An Update on the Youngest Brown

Its hard to believe that almost 3 weeks have gone by since we brought Alexander home. He is doing wonderfully. His clock is set to Central Time (yay!) and we are all getting our sleep at night - even though he has decided that our bed is much better than his crib. The Holt Moms brought us some frozen meals which have been wonderful to have. I have to admit that I have not done much cooking since we got back (but really not much different that usual around here - I am not a cook!). Its probably good that we haven't done too much grocery shopping because our refrigerated died on Sunday. What a mess.

Anyway, Alex is doing great. He is so happy and has the biggest smiles. He rarely cries unless he is tired or hungry. I have noticed over the past week or so that he's really starting to become attached to us and will look for us if we leave the room. He rarely cries for his "omma" anymore unless he's totally disgusted with me! He and Adam love each other and so far, Alex has not terrorized the dogs too much. This is surprising because he is into EVERYTHING. If its not bolted down, it goes in his mouth. He keeps us on our toes! He enjoyed his first visit to the lake on Sunday and got to play with his cousin Delaney.

The shirt Alex is wearing in the photo below was given to him by Tim's co-workers... I've never had anyone wear me before. A new trend, maybe?

First Day of Kindergarten

On August 19th, our little baby started Kindergarten. Mommy wasn't quite sure how she would manage to get 2 kids up, fed, dressed and out of the house by 8am but I did it!! Adam fueled up with some cheerios, put on his SPSL (St. Pius/St.Leo) school uniform and we hit the road. He did great... he was so excited to see all his friend from Pre-K, and his new teacher. Mom got a little weepy in the car on the way home. So hard to believe he's actually in Kindergarten. This week is Adam's first week of ALL DAY class. Its been a little bit rough in the mornings this week. He is not as anxious to go to school, but at the end of the day he goes on and on about how much he likes it. It will take some time.

Alex has decided that his morning nap needs to take place on the way home from dropping Adam off at school. So, I park the car and get some reading time while I wait for him to wake up. It works out rather well, actually!

Happy Birthday Tim

August 17th was Tim's birthday - we were all still in "adjustment mode" so poor Timmy didnt really get the celebration he deserves... but on Thursday we went to dinner and on Sunday we had cake with the Nubels. He bought some fun gadgets for his camera in Korea for his birthday! Here's a photo of Tim's birthday cake and his many helpers...

Korean Street Food - Its What's for Dinner! (No, we didn't eat it).

So, Hows it Going?

Now that we've been home nearly a week, its difficult to sum it all up for you in a nice, neat answer to this question. All in all, its going very very well. Alex is happy, smiley, giggly and seems to be enjoying himself here in the USA. He and Adam are getting along great. Adam is sooooo good with him and Alex loves to laugh at Adam when he jumps around and sings to him. No signs of any jealousy yet. Actually Adam has been much more mild-mannered, and less "active" this week than he has been lately. I think he's taking his big brother duties very seriously.

Tim was off work all week and we stayed very close to home. We are getting settled, unpacking suitcases, consoling the dogs (who are quite angry with us right now), and trying to establish some sort of routine. The jet lag is mostly gone, but our biggest struggle right now is still sleep. Alex is used to being with his foster mother at night (she slept with him on the floor mat) so he is really having a hard time sleeping. We've tried quite a few things to get him to relax (different places to sleep, different ways of getting him to sleep, etc) and we are still having difficulty. The poor little guy is missing his "Omma" and we aren't filling the role quite yet. There is also soooo much for him to take in - we notice him looking all around. Just entering a different room in the house involves hours of gazing and staring at everything around him. We know it will get better in time, and we are doing our best to get as much sleep ourselves as we can. Right now, Tim is walking Buddy with Alex strapped to his back. Hopefully Alex will be asleep when they get home! The challenge is keeping him asleep after we put him down.

In addition to the sleep issues, Alex is also teething. Poor little guy has at least 2 teeth coming in right now and is chewing on everything he can get his hands on. We are slowing transitioning him to our brand of formula (from the Korean brand) and his tummy is still a a little "off". We're sticking to formula, rice cereal and bananas for now - even though we can tell that he's ready to eat more. We just dont want to upset his stomach any more right now. We take him to the pediatrician on Monday for his first USA checkup.

Next week is another week of transitions for us as Adam is starting school. Its an exciting time for the Browns. We'll continue to keep you updated here and include a few photos.

Home Sweet Home

I feel like its been forever since we said goodbye to Korea. Its been a busy and tiring 48 hours. We drove to the airport in Seoul during the daylight hours this time. Its so beautiful - mountains, valleys, inlets of water and rivers. I would love to go back to Korea and explore the areas outside of Seoul to see the smaller cities and landscape.

Our flight left on time and we were off to Tokyo. It was a very surreal feeling for me to leave Seoul with this baby on my lap. When the wheels went up it really started to sink in for me - we are taking him half way around the world, away from his country, and we are his family. All of the sudden I felt an awesome sense of pride and responsibility (mostly responsibility!) for this little person who is now ours. Wondering what the future holds and looking forward to our homecoming.

I wont get into the gory (and I mean GORY) details about the Tokyo to Detroit flight except to say that nobody slept, one of us had a digestive "situation", two of us had to change clothes, two of us were yelling - me to the flight attendants and Alex to everyone on the plane, and two of us were crying pretty much the whole way home. It was the longest 11 hours of my life and our arms are very tired from rocking a 25 pound baby the entire time. Poor kid. He had a tummy ache, and was exhausted and sad. We felt so badly for him. I am begging all of you to NOT fly Northwest/Delta airlines on your next trip ... you'll be better off. What a poor excuse for an airline. I have never experienced such rudeness and poor customer service before.

Once we arrived in Detroit he perked up and was very happy. He loves the USA! We had to wait for quite awhile to get through immigration due to a "national computer issue". And, the guy who was working the booth had no idea what to do with our adoption paperwork. We almost missed our flight to Omaha but we ran through the airport and made it. Then when we got to the gate they told us it was overbooked and we may get bumped. GAH! So we waited some more and they finally got us on. We were so happy. We were off to Omaha. Well, almost, Alex had a dirty diaper and they had to hold the plane at the gate until I changed it! (see paragraph above re: the "digestive situation").

We had a wonderful homecoming in Omaha. It's all such a blur... we were so tired. I remember Adam running towards us with a sign and a flag and his "I'm the big brother" shirt on. He was, and still is, soooo excited to have us home and to have a little brother. It was so nice to see everyone there to greet us.

Once we got home, we ate some Nebraska beef (no more Korean barbeque for awhile!). Tim had a peanut butter sandwich and I had some cheerios. It was heaven! Alex went to sleep great and slept for 2 whole hours! It was playtime at the Brown house. Tim and I traded off playing with him until about 6:30 am. Then it was time for Adam to get up. :o). It will take some time to adjust to life with two kids, but we are really having fun so far. Alex loves to watch Adam and giggle. Adam LOVES to entertain Alex. First off when we woke up, Adam taught Alex all there is to know about Star Wars - he sang the theme song, dressed up like Darth Vader and watched the movie. Alex was very polite and listened attentively. Tonight we went on our first walk around the neighborhood in the stroller. It went well, and Alex loves to be outdoors.

Alex is a little afraid of Buster and Charlie, so we are working up to the grand entrance of our other dog, Buddy in a couple days. Buddy is much more aggressive and playful so I think Alex may have difficulty with him at first, but they will be fast friends.

I took a 3 hour nap this afternoon so I am feeling pretty well rested. Tim is going to bed early tonight. We will try to get some sleep before our little guy decides to wake up for playtime again! Here are some homecoming photos. Not sure why they are showing up here so small in size - I'll work on that.

