A Good-luck Pig's Head

Yesterday afternoon Keegan, Sophie, and I went for a hike in the mountains near our apartment. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed seeing all the new leaves and mountain cherry trees still in blossom, but it was a mostly unremarkable walk. That is, it was unremarkable until we got back to Deokpo and saw a group of women sitting on the ground apparently having a picnic. They attracted my attention because one of the women was holding a long white cloth, which she was knotting in a careful way. I looked a little closer at the spread on the picnic blanket and saw that it was arranged like a good luck offering, with lots of fruit. There was a large, brown leathery object right in the middle which I finally recognized as a pig's head! That was a surprise!

When we got back to the apartment, several of our friends were outside having a barbecue. I mentioned the surprising pig's head, and the two Korean girls told me that it's not too unusual to have a small ceremony with a pig's head to pray for good luck when buying a new car or starting a new business. You should put bills in the pig's mouth, ears, or nose for extra luck. I asked them if it was expensive to buy a pig's head, and they said no. But when I looked for more information online, I discovered this article, which explains a bit about the ceremony and the recent difficulties in obtaining pig's heads due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Who knew? I love that I am still learning new and surprising things about Korea even after almost three years here.

Lovely Weekend

We had a really nice weekend with Nate and Eliza and Marriet again!

Marriet enjoys the bouncer and attempts to pet Sophie's crazy hair.

This time they came to Geoje to visit, and we enjoyed some really glorious weather. On Saturday we were able to go out to lunch with Matt and Sojung and Anna-Lynn. We found a great Korean restaurant about a two-minute drive from our house. We had delicious Korean seafood pancake, grilled duck, kimchee stew, and a really amazing noodle soup with walnut and sesame. Sophie ate her weight in orange pieces and managed to jam some handfuls of cabbage salad into her maw while Mommy's guard was down.

On Sunday Eliza and I left the babies with their Daddies and went into town to get haircuts. We met Sojung and Matt at their favorite salon and enjoyed being pampered. I had a scalp-tingling shampoo with mint fragrance and a head and neck massage, a cut, and the most meticulous styling ever, and it was only 15,000 won! I left a big tip. We got home to discover Sophie napping in her crib (almost unheard of!) and the men not too much the worse for the wear. We had a really beautiful afternoon out by the grill, with hamburgers, ribs, veggies, shrimp, and sangria!

Sophie tries out the slide.

Nathan enjoys a cigar.

Daddy and Sophie clown around.

Sojung and Anna-Lynn enjoy the party.

More weekends like this one, please.

I talked to Eliza on the phone on Monday, and we agreed that Mondays following such great weekends are extra-sucky. Thank goodness the weather has remained pretty and Sophie and I continue to spend lots of time outside!

Springtime at Last!

The weather is finally starting to warm up here, and we are enjoying every minute of it. Last week, we were able to go to the beach twice and just soak up the sun (still in jackets, but that's no problem!). We met a few new American families with young kids, and Sophie really enjoyed watching the other children playing. She also loved crawling around on the sand. I think it's wonderful for her to have a huge open space to explore without walls or furniture in the way. She can really motor around pretty fast, and dips and hills in the sand are only minor inconveniences. Mommy just has to keep an eye out for the old firecracker casings and bits of seashell that head oh-so-quickly into Sophie's mouth.

This past weekend we took a trip to Mokpo to visit Nathan, Eliza, and Marriet, who is now almost four months old. Despite Sophie's difficulties going to sleep at night and Marriet's struggles against taking regular naps, we managed to enjoy some time with our friends and the change of scenery.

Sophie and Marriet check each other out.

On Saturday evening, I had a chance to go for a brief jog with Sophie in Marriet's BOB stroller. I am horrendously out of shape, but I did enjoy getting out for exercise with Sophie. The stroller was great, and Sophie seemed to enjoy the (very slightly) higher speed transportation. She let out little high-pitched squeals when I picked up the pace. On Sunday, we went to a toy store and had an absolute blast picking out some new toys for Sophie. We got some alphabet magnets (Korean alphabet, Roman alphabet, and numbers), a push toy for the upcoming pre-walking stage, a shape sorter, a dump truck, and another set of wooden blocks. So far, Sophie likes the magnets, the dump truck, and the push toy. Mommy and Daddy have spent a lot of time playing with the blocks and the shape sorter.

In other news, Sophie has gotten much more interested in "helping" around the house. This involves unfolding the laundry after Mommy folds it, unloading silverware from the dishwasher and flinging it around the kitchen, and taking groceries out of our shopping bag.

"Hi Mommy! Ready to help!"

"This spoon needs to get out of my sight!"

"Don't worry, I'll unpack the peppers."

I think Sophie is also getting much more communicative. She's expanded her repertoire of sounds to include "d" and "g," and she babbles a lot more these days. She also noticed that she gets a good echo in the hallway outside the apartment, so she likes to make short, noisy squeals while we wait for the elevator. But she's really getting better with gestures. Just today she held her arms up to Keegan when he got home from work, asking him to pick her up. And she has started to offer us things that she is holding. She will hold a toy or her spoon out to us and place it in our hands, but she doesn't quite get the last step and usually refuses to let go of the object. We'll keep working on that. Seems like so much is changing so fast these days - who knows what she'll be up to by the time we head home in just under five weeks.

A Day in the Life

Not much is going on these days, so I thought I'd post about our normal routine. What's a typical day for Princess Sophie and her retinue? And how have things changed since before she was born?

Between 8:30 and 10 a.m. - Sophie awakes, and I go in to find her crawling around or sitting up in her crib. She is sometimes still pretty sleepy, but sometimes I get a happy grin.

"Good morning, Mommy!"

We pull up the shades and see what kind of a day it is outside and then it's time for a diaper change and nursing session.

What kind of a day is it today? Sunny, windy and cool is the norm these days.

Morning activities - We both get dressed and then make breakfast together.

All dressed and ready for the day

These days, Sophie enjoys Cheerios or oatmeal with banana, strawberries, or melon. After breakfast, we play a little, get laundry started, and clean up our dishes.

Around 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. - We read a few books, change Sophie's diaper, and settle in for another nursing session, which usually leads to a nap for an hour or two.

1-2 p.m. - Lunchtime! We love heating up leftovers from last night's dinner, plus some apples, oranges, or Asian pears.

Afternoon activities - In the afternoon, the name of the game is "get OUT of the apartment." On the best days we visit friends or take a walk, but sometimes we just go to the post office or the grocery store. Lately we've been taking care of cats for friends who are on vacation, so that gives us one more thing to do. I can't wait for warmer weather so we can just hang out outside!

4ish - Tuckered out from the afternoon's adventures, it's time for another nap. If we are lucky, this nap ends when Daddy gets home from work - yay! Sophie always has a huge grin for her daddy when she sees him. It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

Evening activities - If we have time, we've been enjoying walks down to the fishing pier in the evenings, with snacks!

Enjoying junk food on the beach before dinner - what a great example we're setting.

Then it's time to get dinner ready. Usually I cook while Keegan entertains the baby, but sometimes we trade roles.

7 p.m. - Dinnertime! Current favorites for Sophie are potatoes, tofu, pasta, and bread. She tolerates green beans, carrots, and broccoli as well.

Daddy is still hungry and decides to nibble on the baby. She loves it!

8 p.m. - Start the bedtime routine with books, a last bottle, and bath time! The big tub is a huge hit. There's lots of crawling around, playing with bath toys, pulling up, splashing, and smiling. Then it's into pajamas and blanket sleeper to be nursed to sleep by Mommy. Within half an hour, a certain baby is usually out like a light and Mommy and Daddy have some time for dessert and TV. We don't stay up too late, though, since it won't be long until we start the whole rigamarole all over again!

Sophie Update

Sophie is changing so quickly these days, and it's hard to keep up with her! I thought I'd take a minute to write about some of her new abilities, interests, and habits.

Slowly but surely our squirmy little girl is showing more interest in books. She likes turning the pages, and she's crazy about peek-a-boo books like the Spot series. Other favorites are That's Not My Monkey, Babies, Brown Bear Brown Bear, and both of the recordable books we have featuring Grandma's voice. She also loved the Dogs pop-up book she got to read at Nate and Eliza's, so we may buy her another Matthew Van Fleet book when we get home in May. Books with "plots" don't interest her much yet. She likes to be able to manipulate things!

Reading Spot's First Walk with Mommy

Speaking of manipulating things, Sophie's ability to eat finger foods is growing by the day. She's still a pretty messy eater, but more and more of what we give her is actually ending up in her mouth! She hasn't quite mastered her pincer grasp yet, but she has figured out how to bring the food to her mouth with one fist and then shove it in with the other.

Fun with tofu and zucchini

Keegan reports that she also knows how to use drool-covered hands to stick bits of food and get them to her mouth. Favorites remain bananas and yogurt, but grapes and avocado are also on the list. I guess I should admit that she also enjoys the occasional pizza crust. She is getting better at drinking water from a cup and can almost use her sippy cup by herself!

Since Sophie first shakily began crawling at the end of February, she has really taken off! She now crawls around all over the apartment and ends each day with red knees. She can easily go from sitting to crawling and back again and often demonstrates the ability to go from laying down to crawling in her crib at night. Now she is starting to pull up on various pieces of furniture around the apartment.

I was so surprised when I turned around and saw her standing!

She also likes to straighten her legs out into a standing position while she's leaning forward with her hands in my lap. I wouldn't be surprised if walking happens sooner than we thought! All this movement translates to hard times on the changing table, where our wiggly girl rolls around and repeatedly kicks off her pant legs while I'm trying to put them on. Sophie's increased mobility is also hard on the cats, who are learning that they have to work a little harder to avoid grabby baby hands. Chili gives Sophie a wide, wide berth, but Pepper is a little more tolerant. She loves both cats and squeals in delight when she sees them. She particularly likes the sound of Chili's mews and often responds to them.

A fortunate side effect of all this activity is that Sophie has been sleeping really well at night! She usually goes to bed pretty easily around 9:30 and wakes up around 8:30 in the morning. She'll wake up once or twice at night to nurse. Sometimes, if the stars align, she'll sleep well past nine, and Mommy gets a chance to relax a bit and get things done around the apartment! Who knows how long this agreeable sleep pattern will last? We are enjoying it for now.

Sophie's sparkly personality is getting more enjoyable by the day as she becomes more communicative. She has started waving, although I don't think that she quite knows how to use the motion to greet people yet. Mostly, she just likes our happy reactions when she waves. She will "Gimme 5!" sometimes when she is in her highchair and we're playing together. We have decided to introduce some baby sign language to Sophie, and I think she's definitely interested in it. She smiles at me when I make the signs for "milk" and for "water" during meal times, and she thinks that blowing on her food to cool it off (which is also the sign for "hot") is hilarious. She says "mamamamamamama!" when she is upset and wants something - guess that's pretty much what "mama" means to her at this point. I can't wait until she says her first word and uses her first sign!

Another fun development during playtime is that Sophie now really gets a kick out of being tickled. If you get her in the right mood, she will really get a good squeal going. It's a lot of fun.

She also enjoys when I get down on all fours and hide from her behind the ottoman, but it freaks the cats out, so I try to limit the times we play that game.

All in all it is, as everyone says, a wonderful age. We're enjoying parenthood much more now than we did in the early days. Who knows, maybe we'll even do it all again someday....but not any day soon!