Every now and then, I see my friends’ Facebook posts about visiting far away countries, climbing mountains, and delicious food porn pics, and I envy their lives, wishing I would have the balls or time and money to do those things. I just realized this morning that I am now one of those people. My Taiwan Trip 2014 is pretty fucking cool, if I do say so myself.

All thanks goes to Fleur since she was the one who suggested the trip almost a year ago. I had just had Glow Worm and she had just found out she was pregnant with Baby Gnome and that her company’s maternity leave had increased to five months.

Of course, I immediately said yes. I have been wanting to do this for so long, but have been terrified of going by myself. So to have a buddy for eating and exploring purposes and my kids to have buddies at school in class? YES! Sign me up! Just show me where to shove my money to you.

Side note: if folks are interested in replicating our trip, let me know in the comments and I will put together what school we sent the kids to and where we stayed and how we booked the apartment, etc. For obvious security reasons, I won’t post until after school is over and we are back in the US. I will have a separate post for food related stops. There will likely be ZERO posts on touristy things because I have not gone to any, nor do I plan on attending any. But I may also do a post on things to do with kids that we did. That will be a very short post.

If there is enough interest in any or all of these topics, please let me know. These types of posts are a PITA so I likely won’t bother unless a few folks would like them. 🙂

Alright. To the updates!

1) Due to the weather being so humid, our nursing pads and the teething pads we put on the baby carriers have gotten really funky. Despite being washed, the thickness prevents the pads from drying adequately and the pads started to smell like curdling milk mixed with human sweat. An aromatic feast, to be sure, but one we’d rather do without. I suggested boiling the pads and the first time we did it, the water turned cloudy. After boiling and wringing out several times, the water finally cleared. (Photo credit: Fleur)

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2) Speaking of milk, Glow Worm was on a semi-nursing strike a few days ago. He had a low grade fever for a few days in a row and seemed cranky and refused to nurse. Here then, is its logical conclusion.

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3) Cookie Monster and Gamera are now coughing and a little under the weather. They love milk with their oatmeal but drinking/having cow’s milk makes more phlegm. How convenient for them that I had two glasses of breast milk at the ready. I love convergence.

4) Gamera tried to fly the other day at the park. She kept jumping up with her arms raised up like Superman. Then, when there was clearly no liftoff, she dejectedly said, “I can’t fly!”

5) Cookie Monster used to always ask me about new foods, “Is it delicious or disgusting?” That was in itself, hilarious. But now, he just goes, “Disgust!” Fleur and I find this endlessly entertaining and have now adopted this as our go-to catchphrase.

6) Yesterday, Cookie Monster really wanted to try 冰豆漿 (sweetened soy milk). Since he rarely seems interested in new things, I got it for him. He did not enjoy it. He took one sip, went, “Disgust!” and lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe his tongue off and tried to scrape the taste of it off his tongue with his hands. I really wish I had the foresight to video it.

7) Glow Worm will make this low, keening wail like “AAAUUUHHH” sometimes when he is crying. It sounds as if it would match Edvard Munch’s The Scream. We have also adopted this as a catchphrase. (Henceforth known as Glow Worm Wail or GWW for short.

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8) We had awesome 滷肉蛋and滷肉飯 (lu roh egg and lu roh rice) yesterday from the famed 金峰滷肉飯(Jing Fen Lu Roh Fan). Gamera loves eggs and happily ate her stewed egg. What was surprising was Cookie Monster asking if it was yummy and actually trying it and liking it. This boy has never liked eggs (possibly because he used to be sensitive to them) and I am so pleased this trip has broadened some of his food choices. We are going back for more eggs today.

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The stewed meat rice was delicious until Fleur found this in hers. (Photo credit Fleur)

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GWW.

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9) I think last night was a weekly or monthly exterminator thing because we found dead cockroaches all over the sidewalks on our way to school. Cookie Monster said he liked them and thought they were cute. Disgust! (Photo credit: Fleur)

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10) Only seven more days of school left! How have the days been just flying by?

11) Cookie Monster and Gamera have been acting up lately and I think it’s because they are not used to being away from me for so long. They are so clingy to me at night and seem so sad. The last two nights or so, Gamera has been crying in her sleep and having bad dreams. She keeps crying for me to hold her and not leave her.

Somehow, Gamera puts things in a way that make me feel awful. (Cookie Monster just whines about not wanting to go to school and wanting to be with me. It isn’t as cute for some reason.)

For the first week or so, Gamera would say to me accusingly, “You lose me!”

Last night before bed she said, “我想你。我哭哭。我不能找你。我沒有車子。我不能drive.” (“I miss you. I cried. I couldn’t find you. I have no car. I can’t drive.”)

It breaks my heart. But I still send them to school.

I need to remember that they are still so small. I get so frustrated at them, but I suppose they are also adapting and in a foreign country. The least I could do is be kinder in the moments we are together.

All right. My elbows are numb. Until next time!