More Pictures

Can be found here.

Next stop Omaha (via Japan, Detroit or wherever else the airlines decide to take us).

Our First Night/Day

I know that all you really want to see is photos... be patient...we'll get them loaded later tonite, hopefully. Alex is taking a nap so I wanted to quickly let you know how thing are going. He did GREAT last night. Couldn't have asked for a better night, really. He fell asleep with a smile on his face, giggling. He didn't wake up until 3:30 am (but he didnt cry). I gave him a bottle and he went right back to sleep until 6am. He woke up happy and we had some Dunkin' Donuts. He dozed off and on this morning. I think riding in the carrier tends to put him to sleep.

After breakfast, we took a taxi to a palace (to be described later). It was very beautiful, and we took many photos. Alex played, napped and seemed happy to just look around and take in the surroundings. I think he's pretty comfortable with both of us, but sometimes I catch him just staring with a blank look, like he's thinking "who ARE you? and who is Alex?". When he's tired or upset he calls for his foster mom. I think that will continue for awhile. We are just happy that we seem to be able to comfort him, for now.

When we left the palace, we walked to Insadong again (the market from yesterday). We had lunch at a small, yummy, traditional Korean restaurant - complete with about 8 different kinds of Kimchee (sorry Laura, I still dont like it very much.). We had a Korean pancake (my new favorite Korean dish) and Bolgogi. I was so happy that Alex took his bottle, and that they were serving rice, because he is used to eating it and I hadn't given him any yet. Well, that was a bad idea. (Adam if you are reading this, stop now). He gagged on a piece of rice and the whole bottle came back up - all over me, the table, the floor. I was quickly reminded of what its like to go out in public with a 8 month old - with the messes, smells, and grabbing for water and utensils. Its a really good thing that he's super cute! Alex had a change of clothes but I did not, so we headed home.

Now he's sleeping - its been about 1.5 hours. He loves his fuzzy yellow blanket. He's a very happy, good baby. We can't wait for everyone to meet him! Pictures soon, I promise.

Quite a Day

Just a quick update since the baby is sleeping (who knows how long that will last!). The day was so emotional for us. The highs and lows are too hard to describe. Seeing the foster mother cry when we walked away from Holt was heartbreaking. At the same time we were so overjoyed to finally be able to hold Alex in our arms and know that he's ours. When we were getting ready to leave Holt, Alex started crying for a bottle but the social worker wanted us to wait and feed him after we left - so I think it was even more difficult for all of us at that moment because we did not have a happy baby.

I strapped Alex to my back and we walked back to the hotel. By the time we got there he was asleep. We just relaxed in our room and he slept for about an hour. Our Holt friends, Melissa and Daniel cam to our room and Alex played with their little girl, Briana. They were very cute together. Some Korean cartoons were on TV and both kids were totally mesmerized. I guess the love of cartoons spans many continents! After the Burkheads left, we went to a store called "Home Plus" which is like a giant Target, with groceries. We bought some misc. items for the flight home and a bigger suitcase :o)

Alex has been pretty happy. He loves the blue dog and the stacking cups that Grandma McMahon gave him. He likes to smile, giggle and roll around on the floor. He is VERY smiley. We are so glad that we switched rooms to an "Ondol" room with a floor mat. He loves it and we can tell he feels more comfortable with it. He took a bath and splashed so hard that the whole bathroom was wet. Then he rolled around on the mat a little more and fell asleep. Throughout the day he'd start to cry periodically and ask for "Omma" (which is Mom in Korean). He was missing his foster mom. So far, however, we've been able to calm him down with food or toys. Hopefully we'll continue to have good luck with the transition. We'll see what happens overnight.

Tim just came back with some pizza. I'm hungry! Tomorrow we are hoping to go tour another large palace in Seoul. We'll update you then.

Adam has a new baby brother

Here are some other pictures:

See pictures

It is now bathtime. Soon Bedtime.

Seoul Tower

After the medical check-up yesterday, we grabbed some lunch and headed for Seoul Tower. We took a cable car up to the top of the hill where the tower is located and then an elevator up to the top. It was very pretty up on the hill and the views from the tower were beyond description. Buildings as far as the eye could see, wrapping around mountains and rivers. I had no idea how big Seoul is until I saw from above. Here are some photos of us on the way up and the view to the top.

We stopped by another market called Insadong on the way home. We had lunch here with our Holt City Tour on our first day, but didnt have time to look around so we decided to make another stop. We found some treasures here. This area is more "artsy" compared to the other markets. It has its share of souveneir shops, but also pottery and art supplies. There are a lot of restaurants. This is my favorite market, I think. Its a little smaller and less chaotic. After this, we headed back to our neighborhood, had a great meal at a little Korean/Asian restaurant next door to our hotel and just relaxed in the room. We were tired and knew we needed to get caught up. I actually slept really well last night and am ready for the big day today! We are so excited. Adam will have a little brother today! (below are some photos of Insadong).

The Medical Checkup

We just returned from visiting Holt to see Alexander's medical check. We spent at least an hour with him playing, giving him a bottle, watching the medical checkup and we were able to take him for a short walk outside. The visit went better than last time (yay!). He was still a little unsure about me at first so Tim held him for awhile. Once the foster mom left the room he seemed a little more at ease with me. Then during the walk outside, he did great - and then he fell asleep. We got a taste of what it will be like to carry 25 pound of baby around in 90 degree heat! He is a doll and we are sooooo in love. Here are some photos from this morning. This afternoon we are off to do more sightseeing.

Electronics and Such

Yesterday we hopped on the subway and visited a market called Itaewon. It is located near the U.S. Army base in Seoul (although we were still the only Americans walking around). It was very modern looking, with storefronts and mall-like areas to go in. Lots of clothing, luggage and bags, and a few souvenier shops. I bought Adam and Alex a few things here.

After Itaewon, we returned to the hotel to pick up our Holt friends from Little Rock - Melissa and Daniel. We had Pizza Hut for lunch and headed to the subway. I thought we were headed for another market, but once on the subway, the boys informed the girls that we would be going to a "Techno-Mart" at a Yongsan Station. They were looking specifically for camera equipment, but only found TONS of computer stuff. It was really unbelievable, actually. Floor after floor of different vendors, repair shops, street vendors, etc. After seeing all the computer stuff we finally asked for directions to the cameras and we were informed that all the camera people had the day off. What are the odds?

We found a subway station at Yongsan-gu - although it was a little dicey there for awhile because the ticket machine did not use english and we couldn't figure out where the subway was. Below are photos of Tim trying to figure things out, and the station itself:

We took the subway to Namdaemun Market. We knew this was a well known market in Seoul but nothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we got there. This place is huge, and its got everything. There are whole sections of the market dedicated to certain items - childrens clothes, shoes, hats, food, blankets, mens/womens clothing, and CAMERAS. Tim knew there were camera stores here, but he was elated when he saw what was there. Store after store of camera goodies - some new, some used. There was something for everyone here, and we all found a little something (yes, more for Adam and Alex here too - I cant control myself). Here are some photos of the market - as you can see its more of a traditional market with lots of people bustling about and street food, vendors, etc.

By this time we were all tired and hungry (I was not thirsty because I had found the Diet Coke at once of the street vendors here! Still so excited about that). We made our way toward Myeong-dong - another shopping area nearby with restaurants. I bought some pottery from the cutest lady at this store:

On our way to dinner we walked through an area with a fountain, statues and a great view of the Seoul tower. We will need to do more research to figure out exactly what this area was.

It was a long, busy day but I feel like we really got to see many different parts of Seoul and get feel for what this city is all about. We are happy to have this time to explore so that we can tell Alex all about his birth country. Tomorrow is the big day!