Home 9 days already???

Wow! I can't believe we have been home over a week. It has been a blur! Between getting together with friends and family, unpacking, organizing all the photos and papers, and fun outings with the kids, it has flown by.


Danny is doing great! I think? Because he is so easy going it is hard to tell how he is adjusting. We are starting to see him look for Ed or I in the room if there are others there. We made the switch to American formula with no issues an he is loving the cereal.


He has two more teeth popping thru on the top so I am blaming the minor crankiness to that. The last few nights he has woken a few times but typically goes back to sleep with the paci and a rub on the back. He did not wake at all in Taiwan so I am unsure what this is about.


Danny got to meet his Grandma from Ohio this week when she spent the night. It was nice to have her here. The big kids could not wait and wished she stayed longer.


Danny had his first trip to the pool Monday and enjoyed splashing in the water and sleeping in the stroller. I forgot the camera so will have to get photos next time.


Below are a few photos from the last few days. Danny is not in the blueberry picking photos because he was in the baby carrier on my back. 5 lbs and $8 worth of blueberries seemed like a lot for our short stay there but they did not last long. Both kids got to pick something to make with the blueberries. Kyle made an apple and blueberry crisp and Paige made blueberry muffins. Both turn out great and they really did all the work (except cutting/peeling of the apples and the oven of course!) Ed got home and the blueberries seemed to disappear!

Paige & Abby Blueberry Picking

So cute!

Thumb wrestling

In action..

The start of the day... he hates photos... she loves accessories...

Working much harder than we expected...

Playing with a stick... not so interested in blueberries

Having fun as a family of five!

It is hard to beleive that we are home and last Sunday we were shopping at the Handicraft and Jade markets. With the travel and all that we have done since getting back it seems longer ago already. I will admit that the first day home was difficult between everyone wanting attention and the lack of sleep but things improved quickly and Danny has been sleeping well since then. After the second night home Ed and I also felt back to normal.

On Thursday, I took Danny to the pediatrician. She said everything looks good and he weights 17 lbs 10 oz. Once we get his immunization records in English he will get whatever shots are needed. She was pleased with his color and weight. He is in the 25% percentile on the US growth chart.

We attended the Dragon Boat Races in Chicago on Saturday. It was nice to meet several other families who brought their kids home from Taiwan in the last few years. Paige enjoyed the crafts and Kyle was most interested in eating. Danny was happy as long as he was in the shade. For coming from the hottest place on earth (maybe I'm exaggerating) it is surprising how much he dislikes being in the sun.

Below are a few photos from the last few days. Kyle is in a "no photos" stage but Paige is happy to be in every one.

Home!!

TJ's little einsteen chair was a hit.

Here are a few photos from the trip home and our first night at home. Danny was up a few times during the night but we did get some sleep. Hopefully I can keep him up today and do better tonight. We are staying home today and getting organized and used to each other.

I will post more tomorow after we have settled in.

Day 7- Last tours

Danny with Judy and Alex while we drank tea.

I wanted to quickly include a few photos of the tours from our last day. We visited a tea museum in the morning and stopped by the former Presidential Residence and gardens which has been made into a beautiful park before going to the airport.

At the museum with the Keller's and Lydia.

Mr.Yeh and his friend Mr. Pineapple (he may not answer to this name but that is what Alex told us to call him) at the tea museum. Mr. Pineapples daughter Judy also came along also to practice her English.

Gardens at the tea museum

At the Presidential Gardens

In San Francisco heading to the hotel. What time is it?
I'm not sure if we should eat dinner or breakfast..

Sent from my iPhone

Goodbye Taiwan

We are leaving for the airport in a few minutes.

Hopefully we arrive in San Fran with no delays or issues 17 hours from now. Yes, we seem to be leaving for the airport very early but our guide has not steered us wrong so far so we trust his schedule.

Goodbye Taiwan. Maybe we will be back someday!

Day 6 continued- Longshan Temple & Snake Alley Market

After our nap we returned to touring to see the Longshan Temple and the Snake Alley Night Market. The temple was beautiful and busy. Sunday night is a busy night of prayer here, it appears. I don't quite get it all but learned that there are different gods and Buddhas to pray to depending on what you need. We saw the one you pray to for big tests in school. Also, there are male and female Buddha's. I tried to get Alex to say the female Buddha was the best one but he was not committing! You can come and light incense which takes 15 minutes to burn while you pray or you can come and light a candle and leave. (Catholics Note: They do not charge to light a candle here.)

Then on to the night market across the street. I was expecting it to be really busy but it was less crowded than the markets we went to the other night. The difference was this one was more like a flea market at night. Food, clothes, watches, shoes, but add kids arcade games and occasional adult item shops.

We ate a pineapple cake and an amazing chicken sandwich. We should have gotten two of those! Yes, there were live snakes (hence the name) but they are really to get people into the restaurants and we could not take photos of them. Alex and Ed competed at a basketball shooting game (surprise!).

We had a scroll made with Danny's Taiwanese name- the photo is below. This was cool in many ways partially because I had seen the video of the same artist making a scroll on Beth's blog when they were here two (?) years ago and there we were getting one made also.

It is hard to believe that this is our last night in Taiwan! It has been an amazing experience and hopefully Danny will sense our love of Taiwan as we talk about it as he grows. We have one last tour in the morning then to the airport in the afternoon for 12.5 hours to San Fran. Then on to Chicago the next morning.

We want to thank again Alex and John for watching Kyle and Paige! When we skype they seem to be having fun and not missing us which allows us to have this special time with Danny.

Inside temple
Outside temple

Kids arcade games at market

Scroll and artist- it says Love Liu Yao-Chung - Taipei 2009 and the artists name

Chicken sandwich in the making.. they are open until two- should we go back?

Making scroll