No park = cranky baby

Cranky day today, not sure what's up. No new teeth, no fever, no cough...Upset stomach? Possibly because it was pouring rain in the morning and so we didn't get to go to the park. The park has been a daily part of our routine. She missed her evening nap but then still played so nicely at church with her buddy Noah, so that was good. She fell asleep in the bike seat on the way home and so I just plopped her in the crib and its only 9:15. Yay for mommy time. Always lots to do.

Longshan Temple

A few pics of us at Longshan temple with the Hickeys and Chris. (Look at their blogs for more artsy ones; these are just Gemma specific) She is super into animals lately; her head is stuck through the bars looking at the fish. It was a busy day at the temple and she smelled like incense when we got home.

She isn't sick yet. Cross your fingers!

Oh, and we missed our dr. appointment again. We were already to go and then I realized I didn't have her health insurance card (like Sk Health Card - you need it to get anything done). So I searched high and low, but I knew I had it yesterday at that dr.s so I thought well, we'll trek out there and see if its there, but when I got to the MRT I remembered to check the clinics hours and sure enough, it was closed. So we went to the park instead. I know that more and more people are choosing against vaccinations now; maybe this is a sign. Yay for Andy, he called the drs office and yes they have it so tomorrow I will go pick it up and then next wed. Chris can take Gemma for the shot. Fourth times a charm.

Gemma Heart Chocolate

This is all we have for Easter photos, oops! It was a busy holiday as Daddy got ready to preach and as we both got ready for Tom's visit. I'm sort of worrying that Gemma (who am I kidding; all of us) is eating too much junk food and so the Easter Bunny just brought a kinder egg and one other treat for everyone. With the kinder egg one bite was enough; Gemma gobbled it up faster than Bugs eats carrots. And she is so smart, she recognizes the wrapper and so when Chris opened his today she saw it and darted over to him. I put all the rest of the treats away today because she sees them and wants them. I feel like we've had junkfood everyday for the last few weeks, and so it is time to cut back. (ha; I'm munching on nerds as I post this...this will be harder than I thought...)

What else is new? I wish I could remember stories, mostly I have just blurbs.

-Went to the dr. today; vaccination time. Actually, it was a few weeks ago but she had a cold so I waited and now I have a old so I want to go quickly before she gets it too and we have to wait again. We're on a bit of a time crunch because we need her to finish a series before we go home for summer. It was a bit of a saga, actually. We started buy going to the hospital across the street, but after waiting to register they said they don't do that there. So we went to the park instead. In the afternoon we tried her regular pediatrician with the irregular English (Did I tell you about the time he measured the 'circumstance' of her head?) and after waiting there for 25 minutes he said that if she got the measles one today she can't get the Japanese Enciphilitis one (she was supposed to go in January, too, but we missed that one). And since the measles one is more important he said to get that one. Except they didn't have any there that day. Doh! So then was like, uh, can you tell where to go? And so he gave me directions to the hospital in Yonghe, close to his office. But they are only open for vaccinations Wednesday afternoon. So hopefully third time's a charm tomorrow afternoon.
-She blew bubbles in the bath today. So cute :) She was also trying to catch the soap bubbles.
-Loving animals lately. She always points and laughs at dogs and cats we see on the street, and chases the birds at the park. She also loves the fish; there are some big koi ponds at a park near our house with hundreds of fish and we fed them today. Very cool.
-Teeth like crazy. Those four molars are all just through and I can already see the next ones coming up (I better write it down in the baby book)

More pictures tomorrow. We did some touring with Tom, and some other park pics.

The One Word Wonder

We were looking at a picture book yesterday and I right after I said 'puppy' she echoed perfectly, 'Puppy!'. It was so clear and immediate Chris spun around and I froze. Of course when we tried to get her to say it again she wouldn't say anything. It's like the time she said cupcake around her first birthday. Audrey and I were decorating cupcakes , not paying much attention to her, and she just walked past the table and said as clear as day, 'cupcake'. And she's never said it again. She is much more cooperative at completeing verbal requests such as:
Give me five
Give mommy a hug/kiss
Give this to daddy/mommy/Auntie, etc...
Where's your bellybutton/eyes/nose/mouth
Spin around (thats new as of yesterday)

She was very helpful this week, helping me make the cake and then by napping while I was making meatballs.

All four molars have come up in the last 2 weeks, it's a sea of white inside her mouth. She's woken up a few times crying in the night, I think that may have been why. She went right back to sleep after some Tylenol.

I haven't put too much thought into Easter for her... I guess I better find some eggs and hide them, dig the baskets out of the closet.

I don't care what my teachers say...

I'm gonna be a supermodel!

Chris and I decided that it was time for Gemma to start contributing to the family economy, so we put her to work..Ok just kidding, it wasn't really like that at all. We sent in a picture like 4 months ago and they finally called us, totally last minute; they called Friday afternoon to see if she could work Saturday morning. It was a nice short gig, three costumes for a Halloween catalogue. It took one hour start to finish, and was pretty fun. Although she didn't crack a smile the whole time. Doh! Of course, she smiled the whole rest of the day.

Another mom was there but her daughter was older, and she said that these pictures aren't even for this years Halloween, but for 2009 or 10. They take the pictures before they send the items for manufacturing, so when they are mass produced Gemma's picture could be the one on the front of the package. Maybe. Anyway, enjoy :)

How to get Mommy and Daddy's attention

1) Pick u a book and carry it over to me. I'm a sucker for reading my girl a story, I think reading is so important.

2) Grab the remote control. We're pretty strict about not playing with the remote control, so if we are not giving her enough attention or if we are careless enough to leave it at her level she grabs it and looks around triumphantly, waiting for us to come and get it form her. Well, today Chris was sitting in his office and I was out. It got quiet out in the living room so he looked out, and right in his line of vision was Gemma, sitting on the couch, waving the remote above her head laughing at him. Firstly, how did she get on the couch? And so funny that she knows how to get us. We're so well trained, aren't we?

Spicy!

We were at Subway yesterday for dinner, and Gemma was sitting on my lap as I was eating my sub. All of a sudden my firneds sitting across from me said "AHH! Take it out of her mouth!" She had picked a jalepeno off the paper and put it in her mouth. I got it out pretty quickly, wiped her tongue off with a napkin and gave some drink. Not before she let out a surprised 'AhhhHHH!' though. Yikes!

TCK

A TCK expert comes every year to meet with kids, teachers, and classes, and do a workshop with the seniors at the highschool in Taichung. I took teh opportunity to talk to her about our ownlittel TCk and asked what are the most important things that we should know about raising a TCK. (Do we have any TCKs in the audience?)

First of all, What is a TCK you may be asking? The acronym refers to Third Culture Kid, and the definition "refers to someone who [as a child] has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture".[1] So it is the mix of the parent's culture, and the culture they actually live in. You can see why this comes into play in a missionary school, where most of our kids are TCKs. I'll skip the other info about TCK profiles, etc, and skip to the advice we got.

1) Take advantage of all the opportunities presetned in the host culture. (Which is good advice for kids in any culture, I think) Travel. Study language. It is very unique to live in a different coutnry and kids should be taught the value of other cultures.
2) Be deliberate in relationship building. TCKs have relational roots, not geographic roots, so be deliberate in building relationships with important people. Send pictures, write letters and send gifts, web chat. Kids can still bond with grandparents and cousins, etc, from overseas. It has to go both ways: A grandparent will never forget they have a grandchild, but a grandchild will forget they have a grandparent.
3) Tell stories. You know, the remember the time we did this, or went there, etc.. A kid at home will hear the stories from uncles and aunts whenever the family gets together, but the TCK parent needs to fill that role.

I am happy that we were doing the things she suggested already. We phone and chat with people regularly, we've sent packages, we've recieved packages. Gemma has a photoalbum with her family people in it and framed pictures of her friends in her room. Of course we want Gemma to feel close to all her family and friends. I know my grandma says this is impossible: "She'll never be close to her cousins like you kids were" (dare I ask if any of you beleive that?) but I think it is possible.