Leah loves all kinds of music; pop, classical, children's songs, anything on the tv, anything we sing to her.....any kind of music makes her want to move. We knew this even before we went to Korea because we saw some videos that her foster family made of her dancing. When we met her in Korea, she would rock on her hands and knees to music or stand up and sway back and forth. And ever since we brought her home, we've seen her dancing evolve. Nowadays, she really gets into it. She raises her arm and waves it back and forth as if she's at a rock concert, shakes her head back and forth like she's listening to jazz, stomps her feet vigorously, screams and yells, and jumps up and down to the music.
John was playing an opera on dvd (Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart) over the weekend, and Leah went nuts dancing. In this video, I only caught the last few seconds of it since I had to find my camera, but she was dancing for about 2 minutes before I even started shooting.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Silly Jilly
When we went to Korea, we found out that her Korean name, Jin-Ri, is actually pronounced Jil-li in Korean. The "n" is silent, and the "r" has the "l/r" sound that we don't have in English. So sometimes we call her Leah and sometimes Jil-li or Jil-li-yah, and I've started calling her Silly Jilly because she is truly silly. Her personality has really blossomed over the last few weeks. She is such a happy, playful, rambunctious, joyful, funny, expressive, goofy, silly baby.
As I've mentioned before, I sometimes (even though I've taken a zillion photos of her) have a hard time getting good shots and videos of her, not only because she's always on the move, but also because she's always trying to steal my camera. I usually miss the best moments because I don't have my camera handy and by the time I go and get it ready, it spoils the moment and she becomes aware of the camera and starts coming after it.
As I've mentioned before, I sometimes (even though I've taken a zillion photos of her) have a hard time getting good shots and videos of her, not only because she's always on the move, but also because she's always trying to steal my camera. I usually miss the best moments because I don't have my camera handy and by the time I go and get it ready, it spoils the moment and she becomes aware of the camera and starts coming after it.
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.
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.
Friday, May 8, 2009
10 months old today and 2nd doctor visit
Leah turned 10 months old today and she had her second doctor's visit. I took her by myself downtown since John wasn't able to come. It was a huge accomplishment for me to get myself and her ready and out of the house so early. Leah did great in the car, she danced to her favorite music and babbled and eventually fell asleep for the rest of the trip. Even the terrible roads and potholes in Cleveland didn't wake her up!
I've been meaning to mention that for the last 3 car trips, Leah's been getting so excited when we play her Korean children's CD....
I've been meaning to mention that for the last 3 car trips, Leah's been getting so excited when we play her Korean children's CD....
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Leah watching Baby Noah
Since I have so many cute videos of Leah, I've been trying to post some here but they must be too big and heavy to upload because they were taking hours and I had to finally give up. Since I don't have a lot of time, this is the only one I could do for now. I'll keep trying.
Here she is watching a Baby Einstein dvd. This one is called Baby Noah and it introduces various animals. She loves watching her baby dvds...she squeals, gasps, shrieks and dances while she watches her shows, and since she's so mobile, she doesn't just sit down while a video is playing. She loves to wander around the room, lean on the furniture, or climb all over me.
Here she is watching a Baby Einstein dvd. This one is called Baby Noah and it introduces various animals. She loves watching her baby dvds...she squeals, gasps, shrieks and dances while she watches her shows, and since she's so mobile, she doesn't just sit down while a video is playing. She loves to wander around the room, lean on the furniture, or climb all over me.
Monday, May 4, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Last lamp standing
We thought we'd done a pretty good job of baby-proofing the family room, but it's still a work in progress. Even before we brought Leah home, we'd been busy re-arranging the room, changing out furniture, removing decorative accessories, and replacing a sharp-edged coffee table with a big leather ottoman. In the last month, I've also had to remove another end table that she was using as a climbing device and three more lamps because she was either trying to pull them down or chewing on the cords.
It's amazing how kids gravitate towards the very things that you don't want them to touch. So instead of having a bunch of things in the room that we have to tell her to stay away from, we'll just put them somewhere else for now. There's only one standing lamp left in the room, and I have the lamp base wedged underneath the couch so it won't tip over. She still tries though.
She recently figured out that the fireplace glass doors actually open, and since she could pinch her little fingers in the folding doors, we'll have to do something about that right away. It's always been hard keeping her away from the fireplace. She seems to love crawling along it, standing on it, banging on the glass doors and admiring her reflection.
She's also figured out that her tiny arms can reach inside the lattice doors of the TV cabinet and push all the buttons for the TV electronics. So, we're just trying to keep up with her, especially now that she's started walking
It's amazing how kids gravitate towards the very things that you don't want them to touch. So instead of having a bunch of things in the room that we have to tell her to stay away from, we'll just put them somewhere else for now. There's only one standing lamp left in the room, and I have the lamp base wedged underneath the couch so it won't tip over. She still tries though.
She recently figured out that the fireplace glass doors actually open, and since she could pinch her little fingers in the folding doors, we'll have to do something about that right away. It's always been hard keeping her away from the fireplace. She seems to love crawling along it, standing on it, banging on the glass doors and admiring her reflection.
She's also figured out that her tiny arms can reach inside the lattice doors of the TV cabinet and push all the buttons for the TV electronics. So, we're just trying to keep up with her, especially now that she's started walking
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
First visitor
Our very first visitor, my sister Holly, came to visit this week for 3 days and we had a great time. Leah was a little shy and wary at first, but that only lasted about 10 minutes and then she approached Holly and let her hold her. Leah was soon being her funny, entertaining self, especially now that she had a captive audience.
She danced to her favorite music, showed off her impressive walking skills, made her silly face where she squeezes her eyes shut and purses her lips, and tried to steal Holly's camera whenever she was holding it. I think Holly now knows what I mean about how hard it is to get good pictures of Leah since she is always on the move.
As a mother of four-plus, and a grandmother of three, Holly's been there and done that. So she helped me brainstorm about some of our sleeping and eating issues, and I learned a much more efficient technique of changing a poopy diaper (which I immediately put to good use).
It was also really awesome not to have to worry about cooking and cleaning up the kitchen for a few days, since Holly really helped out with that. She cooked us a really nice steak dinner the first night and we had takeout the rest of the time.
I think the timing of this visit was just right. Leah has just started feeling much more secure and less anxious the past few weeks, and so we think our self-imposed isolation policy, although it's been really hard on us, has been a really good idea.
She danced to her favorite music, showed off her impressive walking skills, made her silly face where she squeezes her eyes shut and purses her lips, and tried to steal Holly's camera whenever she was holding it. I think Holly now knows what I mean about how hard it is to get good pictures of Leah since she is always on the move.
As a mother of four-plus, and a grandmother of three, Holly's been there and done that. So she helped me brainstorm about some of our sleeping and eating issues, and I learned a much more efficient technique of changing a poopy diaper (which I immediately put to good use).
It was also really awesome not to have to worry about cooking and cleaning up the kitchen for a few days, since Holly really helped out with that. She cooked us a really nice steak dinner the first night and we had takeout the rest of the time.
I think the timing of this visit was just right. Leah has just started feeling much more secure and less anxious the past few weeks, and so we think our self-imposed isolation policy, although it's been really hard on us, has been a really good idea.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Walk on...
We've lost count of how many times Leah has been walking and how many steps she's taken. She's been doing it pretty regularly now, so I think we can officially say that as of the last weekend in April, at 9.5 months, she has started walking! She can even pivot and change direction, stop and squat, or turn around to look at us, and keep on walking. But she is just so tiny, it doesn't seem possible!
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