Author: Ryan/Dada

Check out the hair:

Carly had a half day of parent conferences, so it was just me and August in the morning. We have been very lucky in that he has generally slept through the night, only waking to nurse. But this morning he woke up from 3:45 to 5, and then woke up at 6:40. Luckily, he took a nice two hour nap a couple hours later. 

August and I went for a walk after his nap and found a festival/market going on in the park. I tried a few food things, and we watched some of the acts at the talent show.  

When Carly got back she met us in the park for awhile. 

Morning fun: 

A game he has invented (similar to the slobber on mama’s tummy game):

A usual activity, with the addition of playing with the basket at the same time:

Talent show:

August and I went downtown to explore some art museums and galleries and then took the bus/walked to APIS to visit Carly, who had to stay there until 7:30 for parent conferences. 

On the bus: 

Some art at the young artists competition show:

Banana in a park:

He managed to get his sock off twice while we were walking and we had to double back. Luckily, not too far:

Another art show at the Arko in Hyehwa:

Waking up as we wait for the bus:

Hanging out at school with mama:

We hopped a bus and then a train to the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Didn’t go until noonish. So time this morning to give him a bath, play in the bouncy chair (getting better at using his foot to help him pick up the ball), read a lot of books (he is now turning the pages on regular paper books), and eat breakfast and later a banana. 

These first three videos show you talking he was doing this morning: 

I liked all these photos from crib time. Would put them together as one of those things you have to click through, but I can’t do that on the iPhone:

His favorite activity in the tub is still playing with the nozzle. He ignores everything else:

When we arrived at the subway station we walked to campus and stopped in a little grassy/treey area not too far into campus. Had a rest there and August insisted on being on the ground. So we sat on the ground and he played with the grass and decaying leaves – tossing around handfuls and methodically ripping apart individual leaves. 

He started crying suddenly and so I put him in the carrier facing me. He fell asleep quickly. I walked around the campus for 15 minutes or so, finding the President Obama Trail, commemorating a visit he made to the school. 

This is a photo of a photo of president Obama standing at the spot in the photo:

August had fallen asleep, and continued to stay asleep for well over an hour – the longest nap he has ever taken in the carrier:

When August woke up, we went back to station and took subway to Wolgye. Walked to APIS and did our usual trade. PT went well. At its best, my arm is almost flat on the table. 

Back home, August was not asleep when I got home for once. In fact, he did not take a nap and fell asleep for the night about 7:30. 

Carly made more food for August. Before I got home, she fed him some of the apple-pear. And then she made a cinnamon apple carrot sauce for him. It tastes quite good. 

He got one other new taste today. He was playing with the bottle of sesame dressing and the lid popped open by his mouth. Managed to get just a bit, but enough to know he really liked it.

Mans, of course, he got to read with mama: 

Note: my phone isn’t letting me access photos from yesterday in other apps (although the photos are still there). Will add photos later. 

 

We went up to Changdong today via bus. We had tried to go with my parents to check out the Salvation Army store but it had been closed. 

It was open today, but we only ended up buying a stuffed elephant that was about a buck. August really liked it, so it was worth it.  

We also stopped at the stage near the station to sit in the sun, eat our daily banana, and play.  

Bur first, he got to play in his bouncy swing in the morning. If you watch closely I think you can see him using his foot to boost the ball up to his hand so he can grab it: 

Here we are on that stage:

This was on our way home. There is an area in our park that is like pigeon home base, so we visit it most times we walk through the park:

He’s starting to talk more and create new sounds more frequently. Case in point:

Today we took a bus over to the Mia area, west of APIS. We walked around and then walked east to Dream Forest where we sat and ate our lunch. We then found the deer park before walking to APIS and surprising Carly with a visit. 

Hurried home because August was tired and due for a nap. But then he decided to not sleep. It was over six hours by the time he fell asleep – easily the longest he has been awake at one stretch. 

Morning bath: 

Dream Forest:

That would be going to our favorite store (Home Plus) during the day to get whatever it is we need (today it was a knife, because Carly an oddly obstinate onion broke one) and to watch the fish, rodents, and other other animals, and then walking to APIS in the afternoon to see Carly. I then drop him off with her and walk to physical therapy.

Going to Home Plus allows August to see a whole section of his favorite food, bananas. He saw the bananas from across the store and started laughing. We then walked to the bananas and I turned my back and he started to get upset. Then I shot this video:

Another one of his favorite things to spot on walks besides trees (he is particularly fond of certain dwarf trees – I’ll try to get that on video sometime) is vending machines, because of the flashing lights:

Climbing on my legs in the morning:

Being happy:

Playing in the chair:

Sunday, Carly had grading to work on, I scanned and sorted piles of papers, and August had some serious playing and learning to get done. However, we found time in the afternoon to go for a nice walk along the stream. 

Because we are crazy, we went shopping in not one, but two packed stores today. It was worth it, however, as we replenished our cheese supply and got ingredients for nachos. 

 

The usual: 

After Costco:

Kitchen fun:

Playing around:

We hit up four museums/galleries (Insa Art Center, Gana Art Space, First Post Office in Seoul, and the Central Buddhist Museum) before going to the big Buddhist temple downtown. 

But firat, at home we found a new toy: 

We had an uneventful ride downtown on the bus, and after a few minutes of walking we were at the Insa Art Center. August got into the art, starting with this solo show on th first floor:

We chose the balcony at Insa Art Center for our lunch location for the day:

This was one of his favorite pieces of art today:

We rested on a bench outside for awhile. He was gathering a ton of attention, as usual, but he played hard to get for a couple minutes and paid attention to the tree behind us instead:

We then went to the first post office in Seoul, which is now a little museum:

We then went to the Central Buddhist Museum, where he started to get tired:

And while we were looking at this really cool Buddhist bell:

He fell asleep:

He was still asleep as we walked around the Buddhist temple and rested on its stairs. An annoying woman came up shortly after this and, without asking, tried to put up his hood and woke him up:

On the way home he was really entertained by these two boys:

I posted the rest of the Halloween stuff already, but here is one more for you:

Here is some of the other art we saw at Insa Art Center and Gana Art Space: