Happy Birthday Grandpa Peter and Grandma Del

Ah haaaa...

I have to keep the Happy Birthday spectacles on as I have quite a few birthday wishes to deliver this month :-) This time round is for Grandpa Peter and Grandma Del whose birthday is on November 24 and November 27, respectively. Though I haven't met Grandpa Peter and Grandma Del personally. I think I'm quite familiar with their voice ;-) Nope I'm not kidding! It was when we were in Canberra, Australia and I was right there...in mom's womb!!

Mom has told me a lot about her supervisor, Prof. Peter Clayton and his wife, Adela for their continued support throughout her study. This is especially for the time that I caused mom the terrible pregnancy sickness while she was about to submit her thesis.  

Through their kind support and understanding, mom had the courage to wrap up and submit her thesis.

So here is my Thank you message to Grandma Peter and Grandma Del: I thank you for letting me having a Phd-stay-at-home MOM!! I'm such a lucky kid! As she got PhD, she can do lots and lots of things for me like cleaning my pooh-pooh, cooking baby meals (she cooks for dad, too!), burping me, etc. I reckon she can't be this good without PhD, ha ha ha. By the way, may I ask, is it really true that mom got PhD in Communication?  She can't understand my language!!

Oh, time to deliver a birthday message to both of you:)

As you two have retired early to enjoy life 365 days a year, I wish your next 365 days are filled with happiness, wonderful memories and healthy body and mind. And as I am a little fortune-teller, I can tell you that during Jan 6-10 next year, you will have the best time EVER! You are to meet the most gorgeous boy on earth and some familiar faces that you haven't seen them for a year or two. You will be traveling to a little island called Formosa, a place that even your familiar faces know very little of, both language and places. Best of luck;-) That's when all the fun begins!!!

Happy Birthday to you :-)

Happy Birthday Grandma

Ah haaaa.....

 

Today is November 25 and I know too well that it's my beloved grandma's birthday! So here I am wearing a Happy Birthday spectacles just for you, grandma:-)

WHAT MOM??? What do you mean 'not special enough for grandma's big day' ?  Ohh...NO!! It's a major headache for a one and a few months old boy like me. What should I do?

Yes!! Got the idea. How about this? A 'shy-yet-I-am-so-cute-and-innocent' smile. The one that helping me to get away with anything. 

 

WHAT MOM??? Not enough for grandma's special day? Mom, you must be joking!

Ummm...let me think for a sec..............

I know, I know. I can entertain grandma with some funny faces!

Ready, Set...and here you Go!

WHAT MOM??? Not enough for grandma's? Don't do this to me. I'm just a little cute boy, OK? I'm running out of talents!!!

OK, one last attempt. I'm singing a birthday song for grandma...

"Happy Birthday to my Grandma...Happy Birthday to my Grandma...bla...bla...bla..."

You see, I'm clapping my hands, too! I also closed my eyes while singing a song so that I could build my emotion and feel the song...sounds like a pro, huhh??? Oh, I'm so proud of my self:-)

WHAT MOM??? Oh, I see. You've been waiting for me to present grandma her birthday cake. You should have told me earlier! This is so easy. I love this part!! 

Here is the cake especially for our grandma from Changton, mom and dad.

Oh, this cake is a bit heavy! Let's sit and eat, shall we?

WHAT MOM??? We have to wait for grandma?

Well, well, well. I'll email to ask grandma for her permission to eat!

I'm too tired to fight with mom about the cake. More importantly, this is grandma's birthday and I'm so determined to be a good boy for my dear grandma. So let me make a little speech for grandma.

"Hello grandma. I am here to wish you happiness on your special day and to tell you that you are loved much more than any words I could think of!!!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA :-)

My First Halloween

How did a one-year-old boy enjoy his first Halloween? Dressed in a fancy outfit and played 'Trick-or-Treating'?  Umm...may be a bit too soon for the boy who can only pronounce 'tik, tik, tik'! 

Though Changton was too young to enjoy Halloween, mom got Changton to wear a Devil headband for the occasion. He didn't like it and took the headband off a few times. Mom then used a biscuit to draw his attention away from the headband she put on his head. What a trick! After eating the biscuit, he seemed to forget about the headband worn around his head. In fact, Changton wore the headband for almost the entire time that we were out. 

Changton put on sunnies to complete his Halloween look. 

The little devil on the run!!  Both on legs and wheels. 

 

Bored with the ride, the boy asked his mom for going out. He tried to climb up to his pram. 

Well, mom was about to take you out! Changton had an appointment for vaccination! It wasn't planned for Halloween but somehow it happened to be on Halloween. Poor Changton:(

We went to see his pediatrician, Dr.Sofie of Dr. Bear's family clinic. The clinic has 4 doctors plus lots of teddy bears to cheer kids up. While waiting to see the doctor, Changton had several rides in the play area. This was the first time that mom let Changton played at the clinic. Besides that he is now old enough to play, there were no kids playing in the area. Mom doesn't want to bring Changton up in a germ-free zone; she neither wants to put him in an overly-exposed-to-germs zone, like ones in the clinic. 

