school 上學

Somedays, Binbin isn't so keen on going to school.



But once he's there, he enjoys himself so much that he is slow to go home. He'd rather stay and play ball on the lawn.



Baba functions as the basket hoop, while Binbin throws.



His schoolmates join in the fun.

new heights 上去

At the Tianmu playground, Binbin caught sight of a tween-age girl scampering up one of three metal poles. He rushed over, threw off his shoes, and engaged Baba's assistance.



Proud of himself.



At the school playground in our neighborhood, Binbin wishes he were as big as the older boys on the basketball court.



Mama plays guard.



Baba offers a lift.

fish 魚

April's theme at Elite's was fish, along with all sea creatures great and small. Taking a page from the schoolbook, we headed to the Approaching Goodness Garden at the National Palace Museum on Sunday to feed the carp.



Aron Shushu joined us.



A bit later, we went to Tianmu where vendors had set up near the baseball stadium and playground. Binbin fished with his magnetic pole.



But, as you can see from the items in his bucket, he was not so much interested in the fish.

What's hot 熱門

Binbin's picks:

film: Laputa 天空之城
drink: Starbuck's mango-tea icee 芒果冰沙
sticker: tiny, sparkly cars and scooters
food: popcorn
toy: basketballs
playground equipment: cement slides
chore: cleaning tables with soapy sponges

What's not hot:

Getting bitten on the cheek by Weiwei (not to worry, wound has healed)
burnt popcorn

singing 唱歌

Binbin has been learning songs at school. His favorite goes:

大象大象
你的鼻子怎麼那麼長?
媽媽說鼻子長，才是漂亮!

Translation:

Big elephant, big elephant
Why is it that your nose is so long?
Mama says, only long noses are pretty!

Binbin's pronunciation is a little off, rendering the last line:

MAMA shuo, bizi chang, cai shi "liao-liao".

odds n ends

Friday night, Xuanxuan came over to play, and she and Binbin were the happy consumers of home-made orange popsicles. Yummy!



Saturday morning, our friend Aron was manning a booth at the American School fair. So, we decided we'd catch a bus to Tianmu and check it out. Waiting for the 645.



The fair was crowded and raucous. Binbin took a ride on the Pikachu choo-choo. For 50 kuai (about a buck seventy), you get to ride as long as you like *and* a blow up rake. The latter item seemed weird, but then Binbin's obvious delight in wielding this new tool confirmed the vendor's logic.



After the choo choo ride, we found a carnival game just Binbin's speed. Fifty kuai will get you 50 ping pong balls, which you must then toss into plastic cups worth 1 to 10 points. Binbin bought a second round and altogether scored over a hundred points, winning him a prize. He chose a yellow race car, which he then brought with him to the playground in the afternoon.



Sunday morning, at the playground at Sesame Mountain 芝山, Binbin decided that the "piano" was worth his interest after some older girls played it and sang a song.



Later that day, he pretends to sleep. Why on top of these particular things? It's a mystery.

week in review

Nearly a week has passed since our last posting. The gap is not for lack of Binbin antics, but because of a relentless cough. A dry hacking that prevented sufficient sleep finally caused me (De-nin) to make use of my state medical insurance card. Many drugs and a day later, I'm feeling marginally better.

So, what happened this past week?

On Friday, Binbin and Weiwei (a newer child in Binbin's Elite's class) teamed up to play basketball at Love to Shop friday after school. The two of them, side by side, made quite a few points.

The cardboard box, the toy of the week, lasted the week, but was finally liberated from the Projects on Friday. Binbin and Xuanxuan played nearly every evening in that box, pretended to be posted to Love to Shop, or pretending to be cats who lived in the box. Or, they simply ran in and hid in the box, wanting someone to "knock knock" and ask if anyone was at home.

The school week was rather rough, with repeated crying. We're guessing that the teachers' demand that Binbin remain seated throughout lunch may have caused too much distress. Or, perhaps it was his teething (2-year-old molars are currently erupting). In any event, it was a trial until Friday when finally, he seemed happy (rather than upset or resigned) to go to school.

Binbin has also been protesting changes of clothing, clinging to soiled clothing as if his very life depended on it. Is this a stage? We hope it is a short one. Otherwise, he may continue to go to school with either pajama top or bottom on.

We're also taken to going to playground #1 in the evenings. We hadn't been there is weeks, and it's quite nice to take a stroll after dinner, in the twilight. It's also much cooler than the recent daytime highs of 88.

Our new silly game is to listen for the sound of soup slurping. Binbin slurps, we show signs of surprise, Binbin giggles.

New items on the menu this week: crunchy snow peas, homemade orange juice popsicles, and microwave popcorn. Binbin pronounced the latter two "好好吃 delicious!"

bubble gun

The road from the zoo to the parking lot is paved with savvy toy peddlers. While Binbin snoozed on his father's shoulder, we picked up a little something for fun. Binbin steadies his aim.



And for much of the afternoon, he fires bubbles on Aron and Chelsey's veranda.



Aron and Chelsey had just returned from the Taipei flower market with a dozen or so plants. Binbin sees that they are properly "bubbled."



More bubble action while Aron works on the aloe plant and Jack stands nearby.

again to the zoo, 再去動物園

Sunday morning, Yigong and Yipo took us all to the Taipei zoo where we again rode the "choo-choo train" up to the top.



