Category: Uncategorized

 

Such an eventful day. It was August’s last Dunggae Dunggae class, so we had a small party and everyone was supposed to bring in a snack. I baked a banana bread this morning and it was quite a hit: I was the only person who had made anything, it was baked in a rice cooker, and I was a guy. 

First things first, in the morning we played in the water in his tub quite a bit. I even stood in it with both feet for several minutes, but the most August would do was to dip one foot in. I did pick him up and managed to get both feet in for about five seconds, but then he wanted out. I thought after his water experience yesterday he’d be more excited about getting in. 

Anyway, before his class we went over a little early to get a few grocery items and plates for the banana bread. As soon as we showed up in the classroom August started walking around and interacting a lot. It is pretty amazing to see his change from the beginning of the classes – or even earlier in this class – when he would start out very clingy. 

During class he quickly picked up on swinging his arms while holding a ball, something that was a part of one of the songs. 

Near the end was the party. August immediately went for the subak (watermelon) someone else had brought. I looked over to see him happily eating pieces of watermelon from a toothpick. In all the free samples we’ve gotten at the grocery store, I’ve never let him hold the toothpick, but he did just fine. 

I put slices of bread on plates, and Jung Bin’s mom added two donut holes from Dunkin Donuts. That was how August got to eat his first donut holes. And his teacher gave us some grape juice, so that was another first. He loved the donut holes, but he also loved the watermelon. He hadn’t had more than a bite or two at a time as free samples at Home Plus. 

Class was running late, and as we cleaned everything up August managed to somehow grab a third donut hole. He happily munched on it as we packed up, took a picture with his teacher, and headed out. 

Back home he was still quite excited for a few minutes, but soon became quite cuddly and started giving me nose kisses (which he hasn’t done in quite awhile). He easily fell asleep to the music we were listening to (Brian Eno and David Byrne’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, for the record) – no need for Hozier. 

Two hours and 15 minutes later he woke up crying. He was still tired. He was dozing off as I changed him and then on my shoulder for fifteen minutes. He was still looking tired as I got ready to take him outside. And as I had him facing in, he put his head down several times as we walked to and along the stream. 

We stopped first at Dungukhwa Children’s Park along the stream and played in the sand and with the water. Although the fountain was pretty boring. But you could hear the water running under a grate a few feet away, so August checked it out, trying to see the water below.

From there we walked west, first checking out the Nowon Eco Center. We looked around inside and at the gardens outside. 

Finally, we went to the north end of Madeul Stadium where there was a much better faucet for him to play in. He was also lucky enough to have a hose to play with. After a few minutes of that he spotted the horse sculptures that he likes and walked to those. The best part was when he spotted the metal soccer ball near one horse and tried to kick it and then pick it up. There was also a piece of rubber tied around it, and he had fun pulling on it. 

We headed home and got there at the same time as Carly. August was full of energy throughout the evening. He ate a big spaghetti dinner, then showed off his dancing and arm swinging. His energy continued right up to when he fell asleep. Carly says he was still saying ‘neigh’ and moving around a lot even after his eyes were closed and he appeared asleep. 

He continued to say gaeguli a lot today, and seems to have a word for spaghetti (something like eh-tee). 

Also, he is really paying attention to what Carly and I say to each other. As I was telling her about it day, he would neigh when I mentioned horse or repeat words he recognized. 

Given how eventful our day was, it might be hard to believe that we fit probably an hour of reading in there as well. He is really into a Mother Goode book and this Native American alphabet book. 

 

Pointing to his chin: 

Class: 

Saying ‘please’ to his teacher: 

Because he really wanted those shakers: 

Calmly watching her demonstrate the balls: 

Party: 

Enjoying the third donut hole: 

A tired wake up after his nap. A very sad boy waiting for me to get ready: 

Parks: 

Trying to get to the water: 

Trying to pick up the soccer ball: 

Home: 

August and I went to Home Plus at 10, browsing the crafts fair in the park along the way, allowing Carly to get some work done in our absence. After finish grocery shopping we came home and Skyped with my parents. 

August then took a nice nap. When he woke up and we heard him say ‘mama’, we came in to find him sitting on a pillow like he was waiting for us. 

