Jin's Eight Months Old!

Oh my little Jin-Su. He’s so funny. I think I find myself laughing more and more with these photo shoots because he’s getting so animated and he’s got so many quirky little facial expressions. I wish you could see half of what I miss in the time my dumb little camera takes to actually snap the shot. But eh, I catch some good ones here and there too.

So…we’re not quite crawling but we’re definitely sitting and what I like to refer to as “rolling”, looking like we’re about to take off any second now. I fully expect it to just happen overnight, as often as he looks like he’s just about to but doesn’t quite. He loves to laugh at and watch Mushu, he has a really hearty laugh when tickled, and he smiles a lot at both myself and Woo when we walk into the room. I LOVE when he first opens his eyes from a nap and just starts smiling when he sees us. Best feeling ever. He also likes to hold his arms out and wrap them around our necks or lean into us to let us know he wants to be held. That happens a lot too, so I’ve got to be more mindful of not spoiling him, since it’s so hard not to indulge him every time he does that.

The other day he ate a big chunk of cantaloupe through a mesh baby feeder, and he’s been eating more of his baby cereal. He likes carrots; avocadoes and sweet potatoes are ok; not a fan of peas, and bananas are just gross. I’ve been making all of his food fresh and organic. I’m working on expanding that selection and I hope to find something he’s just head over heels in love with. For now, we’re taking it in stride and I’m thankful that it appears he’s got his Daddy’s sense of taste and doesn’t have the sweet tooth his Mom has. Cheers!

A yawn-smile. 

At the very end he seemed to take this little bow. He opened his arms out wide and then threw his face into the chair, LOL. So dramatic. 



 

Jin's Seven Months Old

Today totally snuck up on me and it was Woo that reminded me this morning that today is the 11th! Jin and I have been busy all week, cleaning house in preparation for my Mom's visit next week. She and my Aunt Mine actually passed through Phoenix for an 8-hour overnight layover on Thursday night so we got to see them for a little while, which was so nice. So the house actually looks semi-decent because of it. :)

Jin's crazy big now, and his little personality develops a little more each month. He's started to be able to sit up for longer periods of time, although he's not quite able to get up on his own yet. But you can see him trying and he eventually gets frustrated when someone doesn't help him up. He's very curious and starting to get into everything within reach. And of course, anything he can reach goes right in the mouth. 

He can hold his own bottle, he has started eating pureed solids like sweet potato, and he loves when Daddy drips a little cold water on his tongue with a straw. In fact, when I drink out of a particular green cup that Jin recognizes, he opens his mouth because he remembers that Daddy let him have a small sip of water from it. And I love how he now reaches his arms up to whichever one of us is standing. We've tested it out and his "favorite" parent is based solely on which of us is standing at the moment, haha.

Its pretty funny, the quirky little habits they start to develop. Jin will often stop drinking his bottle when he's decided he wants a break, and when we put it to his mouth he purses his lips shut until you offer his binkie instead. If you sneak in the bottle, he blows raspberries and spits the milk out. 

One of my favorite things to do with him is to stop in the hall bathroom on the way to his nursery for diaper changings. He always smiles big and almost laughs a little when we go look at ourselves in the mirror. I can't help but silly-grin with him. Sigh. Love this crazy kid.

Jin's Six Months Old!

It's here and I can't believe it, our baby is half a year old! CRAZY. Time flies, seriously, when you're having a blast, as the old adage (sort of) goes. I'm so blessed beyond measure. We've settled into such a nice routine with our little baby who's fast becoming a little boy. He's everything I look forward to at the end of my long days at work away from him. My boys (Woo, Mushu and our Nano) are what spell out happiness for me. Thank you for these six months of joy beyond belief.

Here are the photos I managed to snap this afternoon. Poor baby, he caught his first cold that began around Thursday last week, so he's just getting over it. He really rarely smiled during our little shoot, and what few smiles he offered up, my slow camera just didn't catch in time. But he's such a trooper. He may not smile as often, but he hasn't been fussy either. Just tired and kind of blah.

Go figure, right after these were taken, we ran some errands around town and he giggled a lot in the stores and in the car. Such an odd duck. I fear he may be the kind of kid that I just can't keep at home. Ah, well, socializing is important too. :)

Hope you're all well and healthy...here's to being half-way through the work week!

Monkey mittens are good eating.

 Looks almost bored.

We're getting good at dirty looks.

 The "please stop already" face, which is where all this ended.

Woo's First Father's Day

Today was a good day. Really relaxing. We got home late after being at a wedding for most of the day yesterday so we took it easy today. Woo really didn't want to do too much but he did ask for Korean for lunch, so off we went to our favorite Korean place in town (sooo good). It was a nice, quiet, family-time meal, which I loved. The rest of the day was even quieter. We took naps, cleaned a little (I cleaned, Woo and Jin took naps, which is what a great Daddy should be able to do on his day). Later. Woo got us take-out for dinner while I put our little monkey to sleep. Nothing exciting to report at all, but it was genuinely such a NICE day at home with my little family. Loved it.

To the man that I've loved and who has been a true friend to me since I was 15: THANK YOU for being the most amazing Father to our Jin. You're more than I could have ever hoped for in a partner and a Father to our child. I think back to my own childhood and the absence of a strong, supportive father-figure and I'm just thankful beyond what I can express in words, that my child has only the best. Jin, Mushu and I love you to all of Saturn's moons and back. :)

We Got Another Amanda Box!

One of my greatest friends, Amanda, always sends us stuff...for no special occasion, just to say hi and be the amazing friend that she is. Well, we got one of her cool care packages late last night (or, er, that's when I remembered to check the mail)! She's that friend. You know the one that you have when, right you feel like life is kicking your butt, you get a random "just wanted to tell you I miss you" card? Yup, that one. She's so awesome, and I can honestly say she's a better friend to me than I am to her. Can't have that, so I gotta work on that! So here's the super cute stuff she sent this time:

She sent Jin the cutest shirts and a onesie, and now he's got something to wear on the fourth of July which is coming up! That "Call Me Chief" shirt is so perfect for my little Polynesian man. And of course, as always, she always packs a few little *treats* in there for the mommy who insists on never growing up (can you say Hello Kitty???? and can you say Hello Kitty Duck tape!?! oh the possibilities...). 

Everything she sends always manages to find the perfect place in my life. Let me show you. I've been needing something on my house key that allows me to hold a baby in his heavy carrier on one arm, the last minute grocery bag of stuff that I just remembered we needed on the way home in the other, and be able to tell which one is the key to get into the house while standing on the front stoop in the dark because I forgot to turn on the porch light before we left. Voila, Amanda to the rescue yet again. AND she sent me a new tissue packet to put in my little purse organizer that I made! Yes, I got skills too. I have a tube of lotion, hand sanitizer (despite what you might think of me because of my cool swagger, I have always been a nerd that carries this stuff in her purse), chapstick, eye drops, my phone, some gum, and tissue that I pack in this thing so I can find all that stuff easily in my purse. Well thank you, Amanda, because I was out of tissue (how'd you know?). Cute, huh? I heart her. Betcha don't have friends like I do. Just kidding, that was mean. But really, isn't she the bestest? Miss you bunches and love you even more than that!

Throwback - Jin Meets His Grandpa Woo

My poor Mom has been asking me to post these pictures since they were taken, and I'm the world's worst daughter so here they are, only a couple of months late. Woo's Dad came up from Samoa for a visit back in April for Jin's 100th day, which fell on April 20th. It was so nice to have him here spending time with us and for Jin to be able to see what a rich legacy of great family men he comes from. Jin is the fifth generation of first-born sons, which is so cool to know. His Grandpa Woo is a great photographer and this visit was no exception. He came prepared and got so many great shots that I was fortunate enough to be able to download to our computer so I could keep them too. Here are just a few of the photos he got while he was here.

This was their first meeting, fresh from the airport. :)  

 

Such a little man with that hand on the lap.

Looking back now, I realize he makes this face a lot.

Jin and his Grandpa watched one of Grandpa's favorite channels, ESPN. 

And then Grandpa and Jin watched one of Jin's favorite movies, Winnie the Pooh. :)   

My two sons and Daddy. 

Three generations of first-born Woo sons. So handsome, love these guys.