The Baby Expert: April 2013

April 26, 2013

School is Cool

Looks like we may have finally turned the corner with Caitlyn. We had feared the first day of nursery might have been a fluke and that upon returning the next few times, she would be kicking, screaming, and crying to be taken back home. However, that has not been the case. For the past few weeks, the wife has been dropping Caitlyn off without a problem. A simple goodbye and off Caitlyn goes.

According to the teacher, Caitlyn’s favorite activity is to watch the babies in the nursery. She also likes communing with nature and helping around the classroom. The teacher has even gone as far as to say that Caitlyn is a very well-behaved child. Not sure if he’s saying that just to keep our business, but I’m definitely pleased to hear this. The only thing is she hasn’t shown too much interest in really engaging with any of the other toddlers, but hopefully she’ll slowly come around.

Because she’s become so well-adjusted there, we decided to try having her stay the whole day instead of just half the day starting this week. The wife struggled with this decision for a bit because she worried about whether or not this would reflect poorly on us as parents. Would people question us for sending our baby, who’s not even 2 years old yet, to school so early and for the whole day?

But the truth of the matter is, she loves being there, has the opportunity to interact with others her age, and is obviously learning a lot. Plus, it’s not often that Caitlyn’s so willing to leave Mommy’s side. So, is there really a downside? Who cares what other people think. We’re not sending our kid to a slave camp that’s making her memorize her times tables and turning her into a zombie or churn out designer label shoes.

This also creates the opportunity for the wife to have time to do other things rather than just waiting there to pick up Caitlyn. She’s already talking about getting back in shape, signing up for classes, or looking for a part-time job. Anything that takes her mind off of worrying about Caitlyn is a good thing.

Thanks to the school for sending photos of Caitlyn in action!

Painting

Gotta keep my teeth pearly white!

Being a good helper

Blowing on a dandelion

Peeling a banana

Peeling an egg

Chilling on the bench

Missed a spot!

April 9, 2013

Family Vacation

For Spring Break, we took a family vacation with the in-laws to Hualien, which is a very picturesque city on the Eastern coast of Taiwan, for 4 days and 3 nights. It was the perfect opportunity for some r&r, except there can be no rest and relaxation when a baby is involved.

Highlights of the trip included:

The wife thinking that tadpoles become fish. While on a walk in the mountains, we came across a puddle full of tadpoles. The wife then matter of factly stated that tadpoles became fish when they grew up. Apparently, someone was sleeping during their first grade science lesson about the life cycle of a frog. But it provided for a good laugh.

Having the owner of the b&b ask the wife if she was pregnant with a second child. I suppose that wasn’t exactly a highlight for the wife, but it did provide me with another good chuckle. However, it was a bit unfortunate that I wasn’t there to personally witness the look on the owner’s face when she found out she was mistaken. That must have been a pretty cringe-worthy/awkward moment. Personally, I kind of like the pooch. It’s very comfortable to lay my head on. If anything, this will probably motivate the wife that much more to go hit the track with her new running shoes that she finally bought.

Caitlyn becoming bff’s with Uncle Jonathan. Not exactly sure when or how this happened, but Caitlyn suddenly became best buds with Uncle Jonathan while on the trip, seeking him out countless times throughout the trip to hold hands or be held by him. Even requests from Mommy to hold her were spurned in favor of Uncle Jonathan. So what exactly is drawing Caitlyn to him? Was it the Bluetooth thingamabobber that he had clipped to his shirt? The scent of the toothpaste he was using? Does she prefer the bigger screen of his Samsung Note over our iPhone? Some many questions, but so few answers. At least we know who to go to when the wife and I want to have a date night.

Lowlights of the trip:

Getting bit over 90 times by “mosquitoes.” I use the term mosquitoes loosely because they weren’t really mosquitoes, but more like tiny fleas with wings. I’ve never seen anything like them before, but if I had to choose between real mosquitoes and these fleas with wings, I would choose the latter because they don’t make the same annoying sound that mosquitoes make when buzzing around. In any case, I was able to keep myself busy counting all my bites during car rides, so it wasn’t all for naught.

Being stuck on a 2-hour train ride with a baby who wouldn’t go to sleep even though she was tired. The entire trip consisted of Caitlyn squirming around and playing with smartphones. When she got tired of ours, she’d go looking for someone else’s, and when she got tired of theirs, she’d go find another person. I think we’ve gotten her into an extremely bad habit. Personally, I’d rather just completely do away with the phone and iPad, but what’s the alternative? Having a screaming baby cry the entire trip isn’t exactly ideal either. Definitely not looking forward to the plane ride back to the States this summer.