We arrived at Dream Forest a little before 3. August and Kinsey did some great interacting at the beginning. They did the Korean birthday stuff, then the American. August got a taste of cupcake, but not a lot. Still saving that for the summer. 

Eventually, we all walked over to the wading pool. We didn’t expect August to get in much, particularly since the water was cold. We were wrong. He basically wanted to dive in. 

After playing there for a good while we decided to head to the performing arts building to change and nurse him. We did that, then went to the art exhibit in the gallery there. It was a very bright, cartoon-y exhibit, so August really liked it. His favorite was the shark made out of moving, shiny, jangling metal pieces. Carly got a coffee and enjoyed the view from the Peace Cafe at this time. 

From there we walked to the bus and headed home. We stopped at the little store to get a few things, but they were out of bananas. So August and I went to the pink building for bananas. 

Carly had also made spaghetti during the day, so August had spaghetti for dinner, making a good mess. Spaghetti is probably his favorite meal. After dinner we have him a bath, then he managed, somehow, to stay up past 9 – meaning he had been awake close to 9 hours by the time he fell asleep. 

Today he was talking – or almost singing – a ton, starting soon after we left the party. He also now loves the airplane toy that Vivian gave him. He used to be scared of the noise, but no longer. Finally, he really took to the work ‘gaeguli’, korean for ‘frog’. If it sticks it will be his first full korean word (although his word for pigeon, or really birds in general, is based on the word for pigeon). 

 

Morning: 

Birthday party: 

Wading pool: 

Talking on our walk to the building: 

Art exhibit: 

Carly enjoying the view: 

At home. Saying gaeguli: 

Spaghetti: 

After a ton of skyping in the morning (Cassie, Chuck and Cherie, and Glecy), Carly took August out for a little walk in the park. He then took a nap and surprised us at the end of his nap by getting up and shaking the bedroom door. We didn’t hear anything on the monitor before that. After his nap we headed to Hyehwa to finally do the mural walk. 

We took a new bus/subway route to get there (bus to Mia Junction, then 4 or 5 subway stops to Hyehwa). August now likes standing on my lap in the carrier so he can see more outside the bus. 

In Hyehwa we walked up to the mural walk near the fortress wall. We ended up spending a lot of time at a water tap that spills into a big stone bowl and then flows down a little pathway. August loved it, and in particular kept throwing a small rock into the bowl, which Carly and I would keep retrieving. 

We then continued on the mural walk, and when we got up to the wall found a little bench and garden area to nurse in. He was then walking around and playing for awhile. 

When leaving both the water and the garden August was quite distraught. I haven’t really experienced this with him, so it might be something new that changes how we plan our adventures. 

We finished the walk and ended up back in Hyehwa. We went into the university (KNOU) to change him and then did some more walking around. He was fascinated by a rubber floor mat outside a building that had an interesting texture and was soft to walk on. 

We finished by going to the Arko Art Center for a few minutes, and then sitting on the steps out front and eating. He did some walking up and down the stairs and around Marrioner Park before we headed out. 

On the subway home he really developed his new game: calling everyone ‘mama’. He would point at complete strangers and call out ‘mama’. Pretty funny. 

We took the subway all the way home so we could get off at Junggye and pick up pizza at Pizza School for dinner. Once again August was loving walking around in the little seating area outside the pizza place and was upset to leave. 

Back home, August is really getting into throwing things – the heavier, the better. He also really likes the Maisy’s First Colors book (I am looking forward to the sequels, Maisy’s Second Colors and Maisy’s Third Colors – then he can learn colors like vermillion and chartreuse and indigo). He now knows what a basket is, as he will point at the picnic basket in the book and then his basket full of toys. He was also holding my finger and pointing first at a character (like Maisy) and then at the food they are holding (like orange) as I said it out loud. 

He fell asleep a little after 7. Sometime later he fell out of bed and was just sitting on the floor when Carly went in.

 

Morning: 

Art walk: 

KNOU: 

Marrioner Park: 

August woke up kind of early, but clearly was going to take an early nap. When he did, he slept for two hours. Once he woke up and we hand lunch it was after noon, so instead of heading all the way to Dream Forest, we took the bus to one stop before APIS and walked  towards the park and playground we’ve stopped at a couple times now when walking from Dream Forest to APIS. 

