Quality Time

John has two weeks off from work, so we've been enjoying some family time lately. We decided just to stick around home and not travel anywhere since it's not that easy travelling with a 14 month old, but we've been keeping busy with little excursions and activities every day.

One day, we went to the Lake Metroparks Farmpark to look at the barnyard animals since Leah is so crazy about animals these days. Since it was a Tuesday, it was very quiet and there were not that many people there. We saw enormous pigs who were making a lot of noise since it was feeding time for all the other animals.

It was fun watching her run around discovering the fallen leaves on the ground. She was running and pointing and ooo-ing and aaah-ing while collecting leaves.

When we were done looking at the animals, we found a little play area for little kids and Leah loved it.

This week, John got to see Leah in action at her gym class and music class.

We also went to the Columbus Zoo since that's our favorite zoo in the area. Leah loved the aquarium and  the manatee exhibit. While we were watching the manatees, she decided it was snack time and dug out a bag of Goldfish crackers from my purse that was buried in the stroller basket. It was cute because she spent quite a while walking around with the bag and eating them one by one. She never spilled a single cracker and seemed to really enjoy holding the bag herself.

First Father's Day

We didn't do a whole lot over the weekend since John was pretty pooped out and jet-lagged from travelling. Our big excitement for Saturday was going to Wal-mart. We got her a new ball and she loved it.

And on Sunday, which was Father's Day, we hung out at Crocker Park and ate dinner there. Leah was well-behaved as usual, and the good thing was that when John had to walk away from the table to use the restroom, she didn't start crying like she did another time at a restaurant.

First Portrait Pics

We had a very short weekend since John was only home for 24 hours in between business trips. But we managed to squeeze in an appointment at a portrait studio for Leah's first professional pics. We brought 2 outfits for her to wear, one of which was her beautiful Korean Hanbok that her foster family bought for her. I attempted to try it on her the day before at home, but she just tried to grab it and play with it. So I had no idea if it would even fit and didn't have high hopes about getting her to cooperate. I definitely didn't think she'd keep the headpiece on since she has decided that she doesn't like hats anymore.

She really surprised us. She was so busy observing everything and everyone around her that she let us change her clothes twice without a fuss and did great through all the different poses and background changes. She didn't do her usual big smiles but she looked really cute.

Afterwards while we were waiting for the prints, Leah played with other kids at the Lego table and was so social and friendly with them.






She wandered around the studio smiling at people and was being a real ham. At one point, she walked right up to a tiny baby in his mom's arms and tried to pull the pacifier out of his mouth while his mom wasn't looking. Good thing we caught it right in time! She also tried to walk out of the studio by herself.




She thought the whole experience was really exciting, and afterwards when we got home zonked out for a nice, long nap.

11 months old!

On Saturday, we walked around the charming town of Hudson, just 15 minutes from us, and browsed around the shops at First & Main. We found a tiny, but interesting toy store that had some unique things. But as we strolled Leah around, something must have frightened her because she started crying hard and we had to make a quick exit! It might have been caused by hobby horses (stuffed horse heads on a stick) that were right at her level. Those things kinda freak me out, too.

We tried out another zoo on Sunday. This time it was the Akron Zoo, just 30 minutes away, and we were pleasantly surprised. It was a smaller zoo, but very nicely designed and beautifully maintained.




I was impressed by the nice landscaping, sharp looking buildings, and pretty botanical gardens. This time, Leah paid more attention to the animals. But, we couldn't convince her to keep her hat on.




Leah turned 11 months old today (on the 8th). I was looking back at some pictures from when we first brought her home and can't believe how much she has changed and grown in just a few short months. People are telling us to enjoy this time because kids grow up so fast...and I now know what they mean. She's walking and running around so well, and has even started climbing things. We're really in trouble now!

Another fun weekend

We've had such nice weather here lately (until now), so last weekend, we took Leah out for a stroll in one of Cleveland's woodsy metroparks. She seemed to really enjoy it. This time, she was really fascinated at the ground underneath and was peering over the edge of the stroller and holding her hand out.




Afterwards we took her to PF Changs for dinner. She always does really well in restaurants, but since I'm a notoriously slow eater, I have found that I do have to try to eat a little faster than I'm used to. Since John is usually done with his entire meal by the time the server comes back to check on us the first time, and Leah eventually gets a little fussy while waiting for me to finish, I usually end up taking half my meal to-go.