Here Changton had a Pokemon ride, followed by a penguin ride and a hose ride.

 

Then, the moment of truth! For this visit, Changton had  2 jabs: MMR and Flu jab. The boy cried after the first jab and continued to the next. But he stopped right after the second was done.

Changton with Yai Jee in front of the clinic. He gave up his Holloween headband and still wasn't in the mood.  

After the jab, we went to Chili's for lunch. This time round mom ordered a kid meal for Changton for the first time. He had a grilled chicken burger. He ate half of the burger (tiny bit at a time) plus a bottle of milk!  

When we came back, mom closely observed Changton for any signs of pain or fever, given that he had two jabs at one time. Mom continued to monitor Changton during the night while the boy slept soundly! Yes, once again the boy survived the jabs. Changton is a very healthy boy. He has never been sick since he was born. TOUCH WOOD!!!!

My first pair of sunglasses

Changton loves sunglasses so much. He is surrounded by four-eyed people. So whenever we are off guard, he pulls the spectacles right from our faces. On his birthday pick ritual, he also picked a pair of spectacles first! Given this, mom has been searching a pair of sunglasses for Changton. She hopes that when he has a pair of his own, he will leave our eyeglasses alone.   

Today mom spotted and bought a cute pair of kid sunglasses, a red, Sesame Street one. When she gave it to Changton, he gave mama plenty of his sweet, 'oh-I-am-so-happy' smiles. Here are some photos of him with the new sunnies.

Changton spent quite a bit of time in his new sunnies.

"Dear Paparazzi mom: LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

Fisherman Wharf: Taipei

Last Sunday dad took Changton, mom and Yai Jee to the Fisherman Wharf near our shop in Danshui. The Fisherman Wharf was an important fishing harbor in the early history of north Taiwan. Nowadays, while there are still some local fishing activities, the Fisherman Wharf is better known for its weekend destination for Taipei people and tourists. Most of them are here for fresh seafood, boat ride, bicycle ride, and beautiful, romantic sunset on the Lover Bridge, what a name!

For us? We did none of it! Ha..ha...

We arrived around noon, too hot for doing anything fancy. Nevertheless, we had a great time, as long as we had Changton with us:-)

This is the Lover Bridge.

The boy looked out to the sea.

 

Walking down the Lover bridge, holding a girl's hand? Forget it! Letting dad dragged my pram down the bridge's steps is much more fun. I love the bumpy ride, yeah...yeah...

At the boardwalk.

 

We had lunch at another branch of Waterfront. This one is decorated in Mediterranean style, while the one we usually go in Danshui is in Balinese style. 

Changton checked out the menu.

'Drinking-from-a-cup' lesson from Yai Jee

We didn't do what the Romans do when coming to the Fisherman Wharf. As for the food, we traded seafood for some German-inspired food including a German sausage salad with yummy, tangy balsamic dressing, and a crispy German pork leg..ha ha..

 

 

We ordered a creamy soup in a bread bowl for Changton, and for us too!

Changton was bored sitting on a high chair, mom took him to play in a vacant seating area. Changton tried to get some attention from the cat painted on a wall! 

Changton had been so energetic since we left home in the morning until 2 pm, the time we left the Fisherman Wharf. Soon after we got inside the car, he fell asleep...so so deep!   

This Sunday was Yai Jee's day off (that was why dad took all of us out...ha ha). When we got home, mom asked Yai Jee to go and get some rest. Rejuvenated, Changton asked mom to go out again!  What??? Mom was so tired. But Changton kept bugging her. To have a fair go, mom took Changton to her favorite, Japanese coffee shop, Haaya's Coffee! It was a win-win situation though. This time round they had a big basket full of toys for Changton to play. Interestingly, the boy started up with a book--making his mama proud:)

The afternoon coffee set arrived. Changton shared some Chicken pie with mom, while the rest went down to mom's tummy. On the way to and from the coffee shop, mom made bubbles for Changton to catch, using a bubble gun. Changton liked it very much; he didn't want his mom to stop making bubbles. So a 5 minutes walk to the coffee shop took 15 mins, each way!! 

Oh, what a day we had!

Visit the shop

Dad had another Sunday off and so we were out again! This time we went to Fisherman Wharf, the north of Taipei. Before then, we popped in our shop to say hi to Uncle Johnny to thank him for coming to work on Sunday and so dad and mom could take Changton out. We also wanted to say Happy Birthday to Ilan, too! 

Watching the fishes outside the shop.

Turning the bed into his play zone.

 

With the elephant painting mom asked an artist in Thailand to paint for Changton's bedroom. But it somehow ended up at the shop! Sorry Changton. Mom will get you a new one later.

Changton was playing with the birthday girl. Happy Birthday Arh Eee, Ilan :-) 

Here are some pictures of our Feelgood Living shop in Danshui, Taiwan.