo came up to me and said, "Crying is like laughung - but they don't rhyme."

Just a touch more Ivo Overheard;

"I like saving the day."

"Flying is my favorite superpower. And punching."

"Oh - III get it!" in a really exaggerated way, almost droll

Burl is soldiering on into the land of controlled verbage. ("Verbage" seems to be the new catchword during the ridiculous presidential campaign down stateside, as they say around here. If I have to see that greasy, overly made-up fake-face Palin saying "verbage" one more time... well, I just won't vote for her - umm, yea...) Back to Burly- he still loves playing and hearing "Ring around the Rosie" but I reckon his current favorite song is "Row Row Row Yr Boat." Burl purses his lips into a cute little oval and says "ro, ro, ro" when he wants to hear it. He's tremendously pleased when the message is understood. Burl bends at the waste and laughs when he thinks something is funny - quite propbably in imitation of Ivo when Ivo senses something hilariously over the top. Burl's awesome.

3 links:

Our friend Rob in Oz put this up on fcbk. It's a poll by the PBS show NOW asking whether you think Palin is qualified to be vice-president of the USA. According to Rob, "Voting started at about 66% No, 30% Yes. It's now more like 55-45 "Yes"! The right wing has an email campaign going to turn the results around." When I voted, it was 49-49 - so go vote here if you have 3 seconds.

This next thing is from a blog called newyorkshitty - thru NYMag. If you like vaginas, you'll probably love this as much as I do:) The title keeps cracking me up!

and one really good, kinda long article on the badnews shadow banking horror show.

Pics from today- Ivo took the one of me. I have super cute pics from yesterday to post...

Birds & Bees, Burl & Ivo Style

2008-09-21T22:33:00.004-03:00

These pics are from yesterday at the Buttermilk Creek Festival in Florenceville. It was a great time, a beautiful-almost-Autumn day...

We spent all our money at the used clothing booth. They had halloween costumes which Ivo & Burl consider street clothes. Yay!!!

Today - I killed a cat. We did other better things but they'll keep. Ivo and Burl remain 100% awesome and amazing - yes, Burl at 18 months can swing on a big-kid swing... But, I've gotta get my beauty rest - cuz tomorrow es mi cumpleanos!!!

oh man, it's getting cold here and I'm hungry all the time...

A couple things I'm reading or listening to:

Feasting at the Table of Taipei

Barton Gellman, author of Angler; the Cheney Vice Presidency, on Leonard Lopate

Burly Babel-On

2008-09-20T22:06:00.004-03:00

Over the last few days, less than a week, Burl has been making all kinds of new sounds, playing around with liquids and sibilants, singing and chattering away.

His intonation and inflection are all so conversational, in combination with his body language and facial expressions, he's really good at communicating so we've kinda been wondering when he'd get around to seeing the point of expanding his vocabulary. As if he knew we were thinking about this, Burl has started to add some more words; yes, soup, teletubbies (pronounced TubTub-yeah - I'm not sure if the yeah part is actually part of his version of 'tubbies or his way of saying, "Yeah, that's it! I said it right!"), lai lai (which means "come here" and which he has been signing for many many months)... Burl says something like NumNum for NuNu, the vacuum cleaner in tubbyland.

Here are links to a few videos of Burl Babel-On:

From 19 Sep 08 - Burl making sounds and grunting - not really sounding too language-y

From 19 Sept 08 - earlier in the day Burl inflecting and intoning yet not many words til the end when he beckons me,"lai lai."

From 20 Sep 08 - Burl has long loved the tubbies but seldom gets to see them on tv, enjoying them in library books and squeeky-toy form. This is about to change cuz he loves them so much andnow asks for them by pointing to the tv and saying "TubTub-yeah!" He also says Po, LaLa, 'ello and bye-bye (not new). Burl also said "yes" and "soup" several times this afternoon!

From 20 Sep 08 - When Burl mispronounces something I've asked him to say, he seems surprised and tries to shake it off with a grinning grimace, a head shake and the word "nooo..." In this video, Burl says "TubTubTubTub..." and then realizes that's not right. When I ask him to say Lala - no problem. When I ask him to say Po, he enthusiastically agrees and says, LALA, then shakes his head and says "Nooo" It's like he's not completely in charge of what sounds come out - sooo cute!

And I do realize that all these words are recognizable only in context and only by his family... I'm just sooo excited to see him develop his speech - Plus, Burl is so proud and excited!

Ivo & Burl Return to the Farm

2008-09-19T22:30:00.008-03:00

Today was a great day. In the morning, Gail, Burl, Ivo and I went to Landon and Eric's to play. Fun. I've been thinking that Burly doesn't/hasn't gotten much chance to play with little guys - and Eric is a sweet little guy!

Afterwards, Ivo went to school, I ran a couple errands, Burl napped and Gail made soup(s) - yum. We all went to pick up Ivo and then went back to Uncle Wayne's to pick more pumpkins and get some cornstalks and just play at the farm - cuz last night was sooo cold we didn't get to linger. Today, the high was 14C but it was beautiful, sunny-blue-sky, and NOT windy - so the boys got to run around and check things out.

My camera didn't work in the morning but did work at the farm - so, decent. We're going to something called the Buttermilk Creek Festival tomorrow!!! Ryan's got sooo much work due next week, we are gonna clear out of the house as much as possible tomorrow and hope he gets lots done:)

Pics from today...

It's Not Even Fall Quite Yet!!!

2008-09-17T23:20:00.006-03:00

Tonight we expect frost. FROST!!!

After dinner, Gail, Ivo, Burl and I dashed over to Uncle Wayne’s to pick pumpkins and squash. Everyone’s out picking the last of their garden goodies and crops. Impossible to wait til tomorrow, cuz FROST is coming and it’s not quite even Fall yet. Good grief!

Ivo and Burl loved the pumpkin patch as any kid would. Cold today, Burl’s little hands get sooo cold while the rest of him remains warm enough. Burl likes having his mittens on. Mittens – it’s not even quite Fall yet!

I hung 2 loads of laundry (one all hand washed cuz it’s the last of the Taiwan shipment and it’s the confusing stuff; dark/bright colored Thailand materials, silk, linens… The dozens of Hawaiian-style shirts Ryan got from a co-worker for himself and the boys. Dozens. It was around 10C, sunny and super windy – it looked much much warmer than it was. I’mpretty sure I got frostbite hanging up those wet clothes. My fingers ached, then when warming, they felt all burny. So, I may be looking at amputation – this may slow down my knitting, guitar-playing, blogging, novelling, and job search.

Tomorrow, I will drop off my first resume. More on that if anything good happens, if not, eh, I’ll probably never mention it again.

Ivo Overheard:
· Agreeing with me that he could run downstairs by himself to look for his train while poor little Burly had to stay upstairs with me, “…because I’m a grown-up. I can do stuff I wanna do.” Best definition of grown-up ever!
· Anticipating the Chickmunks “There they are – on the coconut tree!” Pine tree. “Oh – dat right. I was mixed-up of the trees!” laughingly:)
· In response to my telling him he’s the cutest thing in the world, Ivo hugged me and said, “You’re the… …BIGGEST thing in the world!”
· While looking at pictures of the seaside, I said it looks like Sandy Beach, Ivo said, “Yea, a little bit but not quite because it have sand mountains. Sandy Beach don’t have dat.” (Sand mountains are how Ivo described dunes!)

.“When it dark, I go to bed, I dream about Iron Man. You dream ‘bout Papa. Papa dream ‘bout you. And kissing. And Burly dream ‘bout Vitamin C.” It all sounded sooo good, but Burl seemed in for a rather dull affair and maybe he’d dream about Elmo. Ivo agreed saying, “Maybe, yea. I was wrong ‘bout Burly’s dream.”

Pics from 08 Sep 08... Ivo calls himself SuperIvo and would like everyone else to do the same. Burl can be SuperBurl, but also, Ivo's alright with just "Burly."

Blarney, Ivo & Burl Style

2008-09-17T23:20:00.005-03:00

Ivo Overheard:

· “I have superpowers…”
· “I will save the day!”
· “Oh! You saved the day!”
· “I hate my enemies”
· “I will kick my enemies in da face!”
· “When I was a little baby, I …” usually something erroneous and/or fantastic, ie, “...I go to Grammie Gail’s house, I don’t sit in my chair. But now I stay seated.” Yes, he said “stay seated.” He is absorbing and incorporating everything he hears…
· “I’m starvin’ like a marvin” and “I’m a starvin’ marvin.” Ivo heard Ryan say this 2 nights ago - one time only - yet he blurted it out yesterday before lunch.
· Ivo’s absorbing and adopting some local lingo like “switch out/up” for trade; "I wanna switch out my train for Burly's train." This morning he said “I was waiting for the toast to pop!”
· “I was thinking, my brain was thinking…”
· “peas on the cob” – for peas in a shell
· “I only like my Teacher Lao Shr” We're gonna have to write a letter to Ida Loa Shr

Burl Babylon:
· Burl makes a kissy sound and has his farm animals, regardless of species (a chicken and a pig, for example) kissing, “mmmwah!”
· Burl refers to food and eating as “um num”
· I think Burl is calling Grammie “Amah!” Whatever he’s saying, it’s the same 2 syllables, the 2nd being “-ah” – the first mushier, and I’m not hearing an initial consonant…
· Speaking of eating, due to his summer-found fondness for corn-on-thecob, Burl now approaches anything longish as though it were on-the-cob; hotdogs and other stuff I can’t think of…
· Burl understands everything!!! Today at the park, a girl told him to move his hand (cuz she was coming down the slide) and he did! Burl also swang on a super-low slung-rubber big-kid swing,all by himself today. Burl also swang on a tire swing with Ivo and a couple other kids – his balance was just as good as any of the 3 and 4 year olds!
· Today Burl told me that something was not hot by shaking his head while saying “ho(t)!” This is the first time he’s been able to say something is not something else and it just like what Ivo used to do:)

SO, ps, when Ivo was Burl’s age he got deported from Taiwan!

All pics today from 5 Sep '08, Ivo's first day of school - at school and afterwards at home and in the garden:)

You can take the boy out of Taiwan but you can't take the Taiwan out of the boy!

Videos from the grass sledding on Monday 15 Sep...

Ivo and Burl - Man Down!!!

Ivo - Jumps the Gun, Rolls, Giggles and Hears a Moo!

Ivo - Sings an Abridged ABC... - He confuses S and X so always skips tuvw...

It may be looking like Burl got shafted this post - but it's just cuz the camera is so iffy and unreliable. Burl does and is awesome things all the time!!!

Camera on the Fritz

2008-09-15T22:28:00.004-03:00

My camera is acting up. Acting out. It opens only according to its whim. This is very frustrating.

Today, it worked well for an hour and then refused to open anymore. I'd like to think the problem is the battery - but, I'm not so sure.

Here's what I'm reading...

Lehman Bros bankrupcy et al

"Self-esteem does not refer to an inflated view of one’s self. Instead, it is the capacity to hold onto a basically hopeful view of one’s self while facing and integrating experiences that challenge this view." - Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and Dr. Joshua Sparrow

6 Food Mistakes Parents Make

Today Ivo said he wants to go to the science museum (in Taichung). I'm surprised it's taken this long! When I picked him up from school today, Ivo told me that "teachers are 'upposed to be girls." Really? "...Oh... some teachers are boys. And some teachers are girls."

At lunch, Ivo - who often translates and acts as an advocate for Burl - told me "I think he trying to get your attention, Mom."

Burl definitely has a 2-syllable gama-sounding word for Grammie Gail! Burl has also been saying "ow" sounds. He understands all manner of directions.

Both boys have 2 new favorite activities since returning from Cleveland as the weather turns windy, gray, wet and summer kisses us bye-bye. 1 - they love swinging on their new swing and 2 - they love rolling at breakneck (euphemism, knockon wood) -speed down a sled-worthy hill in Doug and Gails yard. Video of this will be posted soon. Ryan and I tried it tonight - it's awesome!

Post #800

2008-09-11T22:10:00.004-03:00

Shhh... All the boys are sleeping!

I plan on joining them asap. Things are busy and great. Today was Gail's birthday! Whoo-hoo! We made carrot cake

not sleeping anymore...

pics from 220808

I Just Sat Down to Blog and Burl Stirred

2008-09-09T23:10:00.005-03:00

We are just settling into our new schedules - Ryan and Ivo are students and Doug is working the election full time. Summer's over. People are busy. The maple tree in front of the Atlantic Super Store has already turned autumn red.

Burl has had a cold since we've been back from Cleveland. Ivo's had the same for about half the time. Burl's not sleeping great but he's been pretty happy even though phlegmy.

Ivo's been telling jokes like crazy. They all go like the ones he told during Trivial Pursuit in Cleveland: My friend Maisy said, "Marry a watermelon? What marry a watermelon!?"

Hilarious. The italicised words are subject to change.

Burl is getting closer and closer to real speech. He copies inflection and tone as well as the initial sound and number of syllables. Burl has started kissing too!

More asap! Pics from 21 Aug - first day in Cleveland:)

Happy Bday Chrissy!

Back from an Extraordinary Ohio Blackout!!!

2008-09-06T14:50:00.005-03:00

Let's just say this, technical glitches plus extreme busy-ness and exhaustion culminated in what will henceforth be known as Honeybees Blackout '08.

We got to see my whole family and had a great visit in Cleveland. Details/pics to follow.

But first, and late as well, Burl's half birthday!!! Burl turned 1-1/2 on 28 August!!! Yay Burl!!!

All pics from Pre-Wedding-Family-Bbq-at-Mike-and-Jenny's/Burl's Fabulous Half-Bday-BBCute 28th August

Videos - Mostly Ivo

2008-08-20T14:59:00.003-03:00

We are getting ready to go to Cleveland tomorrow morning!!!

We have to leave the house at 3:30am to make our 5:40am flight to Toronto.

Here are a few videos of Ivo with Ryan and Kevin. If you are a Kevin fan, you will especially enjoy the belly flop video.

Kevin Belly Flop

Ivo Playing Baseball with Ryan and Kevin

Ivo King Fu on the Dock with Ryan

More pics ASAP

About What I Do While Not Posting

2008-08-17T22:09:00.005-03:00

So, it’s been a week again – but at least this time I have a clear idea of why I haven’t been posting this week.

After Ryan and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on Friday 080808, Ivo, Burl, Doug and Gail came down and we all went to the parade/North Lake Field Days. OK. Fun Fun Fun!!!

Then Sunday. Nice and calm. Monday, the cousins showed up. Gail’s sister, Joanne has 2 kids, but struck oil in the grandkids department –> 10! ...and counting! The family with 6 kids came to play. Also Fun Fun Fun!!! But I have to admit that while the gang was all there, I couldn’t blog and, frankly, in their wake, I was still, buzzing. Lotsa energy!!! And lotsa pics to go thru - HUNDREDS - I'll be posting asap:)

Plus, on the 2nd day of the cousins’ visit, Kevin arrived from Nova Scotia!!! Yay!!! He stayed til Friday, and we just got back to “the big house” this afternoon – which is Sunday.

Yesterday, Burl went to the US for the first time ever!!! Ivo’s 2nd time! Doug, Gail, and the 4 of us went crossed the border to go to a garage sale and then we drove around a little – scenic vistas and a cute town of Danforth. Key differences b/w Canada and the States: In Canada old cemeteries are named “Loyalist Cemetery” and in the States, the exact same things are called “Founders Cemetery.” Also, the money’s a little different.

Oh yea, crossing into the States, we all had to present our passports. The guy manning the border was friendly, chubby and smoking! He asked if our boys were old enough to use crayons and then gave them 2 wildly inappropriate coloring books entitled “COLOR ME!” They’re published by US Customs Project Outreach. My g-d! Page one shows marijuana, cocaine, razors and pipes. The drawings are idiotic and kids are informed to call 1-800- BE-ALERT should they espy anything that looks like the line drawings in the coloring book. This seems pretty low-tech but I guess, thorough, in the panic to protect the “homeland” – Remember when Homeland was a Nazi term?

Whew! And read this about the ekkkonomy.

Yea...

Lotsa lotsa scrabble – and let’s just say, a less modest person would be posting the scores! We were so lucky to get to visit with Lorne and Marilyn and David during our 9 day vacay!!!

That’s it for now – I’m gonna post pics and get ready for this week: notary public, customs – our stuff had arrived!, and we’re going to Cleveland on Thursday at 5:40am!

Field Day Boatride

2008-08-10T22:00:00.001-03:00

Gail's brother, David, took us for a ride around the lake at sunset!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!

And like so many hotly anticipated plane rides, Ivo fell asleep pretty quickly after we took off.

This is East Grand Lake on the NB/ME border. (Read about the Woodie Wheaton Land Trust here.)

The Camp.

Loon.

Captain.

Sunset!!!

Man, N.america's beautiful...

As ever, click on any pic for a bigger version.

Field Day at the Lake

2008-08-10T10:34:00.007-03:00

Parade... Ivo was a little suspicious - but not unhappy - about the candy being thrown at him. Grammie had given Ivo a toonie as pocket-money which he used to buy 2 hotdogs, one for Burl and one for himself. Ivo ordered and paid all by himself.

Lots of firetrucks and silly stuff. Pluswe got to hang out with Uncle David!

Beauty queens, oh yes.

After the parade passed us by, we all dispersed and mingled. Over an hour later at the playground, Burl saw my change purse and, using a straightforward pointing and grunting technique, demanded some coins for himself. We got to hang out with a very nice family that we see each week at story hour.

We all took a break and enjoyed some live music. On our way over, Burl saw cheezies and used his pocket-money to pay for them! Pretty funny. The eating of the cheezies was amusing too!

080808!!!

2008-08-08T09:10:00.003-03:00

080808

Auspicious not only for the Chinese.

10 years strong!!!

Wedding pic - 080804

Story Hour

2008-08-06T23:24:00.006-03:00

What a day! What a day!!!

No rain!

Library day! The theme was space - so the boys got to make construction paper rockets and decorate sugar cookies in stars and frosting - yumcity:)

Well, the guest story teller today was... the Mormon again. Here he is.

Nice enough guy - but what the hay? As most people know, Mormon missionaries travel in pairs. This pair seems to be setting up their operational HQ at the PUBLIC library. They wear their silly name tags proclaiming their names, "Elder Surname - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" the whole time - not to mention their ill-knotted ties, white button-down shirts and black pants. One tells a story - strangely enough, both weeks his stories have been set in a fictionalized version of our solar system. In the first, a spider harnessed the sun's light and brought it to the animals of a hitherto-for dark planet Earth. Today's story described a fantastical hunt for space aliens. Mayhap they're softening us up for the On the First Day... story?

The other missionary stands to the side, arms folded over his chest, surveying the scene. It's just weird. We'll see what happens next week...

Still Here

2008-08-05T22:29:00.009-03:00

Whaa!!!

I have no explanation for why I have less posting time now that I live in rural N.america. None.

Sure, I have theories. But, they're not satisfying.

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Ryan's brother, Andrew, was here for the long weekend. What a great visit! Ivo LOVES him like crazy, while Burly loves him a respectable amount;) In fact, Ivo was sad and not quite himself for a day and a half after Andrew left. We hope hope hope Andrew can come back for Xmas!!!

The weather was WET! It has been raining for at least a week - and how!!! Almost like tropical rain, at times. Flash flood warnings in the northeast of the province.

While Andrew was here, we mostly played at home but we did all go to a very soggy Connell Park and paid a visit to Richard & Marie, where we were treated to just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and a little home improvement - both of which wowed Burl and Ivo. And special bonus, we got to meet Kari and Kevin:)

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Today was the first day w/o substantial rain. Ryan and I took Ivo into town while Burl stayed with Gail and Doug. It was nice for both of us to spend time with Ivo solo. Very rare.

Ivo's excited to go to Story Hour tomorrow at the library. Last week's story was composed and delivered by a young "Elder" of the Church of Latter Day Saints. He was fine - but, no beauty queen and I wondered the whole time about ulterior motives but the kid said nothing about his cosmology. Just weird. And his partner was there too, and it's just unnerving to have 18 year old missionaries from such a silly religion hanging around my kids. I wonder who'll be there tomorrow.

Ivo's been reading up a storm and learning new words by the score; disaster is a new one - I'll post more as soon as I can compile a list - my brain is get, umm... bad. Today, Doug asked Ivo if he was eating again, pronouncing "again" clearly Canadian - and Ivo said, "Eating a game? A computer game?" We tried to explain that /a-gane/ = /a-gin/ but Ivo thought we were crazy, so Doug went back into the kitchen to initiate a do-over, pronouncing everything in an Ivo-friendly way. Ivo got it the 2nd time, no problem - and acted like that question had nothing to do with the first.

Ivo has been doing lots of imagination play, role-play and narration. His toys talk to each other in complicated scenarios. He orders us to make comments or ask him questions which is pretty funny. Ivo often says things like, "I will save the day!!!"

Today we finally bought new kids' toothpaste - I'd bought them Colgate kids' toothpaste when we ran out of the tube-from-Taiwan-that-I-can't-remember-what-brand-it-was a week or so ago and the boys HATE it. Ivo gags so fiercely that he almost pukes. Burl doesn't like it either. It makes no difference that Spongebob is on the tube. A few nights ago, Ivo and his dinosaur were discussing whether or not the dino could borrow Ivo's toothbrush - "Yes, sure..." I tried the toothpaste agin, which set Ivo to retching and me to asking how he could hate the toothpaste so much. Ivo said, "'Because, I don't like it!' said the boy." That was hilarious and sweet and all things wondrously Ivo.

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In addition to the rain stoppage, the temperature has dropped - highs around 19C and tonight's low: 9C. Shiver!!!

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Burl is a dream come true. As if in tune with nature, his week-long teething jag has abated in the sunshine. His inflection and steady conversational babble is so close to the sound of real words, it feels like his verbal big break through is impending. So far he says - mama, baba, bao-bao, hi, bye-bye, up, hot, de. But, man, does he ever communicate, pointing people into their chairs, coercing people to read him stories, help him negotiate his toys, take him outside, etc.

Sweet sweet little B:) Anything Ivo does, Burl does too. This is funny and, often, noisy and naughty.

Burly's got a little teasy streak in him. He has for awhile, acting like he was gonna let you change his diaper or give you something and then turning tail at the last second. (Ivo did this too! and here's another Ivo-at-about-the-same-age- as-Burl is now inc Ivo speech) So now by the time I tell Ivo not to do something like hitting the table with his spoon, Burl is already in play and just giggles at me like I'm outnumbered, so I might as well give up!

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More pics and cath-up tomorrow. I hope.

Here we are in our excellent car driving home from the Hartland PO where we picked up a package that turned out not to be from us-Taiwan to us-Canada but, rather, some Xmas presents Gail had ordered!!! Ooops:)

It's All a Long Weekend

2008-07-29T10:07:00.006-03:00

It's Tuesday morning. We've just finished banana pancakes at the lake. Yum!

The boys LOVE being at the lake. BIG thunder storm last night - electricity went out for a couple hours.

Ivo and I walked up to the community grange/lodge/center the other day to play at the playground. It probably takes 25 minutes - when a 3 year old is walking it - all gravel roads, evergreen canopy, wild daisies, wild carrots, bees and butterflies. Ivo said, "You SURE dis is da right way?"

Ivo and Burl made a fire and roasted hotdogs with Grammie Gail and Ryan. Ivo wants to know, "What smoke made of?" He was very interested in the whole procedure. He'd never seen a match before - not in real life, anyway - he has a book that compares the size of the smallest mammal in the world to that of a matchstick. Later he told Gail, "I a dragon. I shoot fire outta my mouth. Next time you don't have fire - you ask me."

A little more Ivo Overheard:

"I don't like towels on chairs." He has said this several times, different days - it's getting funny. This house is 2 meters from the lake. There will be towels on chairs...

"We all a flamily in da rocks."

(To Burl) "Show me your funny face." - everyone laughs - (To everyone else) "Check my funny face - better dan Burly's"

(While sitting on the toilet) "Papa, can you read me a story 'bout a boy walking in da forest?" While yr pooping? "Yea." No! "But... Grammie Gail did it." Well, grammies are very special people.

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Yesterday, Little Burly turned 17 months old!!!

Burl is a very happy boy. He loves his family and when one person is missing, he stretches his arms out and asks "deeeh?" in a very hi-pitched, rising tone, with a concerned look on his brow. Burl is sooo close to talking, his babbling has the inflection of real conversation, tho, so far, he only says, "uh oh," "no, no, no," "bao-bao," "up," "ba-ba," "mama" and a bunch of de's, duh's, da's. Amazingly, though, he makes himself understood. For example, when he wants milk in his cereal, he points at his bowl and says, "duh!" (rising pitch - command mode). Burl also can kiss:)

Click here for video of Ivo the Green Dragon and Burly the "10-year-old Dragon."

Fredericton & New Car

2008-07-25T23:05:00.004-03:00

Here's our new car!!! Ivo took this pic just before dropping the camera on the cement - The camera was stunned for a few minutes but seems ok now.

Here's a better pic Doug took:)

Yay!!! Yayayayayayay!!!

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Ryan and I spent the day in Fredericton checking out STU, neighborhoods and housing options... Let's just say this - if ANYONE KNOWS ANYONE IN FREDERICTON who can give us a decent place/price PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us know:)

It's brutal. But we hold out hope - we do believe strongly in luck and magic and guanxi, baby, sweet sweet guanxi!

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Plus both Ryan* and my** horoscopes were very very encouraging today. Mine made me cry a little - all good stuff - somewhat related to finishing one year anniversary of Patty's death eulogy... which will be finished by 13 Aug.

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Tell me this guy doesn't look like Alex Trebek...

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This says "SHE'S OLD HOME WEEK" and it's not a typo:)

Colloquial.

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* In his book The Medusa and the Snail, science writer Lewis Thomas said that the English word "error" developed from a root meaning "to wander about, looking for something." That's why he liked Darwin's idea that error is the driving force in evolution. I think this wandering-about-looking-for-something approach should be the driving force in your personal evolution, Sagittarius. The coming weeks will be a great time to meander and get distracted and stumble upon unexpected opportunities. May all your mutations have a positive spin! (P.S. Lewis also wrote this: "The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.")

** Your life story is about to deepen and sweeten and get more interesting -- if, that is, you follow the trail of clues into the dark forest, and if, as you travel, you hum songs that are both sad and happy, and if you call on the spirit of your favorite dead person to accompany you. Of course, you're perfectly free to refuse the call of your destiny, and never even take a glance into the dark forest. But in my opinion, that would cheat you out of some profound fun that has the potential to teach you and tune you for many years to come.

Ivo & Burl at the Park

2008-07-24T22:21:00.007-03:00

Ryan, Ivo, Burl and I spent the morning at Connell Park - which is such a great park - all the swings and jungle gyms are surrounded by tons of sand. We brought some of the kids' pails and shovels and built some castles and train tracks. Ivo and Burl mostly like to shovel and pour and stomp on anything with shape. Today Ivo made a mountain. Ivo LOVED swinging - especially underdoggin'!

Afterwards we went to DQ - as part of our scientific sampling of N.america's junk food, purely research - oh, yea, and fun too! It was the first time Burl has ever liked ice cream - and boy, did he like it! Soft serve with chocolate sauce. Ivo had a little cup of chocolate - we'd ordered vanilla, but got choc instead. The server was very nice and offered to change it - but we just rolled with it. The girl was NUTTY! She told us waaay too much about herself, her spending habits, her living arrangement, how she doesn't get along with her mother and how she binge drinks and puts it on her credit cards... Well, we were happy to just get ice cream outta her, so we didn't wanna tax her any more than necessary.

Yikes.

Oh yea, a friendly customer at DQ asked us if our kids are always so well-behaved!!! Whoo-hoo!

It was a SUPER WINDY day! Ivo and Ryan went to an evening showing of Wall-E from which Ivo returned kinda sad and mopey. Burl, Gail and I worked in the garden, walked around, played ball and saw a huge rainbow!

Tomorrow Ryan and I are going to Fredericton to check out the housing market... Hopefully we can find something GREAT!

My Favorite Pics from Today

2008-07-23T23:17:00.007-03:00

On the way home from visiting the cows...

I think this should be Ryan's headshot for his introductory essay at STU...

One more from the library...

I have a bunch of Ivo and Burl together that I've got to crop - they will turn into favorite tomorrow.

Yes, Sandy, There is Intrigue in Rural N.america

2008-07-23T21:11:00.007-03:00

Last night after the boys had fallen asleep, I looked over at the computer, sighed and decided, No – I don’t really have anything to blog about today. I hadn’t really taken any new pics to post and, while it was an awesome day - Ryan and I had a lunch date where the Meduxnekeag and St.John Rivers meet - I just thought, gee, maybe life is slower here in rural N.America and maybe I won’t do as much blogging.

BOY WAS I WRONG! And thank g-d, too. Today was a day filled up with event and incident including an up-close and personal brush with celebrity, royalty, even!

Today was our 2nd visit to the weekly story time at the Woodstock Library. Gail, Ivo, Burl and I were treated to special guest story-reader, Miss New Brunswick. No, I’m NOT joking! There she sat, in the flesh, in her crown, in her sash and in her super high heels! It was almost too much. This Miss NB 2007-2008 is named Jenna, she hails from Woodstock and is entering her sophomore year at UNB. She was sweet with the kids and friendly in the ways people who make public appearances for a living are. She was generous with the picture taking – but neither Ivo nor Burl were in the mood to be part of such group shots…

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The library kid program is great!!! Each week the kids get to hear stories and do crafts around a theme. This week was spiders - with a princess/crown craft and book tacked on at the end to mesh with the gracious Miss NB.

Ivo made a beautiful spider and web with Grammie Gail but had had it by the time of the crown craft which Burl went for. The kids checked out 4 books including Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise.

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Afterwards, we saw Miss NB at a local health store picking up lunch. Again, very friendly but sashless, tho we all knew who she was. We said hi’s/bye’s and got to the car where Gail asked me if she’d/we’d/anybody’d paid for the paper I had grabbed. I guessed not as the name of the paper is Carleton FREE PRESS, it’s offered just beyond the registers and it definitely looks like the kind of local-ad-driven rag published in so many small towns. In fact, Ryan had seen the Carleton FREE PRESS yesterday at an Irving gas-n-go (we were looking all over for a lollipop to bring Ivo) – and thought it looked too crappy to bother with - even if it was free. So, No – no one had paid for the paper.

I ran back inside and had to wait behind 3 people – and face Miss NB again, this time as a thief and I think we’d both tapped out our small-talk reserves. With accounts settled, I hopped back in the car (I’m the driver cuz I’m learning the roads). And who was pulling out in her silver vw bug with the JENZ vanity plates? That’s right – Miss Jenna NB. I don’t know what to say first… This silver vw is a flashy vehicle – and the vanity plates seal the deal. There’s absolutely no mistaking that JENZ passed Ryan and me, crossing a double yellow line on a quiet two-lane country hiway yesterday at a silly speed.

Now, Woodstock is a town of around 5000 people. It’s definitely the kinda place where you know who’s where by the presence/absence of their cars. It’s the kinda town where pubs have blackened windows so you can’t see who’s in there drinking – even tho you can see their vehicles right out front. I’m not even in town that often and I’ve identified the driver of the one black Cadillac Escalade by face and vehicle.

But, it’s not like Miss NB has had the smoothest reign – oh yes, there has been controversy. Miss NB had to fight for her crown – and it wasn’t pretty.

And come to find out – the unfortunatley-monikered Carleton FREE PRESS is all scandalicious too!

Game on!

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Ivo, Burl, Gail and I took our snack down to the river for a mini-picnic and play.

When we got home we went over to see the cows and on our home, we got caught trespassing thru Nancy and Jerry's yard, so we got to go in and Ivo brought over the cheesecake he and Grammie made to share. YUM!

Here are a few sites to read about Woodstock, the oldest incorporated town in NB - settled by loyalists who fled the US revolution, hee hee hee!!!

Ivo Dance & Funnyface Burl

2008-07-23T20:23:00.003-03:00

We've had an excellent excellent day! Ivo even learned a dance from Capt Honeyface from Wordgirl... Click here for video of Ivo:) Click here for a video if Wordgirl being interviewed by Jim Lehrer

Oh - It's not Capt Honeyface - it's Huggyface - which I don't think is the way Ivo said it - and I don't think it's as good as Honeyface...

Which reminds me of another misheard piece of creative genius... "Guy Midnight" from Forest City...

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Burl has been making a very funny face lately. He does it on purpose to make us laugh, to show he thinks something is silly and/or when we ask him to! It looks like this...

And reminds me the funny face he made back in Oct/Nov 2007!

This is Ivo's current funnyface...

Ivo and Burl's Almost Favorite Activity

2008-07-21T22:16:00.005-03:00

Ivo and Burl love throwing rocks into the lake - almost as much as they have ever loved anything ever in their lives, combined...

Ivo loved riding in the canoe. Burl did not - but that may be because he thought he was gonna get to paddle all by himself.

Bonus pics of Ivo, Burl and Grampie Doug:)

Ivo Casting - Quick Shutter

2008-07-21T21:40:00.004-03:00

Ivo's pretty cool:)

Last Night's Awesome Sunset

2008-07-21T20:22:00.005-03:00

awesome

The sunset that Ivo and Burl slept through while Doug, Gail, Ryan and I played scrabble. Doug won both games. Boys slept til 9am-ish. Whaa - heaven!

Ivo has taken to the water and Burl has taken to the shore. They both LOVE playing outside all day, ducks, sand, boats. When Ivo saw a mama duck and several baby ducks marching down the gravel path he said, "I didn't know ducks could walk!"

Ivo continues to improve his casting - he's amazing! And Burly is almost there too!

A couple More Vids

2008-07-20T20:57:00.007-03:00

And my attempt at live blogging...

Ryan and I just ran out to see the BEAUTIFUL sunset and take a pic...

I just changed the date/time on the computer so... so what I just posted the AAAHHH biz will say tomorrow, Monday, but it's really Sunday.

I forgot to mention, Ivo and Burl are also riding Grampie Doug's tractor.

Here's Ivo fishing.

Doug, Gail, Ryan and I are playing scrabble in real time - it's a battle b/w Ryan and me for last place... but I'm LOVING it! Boys are sleeping!!! No one is hanging on me!!! I'm having some wine!!!

Now in Game 2 - I'm in 2nd place and some folks are shooting off fireworks down by, yes, Sandy Beach!!!

Ivo & Burl Making Faces

2008-07-20T19:10:00.002-03:00

Ivo and Burl yelling over drinks...

As for the video, I was gonna call it "Genius Training Camp!"

We are blogging from Grand Lake - which straddles the US-Canada border. The boys have been canoe-ing, swimming, fishing, rock-throwing and Ivo's even been kayaking with Ryan.

Yay - such fun. And get this, both boys are sleeping, in their own beds and its not even 8pm. I can't say much more cuz I don't wanna jinx the situation:)

ThingsYou Can't Plan Around

2008-07-18T07:38:00.006-03:00

Pics from Connell Park...

When you move from Asian Urban Tropics to N.American Rural Temperate, there's a big change in air quality. Everything is different about what we're breathing and it's affecting our noses and skin quite a bit. It's like how smokers don'tmind the pollution in Taiwan as much as nonsmokers and how when you quit smoking, you cough more and feel worse. Here, in N.america, my nose has been killing me - so dry, so uncomfortable... And after a week, not abating, so I went to the store and got some Secaris. I've used it for Burl too, cuz he seems to have similar issues as I've got.

Burl's been saying: up, down, no-no-no (with a wagging finger). He's been pointing like crazy - communicating up a storm. He wants to hear everyone's names including his own, often pointing to Grammie Gail, then himself, then Ivo, then himself, then Ryan, then back to Burl. He giggles. He points to yogurt when he has an apple to tell us he wants a bowl of yogurt for dipping.

Ivo's starting to say "may i..." and "it not working out." He and Burly got fishing poles the other day and Ivo can already cast and wind up his line. He's reading about 3 books a night in his bed before falling asleep.

We are starting Burl in his own bed for at least a few hours a night. Very exciting. Both boys are eating great and lots!

I'm so tired. More soon.

Oh yea, Ryan bought a car today!!! We will be taking a poll to see what color people think it is - Ryan says gray, Doug says tan/mauve.

Ivo Playing Hide and Seek

2008-07-15T06:26:00.002-03:00

In Grammie and Grampie's yard at the big willow tree!

If not embedded - click here:)

Bedside Bloggin' Back On!

2008-07-14T22:01:00.005-03:00

Moving was and still is exhausting! During the run-up to the BIG MOVE, Ryan and I had been comforting ourselves by saying "once we get on the plane, the hard work will be over..." Well, weren't we a little deluded in our self-talk! We had 7 checked bags and 4 carry-ons, plus a stroller - and Burl and Ivo. This would have been do-able if some of us pitched in and carried their weight - I'm looking at you, Ivo and Burl!

Let's just say this, even though it offers shuttle service from the train station to the airport, do not expect Taiwan's High Speed Rail stations to have carts available. Neither are there porters. Our friend Nick was just returning from Taipei and he tried to help us but the HSR staff - seeing our pathetic and impossible situation - wouldn't let him. The staff must be carefully instructed NOT to help women and children and that under no circumstances should an employee of THSR tap into his/her humanity and carry a passenger's bag. An agent told us that, "Carts were unsuitable for train stations." We ended up taking 2 cabs up to the airport.

The trip was SO LONG - 44 hours give or take. Burl and Ivo were EXCELLENT - they slept during most of each flight - in fact, their eyes closed simultaneously just after take-off on all three legs of our journey. However, we could have used a sheepdog to corral them in during our waits at the airports and the boys were a little ungainly- like lumpy moving luggage - during line-standing. We endured several delays, including being detained at immigration for 2-1/2 hours and missing a connecting flight due to a delay out of Vancouver.

But YAY! We arrived in Fredericton after 1am on Wednesday 7/9. Home by 3am. In bed by... 6am.

Ivo and Burl are serious about their jet lag! Up at 3am every day but today...

It is now just about 4:30am on Tuesday and everyone is sleeping - except me - that's a big improvement! -I spoke too soon, Burl's up!

Here are a few pics from the plane. Ivo's hair went completely straight on the first plane! He's since had a haircut.

And some of the best shots so far...

Pics from our pre-dawn walks - we've been up before the cows!

I'm surprised it took me so long to post. Even with all the wonderful Doug and Gail support, I just couldn't find time or energy to blog or use the computer at all. We're all adjusting and I'm looking forward to a little routine - like day/night differentiation! The first few days, Ivo asked, "What is dis, bweakfast?" at evening meals.

And before I forget, Burl has really leapt forward in his communication and personality (not that he wasn't charming before)! It's almost like his Taiwan environs were too small spaces for him in and now he's got ROOM to grow and kick his development into overdrive! He's opening doors, wagging his finger and saying a perfect "NO." He spends at least half his day outside in grass and the sandbox Grampie Doug made... Sooo great:)

Fishing with (same-aged) cousins Landon and Eric!!!

More soon. Including details on our most excellent living quarters!

As ever, click on pics to see a bigger version.

Honey-Do List

2008-07-06T21:17:00.002-03:00

Take Burl to dr (who's been out of town for the last 2 weeks!!) to check Burl's mystery rash which appeared yesterday - and to translate immunization records
Go to phone company and settle up - we are owed a substantial deposit
Buy diapers
Pick up oredered contacts this afternoon
Wait for garbage truck and DSL to come this morning
Run ungarbage-able garbage to Kevin's house
Assist Karin moving a few things out of our house
Ryan goes to bank to change MORE change
Fine-tune/finish packing and tie ribbons onto our bags
Get in taxi to High Speed Rail to Taoyuan, take shuttle to airport, rigmarole, sit on plane
Yay!

Hanging in There

2008-07-05T09:34:00.002-03:00

Maybe the magic of acupuncture can be delayed...

While lying on my belly with 10 needles stuck into my back, I started preparing a lovesong to acupuncture that I’d serve up as a post. I was musing about how everytime I go, I learn something new. I only go for physical discomfort related to muscle tightness and/or realignment issues. Taiwanese people go if they’ve got a cold or, as I learned today, if they’re 10 year old constipated girls. While my needles were doing their work, the doctor brought in the next patient and her parents. There was a lot to digest, so to speak, as I floated in endorphins of appreciation, thinking, “wow, Taiwan, nothing like it (except China) –we’ve had a good run, I’ve learned so much yet I know nothing…”

Somewhere during my musing, I fell asleep and dreamt of Angelina Jolie, whom – to be fair, I had just been reading an article about in the VF I haven’t had a chance to look at. I woke up confused and stupider. I left the office in more pain – constant and sharp, whereas before it had only been related to several moves I do, like bending down and picking up people or things.

Dang.

We leave the day after tomorrow and everything is fine fine fine.

No pics today – but as a break from the tedium of preparing to move, the boys and I went to the science museum for probably the last time. And all of us ate a big lunch at chili’s – also probably for the last time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++This has nothing to do with me or moving – but friends have been discussing boils (hard to leave, hard to leave!!!) – I think this may be of interest to people who like kinda gross medical stuff.

Ivo and Burl in the Garden

2008-07-02T11:56:00.003-03:00

Here are the boys playing in our garden yesteday afternoon.

Everything is going going going. I'm stressed out but not at all worried. Also exhausted with moments of extreme happiness.

Today Ryan did the leg work and rigmarole involved in selling the car - YAY!

Ivo, Burl, Ryan and I went to see Kungfu Panda today at Mitsukoshi. It was FUN and left me wondering how many movies have used the song "Kungfu Fighting."

That's all for now.

Click here for a video of Ivo playing in the pool. I tell him that he's hilarious - to which he agrees,"Yes, I am!"

BBCute Pt 4

2008-07-01T20:27:00.002-03:00

Burly on the green!!!

BBCute Pt 3

2008-07-01T20:08:00.004-03:00

Tessa stands!

Playing with Hei-ji - these are a little fuzzy - but still hilarious!

BBCute Pt. 2

2008-07-01T19:37:00.006-03:00

Cuz Burl's first 2 names start with B, I often call him BB-Cute - cuz he's BB and very cute.

Here are more pics from Sunday:)

Some are likely to be repeats cuz that's how my brain is operating.

BBCute Part 1

2008-06-30T06:44:00.005-03:00

On Sunday we went to a BEAUTIFUL golf course in Ching Shui for a bye-bye BBQ - it was awesome! And - all Ryan and I had to do was show up! Thank you, thank you everybody! Especially thank you Karin who organized the whole thing and bbq'd it up!!!

We were on a practice hole across an access road (no cars allowed) from the actual course itself. Lots of guys brought clubs and went everyone wasable to go back and forth.

Some of the hi-lites (off the top of my weary head - WARNING - there's one bad word)

Mary's dog, Hei-ji, eats cucumbers and tomatoes

At the end of the night, Ning-ning asked Ivo to lai wo jia/go to her house

Ivo LOVES Steve and Australian football

When the one errant golf ball bounced just over Pete's head, he was eating salad and said, "I'm just trying to eat a salad, getting my fag on... That's it, I'll never eat salad again!"

Picture where Karin looks quite like Rosie the Riveter

Burly at 16 Months!

2008-06-28T21:01:00.007-03:00

Yesterday Burl clocked in at 4 months and 1 year! Wow!

In the morning, we recycled ourselves silly and ran errands - including a trip to the jade market - where no jade was bought but some scrolls were.

In the afternoon, we took Ryan to the brewery in Wu Er to have a farewell with some friends. The boys and I went to the Science Museum Park and had some K2 ice cream. And Karin came to meet us. Burl had 2 spoons going. He doesn't even like ice cream -but he's not about to miss out on having his own bowl... Everytime he has a bite of ice cream, he gives me alook like I'm crazy and what do I mean by feeding him such stuff!

The boys got to play in the water - they attracted quite a crowd. Burl got to run around without pants. We walked the whole park - I think the Science Museum has the most beautiful park in Taichung.

Burl and Mirrors

2008-06-27T22:28:00.004-03:00

We only have a couple mirrors in the house and Burl has access to none of them. So, he takes to mirrors like an Amish kid takes to flush toilets!

Videos aren't embedding again - click here to see 36 hilarious seconds of Burl playing hide n seek with his mirror image:)

Ivo n Burl on Tea Street

2008-06-27T11:57:00.004-03:00

Thursday, 26 June with Ryan. Had to eat, had to run around...

Monday, 23 June. Burl and I went to pick up my repaired phone and then took a little walk on Tea Street. We ran into Steve and Haili!

Ivo and Burl at the Gong Yi - Chung Ming Nan Park

2008-06-27T10:39:00.007-03:00

This is the shadiest park I could think of on Thursday. Ivo, Burl and I stayed out of the house, boxes and half-packed stuff all morning so that when the movers came the boys would be tired - and out of the way. It worked perfectly!

Ivo even took a nap - his first in weeks...

However, later, say 10pm, Burl and I had fallen asleep, but Ivo was wide awake. I remember him telling me he had to go poo-poo. I think I said, Ok - go... Ryan was out with some friends. I continued sleeping. When Ryan got home he found Ivo sleeping on the toilet! It seems Ivo had been waiting for someone to come wipe his bum bum... I really wish he'd come up and told me he needed help... Poor guy:(

Bad bad mama!

In my defense, I'm gonna claim, that Burl was nursing. Also, I haven't slept well for a couple weeks and was finally exhausted and... I had no idea - I was finally sleeping... Who goes poop at 10pm?

After the park, we went to the N1ke outlet to get some shoes for Ivo - these pics are from the arcade just outside. You can see Ivo's shoes.

Album Cover

2008-06-27T10:33:00.002-03:00

Some pictures just scream "cover art" to me...

Aiya - Exciting and Twisting

2008-06-25T11:16:00.005-03:00

blah blah blah packing... blah blah blah kids-not-going-to-school-cuz-of-enterovirus...

Leaving in 12 days

Movers come tomorrow

Ryan taught his last class today - Thurs and Fri, he'll be monitoring exams.

Yesterday, Ivo, Burl & I went to toyz r us to celebrate Ivo's 3-1/2 birthday! It was FUN. We had lunch with Karin at Earlybird. Ivo got a Ltning McQueen car that he can take apart and change-up. Burl got a Mr Potatohead. Both guys played with their new toys (the majority of their other toys have vanished) for an hour straight. Burl really got that this was his toy. They were both very serious and happy about them!

Karin babysat boys today and when I left Burl ran to the door waving, saying "bye bye" and gave me a kiss!

I can't think anymore. Night night:)

Video - Burl at toy store...

Quickly...quickly...

2008-06-23T11:52:00.010-03:00

click on pics to make bigger

We got a lot packed this weekend. About 20 pieces. Here the boys are playing amongst the overflow - most is stored in our pantry and in Grammie Gail's room.

Ivo is stressed out by the packing - poor guy. He's said "I just WANT my TOYS at my HOME!" in a kinda hopeless way. His mood and behavior are UP and DOWN. Plus his schedule has changed cuz he's not going to school his usual 3 days/week... He's holding up well but definitely cracking.

We're trying to spend time with him NOT packing, prepping or talking about it. Tomorrow's his half bday and we're gonna make a cake and go to the toy store. I'd promised myself/him we'd do something real this year because his half-birthday got pushed aside last year when we lost Patty - and instead, he's getting more gipped- cuz what he'd like is a party - but that's not possible with enterovirus and packing. Next year in Jerusalem! -I mean Fredericton!

On Sunday, we went to the baseball place - Ryan got a jersey and the kids got to play, play, play!

Drums.

Whack-a-mole.

Basketball.

And Burl's favorite by a long way, ten-pins.

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We went to Spoon for dinner - Ivo got an oreo milkshake (which I found in the fridge today and mistook for do jiang... messy). Ivo got to water Karin's plants on the way.

Karin babysat today and will on Wednesday - such a wonderful help so we don't have to take the boys to school. Yay! Thank you thank you!

Bananas!

Misty Water Colored Memories

2008-06-21T02:03:00.007-03:00

Pics from the first Father's Day of the year (Taiwan's is 8/8- also Ryan and my anniversary).

We had a nice time in Chunghua at our last MacLeod bbq (more pics soon).

On our way, we took a nostalgia-detour through our old 'hood.

This is where Ryan and I met on July 31, 1998. At the time it was called New York Pub -when the kids start dating, it will be referred to as "the library..."

This is the police station where Ryan and my brother Berton spent the night being interrogated by several drunk, gun-wielding cops for having a stolen scooter!

Traffic around the Baguashan Gate.

Enterovirus 71 Avoision Plans

2008-06-19T11:41:00.005-03:00

Yes, avoision!

How’s it going in enterovirus-ville?

Well, it’s going ok.

It’s not 100% convenient keeping the boys home from daycare – but we’re doing it. Any lingering doubts as to whether we are over-reacting were banished when our friend called up this morning to say her son’s class at Wagor has been closed for ten days due to enterovirus. Oh, and, so, by the way, he’ll be going to Baby World during that time. She didn’t want me to worry.

Now, as I mentioned last time I wrote about EV71, I’m not a doctor, nor am I a scientist, so, please, please, please correct me if I’m misunderstanding something. I just assumed that suspending classes is intended to halt the spread of a disease by keeping the exposed children HOME. Is it really ok to plop a kid whose class has been closed due to enterovirus into a whole different school with all different kids? My gut says no, my brain says no. My guts and brain also agree that my friend is not the only one doing this.

My other area of uncertainty regards definitive diagnosis of EV71, especially in light of its 3-7 day incubation period. As far as I understand, in part because the disease plays out differently from case to case, diagnosis requires lab testing, the results of which take day(s) to receive. So is it really possible to definitively say that a 3-1/2 year old who has been in a xiao ban class with other same-aged kids, who all eat and sleep - not only together - but in the same space, in a classroom adjacent to a bathroom where toilet paper is put into garbage cans, isn’t carrying the virus? Each classmate of an infected student must be seen by a dr every day for a week. So they’re all going to a public place with sick people, thereby increasing their chances of exposure, everyday to be visually assessed? How do drs make their determinations? I don’t get it.

But I’m not a doctor.

Here is EV71 news:
· Articles from a search on Taiwanheadlines.com
· From today’s China Post, 204 enterovirus infections confirmed this year: CDC

Here is some EV71 background:
· From the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Evaluation of Different Clinical Sample Types in Diagnosis of Human Enterovirus 71-Associated Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease
· The Enterovirus – Non-Polio entry from WHO
· According to the Swiss,

Clinical presentation: After an incubation period of 3 to 7 days, symptoms
start with fever, and general malaise. After 2 days, this is followed by the
development of sores (blisters, ulcers) on the tongue, gums and inside the
cheeks and a skin rash on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
Symptoms usually disappear after a week to 10 days. Young children are the most
affected. A large proportion, more than two thirds of enterovirus 71 infected
cases remain asymptomatic. While enterovirus 71 infections are most frequently
self-limited febrile diseases, they may cause severe neurological disease,
including viral (aseptic) meningitis, encephalitis or acute flaccid paralysis.
As illustrated during a recent large outbreak in Taiwan, death may occur, mainly
in children below three years, as well as long-term neurological
sequelae.

Transmission modes: Enterovirus 71 is mainly transmitted through direct
contact with nose and throat discharges, fluid from the blisters, saliva or
through faeco-oral route. In case of respiratory illness, transmission through
droplets may also occur. There is no evidence of food- or water-borne
transmission

Pics of Burl at my school yesterday – You can see him wearing both pairs of his new shoes as well as playing with the dowel I took away... Click on pics to make them BIGGER.

Burly Talks

2008-06-18T22:19:00.002-03:00

With outstretched arms, Burl said, "BAO BAO!" clearly, for the first time on Monday, June 16th.

The next day, he said "BYE-BYE" using words and waves (he''s been waving bye-bye for months).

And he's saying a very clear, very excited, perfect "MAMA!" and "DADA!" when he sees us.

Burl can and will accurately point to pictures of dogs, zebras, elephants, tigers, balls, flowers, trees and cars when asked, “Where is…”

Burl got new shoes which he loves.

Burl has started to tell us he wants his diaper changed! It’s pretty cute. He goes up to Ryan or me pulling on his diaper, we ask if he wants a new one, to which Burl nods solemnly. He then goes and lies down by himself to be changed! This is not poop-related.

Burl imitates whatever he can. Yesterday while Burl was with me for 4 hours at school he screamed at me when I took a dowel away. He then ran over and hit me. This is EXACTLY what Ivo does (now) when he’s in a rage – and Ivo didn’t start that til he was in his 3’s

On the upside, I’m hoping Burl’s imitating passion makes toilet training a breeze:)

Ivo at Work

2008-06-18T21:49:00.003-03:00

Ivo Overheard:

“Look at me – I a balloon-head!”
“How we talk?” We use our brain to choose what we want to say and our brain tells our vocal chords and mouths what to do. “What dat mean? - - TELL ME!”
Ivo is VERY interested in bodies, what's in 'em and how they work. When we paid the guard at the parking lot, Ivo asked, “What in him?” Bones – a skelton, muscles, blood, a heart, lungs…(Ivo thought for a few seconds, “…What in English people?”
Upon being asked to fetch something, "I can't, I'm busy." or "I can't, I'm dwunk." Huh?

Flies in the Ointment - UPDATED (and spell checked)

2008-06-18T00:19:00.009-03:00

Every year (an) enterovirus hits Taiwan.

Most years, the predominant strain is Coxsackie -A, not super dangerous, just makes you sick in a Hand Foot Mouth disease way.

Most years, there are a handful of cases of a more serious strain, resulting in a couple deaths.

1998 was a record breaker for infections and deaths associated with the more virulent strain.

2008 is shaping up to be the same. EV71 is on the rise in China as well. Most people believe that the numbers are under-reported.

Already 8 kids have died and there are several hundred cases all over the island. Taipei City has closed 113 kindies, daycares and 1-2 grade classes. Taipei County has closed an additional couple dozen. The government of Taiwan has closed all public play spaces for kids 5 years old and younger.

I'm not a scientist or a doctor but having lived in Asia for 10 years through several epidemics (enterovirus and SARS and avian flues), I've seen first hand how/why contagions spread; bad hygiene and under-reporting. Washing hands with soap in warm water is the exception, every time, including at restaurants, markets, schools and hospitals. And, even though it's illegal, it's culturally normative to cover-up cases of disease to save face, money, lessen anxiety.

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Ivo is going to spend the afternoon at Ryan's high school, in the teacher's office, watching videos, playing computer games, practicing writing his abc's and drawing pictures. Burl is coming with me to school. Burl is less of a sit-down and do busy work kinda guy, but, it is what it is. I am giving final tests in both classes. One class will have time after the test to compile all their essays in a bound volume. I think that I can keep Burl from being too miserable, distructive or distracting. I hope.

We haven't asked if this is ok - but we guess we aren't gonna be fired! There are 2 weeks left of school. I'm finished on the 27th. Ryan proctors tests next week, I think we can get away with only taking the kids with us 2 more times after today.

This throws a HUGE wrench into our packing plans. The boys have been going to school on Thurs afternoons, so I can get stuff done and we were gonna send them all day Friday to pack. But, of course, it would be a lot more disruptive if any of us required hospitalization.

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MOVERS COMING NEXT THURSDAY JULY 26TH!

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2 links: (forumosa links didn't link - but maybe it's fixed now)

IMMIGRATION PAPERS IN DA MAIL!!!!

2008-06-13T12:04:00.004-03:00

YAY!!!

YIPPEE!!!

YAHOO!!!

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Now we just have to finish packing up the house, wrap-up the semester work, and get on the plane.

Easy.

Pics from Thursday/yesterday.

Mind A-gog, Head A-hurt, Lotsa Do

2008-06-12T02:01:00.005-03:00

Computer's been a little uncooperative when I have time and inclination to post - boo hoo. It's been dropping wireless connection while I've been uploading pics. Things are outta control.

In a few minutes, I'll be taking Ivo and Burl to school, exchanging a cell phone, and HOPEFULLY FINISHING MY IMMIGRATION PAPERS, g-d dammit! I mean that in a take-back-the-night, whoo-hoo way. But, man, someday I'll detail some of the questions ("did you have an engagement party? If not, explain why not. Use additional sheets of paper as necessary.")

Tomorrow, Ivo and Burl will go to school all day so Ryan and I can review each other's paperwork and finally SEND IT! Fingers are crossed because, every deadline we've set for ourselves, has come and gone. We are quite capable of doing it - but it's just - juggling.

AFTER THE PAPERWORK IS OUTTA THE HOUSE, I will be able to nail down the shipping estimates and set a date for our stuff to GO! I can't do that right now.

I can't mourn either, but I've gotta plan I'm satisfied with for doing a new eulogy, later, after paperwork and shipping.

Ahh!

Also, I have many draft emails in my box, waiting to be finished and sent. That ain't happening til later neither:)

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Otherwise everything is excellent.

Yikes! 4 Weeks Left...

2008-06-08T10:49:00.005-03:00

CRAZY.

BITTERSWEET.

SCARY.

EXCITING.

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So, we are packing now in a way that is noticable to Ivo. Tonight he asked, "What you doing my toys?"

We don't want to freak Ivo out. So far, we are playing up the positives; what we are doing, where we are going. We aren't delving into the negatives; leaving our house forever, leaving our friends, and Taiwan forever. We keep saying that we are sending our stuff to Grammie Gail's house so that when we go there, we will have our toys and books.

I think it'll be ok.

I think it'll be great.

Tonight while I was trying to de-mold the stroller and cook dinner, Ivo was kinda naughty and wouldn't leave-me-alone-for-a-second. I told him he was driving me crazy and he told me, "You driving me sad." I almost cried.

He tortured Burl every chance he got and finally decided to read a book. Yay, but no, he decided for me to read him a book. I told him he could look at the book by himself to which he said, "I can't make da words."

Pics of the boys at D-man's house yesterday after swimming. Burl is wearing an awesome shirt made by our dear friend Cuyler!

Two Cute!

2008-06-08T10:15:00.005-03:00

Ivo & Burl got to try out their new swimsuits at Dylan's pool yesterday!

Sooo fun. They loved it. Burl preferred sitting on the edge with his feet dipped in while Ivo was all-in - well, all-in except for his head. Ivo was delighted by the kickboards, believing them to be surf boards. He went around declaring "I'm Cody Maverick. I'm surfing!"

By far, Dylan was the most water friendly, climbing out-jumping in over and over!

Looking at the pics, the swimsuits seem a little much. And I'm not sure that if they lost their footing, they'd be able to right themselves with the massive amount of built-in flotation foam. I'm thinking that these swimsuits might be more dangerous than not in a wading pool. But, no problem, cuz the boys will soon be swimming in Grand Lake - where they can't touch the bottom - and floating will be a big plus:)

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This morning Burl, Ivo and I went to the new fancy-schmancy eslite bookstore. Wow! The whole place had a Taipei feel to me -and that building used to be sooo low-rent. I hadn't brought the camera - boo-hoo... There was a full-on multiple couple doggie-wedding! SILLY! FUN!!!

Despite All My Rage...

2008-06-06T12:41:00.003-03:00

Bidness and Street

2008-06-06T11:46:00.005-03:00

I have been to 3 different *bux this week. Ivo & Burl, 2.

We met Donna and talked about shipping stuff to Halifax on Wednesday.

On Thursday, we met Mary & Karin at the newest 'bux, where Ivo, Burl & Hei-ji got to run around.

Today, as Rayne & I were walking to the Da Ye 'bux, an ad truck with Baby Olivia (now 4 years old) drove right past us!

Pics n self-incriminating wishes

2008-06-04T11:10:00.004-03:00

I'm feeling sick and squirmy thinking about this time last year. I don't know what I'm supposed to do or feel... I don't know if I should...

yea, I just don't know.

I want to write and record a new eulogy... I need to make time and not just half-compose things in my head while driving around.

Just about this time last year Patty entered hospice. I wish they would update their "We celebrate the lives of page..." It feels awful to complain about such an incredible place and it seems like a stupid wish to have/enunciate when I'm full ONLY of wishes... and when what I really really wish is that Patty could have been happy and healthy and, duh, alive.

Gotto go.

Pics of my sweet boys from 31 May.

A Real Head-Scratcher

2008-06-03T09:45:00.009-03:00

Ivo asks all the time, "What I thinkin'?"

Other times, he wants to know, "What I want?"

Like all things Ivo, it's cute, though he WILL interrupt to ask these urgent questions, which makes talking to Ryan about all-the-stuff-we-have-to-do-before-we-move-to-another-continent just a little tough. We're teaching Ivo to wait his turn and if it's really important to say, "excuse me,..." So now, there's a lot of "EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME! MOM, MOM, MOM! STOP TALKING!" Yes, Ivo? "Um... What I thinkin'?"

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Today Ivo, Burl and I met Tessa and Alison at Mitsukoshi for a fancy (dry, pay-to-play) play. It's been raining for more than a week and the forecast is rain through next week. Hard to get your play on under these circumstances.

There were a couple kids whom Ivo didn't get along with at the play space. As his mother, I'm pretty sure it was the other kids who were being jerkies. 2 little girls with perms wouldn't let Ivo use the kitchen stuff - even though he'd been there first, making coffee and rice and such. Later, another, younger kid kept knocking down the block towers Ivo was making. Ivo kept telling him NO! but the kid was persistent. Totally flummoxed, Ivo shouted, "YOU, DAMMIT!" The kid was unfazed. Ivo turned the tables and went on the offensive, knocking down the kid's tower attempts.

Obviously I don't think I interfere too much - but I do make my presence known and I do engage. I think the idea that kids should work stuff out themselves has a time and place but that it is not absolute - it's not a commandment. I think our job is to model and teach social skills. Letting kids work it out themselves results in a lot of bullying and cruelty in my experience. And while the world may be running on a grabby-might-is-right platform, I think humans can act and should expect better. I also want Ivo and Burl to know I am their advocate and that they are so so so worth advocating for. I believe this will help them develop the gumption to stick up for themselves.

So I told the girls that we are all here to play together - which they ignored. I then went more direct and told one of them to move over when she was intentionally blocking Ivo from putting his rice in the oven. This was after watching Ivo try on his own initiative, encouraging him to keep trying and seeing him ignored.

My interference with the blocks went the other way. I tried to talk Ivo into leaving the kid alone and playing something else - which he did - after a few more knock-downs.

Burl had a GREAT time! He finally seems like himself again - since last week's tonsillitis.
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We are moving in 4 weeks and 6 days. EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Someone PLEASE buy our car!!!

Things are fine, good - just a little stressful.