In the bridge over the stream we watched a crane walking through the water. When I would start to leave August would keep signing ‘more please’. Finally, the crane flew away and August got a bit upset. 

As we were leaving the bridge, I met a guy, David, who was pushing his sleeping 2 year old, Hannah, in a stroller. We talked on the bridge for awhile and then accompanied him as he walked along the stream – south for two bridges, then across it and up the other side. He is from Newcastle, currently living in Scotland. He was in Seoul for his father-in-law’s funeral. He was flying out that night with his daughter to return to Scotland. Via Dubai and two 9 hour flights. 

As we crossed a bridge he suggested we toss some of our rice stuff to the fish. August loved this, and was soon doing it himself. He was quite good at it. But as we walked further along the trail he then wanted Cheerios, which he then was throwing on the ground. 

We parted ways with David and continued on to the park. August played and ate there. There was a group of women who gave us some food and water. He was really into throwing the tennis ball and other items into the bushes. 

We then headed to APIS, stopping at Doni Burger to pick up dinner. At APIS we were in Carly’s room for awhile, then went up to the arts festival. 

August was incredibly social today. Soon after we left the apartment building he spotted a group of teenage girls across the street and started waving to them. Then, he did great the hour or so we were with David, even though I wasn’t giving him much attention. And he was happy to interact with the women at the park (particularly a woman who had a flower in a flower pot next to her on the bench). 

At APIS he stuck his tongue out at Sophie (another mother of a one year old) when we saw her on the stairs). He was a little overwhelmed when we first got to the gym and he heard the music, but then got into looking at art and watching musicians and interacting with all the people that would come up to him. And instead of crying when he saw Jeff (which he has done the past few times), he played around with him and stuck out his tongue. 

He got more and more comfortable, to the point where he was happily walking around the halls and wanted to practice going up and down the stairs. And when I took him in the art room he ended up wandering around the room all on his own. 

We left around 6:30 and walked home. August was doing really well and only started to get tired the last couple of blocks. He fell asleep soon after we got home. 

Morning: 

Walk and park: 

Food from a stranger: 

Arts Night: 

After some good play time in the water, we got out of the house kind of early today, making it down to CGP before the children’s museum opened. So we went back to where he first noticed ants and looked at ants and played with rocks. 

When the museum opened we went straight to the water table. He played there, and at the air-based things nearby, for over an hour. His play date didn’t show, but I don’t think he minded. 

New this week was that he could grab balls from the little whirlpool thing by himself for the first time. In previous weeks he needed my help. 

We also spent a lot of time playing at the big kids table at the part where you can change the flow of a stream. It is too tall for him, so I had to hold him up a lot. But he also just liked standing next to it and throwing pieces in. 

And I’ve decided my next job should be designing water tables at children’s museums as there are so many ways this one could be better: the pool for older kids, for example, doesn’t really have any opportunities, besides this stream thing, for free play. So all the bigger kids always try to play in the toddler pool where there are all the balls and boats. 

When he stared to fade we went up and had lunch. This was a notable lunch because it was the first time he just walked out of a room on his own, leaving me behind. We then had fun making faces at each other through the glass. And there were some bigger kids that he found hilarious and was trying to emulate when they banged on the glass. 

From there we headed to the rooftop coffee shop and he fell asleep right away. I finished my book and chose my next book from their shelf: War Trash by Ha Jin. 

After 50 minutes he woke up and we went behind the building, up in the wooded area, looking for a quiet place to skype my parents as they had tried to call. We ended up finding an awesome little area that makes a perfect picnic spot. We Skyped and then played with sticks and bushes and looked at the statue of a girl who was a leader in the rebellions against Japan. 

From there we headed to the zoo. The tropical building (where his favorite thing is still the humidifier, but he also took to the cockatoo, amused both by its head feathers and name – he tried saying it a few times), then the children’s zoo (most of our time spent at the horses, particularly the water spigot in front of them and the water running under the grate next to it), then the baboons and macaques, then the wild dogs, where suddenly he wanted food and then started looking tired. 

So we left, and he fell asleep by the time we got to the subway, but not before we had to stop and watch some construction equipment for about 15 minutes. He slept all the way back to Hagye, so I just walked around the park for awhile and admired the new paint job on the bridge steps. He woke up a couple minutes after 5 and a couple minutes later Carly’s bus pulled up and we surprised her. 

