#23 Little Tissue Shredder

We didn’t do anything major to bring in the new year. Greg had to work until around 9:30pm, but I cooked us a nice meal and when he got home we ate together and watched some TV. Then at around 11:30pm we took a walk to the park outside of Park Lane to watch the fireworks. It wasn’t an arranged event, but people always let very impressive fireworks off at the park so we went to watch. It was freezing cold outside so we bundled ourselves and Jay up and got some hot chocolate. There were a few firecrackers before 12, but at midnight it was amazing. Very loud, though, and a little scary. I moved to the side because I was scared one of them would hit us or something. Usually we’re not quite so close to them. Jay slept the entire time and didn’t so much as stir when it started. Clearly he was “Made in Taiwan”. Afterward, we took a nice walk home, had some tea and then when Jay fell asleep again, we went to bed.

The next day everyone had the day off. Greg and I slept late (thank you, Jay) and then decided to go to out for lunch. I called Annie and she said she would join us and then we took a walk to the restaurant and she met us there. We had a table reserved so we didn’t have to wait. We had a lovely time and chatted for ages. Then we decided to go to Park Lane and use our Coldstone vouchers to buy some ice cream. As we arrived and had just locked the car and were walking down the street, I got a call on my phone. I wondered who would call me. I took my phone out and looked at the screen. It was Stella. I’d totally forgotten about her and had thought it was much earlier. I called her right back and said that we were on our way, but then we decided that it was nice to be there so Annie and I went to fetch her and Greg waited with Jay. When we got to the apartment, Stella was just waiting outside, so I told her that we were at the park and were just going back for an hour or so. So she came along and helped out with Jay and we bought her some ice cream too. I think she actually enjoyed being out for a change. Then we came home and Greg and I rented a movie and spent the rest of the night at home.

My poor little baby had his first cold this week. I know I mentioned he’d been coughing a bit before, but then it seemed to improve. On Sunday evening I noticed that he seemed to be coughing again and that his nose was running. So, he was pretty much sick all week. It’s horrible because sometimes you can hear that there is mucous in his nose, but he doesn’t know how to blow his nose so all you can do is keep wiping, I did put Vicks on the soles of his feet and I think that helped with his cough, but he still woke up a few times during the night which sucked for me. He wouldn’t be coughing, but I could tell he was uncomfortable and perhaps struggling to breathe through his nose. He’d just start crying and nothing would soothe him. I’d have to wake up and walk around with him a bit before he dropped off and then I’d have to hold him upright for a while or he’d just wake up again and start crying as soon as I’d lie down. He woke up at night from Sunday till Tuesday night and then on Wednesday he mostly slept through again which was wonderful. We were in two minds about taking him to the pediatrician. He didn’t have a fever and he still had a very good appetite so we just decided to try and wait it out and if he got worse, we’d take him in. Thing is, there isn’t that much you can give them for a normal cold and in Taiwan they love to overmedicate which isn’t a good thing in my opinion. I think it’s necessary that your body learns to build up a resistance. He seems a lot better now and although he still has a runny nose, his cough is pretty much gone.

At the moment he loves tissue paper! If he sees it, he wants it. At first I’d always take it away because he’d want to put it in his mouth. Now, though, he doesn’t. He just pulls out some pieces and waves them about for a while. Then he settles down to the business of ripping them into shreds. I think he has learned a few tips from the dogs because they are expert tissue-shredders. He also loves to take off his new shoes. I put them on and he takes them off. He learned how to pull apart the Velcro and the next minute his shoes are off and tossed on the floor somewhere.

On Thursday I walked to the fruit and veggie stand and got some more vegetables to cook for him. I cook up a whole lot and then puree and freeze it and he loves it. I spent a good deal of time doing it. He still has some pumpkin, so I made him more apple, carrots and sweet potatoes. He actually tried the sweet potatoes for the first time on Friday and he loved them. We also bought some more bananas and he seems to like them a little better now. Last week I went to the store with Annie and got this new cereal that was much cheaper than the one I buy from the baby store and he loves it way more. He gobbles it down and opens his mouth very wide when I feed him.

I was showing some students at school some photos of Jay. It was actually the lot I sent you last week. I got to the photo where he is sitting on his change table wearing a hat and his new shoes and looking at the camera. Well, Queenie was behind me and I suddenly heard her exclaim, “Wow! That’s a little Emily!” I was so surprised because she always says he looks like his daddy, but she said that in that photo all she saw was me and that when people call me and I look up suddenly, I have that exact same expression on my face. Haha! Greg walked with him to Subway the other day and he said that when the lady behind the counter saw him, she looked from him to Greg and said that he must look like his mother because he doesn’t look like Greg at all. Oh, and when we told Annie that she said that when her mother saw the Christmas photo I gave them, she said he looked just like me, too. So strange because I really can’t see it and just think he looks like Jay.

During one of my classes this week this little girl asked me if I was going to go up to Taipei to watch the fireworks at Taipei 101 Department Store. I said no, because Jay is still very little. She answered, “Yes, I know. He can fall down and then many people will use their feet to walk on him.” Haha!

Okay, let me be off.

Lots of love

Em x

(snippets from January 2010)