小孩生病 全家生病

有小孩的家庭 生病的悲慘

姐姐上學
姐姐生病感冒帶回家 發燒 流鼻血2天
媽媽/弟弟陪睡 所以也感冒
媽媽一直咳嗽 頭痛 睡不好(本來就睡不好了)
弟弟8個月大 發燒 咳嗽 超級睡不好 都要人抱著睡 一小時起來一次
爸爸晚感冒 發燒一天 可是這次喉嚨發炎 吞口水都痛 沒聲音

姐姐好了 只剩下乾咳 
精力旺盛 一天到晚說沒有人陪他玩 (... 因為其他人都生病 照顧小嬰兒 ...)

LOGAN - 1 Month Old

Logan is 1 month old and growing

7 lbs 12 oz (3.5 kg)
21 inches (53 cm)

July Monthly Recap

It's another month

• We are back from Taiwan (Wendy away for 2 months, me 3 weeks)
• Waterloo weather was funny - hot & humid for 1 week and then cold afterwards, needing jackets
• Unpacking 8 luggages, cleaning up house, packing for trip to Ottawa again
• Ella is going to Nursery school in August (2 days a week, 2.5 hours each day 9-11:30am, $17/day)
• Ella so far is adapting to the quieter environment okay

TRIP - Ella's first trip to New York City

We are itching and time-constrained to use up some travel vouchers, so another trip to USA and this time it's New York City

NYC 2013.05 - Google Maps  << in  chronological order

Day 1 Friday

• Drove and parked at Hotel Indigo via Global Airport Parking ($6/day), shuttled to YYZ for YYZ-EWR flight. Couldn't believe we still almost missed our flights despite arriving at post-security lounge 1 hour beforehand. It's a habit of running to board our flights nowadays :)
• Arrived EWR and bus/PATH'ed to Newport to visit cousin, visited nearby Target and Newport Green Park for some views
• PATH'ed to hotel (Radisson Martinique on Broadway) for a nap
• Dinner at Miss Korea (so good) and walked around after

Day 2 Saturday

• Breakfast for 2, and Check-in at Fairfield Inn
• Subway'ed to Chelsea Market 14th St, walked on High Line park to 23rd St and bus to the Flatiron building
• Lunch at Grimaldi's Pizza (tiny small door), tasty pizza
• Back to hotel for nap again, walked to Bryant Park. M42 to UN building for photo
• Dinner at MENCHANKO TEI for Japanese ramen
• Times Square photos, M&M World

Day 3 Sunday

• Check out Marriott and check-in at Radisson
• D train to Chinatown for walk
• Lunch at Excellent Pork Chop House, yummy/homey Taiwan food
• Waited forever for M5 bus to downtown which never came, so walked to 9/11 Preview Site, and then 9/11 Memorial
• Met up with cousin to South Seaport to catch the Manhattan by Sail - Clipper City Tall Ship tour. The 90-minute boat tour was great for picture taking, too bad it was too chilly to enjoy and there's no commentary at all @@
• Dinner at Kunjip. It was okay (a bit $) and didn't like being rushed out with fast bill and waitress hawking us (we were < 1 hour there)

Day 4 Monday

• Big breakfast buffet at Radisson
• B train to American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) only to be unlucky enough to see the B/D line stopped due to police investigation uptown. Had to transfer to 1 train
• Visited Central Park Playground for Ella
• Waited forever again for M10 bus to AMNH, only to find the bus super packed @@
• Donated $20 and visited AMNH for 90 minutes
• Back to Radisson to pick up luggage, N train to Astoria Blvd to catch M60 bus to LGA airport
• 6:30pm LGA-YYZ, arrived 8 pm and picked up car ~9pm, dinner at BR and grocery at T&T, home around midnight

Tips

• MTA MetroCards transfer only bus-to-subway or vice-versa, not bus-to-bus. Even then, I don't trust it much either as we used 1 card for 2 persons and sometimes it didn't read the 2 transfers properly. so in future, just buy the 7-day $30 pass
• Leave plenty of time for transportation, and allocate accordingly. We spent so much time on waiting, transferring, and finding elevators @@ 
• NYC is not baby-friendly at all, Washington is much better

Expenses

• Hotel for 3 nights = FREE
• 2 nights at Radisson with free night certificates (I got them for about ~$80/night, redeemed for $350+/night at NYC!!)
• 1 night at Marriott (30000 points, obtained free from Chase Marriott credit card signup of 50K points)
• Flights = $60 + $30 ~= $100 out of pocket
• YYZ-EWR is $460 for 3 (used $500 United vouchers)
• LGA-YYZ is $228 for 3 - $200 AMEX Platinum's annual $200 credit
• Transportation - $30 YYZ Parking, M62/PATH $10, MTA $50
• Dining - $70 Miss Korea, $15 Grimaldi's Pizza, $50 MENCHANKO TEI, $10 Pork Chop Chinatown, $53 Kunjip
• Attractions - $6 9/11 Memorial, $60 Clipper City sailboat, $20 AMNH

ELLA - Y2.M2 (24 months) and visiting New York

Oh my god it's been so long since my last post on Ella
so here I am, trying to capture what has happened since February when Ella turned 2

• Ella is still 90 cm and 14 kg, on diaper size 4(basically unchanged since 6 months old, pretty strange)
• She can understand us very well and somewhat speak okay to express her thoughts
• New passport fee ($57 for 5 years) starts July 1st, so I'm debating whether to renewal her passport now ($22 for 3 years), even when it expires in June 2014
• It's always travel time for us, and we're going back to the Big Apple (New York city) again. 
• First time was Dec 2010 on Expedia's -$300 price error (Ella was 7 months in the belly), and this time almost free using mostly vouchers, credits, and hotel points!!
• Hotel for 3 nights 
• 2 nights at Radisson with free night certificates (I got them for about ~$80/night, redeemed for $350+/night at NYC!!)
• 1 night at Marriott (30000 points, obtained from Chase Marriott credit card signup of 50K points)
• Flights
• YYZ-EWR is $460 for 3 (using $500 United vouchers)
• Return LGA-YYZ is $228 for 3 (using $200 AMEX Platinum's annual $200 credit)

ELLA - Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Ella is now officially 2 years old, how time goes by

To celebrate, and while she doesn't need a flight ticket before 2, we took advantage of a flight price error from Toronto to Miami at $260 round trip

We saw the beaches, the downtown Miami, and the beautiful Vizcaya museum. Ate some seafood, Japanese, and had a wonderful, relaxing, pre-birthday celebration

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, to my DEAR ELLA

Thank you for being a part of our family, we love you always

親愛的寶貝 謝謝你出現在我們的生命中 永遠當爸爸媽媽的心肝寶貝

To recap where Ella has been since birth - many cities!

• 2011.07 Taiwan
• 2011.12 Washington DC
• 2012.05 Pittsburgh
• 2012.07 San Francisco, then Taiwan
• 2012.09 Singapore
• 2012.10 Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas
• 2012.11 Chicago
• 2012.12 Taiwan
• 2013.02 Miami

TRIP - 4 Days US Thanksgiving in Chicago

Last minute trip to Cold, Windy Chicago over US Thanksgiving with family, it was lots of fun despite some cold weather

Day 1 - Thanksgiving

• 6:30 YKF-ORD, only 15 passengers, 1 hour to ORD, but 2 hours wait at custom as they only had 2 officers for 100+ visitors 
• Check-in at Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park - got 1 beautiful Park view suite + 1 suite
• Wendella Boat Tour in the afternoon while it's warm (~15C) 
• Dinner @ Aria inside Fairmont 

Day 2 - Black Friday

• FREE Chicago Greeter tour from 10-noon - Millennium Park and The Loop, Architecture Foundation
• Bus to Lou Malnati's Pizza for Lunch
• Bus to The Field Museum
• Bus back to Millennium Park for Christmas Carol
• Dinner @ Panera Bread 

Day 3 - Saturday

• Bus up to John Hancock Tower Cheesecake Factory for Brunch
• Bus back to Fairmont to check out by 4 pm (free late check-out), move to new hotel Club Quarters Wacker along Chicago River. Sadly we only got 12th floor rooms with limited river view 
• Bus back to John Hancock Tower, waited ~30 minutes to the Signature Lounge on 96th floor but we got the best table in the house on the southwest corner. Photos will speak for themselves. It costs about $10/person for drinks/snacks instead of $18 observatory ticket
• Walked down Magnificent Mile, shop here and there
• Dinner @ Dao Thai Restaurant - interesting decor and wonderful meal

Day 4 - Sunday

• Navy Pier - walking around taking photos of Chicago skyline, and Chicago style Hot Dog
• Check out of hotel
• Shop at Target on 1 S State St
• Took a loop on the brown line to see the Chicago skyline
• Take Blue line to ORD, and check-in for 8pm CST ORD-YKF (only 22 passengers)
• Landed ~10pm EST and home about 10:30pm, and SNOW!!

Expenses

• Hotels
• Fairmont Chicago Travelzoo deal $129/night x 2 and I used my Fairmont Platinum benefit of 2 Free Suite upgrades <-- What a Suite, What a View!!
• Club Quarters Wackers: $164 + $119 /night
• Food: Free, courtesy of our lovely cousins to offset the hotel charges
• Shopping: Polaroid camera $200
• Others: Boat ticket $26 x 5, Grocery $34, Museum $42

Notes

• Ella was such a good baby this time, despite lack of sleep
• It was a very relaxing peaceful trip, and we saw everything we wanted to see
• Weather was cold for 2 days but that made the trip more memorable 
• It's not the destination, but the people you are with, that make all the difference!!

* below are not our photos

 

ELLA - Y1.M9 (21 months)

Ella 21個月了 真的慢慢長大了 好多發展要記錄

- 很會講單字了 雖然發音不標準
- 意見很多 什麼都可以要或不要(包括吃飯) 提早到來的Terrible 2?
- 哪個小孩 半夜12點睡覺 早上10點起床的? 太奇怪了
- 身高體重沒變 也奇怪

Some photos

Strawberry for Halloween

Butterfly for Halloween

Yum Yum Yum

Looking pretty

TRIP - Singapore Sept 6-9

I wanted to take my parents on a trip and also wanted to see Singapore, so here we are on a DIY 4 Day 3 Night trip from September 6 to 9.

I had a whole schedule planned, and of course nothing follows the plan (it's hard with elderly and baby), but I think we did alright and saw most tourist attractions with nice weather

Day 1

• Woke up at 5 am for 7:40 flight. 777-300ER was so empty we got rows to ourselves (flight ticket $14000 NT/person)
• $60 MaxiCab to hotel - Royal Plaza on Scotts ($135 USD/night x 2 rooms x 3 nights = $1000 CAD)
• Quick lunch across the street @ Far East Plaza - Hainan chicken and Yakun Toast
• Everyone napped from 3 till 7 pm (oops)
• Walked around Orchard St at night and dinner @ Lucky Plaza. Orchard St is prettier at night than daytime

Day 2 

• 313 Somerset Toast Box + mid-point buy HIPPO ticket (~$280 CAD for 5 adults)
• PURPLE to Suntec, 12 pm DUCK boat
• 1 pm RED bus --> Chinatown 2 pm, Maxwell
• Walk to temple, CHC, then 5:15pm RED bus to Suntec, 5:45 @ Flyer
• Dinner @ food court. Leave around 7:30 pm to Helix bridge
• 8 pm Wonder Full show @ MBS
• 8:45 Bumblebee water taxi to Clarke Quay
• MRT to Orchard, hotel @ 10 pm

Day 3

• Woke up lazily to a day in Sentosa - Siloso beach, Most Southern Point, Imbiah station
• Esplanade - No signboard chilli crab ($$$300 SGD for 7 adults + 2 kids)
• Marina Bay - walked from Esplanade to Flyer
• Singapore Flyer
• Took bus 173 from Flyer non-stop back to hotel. Bus >> Taxi >> MRT if you can find the bus (check http://gothere.sg) 

Day 4

• Hotel check-out 
• $50 MaxiCab to Changi airport
• EVA flight downsized to A332 but still has many empty seats to shuffle
• Jason asked and got earlier CX flights SIN-HKG-TPE as well, and Premium Economy seat

Notes

• Singapore is not cheap in general, unless you become a local and act local
• Bus system is good, and so is Taxi, better than MRT
• Overall we spent < $10,000 NT cash while major expenses went on CC 
• Singapore directions/signs are horrible, either above or under ground. It's usually faster if you walk above ground and jaywalk. You get lost quickly or walked too much underground

TRIP - 2 Weeks Vacation to TAIWAN

Vacation

• My annual vacation to go home and visit parents, relatives
• Weather was hot in Taiwan as usual
• We took another 4 day trip to Singapore, which I'll blog in separate post
• Ella had a wonderful 2 months in Taiwan, having tons of fun with so many people (July to Sept, Y1M5~Y1M7)
• Hoping for another trip back this X'mas ($$$ flights)
• Many thanks to my dear wife Wendy for taking care of Ella "alone" for 2 months. It's no small task

Travel notes

• United Airlines
• Both ways I got 2 Meals + Snack on TPAC flights and lots of drinks. I was impressed as I thought US airlines have cut down
• Unfortunately we had a 2 hour delay at SFO, sitting on the plane waiting for them to fix the radio
• Star Alliance Silver
• At SFO United wouldn't do anything for me, but I lucked out in Economy+ as my 31J was Y in old seat map but Y+ in new 772 3-3-3 layout.
• At TPE the ground staff recognized my Silver status and upgraded me to Economy+ all the way, and I had middle seat empty for TPE-NRT, and whole row to myself NRT-IAD). Shocking UA804 NRT-IAD was 30% loaded, where everyone in E+ has a row to themselves and Y wasn't full either
• Half-way to my Star Alliance Gold (via Aegean airlines A3 program) now 
• NEXUS/Global Entry
• Saved me great time at IAD and YYZ immigration (I passed immigration in 1 minutes at both), only so that I wait 20 minutes at baggage :(
• For Global Entry, remember to choose "Visitor" even if you're transit via US; otherwise you'll need to see Passport control and get inspected @@
• If you opt out for full-body scanner like I did at SFO, you may get a male "complete" pat-down ... not the old metal detector
• Priority Pass for lounges
• US Domestic lounges (SFO, IAD) still suck, with the same snack/mixed nuts
• Asia lounges (NRT, SIN, TPE) are much better on hot food
• NRT United Club food is average (sushi are tasteless and no real good food), but I did use 1 shower room (out of 13) to freshen up 
• Park N' Fly Airport Valet Parking
• First time using Valet parking and I paid $100+tax for 17 days (same rate for 7~30 days with this coupon)
• Check-in & check-out was very quick using kiosks (remember to enter the coupon code). My car only added 3 km during the stay and I took out all valuables just in case.
• 中國信託 信用卡出國機場免費停車
• China Trust credit card offers 2 free airport parking (up to 7 days each) per year and we parked for 4 days this time. Saving of $500 NT

ELLA - Y1.M3 Ella is Travelling

It's been a while since I posted Ella updates, partly because she hasn't changed much physically
- 81 cm
- 11 kg
- 9 teeth

However, she has joined us on our West Coast trip for a week (was a perfect child) and will join us more for trips to US and Taiwan later this year

We are indeed using the children-under-2-fly-for-free  benefit a lot more than I thought, but only because Ella loved to travel, just like her daddy, and travel creates the most beautiful memories

March Update

March Update

• We took Ella to Baby Boutique and bought her first walking shoes (softshell Pediped) for her ($30)
• Since I had 3 Toronto Zoo GroupOn tickets expiring ($30), we all took a trip to Toronto East and stayed overnight @ Radission Toronto East. Visited the Pacific Mall, Asian Legend for dinner, IKEA North York. Funny, I spent probably $200 in hotel/food, trying to use my $30 tickets
• Next day is Toronto Zoo in COLD chilly weather, all the animals but Polar Bear were hiding :)

過了一個月的壞運更新 Follow-ups to my previous BAD LUCK entry, after a month
---------------------------------------
爸爸開始牙痛和頭痛
回台灣後去拔了幾顆牙齒和洗牙等等 所以牙齒真的很重要 現在要求他們固定洗牙

Jason落枕
過了一星期後 慢慢自然好了 不過下次應該會拜訪中醫師針灸先 聽說可以兩三天好轉

唯一的同事離職
一個月後 還是自己一個人撐一個部門 新同事不是被Legal就是遠水就不了近火
隨便了 一個月後放假還要苦求 要求加薪加假都碰到軟釘子 我也得要照顧自己先了～

車子東西被偷
東西沒有回來 不過我在雜亂的手套箱裡面 找回了$400的禮卡（夾在地圖裡面）太高興了 車子亂也是有好處的 自己都不知道在哪裡了 小偷怎麼找得到
---------------------------------------

中醫針灸
上個週末 找機會去看中醫 沒想到也認識台灣的朋友 這世界真小
丁醫師人也不錯 幫我們把脈 針灸 拔罐 希望公司報帳沒問題而已
第一次針灸的感覺有點詭異 肌肉有點緊張 不過多次可能就習慣了
拔罐呢 背後現在都是圓圈圓圈 不知道該高興還難過 希望能氣血通暢
錢包被偷
最氣的 應該是中醫結束要走的時候 發現老婆包包裡面的皮夾不見了
可是我外套裡面皮夾等都沒事 懷疑是有人（流浪漢？）偷溜進來辦公室偷走了
因為一個小時以後 正當我在研究怎樣報失 就接到電話說有人找到皮夾了
他是在他辦公樓後面的樓梯旁邊發現的 錢都沒了 證件沒事
只能說 防人之心不可無 從今以後真的要小心行事 車子和個人錢財都要小心

ELLA - Y1M0 Ella is ONE YEAR OLD 一歲了

轉眼之間 Ella真的一歲了(Feb 7) 時間過的好快
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLA~

他的身體成長和之前比較緩慢許多 不過心智成長逐漸增強
動作越來越有邏輯 被人追會跑 也會追人跑

他已經可以聽懂 掰掰 吐舌頭 也會用手指頭比他想要的東西或方向
目前還在訓練的有 「喊有 要舉手」

真心希望他到兩歲前 都過的健健康康 快快樂樂啊

他有個豐富的一歲啊
提早抓周 - 抓了半天全部東西都抓 花最多時間的 應該算信用卡和計算機吧

同樣的一個星期 發生了許多許多事（請看blog文章）

貼上幾張照片和影片

Ella累到吃飯睡著 超級可愛~

ELLA - Y0.M11 Ella is almost One Year Old

Sorry I skipped the Y0.M10 post, because of busy schedule and not much new happened

Month 11 has a lot more to tell because Ella had her first Christmas, and New Year!!
Plus she went on a week trip with us to United States, showing how good of a girl she is~

• 她有六七顆牙齒一段時間 咬人會痛了 而且他咬人用力到全身顫抖
• 現在會開始一直要試著站起來了 可以30到60秒 沒問題 有時候他自己還沒發現
• 吃的食物越來越多 喝奶越來越少
• 現在還是跟我們一起睡 小姐需要爸媽陪睡 睡得東倒西歪的 踢來踢去 不過這也是一輩子的回憶吧

Pictures

ELLA - Y0.M9 Ella is 9 months old

Ella九個月大囉 時間過的真的好快 他現在離一歲比0歲近多了

九個月沒什麼大發展 不過神情和動作都越來越成熟了

• 一樣到處爬 爬的比較快 抓不住了
• 會爬樓梯 只是他不想爬 也有點害怕 一直抓旁邊欄杆
• 偶爾想要站 但是還是要扶著東西
• 會想要抱（攻擊）其他「小」朋友 和他們的玩具 果真是龐然大物也
• 什麼都不怕（除了吸塵器的聲音）
• 什麼都吃（被酸到的表情超讚）
• 上面門牙開始冒出來了
• 開始跟媽媽出門去MALL和YMCA上課囉～

Happy Halloween, Happy Birthday

Thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes. It means a lot to me

It's my first one with Ella, she had no clue and did not care (fuzzier than ever) ^_^

Today is a strange birthday indeed, but quite memorable

1. My car was in the shop and let's see - $100 wheel alignment, $180 Tie Rod (RF), and...they wanted 1200+tax to replace all brake pads & rotors. No thanks, not to mention the super late shuttle. Not a good birthday surprise
2. Look at Ella wearing uncle's Old Navy Halloween gift (75% $8), she is a cute butterfly indeed. Let's hope she will fit next year when we take her Trick-or-Treat for the first time
3. Ella is teething, again, and that means lack of sleep for her and us. Tired
4. As we get a week off during Christmas, we decided to book a trip to Washington D.C. Flight from Buffalo to Baltimore/Washington is only $120 USD on Southwest (wow, YYZ is $$$). I also chose a hotel with kitchen, free breakfast & dinner (Residence Inn Marriott) so Wendy can prepare baby food. It shall be fun, and pray for no snowstorm.

ELLA - Y0.M8 Ella is 8 months old

Ella八個月囉 時間真的過的很快
12 kg 大概73-74cm

可以爬了
可以扶著東西站起來很久
可以吃食物泥
可以翻身
可以一一阿阿
可以撒嬌
可以找人抱抱

只是 也摔來摔去的 真讓人心疼 >_<

ELLA - Y0.M5 Ella is 5 months old

Ella is now 5 months old but still a baby, meaning no two days' schedules are alike
Also, we are starting her on baby food (at 4 months), starting with Rice Cereal

She is getting cuter every day we look at her :)

ELLA - Y0.M4 Ella is 4 months old

Weight: 9.5 kg
Height: 70 cm
Cloth: 6-12 months

Ella四個月了 開始要幫他調作息囉 還有每四個小時喝奶

Dear Ella

As a new dad, I got goosebumps when I watched this "Dear Sophie" video for Google. It is so difficult to describe the emotions watching your baby grow up, and thanks to Google I can document everything and share with loved ones. Thank you Google!

Dear Ella

爸爸希望 你不要長大的太快
讓爸爸和媽媽可以用心用愛陪著你 一天一天慢慢的長大

看著你哭 看著你笑 看著你睡覺 是爸爸媽媽這輩子無法想像的幸福

Love Dad, Mom