Seoul's Antics

9 month doctor visit. This was Seoul's expression when I told her we were at the doctor's office waiting for daddy to arrive. "Eek - do I have to go in??"

Stats:

Weight - 16 pounds 10 1/2 ounces (20th percentile)
Length - 28 1/2 inches (85th percentile)
Head - 17 inches (25th percentile)

Just an itty bitty thing. But she is super HEALTHY and that is what's most important! The doctor said she's doing great and gave the OK for all food but honey. Lucky baby... let the fun begin!

Playing with daddy at the doctor's office... before the shots...




These days Seoul is everywhere in the blink of an eye. Crawling the "normal" way these days, she makes tracks! She is adventurous and cruises all around the furniture and walls. She's mastered climbing up the stairs, although not down yet. Books are fun - turning pages and looking at the pictures and touching the textured parts (touch-and-feel books). Mimicking us is her new fun game - clapping, blowing razz's, laughing... we love it! Every day is new and exciting and SO MUCH FUN!




Hmm... checking out daddy's wallet for cash already. Look at her sneaking around - hanging out in between the couch and desk so we don't realize what she's up to. Smarty pants!

Silly girl... gotta find a new angle to play with those toys to keep them fun.

Four chompers coming in... I said show me all your teethies and she did!

She loves to help unload the dishwasher... and get a few more dirty in the process. Check out her stylin' slippers :)

I was making dinner and realized she was being very quiet. I look down and she's managed to get the lid off and she's eating her treats very quickly.... she knew we would take them away!

What a beautiful, smart, fun girl. We are so blessed to be her parents!!

Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Here are some cute pictures of Seoul

Autumn is here

The word Autumn is so poetic. I really like it.

The Autumn season is so beautiful! I love the changing leaves and the crisp, cool air. Plus it indicates the coming of the wonderful holiday season.

We go for family walks to enjoy the fresh air. Seoul inevitably falls asleep, of course. She got a new toy with Grandma's Halloween treat but didn't enjoy it until later.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Seoul to a local pumpkin patch with our friend Amy. Seoul wasn't sure what to think about some things like the feel of the hay poking her legs or sitting in a wheelbarrow with a giant pumpkin, but it was clear she wasn't such a fan of the petting zoo or pony ride. Maybe one day :)

We went through a very muddy corn maze and made it to this castle. I've noticed Seoul is adventurous and likes to be up high. To get down we took the slide. Seoul is sticking out her tongue at Dad in the first picture and then clapping to show her excitement in the second.

We had to pose for a picture with the "Asian" pumpkin... those of us with "slanty" eyes :)

It was perfect fall weather and we had a lot of fun! Next year Seoul will really be into the activities.

Trick * or * Treat!

Seoul's first Halloween and she made out like a bandit! Really, who gives a 9-month old candy?? At least Kelley & I appreciate the spoils!

We went to Legacy to trick-or-treat at Kelley's office. Seoul dressed as a pink lady bug, although everyone called her a "love bug" - how much cuter can our girl get?! She would get tired of wearing the hat and pull it off.

Seoul would crawl to the candy, which made the effect of the bug costume even more adorable.

Kelley loves showing off his "love bug" to everyone!



We visited with the cousins a little bit and got some fun Halloween costume pictures. Trevin is a hippy / crazy man... Amanda is a garbage can... and Ella is a bat... very creative costumes!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

We hooked up with our friends the Springers and went out around our neighborhood for a little trick-or-treating on Halloween night. The weather was rather nice. Randy was "Handy Randy" and was super cute in his overalls and boots, complete with a hard hat, tool belt, hammer, and wrench. We didn't get many come to our door and there weren't many in the neighborhood so the kids got handfuls of candy at most houses. Randy kept saying his bag was heavy. Seoul held her bag until it got too many pieces of candy. Lucky parents!

Seoul did get her own little treat that night, though. Daddy bought her some little cookies so she got to chow on one of those.

Halloween Treats

I have to write about the delicious goodness a friend shared with us. Little Halloween ghosts made with Nutter Butter cookies dipped in melted white chocolate or white confectioner's coating. You can use mini chocolate chips for eyes. Oh my, they are quite the treat!

Baby Joo Lin

My dad sent me these baby pictures of me the other day. Adopted when I was 6 months old, there aren't many pictures of me as an infant. Now I can hassle my parents for pictures to compare ages.

I now see the resemblance between Seoul and I. Of course the cleft lip makes a difference and Seoul is much more beautiful, but I get it... finally.

In this picture I was 7 months old. From my position, maybe Seoul got her silly crawl from me.

I'm not sure how old I was in this picture. Am I dancing or going to get to work using the shovel? Hm. I do see also that I can't blame Seoul's hairline entirely on Kelley's genes. We have the same hair (sigh) and I was so hoping it would be more like Kelley's.

Thanks Dad!

Kudos to Kelley

Seoul & I are so proud of Kelley! At work the other day he got a kudos for exceptional customer service. I will brag for him... he has gotten quite a few shout outs. At his year review in August he got rave reviews and the boss said he's a real asset to the company. Funny: the only critique from a peer review was that he wears too much orange :)

It is so wonderful he has a job he loves and he excels with each performance!

Love you!

Last Single Digit Month Birthday

Seoul is 9 months old today! She truly is the light of our lives!

HaPPy BiRtHdAy KeLLeY!!

What a great day! We celebrated Kelley's birthday last Saturday with friends and family. When I first met him he said it was his favorite holiday. That is a lot of pressure to make it fabulous... at least it only comes once a year! I'm so excited to celebrate many more birthdays with him in the coming years!

Classic Kelley expression:




For part of his gift I gave him tickets to the OSU football game against Cincinnati a couple weeks ago. This family picture is from the game... and of course it had to be an orange frame!




Seoul found the perfect card to give him. It says: DAD, I know I can be a stinker... but you gotta admit I'm a lovable stinker! Then she proceeded to eat it as the picture demonstrates. She also found this fabulous baby girl dress that she knew daddy would love:








We celebrated with friends and family at Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center in Wilsonville. ( http://fun-center.com/ ) Totally fun! They have go-karts, mini golf, bumper boats, lazer tag, arcade, and a ton of other stuff. We hit up the mini golf and arcade. Kelley hit the jackpot at some of the arcade games! Our nieces, Amanda & Ella, did amazing on the rock wall!




Yum! Cake!




Seoul can't wait until her 1st birthday for some of that delicious goodness!




Loves from his sweet mom and baby girl...




Seoul got in some loves from the grandparents during the day:

Seoul & I are so lucky we have Kelley! He is compassionate, loving, intelligent, funny, and handsome! It's such a blessing to have him as the head of our family. Love you Kelley!

there's no stopping her now!

Seoul is on the move! A few weeks ago she decided she would try this crawling business. Picture it: she's up on her hands and knees. Good start. Then, instead of the typical crawling with both knees, the left is bent under her body like she is sitting. The right is bent with the foot at an odd angle on the floor. She pushes off with her right foot, pulling/dragging the left leg underneath her. It causes her to push off to the side rather than a straight line. Kelley calls it the "dead man's crawl" and it's adorable. Really. She has become quite adept at this motion, though, and shows no sign of the classic crawling motions. (no great pics of this crawling, sorry!)

One day I went to get her from her nap and she was STANDING in the corner of her crib with the expression "oops - you caught me!" She had not rolled from back to front yet so it was a total surprise. Since then it is exciting to see her little head poke over the top of the rail with a big smile knowing I'm going to pick her up. Of course we moved the crib to the lowest setting. The only downside is that she doesn't go down for naps as easily. It might coincide with her trying to drop out the 3rd nap of the day, though. She's down to two and most of the time she still lays down to sleep easily. Just every once in a while now she just stands at the side and cries. It breaks my heart.

These days she is all over the place and it's so FUN!! I love all these milestones. She has been pulling herself up on furniture for months so now she enjoys crawling to each piece of furniture or toy. She's super quick at pulling herself up, and she balances more often without holding onto anything. Her new favorite trick is to pick things up while she's standing. Yay for mobile babies! Love it!