Thanksgiving

A picture log to catch you readers on lots that's been happening since May (from the most recent)!

Happy Thanksgiving 2019!

Fall visit at Pop-pop and Grammy's house with Aunt "Hee Hee"

Bun Bun was a cat for Halloween 2019

Our Ratatouille-themed trunk-and-treat exhibit with Chef Bun Bun.

Third grade has been a wonderful adventure.

Happy birthday, Bun Bun!

Dance recital (Shamrock Shake)

First day of summer school

Dutch Wonderland, Lancaster, PA

Atlantic City (NJ) Steel Piers

Same approximate geographic location.  Me on the left in 1977; Bun Bun on the right in May, 2019.

One of my favorite pictures, taken at the Living Mall in Taipei

One of many yummy stops along the Kaohsiung food tour

Spring 2019

Hello Family and Friends!

It's been a long while!  Can this really be the first blog since last July?  Ten months ago?

Second grade has been treating Bun Bun really well.  She's making great strides in staying focused and learning about all sorts of things.  She reads like a champ, too!


Recently, Bun Bun and I had our first conversation:

Mom:  Do the zebra fish at school have stripes like zebras?

Bun Bun:  Yeah.

Mom:  How big are they?  This big?  [I held out my hands about 1 foot apart.]

Bun Bun:  No...

Mom:  This big?  [I moved my hands closer, about 3 inches apart.]

Bun Bun:  No...  this big...  [Bun Bun held her hands together about an inch apart, the typical size of zebra fish.]

Mom:  Were there lots of lots of them?  Like 10?

Bun Bun:  Five.


I'd say she's come along way in speech!  Here are some recent pictures.

Young Athletes (part of Special Olympics) track meet 2 weeks ago.  Bun Bun came in 2nd with long jump and 4th in some sprint events (Does it matter that there were 3 other runners in the race?  Ha ha ha!)

Celebrating Easter at our church.  Bun Bun has been participating in swimming practices with Special Olympics.  Since these practices are on Sundays, we've been attending another church closer to home and the pool.  We got a small break from practices during Easter.

Bobcat breakfast hosted by school is a monthly event where students and their families are invited to share breakfast together.  It's always a fun community event.

Bun Bun and the ILES mascot, the Bobcat.

Bun Bun celebrated the 100th day of school by standing still like a statue for 100 seconds.

I have finished out this semester looking forward to a year-long sabbatical!  Woo hoo!  I will be working full time in a lab at a much larger research institution, learning some new things.  It'll be really nice to take a break from teaching, students, and grading.

Soon, we'll be heading to Taiwan for a visit.  This will be Bun Bun's first official trip.  Technically, she's been there before, in my stomach, and didn't get to see a whole lot.  She'll be meeting aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Seven!

It's almost August, and, to me, summer is starting to wind down.  I'm getting ready for the fall semester, starting in just 4 weeks!

Bun Bun happily turned 7!  It seems to have been a huge transition from being 6 years old.  I don't know...  It just seems to be a big difference, 6 and 7.  In September, she'll start 2nd grade.  We hope to enroll her at a dance school where we also held her birthday party.  Music, dancing, and mirrors are a winning combination!

This has been a busy summer with lots of traveling and more to come.  We were in Puerto Rico for 5 days, tagged along Daddy's conference.  There's nothing quite like being able to roll out of bed and stroll to the beach.

Tea parties and poetry cafe

Bun Bun and I had tea parties with Dollies all weekend.  Check out her missing teeth; she lost her 6th last week.

 

Bun Bun's school held Poetry Cafes for each class.  Family and friends were invited for the festivities.  Bun Bun recited her poem, "I can".

Spring 2018

This spring, Bun Bun lost her 6th tooth.  All but 5 have completely or partially emerged.

Someone has also been "swimming" with the Special Olympics.

Jesus!

Bun Bun got a little egg from her Sunday School teacher one day in celebration of Easter.  She couldn't wait for me to unwrap the plastic shrink wrap.  When I finally did and handed it back to her, she opened the egg and exclaimed, "Jesus!"

I guess she was paying attention after all.

The little figurine resembled Capt Haddock from the TinTin stories.  I don't think she cared.

