videos from the past month

the vids finally posted - I'd changed my screen name or something like that...

they're all pretty short but may take a minute or two to download...

when i click them on the site, they come down in quicktime - when i just watch them from my files, they come down in real player...

both seem equally good...

kiss mama

kiss mama

Watch the video

Ivo is just getting the idea of kiss!

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by honeybees with a No license (All rights reserved) license.

ivo roll and jump

ivo roll and jump

Watch the video

ivo's half birthday involved s lot of this!

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by honeybees with a No license (All rights reserved) license.

teething and teletubbies

teething and teletubbies

Watch the video

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by honeybees with a No license (All rights reserved) license.

giggle getaway

giggle getaway

Watch the video

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by honeybees with a No license (All rights reserved) license.

blip tv

Jeez! every video i post at blip tv - posts only at blip tv!!!! I always check the crosspost to honeybees box - but they aren't coming thru!

boo hoo! i think i figured out why... seeing ifi can fix it...

hopefully there will soon be 4 or 5 vids up...

Ivo's Half Birthday Bash

Ivo celebrated his 1-1/2 bday by playing with Papa and Mama all day!

His current favorite activity is climbing up and jumping off the couch - repeatedly. Because of the tatamis and the condition of our furniture - it's not much more than a foot-fall... He announces his intentions but to keep it interesting he switches the timing of take-off from one jump to the next. Sometimes on "yi", sometimes "er", sometimes "wu" or anywhere in between.

He likes it best when he lands on his feet!

Ivo got a potty training book with a hilarious flushing sound effect and cute baseball t-shirt from grammie and grampie. Lucky guy!

nude-y body

Ivo can count!

Kevin and Kaia came to visit!! Kaia will be 1 in a month.

This is what Ivo looks like the split second after throwing a ball!!


Last night Ivo put blocks into a cup saying "yi, er, wu" over and over! He has long narrated his movements and stair climbing. But last night there was a clear correlation between one block and one number. Granted, he is saying 1,2,5... but still!

It's a long way from his first "word": "de-du". Infact, we didn't even consider that his first word since we'd never heard anyone but Ivo use it. His official first word, for all those keeping score, was "wow" at 15 months.

Furniture switch pics 2

This is the den/computer room! Now featuring Ivo-friendly play area!

The sofa that was here has been moved into the old fishtank spot.

117 to 100

It's old news - due to the girl-unfriendly combo of China's one-child policy and traditional preference for boys - by 2020, China will be short 40 million women...

This came up in conversation recently - but i can't remember w whom... However, i had a hard time convincing the guy that this was worse news for women/girls than for men... He argued that females would have the upperhand in demanding a worthy spouse. I argued that, girl-napping, rape and other violent crimes would increase.

Here's a quote from a BBC article,

"Women will face an even more terrible future in 20 years time. Abduction and trafficking of women will increase. So will prostitution, as well as sexual violence against women and rape. I think this problem really must be solved from the ground up"

The article is about suicide rates among Chinese women. Here's a cute Chinese saying, 'marrying a woman is like buying a horse: I can ride you and beat you whenever I like'.

father's day 2006

On Father's Day, we went to lunch at a restaurant called el cielo - or maybe just cielo... Yummy salmon cream sauce pasta and chicken rice curry. We ran into John and Petra who gave Ivo a peach - his first non-mashed one. He loved it!

After lunch we did a little shopping - Ivo got his papa some cool shirts and a pair of shorts. How will these new shorts affect the status of ryan's "weekend pants"? Only time will tell.

furniture remodeling

Yay! The fish tank was taken away on Friday 16 June! Ryan had emptied it about a month ago - he took the surviving fish back to the fish store. The pump has been unplugged and it's heaven - actually quiet - our street is quite quiet so there was no need to have the constant whirring of the fishtank to cover traffic. Also - the fish killed eachother and got sick - leaving us no choice but to watch them die... You can't take fish to the vet... and they don't stop wild-kingdoming when you scold them, tap on the tank or turn on and off the lights.

So, we got to rearrange all the downstairs furniture... We've moved the couch from the computer room into the living room and most of Ivo's toys into the computer room. Pictures soon. It's more comfortable and spacious. Every morning when Ivo goes downstairs, he says, oooh!'.

it keeps happening...

people keep asking me if i'm pregnant. at first, i let it go and just thought, 'uncouth.' But - it's starting to get to me.

i think it should just be a rule - tell yr friends - the question "are you pregnant?" - in any language, with or without hand gestures, should be reserved for use between people who are related by blood or marriage...

there is no reason to ask someone if she's pregnant...
there are dozens of reasons not to ask...

more soon - i'm too fat to think clearly!!!

cool chinese language sites

Thru pinyin.info I found Wenlin.com.

On the pinyin site you can read all about the background and current situation with romanization - and character simplification.

On the wenlin site, you can download a free demo version of software to help you study characters.

still raining in taiwan!

It's getting ridiculous - it is already... The street outside our house is green with algae or mold or whatever grows on wet streets...

Ivo's sleeping and i've got to wake him in about ten minutes so we can go to my class at the gym...

He's started to say "no no no no no" in a calm way - but full of will. If i try to help him with the computer mouse on the pbskids.org teletubbies site - "no no no no no" If I try to take away the cleaner he's just unpacked from the gracery bag...

He also throws stuff with deadly aim and force... He threw a travel clock at my elbow yesterday - it broke the skin and still hurts! I don't know how to make him stop - it's too fun. Yesterday I just screamed because it hurt so bad. That scared him. I've started to just say 'ow' or 'owie' - he can say these and knows what it means - so maybe that'll get to him... I hope.

The pics are from sunday brunch - june 11th - at fM. Ivo is playing w Adriaan.

taiwan rain

ivo's sleeping - had a BIG sunday

got up, went to the gym, played with friends and aquaintances...

then walked home, grabbed Papa and went to fM for brunch with 2 other almost 1-1/2 yr olds and our friends Helen and Tyler, Conan and Chyna...

Then because it's raining, we all came back to our house and played til Ivo actually fell asleep for an earlier than usual nap - even tho there were 100 other great things to do... and people to do those things with...

Ryan went to Fubar to see Kevin for a drink - Rayne wants to know if we wanna hang out because they're coming in to see a hockey game at - yes, Fubar... It's very wet.

it's getting harder and harder to believe any/everything that George W Bush does says... not just like he's a consummate liar - but, what the hell, we've got troops risking life and limb, dying, praying for him...it's like a shock, to find out that his chief priority is banning gay marriage...

really???

worst POTUS ever

taiwan still raining

3 weeks of solid everyday rain! lots of great places to go that aren't outside - but we miss playing outside and going for walks.

ivo and i spent all day yesterday cleaning and mold preventioning... it was fun. he's an enthusiastic worker and quite helpful!

Ivo has started fake-outs... First by offering Ryan a cookie or cracker, now with throwing balls. Ivo pretends he's gonna give you something and at the last minute, stops. He either eats it or holds it far away. It's funny.

This morning at breakfast, Ivo kept putting his fingers in his ears - seemed like he was investigation the effect on his hearing.

Speaking of hearing - we haven't heard the garbage/recycling trucks yet today - are they cancelled because of flooding?

ryan's half birthday!

ivo n i have prepared a pressie fr ryan...
we think he's trying to sneak a look and he keeps begging fr hints
hee hee hee

how can i still be so fat?

my idea of one year up one year down has not panned out the way i'd anticipated.

recent pictures of me show extra face - this is especially upsetting since i've been going to gym and working out 4 days/week for the past 2 months. Yes, sure, i feel great, but c'mon! I'm thinking i'll never fit into some of my pre-ivo clothes ever again... do i give them away?

does a mother reckon her baby's age in months because it's psychologically more palatable to say, 18 months than a year and a half?

Ivo, the sweetie, just woke up - he's nursing - we're in the bedroom on the laptop. my mom usedto tell me that when i started walking, i fell so much she wanted to get me a helmet - well, we're feeling that way with ivo's little noggin taking daily bumps... He's still coordinated - but he's just expanding his territory - horizontally and vertically - Everyday he can reach or climb on something he was previously not even aware existed!

This spring the 'plum rains' have been longer lasting tha ever in my time in Taiwan. It's been raining everyday for a couple weeks and the forecast promises more... i'm becoming obsessed with mold, mildew and their prevention.

must be growing at night

ivo definitely seems bigger today. we are fairly sure he grows -noticeably- while he's sleeping. this seems so strange but it must be true.

ivo can now answer the question, "where is ivo?"!!!! he points to his chest! yay!

When confronted with the sound of a yes/no question or a directive, he now answers "no" in a sweet sing-songy way.
"Do you want some ice-cream?" -"Nooooo"

He loves the teletubbies. when he wears his hand-me-down t-shirt from cousins Ally and Mikey, he proudly walks around pointing at them. Most exciting is at the gym, on yoyo tv from 9:20-9:30 there is a condensed teletubbies show - Ivo gets very excited pointing at his tubbies and the ones on tv.

He also says uh-oh meaning something fell or is a little dirty or out-of place. This is like how the teletubbies say "hello" - "eh-o." it's confusing - but he repeats.

Just got a call from the real estate agent - he's gonna come over and take more pics of the mold.
gotta go!
pics from june 1st - got the camera back!