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We went downtown to Tapgol Park and Insadong today to do some shopping and look at some art. 

August woke up at 5am and Carly was up with him until the went back to sleep at 6:30. When I woke up an hour later, this is what I saw: 

Around 11 we made our way downtown. I was trying to get a photo of him flapping his purple mittens as we walked down the street. Mainly just captured some funny facial expressions:

We had lunch at Subway. August snacked on green pepper, black olives, and lettuce from my sandwich:

He really liked both the fan and light fixtures at Subway:

Carly looking at photographs of Angkor Wat:

Asleep in the carrier. He set a new record, sleeping close to two hours in there. It was pretty amazing. From walking down a busy street, going into shops, onto the subway, off the subway, on a street, and on a bus, where he finally woke up a couple minutes from home:

Dancing with his sweatshirt (kind of like rhythmic gymnastics?):

Brushing his teeth with mama:

And cuddling with her before putting on pajamas:

Since he has been complaining about baths, today we went the sponge bath route, which went marginally better, but he got cold quickly, which he didn’t like:

We went for a nice walk in the sun. We went to Toys R Us where we got more bubble solution and corner protectors for the coffee table. Thought they might have some after Christmas sales, but apparently they didn’t get that memo. 

We walked back along the stream: 

We stopped at the Women’s Business Incubation Center. I had long ago seen a sign for a coffee shop/bakery, but we had never gone in. Turns out it is a great place to get a cheap latte and baked goods, and for August to take a nap. The best part was the bizarre bags they used for the baked goods:

Back at the homestead, this game continues:

Kind of like when his hat is in his eyes or pants go over his feet, he didn’t complain about wearing mittens and seemed content to play with them still on:

August had a lot of fun with a chip clip. We have been working on ‘open’ and ‘closed’ with the closet doors and other objects. I am pretty sure he understands the two concepts now:

Got the wall chart from my parents hung up and ready to go:

It has been a long first Christmas for August. And he is finally asleep. 

So not much commentary to this post, at least for now. I might try to tidy things up in the morning:  

Presents: 

His new clothes:

A green mouth from the widen truck. An awesome toy, but it will come down off the shelf when he isn’t teething:

A Christmas nap:

On our way. You can see he is leaning forward to see out the stroller:

Christmas party:

Home again:

Carly got to go to August’s music class today. It was, of course, all Christmas themed. August and I then hopped on the subway and headed to the Lotte World theme park to meet up with some of our friends for some Christmas Eve festivities. 

Morning:

Carly ‘fixed’ the corner of the table so August won’t hit his head on the sharp corner:

Music class:

Asleep on the way to Lotte World:

Santa band on ice at Lotte World:

The one ride we went on:

We got a good view of Lotte Tower. When it is finished it is supposed to be the tallest building in Korea:

Another view of the indoor park:

Our friends with their son Logan:

A tired and dazed boy:

He fell asleep right after we left the park and stayed asleep until we came in the door at home:

We opened a present from my parents this evening. It is a cool ornament with cats on it. And it lights up:

Of course he loves to play with the box:

Today was a bit warmer, so we took a couple busses to the UNESCO tomb that August and I visited in early November. 

August also got to use a toothbrush for the first time, got a couple presents, and added a word to his vocabulary.  

 

In the morning we decided to try out a new configuration for the crib. We decided to put the taller side back in until he is a little surer on his feet, but he got to try it out first:

His first gift today was the banana shaker. The same kind he coveted in music class a couple weeks ago. He likes it:

After his nap we went to the tomb. August got to see the same models that he got excited about last time:

He was actually rather cranky. Eventually we realized he was getting tired. But he got excited by the metal sign. He is pushing it with his feet to make noise:

Back home:

Like food (see below), he has recently decided he can do without baths. So today he played with the water a bit and basically took a washcloth bath:

While he was drying, he tried out the tooth brush:

Later, I would put some of the banana toothpaste on it and give it too him at the same time that Carly and I were brushing our teeth. 

He got a look on his face as if you could see the connection being made: he was doing the same thing as mommy and daddy. It was very similar to the time I showed him a giraffe on a block and then pointed to two of his toy giraffes. He stared at them, and then repeatedly looked at the block, then the toys, back to the block, etc. making the connection that they all looked the same.

He even let me brush his teeth for him a bit.  

 

The past few days he has decided to not really eat food. He did ear a little broccoli today. And then decided it was fun to throw the remaining pieces on the floor. Actually, what I was trying to get on video was that Carly had given him a second piece of broccoli. Instead of eating it, he had fun squeezing it in his left fist to crush it. Then he started throwing the pieces on the floor:

All his hair:

August has three books that he can do a pretty good job of sitting and enjoying by himself so far: Napul Napul (from his Monday class), Peekaboo Sophie, and now the Feely Bugs book:

We opened another present. This time, it was a cool book from my aunt that makes noise about the ocean:

The ribbon is also appreciated:

He seems to have started using ‘dada’ as an official word today, joining ‘banana’, ‘milk/nurse’ (as a sign), and ‘mama’ on his list of words. 

He was saying it repeatedly as he was cruising around the chairs, but changed right as I tried to record it: 

Lots of video today. Didn’t seem like it at the time, but since it was the first time that Carly could go to one of his classes we got a lot of video of that. 

Later, we went for a walk north. Stopped at Starbucks and used our stash of gift cards to get a venti earl grey latte to share on our walk.  

In the evening we decided to start in the stack of presents and opened one of them from my parents.  

From the morning. You get some of the head bumping thing he does as well as a good hiccup: 

At the class. He doesn’t like getting clothes put on, particularly when they are unnecessary and particularly on his head. We got the cape on when he was distracted. The antlers were less successful:

Taking a ride:

Jingle bells:

A group photo. Getting 6 infants dressed in capes and antlers and posed goes about how you would expect:

The teacher tries to get him to wear the antlers:

Bubbles:

The closing song. Possibly his favorite part of each class, along with bubbles:

On the way home, visiting his favorite family sculpture and playing with snow for the first time:

Our walk to Starbucks:

Opening a present from my parents. It was an awesome set of wooden blocks. Thank you!

August approved:

As did Carly:

Our friend Meg was headed off to Hawaii today for the next three weeks. We are just a little jealous. Anyway, before she left we met her at the Buk museum to check out the new shows (that August and I had seen on Thursday). We also went shopping at Home Plus. 

August also enjoyed Skyping with his Oma and Opa today and really missed having and audience when that was over.  

He spent more time playing with the Swiffer today, and something he has been doing recently is gently banging the back of his head against a surface when he is sitting against it. He also cruised farther than he has before, starting at one end of the crib, turning the corner and going the length of the crib, transferring to the door frame, going through the door, transferring to a chair, then the table, then another chair. 

Morning: 

He hasn’t been eating much the last few days. It is almost like he read the article Cherie sent us saying that is normal from time to time. He did have fun gnawing on some sweet potato though. Somehow he does a pretty good job of keeping the top teeth hidden. I will stay on the hunt for that elusive target: 

More swiffering:

At the museum, Meg gave us a gift for August. Turns out she got us two of the dancing paper figures I had used for his mobile. I was also the one that showed them to Meg in the first place when I first took her to that store last January or February. And she has seen the mobile. Pretty amusing:

August enjoyed the museum visit, as usual. He didn’t like being kept in the carrier though so he got to walk around. Oh, and note that he is wearing the awesome shirt my mom bought him:

Back home he didn’t want to wear pants. Well, he really just didn’t want to be on the changing table any longer. Anyway, he was playing with these cups, figuring out how to put them together. Most of the time he was making what he we call his thinking noise. Carly thinks it would be funny if he was working on a hard math problem as a teenager and still making this noise:

Last but not least, another apple sauce popsicle:

August’s fourth top tooth is coming. He will soon have all four of his central top teeth in addition to the three on the bottom. But for now they are all a different length. 

Today was the first day of winter break and we celebrated by taking it easy. Our one outing was in the afternoon to visit the Kid Cafe and to get a few things from the grocery store and pick up some pho for dinner.  

The morning: 

New toys, mom’s sock and the Swiffer: 

Reading with daddy. There are a few books that he really likes, but only the first few pages of each. So we will reread those first few pages over and over. This is one of them:

Then we went to the Kid Cafe. A little different as it was, being a Saturday, much busier:

You have a nice view of the park and the Rainbow Bridge from the ball pit:

Time for a hug:

Back home August got to try holding all sorts of foods. His favorite was the carrot:

He was making funny faces and noises but started to get frustrated:

I’ve mentioned how much he likes his music from his class. I put it in and he spent the next fifteen minutes or so laying in my lap like so:

Once again in a good mood, he spent the rest of his evening crawling all over the apartment – the most distance he has covered so far – and being hyper:

And it is too good to skip:

Today was the last day before winter break and August and I had been invited to the 7th grade party. So that was our big event for the day. 

A happy wake up: 

Around 9 we headed out in the 20ish degree weather to walk to APIS. It was actually a nice walk. 

When we got to APIS we joined the 7th grade party in the room across from Carly’s. one of her students, Anna, is the one who has spent the most time with August and loved him. But she is moving to California for the next semester, so today was her last day at APIS this school year. So August really enjoyed his last time with her for the next several months:

One of Carly’s students took photos and sent them to us. These three are from her. I particularly like the last one:

Back home he was all about doors today:

Helping hang laundry:

He was excited about his apple sauce popsicle and I went to snap a photo. He fell forward onto his face. You can tell I caught him at the start of the fall:

His dinner was basically broccoli:

Sometimes he has a tendency to stare off into space when eating. He is staring in the general direction of Carly, but I think he is zoning out here:

Christmas at the Althauser Niman house involves presents from the States, a couple things we bought for August but didn’t wrap (stickers and a banana shaker), and one string of lights: