We've now reached a few crucial milestones with our sweet Alex. He turned 10 months old and also reached the three-month mark since he's been home with us. On April 15 (3 months exactly since our "Gotcha" Day), Alex took his first "real" steps. While we're thrilled beyond words at how exciting this step is, I can't help but feel that the time is passing so quickly.
When Alex arrived here, he was really only drinking bottled formula and a bit of rice cereal and was sitting up, but would still topple over from time to time. Soon after he came home, he was doing the soldier crawl, and it feels like we've just whizzed through the stage of him crawling, then crab walking, then cruising along furniture, to taking his own steps now. I'm sure it's the same for all parents, and we all wish there was a *pause* button we could use for different stages, but it's still bittersweet to have Alex turning into a little boy so quickly.
For the past few weeks, Alex had been letting go of furniture and toppling forward, but I didn't count it as real steps because it was more forward momentum, or falling forward while you take a step or two, and not an actual attempt at getting from one place to the next on somewhat steady feet.
In the newest album, I have pictures of his first steps (with him grinning and squealing in delight the entire time lol), and at that time, he could do 2-3 steps before resorting to a crawl or losing his balance. Now, only a couple of days later, he's able to walk across the family room, and can even correct himself if he starts to lose his balance. Granted, our family room isn't huge and he falls an awful lot still, but it's still so amazing to us to watch his progression and learning from day to day (The second set of walking pictures were from tonight where he was walking across the room to me - not sure what the interest in the sock is, but he seemed to have fun putting it from his hand to his mouth as he walked *chuckles*).
We've also been having fun with Alex learning to point out things like our nose, eyes, mouth, etc. He's picking up new things everyday, and he seems to understand so much now. He understands if I ask for a kiss or a hug, and it almost makes me cry each time he cuddles up for a hug from either of us.
We've been out and about with Alex a bit over the past couple of weeks. We attended another Seoul-Mates gathering (playgroup for families adopting from/who have adopted from Korea), and that was lots of fun, although we didn't get as much time to visit with people as we'd have liked to as we had plans in Toronto that day as well.
We've seen Grandma Rice a couple of times in Toronto since she's been in town for the past week, and we also got a chance to see Chris' sister, her daughters and her boyfriend. Our niece, Sarah (on Chris' side of the family - so you're not confused), has decided to do a speech for her school project on how she got a cousin from South Korea, so she's been busy gathering information on the adoption, and pictures of Alex.
We also had a delightful dinner with friends of ours, Willem and Christine who also adopted a baby from Korea. They are one of the first couples we met in this process, and we've kept in touch ever since. Their son (also named Alex) is now 19 months old and he's an absolute doll. We met up in Cambridge and went out for a Korean dinner at a new local restaurant. The staff were all so nice to us and the boys, and the food was wonderful. I included a couple of pictures from that dinner in the newest album.
Our only other big news at this time is that we'll be going to Walt Disney World in 3 weeks. Kathy, Steve and the girls will be down there for 9 days, so we're flying down and spending 4 days with them at the parks. It'll be Jennifer's 10th birthday there, so we've promised to take her onto the Tower of Terror!
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Early April Updates
Well it's been eons since I've been able to get the time to sit down and upload some pictures and write a journal entry. I'll try to capture some of the exciting times in our household over the past few weeks. I've also uploaded a bunch of pictures in a new folder.
Alex is still doing amazingly well. Sleeping through the night is still not something he does very often, but given how easily he goes to sleep and down for 90% of his naps, the one or two times he wakes during the night aren't a big deal at all.
One of our biggest things we did was to take Alex to Kingston again for Easter. We had the whole schedule worked out perfectly so we'd be leaving around 9:30/10:00 a.m., just as Alex would be ready for his nap. Well, he woke up earlier than normal, and after breakfast while we were rushing around loading up the dishwasher and tidying up a few things, he fell asleep in his high chair having some cheerios. He'd never done that before, and it was quite a shock to have him drop off to sleep while still in the chair.
Needless to say, that changed our time schedule for the drive, but overall it was a great trip with Alex sleeping for much of it, and playing happily with toys or one parent while he was in the car seat.
The weekend in Kingston was a blast. Both of Alex's cousins were wonderful with him, and they all really had lots of fun. Alex kept everyone entertained with how mobile he is now, and how much he'd changed in only a few short weeks.
We were able to go swimming one of the afternoons with the two nieces, and we also had some fun on various easter hunts, including a big neighbourhood hunt down at the beach/dock for all of the kids who were around, followed by a brunch at a neighbours.
Alex is eating more 'regular' food now, but it's still mostly a mix of baby food and adult food and formula. He's not a picky eater at all, but I would have to say that chicken seems to be his favourite 'real' food so far.
Alex is also just mere moments (or so it seems) from walking. He's standing more easily with only one hand lightly on us or a toy or furniture to steady himself, and he's also been letting go of things and standing independently for longer periods of time (still only 5-10 seconds, but it's been quite exciting to watch him get better with each try).
We also took out some of the more "grown up" toys we've received as gifts, and we were shocked when Alex figured out on his own that his sports toy had a basketball hoop where you could put balls and they'd drop down and come out the bottom. He's done it many times over, and seems to enjoy figuring things like this out.
We also were able to get to London for a dinner at Chris' sister's place with her boyfriend and the two nieces. There were tons of laughs and a wonderful meal, and Alex enjoyed the visit a lot.
Well, that's probably it for our big news. We have another Seoul-Mates gathering this weekend we're planning on attending in Kitchener, so we're looking forward to that.
Alex is still doing amazingly well. Sleeping through the night is still not something he does very often, but given how easily he goes to sleep and down for 90% of his naps, the one or two times he wakes during the night aren't a big deal at all.
One of our biggest things we did was to take Alex to Kingston again for Easter. We had the whole schedule worked out perfectly so we'd be leaving around 9:30/10:00 a.m., just as Alex would be ready for his nap. Well, he woke up earlier than normal, and after breakfast while we were rushing around loading up the dishwasher and tidying up a few things, he fell asleep in his high chair having some cheerios. He'd never done that before, and it was quite a shock to have him drop off to sleep while still in the chair.
Needless to say, that changed our time schedule for the drive, but overall it was a great trip with Alex sleeping for much of it, and playing happily with toys or one parent while he was in the car seat.
The weekend in Kingston was a blast. Both of Alex's cousins were wonderful with him, and they all really had lots of fun. Alex kept everyone entertained with how mobile he is now, and how much he'd changed in only a few short weeks.
We were able to go swimming one of the afternoons with the two nieces, and we also had some fun on various easter hunts, including a big neighbourhood hunt down at the beach/dock for all of the kids who were around, followed by a brunch at a neighbours.
Alex is eating more 'regular' food now, but it's still mostly a mix of baby food and adult food and formula. He's not a picky eater at all, but I would have to say that chicken seems to be his favourite 'real' food so far.
Alex is also just mere moments (or so it seems) from walking. He's standing more easily with only one hand lightly on us or a toy or furniture to steady himself, and he's also been letting go of things and standing independently for longer periods of time (still only 5-10 seconds, but it's been quite exciting to watch him get better with each try).
We also took out some of the more "grown up" toys we've received as gifts, and we were shocked when Alex figured out on his own that his sports toy had a basketball hoop where you could put balls and they'd drop down and come out the bottom. He's done it many times over, and seems to enjoy figuring things like this out.
We also were able to get to London for a dinner at Chris' sister's place with her boyfriend and the two nieces. There were tons of laughs and a wonderful meal, and Alex enjoyed the visit a lot.
Well, that's probably it for our big news. We have another Seoul-Mates gathering this weekend we're planning on attending in Kitchener, so we're looking forward to that.
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