Here are some of the recent pictures and stories of what's been going on with us! Really, nothing too exciting! Just some funny little stories!
I went in get Caden from his nursery the other day (after a long night of sleep) and he was sitting up with a pacifier in each hand (which changed to one in the mouth by the time I got he camera)! I have extra paci's in the crib so he can find them if he needs one, but this seems to be a problem for him instead of a solution! He will often be sitting up in the middle of the night, crying because he's tired and wants to sleep, but 1) he's sitting up and doesn't understand to just lay back down and 2) he has multiple paci's and is confused about whether to play with them or sleep. Poor guy. He can sleep unswaddled, but he can't FALL asleep unswaddled. If he wakes up in the middle of the night and he is no longer swaddled, he will start to play/cry because he can't fall asleep unless we wrap him back up. One thing at a time... at least now we are in the crib and not the car seat!!
Caden is in to the screaming thing where he will scream at the top of his lungs just for fun/attention. It's not so cute now, but we made the mistake of laughing the first few times he did it.... and now we have to hear it all the time. I know if we continue to ignore him he will get tired of it.
We went to the BX the other night and didn't feel like lugging the stroller in so we put Caden in the shopping cart and he, for some reason, thought he had to hold on! It was so funny! He kept his arm like that for a long time... I'm not really sure when he realized he could let go!
Here is our little cutie crawling around his bedroom. I chose this picture so you could sort of "see" how he crawls.... with one foot and one knee. It's so funny. He is already trying to pull up on stuff and we've only been at this crawling thing (not including the scooting) for a week. He will go to a toy that is tall (like his walker) and put his hands on it, but his knees are still too far away for him to pull up and he ends up either falling, or hanging on for dear life and crying for me to rescue him because he is stuck in a funny, sway-back position. I know he'll get it soon (sooner than I want him, too really!).
This is one of Caden's favorite games to play with Daddy. I don't play this game with him, but he tried it out on Grandmama when she was here and she played! :) Caden will take his paci out of his mouth and put it in John's mouth. After a few second of sharing it with John, he will rip it out of John's mouth and put it back in his own. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat until Daddy stops playing the game. It's so funny (germy, but funny)!
We have found a wonderful church here in Korea. It is off-base- which is neat because the congregation consists of Koreans, too! Actually I 'think' but am not certain that there may be a Korean service in the morning before the service we attend. I know that there is a translator that translates the pastor's message so the Koreans can come to our service. We love our church and have met so many wonderful people there. One of my biggest concerns about moving to Korea was having a church community and fellowship with other mom's. I am amazed at how many wonderful women I have met and how much the Lord has blessed us with living in this particular part of Korea. To think we could have gone ANYWHERE in Korea, but God specifically chose this base, this church, these people to be a part of our life and we are so grateful for that!
Today we had the baby dedication, which our pastor calls more of a "parent" dedication because it is really the parents committing to raise the child up in a way that would bring honor and glory to God. When we handed Caden to the pastor (for a prayer for him), the "Mommy" in my started thinking of all the things that could go wrong! For those of you who know Caden, you know these are legitimate concerns:
1) Caden would spit up all over his suit!
2) Caden would grab his glasses right off his face (which I KNOW he was contemplating because he was fixed on those "shiny" glasses for the longest time).
3) That he would yell/squeal/grunt or make any other one of his many strange (and I do mean STRANGE) noises... What is it about boys! Everyone warned me that boys discover strange sounds at an early age and I have found this is especially true of Caden.
But fortunately, he was a perfect angel (no spitting, no yelling, and no destroying the pastor's glasses)! Yay! Here are some pictures our sweet friend Linda took for us! Enjoy!
We are crawling! I haven't seen him belly scoot in almost two days! He has a funny little crawl, that somehow suits his personality well! Although, the crawl embarrassingly resembles a dog hiking it's leg... (thanks for pointing that out Grandad!!)
He crawls on both hands, one knee, and one foot. He alternates which foot he uses to sort of push himself along! I'll try and get pictures up soon! John is on his way home right now, actually his train should be arriving just any minute, and Caden's crawling started the day he left (Thursday)! He will be so surprised to see our little man following him around the house -and did I mention finding EVERY crumb to put in his mouth.
Caden spends a lot of time each day practicing crawling. He's still not up on 'all-fours' moving around yet, but this sure it close! He has come a long way in the last few days learning to coordinate his arms and legs together. When he wants to get somewhere he always tries some form of crawling (or walking on his feet and moving his hands), but he typically gives up the closer he gets to his toy/destination and just belly scoots himself around. As you will hear me describe (and see) in this video, Caden loves anything round, especially if it's round and shiny! I really think it is a boy thing... they just love wheels and balls!
Well, not quite a DAY'S work... these are the events from the three hours Caden was awake this morning!
Caden woke up at 5:30 am AGAIN today. This is about a week now of him waking up at this hour. I don't go get him until 7, and sometimes he will go back to sleep, but others he won't. It's time to sleep train again! We were doing so well! BUT, the good news from this is that he has been coming unswaddled at night and staying asleep AND he's been "crawling" out of his car seat, too!! We are SO thrilled that he is finally ready to sleep in his crib, unswaddled! So, all that said, this morning when I went in to get him, I found him sitting up in his crib and when he saw me, he decided to try and get out of his crib! He leaned toward the railing and was using the bumpers to try and get a good enough grip on the rail to pull himself up to a standing position! So, John had to disassemble the WHOLE crib (the beauty of a built to grow...ugh) so we could lower the mattress.
He's in there asleep right now, unswaddled (well, the bottom half is sort of swaddled) in his crib! NO crying at all! Everyone said, "He will let you know when he's ready." I was afraid he never would, but so far.... so good! :)
So, while John lowered the mattress, I stood around to 'help' and left Caden in the playroom. After about 20 min or so (during which time I was checking on him occassionally, don't worry) I went to get Caden to feed him his breakfast. As I gave him his first bite of oatmeal, he gagged on it! I thought this was strange, but it got even STRANGER when Caden proceeded to chew his oatmeal! I tried to offer another bite, but he was still chewing! He's never had to CHEW oatmeal before so I got suspicious about what was in his mouth. I moved in for the finger swipe to see what he had, and pulled out......
A gum wrapper and one of those little plastic "T" shaped things that hold tags on to clothing.
Where he found those I do not know! I cleaned that playroom thoroughly the other day! I've been wiping/mopping the floor down daily and checking for crumbs, etc. That room was supposed to be "Baby Proofed!" Leave it to Caden to find all the things you don't want him to have.
Well, the story doesn't quite end there, yet! After breakfast I went back to the nursery to assemble the bumpers on to his crib and left Caden (again) in the playroom with a DVD. I normally don't do DVDs this time of day anymore, but he was tired and I had to get his room ready for his nap. I came back out to find him digging through a drawer. I honestly don't think he would have learned to open drawers so early if we didn't have the lovely "Army Loaner Furniture" with the shiny brass handles! Caden likes his BLING!
So, needless to say, we had an eventful start to the day.... I wonder what is in store for the rest!
Since Grandmama and Charli left to go back to the states, Caden has been a busy boy working on this crawling thing! He's kept ME busy as well! He still isn't "crawling" but he can crawl for a step or two. He then usually gives up and decides it's faster to just scoot to whatever it is that he wants. You can tell it frustrates him that he can't move around very quickly. He kind of fusses as he makes his way around the room/house.
Yesterday he started trying to crawl after me (or toward my voice to find me). I left him in the playroom and went to the kitchen to clean up from lunch, and next thing I knew he was in the kitchen with me! And last night I was drawing his bath and as I came out of the bathroom he was doing his best to make his way up the hallway to find me.
He gets better everyday! Here are some of the pictures from the last 5 days or so. I promise to get my shutterfly page updated soon (for those of you who have been asking!!!)! :)
Moving From Room to Room
I wonder how much I weigh?
Dropping Caden off at the church nursery on Easter Sunday.
In the bottom picture you can sort of see his new "silly face." He makes a scrunched up face and does something funny with his tongue and blows air kind of like he is sniffing, but he's not. It's an intense face and it cracks us up.... unless he does it when he's eating! :)
Here is a little post meant to make you chuckle! The Koreans often spell things in English the way it sounds! Even businesses will make signs with misspelled English words on them... (an example: "For Cell" instead of sale) You would think they would get it checked out first, but they don't! Another funny thing is that Koreans will often name a store an English name just because they like the way it sounds! I have so many pictures and stories about these two subjects, but for now I will share only this one.
Mom and I saw a sign that we assume was advertising an English School. Schools where you can learn English are VERY common here. Look at the name of this school......
Trash collection for my apartment complex takes place on Tuesday nights and again on Wednesday mornings. Recycling is actually required here and they pretty much recycle everything!
As far as I know there are no garbage disposals here in Korea (at least no one I know has one). My sink has a little cup that goes in the drain that collects the food. Then you can pop a lid on it while in the sink and spin the water out of it so the food is easier to throw away and not all drippy. The food is then supposed to go in these small little bags that I think are biodegradable so all the food is taken to a large compost rather than a trash dump. I think certain types of trash have to be thrown away in specific bags that you have to purchase and I 'think' food is one of those.
Metals, plastics, glass, paper, food, and then "other" non-food type trash is all sorted in each home. Then on trash collection day during the allotted hours each member of the complex brings their trash to the designated area of the parking lot and everything is put in to bags, piles, and containers. The security guards are there to direct the sorting of all the trash. By the end of the morning on Wednesday there are massive trash bags filled with paper and Styrofoam and there is a huge pile of cardboard to be recycled, too!
pile of cardboard
this picture shows the large pile of cardboard and some of the huge bags that contain paper and Styrofoam
closeup of the Styrofoam bag
close up of one of the bags for sorting metal cans
the trash collection corner, also one of my favorite places to park because I'm guaranteed to be able to open the car doors on the curb side of the parking space (notice our Honda Pilot next to the trash!!)
One of our many adventures during Mom's visit was a trip to Emart, which is basically a Korean Target/Walmart. I like to compare it to target because it is a little big nicer. They sell everything from groceries to dishwashers to pets to books and so on! It's a one-stop-shop complete with other little booths/stores within it like salons, dry cleaners, and cell phone stands!
Upon arrival at Emart you are greeted with white glove service! Okay, not really, but there IS a parking attendant that wears white gloves and he directs you in to the parking garage and welcomes you with a bow! You feel like royalty!! Bowing is very common here... I'm not so hot at it and I just kind of nod my head while leaning forward...but the Korean -especially the Emart parking attendants- know how to make a deep graceful bow. There is a beggar that is always in the Songtan Shopping Mall and he follow you around walking and bowing at the same time trying to get you to give him money. It amazes me how good he is at it, it's like he's floating and bowing!
Once in the parking garage you try and squeeze in to a parking space. I prefer spaces on the ends so I can open my doors to get Caden out! My parking job scared my mom to death because she thought I couldn't fit in the parking spot I managed to get in to. She even went as far as to take a picture of my tight squeeze! :) One misconception about Korea is that everyone has tiny little compact cars. Not true. Most of the cars are Hyundai Sonatas (or other Korean brand cars of similar size) which is basically the same as an Accord or Camary. Rexton SUV's are huge here too and they are similar in size to a Highlander or Santa Fe. There are little peanut cars, but there are much ,much more standard size cars than compact ones. The people with compact cars are the lucky ones who can park anywhere. The ones with larger cars can park anywhere too....but I often wonder HOW they get out of their car! Like I said before I always try to get a spot on the end of a row (even at my apt) so I can at least open ONE door to get in or crawl in!
While I'm talking about parking in Korea let me pause to mention that it is very common to double park here. If the parking lot is full, no worries, just park your car behind another one! The Koreans then do one of several things.
1) Leave their keys in the car so the person they blocked can move it (this one is not so common)
2) Leave their car in neutral so the person they blocked can push it out of the way (with the window down so they can steer)
3) Leave a phone number on their windshield so the person they blocked in can call them and ask them to come back to the parking lot to move their car. There is a car at my apartment complex (where you aren't allowed to double park or the security guards will get you!) that has a little heart pillow on the driver's side dashboard with a cross-stitched phone number to call!
Fortunately at Emart the parking garage is never full so we didn't' have to push a car out of our way! Once in the store you have to purchase your shopping cart! You place a coin in a little slot on the handle bar and then when you push it in the chain connecting it to the other carts is released!
After we got our shopping cart and got Caden all settled in we headed up the escalator! Yes, you heard me correctly...the escalator with a shopping cart! These are special escalators that are flat (don't have stairs) and go up at an incline. There are special grooves in them that match the wheels of the shopping cart so that once the cart is on the ramp, the wheels lock in so you don't even have to hold it! It's really cool! Emart is three stories high, plus a basement entrance to the parking garage.
The carrots here are HUGE
We started on the first floor where the groceries are and spent a good deal of time in the produce department making our selections of fresh fruits/veggies before heading off to the next floor! We spent most of the remainder of our time in the book department trying to find a book to teach the Korean Alphabet! Mom went home with a Korean copy of "The Rainbow Fish." Then we made a quick stop in the baby department and got Caden a new rattle! It kept him entertained the whole way home! We also bought a baby "surgical mask" (for the yellow dust...kids wear these all the time) that is made of cloth for a souvenir.
As for the produce in the pictures above, the large round things in the plastic container are actually Korean Pears. John loves them and they are (according to my dear friend Linda) very common as a dessert in the Korean restaurants. They are a cross between and apple and a pear if I had to describe them....with something that reminds me of coconut in there, too. The apples here are delicious (as Mom described for us in a previous post). Also, the Korean gentleman that sat next to Mom on the flight over here said to try the Korean Cucumbers because they are to die for!
When you go to check out at Emart you have several options as to how to get the stuff to your car and eventually to your home. Recycling is HUGE here so you actually have to purchase your bag(s) at the check out for a few cents each. If you don't use bags then you can either throw the items loosely in your shopping cart and haul them to your car, or you can pack them up yourself in a card board box at the handy little packing station (complete with Emart tape to seal the boxes shut).
Emart is a really neat experience! It's how the Koreans REALLY live and shop! So much of the other stuff is very tourist centered! The mom and pops stores and other grocery stores are still going strong, but I know Emart is popular because on trash collection day at the apartment there is always a whole pile of Emart bags being thrown away!! (Trash collection day is another post in itself- coming soon!)
Enjoy this video of the shopping carts and a quick glimpse at the store!
We had great plans to make it to an authentic Korean restaurant, but it was too hard to squeeze all of our adventures in to just 4 days ( she was here for 6 but Sat and Thurs were travel days so that left us only 4 full days). So instead of going authentic, we went and ate at the Challenger Enlisted Club, a favorite of mine! I usually get the American style food when we eat there, but I had noticed on the menu that they serve Korean Cuisine (mainly for all the Korean Nationals and ROK soldiers that work on the Air Base).
Mom ordered Bi Bim Bap (the girl pronounced the B's with P sounds when she pronounced it for us). I did some research on it and learned the word literally means stirred or mixed rice. It is basically a bowl full of steamed rice, topped with namul (which are sauteed and seasoned vegetables), chicken or beef, and a fried egg on top! It is served with a chili pepper paste (gochujang) on the side that you stir in! I wish I had taken a picture before Mom started eating because the veggies were all in separate little piles on top of the rice, with a fried egg (still kind of runny) on top! I read that it can be served either hot or cold. I think Mom's was somewhere in the middle. The rice and egg were hot, but the veggies were cold. The description I found on the Web said the veggies were sauteed (as I mentioned above) but Mom's veggies were almost raw... Maybe cooked just a little. It was very spicy, which she loved!
I ordered Bulgogi, which is thin slices of marinated steak. It was excellent! It is marinated in a mixtures of soy sauce, sugar, and green onions. Mine was served with sauteed onions, but I read that it can also be served with mushrooms, green peppers, and garlic. The word Bulgogi literally translates "fire meat." It also came with a side of steamed rice and "my choice of country vegetable or kimchi" (umm... country vegetable please, hence the green beans). Also you can see a plate of egg rolls at the top of the picture. Not so much Korean Cuisine, but I had to order them because this restaurant has great egg rolls!
For those of you who do not know, Kimchi is a very popular type of side dish here. John claims they eat if for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He thinks it would be most likely to be compared to a potato in the States (hashbrowns for breakfast, french fries for lunch, and mashed/baked potatoes for dinner). Basically it is a combination of fermented vegetables and spices (most commonly cabbage). It is known by all of the Americans around here for it's strong odor! I read online that the Koreans often say "Kimchi!" when taking photographs much like we say "Cheese!"
And I have to leave you all with a picture of Caden, waiting patiently and watching us eat our meal! He looks like he's thinking, "Hurry up girls, I'm bored!"
We went on a walk in the area around our apartment complex. Here are some of the highlights from our stroll:
This is a Korean Grave site behind my apartment complex. I do not know if they have 'graveyards' like we have in America...what little I do know about this is that they have family grave sites that are always on hills. The hills are sort of carved in to tiers (as you can see in the photo above) and the grave plots have mounds of earth on top of them. Sometimes they have tall, skinny markers made of stone. I wish I knew more about this tradition, but I have had a hard time finding information on it on the Internet... I do know that the family cares for the grave site themselves... This is a Korean School Yard right next door to my apartment. I don't know the exact hours that the children here go to school, but I know they go Monday through Saturday and they have an hour or two break each day for lunch. Some of the schools require uniforms (and John swears that one school must have a "dress code" for your hair cut because all the girls have the exact same hair cut...but that is just speculation). The school pictured here is not one that requires uniforms. You can see the yard is just sand. The kids had just arrived back (or where arriving) after lunch. There were hundreds of kids on the playground...playing the same way that American kids play! It was fun to watch.... the one funny thing we noticed was that we didn't see a single adult/teacher anywhere at all! Here is a picture of Ajumma with her surgical mask on. I don't know the reasoning behind why they wear these masks all the time, but I know part of it is the yellow dust. We are in peak yellow dust season here in Korea right now. The yellow dust could be a blog post in itself... google some pictures of it (especially satellite pictures) if you are interested. The yellow dust comes from the deserts of Mongolia and China and can be very harmful when breathed in. Each day it is suggested that we check the yellow dust level and see how bad it is that day. It's kind of like pollen in America and can cause allergy like symptoms, but it's much heavier than pollen dust and can be very dangerous. They will actually close schools if the dust storm gets to the dangerous level and it is a BAD idea to get out of the house in it. Mom got to see one of the elevator moving/delivery trucks. They load the item needing to be delivered (furniture, washer/dryer, etc) on to a little platform in the back of the truck, and then it is lifted like an elevator to the top of the ladder where another mover removes it from the platform in to the building! This one is only going up a few floors, but they delivered our furniture this way on the 10th floor! This is a kind of pine tree here... it looks like a banzai pine tree!!
Food delivery is HUGE here. And all of the food delivery men use these scooters with buckets on the back (some have lids). They also are not required to follow any of the traffic laws. They drive on sidewalks, in between cars, and right through intersections no matter what light says. You always have to be on the look out for these guys! Also, one of the food delivery services at my apartment complex delivers the food on REAL plates, and then the 'customer' sits their finished meal outside and another delivery guys comes and takes the plates... Mom hasn't had a chance to see this yet but for the longest time John and I wondered why there were plates with half eaten meals just laying around the halls and entrances to the apartment complex. Every Monday local vendors will set up little tents and stands in the parking lot of our apartment complex. I call it "Market Day." Yesterday wasn't very busy, which surprised me because the weather is warming up. We only had two vendors. One selling house plants (like Orchids and other greenery type plants) and the other was selling fruit (kiwi, strawberries, these big Korean pears, etc). Mom bought an apple from the vendor for $1.00 (we only had "American Money" and it was 1,000 won which is roughly a dollar). She described it as exceptionally juicy, sweet, and crisp. She said it was probably the best apple she'd ever eaten. It had a milder apple flavor, almost pearish, but sweet.... (I feel like I'm a wine taster describing wine). Besides the apple in Mom's hand, this picture also shows how they protect the trees from insects by wrapping cloth around the trunk. I think the bamboo poles are to encourage the tree to grow in the 'right' direction. This apartment complex is only a few years old so the trees are still on the small side. Grandmama shared her apple with Caden. He loved sucking the juice out of it! He "begged" for more when she took it away! Here is a field behind the apartment complex that is growing something. Our guess would be rice, but it looks like bamboo.... you can also see the hill in the background with the grave site on it. Before moving here with my dog, everyone told me to 'keep my eye on her' because the Koreans would eat her... Well, on the contrary, they LOVE dogs here. There may be some breeds of 'wild' dogs that they eat, but they love a little lap dog! Here is one we saw on our walk with a little sweatsuit outfit and shoes! Isn't she cute! We saw another dog down the road with pink ears! They had dyed it's hair!! And none of the dogs are on leashes... they just follow their owners! It's crazy!
We went and had Korean food for lunch today and are going to Emart when Caden wakes from his nap... so stayed tuned!!!!