What DACA means to me

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act have been in the news a lot lately.  Back in the 80's, this would have applied to me, my older brother, and sister.

My parents brought us to the US from Taiwan in the 80's.  Soon after we arrived, we were enrolled in school.  Unlike the school systems in Taiwan back then, teachers in the US placed more emphasis on free-thinking than requiring 100+ math problems completed for homework in one night.  American kids had more time to develop as a whole person in academics and extracurricular activities.  Kids in Taiwan seemed to only focus on school work and getting into the best high schools, although I doubt this is the case now.

My parents did not come to the US for a better life for themselves.  They came here for us.  They sacrificed for their children.  It was a huge sacrifice because one of them stayed behind in Taiwan.  For 12 years, my mom and dad lived on opposite side of the globe; one to keep his job so he could support his family afar, the other was here with us.  My mom left behind her family, friends, and a very comfortable life to come to a land where she knew hardly anyone, speaking very little English.  She was physically separated from her husband.  They did it for their children.

If you ask any immigrant, I think many will say they did it for their children.  They will say that they sacrificed and left behind much more comfortable lives.

After 7 years of hardship, we finally received our green cards.  Six years later, we became naturalized US citizens.  In 1996, I voted for the first time.  In 2002, I earned a PhD in Immunology and dedicated my thesis to my parents.

Birthday parties

Bun Bun got invited to three birthday parties last month!  One of them was at the Chuck E Cheese restaurant where she played lots of games and met the Mascot. 

She never use to care about mascots until recently.  There's the Bobcat at her school who seem to only really excite the kindergartners and first graders.  When Chuck E Cheese made an appearance at Kayla's party, Bun Bun ran to him (or her?).  But then, it seemed like she wasn't quite sure about the meeting, hence the expressions on her face below.

Bun Bun had a wonderful time at each of the birthday parties.  Two of the three were her classmates from school, from the general education classes.  It was heartwarming for me to see how much her little friends welcomed her into their circles and interacted with her.  They cried, "Olivia is here!"  They included her in some of their games.  They looked out for her.  This is why and how inclusion works!  It is my hope that her peers will never forget about Bun Bun.  When they encounter individuals with different abilities, they will think of Olivia!

Bun Bun wasn't sure about meeting Chuck E Cheese.

Scenic route

My favorite analogy to describe what it's like being a parent of a special child like Bun Bun is that we get to our destinations by the scenic route.  Everything is accomplished at a slower pace.  The key, though, is that everything is accomplished.

Bun Bun  has very recently finally mastered drinking from an open cup.  We were able to transition from bottle to drinking from a straw when she was a little over a year old.  But, it has taken much longer for the open cup.  For any typical kid, this is a natural transition that happens very quickly and pretty early.  For Bun Bun, she had to learn not to tilt the cup all at once and to seal her bottom lip to the cup.  She is now working on tilting her head back as she sips.

Learning almost everything is at a much slower pace.  But, celebrating each accomplishment is so much sweeter.

Her speech is slowing picking up some pace recently.  This fall, we are celebrating her starting to speak sentences, like "I want chips." or "I eat."  Her babbles sound a lot more meaningful.  When she flips through books, she "reads" the words as her little finger runs through each line.  She can recognize and read about 25 high frequency words.  That's actually enough for her to read very simple books:  "This is my dad.  My dad is running.", "I see a table.", and "I like to swim". 

I like the scenic route, have always preferred them over the expressways.  Along the way, we can make frequent stops, take in the local scenery, and soak in some fun.  She still calls me "Wom" and says "Dook" (instead of Book).  These are little things I will always cherish.

"Oh!  I am just so cute!"  Bun Bun admiring her school pictures...

Daddy!

Bun Bun loves her daddy.  Her eyes light up, and she runs to greet him when he gets home from work.  She follows him around the house most of the time, like a little puppy.  She loves some of the same things he likes.  Daddy puts her to bed with their bedtime routine, ending with their time on the rocking chair.  It is really cute.

She can say "Daddy", clear as a bell for a while now.  I'm still "Wom". 

I don't mind one bit.

Bun Bun and Daddy earlier this year and ~5.5 years ago.

Bun Bun playing with Avenger Lego "action figures".