It's been a good week for Sophie. She and I have readjusted to Korean time and are in a good routine. Sophie has blossomed in the past few weeks into such a big girl! Her sitting ability has improved by leaps and bounds even over the past several days, and she is now basically sitting unsupported, although she does occasionally topple and bonk her head and howl. She now likes to sit up in the bathtub, which makes Mommy really nervous since she's still a little wobbly.
Sitting in the tub, with a mohawk no less.
She's also started making raspberry sounds and an occasional "b." It's so funny hearing her make those new noises.
Less tangibly, she seems to be more interested in the world around her. The other day I put her in the Moby wrap and did some chores around the house, and she watched quietly and intently the whole time. The funniest part was when I swept the floor. As I swept on one side, she would turn her head to see the broom, and then when I switched hands she would swivel around to see the other side. Nothing gets past Sophie! Keegan wants me to add that Sophie is "super grabby, like an octopus." It's true! She wants to get her hands on anything that Mommy and Daddy are interested in, including food, silverware, magazines, or anything within her reach when we're carrying her like hair, earrings, glasses, ears, etc.
We've enjoyed seeing some of the changes to Geoje that took place while we were gone. The biggest is that the bridge-tunnel to Busan officially opened on Tuesday. The bridge and the associated highway on northern Geoje have made a big difference to us. We can get right on the highway across the street from our apartment building and zip right past Okpo on our way to the shipyard or to Home Plus. It cuts about ten minutes off the drive, which is wonderful for Keegan since he drives that way every single day. It also cuts about an hour off of driving time to Busan, depending on traffic. Sophie and I tried out the new road on the way to Home Plus on Tuesday and enjoyed it very much. On Wednesday, we went out for a walk in the afternoon and discovered a new coffee shop down by the beach in Deokpo. My friend Mijung was having coffee there and invited us in to join her. It was a pleasant surprise to have coffee with a friend and to find this nice little coffee shop a two-minute walk from the house! On Thursday, our neighbor Sojung came over with her two-month-old Anna-Lynn, who has grown so much! She enjoyed trying out some of Sophie's toys and Sophie enjoyed grabbing at her with her octopus-like appendages.
Sophie eyeing Anna-Lynn's wrist rattle enviously.
Friday we went out for coffee with Sandra and Leandra and Leandra's family visiting from Brazil. Saturday morning we got to visit our Ukrainian friends Daniel and Marina and their two kids, Eli and Mia. Mia is just three weeks old now, and Eli is almost two. It was amazing to see how tiny Mia is and to think about what Sophie will look like and be like when she is two. Eli learned the English words for construction equipment during the construction of the highway near our apartment, and he spent much of the visit trying valiantly to spit out "bulldozer." Daniel and Marina seemed calm and confident and relaxed considering that they had just doubled their number of offspring.
That's about the shape of our week so far. We've been keeping busy! Today we plan to take a trip to Home Plus to buy some baby-proofing supplies, since Sophie seems to be on the cusp of at least a limited amount of mobility.
