The first week of fall (in terms of temperature...)

New Season = New Clothes!
The cooler weather has certainly come earlier in Texas this year! We pulled out the long-sleeve shirts and pants much earlier than I had anticipated and learned that Rai has gotten taller! His 12 month pants are now a bit too short and the 24 month shirts actually fit. :-) I was so excited to pull out the new, bigger clothes, especially because Rai's foster mother ("Omma" as we call her) gave him a cute outfit that was too big to wear for such a long time. Here it is:





Active Toddler!
Last weekend, we had planned to go out to the park with my parents and let Rai get some energy out before a nice picnic. The weather didn't cooperate, but Rai certainly took advantage of all the attention!




On Wednesday, the weather cleared up long enough for us to run over to the park. Rai was bundled up and decided that it was far more comfortable to sit in the stroller for most of the morning, so I got in a good walk before we stopped to take pictures and watch the ducks. After an hour of so, Rai finally decided it was time to play!



Rai snacks on Korean rice puffs (a snack we searched every Korean grocery store for when we got home!)





This picture is for Omma (She took albums of pictures of Rai in front of various scenes. I couldn't help but think of her.)



Later that afternoon, we went to another park down the street from Aaron's work. Needless to say, Rai was a bit tired by the time he got home. :-)








Talk, Talk, Talk!
With each monthly report we write, we are amazed at the new words he says each month. the most recent words? Aaron has taught him to say "Hi" to the cats, but he isn't as verbal in front of other people. :-) He does like to say "Bye-Bye" (which means he can finally repeat "Nah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah-nah, hey-hey-hey, good-bye" with a "bye-bye" instead). "Yes" is coming out as "Yeah," but at least we're at the "yes or no" stage rather than "uh." And then there are about 50 words which are a bit hard to understand, such as "cracker," "cake," juice," etc. (Are you seeing a pattern?) And of course, "Mommy," "Daddy," and "Me" are still popular. He hasn't said "Lucy" or "Kobe" (our cats) yet, but he does call out "Bell!" "Bell!" for "Bella" the neighbors' cat when we go outside. I finally got a few words on video since he won't say hardly anything in public. (The song will have to wait for another day when I have more time...)



And here are the miscellaneous pictures:



Our fireplace now has the professional pictures Rai's foster mother (Omma) had taken in Korea. We also put her picture with him on the mantle as well. We say "Hi" to Omma's picture when we pass by it.

Rai was in a picture mood this morning, but I couldn't get him to stop giggling. :-)

And I'm proud to announce that our "big" cat isn't so big anymore. Kobe now weighs just under 15 pounds (5 pounds lighter than he was 2 years ago). I think keeping up with Rai (and jumping over the baby gate) is the secret workout plan at our house!

Here is Kobe cleaning our "Little" cat, Lucy.

This is one of my favorite Rai poses. He likes to sit like this in the car. It's too cute. :-)