The Baby Maker

Saturday, April 3, 2010

April 3rd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tzfiGgjL2g
He made friends at the park today.

It has been a busy couple of weeks for Draidan. He has figured out quite a few new moves which include:
1. The Duck And Cover- I don't know why but he will hunch down like an artillery strike has just been called in and run across the room.

2. The Twinkle Toes- He has started to walk around the house on his tippy-toes laughing away to himself.

3. The Spin Doctor- Admittedly, I know exactly where this comes from. I use to hold him tight to my chest and spin in a circle because it would make him laugh. Now he is completely addicted to it and will often throw a tantrum if I don't spin by either holding on to his hands or ankles. As this wears us out pretty fast, we just let him whine and throw a fit. So he has now taken to spinning around the room by himself. Which is pretty comical to walk.

4. The Break N' Enter- He can now open doors. Nothing good will come of this new found knowledge.

5. The High Five- Still needs work.

6. The Kiss Good night- Only when he is in the mood.

7. The Slap and Tickle- I tickle him/ He slaps me.

8. The Running Man- He has found his speed.

9. The Security Override- He has figured out how to open the child proof locks on cupboards.

10. The Arm- My mother will back me up on this. Draidan can throw like nobody's business. Unfortunately, it is usually at inopportune times. For example on the plane, when he grabbed my cub and threw it about 7 rows back in one foul swoop.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Shakey

So as most of you have heard now, we had a big earthquake in Tainan this morning. A little after eight, Jenny and I took Draidan to the park. We were almost there when she suddenly grabbed my arm and said, "Earthquake." I didn't feel anything at first and assumed that the garage door next to us was moving up to let a car out. Turns out, it was the earthquake causing it, too. The trees started to sway and even cars stopped. (You usually don't feel quakes in a car.)
Everyone came pouring outside and then about a minute later it stopped. We went back to our walk and didn't think much else about it. We have earthquakes relatively often and they are usually nothing for concern.

When we arrived back however, the first thing I noticed was pieces of concrete laying on the sidewalk outside our building and steps broken off. I said to Jenny, "I am scared to see what our place is going to look like." We walked into the lobby and saw huge plate glass windows totally shattered and the gardens roped off because pieces of the building had fallen off. Then, we got to the elevators, which were all offline and the marble around one of them had fallen off and shattered. Luckily, we live on the third floor, so we didn't have a climb ahead of us. It would suck to be living on the 20th floor!
As I opened the door I was greeted with a new sight. Tons of sand and piece of concrete. "This is going to be bad," I said. I stepped in and was speechless. Our walls pretty much shattered. A lot of the breaks are about 4-6 centimeters deep and pretty much every room had been messed up badly. Drai's room was the only one not damaged. It even shot the nails out of some of the boards on the ceiling. I figure we are looking at about $10000 to $15000 CDN in damage. We called the insurance company and they said our earthquake insurance only covers us if our house collapses or is unlivable. (Anyone got some dynamite?)
Our poor cat was so traumatized that he was standing on the balcony for three hours crying. He wouldn't come inside and if we brought him in, he would run back out again. Thank god we weren't home because it would have been really scary to have been inside will all the walls blowing out. We found out just now that in the last 12 hours there have been 204 aftershocks. We only felt four of them. The cat is probably way more aware of them though which is why he has not wanted to come in. The house itself didn't take too long to clean up. It was done in about an hour but who knows how long it will be until we can fix everything. Essentially our whole house has to be re-concreted, painted and roofed. It might be cheaper to fly an uncle out here to do it! Anybody? Anybody?
Draidan walked around the house for about 10 minutes pointing at the walls with Jenny's shoe and grumbling angrily to himself. It was pretty funny. He sounded really pissed off.

Compared to some of the people in this building, we got off lucky. One family's wall fell down and they now share an apartment with another family. The side of another fell right off.

The damage around our area has been minimal. Out of the 100 or so students I taught today, not one of them had damage to their house, which makes me question how well our place is built.

There was some major damage around Tainan and Kaoshiung though. A freeway pretty much collapsed. All the railways have been shut down from mid-Island south. A few houses collapsed and the university near hear flooded. A huge textile factory went up in flames when a gas line ruptured too.

I guess we are safe and that is all that matters. It gave me a kick in the ass to fix the place, sell it and get the hell out of dodge.

Don't worry about us though. We are fine.
Especially me. Super fine actually. I seem to just keep getting better looking with age...

Monday, February 15, 2010

Scares of the Year

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tiger Tiger

Happy Year of the Tiger!
We are kicking of the Chinese New Year by losing our cat, BaoBao. About two weeks ago, Teak tore the screen window out on our balcony. He could then walk out on the tiny ledge of our apartment. BaoBao, who just turned three had never even jumped up on anything higher than a sofa until Drai started walking. Now she gets up there to avoid him. She too, started climbing out on the ledge a week ago, which worried me as she is not as agile as Teak is. Actually, a St.Bernard is probably more agile than she is.