One of our first stops was to the penguin house. Just outside, a life-size diorama lets camera happy parents capture their little ones posed amongst the child proof fowl.



We also saw elephants and hippos. Binbin particularly enjoyed observing lemurs and lynx. Yigong was the more active photographer, so if you want to see the animals, you will have to wait for his photos. All the morning's excitement made for a very, very tired child. Who was asleep before noon.

lion 獅子

The stuffed toy lion that reigned among Yigong and Yipo's critter collection recently emerged from Binbin's room. One evening, he and Xuanxuan took turns counting to ten and sitting in front.



The next morning, Binbin insisted on breakfasting not at the table, but while seated on the lion. Later, the box of Special K became a drum and then a hat.

guozhai goat

Friday afternoon, a vendor of goat's milk set up her table near a live goat in a cage. Neighborhood children gather to take a look and we do, too. But Yakuit remains our drink of choice.

at rest & in motion

Toward the end of the school day at Elite's, the teachers will lead the children out to the front steps, where they will sit still until...



the teachers say they can run around on the front lawn. It is perhaps Binbin's most joyful time of day. He cuts across the lawn to veranda, not the least bit interested in coming home.

Soon he'll want a cell phone...

Binbin had his first phone conversation yesterday. He has "talked" on the phone before, but never really had a conversation that involved listening and accurately responding to questions and communicating with the other end. Last night he talked to Yima (De-nin's aunt). Of course, this is the beginning of a long campaign toward getting his own Apple iphone.

A loose transcription follows:

姨媽：你吃飯了嗎？
斌斌：還沒有了。
姨媽：告訴你媽媽你要吃飯。你一定要吃多一點才會張大。
斌斌：好了。
姨媽：明天見。拜拜。
斌斌：拜拜。

(For those Chinese challenged individuals.)

Yima: Have you eaten dinner yet?
Binbin: Not yet.
Yima: Tell your mom that you want to eat. You should eat a little more so you'll grow up.
Binbin: Ok.
Yima: See you tomorrow. Bye bye.
Binbin: Bye bye.

already?

Have we already been in Taipei three months and more? Our time here is zipping by, and just yesterday, we shipped our first parcel stuffed with needless winter clothes back to Maine. Love to Shop and its competitor Happy Blessed Family both stockpile free cardboard boxes for their customers to use.

the rains

It rained and rained. And then it rained some more. During those seemingly unending cloudy days, we still ventured out around our neighborhood. Binbin is fond of "using" umbrellas. And generally, he'll pick the big one, leaving you with the kiddie umbrella.



Sometimes, it's comforting to bring Monkey and Blanky, and have them ride in the shopping cart. Still, we all wish for a sunny and not overly hot day.

catch me...

if you can, says Binbin, as he races through Ai Mai Da Bux. He went through three pairs of pants at school, and finally, he's in the bright green Elite's official school pants. Fashionista or fashion faux pas? Whichever it doesn't affect his basketball game.






That afternoon, he scored 28 points all by himself at the third gaming station.



Euphoric, he wants to play more and tries to yank the balls out from the enclosure.

whisper

When Binbin wakes up in the morning, he will first gather Monkey and Blanky together. Then, he will say, "nainai," asking for his bottle. He will drink contentedly in a lap before looking up and whispering, "kanshu 看書", or "kaideng 開燈", or "wanche 玩車", or "kandianshi 看電視." That is, read a book, or turn on the light, or play cars, or watch television. Sometimes, he will even venture "aimai wanqiu 愛買玩球," thinking it might be remotely possible at 6 am to go to Love to Shop to play at the basketball game.

We urge him to consider using the toilet or changing his clothes or eating breakfast. Naturally, none of these activities is all that appealing.

cheap thrills

We went on several outings this past weekend (to parks, to visit Aron and Larry the Turtle, almost to Danshui to see Uncle Joseph and Auntie Margaret), but we also had fun at home. Here, in an abstract expressionist mood, Binbin uses chiefly red marker to create body art.





Xuanxuan 媗媗 came over to play, too. At first, we all played with foam airplanes and bubbles. But these were quicky deposited (along with all sorts of other toys) in grocery carts, which could be raced around the plazas in the housing project.



Xuanxuan strikes a pose, while Binbin pauses to work on his lollipop.



Parents tag along. Jack has one of the airplanes in his hands. Beside him are Zonghong 宗宏 and Shufen 淑芬.



Finally, the kids are convinced to return home to play with...a big box. It just goes to show, sometimes boxes are more fun than the things that come inside them.

pretty 票亮

We have used the word "pretty" to describe lots of things, but Binbin used it for the first time Saturday morning. On our morning walk to the bus stop, he saw this retro style scooter and called it "pretty."



On the weekends, we often take the bus now. We have several buses we can take from our stop, which is the Jilong Public Housing stop. Sometimes we take the 208 to the MRT Yuanshan station. The 645 goes to Tianmu, where Aron and Chelsey live and the location of our favorite playground. And this weekend, we tried the 33, which took us to the Sogo Department store with a Yamazaki bakery in the basement. Though Binbin clamors to get off the bus almost immediately after boarding, he did stick out the long bus ride. His reward: a Yamazaki twisty donut! Yum yum!