Happy New Year!

My attempts to update everyone more often failed (partially because my last entry magically vanished from blogspot's saved drafts), but here is the first of two updated posts:

Omma!
We were fortunate to get additional pictures of our night with Omma and Rai from our friend, Kim (http://seonmikyung.blogspot.com/), who traveled at the same time as us and was wonderful enough to take so many of the pictures of us on our camera and her camera, too. To make things even more special, Rai started saying "Omma!" again when he saw the pictures. I couldn't help but take a video. Omma, if you're reading this, Rai loves you and Appa very much. We can't wait to come back and visit!


Clean Little Guy
Rai mirrored Aaron washing the windows and mirrors in the house by dragging around his "blue water" (a fun activity involving water, blue food coloring, and oil) and a rag. Days later and he was still washing everything in sight!


Hello Kitty!
Rai has recently taken notice of the various Hello Kitty things in the house (i.e. my Hello Kitty sweatshirts or one Hello Kitty plate/bowl/spoon set) and started requesting things "Kee" (Kitty). I thought it was cute, but I couldn't believe it when Rai begged for pink Hello Kitty Christmas socks at Target. I didn't think Aaron would be too thrilled, so I told Rai "no." Then, he found BLUE Hello Kitty socks, and I just couldn't refuse. They just might be his favorite pair of socks now! (I've taken this as a sign to pull out anything blue with Hello Kitty from my collection. Now Rai has a blue Hello Kitty cup in the bathroom, a blue Hello Kitty toothbrush, and a Hello Kitty doll dressed in a panda suit.)


Enjoying a Few Day of Fall
It's rare to see fall weather in Texas. We normally go from 100 degree summers to snow days (meaning 30 degrees with sleet and ice on the roads). So I thought it was too much fun to pass up a trip to the park when the weather was nice and cool. I think Rai might actually like playing in the leaves now...




All Decked Out
We recently learned that my great uncle Duane, my grandfather's brother, was admitted into the hospital in the local area for an extended stay. I hadn't seen my great uncle since the days when I went deer hunting with him, my grandfather, and my dad, and I certainly didn't want to miss an opportunity to see him while he was in town. I thought it would lift my great uncle's spirits to bring Rai with me and maybe get a laugh or two if I dressed him up in deer hunting camo. So I got Rai dressed in his camo overalls, sweatshirt, jacket, and cap and headed for the hospital. (We got a few interesting looks on the DART Rail, by the way.) After a short reminder of who I was and an introduction of the little guy with me, my uncle Duane immediately smiled and said "You dad got to him, didn't he?" It was a priceless reaction.



Christmases Galore!
Although the extent of our traveling is rough this time of year, it is priceless to have so many holiday celebrations. The first this year was with my old roomates from college. Katie was in town from California, and Rai threw his arms up to her like she had been here all along.


And we finally got a picture of Rai with Kimsan:


The next day, we went down to Austin (more specifically, Jarrell) to visit Aaron's parents and sister, Auntie Amy, for their Christmas celebration. Rai had a blast from the moment he woke up on the car ride down to the moment we left. He particularly loved the home-made kitchen Aaron's dad made for Amy when she was little.
















Before we left Austin, we had lunch with Mili and Chris and had a great time catching up. Rai especially loved the lake view at the restaurant.

In the holiday spirit!

Pictures with Santa
For over a month, Rai has seen Santa at the mall.
For over a month, Rai says "Clause!" and points in excitment.
For over a month, I ask Rai, do you want to see Santa?" and he replies "Yes!"
For over a month, we stand in line and watch children sit on Santa's lap.
For over a month, we get to the front of the line and then... Rai says "No!" and we go on our merry way to the playground nextdoor.
Until ONE DAY, Rai peered down at Santa from the food court above and was spotted by Santa, who smiled and waved. Rai giggled and waved back and then continued his "Clause!" pleas. So it shouldn't have surprised me that Rai would agree this time to sit on Santa's lap. In fact, he immediately smiled, and I had to waive down the photographer to take the picture before he changed his mind. (The picture below was taken after he got tired of smiling for nearly a minute.) But what DID surprise me was Rai immediately reaction to the picture: one hand extended as if to say "I know you're going to give me that coloring book now because you gave one to the other children. I know - I saw!"

I would have posted this picture earlier, but I didn't realize until I got home that they had given me a picture of the wrong child (and Rai is MUCH cuter!). :-)


Agency Holiday Party
Our local agency held their first annual holiday party, and it was such a wonderful experience to meet new families and visit with friends. Rai had just started coming down with something an hour before the party started, but he was still entertaining!



ECI Holiday Party
A few months after Rai arrived home, we took the recommendation of several people and asked ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) to do an assessment of Rai's development. With some language delays in Korea and a significant amount of physical therapy since Rai's early infancy, we knew there was a possibility that Rai might qualify for development services. Our EIS (Early Intervention Specialist) assessed Rai's physical development (gross and fine motor skills) as on par and even beyond his age in some areas, but he did have some speech and communication delays. Since then, Rai has blossomed from a combination of time, adjustment to English, preschool, and help from many people, including our EIS. She comes to the house once every other week, observes Rai's speech and communication development, and gives ideas for continuing his development.

This past Friday was the ECI Holiday Party, and since we anticipate that Rai will no longer need services after his re-evaluation on Wednesday, this have been the last time Rai will see his EIS. He certainly had a great time, and she enjoyed Rai telling her "Up! Up!" to be held while we stood in line to see Santa.






Amy!
For over a week, Rai identified several women (some blonde but not always) as Amy (as in Auntie Amy). Everyone from Cat Deely (pardon mispelling) from "So You Think You Can Dance" to the model on the New York & Co. advertisements sparked "Amy! Amy!" calls. Rai said "Amy?" while I was on the phone. So we took the hint and visited Auntie Amy after our agency holiday party. Rai had a great time playing with the dogs, helping Aaron rake the leaves, and hanging out with Auntie Amy in general. Here are a few pictures:







(Don't worry. Rai stayed out of the tree!)

Snuggling with Kobe
Our cats have done very well with Rai in the past seven months. Kobe, our bigger cat, has an interesting personality. Although he looks quite cuddling, he's usually pretty grumpy. (If you had to lose 25% of your weight in one year from a strict diet you couldn't break, you'd be grumpy, too! But Kobe has just always been grumpy.) We weren't sure how Kobe would react when we got Lucy, our smaller cat, but Kobe's maternal instincts kicked in (but yes, Kobe is a boy). He would sleep with Lucy and groom her to such an extent that people swore they were "Mommy and Baby." Now Kobe hasn't exactly taken on Rai as his own, but he's certainly very patient. Whether Rai is in the mood for giving Kobe kisses or just cuddling with him, Kobe has been incredibly patient with this toddler!







And last but not least... Aaron's Thanksgiving Sweater!
Aaron is certainly known for wearing favorite shirts, well just really one favorite shirt, in nearly every picture I take. (Just try to count how many times you've seen the pink, I mean RED, shirt in this blog.) On Thanksgiving evening, I had a moment of deja vu when I uploaded pictures and saw Aaron's sweater. "I could have sworn I already have this picture" I thought. Yes, Aaron wore the exact same sweater not only last Thanksgiving but EVERY THANKSGIVING SINCE 2006! When I told him about the pattern, his response was "It's a good sweater." Oh my...
Here they are:
Thanksgiving 2009


Thanksgiving 2008


Thanksgiving 2007


Thanksgiving 2006