A Korean Treat

Yesterday we celebrated Alexanders birthday with our family - grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. There were some aunts, uncles and cousins missing from out of town (you know who you are!) and we missed them!!

In Korea, the first birthday is a very special celebration. The child wears a traditional Korean hanbok - a beautiful silk garment that is worn on very special occasions such as weddings, etc. Alexander's foster mother presented us with this hanbok when we met her in Korea. She was very proud to give it to him, and made sure that we opened the box containing the hanbok in front of her. We will have his photo professionally taken in it and send her some photos of him.

The family participates in a ceremony called a Tol. The parents will lay out a few items in front of the child - each item indicates something about their future. The child is placed in front of the items and everyone watches to see what he chooses first. Traditional items would include a bow and arrow (child will be a warrior), needle and thread (symbolizing long life), paper and pencil (scholarly), etc. We placed a book (scholar), ball (athletic), microphone (musical), paintbrush (artistic), stethoscope (medical doctor) and money (wealth). As you can see by the photo below - Alex chose the paintbrush first. After this, he chose the money and then the book. So, I guess we get to look forward to him being an wealthy, artistic, scholar!

At the Korean Tol, there would normally be a big table full of food - mainly different kinds of fruit and many different kinds of rice cakes. We ordered a Korean rice cake from a local market and then supplemented with some rice puffs, chocolate, and of course, a Sesame Street cake! The rice cake was actually really tasty. The top of the cake says "Happy First Birthday" in Korean.

Now comes the first birthday, American style.... lots of gifts and lots of cake with gooey frosting. Alex enjoyed the cake and really dug in. Adam and Delaney enjoyed "helping" Alex unwrap his gifts and entertaining everyone. We had a couple very tired boys last night!

Chocolate Cupcakes for Everyone!

Tonight we had dinner with friends and Alexander had his first cupcake. He didnt really know what to do with it - but after he got the hang of it he loved it! A good time was had by all, and the birthday boy got to stay up late.

Happy Birthday Alexander!

Can't believe my littlest baby is one year old already! We celebrated this morning by going to the pediatrician for a checkup and vaccinations. Poor guy. He had four shots, including H1N1, which makes Mom very happy. All 27 pounds (94th percentile) and 31 inches (99th percentile) of him checked out great and he's happy and healthy. Things got a little dicey in the car on the way home when he ripped the bandaid off his finger and tried to eat it, but I acted fast! He will eat anything, including sand, grass, chalk, crayons, and now bandaids. I wonder whats next?

For those of you who haven't see Alex in awhile, here's a little about what he's been up to:

• He's walking EVERYWHERE and getting into EVERYTHING. He can go up stairs now, so we've added yet another baby gate - this time at the bottom of the steps.
• He is sleeping wonderfully - 12 hours at night, and 2.5 hour nap during the day. He doesn't wake up at night very often, but when he does, he usually puts himself back to sleep while we listen drowsily from the next room with our fingers crossed.
• He loves to be tickled, books, Elmo, and going through the utensil drawer and carrying the utensils all over the house.
• He love to eat and doesn't really seem to be partial to any particular food - he loves it all! He does seem to really like bananas and other fruit as well as spaghetti noodles. He hasn't really had any sweets yet - that will change tonight when he gets to eat a birthday cupcake!
• He smiles ALL THE TIME. He is so happy, which makes us happy. He loves his big brother and wants to be one of the big kids.
• He says "ba ba" for bottle, and we think he's saying "da da" for Dad, but he babbles and talks to much its hard to know what he's trying to say. One of these days he'll just suprise us and rattle off a complete sentence.
• He loves Buddy and he tries to grab Charlie's tail all the time. He is starting to learn to keep away from Buster, but its always a challenge to be sure he doesnt poke him. I thought I heard him try to say "Buddy" today, but who knows.

Happy Birthday Alex! Photos to come!

Trick or Treat

The end of October has been very busy for us - Adam finished his season of soccer with lots of goals scored and juice boxes consumed, Alex learned to walk, we wished Grandpa Brown Happy Birthday, I started working part-time again, we went to a couple Husker games and Adam, Alex and I all got sick. We are still trying to recover and it seems like its taking forever to get well and all caught up on things around here. Hopefully we can get back to "normal" soon (whatever that means!).

In the midst of all this, we managed to have a great Halloween! Alex is blowing kisses to all!

Adam and Alex went trick or treating with their friends Adam, Ryan and Amanda on Halloween. We started out at 5:30 when it was still light - the kids couldn't wait! Some of the houses weren't ready for us, but we were patient! After trick or treating we all went to a Halloween party for warm soup and cookies. YUM. It was so fun to watch the kids go door to door. I found myself channeling Mamie many times that night as I told Adam "No candy until we get home and I go through it!".

Adam was Luke Skywalker and Alex was Yoda. Alex really had no clue, but he had fun strolling around the neighborhood in his deluxe stroller.

Adam was very proud of the jack o lanterns that he carved.

The week before Halloween, the kids got to go trick or treating at Dads work - its an annual event that we look forward to each year. This is the Darth Vader costume that was so popular before the Jedi outfit showed up!

Now, who is going to eat all the candy that's in our house???

Jedi Birthday Party

On October 25th, Adam was invited to a birthday party for his friend Kareem. His mom made Jedi costumes for all the kids and they got to go bowling. He had a blast. I just had to post a couple of the photos. In the photo below, six out of the eight kids are Holt adoptees from Korea, India and Ethiopia. Such wonderful kids and families.

Adam attempts to bowl the game of his life with his friend Sophie looking on. He actually did pretty well - must have been the Jedi outfit! Adam was so excited about the Jedi clothes that he decided to change his halloween costume at the last minute from Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker.