'Tis the Season

Dear Santa,

I’m here to speak on behalf of Caitlyn since she can’t write yet. She's definitely been a good girl this year. No complaints from me. Every day, she continually grows into her own person.

She’s independent. You try to help her with anything, and the first thing she’ll tell you is, “I can do it!” Put her shoes on for her, and she’ll take them off and do it herself again. Help her turn on the faucet to wash her hands and she’ll turn it off and turn it back on again herself. Help her put down the toilet lid after she potties and flush the toilet for her and she’ll put the lid back up, then back down, and then flush the toilet again herself. Help her put away her toys and she’ll dump it all out and then put them back in herself. You get the idea. Like she says, she can do it, and she wants to prove it to you.

She’s thoughtful. Just this past weekend, I was sleeping in her bed because she wanted to sleep with Mommy in our bed. She came in to wake me up in the morning, and as I groggily got up, she ran back into our room and got my glasses for me without any prompting. I thought that was the sweetest thing ever. Or maybe she just had an ulterior motive, like wanting me to hurry up so I could turn on the TV for her.

She’s got a great memory. We might leave the house in the morning, and I’ll promise her a cracker or TV privileges when we get home if she behaves. Seven o’clock at night when we get back, the first thing she’ll do is ask for what was promised to her. This mental ability will definitely come in handy when studying to get into Harvard.

She loves going to school. Every day she comes home, she proudly announces that she didn’t cry while there. And then she waits, expecting me to hand her the iPad as a reward for her good deed. As if. How about a pat on the head and a high-five instead? She loves school so much now that some days, she’ll even refuse to go home with the wife when she goes to pick her up. Hah! We’ll see if she loves school this much once she hits middle school. If she does, then we can talk about letting her play with the iPad as a reward.

She’s got a pretty easygoing nature. I’m not saying that she’s perfect, but I haven’t really seen the terrible two’s come out of her yet. Sure, she throws a bit of a tantrum every now and then when she doesn’t get what she wants, but it’s usually when she’s tired and sleepy. Usually just counting to three and threatening time out is enough to keep her in line.

If she does deserve a teeny tiny bit of coal this year, it’s for insisting that Mommy lie down with her at night until she falls asleep. We tried just tossing her in bed and leaving, but the wife couldn’t stand the crying, so that only lasted a few days. I’m hoping we can phase this out sooner than later.

So there you have it, Santa. Heap those presents on Caitlyn this year. She deserves it. Even though she hasn't asked for anything in specific, she likes cooking, playing doctor, and reading. And while you’re at it, throw in a TV for me since the wife won’t let me buy one for our bedroom.

Sincerely, 

The Baby Expert

P.S. Please tell the wife that while thermal underwear is nice, it's not exactly a Christmas present to get excited about. I'm fine wearing the sweatpants I've had for 16 years to sleep. 

Great wreath!

This is my stocking!

 

I've been so good!

Goofball in the back!

 

Three Amigos

Girls only

 

Christmas chicken

Presents overload

 

Yummy Christmas cupcakes

Christmas should be every day

 

Trying out new toys

Thanks, Uncle Kimi!

 

Crazy about ducks

On the way to see Santa

 

Family picture

At least she didn't cry

Family Portraits

I’ve never been one for being in photos. The camera is not kind to me. Point one at me and I’m likely to rush at you with an outstretched palm blocking my face. No, I don’t like having pictures taken of me. I’d rather make strange or silly faces instead of actually trying to look proper. This way, if the pictures don’t come out right, I can attribute it to the fact that I was doing it on purpose. Nothing more embarrassing than trying to look all suave for the camera and then finding out that you’re not the GQ model you thought you were.

Until recently, I’ve never taken a family portrait before. I’m not talking about a casual family picture taken while on vacation, I mean a professional portrait done at a photo studio. I remember going to friends’ houses, seeing their family portraits and laughing at them, thinking how silly they looked. But at the same time, there was part of me that wanted to also have a nice picture of all of us together. Those feelings were quickly brushed off, however, when I’d remind myself that I don’t do photos. Thankfully, my parents never brought up the idea either.

Even after Caitlyn was born, I would still have this attitude of not wanting to be in photos, but I’m getting better. Most of the time, it’s out of reluctance and knowing that I should be in at least a handful of photos so our child would know what her daddy looked like. It was also after Caitlyn was born that I decided we should get some proper family photos of us together.

Our photo package was bought 2 ½ years ago. We didn’t get into the studio until this past summer. During that span of time, we received countless number of calls reminding us that we still hadn't taken our photos yet, and in reciprocation, we cancelled photo sessions countless number of times for no real reason other than we were too lazy to go in that day. And then another five months passed before we decided to go back to the photos studio to look at and choose the photos we wanted. If it wasn’t apparent to you before, it should be crystal clear to you now that we are no slouches when it comes to procrastinating.

Out of 300 plus photos that were taken, I deemed only 10 truly acceptable. Bad photographer or too picky? Either way, it worked out because 10 was the number of pictures in our package. So, without further ado, Caitlyn's and our first family photo shoot!

Party like a rock star

This is Caitlyn speaking

 

Sunny-side up?

Why am I in a cupboard?

 

Knock knock

Baby Chun-li

 

Group hug

I'm the Queen B around here!

What are you pointing at?

Is it naptime yet?

Mission Accomplished

 
A miracle is described as an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. While ‘miracle’ might be too strong of a word to describe what Caitlyn has accomplished, it’s not too far off the mark.

I’m of course talking about Caitlyn being potty trained. We actually stopped putting in any effort and instead, opted for a laissez faire type approach. I put faith in what I've read online about children learning whenever they're good and ready. No point in rushing when one's not ready, right? I was thinking it would be at least another year before she figured things out herself.

And then the unthinkable happened last week. Caitlyn wanted to pee so the wife took her to the toilet to sit. Usually what happens is she’ll sit there for a few seconds and then ask to have a diaper put on her. So imagine our surprise when she actually peed in the toilet.

Of course, I thought this was an anomaly, a one-time event, but ever since that day, Caitlyn has consistently been going to pee and poo in the toilet. Each time is just as exciting as the first for me. Every time I hear the tinkle of pee, the biggest smile just spreads across my face and I clap my hands in excitement and wonderment. Truly this is a miracle in its own right. Our little girl has finally grown up.

In honor of this momentous occasion, I was feeling compelled to tell another one of my pee stories, but after some thought, I think I'll let Caitlyn have the spotlight to herself for the time being. She deserves it. My time to shine can come later.

Halloween Fell on a Saturday this Year

Trick or treating is something just about every kid in America experiences. In Taiwan, it’s a little different. While Halloween is something most people know about and elementary schools let students dress up, going door to door trick or treating is something that doesn’t really happen. And that’s a real shame, because I think it’s something just as important as dressing up.

That’s why, when the wife’s niece brought up the idea of organizing a trick or treating event for this past Saturday, I jumped at the idea. My wife’s parents, her two older sisters, younger brother, cousins, and us all live within a 2 minute walking radius of each other. The idea was to have the kids go from home to home collecting treats, with a total of 6 stops.

We got a pumpkin outfit for Caitlyn and while it wasn’t mandated that adults dress up, it was encouraged. I’m not really one for elaborate costumes; in fact, my shining moment probably came in preschool when my mom made me a Batman costume. It was from one of those template patterns you can buy at a fabric store and then cut and sew yourself. It looked nothing like the costume Batman wore, but thankfully, my five-year-old self wasn’t really self-conscious yet, and I thought it pretty cool.

Not wanting to be a party pooper, I convinced the wife to wear a skeleton shirt we both had. Never mind that it was actually a shirt promoting Kimlan soy sauce, the point was that it had bones on it and bones are Halloweeny. More importantly, we wouldn't have to go out now and look for costumes. Extremely enticing for lazy people like us.

While our trick or treating event might not have been exactly how we'd do it in America, it was pretty close. More importantly, the kids all had a blast, and we had a nice dinner party afterwards with lots of catered bbq. Maybe next year, if we do this again, I’ll actually put some effort into putting together a costume. At least I decorated the house. That counts for something, right? 

Grandma and her brood

Treats in a box

 

A princess & her minions

Pharaoh Kimi

 

2nd stop of the night

Don't be scared. I'm a friendly witch.

 

Help! The Pharaoh's got me!

5th stop of the night

 

Let the party begin!

Strike a pose

 

Twin skeletons and a pumpkin

Mind if I hitch a ride?

 

Snow White and her pumpkin

Time for grub

Who Needs Fingernails

After I got the hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), which is a form of the enterovirus, from Caitlyn a few months ago, I figured that the worst of it was behind me. My blisters have all peeled away and healed. Even my bout with epididymitis is all but a distant memory. Things were starting to look up. Little did I know that HFMD was far from done with me. As an added bonus and parting gift, HFMD has now decided to make my fingernails start falling off. You read that correctly. My fingernails are falling off.

Several weeks ago, the wife noticed that Caitlyn’s fingernails were slowly cracking and splitting apart at the base. Not knowing what was happening, she took her to our pediatrician, who said that HFMD was the culprit. It turns out that in certain cases, HFMD can cause the fingernails to fall off. Sure enough, within a week, Caitlyn’s nails were slowly coming off one by one. Thankfully, this didn’t seem to bother her too much, with more of her energy directed at picking at her fingernails and requesting them to be cut.

Around the same time, I began to see a weird discoloration in my fingernails. At first, I wasn’t sure if HFMD was affecting me too, but when one nail completely came off and the other nails slowly beginning to chip off, there’s really no doubt that I have to be one of the unluckiest fellows in the world.

As I said before, when you find out that your child has HFMD, get the heck out of Dodge. You, your epididymis, and your fingernails will all thank me later for it. 

One down, four more to go!

The One

There is one question that is undoubtedly asked to all mothers after they've had their first child, and one we've been asked many, many times. "So, when are you guys planning on having another one?" If the response is, "We're happy with just one," this is followed by gasps and looks of shock and repeated demands of "Why?! For the love of god, why?!"

Is one really the loneliest number? Let's pretend for a minute that we were to only have one child. Would that really be the end of the world? Who's to say that having two or more children is better?

The wife has constantly stated that the reason she would want another child is so that Caitlyn won’t be lonely or grow up weird. Yes, the wife thinks only children grow up weird. I’m not sure where she exactly got this idea from, but she claims she’s read several reports that back this up, though she has yet to show me any of these purported claims. Therefore, I’ve taken it upon myself to delve into and settle this matter once and for all.

There’s an unfortunate stereotype that only children are lonely, selfish, maladjusted, spoiled brats. And weird if we’re to believe what the wife says. However, I am happy to say that none of this is true. There has been plenty of actual research in peer-reviewed journals that proves otherwise.

The most important finding is that an only child is not much different than children with siblings. In fact, one of the most marked differences is also a positive. Only children have been found to score higher in measures of intelligence and achievement. This is primarily because of greater parental attention. In short, they tend to do better in school and get more education than other kids. This could be our one shot to get our kid into Harvard.

Interestingly enough, while only children lag behind their counterparts when it comes to social skills when they’re young, they are actually more likely to make friends than children with siblings by the time they’re in middle school. Siblings are more prone to just sticking with each other.

I’m not saying that I only want to have one child. But I'm not saying that I'm ruling it out either. I just want to advocate that there is nothing wrong with that if indeed that is what we or anyone else were to decide. Parents shouldn't be ostracized for saying they are content with only having one child. It doesn't make you a bad or selfish parent. Caitlyn won’t grow up weird or be an outcast if she doesn’t have a brother or sister. Maybe a bit quirky, but that’s more than a-ok in my book. Just some food for thought.

Outing with the grandparents

Having fun at amusement park

I win!

Is that an automatic or stick

 

Lonely?

Let's have 6 more babies!

3 better than 1?

The more, the merrier