The year of the rat etc...

It has been a very quiet new year. The one time of year when you can walk down the street and shops are closed. we are used to and kinda spoilt by the fact that you can buy most things you need up to 10 pm...eerie to walk down the street and find nothing open. Dylan has recovered well from his cold and Maya is doing well...so alert...she likes sucking on her thumb and hand and giving the occasional smile:))

Pretty in pink!!!


Chilling out with daddy.

With Sandy.. they all came round new year's day and Dylan was super excited to see Ivo..cried buckets when they left :((

Po has become Dylan's baby..has been seen carrying him in a little box/chair and using the nose bulb to clear Po's nose.:))

Mum with her two kiddies!!

Ciro and Dylan sporting their caps (thanks Peggy) first hat Dylan has not objected to wearing!!Yay!


Peggy and Vincent came down from Taipei today to visit baby Maya..(and the rest of us).

Playing at Carrefour

Met Sandy and her boys at the play space at Carrefour the other day..the boys played really well together.They were moving at the speed of light though and whenever a camera got close , they were off...so the pics are not too good... Our holiday is rapidly coming to an end...lots of packing still to be done this week..although we are making some headway!





No more pictures please!!




A rare pic of mom and dad...

Catching up

A bit of catching up to do. Pics are from 8/8 which is father's day in Taiwan (ba is 8 and baba is dad so therefore 8/8 day is father's day) Ivo, Burl and Sandy came round to play last week and the boys had a great time, played together nicely. Burl of course watched on with a smile.

A lot has happened the last while. We are going to move apartments. We found a daycare/school that Dylan can attend for afternoons only (difficult to find a place that agrees to that arangement) and they also take babies and have a trained nurse working there so...we are moving closer to the school and will drive to work (as opposed to walk round the corner). Found a nice apartment which is in a good area with parks nearby and the building has a pool (allthough as is the way here it will probably only be open a few months of the year, when it is really hot) till that is a bonus. So here we go...moving again...thankfully we still have one more week of so we can use it to get the packing on the go and then 1st September is D-Day.
Typhoon busy hitting the island. So far nothing in Taichung..aparently this afternoon, nevertheless we are planning a housebound day! More about the Taipei trip later....




This yapping, jumping dog is a favourite.





Burl watches the boys from his mama's lap...itching to join in.

D taking a rest in the ball pool!

Another Sunday night

Dylan has had a very good weekend, we went over to Ivo's house yesterday so Ciro could work on their pc and Ivo and Dylan played really well together. Dylan normally retaliates very quickly to the slightest touch or hug coming his way but yesterday he was very relaxed and enjoyed playing. He even tolerated ivo "washing" his hair for quiet a while. we have our suspicions that he -being the youngest- at the baby sitters has to fight off the bigger kids a lot and there is one really aggressive kid there that influences him, checking out some other options school wise for the summer time.
Three weeks today my mom arrives ..she has not flown long haul in 27 years so it is a big thing for her...excited and nervous for her.

Dylan checking out the black spiderman on Ivo's wall..."hmmm...i thought he was red"

The thinker!

Dylan, Teletubbies and things

I have had a photography-challenged week this week, so not too many pictures. Had quiet a busy week of play with Dylan. We went to a playgroup organised at Sandy's house with three other kids and their moms. Dylan was not too happy about the influx of people in his space (Ivo's house is practically an extension of his house, he makes himself completely at home there.)
The landlord organised to close in the front balcony for us, which is sooo great!!! It is no longer a hazard (being 12 floors up) and we can get a little paddle pool out there now. Dylan is enjoying walking in and out freely too... He has also rediscovered the teletubbies this week!! He gets so excited when it is on, loves dancing with them and falls down , with them etc....
Friday at the gym was strange. Sandy and I exercised a bit and then checked in on the boys. To our shock, the room was filled with the smell of smoke...apparently there was some burning going on (maybe ghost money) and the ventilation system (going to the baby room) had picked it up...needless to say we made a hurried exit!! Off to Charlotte's wedding reception this afternoon will post some pics later.

"Cheese" and "Ohhhhhh"Pulling faces this morning..a 6am wake up!!!

A rare pic of the three of us. Thanks to the waitress at Friday's

We decided on the spur of the moment to head to Friday's yesterday afternoon...Dylan had not napped and it looked like he would keep going until bedtime..of course he fell asleep en-route. Got there and thought we would let him sleep and have a meal...he woke up of course and was a little grumpy so the manager came over to provide entertainment.

Cleaning up after an Oreo cookie ..one of the waitresses gave him...yes before his dinner!!!!:) sweet of her anyway.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!! Ivo, Burl, Sandy and Ryan came over this morning for an egg hunt. Ivo was really into the looking for eggs bit; Dylan less so, once he got a chocolate that was all he was interested in. Managed to make some Hot cross buns (without the crosses...forgot to get ingredients). the boys had a good time and Dylan had a great nap afterwards (so luckily the sugar high didn't keep him awake!!) Tomorrow back to school after the break..:(

Busy boys...all three!


The two little egg hunters



Dylan has been sucking on most things he puts in his mouth (the teeth) adn the chocolate was no exception, as you can tell. The best was Ivo exclaiming "Dylan chocolate face" he ran after Dylan laughing and then got a closer look at the door.

Tomb sweeping vac days

Don't know where these past few days have gone. We went to the art museum (one of your favourite places) on Sunday. It was just supposed to be a "let Dylan burn off some energy" stop before heading to the supermarket for groceries. Turns out Dylan decided otherwise. usually when we go to the art museum we run around outside, take a walk through the museum and end up having a waffle and coffee. We were heading back to the car after his run when he pulled us into the museum, looked at one of the works., pulled us to the elevator. We hit the button for the second floor...just wanting to see what he would do. He walked into the coffee bar, sat on the chair and waited. So that was it we had to have a waffle. He sat so nicely throughout this (probably because it was his idea) and ate a whole quarter to himself!
We went to play at Ivo's this morning. Lots of fun always and baby Burl is getting bigger. So cute! On a few occasions Dylan passed something or gave something to Ivo , so happy to see that!!!

We have 4 days off from tomorrow. It is Tomb sweeping day or Qingming festival here tomorrow. Looking forward to the break. Yesterday was a hectic day...i won't go into details. Uncharacteristically i got VERY mad at the hospital where i took Dyan for a hearing test (he is still not talking much and we just want to have him checked) I did not even get in to see the doctor in the end and have decided i will take him to Jen ai (where he was born) because the international patient center there is really helpful and i am sure the whole process will be much smoother.

He loves climbing into things, boxes, containers and in this case his cupboard!!

The running episode...followed by the waffle!!



Just missed the boys standing here dancing (as soon as i got the camera out they stopped)

Burl was all snuggled up in the cutest of outfits!! A chilly day today...this after Dylan got a heat rash on the weekend...global warming?

Dylan's teeth

It has been a bit of a teething week for Dylan, his bottom teeth still coming through. He has not been sleeping the best and super-moody! Still on a positive note, when we went to play at Ivo's yesterday he actually passed things to Ivo and they had a good interaction session (Dylan has never liked the idea of sharing)
He has also decided that he needs to climb anything that he can. From the drawers in his room to our bedside cabinet, the computer chairs and even the chair at Ivo's house was climbed and jumped over....very hectic for us because it is like he has no fear!! We are going to have to rearrange some stuff to toddler -proof further!!

Looking at life through a red balloon at 'TGI Fridays' on the weekend

The result of this teething episode...

Ivo and Dylan snacktime at their own personal 'diner'

We ran some errands today, always a good reason to stop for McDonalds ice-cream.