Lately, we've had to struggle getting her into her car seat. She's suddenly discovered there's more to the car than what she's been seeing, and while we're trying to buckle her in, she twists around and stands up in the car seat to look over into the front seat. It takes both of us to coerce her back into the seat and strap her in while she throws a big fit as if we're torturing her. But by the time we start driving, she is back to babbling and giggling and playing with her toys.

On Sunday, we took Leah to the Cleveland Children's Museum at University Circle. It's a cute hands-on museum, and they have a little room just for babies and toddlers to explore in. She had a great time, especially looking out at me from the upstairs mini barn house.





We took her to the other areas of the museum, too, but found that the other older kids were very wild and rambunctious and we had to be careful that they didn't knock Leah down while they were running around. I'm sure we'll come back to this museum many times. Oh, and needless to say, we ended up at the Korean restaurant for dinner again.....

First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day. It was pretty funny because John wanted to make me breakfast, but Leah was being so clingy and for some reason just wanted her daddy, so I ended up having to make my own breakfast on Mother's Day. I guess she thought it was Father's Day! Anyway, John had some really pretty flowers delivered and we ended up spending the day out and about.




We went to the Korean restaurant for the third time, and Leah did great as usual. She always sits really nicely and just looks at everyone in the restaurant while we keep her busy with rice, potatoes, and applesauce. We had Duk Mandu Guk and Chap Chae and it was delicious as usual. Afterwards we had to stop at the baby store to pick up a few things and since the weather wasn't that great, we spent the rest of the day at home.

Anyway, I feel really lucky to be Leah Jin-Ri's mom and I hope I'll be the kind of mother she needs.

Weekend Fun at the Park and the Zoo

We had another great weekend. On Saturday, the weather got a little warmer as the day progressed, so we decided to take Leah out to another park close by to enjoy the sunshine and get some fresh air. This park was a lot nicer than the last ones we tried so this is the one we'll be going back to. We finally decided to take the stroller out for a test drive. Our approach in terms of exposing her to new things, especially contraptions that are confining and where she has to be buckled in, has always been "one thing at a time". Since she's been doing a lot better in the car seat and the baby carrier lately, we decided to finally give the stroller a try. We took a little walk around the park first, and since it was a mildly breezy day, she even giggled when we faced the wind. She surprised us by not only tolerating it, but actually enjoying it. The only thing was that she is still a little small and we had to put something behind her back to prop her up so she could sit more comfortably. Then we went to the playground and there was a really cool swing for little kids that we put her in twice and she laughed and smiled. She didn't even mind being strapped into this. There was a little car she sat in with daddy and then he slid her down the slide a few times, too. The park and the stroller were such a success that we decided to take her to the zoo on Sunday! Our local zoo isn't the greatest, but she didn't notice. The point was just to take her out to see other things and other people, and enjoy the nice weather. It was great to see that she could handle a few hours out and about without a meltdown. She enjoyed riding in the stroller and looking around at all the new and different things and people. When she did get a little fussy, she rode around on John's shoulders which always cheers her right up. Since it was a very sunny day, we decided we better get a hat for her. So we stopped at the gift shop and the only hat we could find that fit her was this funny one. It made her look even more boyish, but we thought she looked really cute and it fit her perfectly. She tolerated it, but didn't really like it.


The funny thing is that when we got back home and showed her in the mirror, you could see her checking herself out and smiling at herself thinking she looked pretty darn cute in her new hat. Now she actually loves wearing her hat and doesn't mind having it on all day at home. I don't know if she paid much attention to the animals. When we were at the aquarium, she was actually more interested in the other members of her own species. We were standing holding Leah as she stood along a carpeted ledge in front a large fish tank window. But instead of watching the fish, she was more fascinated by this little red-headed curly-haired girl, and kept walking over to her and touching her. We had to pull her away several times. We were laughing but apologizing to the other girl's parents, joking with them saying "sorry, she doesn't get out much". We ended up having a great time at the zoo. She did great and we are looking forward to taking her all over the place this summer.

Get me outta here!

Jin-Ri's foster family took her out and about for their Lunar New Year holiday on January 26th. She looks a little uncomfortable and ready for a nap, but we think her face is really pretty.

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