Milestones!!

So babies do grow fast!

After Rachel returned back from Taiwan, I found Andrew to be more mobile and curious than the baby I remember sending away for two and half weeks.  And in the time since he has been back, more milestones have been met.

First, he is starting to move.  Like an inchworm, he will army crawl inch by inch in search of toys or things to suck.  He rotates, changing his orientation from one direction to the other with ease.  He can lift his head WAY in the air to check out his surroundings.  And he finds things we would not have anticipated...

Then today, Rachel announced that it was time to start feeding him "real food."  We fed him, successfully, a small bowl of baby rice cereal.  Still mostly liquid, but it was on a spoon and he liked it.  That's what counts.

There is so much more to come.  It is really just the beginning of an exciting time in his life!

It had been good to be reunited as a family these past weeks.  Though we both were ok in our time away, life together in much better.  Rachel has been helping me get on top of my schoolwork, and making sure that I am well fed.  I think the house is cleaner with her here as well.  I suppose only getting 5 hours of sleep a night will free up extra time for chores...

But hopefully that is only temporary.  The jet lag really wore Rachel down, because Andrew failed to readjust his nighttime sleeping patterns.  But yesterday she removed the pacifier from the bedtime routine, and he actually went to sleep faster and stayed down longer than he did before!  Tonight he also fell asleep fast, so this trend is definitely trending up.

Otherwise in life...I am busy at work but that is nothing new.  Northwestern is disappointing us in sports, but that is also not news.  Halloween is upon us, and for the first time we will have to be responsible community members and distribute candy to all those do-nothing kids in the neighborhood looking for handouts.  Rachel is tempted to go door-to-door with Andrew to score some free candy.  I was just looking forward to getting the discounted candy from Target on Nov 1...

Fights at school are getting everyone down.  We need some snow to cool everyone off and put the bad blood on ice for another season. 

Go Cats.  Let's win tomorrow, ok?

-alan

From stateside

While Rachel has been having fun in the Taiwan, I have been languishing in bachelorhood back in Chicago.  Many have asked how life alone is going, but it seems I have had plenty of social interaction to keep me busy.  The sports spectator scene alone has swallowed up much of my free time - with the Tigers in the playoffs, Lions doing well, Northwestern football, and a marathon, there has been a lot to watch.

Karen's performance in the marathon was admirable.  She ran hard despite the crowds and heat, and was in far better spirits the rest of the day than I ever could myself.  I was miserable enough having slept only 4 hours and watching the marathon all day - I did not even run (other than to cross the street!).  Downtown was a madhouse, with swarms of out-of-towners taking to the CTA to catch a glimpse of their friends and family running.  I knew the Chicago marathon was a big deal, but I had no idea...

Today is the last full day / night before Rachel comes home.  I have a few things at home to do: some laundry and picking up, but I cleaned both before and after Phil and Karen came over, so at least there are no big chores.  I do still have a lot of grading to do.  Grading is my thorn, the task that I always have hanging over me and can never seem to get on top of.  I will dive headfirst into this task today, and hope that I get something substantive accomplished.

While it has been a good experience to have some independence and do things completely on my own, I am excited to have Rachel and Andrew home.  The activity of the past week has made Skyping difficult - the times never really lined up.  Now there is little more than a 20 hour airplane journey between us!

-alan

More fun in Taiwan!

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, we have been busy playing and seeing the sights around town!

 Andrew really likes playing with Grandpa and seeing his crazy faces.  Last night he laughed for a few minutes as Grandpa was doing the classic monster faces and trying to eat him.  I found it a bit scary but Andrew likes it.

 Andrew spends his time outside of our arms on this comforter playing with toys.  It was actually my blanket in high school so I was surprised to see that it made the trip to Taiwan.  I would have never imagined that my little boy would one day be drooling all over it.  For those of you who don't know the giraffe in the picture is named Sophie and is the go to teething toy for spoiled babies in America.  Evidently they sell them in Taiwan too but she is prized out of reach for the average family.  I did see her in a stroller on the MRT and 2 people have talked about her.  Who knew this little French giraffe was so popular?

 Andrew has enjoyed all the attention he is getting from family and from friends of my parents.  He hasn't hit the point of stranger anxiety yet so he has done remarkably well with the hand offs to many many aiyis.

 It seems like Andrew really would be a great swimmer if we got him in the water.  Can't you just imagine him under the sea as he posed Monday under the dome of light in the MRT.

 On Tuesday we went to Dream Mall and learned that Andrew's interest in food is growing by the day.  We did not share our meal but we did give him a plastic spoon to play with.  This weekend we gave him a plastic cup and old yogurt containers...why does he like playing with junk when he has so many nice toys????

 Andrew's hunger seemingly continued as he attempted to eat this nice Taiwanese toddler that we met at the pet shop.  The little boy seemed scared but intrigued by the mini foreign devil.

 Wednesday, my mom had over about a dozen ladies who doted and entertained Andrew during their potluck.  It was interesting to see how everyone has their own tricks of what they think a baby likes.  I have seen tactics such as silly voices, clucking, clicking, clapping, shoving toys in his face, singing, and many more.

 After all that attention at the potluck, Andrew was tired out when we stopped by the Jade market.  I hoped to find something really cool, but alas I only went home with a papya milk drink.

 Later that night we stopped by the study at the Train Station Church (where I lived the Summer of 2001) for everyone to meet Andrew.  I guess they knew he was coming because someone greeted us with fireworks ;).

-rachel

Adventures in Taichung

 We took our first road trip up to Taichung on Friday.  This is where Stephen goes to boarding school (a senior already).  We left a little earlier than expected so that we could watch Stephen in his class Moot Court simulation.  It was fun to see a social studies class in action and to see my little bro debating.  After school we spent a lot of time in Stephen's super swanky dorm common area visiting and killing time before his concert.  My energy level was very low during the concert and after I dozed off on the bench outside.  I actually didn't know that the picture below was taken!  Stephen did sing very well and Andrew managed to have decent but not perfect concert etiquette.

The next morning we picked Stephen up from school and headed out to a mall to celebrate my dad's birthday at Chili's.  Andrew met a model at the Vespa display but I didn't let him ride off into the sunset with her.  

We happily posed in front of the sign not knowing the drama that would ensue in the next 30 minutes.

Andrew looked happy here but he was about to set in motion his most heinous crime to date...

Who me?  How could I do anything bad?

Let's just say that the Taiwan diaper could not contain this American baby's gifts.  There was no bathroom in the Chili's and I carried Andrew awkwardly out from my body as I tried to find a bathroom in the fancy wall.  Yes, we may have left a trail behind us.  My mom found her way down as well and helped to give Andrew a mini bath and get him a new diaper.  Here he is right after we got the situation under control.  Doesn't he look innocent?

-rachel

Bonding and exploring

 Of course the purpose of our trip was for Grandma and Grandpa Miller to meet Andrew and he is loving every minute of it.  My dad is letting him pull his hair, which I do not condone, and making a variety of high pitched voices.  My mom reads to Andrew and just loves to cuddle with him.



Below are some pictures from our trip to the market on Friday.  Andrew was very curious and looked at all the interesting new sights. I tried to hold him back from the table a bit so he couldn't touch or drool on the merchandise. 

 Grandpa biked by on the way to the gym!

 More shiny fish!

 Andrew loves the market as much as his mommy!

-rachel