Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Meme-osa

1. I am:
Chinese and Native Formosan (not Taiwanese)

2. My kids are:
Chinese/Formosan, Pilipino

3. I first realized I was APA when:
Seeing my German-American hippie stepdad in a doorway and thinking he was Viking.

4. People think my name is:
The fruit drink of the astronauts

5. The family tradition I most want to pass on is:
Being open minded enough to let my son choose his own direction even when it is not something as financial-assured as engineering.

6. The family tradition I least want to pass on is:
Not getting along with in-laws and big messy confrontations around the holidays.

7. My child's first word in English was:
Not yet. But sounds like yeah and hai!

8. My child's first non-English word was:
Peking opera which is what his voice sounds like.

9. The non-English word/phrase most used in my home is:
Lau-Wai (drool in Tagalog)

10. One thing I love about being an APA parent is:
Knowing my baby is way cuter than the middle-aged looking things on the baby magazines.

11. One thing I hate about being an APA parent is:
Making my son get extra blood drawn because he "looks jaundiced" when he's really just yellow.

12. The best thing about being part of an APA family is:
Having a wonderful extended family that gives without asking.

13. The worst thing about being part of an APA family is:
Coming up with ways to justify spontaneous trips to the race track or Indian Casino.

14. To me, being Asian Pacific American means:
Defining myself as a person of color, I benefit from the struggles and of other people of color and have an obligation to give back and stand in kind, even when those needs outweigh many "APA issues."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reading about how your son gets mistaken as jaundiced made me laugh.

Puka said...

I had to laugh about the jaundice statement as well. After our daughter was born, we were asked if her color looked normal to us because I guess no one was sure whether she had jaundice or not. *rolls eyes*

The Missus Complains said...

I know my kid will be a cutie too, the jaundice this is a riot.

Mama Nabi said...

Yes, the jaundice thing IS funny - LN was moderately jaundiced, then, on the day we took her to see her ped, we put her in a yellow outfit. Now THAT was a yellow baby through and through... hee hee.

Unknown said...

I swear, Asians have enough babies that'd you'd think doctors would be well aware of the fact that they're gonna look "yellow."

The Noodle was taken to a "sun-lamp" to help her jaundice. We tried to explain it to them, but the nurses didn't understand.

Maybe I wasn't speaking English?

Dana said...

P2H - you forgot to mention how annoyed the pediatrician was when I pointed out that Noodle's "jaundice" made her the exact same color you were. What a novel idea!

thisislarry said...

Kidding aside, the jaundice thing is real. Rabbit Dragon had to lie under those stupid lamps and get pricked with a needle in alternating heels for about 24 hours. It was the most excruciating experience ever, being new parents, forced to watch your newborn freaking out naked under a stupid lamp.

his blood levels did show elevated bilirubin, so I guess it was necessary. But ooof, I could have killed somebody.

Dana said...

Thislarry - Noodle had slightly elevated bili levels too. I was lucky enough to give birth at the hospital I worked at, so I only let one person do Noodle's heel sticks (the only woman I would let draw *my own* blood, btw).

I think the most frustrating part was that none of the medical personnel brought up breastfeeding as a way to lowel bilirubin levels. Because breastmilk moves through the digestive system quickly, it helps flush out meconium, which can contribute to high bili levels.

Anonymous said...

Co-sign on #14.