"More Moon!"

I know a lot of tricks to delay my bedtime. One of them is to say I need to go potty. Another is to say I'm hungry or thirsty and when my parents bring me one drink I tell them I want something else. My parents read me the same bedtime story every night. It's "Goodnight Moon". Now, I say, "More moon!" to request the story again and again to keep myself awake. I also make up little songs to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" when I feel sleepy but don't want to fall asleep. Basically, I like to stay up so I don't miss anything.

Another Big Weekend!

On Saturday, my parents took me to an indoor playspace for kids. It is in a posh Japanese department store called Shin Kong Mitsukoshi. I was kind of scared of all the big kids when we first got there but then I started to really have fun and didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

We then went to a German Bistro and bakery called Wendel's and had bratwurst. My kids meal came with Nuremberg sausages, mashed potatoes (which I didn't eat because I love rice and noodles), peas and carrots, and gummy bears. I had a lot of fun eating the same sausages that I had while on the train in Nuremberg. We then admired all the pastries at the bakery next door. Christmas season is here because we saw gingerbread cookies and chocolates and advent calendars. It was a fun trip to a little piece of Germany in Taipei.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My parents took me down to the Grand Hyatt for a full Thanksgiving dinner. It was really good! It was Chinese style since there was turkey and mashed potatoes but also a lot of Chinese food available. I ate lots of turkey with gravy and then a shrimp salad. I would pick out all the green onions and then eat all the shrimp. I then ate a big piece of pumpkin pie. We had some new friends join us for dinner. I liked playing with them because they were around the same age as me.

Before dinner, there was a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the lobby of the hotel. The program went on for too long because all these famous people kept going up on stage to give speeches before the tree was lit. My dad got to take pictures with some of the celebrities. They were impressed that he knew who they were. Then finally they lit the Christmas trees and just before Santa came out, they set off firecrackers that made me cry. A lot of other kids were crying as well. Santa came out with two Santa girls, not elves, and passed out candy to all the kids. We had to fight with the TV camera crew to get close to Santa. It was a very different Thanksgiving/Christmas experience.

The first picture is me and Santa's Girls. The second is my dad and two Taiwanese celebrities. The third is me and Santa – he's actually the pastry chef at the Hyatt. The last picture is us in front of Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world.

P.S. My mom figured out how to make the portrait photos come out the right way. Thanks tech-savvy people!

Steak!

I have a new word today. It's "steak"! That's what we had for dinner tonight and I ate all the steaks off of my plate but I kept asking for more. "Steak!!!" I screamed. I ended up finishing half of my dad's steak.

Big Weekend!

I had a very big weekend. I went to my mom's cousin's wedding on Saturday night. It was held at a seafood restaurant and it was really good. Even though I was not the bride, I was the star of the event. Everyone took pictures of me and wanted to hold me or play with me. I loved all the attention. One of my great uncles tried to get my dad drunk. My dad got some attention too because he is American. The third picture is me and my second cousins and aunt and uncle, and the last two are me with the happy couple.

I spent the rest of the weekend at my Ahma's (grandmother) house. I can say so many things in Chinese now that it really impressed my Ahma. She took me to get a haircut last night. The haircut lady had to really negotiate with me for me to sit still and let her bring a pair of sharp scissors near my face. She played with me for a while then asked if she can make my hair look pretty. I nodded my head then sat very still for her. My Ahma and the haircut lady thought I was the smartest 19 month old they'd ever seen. They also said I was one tough cookie since I wouldn't let anyone touch me without explaining what was happening first.

Boo Hoo!

I had to get two shots yesterday. I got a flu shot and a Hepatitis B vaccination. It was really sad. My mom almost cried. When the nurse stuck a needle in my thigh, I started crying really hard and then I said, "Cry!" My mom got into an argument with the doctor because he said I needed to get a chicken pox vaccine but my mom said no so he told her she was not educated on vaccinations. We will be changing doctors now.

More Shoes!

I now love to wear my mom's heeled shoes.

Costco

Last Friday, my parents took me to Costco to stock up on some of my favorite foods. It looked exactly the same as the Costco we used to go to in Seattle with a lot of the same things for sale. My mom thinks this is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because I can have my favorite cereals and crackers but bad because everywhere is starting to look the same. Here I am playing with a basketball at Costco.

Kindermusik!

On Saturday, my parents took me to a music class called Kindermusik. It was a lot of fun! We sang some of my favorite songs like "Wheels on the Bus" and "Ring Around the Rosie" and I got to meet some new friends.

Learning Taiwanese

Today I went to my great uncle's house, and played at a park near his house. I can now say great uncle in Taiwanese. I can also say auntie, grandmother, and cat in Taiwanese.

More Shoes!

I love pretend play now. Today, I put on my mom's high heeled shoes and walked all over the house admiring myself. I also love to play with my baby dolls now. I can put them to bed and say "Night night" and feed them food and give them a bath. I think I will soon need some dress up clothes to continue my pretend play development.

Happy 19th Month Birthday to Me!

Today I turned 19 months old. My parents decided to record all the words I said today since I've been a real chatterbox. Of course, I know a lot more words than is listed below but this is just a sample of things I said today from when I woke up in the morning until I went to bed in the evening.

1. please; 2. off; 3. poo poo; 4. dance; 5. raining; 6. potty 7. eat 8. all done 9. shoe 10. xi shou (wash hands); 11. bao bao (hold me); 12. down; 13. book; 14. sit; 15. pen; 16. xie xie (thank you); 17. banana; 18. baby; 19. more; 20. sauce; 21. milk; 22. rice; 23. eisho (grunt); 24. no no; 25. yay!; 26. crocs (I want my crocs); 27. tight; 28. out; 29. wei? (hello?); 30. bye bye; 31. mama; 32. jiejie (older sister); 33. all gone; 34. yuk!; 35. shu shu (comb hair); 36. bath; 37. wet; 38. ca ca (wipe); 39. hop hop hop; 40. jacket; 41. zou ba (let’s go); 42. okay; 43. feet; 44. apple sauce; 45. ma (horse); 46. row row (to request row boat song); 47. pigu (butt); 48. watch; 49. clock; 50. sock; 51. xi zao (bath); 52. stuck; 53. yifu (clothes); 54. ku ku (pants); 55. help; 56. maomi (kitty); 57. kitty; 58. gou gou (doggy); 59. yang (sheep); 60. grape; 61. putao (grape); 62. xigua (watermelon); 63. mel mel (watermelon); 64. didi (younger brother); 65. zheli (here); 66. peach; 67. bebbees (berries); 68. back (put it back); 69. che che (car); 70. bubble; 71. quack quack; 72. fanqie (tomato); 73. bowl; 74. fork; 75. cheese; 76. doodle (noodle); 77. hat; 78. egg; 79. mien mien; 80. yo-yo; 81. she (snake); 82. turtle; 83. cookie; 84. meimei (little sister); 85. pai pai shou (clap hands); 86. corn; 87. hudie (butterfly); 88. bee; 89. flies; 90. bzzzz; 91. eyes; 92. nose; 93. bizi (nose); 94. zuiba (mouth); 95. teeth; 96. jiao (feet); 97. tummy; 98. duzi (tummy); 99. lai (come); 100. bear; 101. niu (cow); 102. whee!; 103. slide; 104. go go go; 105. yao yao (rock); 106. mao (cat); 107. cracker; 108. I want cracker; 109. spoon; 110. wa wa (sock); 111. cluck cluck; 112. niao niao (pee pee); 113. pee pee; 114. go; 115. glasses; 116. baba (dad); 117. erduo (ear); 118. ear; 119. hello; 120. ball; 121. pants; 122. pocket; 123. meow; 124. shirt; 125. blanket (geget); 126. open; 127. hot; 128. Anja; 129. up; 130. backpack; 131. I went night night; 132. good girl; 133. bread; 134. potty potty; 135. tiao tiao (jump); 136. roar (when asked what a lion says); 137. xia yu (raining); 138. fish; 139. yu (fish); 140. rock (when requesting rock-a-bye baby song); 141. chou chou (stinky); 142. tong tong (hurts); 143. what?; 144. TV (itzy); 145. itsy (for Itsy Bitsy Spider); 146. beep; 147. jump; 148. ribbit; 149. jiujiu (uncle); 150. ahma (grandmother in Taiwanese); 151. ahtai (great grandmother in Hakka); 152. ahpo (grandmother in Hakka); 153. mianbao (bread); 154. hua hua (drawing); 155. pictures; 156. wawau (water); 157. happy; 158. upstairs; 159. Sherie; 160. Kobuk; 161. Emma; 162. Sho sho (stroller); 163. buckle; 164. Da wei (that way); 165. two; 166. three; 167. five; 168. six; 169. yeah; 170. up bababa (for up above the world so high); 171. aboo (for peekaboo); 172. brush; 173. juice; 174. brrrr (for cold); 175. yogurt; 176. achoo!; 177. uh-oh; 178. box; 179. ouch!; 180. diaper; 181. toot!