Bathtub Burl!

Burl, on his own, in the big bathtub! (NO! Ivo doesn't wanna take a bath!!!!!!!!)

Last Night.

And Tonight.

Because of ... A little bit of careful-what-you-wish-for-ness...

More Real in Black & White





Throw!







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Wait for It!!!!

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Catch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







Miss!

Not What We Expected

Heather called up this morning to confer about whether or not to send Dylan to school cuz he'd had a fever last night. She'd taken him to the doctor this morning and Dylan's fever was brought down with medicine. Heather just wanted - to check - like a second opinion. Like I did a couple of weeks ago.

So, fine, fine, Dylan should go to school as long as he's not totally miserable or feverish and his parents would be on call to get him if the school called. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ivo, Burl and I joined Ryan around 8:30 in the family room to watch some baseball. The boys and I don't care as much about the National League as we do about the American League (GoTribe!) and also, we like to sleep - maybe a little more than we like to watch baseball... Maybe.

We all had a fun morning together. The typhoon is gone but the rain remains. So does the humidity, which I don't understand. After Ryan left the boys and I got our stuff together and headed out to the laundrymat and then school only to run into a little CAR TROUBLE. The a/c isn't working. That would be ok IF the defrost worked without the cold air but it doesn't and it never has. We paid 12,000nt back in July with the understanding that it would last a year. Soooo, hmmm. The problem is that the windows fog up immediately when it's raining outside (chemistry?). If I can't run the a/c, I have to have several windows down. But, the RAIN.

So, we made it to Baby World with me alternating windows, up and down. I had planned to go to the twai na Dr/chiropractor-with-qi, but instead I headed over to the mechanics. While aiyi was calling her husband, my phone rang - Baby World calling, IVO's got a fever, 38.1C.

Aiyi said she'd come get our car tomorrow. I headed back to Baby World to get the boys. Ivo was hot but not complaining. He was happy to see me and didn't object to coming with me but he seemed really confused.

We tried to go to the doctor but there was a huge line outside, pouring rain and I couldn't drive around looking for parking with the windows open and a feverish Ivo. At home, I gave Ivo some Motrin, fever hasn't come back. So far so good. We stayed home and Alison subbed for me.

Wouldn't it be awesome if this were our dr's office???? Well, it's not, but if the car thing turns ugly, I'll be taking our DEBACLE here!

Ivo Overheard:

• (After turning the dial on the microwave to 4 and being told how great that was) "Yea! I so pwoud a myself." (Neither Ryan nor I remember ever using the reflexive pronoun with proud, Ivo just knows how to put sentences together!!!)

This article from the BBC is really... good. I can't think/write why... just good:)

Democracy in a Chinese classroom

Ivo Inside







It's not his normal habit, to stay inside all day. Right now Ivo and Ryan are making construction paper bugs; ladybugs and spiders from what I hear. Burl is sleeping/nursing on my lap. It's raining but winds have calmed. For now.







A couple days ago Ivo created a new super hero: Tigerman! He runs/flies around roaring at people, he jumps on couches and spins through the air while mid-jump. Ivo is so interested in keeping straight which superhero goes with which mild mannered alter-ego. It's a lot of work. Ryan just got him some Batman cartoons, Ivo knew of Batman but had never heard of Bruce Banner* or Robin.







On Friday Ivo wanted to try on Burl's jean shorts. I said sure, figuring they wouldn't make it up/over/around his bum. Well, they did and Ivo insisted on wearing them the whole day. He wore them to school. As his diaper filled up (not so much an issue cuz, to our dismay, he barely drinks enough to keep a houseplant alive), the shorts got smaller and smaller. By night, he said they were too tight, asked for them to be taken off.







Ivo Overheard:

• (during Batman) "I like Robin." "What he name? I can't amember what he is..." Bruce Banner "Yes, he name Bwuce Banner."*




• "Ohhhh! I no need dat!!!! What Papa DOOO????" (noticing an ad during a show - blaming Ryan, who was upstairs, for having changed the station, I guess...)




• "I no need dat!!!!!" for all manner of food situations.




• "I white." "You white" I don't know where this comes from or what inspires Ivo to say this. I usually tell him he's right.




• "Burl, look, it's Tigerman!" "Ohhh! I not Tigerman! I Superman, da da da daaaa!"




• (handling a toy caterpillar, he asks himself) "What caterpillar change into? Butterfly. Change into butterfly." Can you say that in Chinese? "Hu die." (Chinese for butterfly)




• Spiderman/Superman a good guy. He help da people.
• "I have superpowers!" "I will use my superpowers! Pew pew pew!"

* Ryan pointed out that Bruce Banner goes with the Hulk. It's Bruce Wayne with Batman. See how tricky all these alter-egos are...

Gnats, Midges, Canadian Soldiers, June Bugs, Mayflies



Whatever they are... (GO TRIBE!) - it IS October!! We're all about baseball here.

This weekend has seen the strongest typhoon in a long time hit Taiwan - it even affected our fair city, unlike most typhoons of the last couple years. We've been lucky to hear/see crazy wind/rain without losing electricity, suffering flooding, tree-falls or landslides. So, baseball - lots of it - in our very tropical digs. Games seem to start around 5am and go til noon or one-ish. Ish. I don't really know.























On Friday the weather turned from days of unbelievably still and humid to a bit cooler with occasional gust-like wind. That was our first hint that there might be a typhoon in the area. Sure enough, the Central Weather Bureau had issued a warning for the north east of the island. Krosa (not a good name) was big, slow-moving and very impressive to see on the satellite. After a quick grocery run Friday night, Ryan and I were confident we had enough food and sundries at home. Plus with the lackluster performances of typhoons in town lately, we weren't concerned. So, like the townsfolk in the story of the boy who cried wolf, we were poised to learn some frustrating, pedestrian lesson about preparedness...









Saturday morning: No coffee. Well, No More Coffee. Big winds. Sideways rains. The unopened bag of oily black beans we both thought we had - vanished. After LOTS of looking we gave up and settled on the only logical explanation; someone must have broken in, left everything else as is, and took our coffee.







So next time there's a big storm coming; one that might force shops (Mary reported that *bucks was closed), schools etc to close for a day - we'll have to make sure we have 2 bags of coffee on hand.

The Long and the Short of It





We (some of us) will be up at 5:30 for Indians/Yankees... Oh yea, Taiwan has adopted the Yankees as its national team cuz of Wnag Jianming. You can't believe the pervasiveness of the stylized NY s around here... and the odd places they show up... (GO TRIBE!)





The pictures of Burl in his (formerly Ivo's) Indian's sweats were taken at CF's play space yesterday, Thursday.





Quite a day. Monumental in a few ways. I've realized that Ivo's version of a temper tantrum is a MASSIVE no-holds-barred power struggle. Our difficulties with "I WILL DO/HAVE THAT THING THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!!" fit into this power struggle dynamic.





At the play space, to which Ivo was excited to go AND excited to meet "my friend D-man," we experienced the longest-lasting espisode yet. And I know I'm self-righteous and all about my ego (some would wag cruder tongues) but I am soooo careful and try soooo hard not to establish touchstones of trouble, triggers and at the same time, just not to engage in a fight with Ivo. I try to parent through difficult stuff and not take things personally or wallow in or react to how a 2-yr-old's testing behavior is making me feel. AND Heather was there and, while she's one of the sweetest most diplomatic people in the world - therefore possibly being nice, I believe her when she told me, throughout the ordeal, that she would have done the same.





Sounds ominous - so anything I say now will be less bad than what yr thinking. After 5 minutes in the play space, Ivo was coughing crazy and even had a runny nose (which he hasn't had for over a week). I called him over to clean him up and drink some water. Clean up, fine. Water, NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!





So coughing, coughing, coughing, dry lips and not much water the night before... I told Ivo he could play after he drank some water. No!!! OK. Dylan was playing like an angel. I let Ivo walk around a small area (no playing til you have a SIP of water... a SIP!!!) - and he didn't test too often but I called him back when it looked like he was gonna leave my purview. 2 hours of this. Including Heather and Dylan going to e-i-o and us eventually joining them out there because Ivo alternated b/w hitting me, throwing his water bottle and telling me he wasn't going to drink water. I mostly ignored (but was very aware) of all the behaviour I didn't want to endorse. When it seemed like he was really talking to me, I restated the options; drink water-go play OR sit here with me. Act worse (ie; hit, throw) and we go home. He had no mickey-d's (but I let him work on his bagel we'd brought), no cookies, no juice, no money for rides. And all he had to do was take a sip of water. For the most part he wasn't hysterical. Quite the opposite, he was eerily in control of himself.





Ivo didn't have a sip of water til we got home. Ryan was already back from proctoring exams. Ivo's lips were dry and lined. The kid had only drunk a cup of juice in the morning and that was all he'd drunk all day. STUBBORN.





Other things I tried to convey to Ivo, While I wish you would drink water, you are not ruining my time or anyone else's time. And I am not only able to be happy when I play with Burl - I'm having a nice time with Heather and Dylan, who are also having a nice time (this was stretching the truth...). I just don't want Ivo to think that he has the power to ruin an outing for people other than himself. I think that's a good way to go...





On the ride home, I kept thinking about curling up with a parenting book and a bottle of wine.

Go Tribe! Go Tribe! Go Tribe!



























That's right.

Check it out - Burl can pull himself to a standing position all by himself! He is either in constant motion or concentrating his attention on a new object. Tonight he tried snow peas, in their pods, just chewing and tasting... he's a little bored of the rice crackers.

But really, the boy's posture, come on!!!!!

Coughing and the Gnashing of Teeth

Burl woke up several times last night with deep, violent coughing. The kind that makes a guy throw up a bit. The kind that makes a mama worried and up for hours.

Then, this morning, Burl was awake in the sevens. Yay - Ryan's been up since 2:50am watching baseball, and he came up and took Burl for a couple hours while I slept. Yay! I feel awake and ready.

Burl is sooooo active. He is sooooo close to crawling. He can push/pull himself into a standing position and, like a tank, roll over-ascend-descend any obstacle. He started scootching on his belly, both forward and back. If he wants something, he throws himself towards it. If I put something b/w Burl and his goal or cover up the object of interest, Burl still moves forward, reaching to clear out the debris. Whaa! He's amazing! Of course,this means rest-time is OVER for Ryan and me!

Burl babbles with such purposeful, meaningful inflection. At great length. He smiles all the time and has started bum dancing. Last night, when Ryan and the boys got home, Ryan put on the Who cd - to Ivo "let's dance a little bit" Lawrence an Burl's delight.

There is more baseball on this morning. Ryan wants me to text him scores. The boys and I have a date with D-man and Heather to play so, I might just make scores up and see if I'm even close.

Ivo Overheard:

"You a CARrot! What I am?

You're broccoli.

"No. I can't amember what I am."

Awsome Burl

Good news! We found something Burl likes to eat... rice crackers, duh, I just wanted to wait cuz they've got milk sugar... But, damn the torpedoes, he tried them tonight at dinner and - yippee, success - not love though.

Seems like Burl IS getting ready to crawl. Details soon.