Texans in Taiwan: November 2007

First, my apologies for our loooong delay in posting. I had no idea so many people were following the blog and have been really surprised by the number of people clamoring for updates.

Of course the trip was grueling - 24 hours give or take. Again EVA air was great - although we couldn't all sit together because of the plane's layout. The bulkhead had a bassinet & she slept for about 6 of the 11 hours from Taipei to San Francisco - we were high-fiving on our way to customs... unfortunately we high-fived waaaay too soon. Tessa got fussy the minute we got off the plane. I was sure it was her soaked diaper bothering her (would've changed her on the plane but the seatbelt light was on for the last hour of the flight) so I parked the stroller behind a massive column about 50 feet away from the "line" to customs to change her. Mid butt-wipe this rent-a-cop (aka TSA dude) tells me that they "have places for that kind of thing - you need to do that somewhere else." Lucky I'm not in Guantanamo Bay because I looked Opie straight in the eye and said "We just got off an eleven hour flight, we still have to go through customs, immigration, and walk all the way to Terminal C. We have 16 bags, a wet baby and an exhausted nine year old. Where am I supposed to do "this kind of thing?" Being the expert butt-wiper that I am, I had her changed before he could answer and went on my way. A few minutes later Opie found me again and apologized but saying again there are "places for that kind of thing" but I wouldn't even look at him... grrrrrrrr.

The next 12 or so hours were pure torture - mentally and physically. Tessa was gassy after the international flight and there was NO consoling her. She screamed and squirmed with all her might (our sincere apologies to those on rows 20 and 22 on the 1:00 a.m. flight from San Francisco to Dallas.) I'm pretty sure it was her version of boot camp for her new mommy - strengthen all of mommy's arm muscles and deafen her ears a little... perfect!
Finally made it to Austin where Nana and Papa (thanks Ken & Connie for letting them borrow the Suburban!) would drive us home.

That's pretty much the last clear memory we would have for roughly 10 days. Jet lag kicked all of our butts. Emma went to school two days in a row with no sleep (and slept-walked Halloween). Several times we all woke up and looked around to realize we'd fallen asleep mid-conversation and it was now three hours later... FREAKY!!!

We're back on Texas time now and Tessa is still working hard to train us. Once she got over her jet lag, it seems she realized that this was real - new people, new bed, new place, new bottle... new everything and she was NOT totally thrilled with the idea. Several days of fussiness and LOTS of holding and coddling seems to have won her over. The Tessa we know today is so much different than the one that got off of that plane. She belly laughs, smiles often, snuggles even when she's not sleepy, tolerates a little alone (not being held) time, is more easily soothed and genuinely seems to truly trust us (something I didn't believe would be an issue - it was really frustrating sensing that she wasn't 100% comfortable with us).

Anyhoo, the hermit-like life we've lead for the past few weeks somehow seems to be what the doctor ordered for her and us. Now we just need to work on establishing a schedule.

Check out her skillz!!! In her effort to crawl, she always ends up in the splits - I soooo want to Photoshop her on a balance beam!!!

The holy grail... she's always certain there's something to eat or drink in this cup.

Itty Bitty Kitty loves Tessa Jane - grabbing the new kid's toys when she isn't looking isn't a game, it's a way of life.

Maestro!!!! Tessa LOVES this little keyboard.

Tessa doesn't mind scales and eyes on her fish... yum!

Here are a few photos from our last day in Taiwan. We went to the East coast and then to an old gold mining town. We never saw any evidence of any previous or current gold mining... well there is a HUGE market that runs through the middle of the town that caters to tourists looking for souvenirs.

Everywhere we went young ladies would circle around Tessa pointing and taking pictures. Emma's convinced they thought we were celebrities adopting... maybe the kid's just cute?

Here's lunch. We called it Chinese Matzo (sp?) Ball soup. Lots of different dumplings in a broth... not bad.