Having not eaten a ton of food during the day, he ate a bigger dinner than usual. He also made good use of the help sign while playing. I decided to try and teach him ‘book’ next. Stayed awake until close to 10. 

 

Morning. Stepping in: 

Children’s museum: 

Lunch: 

Our skype/picnic area: 

Zoo: 

Watching dirt being moved: 

Back home in the park: 

Waking up: 

New paint job: 

It is late, and we did a lot today. So I will finish today’s post in the morning. For now, here is a video from this evening that includes Z making his cow noise and using the sign for ‘help’ (one hand holding the other and lifting it). He’s been making good use of it this week: 

He woke up incredibly happy today. In the morning we spent a ton of time playing with the piano and new instruments and playing in the water. We also played some Endless Alphabet. He had been a bit afraid of it, particularly the ‘R’, even though it is also his favorite letter. Slightly better today, although he insisted on sitting in my lap when we played. He would also grab my finger and use it as a stylus to move the letters. He did this in the evening with Carly, although he seemed to have gotten over his fears by then. 

Around 10 we went out to the park and then did our shopping at Home Plus. We came home, stopping to play and walk around at the water fountain, and played some more. He then went to sleep for his nap. 

10 minutes later he coughed and woke up. And I couldn’t get him back to sleep. Rather, he would fall asleep on my shoulder but I couldn’t set him down. He would wake up and cry and keep throwing himself on me to pick him up. Long story short, we are thinking it might be a ‘cry it out’ situation to get him to go to sleep without me holding him. 

Anyway, eventually he calmed down but was awake. I ended up giving him a bath and he had plenty of energy and did quite well the rest of the day. Carly came home early to see if he would nurse to sleep, but he didn’t. 

I went to PT and they did a lot more playing in water and some Endless Alphabet while I was gone. He stayed awake until a little after 7. Not bad for only 10 or 15 minutes of napping. 

Couple other notes:

– August and I saw ‘Preacher’, the old Korean guy who wears army fatigues and carries a walking stick, for the first time in months. I had been wondering what happened to him. He says he has been in the hospital due to his broken back. 

– He used the ‘help’ sign a lot today, primarily when he needed help putting the shapes in his helicopter and to play the musical instruments.

 

Happy wake up:  

Knocking on the wall: 

Reading Jack and Jill has become problematic because any mention of water reminds him of playing in water. Every time I read the opening lines he would do this arm/head movement. This last time he then crawled into my arms: 

After his bath: 

Today he learned the sign for ‘help’ and was using it regularly by the end of the day. He also likes to hold things in his hands when walking – you’ll see that in the videos. Today his favorite toys were a scrunched up shopping bag I keep in the backpack and a couple of rocks and sticks he found along the way. 

And he is now fascinated by ‘baba’ lights. Those are any flashing lights, particularly the round ones, on parking lot exits, police cars, ambulances…even hazard lights on a car. He pointed them out constantly today.  And no, I have no idea why he calls them babas. 

We walked the first two sections of the Fortress Trail again today. Only this time we did it properly, clockwise, and didn’t missing any of the streets. We left the house at 8:30 and didn’t get home until 5:30. But it was really nice as we could be leisurely about it and stop frequently to let him play and along the way to look at anything that interested him. Thus, we ended up playing at 5 parks, going to a Methodist missionaries museum, and stopping at a second hand store and picking up a few toys. 

Our first park was right at the beginning. We played at the playground there for at least a half hour. He played with sticks in the wet sand, then with water at a drinking fountain, where he put his leg in the water, necessitating a change of pants and socks before we left. He also got to see a guy using a leaf blower, which was exciting. 

From there we started on the trail. He fell asleep after about 20 minutes, so slept through the 600+ steps up Namsan all the way over the top to the flatter park near the bottom on the other side. There, we found a bench and ate lunch and he did a lot of walking. 

We then continued on our walk. From the edge of the park, looking way across an intersection, he kept pointing and making fish noises. I had no idea what he was on about. We walked down and across the intersection and he led me to a drink dispenser outside a restaurant that sort of looked like an aquarium. 

Then we were on to Sungnyemun Gate (which Carly calls the Glecy gate because we visited it with her) and past it, headed north. 

This is where we found the missionary museum (couldn’t tell what it was until we were inside. But it only took a few minutes and was an interesting building) and played in a third park near the Seoul Art Museum. Here he rode the exercise equipment, watched a fountain, and threw the shopping bag through the bars so I would get it. 

On we went. Park four was near the end. Here we played with the little rocking chair things for awhile and had some good bird spotting. 

As we got to Dongnimmun (our destination) we went to the Beautiful Store and got some more musical toys, a puzzle, and a frog puppet. Then we went across the street to the last park where he ate some more, got swarmed by girls (I think they were from a women’s college as there was a huge group of them there) and walked around some more. 

He did great on the subways, only crying for a little while midway on our way home but then he fell asleep for 30 minutes until we got back to the apartment. 

Oh, and I got to be horrified by a guy who started tapping on August’s cheek while he was asleep as we waited for the bus home. He was with his wife and child and they came up and were talking to us. August was facing out, but obviously asleep. I had my arm around him with his head resting on my arm. His eyes were closed, and they had already been there a good 20 to 30 seconds. Anyway, as I reeled back, I think the guy’s wife yelled at him and he apologized profusely. I think it was just a boneheaded move. Somehow he didn’t realize August was asleep. 

Stayed awake until after 8. Surprising, as we had to keep him from falling back to sleep when I got home and he seemed to be going to sleep around 7. He is all into playing in the water, so spent a lot of time playing in the tub and also in the sink. And he caught on quickly to the triangle and tambourine and little cymbals we bought today. 

Morning:

Park 1: 

Park 2 (Namsan): 

Sungnyemun: 

Park 3: 

Park 4: 

Park 5: 

Coming home: 

Home: 

August is really walking now. Today was the first time that when Carly got home he walked to her instead of crawling. And in his Dunggae Dunggae class he did a lot of walking on his own. Previously, it had only been a couple steps at a time.

We had his class in the morning. It was about animals eating and pooping. There were even poop hats that, of course, August would not wear. We also made foot prints and laminated them. I wish I had more time to write on August’s, but it was still a decent project. 

After his class we went grocery shopping. He was clearly getting tired so we headed straight home. He fell asleep and slept an hour. He still wanted to sleep when he woke up, but wanted me to stand. Eventually he fully woke up and was able to make it to a decent bedtime. 

After a little lunch we walked south to the park with a playground shaped like a tree (too lazy to look up the name). We went on the swings, played in the sand and rocks with a shovel, played with the broken faucets (August found it funny when I said ‘sad’), ate a little more lunch, and found some abandoned sand toys and played some more. 

Then it started raining. Really only a drizzle and mid-70s but it was close to time to head home anyway. On our walk home there was literally 100+ ajummas (older women) walking the other way – I think they were leaving an event at the community center. Luckily, only one really expressed much concern about August getting wet. 

After Carly got home she went walking in the park with him while I worked on the computer. They then spent a lot of time playing in the water in his tub.

 

Waking up happy. Pointing to his chin:

A treat. The empty cinnamon container: 

Belt and coat hanger: 

Dunggae Dunggae class: 

Home: 

Park: 

After Carly and August Skyped with Cassie and Vivian and then her parents in the morning, we decided to head to Hoegi. 

August and I first went out to the playground right across the street at the  apartment complex opposite is. He played with some garbage, went down the slide a few times, then walked around, carrying his shoes, until Carly came down. 

We then took the bus and subway to Hoegi. We walked to Dunkin Donuts and got a drink, then walked around Kyunghee University, heading to the area around the art building where August nursed and fell asleep. So we walked back down the hill and found a bench in the trees and read for the next hour and a half. 

After August woke up we walked around some more finding a pond area and path and bridge up to the church. 

We then walked off campus and stopped at Subway to pick up sandwiches and stopped in a little park area to eat them. 

We came home and gave August a bath. We noted today that August has definitely made the transition to walking – he now spends more time on his own walking than crawling, and of course he spends a lot of time walking while holding out finger. 

Haven’t given a vocab update lately. He picked up ‘tia’ pretty quickly for Cassie, and can say ‘knee’ quite easily. And today he started to do the sound of a monkey. 

 

Skyping with tia: 

Hoegi: 

Home: 

‘New’ pajamas: