Ben's Happy Feet

Recently Ben has grown to love the video Happy Feet which features a tapdancing penguin named Mumble. He'll often ask to watch the video by exclaiming, "Dance! Dance!" (This is usually followed by lots of foot stomping, arm waving, pirouettes and falling down.) When I took this video there wasn't actually any music playing... he was just stomping around our living room having a grand time. If you listen closely you can hear his "tapdancing" - but not all the tapping is his - some of the beats are part of the music.

Rhododendron Gardens on Roan Mountain

While Colin's family was visiting we took a short trip to Roan Mountain to see the rhododendron gardens. Unfortunately we were a little too early to see the flowers in full bloom, so I convinced Colin to go back a week later.

As you can see from these photos of the first trip, the scenery is still pretty green.

Ben had a great time running along the paths, and getting a little help when he got tired.

This was taken on the path to see the remains of the Cloudland Hotel, where people (especially people who suffered from hayfever) used to come to be invigorated by the cool climate. These days there is really nothing to see except a couple of rocks and a sign explaining what used to be there.

These photos are from the second trip.

Ben in the backpack. ("Backpack" was Ben's first two-syllable word!) He actually loves it, though he doesn't look too impressed in this photo.

Steering Daddy by his ears usually perks Ben up a bit.

And for those times he wants down, we can just put him on the leash!

One of Ben's new talents - sticking out his tongue on command. We couldn't get him to smile for the picture until he did this... but we missed the smiling picture anyway.

This is what we came to see!

Visitors!

We love to have visitors - the best part of being in North America again is seeing family a little more often! Here are some pictures from our recent visit with Colin's parents and grandmother.

Ben and GG (Great-Grandma)

Ben being silly...

Ben with Grandma and Grandpa

Enjoying his new sippy cup.


GG, Grandma and Ben

With Grandpa, watching the proceedings in the bathroom!

A rare family picture!

Bathtubs

Recently we enjoyed a visit from Colin's parents and grandmother. The men worked hard on improving the bathroom, while the women worked hard on keeping Ben amused and out of the men's hair.

Ben's old bathtub.

Ben's new bathtub.

Unfortunately, Ben seems to have forgotten that he took baths in a big bathtub all the time in Korea, and he is now deathly afraid of it - even if I get in with him. For the meantime I'm enjoying the bathtub, while Ben is still enjoying his Rubbermaid. And until he outgrows it we save money by not filling the big bathtub.

Bubble Mower

It looks like Benjamin and Ryan have the same taste in lawnmowers! (See John and Michelle's blog if you don't know what I'm talking about.) We haven't put bubbles in it in quite a while but Ben still likes to drag it around.

It's Potty Time!

We decided it was time to get Ben a potty, so we all took a little trip to Babies 'R Us in Johnson City. Ben was awed by all the baby products and kept shouting "Oh, oh!" as we passed each aisle. Fortunately he was equally excited about the wide variety of potty options. We passed up a model that had a toilet paper holder and played songs and instead opted for a sturdy model that can be used as a potty, that fits onto the toilet seat, and that can be used as a step stool when Ben is no longer in danger of falling into the toilet bowl. Ben was quite excited about our new purchase and once we got home immediately went about disassembling it and carrying the various parts around the house. For about a week he did this but would adamantly refuse to sit (or be seated) on the potty. Finally I came up with a solution... show him how it's done! After that Ben was happy to try it for himself. He's gone several times (mostly by accident while he just happens to be sitting there) and we cheer for him and act very excited. (Okay, we actually are excited, because it means there might be an end to diapers sometime in the future.) The funny part is that Ben hasn't figured out how to say potty yet, so if he wants to sit on it he cheers for himself and claps his hands!

Update

It's been a challenge trying to find time to update the blog. I'm hoping to get things caught up once Colin finishes exams. In the meantime here is what has been happening in our lives:

We moved to Elizabethton, TN and bought a house.
Colin started school.
I started a job - waiting tables. (Not the greatest, but they'll work around our schedules so no daycare costs.)
And the big news that most of you probably know already... we're having another baby in September!

Due to the insurance situation (none, due to pre-existing conditions, blah, blah, blah) we are seeing a midwife and will have a home birth. This is actually what I would prefer. The only thing we keep wondering about is what if something goes wrong and we need to go to the hospital anyway? So, please keep us in your prayers! I'm at 21 weeks (just over halfway) and everything has been fine so far. We are trying to arrange an ultrasound but that has been a challenge in itself. None of the health clinics do OBGYN care and both doctors we've talked to have refused to see me because I'm not their patient. The are scared of being sued if something goes wrong later with the pregnancy! On the plus side, my morning sickness was much less severe this time around - I only threw up when Colin was driving! I've been feeling movement for about 3 weeks now and Colin was able to feel the baby move last week.

We're not sure if Ben understands the situation or not. He knows the words baby and belly - he likes to present his belly for us to blow bubbles on - so we have told him that there is a baby in Mommy's belly. He looks at us very seriously and pats my belly and kisses it.

Ben is learning new words every day. I take him in the wagon to the library on Tuesdays for a children's program. He was shy at first but now he feels right at home. He also likes helping in the garden (we've only planted the peas so far) and walking to the park. We put his yo (Korean sleeping pad) inside a tent in his bedroom and he loves to sleep in there.

In the not-too-distant future I hope to have some time to post some pictures of our new house - before and after our families came to visit and work!

Seattle

After our stop in Vancouver we flew to Seattle - I entered the US without any problems. Hooray! We stayed in Seattle for a mini-holiday and did a bit of sightseeing. This is Colin and Ben at the Museum of Flight. We also visited the aquarium and science center. Ben had lots of fun shouting into an echo tube, throwing baseballs and spraying water. Unfortunately the battery in the camera died after this picture and our recharging cord didn't fit the American outlets, so that was the end of the picture taking for a while.

Our stop in B.C.

Before entering the U.S. we stopped in Vancouver to visit Julee, Chris and the newest member of their family, Samuel. My (Natalee's) mom arrived the same day and we had a lot of fun holding the baby and playing games. Ben was pleased to have access to some new toys!

It was strange to hold a baby that young and try to remember when Ben was that size. It wasn't that long ago, and yet we had trouble believing Ben had ever been that small. After a few days we became accustomed to the size difference and no longer felt that Samuel was a abnormally small.

My father arrived Saturday morning but our flight to Seattle departed around lunch so we only had time for a quick breakfast together at the airport before leaving for the United States.

Last Post from Korea

Our time in Korea is coming to an end. Internet service to our house will be turned off tomorrow morning and the movers will pack up our computer and other belongings. We are excited about being back in North America again, excited about being closer to our families, but it is also bittersweet. When I first came to Korea I was single and six months out of college. I came back twice, the second time after getting married. This is the only place Colin and I have lived as a married couple, and of course it's where Benjamin was born. Korea has played a large role in our lives and will always have a place in our hearts.

I wanted to put together a slide show of photos from our years in Korea but didn't have time to get it together. After we get settled in Tennesssee I will post it.

Ben's Favorite Things: the Moving Truck

It has to be a guy thing. I have no idea why (not being a guy) but Benjamin is fascinated by the moving trucks here. They have big ladders that telescope up and attach to the balconies of apartments. The movers load up a platform and then send it up the ladder to the balcony where another team unloads and unpacks the belongings. It's much more efficient than using (and waiting) for the elevator. If we are out for a walk and happen to see one of these trucks Benjamin insists on staying to watch it. Even if it's really, really cold. Or raining. He will usually cry when I finally leave to take him into the apartment. One day there were two trucks moving people into two buildings that form an L shape. We stood in the center so Ben had a good vantage point of both trucks. One truck would send up a load of stuff and then it would pause at the top for the movers to unload. In the meantime the movers at the other truck would do something really exciting like load a couch onto the platform and send it up! I could only take so much excitement in one day though, and eventually I decided we should go in. And Benjamin cried.

Bye-bye Daycare

Ben is officially finished daycare here. He really loves the daycare lady and I think he is going to miss playing with the other little kids and all the toys. One day we stopped by the daycare to pay and Benjamin clung to the owner's neck and wouldn't let go. She invited us in so we stayed for a while to let him play. I was glad for the opportunity to see what kinds of things he does there and it made us happy to see how much Ben cares for her.

Ben has had a tough winter so far, probably because I'm working (around germy children) and Colin is working (around germy children) and he's playing - with germy children. Last year Ben had two colds all season but this year he's already had three colds and we can't seem to get rid of his double ear infection. It's back again and he's on his third round of antibiotics. Our plane leaves on Tuesday so pray we can get these ear infections under control by then.

In the picture, the lady holding Ben is the owner. The little boy with the flashcards is her son.

First Haircut

We suddenly realized that Ben was sporting a mullet and decided it was time for a real haircut. (The three snips I took off the back months ago don't count.) Colin wanted to do it himself but I was silly and sentimental and wanted a professional to do the first one so it would be cute for all the pictures we're going to take with our families! I know, Ben doesn't care how his hair looks. I fully admit that this haircut was more for me than for Benjamin. On the other hand, it only cost 5 dollars and I promised Colin he can do all the subsequent ones. As you can see, Ben wasn't too impressed with the situation. He kept wanting to get off the chair and into my arms. The woman was quite good though; she was quick and accurate with the scissors despite the moving target - and Ben's new hairdo looks very cute.

Ben's Favorite Things: Unpacking

Unpacking: Benjamin loves to unpack anything and everything. As soon as we get in the house and set a bag of groceries down he's into it, pulling items out of the bag left and right. Sometimes he has trouble removing particularly bulky or heavy items and starts to get frustrated. In addition to unpacking groceries he likes to pull all of his clothes out of his box. (Yes, that's right. We store all his clothes in an old diaper box.) Then of course there's the tupperware cupboard, the diaper bag, the bookshelf, and last but not least my wallet. He likes to remove all the cards and either put them back or scatter them over the floor depending on his mood. He's developing some good fine motor skills - it takes a lot of finesse to get those cards in and out of their slots in the wallet - but it also makes for a lot of cleaning up. Fortunately he takes directions pretty well and is generally helpful. He understands the Korean for "give it to me" and will hand you items when you ask for them.

14 months

Ben is past the 14 month mark now. He still isn't walking, although he has taken a few steps. He took his first step at Charity's house two weekends ago. He spends a lot of time practicing going from squatting to standing - which usually involves a lot of clapping for himself when he finishes - but isn't interested in walking as a mode of transportation. I guess he's more concerned with developing his fine motor skills - he can use the roller ball on the mouse!

In the past week he has suddenly started communicating a lot more. He's been waving bye-bye for months, and has now started shaking his head when he doesn't want something. He has also picked up the sign for more and will sign it without being prompted. When he wants something he points to what he wants and says, "ga." We're not sure what word that is supposed to be, if any. He also uses ga and points when he wants to go somewhere, so he might be saying go... which in Korean happens to be "ga." I don't think we can claim he's speaking Korean though.

If you greet Benjamin in Korean and bow he will bow back. We assume he learned this at daycare. I was curious, however, so we performed an experiment and it turns out he'll also bow if you say, "smell my stinky feet" and bow at the same time. So, it's not really the words he's responding to. On the other hand, if Ben's in the bathtub I can say, "bye-bye water" and he'll try to pull the plug out.

He's obviously understanding more and trying to communicate with us. I guess it doesn't matter whether he's saying a real word in English or Korean, what matters is that we understand what he's (trying) to say.

I expect it won't be long before Colin and I will both be fluent in Benjamese.

Pohang Steelers

After all this time in Pohang we finally managed to take in a game of the local semi-pro soccer team, the Pohang Steelers. (Pohang is home to a huge steel mill which owns the team, hence the name "Steelers.") The tickets were only $5 and the home team won 4-1! It was almost as interesting watching the Korean soccer fans as it was watching the game.

All the guys with red shirts are marines. There wouldn't usually have been that many there, but it happened to be a holiday. In the bottom left corner are four guys with drums - they were some of the more benign fans. Others were throwing paper airplanes and long streamers of toilet paper onto the field!

'Tis the Season to Give Spam

In September or October Koreans celebrate Chusoek - it varies from year to year according to the lunar calendar. Chuseok is roughly equivalent to Thanksgiving. People usually travel to their hometowns, visit with their relatives, go to their ancestors' graves, and eat a lot of good food. They also buy gift packs from department stores and give them to people. The most common gifts are attractively packaged fruit, - think ten huge Asian pears for about $80 - boxes of soap, toothpaste and shampoo, and of course Spam! There are a suprising number of Spam varieties around and (apparently) people buy these and give them to other people they genuinely like. I couldn't resist taking this picture of Ben with the Spam gift bag in the background. These gift bags had 8 to 12 cans of Spam and were going for $25 to $35 depending on the size.

Ben's Fusion Birthday Part Two - Korean Style

In Korea, first birthdays are a big deal. We didn't go all out, but we did want to do something uniquely Korean since it will probably be Benjamin's only birthday in the country where he was born. So,he wore a hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) which was a gift from our friends Joanne and Tom.

Also, we set a table with fruit, rice, rice cakes and seaweed soup. Seaweed soup... it will forever be a reminder to me of giving birth. At the hospital they served it to me 4 times a day! The iron and iodine are important to mothers who have just delivered, and it is supposed to help milk production. You are supposed to eat seaweed soup every year on your birthday. (Also, my students tell me you shouldn't eat it before a test. The seaweed is so slippery the test answers might slip away from you. I guess you're in trouble if your birthday is the day before a big test!) Munju made the seaweed soup for Benjamin, who enjoyed it for the next week. Our table was not elaborate compared to how it is usually done, but as we were not entertaining hundreds of guests, it sufficed quite nicely!

The last thing we did was to put some items on the table and let Benjamin choose whatever he wanted. Traditionally the items were thread to signify long life, money (wealth) and a pencil or writing brush to signify that the child would be a good student. These days people are updating and getting more creative with the items - a credit card instead of money, or a golf ball - because of several famous Korean golfers!

When it came time for Benjamin to choose something he got a little stage fright. After a couple of false starts (we exclaimed too loudly and scared him into aborting his first grab) he finally picked up the pencil and paintbrush. We cheered and I played a little drum roll on the table. Benjamin enjoyed that so much he cried when I set the pencil and paintbrush down!



The tears were short-lived, though, and Ben spent the rest of the evening modelling new clothes and playing with Jeff's cell phone.

Eating Like a Grown-Up

Ben has developed an interest in using a fork and spoon. On more than one occasion he has refused to let me feed him - he'll only eat when I hand him the fork with the food firmly speared. He hasn't mastered the art of getting the food onto the utensils - or keeping it on - but every once in a while with a really sticky food he will complete the entire process by himself. He's also getting better at drinking from a cup. He does less biting and blowing bubbles and more drinking now! (I think he has been practicing at daycare.) The other day we were at Kentucky Fried Chicken and I handed Ben a french fry to eat so I could get a couple mouthfuls in myself. I dipped my fry into some ketchup and two seconds later there was another little hand dipping his french fry in the ketchup too! He was quite taken with dipping and proceeded to dunk his french fry about 10 times before deeming it properly covered and fit to be consumed. Besides fried chicken, the restaurant also happened to be selling some of those trucks that can climb up anything, flip over and keep driving. Our friend Tim bought one for Ben and he (Ben, not Tim) has had hours of fun and exercise chasing it around the living room giggling like a madman!

Technical Difficulties

I switched over to the new Blogger beta because it sounded like they had some interesting new features - and they said we'd all have to switch eventually anyway. It turns out they also have a lot of annoying bugs to work out. At the moment I can't post any pictures even though I've worked through their so-called fixes. Hope to be back to posting soon!