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We were going to go to the Iris Garden for my birthday, and in the morning it looked like that might still happen. But then when it came time for him to take a nap he just wouldn’t really sleep deeply and spent much of the day clutching to Carly. 

At one point he was up enough to Skype with my parents. Sort of. After that, his temperature was up around 39. We tried to take him to the doctor, but they closed at 1. 

After a couple more hours of him not doing much of anything, we found out from Derek that the doctor over at eMart is open longer hours on the weekend. We had given him Tylenol by this point, but the cough and throwing up were concerning. 

So we took a cab to eMart. By the time we got there the Tylenol had kicked in and he was having fun in the waiting room – particularly because they had Pororo playing on a couple screens. 

The diagnosis is a throat infection. He was doing quite well at this point and the weather was lovely, so we walked home. We stopped at the pink building for groceries and then got pho takeout for dinner. 

He was a bit better this evening, but unfortunately getting to sleep is really difficult for him. He finally went to sleep around 9:30, but woke up 45 minutes later. He is just now asleep again and hopefully he can get a good night’s sleep. 

 

Sick boy: 

Feeling better and watching Pororo, but a crazy cough: 

Walking home: 

He doesn’t really show off his letter skills in these videos, but you can see his Pororo magnets: 

 

August slept twelve hours and seemed to be doing fine this morning. A happy wake up, and we were ready to leave the house a little past ten to go to Home Plus and then Dream Forest, where we would play in the wading pool and fountain. After that we were to meet Carly and go to a little family social gathering at a playground. 

But then I went to change him to leave. As soon as I picked him up he put his head on my shoulder. Then he looked like he was falling asleep on the changing pad. So instead of leaving I picked him up and got him to sleep for a nap. 

I knew something was off. He had a bit of a cough last night, but it wasn’t too bad. But he had just fallen asleep after only two hours. And he continued to sleep. Over two hours and 45 minutes. He woke up with a temperature of 38.6. 

So, original plans aside, we did manage to go to Home Plus for a few things. Before that we went to the art museum to see their new exhibit. At Home Plus we bought him a soccer ball.

We stopped at the park on the way home and played. He was mellow though, and really leaned back on me when we were on the swings. He played with the soccer ball, but then started to get quiet. We headed home and he fell asleep again before 4:30. 

He slept 50 minutes and woke up for awhile. After that he slept most of the evening, having one other wake up period for about 45 minutes. 

Park: 

Second nap: 

Groggy after waking up: 

Making noise with the water bottle: 

August slept for 12 hours last night, and when he woke up this morning it was a very happy wake up. I went in to find him playing with GG, the giraffe, making her hop. 

We headed down to Children’s Grand Park early, getting there at 9:30. So we walked around a bit first, checking on the wading pools, but they aren’t yet open for the season. 

He then walked on his own into the Children’s Museum, to the ticket counter, and into the museum proper. I then let him choose which direction to go and we ended up in the ball room for the first time. We played there for a half hour then went up to the water area. 

At 11 we went to the lunch room and ate. We had the room to ourself, and he had fun playing under and around the table. He was looking tired, and fell asleep soon after we left the building. I think walking out into the bright sun helps, as he puts his head down and is less tempted to look around at everything. 

He slept for 80 minutes, during which I read a big chunk of my book (War Trash) as we sat out on the deck. 

After he woke up we went first to the water birds, then the children’s zoo, where he once again played in the water by the horses. 

We then went out the back of the zoo and spent as much time as he wanted playing in the drinking fountain. 

He then walked off and led the way. We went past the Pororo mural, then he wanted to be picked up. He directed me towards the amusement park, where we watched people on rides and found a bathroom in which to change him. 

We left through the back entrance of the park, and took a slightly different subway route home. 

At home, I have him a bath. I got him to stand in the bath with me and he did really well, playing in the bath again.

Carly for home at 5, and we went to the APIS staff appreciation dinner at Celllan in the museum building across the street. 

We got seats on an end, and kind of had a whole area just for August to walk around, out of the way. On the wall were huge pictures of strawberries and broccoli, which he loved. During the dinner he had shrimp for the first time and loved it. Near the end we went out on the roof and he walked around and played out there. 

He was pretty exhausted when we came home around 8:30 and fell asleep pretty quickly. 

Ball room: 

Lunch: 

Peace Coffee:

Zoo: 

Bathrobe: 

Dinner: 

Oh, and he also took bites off a fork for the first time, as I fed him shrimp: 

August woke up before 6, so we stayed home until he took a nap. In the morning we blew up a bunch of balloons and played with them. We also got out all of the letter and number Pororo magnets and put them on the closet door. 

He took an hour-long nap, after which we had some lunch and headed out. We found a bus that took us down to Sinnae Park. August and I were here once before, in the fall, when we walked to the top of the hill and saw the old signal fire location. Today, however, we were there for the playgrounds and, as luck would have it, the fountain. 

We first played at a playground, where he primarily walked around and played with out tennis ball.

When the fountain came on at 1 we moved over there. He watched it for awhile, then for close and touched it a bit, but backed off after putting his hand in one of the jets. 

Instead, he wanted to play in the nearby drinking fountain/taps. One even had a short hose on it that he could use.

After playing with that for awhile we ate again. He would go back and forth between eating, watching the fountain, playing in the water, and walking around. 

When it shut off at 2 we went walking again. He was startled by a landscaping crew that started a hedge trimmer, but then wanted to watch. 

From there we headed up the hill a bit and found another playground, where he mainly practiced steps, then a pond full of tadpoles. This is where I learned that he knew that gaeguli and frog mean the same thing, as when I said ‘That’s a baby frog’ he said ‘Gaeguli!’ Then a man came up and taught us that the korean word for ‘tadpole’ is ‘olchaengi’. 

We took our time following the little stream back down the hill to the fountain. We played with it more, primarily with him in the carrier.  He would use my hand to make me touch the water. After several minutes of this I let him down and he stood closer to the fountain again. It turned off only a couple minutes after that. After making the ‘more’ sign a few times he then had fun walking around the empty fountain, expecting its surface. 

We went and caught the bus home. I had hoped he would last until home, but he fell asleep on the bus. He woke up when we got home, a 35 minute nap. 

Carly came home and I went to PT. Only 2 more sessions before the start of summer. 

While I was gone they went for a walk in the park and to the grocery store in the pink building. 

Before he fell asleep, he was having laugh and cuddle time on the couch with Carly. She would say and sign ‘I love you’, and he would laugh when she pointed to him. He started pointing to himself at the same time she would. 

He fell asleep a little after 7. That is fine – an early wake up will make it easier for us to head down to CGP nice and early. In addition to our usual children’s museum, cafe, and zoo locations, I think the wading pool area might be open. So there is much we can do. 

Morning: 

Sinnae Park: 

Asleep on the bus: 

Home: 

 

August and I attempted to continue the Fortress Trail today. Alas, after a couple kilometers the wide, easy, safe path gave way to steep, craggy rocks that just weren’t safe with a baby. So we headed back down and ended up cutting a new path through part of downtown, seeing the Blue House (equivalent of the White House) for the first time.  

Also, the weather didn’t cooperate. What was forecast as an 80 and partly sunny day turned into 61 and rainy. Unfortunately, the forecast didn’t keep up, and when we left the house it was still supposed to be 70s and dry. 

In the morning August stole a piece of toast from me off the counter. I walked into the kitchen a few seconds after him to find him eating it like a squirrel. He was very happy with himself and thought it was quite funny. 

We left the house at 8:30 and traveled to Dongnimmun Station. We played at Seodaemun Independence Park (water and flowers for awhile then hit the trail. After 600+ steps we turned back. As we came back down we met a soldier, Harvey, who talked to us for several minutes. The trail here goes through a military area (looking down you see into the Blue House compound, for one) and there are little outposts along the way. Apparently there were messages going over the radio among these men that a cute baby was coming up the trail. He was quite nice and we talked about what it was like to raise August in Korea. 

We headed down, changing August into long sleeves as the temperature was stuck at 61 and it was getting breezy and damp. We stopped by a construction spot where we had previously watched them loading a truck with dirt and he could see a backhoe at work. 

We then found a side path to a rest area in the first and had lunch. From there we continued down a separate path to Sajik Park. August fell asleep along the way so I went to a nice coffee shop called Pot de Miel next to the park. When he woke up we went back into the park to the playground and played. When it rained we sat in a big tube thing and ate a snack. 

From there we headed east, finding an area where we once ate pizza with some friends. We headed north, exploring new territory, walked through an in door market, and then up to the Blue House area. 

We went to the Cheongwadae Sarangchae – basically the presidential visitor center. Not too exciting, but there was an exhibit on pressed flowers that was okay. I let August walk around outside for awhile, but we got mobbed by tourists with cameras and video cameras and it got a bit weird (woman put her arm around August for a photo, big camera in his face) so we left.

We walked east, north of the palace, and saw the entrance to the Blue House (oddly, none of the tourists were actually here), then came out on the east side, walked past the MMCA, and to Insa-dong. I had planned to walk to Tapgol Park and let him play one last time, but now it was actually starting to rain. So we hopped in the subway at Anguk and transferred after a stop. 

At Seokgye we got out to transfer to the bus. It wasn’t raining and we had a few minutes so I let him walk around in the park by the stop. A woman insisted it was raining though and kept trying to give us her umbrella. There was maybe two drops in the 7 minutes we were there. I had to get pretty forceful in telling her to go away (previously I’d also had to get pretty forceful with with a woman who was complaining his arms were cold literally as I was changing him into long sleeves – both times he was wearing a sweatshirt with a hood up and it was 61 degrees). 

Anyway, pretty normal evening after that. August had fun flying on Carly’s legs, and then he got interested in trying to plug his headphones into the iPod. I told him it would probably be something that would take awhile to master. He then pretty much proceeded to prove me wrong by getting it mostly down in 10 minutes or so. 

 

Toast thief: 

Where we were trying to go: 

But had to stop about halfway up from that photo when it went like this: 

Long sleeves: 

Lunch: 

Sajik Park area:

Our shelter: 

He loved the rings. Like the handles in the subway but easier to reach: 

Playing with his hood while walking: 

Blue House: 

Our walking route for the day. Blue = before coffee, red = after: 

Home: 

 

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: