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Today it hit about 70 again. We stayed at home until he took a nap and woke up at 12:15. We then headed to APIS by walking up the stream, across the river, past the dump, and up and over the hill and down to APIS. 

Along the way we saw a crane fishing on the river, watched a backhoe at work by the park (he made me stop twice when I started to leave so he could watch longer), watched a big drill as we went up a hill, and then played at a playground before going to APIS. 

We went to APIS and saw Carly and helped Atsuko fill out the questionnaire for his 12-month well-being checkup. We then walked across the street to two playgrounds (but NOT either of the two playgrounds we played at last time we were at APIS) and played. 

A little before 5 we met Carly and went to Doniburger and picked up dinner we then walked into Lotte Apartments for a meet-up of families at yet another playground. The play equipment at this playground was actually roped off for some reason, but August could still sit at the bottom of the slide. 

He was having a bit of a rough evening, having been awake for over 6 hours. He took awhile to recover from falling off the foot of the slide and then when he was admiring the big white dog (which he called baabaa) it barked once and that was enough. We left and walked awhile and he fell asleep it was really early (a bit after 6), so we will see what the morning brings. 

His accomplishment today was stacking four food containers. He has never really stacked anything more than two high. His success even stunned him, as he kind of stood there giggling to himself. Once he knocked it down and tried again he couldn’t really even get to two, so it was a bit of a fluke. 

He also was very helpful doing his laundry. He took a full basket and methodically put each item into the washing machine. Of course, when he was done he started doing the reverse so I had to stop him.

Morning:

Before his coffee: 

Doing his laundry: 

Giggling to himself: 

Trying again: 

Hitting the back of the couch: 

Taking a rest in what is becoming one of his favorite spots: 

With his favorite toy, the iron: 

On our adventure: 

Watching the backhoe: 

With the baabaa: 

Slides of the day:  

Slide 1: 

Slide 2: 

Slide 3: 

Slide 4: 

Asleep: 

His sleeping schedule was perfect (slept until 8:30, took an 80 minute nap in the carrier) and the temperature hit 70 so we had a wonderful time at Olympic Park. We played at two playgrounds, walked through a kids’ history museum, and sat on a bench in the trees while we napped/read. We also saw a lot of sculptures, walked along a stream, and scouted out three museums (art, photography, Olympics) for future adventures. And August got to be social with a whole lot of people. 

Developmentally, notable today were:

– starting to point things out. He has done this with his books for quite awhile, and a couple times he has pointed to things outside if I first prompt him, but today he started to do this on his own, starting with a pond and a crane (the bird kind). He then proceeded to do it several times during the rest of our trip. 

– spotting his first plane. There is almost no air travel over Seoul. He has seen a couple of helicopters when I have pointed them out, but you almost never see planes unless they are military. In fact, I took a photo a few days back of several contrails we saw as we walked to Home Plus. It was notable because I had never seen that. They were probably a result of the joint US/SK military exercises going on. Anyway, Olympic Park sits under the flight path to (I guess) the US base. As we ate our second lunch, August spotted a big cargo plane through the trees above us. He watched it and then had a quizzical look on his for a few seconds. 

– climbing up on benches. He has started climbing up on the couch at home just the last couple days. Today was the first time during our trips that he has climbed up on benches. 

– using the word ‘river’ as we crossed the Han and as we looked at a model in the history museum. He’s only used it (I think) to refer to the river near our house (albeit in two different locations).

– getting more confident/solid as he comes to the end of a slide. He can basically plant his feet on the ground, although he still has a tendency to topple forward if he is moving too fast.  

– finally, fingers crossed, but I think he is starting to pick up the signs for ‘more’ and ‘please’. And ‘Oma’ is sounding more like a word and being used more often. 

 

Waking up: 

Today’s outfit. It is a shirt I bought him at 826 Seattle last summer. You might remember the red onesie from 826 Seattle which I had purchased the previous year and given to Carly for her birthday: 

Getting his own seat on the subway. Growing up:

First playground: 

Lunch. Again, sitting on the bench like a big boy. I tried to stand him at it, but he insisted on climbing up, like he can do with the couch at home: 

Nap time: 

In the history museum, very excited about the deer baabaa: 

And here is where he really started pointing at things as we walked: 

At the second park. He pretty much had this big slide mastered. After this slightly rough landing at the bottom he started getting better at sticking the landings by landing on his feet. He still has a tendency to topple forward so I definitely need to be there to catch him each time, but he is absorbing much of the momentum:

He definitely didn’t like the fake grass where we stopped to eat second lunch. He probably gets that from Marshy: 

He lasted a couple minutes on it once food was brought out, but then climbed on my lap for the rest of the time: 

Then he saw himself on the camera and remembered he was wearing a hat he didn’t want to be wearing: 

And this is what happens when you tell him to stick out his tongue while he has food in his mouth: 

Finally, he spotted his first airplane today. This is pretty much what he saw, although his plane was a larger military cargo plane: 

It took a team effort to get August to sleep. He took an afternoon nap and his teeth are definitely bothering him. After a lot of music, chewing on my sleeve, and nursing with mama, he finally fell asleep around 10. 

Today he took an early morning nap after Skyping with Cherie and Vivian so we headed to Hyehwa after he woke up. It wasn’t raining yet, so first we went to see the show at the Arko Art Center (after looking at a photography exhibit in the station). We didn’t take too long as we will probably come back with Carly next week. 

We then walked around a bit and went to the Seoul Science Museum. It is shoeing some age, but was nice and empty when we got there and worked well for August. There were a lot of machines and exhibits that he could appreciate. We also say in a kid lounge area and ate lunch and he played with two Pororo pillows. 

Starting to rain when we left, but we went up to the roof to see what was up there and had a nice view of downtown. 

Then walked back into Hyehwa and took the bus home. We got a seat after a couple stops and he ate the whole way home. 

Soon after we got home he started to look tired and fell asleep soon after (to music, of course). Carly got home a few minutes later and I headed to PT. 

In the evening he really enjoyed playing on the couch and surprised us by climbing up on the couch as if he had done it hundreds of times before. 

He also seems to maybe have ‘Oma’ down as a word. He will say ‘Ma’ while looking at the wall of photos – maybe with a slight ‘oh’ at the beginning. When referring to Carly he has always used both ‘ma’s. He wouldn’t yet confirm this by actually pointing to Cherie while saying it, but we will see. 

Morning: 

Science museum: 

Headed home: 

Home: 

He wasn’t looking tired by 10:30 so we were ready to head out for the day. All that was left to do was to change him, put on my shoes, and put him in the carrier. But as I changed him he started to yawn. Picked him up when I was done and he laid his head on my shoulder. Turned on Hozier and he was asleep after a couple songs. 

He woke up at noon, but like yesterday he was still sleepy. He spent another 25 minutes on my shoulder as we listened to music. Unlike yesterday, however, he didn’t fall back to sleep but instead eventually woke up. 

So now it was too late for our original plan and the air pollution had pushed into the red category. Finally, I decided we would jump in the subway and head to the children’s museum. 

Next piece of bad luck was finding that the museum is closed for renovations this week. 

So we went to the conservatory, as usual, and confirmed that the zoo is still closed. We also stopped at the playground and went on the swing (on the way there) and the slide (on the way back). When he was sitting on the slide I took off his socks so he could play in the sand with his feet for the first time. 

We then left the park and crosses the street to Sejong University, where we had had lunch with Carly alongside a pond a few months back. We went to the history museum on the other side of the pond and when we came out August was hungry. So we sat by the pond and ate lunch and watched the ducks. I was hoping to make it quick (pollution levels), but he kept eating and eating and eating. 

A half hour later we were on our way to Costco as we still had time and it was on the way home (sort of). At Costco we restocked our supply of cheese and bought some monster clothes and a magnet set for August (I’m sure you’ll see them in future posts). 

August was hungry again while we were in Costco so I was feeding him Cheerios as we walked around. But once I got the cheese I was going to need both hands to carry everything. So I set everything down and fed him in a corner for awhile in hopes he would make it through checkout. This was when he decided it was fun to bend his head back, look up at me, and then offer me a Cheerio to eat. He found it hilarious and would sometimes give me the Cheerio but other times he would fake me out and eat it himself. 

He repeated this after the checkout when I bought food for Carly and myself and he decided he needed another full meal. This time it was both with Cheerios and tofu. 

Anyway, so we headed home, getting back a few minutes after Carly. She had brought home a ball that my aunt had given him for Cheistmas that Carly needed to get blown up at school. It was definitely the toy of the evening. 

August’s other new thing (besides feeding me) was making a fish noise.

Morning: 

Our adventure: 

Back home: 

Today’s outfit: 

It hit 63 today, so I dressed August in a short sleeve shirt for the first time in months. And in the afternoon he only had to wear one sweatshirt. 

His class today was all about horses. He wasn’t at all shy at the beginning of class today and he had a lot of fun. But absolutely refused to wear the cowboy hat she gave us. 

After his class we bought a bunch of groceries and then went on the swing for a long time. 

We came home, I played two songs from the Hozier album, and he was asleep. He woke up 70 minutes later. 

This is where things got a bit odd: it was a tough wake up. We were lounging on the couch for a few minutes, but then he started to get upset. I ended up standing up and singing to him and he calmed down. I then turned Hozier back on and he listened to 3 or 4 more songs and fell asleep. He had been awake for close to a half hour, but fell back to sleep for 40 minutes. That had never happened before. 

It was the aforementioned 63 degrees when he woke up so we wasted no time getting outside. We visited two playgrounds in the big apartment complex to the south of us, swinging at the first one and then sliding at the second. This slide was the longest/tallest slide he has taken by himself (I catch him at the bottom though) and he took it several times. 

We then kept walking and found Carly at the post office near the school and walked back home with her. We stopped at the same playground to nurse and to show her how he can go down the slide. He really didn’t want to leave this time. We stopped by the other grocery store on the way home. 

Morning: 

Class: 

Trying to put on his cowboy hat. It doesn’t go so well:  

At Home Plus we found a Pororo picnic mat to keep in the backpack. Needless to say he was excited about it after his nap: 

Enjoying the weather. Here is his biggest slide so far: 

Photos from the day: 

 

August stayed awake for a long time this morning, finally falling asleep to music around 1. He woke up around 2:30, although it took him a long time to really wake up. 

So we left the house a bit after 3 and had a nice adventure in the warmer weather. We walked to Toys R Us where we bought him a drum from the clearance rack and five books (4 Eric Carle books and a book about cats) as they were cheap. 

We then went across the street to the park (where we ate our Quiznos sandwiches when my parents were here) and played on a slide for awhile. 

From there we walked to Eunhang Junction and went to Subway where Carly got a sandwich and August had a snack (including part of her sandwich). 

Next, we walked to the park that my dad and I found with August. I hadn’t paid attention to the playground at the time as August wasn’t using them at the time. It turned out to be perhaps the best one in the area: 4 slides, swings, a nice surface, a pleasant location, and no crowd. I am sure we will be going back.

We went on the swings and did some more sliding before heading home. August really likes when I count off our swinging, particularly drawing out the first sound of the numbers (ssssseven, for example). 

At home we opened one of his new books and played with the drum. August had difficulty again getting to sleep even though he was really tired. Spent four songs quietly clinging to my shoulder before he was then able to fall asleep with Carly. 

Morning: 

Out on the town: 

His new poster from class: 

Big Pororo: 

August on the slide, Carly on the swing in the background: 

Laughing as I flop on the bed: 

Lot of skyping happened this morning, to PA (Cherie, Cassie, and family), Chelan (my parents), and Seattle (Glecy). 

We made a big shopping trip to Home Plus after his first nap. 

Then I left at 2 to go see Birdman with our friend Meg. I can understand why it won best picture, but still haven’t seen Grand Budapest Hotel or Boyhood for comparison. 

While I was gone Carly and August took a walk by the stream. August fell asleep and Carly got a coffee cafe in the women’s center and sat by the stream. They played at the playground by the stream for awhile before coming home. 

August had a ton of energy this evening. He spent a lot of time today playing with the vacuum cleaner in the hallway, pushing it around and playing with the hose. The iron (cool and not plugged in) is another favorite toy, as are our shoes. 

He also had fun eating today. Carly fed him his first brussel sprouts and grapes today, as well as yellow pepper, which he hasn’t had in quite awhile. I brought burritos home from my outing, and he ate onion and mushrooms and black olives from that. He was quite insistent about wanting more. 

One of the books we bought when last in Itaewon is called Wild About Books and is about a librarian who takes her bookmobile to the zoo and all the animals learn to read. Anyway, August can now identify at least ten different kinds of animals and people in the book – seven in one picture. 

He had trouble getting to sleep. We think his teeth may have been bothering him. So I had to dance him to sleep to Hozier again, although Carly had to finish the job in bed as he started to fuss again. He’s been asleep for close to two hours, so so far so good. 

Looking like spring without the cover and with a lighter hat: 

His hallway toys: 

We did a lot of playing at home this morning as he woke up at 5:40 and didn’t nap until later. After his nap we walked to APIS in the warm sun. 

It was the Culture Fair. We found Carly and went up to the gym. Carly got to see August at his most shy as he leaned his head on her shoulder. He eventually relaxed and was totally as ease the rest of the time we were there. He really liked watching the music students play the xylophones and he got a balloon from the Polish Embassy. On our way out of the building he was excited by the art outside the art room. Students had made cartoon characters such as Larvae.

We went across the street to play in a park until Carly was done working. We went on the swings at that park but then found out the slide was broken. So we walked all the way to the next park (about 60 yards) and played there the rest of the time. There were two slides right next to each other – one smooth and one wavy. I let August go down the wavy one a few times and he did quite well, but then he once hit a bump and tumbled forward and I had to catch him. After that I started taking him down on my lap. Then I realized I could be on one slide and he could be on the other and I could hold him as we went down. 

But the real highlight was the group of middle school girls that entertained him. First by playing tag around us as we went on the slides. Then, after three left, the other four entertained August by showing him pictures on their phones of Pororo, Tayo, cats, etc. and helping catch him on the slide. 

Carly showed up and we walked home. But first we stopped at the pediatrician so August could start getting his 12 month vaccinations. He did okay at first – until they weighed him, that is, and it was downhill from there. The worst part of his day. For the record, he is 2′ 5″ and 21.4lbs. Smack dab in the middle of the growth chart on each. 

He was so distraught from the doctor visit that he fell asleep. But it was only 5:30. So I put on the video from his new class and he was able to wake up and stayed awake until around 9. 

 

Morning: 

At my feet, looking at the photos: 

Culture Fair: 

At the park: 

With the doctor: 

At home: 

banana

dada

mama

baabaa 

moo

gramma

quack

squishy

Pororo

river

tea

cheese

dododo (Cheerios) 

ball

We took our usual Thursday trip to the children’s museum and the still-closed zoo. 

Morning went fine except we are rewriting out game plan on baths as August continues to despise them. After his bath he cried and clung to me for close to a half hour before he fell asleep for a nap. 

And he also tried kiwi fruit for the first time. I think it was too sour for him, but he at least tried two bites. Will have to make sure the next one is sweeter. 

Mid 40s today but generally sunny and not too windy. So we spent a good amount of time outside. 

But upon first getting down there we went to the children’s museum. August was very independent (he also spent a lot of time playing by himself yesterday; it is as if when he had his birthday he decided he needed to be more independent) as well as social. He had pretty substantial interactions with two other kids. 

The first was a boy who was playing next to August on a couple occasions. August at one pint offered him a ball. And a couple times the boy tried to take something from August and August thought it was a game and laughed. 

The second was a girl who he spotted sticking her head through a hole in the apple maze. They spent 2 or 3 minutes looking at each other, making noises, and even touching each other’s hands. 

There was also another girl who August crawled right up to and tried to wave at and talk to. But she was younger and started crying. 

After playing for a good amount of time we went up and ate our lunch. We then went for our usual walk: to the conservatory, around the closed zoo, and to the seals. Instead of coming back the same way though we kept walking and went to the big playground in the center of the park. Almost completely empty. 

We went on the swings, then played with these outdoor percussion instruments, then went in different swings, then finished up on the slide. August loved each of them and was upset each time we moved along. He particularly liked the drum, which he got the idea of pretty well, and the slide, which he can do entirely on his own, sitting up. I still ran to the bottom to keep him from going of the end, but probably don’t need to. 

It was also nice when we were at the big xylophone and August started saying ‘baa baa’ so I would play “Baa baa black sheep” since I play it on the xylophone at home. 

Got back home a few minutes before 5, soon before Carly got home. 

In the evening we opened the gifts from my parents (probably will be posted tomorrow) and Carly made sweet potato for August. 

Note: All videos today, as the crappy Squarespace app makes photos very time consuming. So the blog might be more video-heavy until they update the app or I figure out a workaround. 

Morning: 

Children’s museum: 

He likes to fill things. This box was empty until he started putting stuff in it: 

Didn’t actually get their most interactive moments on video: 

Playground: