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We went shopping at Home Plus, took a leisurely walk to APIS, and I had physical therapy, but most of the day’s highlights were at home:

First, some raspberries, coughs, and funny faces:

Taking our time to get out of bed in the morning:

And playing around before a nap:

The bear hat tells you the temperature has changed since I last recorded walking across the bridge:

Something he doesn’t enjoy: getting his face washed:

A new game with mommy:

Realizing that shaking the bouncy chair causes the rope at the top to shake:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Carly and I have been to the Hoegi area several times, but this is just the second time this fall and the second time with August, having come here for a going away dinner a couple weeks back. 

This time, we tried to go to the Seoul University campus on the east side of the train station. We entered what we thought was the campus, found a nice bench and pond, and ate our sandwiches and hung out: 

It turned out it was a smaller school, adjacent to the campus. And when we tried to continue we realized it was entirely fenced and the gates were locked. Including the one we had walked in. This is the second time we have found ourselves on the wrong side of a locked gate. Luckily, there were no broken arms this time. 

So we headed back to the other side of the station, got coffee at a coffee shop, and walked around the part of the Kyunghee University campus we had not yet made it to. We found the art building and plenty of art along the way, and the whole area was quite lovely with the leaves changing: 

Once home, August:

Took a bath:

Ate beans for the first time:

Rode in the clothes bin:

And got excited by the cupboard (he LOVES the cupboards):

We hopped the bus and trekked half way across Seoul to walk around his university and the neighborhood around it. While there we went to both their natural history museum and history/art museum. 

Highlights: 

 

Carrying  a leaf on the way to the bus: 

He tends to get really excited by small trees or bushes:

And likes to play in the grass:

A couple views of the campus:

As we walked through the neighborhood, August had fun blowing raspberries:

On the way home, there was a couple that spent much of the bus ride entertaining August. It was pretty amazing:

On Friday August woke up early, but then stayed awake for over three hours (usually has his first nap within two hours of waking up) and took a long nap. So we didn’t have a lot of time for adventuring. We did take a bus a bit south and then walk back past a university to home, but it wasn’t too exciting. He then took a short nap and then we walked to APIS to drop him off with Carly so I could go to my physical therapy. 

The biggest milestone of the day was pulling himself up from sitting to stand himself up. In the last video he even gets cocky and shows how he can stand while holding on with just one hand: 

Other highlights of the day:

 

Playing on the bench at the university where we ate lunch (rice burger for me, banana and milk for him) and played for awhile:

Drinking from the spray bottle:

In the morning, August had a trip to the doctor to get the last of his six-month vaccinations (except now he can get a flu shot, which will be next week), while in the afternoon I went to Severance Hospital across the city for my three month check on my arm. Took the doctor about 10 seconds to say it looked fine. 

The most exciting thing of the day, however, was August starting to make a little forward progress. Also, you can see him start to alternate some of his leg movements: 

Before August’s appointment we went for a little walk and found ourselves on the museum, playing with the plants:

He had more fun playing in the crib today:

His bald spot is a thing of the past:

A family photo taken by Atsuko when she dropped me off after my appointment:

Evening fun:

 

Chewing on socks:

The odd pushing game:

Playing with dad’s head:

More laughing:

The going to bed book:

In the morning I heard him moving so I went into the bedroom to see this:

He has started to enjoy playing in his crib:

After a nap we took a bus up to Danggogae. We went to the park, where we ate lunch and played on a bench while we enjoyed the leaves changing color:

And made funny faces:

Once home, he took a nap:

And then a bath:

And in the evening he and mom chewed on spoons together:

Raining even more than yesterday. Hopped the bus to Korea University and went to the museum. Kind of underwhelming (except for the one national treasure they possess), but we made the most of it. 

Then walked across campus and into Anam – the little university district by (surrounded by, really) the university  – to scout it out for restaurants. 

The umbrella was well used by the end of it all.  

 

But before that, Augudt enjoying a random word game:

One of the interesting, but kind of tacky pieces in the museum’s current art exhibit. Apparently animating famous works of art is a thing, because I first saw pieces like this at the UNESCO building last year. 

About the only video you will ever see me shoot in portrait, as that was he orientation of the painting, and I really only shot it to show to Meg – our friend who is an art teacher – on my phone: 

The best part of the trip was hanging out on a very nice landing in a very deserted stairwell. We are our lunch and played on the floor for a good 30 minutes and no one bothered is:

The coolest thing in their collection is this national treasure: a series of paintings that forms a map of the east palaces (the one where Glecy took a tour of the gardens and August and I went with my parents for the same tour). I could identify many of the buildings and paths we visited:

I asked Carly why we weren’t given the option of having a placenta jar as part of our birth plan:

We then walked around Anam. I spotted two mexican restaurants, two Indian restaurants, an Indian reataurant, and at least two coffee shops I would like to try. We are window shoppers more than anything when thinking about eating out, so we will probably never make it to more than one or two of them. 

August fell asleep on the bus ride home: 

Back at home, August figured out how to get up on his hands and knees (see a previous post), and also got excited by spotting our water bottle while in the bouncy chair:

It was rainy and dreary, so I was looking for a way to get out of the apartment but to do something indoors. We have a gift certificate to a department store and I’ve been meaning to make it to one of the branches to see if there was anything we could get for August. 

So, August and I hopped on the subway and headed north as far as we could. Transferred, and headed an additional five stops north. 

We arrived only to find that the department store was closed that day.  

We still had fun walking around the area, and August had fun talking to people in the subway.  

 

In bed in the morning: 

Riding the subway:

Walking by the closed department store:

Feeling the wet railing:

He just whipped this out this afternoon and has been practicing ever since: