Holi Moly!

My dearest Elizabeth,

How the time flies! It’s been almost four months since my last letter, and just typing all of this, adding photos, etc., to finally get it published has taken several days. So much that has unfolded during this time, so I hope I’m able to recall and fit it all in here.

Let’s start by going back to December. You and Mom started a new chapter, with her taking a new job, and you going along with her, starting preschool. That’s going well. You look forward to “going to school,” and have made friends there. Selina’s job keeps her super busy and it’s still a change we’re all adjusting to, with, in addition, my working more and more from home, balancing running and trying to build my business, and still working a couple evenings outside the house, trying to keep the house in order, and taking on more and more responsibility in my new role as a Toastmaster. It’s a juggling act, for sure, but we’re doing well.

I’m not sure who it is that’s been giving all these things to you, but at least one of your “teachers” and some of the parents have somewhat regularly been giving you clothes. This is one of the first ones, a traditional Chinese vest.

And this one is from a couple days later, after your first trim (Dad did it himself), sucking down your old man’s Oreo milkshake.

And while you’re growing and taking on a whole bunch of new skills and vocabulary, you still have a silly streak, as proven in this next photo, in which you’ve decided that the styrofoam wrap is better suited as headwear than as a cushion for the pear that it came with.

And here you are in the bedroom, all pj’ed up and ready for bed, with the your new stuffed dog (and your new favorite gesture).

On one of those unusually beautiful, sunny days that we had in mid-December, I decided it was a good occasion for us to play hookie, so the two of us heading into Taipei to check out the new Children’s Amusement Park.

That last photo, sitting on the elevated train, is still one of my favorite recent shots of you. You were already pretty tired, having missed your nap, played at the park for a couple hours.

And as luck would have it, we ran into an old friend of mine, Christopher. And it was his first time seeing you in the flesh, so he was pretty excited to finally get to make your acquaintance.

Fast forward to 2017. You’ve fully adjusted to your new preschool environment, and you’re showing the signs of a budding toddler artist.

And you really like that gesture—it’s the Taiwanese in you, I guess—but it still takes some practice to get those fingers just right.

As the Chinese New Year approached, and winter finally began rearing its ugly head, more sleep was in order. And you and Mom take this very seriously, often leaving no room for Dad.

The CNY holiday break was only six days this year, and we spent most of it relaxing at home, spending quality time together as a family. But we did get out a couple times, and on one of the fairer weather days, met up with Dad’s first friends in Taiwan, the Chiu family, and drove up to the coast to have lunch together. The restaurant happened to have kiddie rides outside, so it took some prying to get you back to the car afterward. But you were so happy in the few minutes that you got to play.

And Daddy bought you a new beanie.

Due to all the holidays, we have missed a lot of swimming classes. But your love for being in the water hasn’t faded. In fact, getting you out of the pool is not easy. Here you are, with Mom, after class was over.

One of your favorite things to do most of the time is sing. Sometimes that includes dancing and/or gestures. Oftentimes it involves a lot of making things up as you go, including mixing lyrics from one song to another, or quickly switching to a new tune mid-song. Either way, Mom and I find it endlessly entertaining.

Waiting for dinner seems to be one of the more popular times to burst out in song.

It’s probably in your genes. You certainly have an appetite, and you have a number of favorites—pizza, ice cream, cookies, and cake, to name a few, get you pretty excited. I know I got my love of ice cream from my father, and you’re already following in that regard.

We still do really well as far as keeping sweet in check. We have a strict no candy rule and have managed to keep with that religiously. But your mom and I also love fine dessert, so it plays a pretty regular role at mealtime.

And as you continue growing and developing more vocabulary and personality, it’s so much fun to watch how this unfolds especially at dessert time. We’re very proud of the work we have done to instill in you the importance of sharing, but we also find it immensely amusing when you stake claims on the last bite, or for whatever reason think it best to exclude Mom from eating this or that.

This time, while checking out a new nearby pizza place, you called dibs on the last three slices and did everything in your power to make sure we saved them for you. It’s clearly not selfishness, but rather a sign of your love for pizza—you got them from me—and a constant form of entertainment for Selina and me. On that same occasion, you stole all the berries from my creme brule, with amazing speed and skill.

I’m going to try to wrap things up as this is already a bit long and I don’t want to put off publishing it any longer. So here’s a small collection of recent pictures detailing some of our life.

The Kinder bus is at Aimai, our nearest hypermart. The butterfly wings were part of the outfit you wore at one of Selina’s cousin’s wedding. And the last in this set is of you copying Mom doing yoga.

So we did something special just last month, and I think it’s going to be an annual tradition for us. A number of the Indian restaurants in the greater Taipei area come together every year to put on a local version of the Indian Holi festival, and I made sure that we made it this year. For you, it meant mostly playing in the sandbox, but we also had a lot of fun with the watercolors that were distributed to all the participants.

Your old man also got really badly sunburned.

And after half a day of serious play, and no nap, you were out before we even left the parking lot.

Yeah, we’ve been busy. But it’s been the good kind. I’ve gotten my schedule worked out so that we have a full weekend together, all three of us, like most families should and do, and we’re all happy and better off. Since starting this letter there have been other marvelous adventures, and I promise it won’t take four months to share them here with you.

Much love,

Dad

Happy Holidays

Dear Elizabeth,

Today is Valentine’s Day, and it’s the last day of this year’s long Chinese/Lunar New Year break, which was a whopping nine days this year. It ended up being 10 for me, though, as Friday is my usual day off—meaning we got to start a day earlier than most.

I had plans to get a lot done over the break, including this letter, yet here I am at the very end still playing catch-up. This is the life of a parent—busy, busy, busy; however, I wouldn’t want it any other way. So this is going to be a long read and will include tons of photos taken over the past several weeks.

The new-year break was great. We got a lot of sleep, played a lot, ate really well. Overall, it was 10 days of mostly laid-back family time, with a couple trips into Taipei to see friends, and one day of you and Selina hanging out with her big family—getting to see all of those great-aunts and -uncles who adore you so much; all the cousins, and even getting to meet a few new ones—and a lot of fine dining out.

We ended up celebrating Valentine’s a day early due to a last-minute change of plans with some friends who were planning on visiting. That was my getting up early to make a yummy breakfast of cheddar scrambled eggs and homemade berry muffins. I also surprised your mother with a Swarovski necklace. It’s so hard to believe how fast time is passing. Only a year ago we celebrated our first V’Day together.

So to recap what has gone on lately…

Shortly before the holiday break, we stopped over to visit and have dinner with Little Uncle (小舅) and his family. Here you are with Selina’s youngest cousin, who according to Google is your first cousin once removed. We so far have kept it simple, teaching you to call him 哥哥—Chinese for “elder brother.” (This is one of your more recent and favorite words to say, and you use it with nearly everyone, but have shown that you know who it really applies to.)

We also had another play date with Yo-yo and his parents, this time going to Bear’s World in Taipei, which so far has proven to be the coolest play place around. There’s so much to do there that you two little ones were pretty much on your own to play, run around, and us four big people got to relax a bit, chat, and just enjoy watching you do what you do best.

You really enjoyed the sand box, so much that we couldn’t get you to budge even when there was singing and dancing going on just outside the room.

Afterward, we walked to Voodoo Doughnut for a good ol’ American-style sugar fix.

Remember that cold spell that I mentioned in the last letter? Well, it was something very worthy of mention. In fact, at least here in the north, almost everywhere saw snow. It didn’t stick except in the higher places, but even in the city we saw flakes dropping. For a subtropical/tropical island, that sort of thing turns a nationwide fiesta. At home, though, it meant having the heaters cranked most of the time, and venturing out very little. But we did a little use of our dusty winter wear.

Back to more recent days…

We often go play at the tiny park just across from our apartment complex. Your two favorite things to do there are zoom down the slide, usually face-first, and pick up fallen leaves. You have shown to be fascinated with most everything around you, but leaves seem to be a particular object that you’ve taken to. Here you are proudly toting them around the playground.

Watermelon still seems to be one of your favorite foods. Well, at least when we go out for hot pot. That’s one thing you seem to not be able to get enough of.

And a few days ago I gave you a whole egg—you’ve been rather assertive in establishing independence at eating time. Look how much you enjoyed that!

Our final trip out for this CNY holiday was nearby to Goat World, a small farm in Zhongli. Considering your fascination with animals, it’s fair to say you had a lot of fun, and you didn’t mind the smells one bit. One of your most enjoyable experiences was clearly feeding the goats.

A few more small updates on developmental milestones: You have continued progressing in becoming more and more vocal, adding a whole sort of new sounds. You’ve picked the aforementioned 哥哥, and use it quite liberally, and “mama” has become more and more pronounced. Following our constant correcting of calling other little girls 姐姐 (translation: elder sister), you’ve managed to spit that out a few times. You’ve learned to point to yourself and say 寶寶 (Chinese for “baby”), and do the same when we say “baby,” as well as your names, Elizabeth and 懿君. You have also added a few signs to your baby-signing repertoire: those for “diaper,” “change diaper,” “stop” and “no more.”

I don’t know where you stand in terms of the average for your age, but you’re already wearing 2T clothes, so we’re going to be investing in a lot of new clothes this coming spring and summer. And you have the appetite to show for it.

So, to close, it’s been far too long, and I’m sorry I haven’t been able to keep in touch as often as I’d like. The truth is we’ve been having way too much fun. And you’re growing so, so fast. (Your mother, on the other hand, continues to get younger.)

I have to take advantage of every moment I can to be there beside you, being a part of the adorable little girl you’re all too quickly blossoming into.

I’m blessed, beyond words, with the sweetest two valentines a man could ask for, and I couldn’t be any happier with what life has handed me.

Love,

Dad