Donuts and Drool

Babies drool, they sure do! Today Jeremiah got to participate in a traditional donut and droolies (droolies just sounds cuter to me than drool :) ceremony. I know, one doesn't often think of donuts when it comes to Taiwanese culture. Though donuts are pretty popular here these day! Traditionally at four months, Taiwanese families will hold this little celebration to help a baby's drool minimize. That's where the donuts come in. Here Jeremiah is eyeing what Dai Dai Ai Yi (Auntie) is pulling out of her Mr. Donut bag.

A mini donut necklace! The donuts are supposed to soak up the baby's drool. I guess the necklace is supposed to soak up the babies drool for a couple months before teething starts. We'll go along with that. :) Jeremiah was pretty delighted with his donuts. Here Auntie Lillian is tying it around his neck. In the past almond cookies (much more of a Taiwanese treat) or mini breads that looked like bagels were used. But for our modern baby boy - it's donuts!

Sweet kisses for our little droolmeister!

Jeremiah's expressions throughout the little ceremony were just precious! He even got a hold on some of the donuts!

Mom and dad had a lot of fun too!

I'm KING of the DONUTS!

Then it was daddy's turn. Father and son look off into the distance. I like how Jeremiah has icing in his hair, and drool on his overalls.

The Bastkes basking in this fun cultural moment! :)

After all the drool has been soaked up, it's time to share the donuts! Yup, that's how the donut is iced with this tradition. :) Each person gives the baby a word of blessing too!  Here are the lovely ladies of the TV department. Thank you all for making Kai Kai's four month celebration so special. We'll never look at donuts the same way again! And we'll see what the drooling situation holds over the next couple of months! :)

*Special thanks to Malia for these fabulous photos! :) And Daphne for getting the donut necklace :)

Mango Tree!

One thing I love about living on a tropical island is all the fruit trees out and about. Even while walking through the city, you can still find fruit growing on trees. We found this tree while out and about on the weekend. From a distance I thought it was a tree where people write wishes on paper and hang them on branches, but as we got closer we saw that it was a mango tree! The mangoes were all wrapped in protective bags! Mango season is in full swing and it's such a full and flavourful time on our island!

Counting Sheep

31 Years! 31 Flavors!

We celebrated Daniel's big 31 on July 9th. He's officially jumped into his thirties completely, and wow the flavors! We had a wonderful day out and about. We treked down to the Taipei 101 area to go to Gordon Biersch. For all you Taipeiren, I highly suggest that you sign up for their newsletter on their website. They'll send you a buy one get on free entree for your birthday coupon! :)

The birthday boy with his meat! My man loves his meat!

I had grilled cedar plank salmon (topped with crushed pecans!) with grilled zucchini and ginger rice. It was one of the best meals I've had in a while.

Daddy and Jeremiah making funny faces!

 

At night we had some friends over for a little rooftop birthday party. We had an ice cream party with the 31 flavors theme. Each guest brought a topping to share and we made ice cream bowls of goodness. A friend helped me make the Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors log Bastke Daniel appropriate! :) And I put a few of the old and new logos around for decorations. Jeremiah was excited that people were coming over, but had to hit his basket shortly after they arrived.

 

We also played a little 31 Flavours ice cream game - If Daniel were a flavor of ice cream what flavour would he be and why. Guests wrote their answers and Daniel had to guess who wrote it. Some friends and family from across the ocean were also great sports to play this game via e-mail. Daniel read through the fun flavors and birthday blessings

 

 

 

J.Kai Pool Side

Swimming Swimming . . . . well, more like floating floating . . . in a swimming pool! :0) 

Today was Jeremiah's first dip in a pool and it was so incredibly cool! Well, Mama sure was excited! Jeremiah and I met Rachel and Caleb at the American Club here in Taipei. I gave Jeremiah the pep talk, put on his blue body swim suit and it was time . . . to take the toe plunge :) Jeremiah wasn't sure about it at first, this was no longer his big blue bathtub and the water was cooler, but he's a trooper! We tried out his sweet floating ride and after a few minutes it was a hit! Our little J.Kai was chilin and soaking it all in. I think he's going to be a little water baby just like his mama!

Capturing some expressions and the joy of it all!

J.Kai's sweet floatation ride!

Floating

Floating has always been one of my favourite things to do. As a kid I would float in lakes and pools for great lengths of time, and felt like I could float forever ;)  I fondly remember floating on the water as the sun shone on my face, and I was dreaming and it was so wonderfully relaxing! Ah, to float! When I heard about Dream Water, all those memories came back, and I knew I needed to book an appointment.

Daniel points to the "spacey" salt water pod :)

Dream Water simulates the Dead Sea or a salt pool that you can't help but float in. You enter "the pod" and simply float for an hour - and like their motto says, "Life is better after a float!" Well, life surely is good, and floating made it even better. :) The healing and health benefits of Epson salt are pretty amazing. I first went about 1.5 months after giving birth to Jeremiah, and it sure did help with the lower back pain I was continuing to have. I've been back for two more floats and look forward to my next one! Check out more info here!

DATE NIGHT!

Last night Daniel and I had a date night, and Daniel suggested that we float! It was Daniel's first float and my third. We each had our own room and our own pod, but it was still fun to know we were floating together. 


Each float has been a little different for me; especially in reaching that level of relaxation. I find the pod to be rather womb like, and a great place of prayer. We are the salt upon the earth!
 Floating is truly is a "saltilizing" experience! I highly recommend it!

We sure did think of our little man on our first date night, but we knew he was in good hands thanks to Naomi and Joanna!