Bao Bao is cute but not bright at all. Actually, she is pretty dumb but I totally adore her as she always wants to be pet and never really does anything bad like Teak. She is a purebred Persian and like a second child to Jenny. So we woke up yesterday and didn't see her but didn't think anything of it because she always sleeps in the morning. Around 11:30 Jenny asked if I had seen her. I said I hadn't and she assumed she must be sleeping in Drai's room. We didn't want to wake him to go check.

When he did get up, we found she wasn't there, so she must have climbed out on the ledge during the night and fallen. There are two stray cats that live in the garden below, so I am pretty sure they would have chased her out of the area. So we have now been spending our spare time wondering the neighborhoods looking for her. Her name means, "Baby" in Chinese. I think all the neighbors think I am a horrible father because they always see me walking with Drai every morning. Now they just see me walking by myself, looking under cars and next to hedges shouting for my baby. They are probably thinking, "Stupid foreigner lost his baby."

So anyways, it is a little ironic that year of the tiger starts by losing our cat.
We do get a week off next week which will be sweet. The weather is amazing right now. (Like August in Canada.) We aren't going anywhere special which is a bit of a drag but we are heading to Hong Kong in March, so that will be good. I wish I had just decided to spend the extra money and go to the Philippines again. I love that place. Flights are triple the price at this time of year though.

We can't wait to see my mom and Jim. And we are also going to meet Lindsay, Kyle and the kids in Hong Kong. I think it will be fun for Drai to have kids to play with for a few days.

I haven't been blogging much because my computer sucks and keeps crashing. I want to buy a Mac but feel guilty spending that much on a computer. On the other hand, I didn't go to Philippines so perhaps I deserve a new computer? Right?!!!

Anyways, all is good here and I will talk to you soon,
love,
Us.
This is Drai at the park today.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Happy Birthday!

Well this time last year Jenny and I were going through hell and she was pretty much sure he was never coming out. We were waiting anxiously and in Jenny's case - painfully to see our son for the first time and hear what his voice would sound like.

What a difference a year makes. Turns out our son sounds like a bear. He has taken to walking around the house growling like a hungry grizzly. He is happy as can be but for some reason has taken to growling. I don't know where he even picked this up, as he never watches TV and hasn't been around any dogs...or bears.

Our buddy Mike constantly shows up with gifts noisier than the last one. Psychotic cellphones, maracas, baby pianos and a drum set. I am a little worried to see what he is going to show up with today. Drai of course loves anything that makes lots of noise and is in seventh heaven as each new gift is introduced. Papa sent him a dog that you pull around as it barks. He has already figured out how to swing said barking dog around the room with the prowess and battle cunning of a knight. We will probably be in the market for a new TV quite quickly. Thanks Papa. My dad has been picking out some really cool babies clothes lately too. We are impressed.

Drai has gone down for his nap and then we are going to take him out for lunch and to pick up some party supplies for his birthday party this weekend. It will pretty much be an adult party because most of the students we know have tests next week and the kids his own age bore him. He is definitely more happy hanging out with the kids that are about a year older than him and when you see them play together, you would never guess he was a year younger. We are going to have some party games though which will center around him. I think it will be pretty funny. He really likes all of our friends and they spoil him rotten so he will have a good time. I will post videos of it next week.

He went in for his check up last week and his height is average for his age but he is a kilogram less than the average one year old. The doctor wasn't concerned though because she works in our building and knows he has been on the go non-stop for the last five months. We walk past her clinic daily. Last week, he actually walked over two city blocks and was completely furious when I put him into the stroller to walk down the busy street. Drai is insanely stubborn. Which is definitely going to be trouble when he is older.

We constantly find spatulas and spoons in our bedroom. So, we put these childproof seals on the kitchen drawers to keep him out of them. He was not impressed when he found we had stopped him from doing one of his favorite hobbies. Ie. Open the kitchen drawers and throw everything on the floor. So last night, while I was at work, Jenny said she was watching him try to figure out how to get in. He couldn't. Which really pissed him off. So after some bear growling and closer inspection, he finally just grabbed onto the drawer put all his weight behind it and pulled as hard as he could until he tore the entire childproof lock off. He then went happily back to work destroying the kitchen. I can't say enough how freakishly strong this kid is.

So yea, one year and one destroyed house later, we have our little bundle of joy who as I have said before is the human equivalent to the Flintstones' Bam Bam. He is a happy, smart and healthy little boy and deeply loved. A year ago, we were waiting to meet him. Today we sit here wondering how we had ever lived without him.

Happy First Birthday Draidan!