Taiwan Travel

From Journey

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Friday July 9
The sleep rollercoaster is finally slowing down ... so we are starting to catch our breath and end the sleep deprivation. A week ago Gibson got his helmet to help round out his his head. Right now, his left eye and cheek is bigger than his right, and his ears are not aligned. The reason this happened is due to a condition called torticollis, likely acquired at birth. Because of tightness in his muscles in his body, he usually looks right and does not feel comfortable looking left. He also crawls like a crab, his right leg is bent and his left leg is straight.
The first few days after he got his helmet, he was miserable. He would only nap 30 minutes at a time, and at night he woke up ever hour. Then, the next 2 days he woke up every 2-3 hours. Finally the last 4 days we have seen a huge improvement in general. He is only waking 1-2 times a night and is able to nap over an hour sometimes twice a day. I am able to comfort him to sleep more quickly and even able to put it him the crib not fully asleep and sing him to sleep there. Considering where he started it is amazing. We are finally starting to see his real personality - he had been so fussy the first month we really thought he was a difficult baby. But, now he seems to be a happy and silly baby, at least the last few days. He finally seems attached to me and happy to be with me. Up until a few days ago that was not the case. It took much longer than we expected to reach this point. Nicholas was happy almost from the very beginning and bonded with us more easily. He took longer to fully attach, but seemed happy to be with us right away. Just a happy baby right away.
Gibson has easily gained a pound in the last month, we'll see at the doctor's appointment next week. He also has 6 teeth now. He is cruising all over the place and getting into everything he shouldn't. He is especially interested in things we don't want him getting into. I think we are going to have trouble in the teenage years. I told Nicholas he has to watch out for his brother and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble.
We are trying to teach him sign language, starting with "more" and "all done". He does the signs but is confused about the meaning of them I think. He signs "all done" but really means more half the time. He'll get it soon I think.
He is finally adjusting more the car seat and seems more content sitting in it. He does get bored and start fussing, but a cracker usually quiets him down. I think I've fed him too many crackers because today he didn't want his bottle at the usual time.
Well, thats all for now. I'll post some pictures next time. I look back at the pictures from last month and he seems so skinny then!
Wednesday June 16
It took 2 weeks to finally get a moment to post some pictures so you can imagine how hectic things have been. Our biggest challenge is sleep. Meaning, getting him to sleep. At this point we have resorted to the stroller almost every time - transferring to the crib after he is asleep. We were able to sing to him while holding him but he seems to have caught on to that and will no longer fall asleep in our arms, although we keep trying. He will not fall asleep in the crib, only scream when we put him in there. Sometimes he will not fall asleep in the stroller and the only thing that will calm him down is allowing him to play for a while. Once he is overstimulated, touching him just gets him more and more upset. He is still waking up 1-2 times per night for a bottle.
Here he is the first time in the backyard pool. He loves the water and sat in the cold pool right away with no complaint! Nicholas still won't do that

Here he is with his circle of admirers - college girl next door and her friends. Of course, Nicholas had to flirt with all of the girls!


Thursday June 3
We are home, safe and sound!
We are jet lagged and are quite happy being home. Nicholas is a good big brother. He pushed the stroller all around O'hare. We have been napping all day. Gibson has been out like a rock, we'll work on transitions of teh time differences and sleeping in a crib over the next week.

Wednesday June 2 Part II
We are now in Seattle waiting for our flight to Chicago. Everyone is really tired, I think Gibson is more awake than Joe or I. After we got off the plane in Seattle we waited in immigration for an hour for them to process Gibson's visa. Then, we had to pick up all of our bags, recheck them, then go through security again. In Taipei they did not give us a hard time, but here they wouldn't allow us to bring the thermos of hot water or more than 4 ounces in a bottle. They did allow us to bring formula. So, at the security gate we had to make a bottle and pour water in bottles of less than 4 ounces. After all that they had to go through a special check of our diaper bag. It is really kinda silly, just no common sense to TSA. I have lost track of time but I think our flight is in about 3 hours.
I didn't get to post them before, but here are a few shots from my birthday lunch yesterday. We found a pizza place called Alleycats that had pretty good pizza. It was the first time we took Gibson out in the stroller and he conveniently fell asleep at lunch so we had a few moments of relaxation. He is a very active kid, just like Nicholas. Actually, there are a lot of similarities in their personalities. Gibson also is outgoing and likes to flirt with the ladies. He really likes to fall asleep on Joe's chest and Joe held him most of the flight. We were able to use the bassinet, the one on EVA is quite big and he even sat in it while we ate breakfast. But he kept trying to grab things off our tray and managed to launch himself over the edge. I caught him right away but it was a scary moment.

Wednesday June 2
Well, here we are in the airport in Taipei waiting for our flight to Chicago, Gibson is asleep in the stroller. This is the nicest airport I've seen! It is brand new, with free massage chairs, carts inside the gates, and multiple Hello Kitty nurseries. The nurseries are so cute, there is a crib, padded changing tables, hot and cold water available for making bottles, a nursing room, etc. These nurseries are also found in the upscale department stores. Joe and I keep asking ourselves, why can't we do some of these things in the Chicago or anywhere in the US? The MRT system is so nice, efficient, clean, inexpensive, handicap accessible - the CTA doesn't look very good next to it.
Here are some pictures from yesterday:

I was amazed when we put him the crib (not that he ever slept there, but he didn't mind going in to play) and he pulled himself up to standing! So, he is officially cruising. He doesn't crawl, except to drag himself along the floor. Gibson will grab everything on the table that he shouldn't. Nicholas rarely went for things like that so we are going to have to do a lot better job babyproofing when we get home! Well, I should get going because we need to start getting ready to get on the plane. We'll post more in Seattle! Gibson is waking up just in time to get on the plane.
Tuesday June 1
Happy Birthday Cathy!

The appointment at AIT took a long time, a few hours. About 10 minutes of questions and 3 hours of waiting. We met another family adopting from an orphanage, the Rivera's of NYC. No electronic devices were allowed so we have not pictures for that waiting room. Fion and the birth mom a second time. We took a couple of photos outside on her cell phone.
Then we went shopping and found a South African Pizza joint named - Alley Cats.
Bought a few souvenirs and and now back at the Hotel for a diaper change and a bottle.

Emotionally a better day so far. He does cry when he gets his diaper chnaged. And might be a bit constipated... we'll see how long that lasts.

Monday May 31st
We are off to meet Ming-Hsiu!. We'll post more in about 8 hours. It is 9AM Taiwan Time, about 8PM Sunday US Central Time.

We met him! and the birth Mom and the foster Mom. All went well, and it was a fast paced time all day. Then the fun began when Ming-Hsiu realized he did not recognize and familiar faces. I ran out for a quick take out in the mall under the Hotel and came back to share it with Cathy. We tried the Mos Burger (Japanese Hamburgers) and take out Sushi NT$10/piece about 30 Cents each.

Emotionally it was tough on us wanting to make Ming-Hsui happy but knowing we could not give him what he wanted, or more precisely Whom he wanted. Finally after a while he was able to sleep while laying on Cathy's stomach. He normally just co-slept with his foster mom. So finally he fell asleep in between us on his stomach. He seems to be a very light sleeper. We'll start on a crib plan once we get back to Chicago.


Sunday May 30th
Today was another rainy day! This morning we visited a few temples: Longshan and another temple nearby. The Longshan temple was very crowded on a Sunday and filled with worshipers with incense leaving food offerings - fruit, drinks and other sweets. The temple was beautiful with three waterfalls at the entrance and a fish pond.

At lunch Joe's co-worker's (Alice Chen) brother and his wife brought us a stroller and we took them to lunch at a Korean restaurant. It was a good thing they were there because the menu had no english. We are very thankful for the stroller and the chance to meet them!

In the afternoon we went to the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. The strange thing was that the memorial looked very similar to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. We got there just in time for the changing of the guard ceremony

Then we headed to Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world. It was raining much of the afternoon so the view was not great. But we figured it was a much better time to go today than after we had Gibson. We were able to take this picture from the observatory at the top.

Tomorrow we finally pick up Gibson! We will leave around 11:30 to drive to the Taiwan agency, TWCA. Then, we will visit the foster family to pick up Gibson, then return to TWCA to meet the birth mother. We are nervous and excited, but also feel like it will be such a relief to finally meet him after all of this time. We can finally get to know our son who is a mystery to us! This time tomorrow he will be sleeping while we post our first pictures of him. Can't wait, the suspense is too much!
Saturday May 29th evening
Saturday night we were able to walk around the Shilin Night Market. The market was very chaotic and crowded and very large. It went on and on, stands with stinky tofu (that stuff smells bad!) and many other not so familiar foods, clothes and shoes (many of them with American brands), feet/body massage shops, pet shops with tiny dogs and cats (not puppys but tiny animals), etc. Here are some of the sights we saw:

For some reason they shrink wrap many of their shoes. We actually found a Birkenstock store that shrink wrapped their shoes.
Saturday May 29th
Waiting to leave O'Hare

Waiting for bus to hotel - Cathy's glowing!

High Speed Rail

Saturday May 29th (Cathy)
Just checked into the room and finally took a shower! That felt good! This is the longest day ever. Its almost 3PM and we've been up since about 1AM I think, maybe earlier. I think we'll take a short nap and then head out for dinner and unless we really lose it, we plan on going to the famous Shinlin Night Market. Joe is drooling over all of the restaurants/street food. He knows he's not allowed to eat street food on this trip, no risking getting sick! He's also drooling over all of the computers but to get a better deal that the US you really need to negotiate, which of course we are not used to doing.
The hotel room is big but dated, kind of what we expected. It is about the same size as our room at the Rex in Vietnam, which will be very nice when Gibson is sleeping and we are working on posting updates to the internet! Taipei reminds me a lot of Soeul, I was expecting it to be more like Singapore, not sure why. It is more industrial than I thought it would be. It has been raining all day so I am hoping there is a break in the weather for tomorrow when we do all of the sightseeing. The high speed train was very cool, quiet, smooth and exactly on time. Well, time to take a nap, we will post some pictures soon!

Saturday May 29th
Landed safetly at 5:30AM. Had a good flight, and got atleast 5-6 hours of sleep out of the 15.5 Hour flight from Toronoto. THe Shrinp Congee Soup for breakfast was darn good. Took the Air Bus (NT$90 ~$3 USD) from TPE to Hotel. THen we checke dour bags and headed back to the High Speed Train down to Taichung for a late breakfast early lunch. Nice to see high speed rail at about 295 km/hr. We'll post video on FB and maybe Youtube (joeraschke). Got back to Taipei and wandered the street looking for a cheap stoller and baby supplies. No luck, but I found the new model Asus T101 Tablet Netbook. :) Now I have to haggle them down to a price cheaper than in the US.
Nap time for a couple hours and then off to the Shin LIn Night Market. We might get sushi here in the hotel before we head out. We really have to watch out for street vendors. Focus on the task at hand Joe, focus!

Friday May 28th
Never existed in our world. We left THursday and landed Saturday at 530AM.
Thursday May 27
Well, here we are in the Toronto airport waiting for our 1:30AM flight. Only one place to get food so we just had ham sandwiches with mango (?) that tasted old. Those wacky Canadians! We do have free internet and TV with NBA playoffs, so Joe is happy. We had to get our bags and go through security again but this time we were both selected for special screening, with full body scan! They asked us whether we'd prefer going through the scanner or a manual check. The scanner was actually really easy and fast, definitely less invasive that the manual check. There was a baby screaming on the landing - I've never heard a kid scream louder. I felt bad, I'm sure his ears were hurting. We've been so lucky with Nicholas, he's never cried on a flight. Can we get that lucky twice?

Wednesday May 26, 2010
Well, we leave tomorrow! I am almost done packing, picked up Joe's sister Sue from the airport and gave her all the instructions for the next week. Soon we will all head to the preschool to see Nicholas "graduate" from preschool. They are also putting on a performance of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Nicholas is one of the strawberries. Yesterday I went to the dress rehearsal performance for the other kids in the school and he refused to go out there. There were 3 kids that refused to go, including the Caterpiller/Butterfly. So hopefully things will go better today.
We found out today we will meet the birth mother after we pick up Gibson from the foster family. We are very excited about that but also nervous. But someone said the birth mother will be nervous too so we shouldn't worry. I'd imagine she could be even more nervous, it is a happy occasion for us but not so happy for her. Hopefully she will feel OK about our family. We will show her pictures of Nicholas and our house and of course, take lots of pictures of her if its OK with her.

May 21, 2010
OK, scratch that, here is the new plan:
Thursday May 27th 6PM - Leave Chicago (American Airlines), arrive Toronto 8:30PM
Friday May 28th 1:30AM - Leave Toronto (EVA Airlines)
Saturday May 29th 5AM - Arrive Taipei
Saturday and Sunday - Recover and hang out in Taipei
Monday May 31st - Pick up Gibson 1:30PM in Taichung (day trip on high speed train)
Tuesday June 1st (Cathy's birthday!) - AIT (US embassy) appointment 9AM
Wednesday June 2nd Morning - Pick up Visa
Wednesday June 2nd Evening - Leave Taipei 11PM (EVA), arrive Seattle 6:30PM - I love it - we arrive before we leave!
Thursday June 3rd - Leave Seattle midnight, arrive Chicago 6AM (American)
We will be staying at the Caesar Park in Taipei

May 11, 2010
Final ruling has arrived! Here is what we think our itinerary will be:
May 22nd - Leave Chicago
May 23nd or 24th - Arrive Taipei
May 25th - Pick up Gibson in Taichung (day trip on high speed train)
May 26th - AIT (US embassy) appointment
May 27th - Pick up Visa
May 28th or 29th - Leave Taipei and arrive Chicago
We think we will be staying at the Caesar Park in Taipei
I am looking forward to my "Love Mommy" treatment at the hotel. Too bad I missed the "Fruit Ecstasy Party Full Of Happiness" on Mothers Day. Seriously, Mandarin does not translate well to English!

May 6, 2010
It is the first week of May and we are not traveling nor have we heard about the final ruling. It better happen soon because we are so tired of waiting!!!!!!

April 9, 2010
We are waiting for our final ruling - we hope to get it next week and travel the first week in May! Details of our travel and the blog will found on this page.
We will use the same blog format as Nicholas' adoption - stream of consciousness blogging. Our guest page will be the same. Click here for our Vietnam Guest page to see how it worked for Nicholas. Guest page You can post questions for us on the guest page and we will answer as soon as we can.
We will be using Skype to make calls to the US, which is very inexpensive, and also get some video chats going. The trip will only be about 5 days in Taiwan, so we will not have the time we did in Vietnam.