Well, Mummy and Daddy are still living in my Aunty’s house and I have pretty much cruzed around the whole place. It has been a couple of months now since I could stand up holding on to the furniture and just yesterday I surprised my Mummy and Daddy by walking holding only one of their hands. I plan on taking my first real unassisted step any day now, but I will wait until Daddy has his camera ready – I really want to catch the look on their faces! Daddy had his first father’s day yesterday and I was on best behaviour for him. I really enjoyed playing with my cousins, one is playable and the other just seems to lay there on the floor. She has yet to learn how to roll over, but she seems to want to try – she kicks and waves her arms just like I did at that age. Mummy took me down to see the food being cooked on the BBQ and I had a great time crawling over the ants on the ground. Finally I have found someone smaller than me! (The next door neighbour’s dog doesn’t count – he has more teeth than me and can run really fast!
Canton Fair is the world’s largest trade fair and today we are flying to pay a visit. My mummy and daddy are coming along for a ride. I am going there to find products to import to Australia for my new business. We are flying in a nice Boeing 767.
I am going to Guangzhou to look for accessories for our electric bike business. Mummy and daddy are helping me make a better way of living, with less car traffic, less CO2 emissions and healthier communities by getting more people to ride bicycles and electric powered mopeds. Hopefully people will also have fun and feel a little mischievous when they realize that they are able to keep their hard earned cash in their own pockets instead of giving it to the big oil companies.
The last few weeks, in Taiwan and mainland China, we have been visiting our existing and new suppliers. The last place we visited daddy got very excited. This is unusual for him as he is usually very calm. He said to mummy that he was happy that he had chosen this company to do business with. They seem like they have a similar passion for quality and e-bikes as him. I must say that the bikes I tested there were among the best we had seen on this trip in China.
Just about to land now, so I need to go and have some more of the good stuff. Daddy says this is so my eustacian tubes don’t get blocked. It seems to work because my tubes have not complained so far.
Daddy got me a Jolly Jumper recently…I love it! Back soon, gotta go jump a bit more…
WOW! Thanks Mum and Dad, this is awesome!
So busy…long haul, tummy time and swimming.
Posted by: Krys
Hi fans, I am sorry to have taken so long to update my blog the last few weeks! I have been so busy with things. The last time we talked was my first flying experience. Well, I had my first long haul flying experience recently. The three of us took an Airbus (thankfully not a Qantas A380!) which got us safely from Shanghai to Sydney, Australia.
I did all I could to help Mummy and Daddy. Firstly I was very well behaved during the packing up of the apartment in Shanghai. To be fair, they did feed me well, so most of the time I slept. Then when we went to the airport, I did a big one in my nappy. At first Daddy was a little upset, but he soon realised the method in my madness – it is MUCH easier for them to change a mess in the airport with lots of space and running water and paper towels on hand, rather than in the close quarters of the Airbus – probably also better for the fellow passengers too! I even left them with lots of time before boarding – gee, I am SO thoughtful!
I must say that the initial experience of those G forces on the take off run is quite weird. I made some strange noises just to let the captain know that I was not happy, but after that it was normal flight routine – sleep, sleep and sleep. No poo, no scream, just sleep. Oh, and a little feed too. So, what have I been up to since then! Oh boy, where to start?! After a month trapped indoors in Taiwan during Mummy’s zuo yuezi Australia has been a real breath of fresh air.
Daddy has taken me hiking to the local shops, hanging out at the cafe, cruising the beach, learning to swim in the nice warm pool…lots of fun! Daddy seems keen to take me out each day. He says that I am a ‘chick magnet’ whatever that is. I love all the fuss made of me by the other people we meet, mostly lots of girls coming to take a look at my cute chubby cheeks. I find it hard to stay awake – not that they are boring, but the fresh sea breeze and warm sun with the gentle rocking of the push chair just seem to make me drop off.
Many months ago, before I saw daylight, I overheard Daddy telling Mummy that he wanted me to learn to swim early in my life. I must say that at the time that idea sounded like fun. I did not realise quite how how much I would enjoy it though.
The pool is beautiful here and heated – it feels like a lovely huge bath when we get in. Daddy was a bit of a wimp when he got in the first time – he wore a spring suit. He says it was to keep the sun off his delicate skin but I think he just didn’t want to get cold. He took it off pretty soon afterwards though.
I have to say that the experience of floating around in the pool is so great! I really enjoy it! When I first went in with Daddy, Mummy took some photos and some video. I expect those photos will come back to haunt me some time in the future, when I have a big birthday party or wedding. The first time I went in I loved the time in the water but could not really smile to show how much fun it was. Now, though, I have learned how to smile, so I am looking forward to the next swim, so I can show off my new skills! I have also learned how to kick in the water to make myself move – that is really cool! Soon Daddy won’t be able to catch me!
Wow! Yesterday was SO much fun! I went FLYING! It was so great. Mummy wrapped me up like a, well, like a Mummy, stuck me in the Chicco Go and we headed off to the airport. Mummy did not have Daddy along to carry her bags, but there were lots of nice men around who offered to help her with the suitcases.
While Mummy was waiting with me, I had a feed.
We got on the airplane and Mummy found her seat, then I fell asleep, right after I had a nice big poo.
The next thing I knew, I saw Daddy at the airport!
So, my first experience of flying was great fun – all the essential ingredients for a fun time – feed, sleep and poo.
The last week I have not seen my Daddy much. A couple of times I thought I saw his face on Mummy’s magic MSI box, but I don’t know how he got in there. Mummy says that Daddy has gone to the Canton Fair – that sounds like fun. I wonder if they have a ferris wheel and dodgems and Candy floss. Anyway, I miss my Daddy so I have been letting Mummy know this by making sure she misses him too. The best way I know to do this is to scream and scream so she does not get a break. When Daddy is here, he takes me for a walk around the room and talks to me in his deep dreamy voice – puts me right to sleep. But when he is not here Mummy gives me to my Aunties to look after. One, Aunty Beryl is almost as naughty as me. I think she must have been dropped on her head when she was younger and now she is seeking revenge on anyone around her. Pity I am so small or I would poke her back – mmm, just wait a few years, Ms B!
Aunty Linda and Aunty Tina are a bit different. Aunty Tina is always thinking about the best way to do things and helps Mummy with things that she cannot do. I don’t see Aunty Linda so much but she is nice too.
I wonder when I will see Daddy again.
I am not sure what happened today. One moment Daddy was on the computer and then talking to Mummy about ‘Front Time’. The next thing I know I am eating towel with my face buried in the bed! I had to do press ups and shake my head around before they would let me look at the ceiling again. I think now I know how the SAS and Royal Marines feel in their training. Daddy says that I will get used to it. Little does he know that I can give as good as I get – you just wait until he sees this new bigger nappy Mummy is using now. Daddy says it is too big, but I think I can fill it easily next time he gives me cows milk based formula.
Daddy has a whole regime worked out for me to build up my muscles and make sure I develop well. He has even made a flashcard presentation using Open Office Impress (a free version of ‘Microsoft Office like’ applications) Flashcards – 1 to 10 to teach me to count to ten. I will keep making him think that I don’t get it for a while though. If I understand too quickly, he will move on to the next stage too soon; sounds like hard work.
Mummy fed me today and I felt I just had to teach her a lesson. These lessons are fun for me. It makes Daddy laugh too.
It didn’t seem right that the nurses in hospital would change me right before feeding. I always seemed to poo (in Chinese this is ‘da bian’) soon afterwards and then had to wallow in that for the next couple of hours until the next feed. Not sure about you guys, but I found this to not be such an appealing concept.
I looked up on the Internet for the reason that I always seem to poo right after I start feeding. I found that there is a gastro-colic reflex (GC reflex). This means that when the good stuff goes in my tummy, my bottom wants to let the bad stuff out to make room for more of the good stuff. And you can’t just blame me for this – adults have this too, but it seems it slows down a bit when you get older. For me, this starts just a minute or two after I start with the good stuff. For Mummy and Daddy I think this takes a little longer, like half an hour or more.
So anyway, Mummy was about to feed me and she noticed that I had been a good girl and got rid of my bad stuff. So she changed me. Then she fed me some good stuff. I was a good girl again. She changed me again. Too quickly. I was a good girl again. She changed me again. Mummy ended up with 3 dirty nappies in the space of 2 minutes. Daddy was enjoying all this. He kept saying ‘good girl’ so I knew I was doing the right thing. Then he ran to get his camera.
Mummy now tends to feed me and then wait a few minutes before changing me. Then I can sleep well with a clean botty. Not so much fun for Daddy though. Daddy found this out a while ago and told Mummy, but I think she must have been tired, because she ignored him for a while.
Don’t worry Daddy, together we can educate Mummy in changing nappies, the easy way, or the hard way.
The pain meter.
When I popped out to say hello to the world Mummy was very tired. I had already been playing with her for months, and for about 7 hours before I decided to escape and breath air, I was playing with her placental pressure levels, whatever they are.
It was quite a challenge to see how high I could make the numbers on the machine go. I found that I could make the numbers go from about 25 up to about 75 to 80 and that was OK, but the real highlight came when I pushed it up to 125+. The numbers indicate the pressure inside my home. The higher the pressure, the higher the number. Daddy says that the higher the number, the more Mummy was in pain, but I am not sure what he means by ‘pain’. I think that is French for bread right? I think Mummy must like bread because every 2 or 3 minutes, when the numbers went up, she groaned with pleasure, ‘Mmmmmm’ and told Daddy to go somewhere – I guess to the bread shop to buy more ‘pain’. She must have been very hungry. Daddy did disappear for a few minutes but I never did see any bread.
The pain meter sensors.
After a few hours I really felt that my poor Mummy had had enough of my playing with her numbers. Actually, I was getting a bit bored with it and felt I had reached the pinnacle of my capabilities with 125, so, not wanting to overachieve too early in life, I started to climb out of the escape tunnel. First, the lady in green with the white mouth and plastic hands had to help me, because whoever designed the escape tunnel did not measure it properly. It was a bit small and a very tight fit for my poor head. It is a good thing I did not wait any longer – I may not have fitted through in another week.
I could see the light at the end of the tunnel by now but then everything stopped. I couldn’t move and the lady in green stopped helping. I felt someone moving Mummy though and the next thing I knew there was a metal thing whizzing around near my head. A man in green was helping me by making the escape tunnel a bit bigger for my head and shoulders. Mummy must have been hungry again, because I heard her scream at Daddy for some more bread. After this the rest of the journey was quite easy.
My precious bungee cord.
The man in green managed to catch me as I burst through the tunnel. Then my Daddy cut my bungee cord. I was hoping the man in green would save it so I could swing from it when I am older, but I did not see it again. Pity – I think that would have been a good game to play with my friends.
Green must be in fashion in Taiwan at this time of year because more ladies in green washed me and cleaned out my mouth and ears and all the other little bits on me. Then they put me on Mummy’s tummy for a rest. They must have known I was tired and the break was good, but actually I just wanted to eat.
After so many months feeding from a tube my tummy was very empty. In Chinese we say I was ‘hao er’ or very hungry. Mummy must have known this because she had some good stuff ready for me quite quickly.
Now this next part is still a mystery to me – somehow I knew where to go and what to do to get the good stuff. Nobody taught me and I have not seen anyone else doing it, but I knew I had to look for something to put in my mouth and I knew what to do to get the good stuff out. Daddy says I looked like a little alien from some movie he had seen. I will have to watch that when I am older. I think I would have looked very cute.
I think I will like aliens, whatever they are.
When I came out, the guy in green with the big white mouth and plastic hands had to help Mummy a little. It was very messy. The journey down the escape hatch was quite fast but Mummy lost quite a bit of the red good stuff that I had been drinking from for the last few months through my bungee cord. Granny says that it will take Mummy about a month to get her red stuff back inside her. I am not sure it will all fit any more. Mummy is not as big as she was a month ago.
Granny is from Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC) and her Chinese culture has a period of a month after an escape when the Mummy has to rest and eat certain types of good stuff. One of these things is the kidney of a pig. Actually, 7 of them. All in the following month. I know I am only new to this world, but no matter how you dress up a kidney, it still filters waste product from the red good stuff. In this case, the yucky things filter the red good stuff from an animal that wallows around in and, inevitably, eats its own pee & poo. Then people eat the yucky things. That just doesn’t sound right.
Luckily for Mummy, Daddy does not like kidneys either, so once or twice he was able to smuggle Mummy a plastic bag which ended up in the waste bag with my filled nappies.
But, recently, when Daddy was missing Mummy at meal times, he suggested to Granny and Auntie Tina that she eats with the family instead of in her room. Now there is no chance for Mummy to avoid eating the yucky things. But at least we get to eat as a family.
I can see that Daddy likes to have fun too. I think I got those genes.
But what all this means is, I am not eating all the flavour and goodies I should be getting in my good stuff. But Mummy seems strong enough. Maybe 5 out of 7 yucky things is enough for her.
This whole regime is part of what the Chinese call ‘zuo yuezi’, or ‘doing the month’. If you think that sounds like a prison term, as in ‘doing the time’, you are not far off the reality.
For her ‘zuo yuezi’ Mummy has to:
- Stay out of draughts and strong winds.
- Not touch or drink cold water.
- Use rice wine for making drinks. Hic! That sounds like a good excuse to make me sleep well!
- Not wash with water from the tap that has not been already boiled for some other purpose.
- Wash with water that has been boiled with a kind of Chinese medicine leaf from Hualien.
- Not wash hair or take a shower. Phew…
- Eat certain foods that are considered ‘hot’ in Chinese medicine.
- Keep her head, arms and legs covered up.
- Lay down for the first two weeks.
- Wear a corset like strap for most of the period.
- Massage the loose flab back ‘up’ her torso while laying down.
- Cannot carry or move heavy things around.
- Stay confined to a room except for letting go of her poo and pee.
- Cannot read books.
- Cannot watch television or use a computer.
- Avoid guests, who may bring in diseases to her and her new baby.
- Only receive guests who have washed their hands first.
- Only focus on caring for her new baby, ME!
During this gaol sentence, thankfully Mummy can still use her iPod. At least Daddy and I can dance to Shakira.