Okay, newer pictures are posted--a handful here and the rest here (as they will be from here on out). Both links are also on the right-hand menu. Happy viewing!

A few days beyond seventy-nine weeks...

We went to a 'barbecue' (rained out) at my cousin's house, but the food was good and the company was great. Baby was overwhelmed by the attention from my cousin's two boys (both autistic).

Baby's room is finally painted--something we probably should have completed before she was born, or at least in the weeks following--and it looks great! The brighter color makes her room look bigger, and it is definitely brighter in there. She doesn't seem to notice the difference; I'm not sure she even cares. :)

Pictures later.

Baby is eighteen months now! We had a rather uneventful visit with the in-laws, although the trip to the beach was fairly... memorable--screaming, crying, clinging, all-around embarrassing but still a bit endearing. :)

We have some new vocabulary:

• cheese (to the camera)
• tee (tree)
• go
• kko-kko (imitating the rooster sound in Korean)
• kkack (rock... sometimes it sounds like cock)
• bug
• [noun] + heh (do in Korean)
  

Baby is starting to interact with some of her favorite shows. When Kai-lan tickles the sun, Baby will do the hand motions to imitate her. Today, she started clapping her hands and saying "apple" when Ruby and Louise were doing a hand game. She also repeats sounds, like 'whee' and 'ooh.' She has been changing a lot recently, and it's hard to keep up with all the new things she is learning!

Lots of new pictures will be uploaded tomorrow. New pictures will be located here.

Forgot some words:

• opang to mean open
• on and off
• two

And it looks like we will be coming home on Saturday. (Whew.)

Vocabulary update:

• 'pem' seems to denote crayons, although I'm not sure if it extends to all writing utensils.
• shoes
• kkang...but we have no clue what this means
• 'I don't want to eat it' (in Korean) - well, literally, she says, 'No eat.'
• pool
• poon to mean spoon
• cat
• peng for penguin

Behaviors:

• Shaking her head and waving her hand while saying, 'Oh, no, no, no.'
• Yelling at the dog and slapping the floor with her hand (imitation of Grandparents)
• Spooning water into a bowl (while playing in the tub)

This week, I have been trying to get Baby to get to sleep on her own. Until now, I have always rocked her to sleep, but as she gets older (and heavier), I can't continue doing this. At some point (in the near future, I hope), I am going to be too pregnant to carry her around, and she should get used to this idea now. I had to admit that as much as I want to believe we have not spoiled her, we have in some ways. We've never encouraged her to fall asleep independently.

I should probably get more serious with the potty training as well. She has made it fairly clear that she understands what she is doing, as she will indicate she has peed or pooed (although she will fervently deny it when asked). It has been difficult to get her to stay on the potty, whether she sits on the little one or her little toilet seat (over the big one). Fortunately, we've had a mild summer, so the diaper hasn't caused much annoyance to Baby. However, it will be much easier on me when she can use the potty.

We are going to visit Grampa Connell this week. I'd like for us to stay only until Saturday, mainly because I feel exhausted after a few days. (Being in an unfamiliar place makes Baby picky about her food and especially clingy. As much as I love her hanging on me, she does get heavy and I do miss being able to do things alone.) However, Aunt E has asked us to stay through Sunday to attend a fair, which means we will leave on Monday at the earliest. The thought of another two days is overwhelming...

Baby will be eighteen months this week--what a milestone!

Early eighteen-month physical.

Height: 33in.
Weight: 27lbs.
Head: 19in.
Chest: 18in.

Lots of kicking, screaming, and gagging involved. How embarrassing.

The most recent pictures show terrible scrapes on Baby's face, but nothing to worry about. (Really.) She fell out of the car when the door was opened. It sounds worse than it actually was. She gave Grandma a scare, and neither she nor Grandpa slept well last night. She doesn't seem to be in any pain today, or if she is, it's tolerable. I gave her some ibuprofen this morning.

This picture is from last night. I was making dinner, and she dragged her floatie into the kitchen and lounged in it.




I am not concerned. Not to sound crass or indifferent, but childhood scrapes happen. It's nothing to cry about. Babies will fall and hurt themselves, and later have scars to show their friends. I know a few other mothers who would have wailed the entire way to the hospital and demanded immediate attention in the emergency room. There wasn't enough damage to warrant a hospital trip. Just some painkiller, tissues, and a nap.

Anyway, let's add to our vocabulary:

• ai-poh (airplane) - she will drop whatever she is doing at the sound of an overhead plane. She will point out airplanes miles away that appear as mere specks to the uncaring adult eye.
• bee
• wow (Wow Wow Wubbzy)
  
• fwow (flower)
• fwuh (frog)
• fwy (butterfly)
• shee (sit)
• no
• kka-kka (quack quack)
• ma - she uses this to refer to four different things: monkey, money, shoes, and socks. The Korean for socks is yang mal, which we used a lot when she first started wearing shoes. She incorrectly understood that to mean shoes.
• bana has become balalala... (for banana) - she says this as she sticks out her tongue and rolls it across her lips. She refers to anything with a similar shape a banana (like squash, eggplant, and peppers).
• apple refers to any food that is spherical.
• orse (horse)