Winter Arrives

Another month has zipped by in our household. We're trying to get ready for Christmas, but so far we've only succeeded at getting the outdoor Christmas lights up.

I've continued to take Alex to playgroup at least once a week. It's an amazing program where he is dropped off with other toddlers to play and socialize have a snack. All moms/dads/caregivers have to stay in the building, but it gives us a chance to chat with other moms or do some reading, etc. It took me a while to get comfortable with the idea of leaving Alex out of fear he'd cry, but he's actually done really well with it. He loves going to playgroup and doesn't really cry when I leave. He plays, has a snack, does activities and has a great time. We've found that Alex is really being less shy overall - he's more comfortable with groups and with strangers and seems much more confident. Not sure if it's his age, or that he's learning to have fun with someone other than mom and dad, but it's been amazing to see the changes in him in the last month or so.

Chris or I often take Alex to the same facility for their evening program at least once a week. It's a "Family Playtime" where you stay in the room with the kids and it's mixed ages. Chris does it more often than I do as it's fun for them and gives me a bit of a baby break.

We've had a lot of fun with family lately too. We spent an amazing evening with Chris' sister and her family in London two weekends ago. Not only was the dinner one of the best I've had in eons (I had seconds even!), but it was so much fun to have Alex flirting and playing with his aunt, uncle and cousins. We had planned the evening to celebrate our niece, Amanda's, birthday and it was great to see them and hang out.

We also had another Seoul-Mates get together with other adoptive families. It was a holiday party with a gift exchange and Alex had a great time. Right after that, we went up to Aurora to watch the Santa Claus parade. Alex had a lot of fun until he got a bit bored with sitting still, so we started to leave after about an hour... but then saw Santa coming down the road, so we were able to wave to him before heading back home.

The next day was Chris' company's family party. It was a wonderful day with Chris' co-workers and their families. Alex had a riot and didn't sit still for more than a few minutes, except when pizza and cake were served. At the party, we got to meet Santa and he gave all the kids presents... let's just say that Alex was NOT impressed with Santa, although he loved the toy (picture in the latest folder).

That same weekend was our first nice snowfall. The snow was so light and fluffy, so we bundled Alex up and got him outside for a bit so he could explore the backyard. Let's just say that Alex seems to really like the taste of snow.

Our other big event this month was the Christmas party hosted by the Korean Canadian Children's Association. It's a huge party for adoptive families and people from the Korean community and it's an amazing night with cultural dances, Christmas songs and lots of Korean food.

We're hoping to get Alex to the mall to see Santa sometime soon... and we hope this visit will be a bit more pleasant for all involved.

I've posted a bunch of pictures of Alex and us in the latest family album in case you want to check it out.