The Weekend

On Saturday we went to the shops and I finally managed to find some shorts and t-shirts that fit Brandon (the stuff at the shops is usually too big or insanely expensive). And then we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Brandon may be teething because he's been drooling and biting things. In the evening we tried a new Italian restaurant 'Ola Mario'. It was a beautifully decorated restaurant and we really enjoyed the food. Brandon was supposed to sleep and we had a blanket covering the pram so that he could fall asleep without being distracted but he kept reaching for the blanket and pulling it aside so he could see out. He didn't sleep but he didn't fuss too much either, he seemed content to just watch the goings-on in the restaurant. He was very tired by the time we got home and, as a result, all of us overslept this morning (no crying baby to wake mom and dad). The photos below are of Brandon relaxing at home,

Today (Sunday) we thought we'd take Brandon to the pool. We bought him a little floating tube and we wanted to try it out. Usually he loves the baby pool but today he was a bit unhappy and didn't enjoy his swim as much as usual. The water was a bit cold and he kept wanting to bite our fingers and put his hands in his mouth so his gums must be bothering him. Brad went straight to the pool after church and Brandon and I met him there. The intention was to have breakfast before our swim but it seems breakfast ends at 10:00 so we had to make do with a salmon bagel and some yogurt from the deli (not a bad breakfast really)!

At the pool in my new green shorts and t-shirt

Showing off my cool new swimsuit (kindly given to us by a stranger at the pool who said her child had grown out of it and she thought it would fit Brandon). ooooohhhhh did you notice I can stand!!! I need mom and dad to help me balance but this is my new favourite trick.

waaaaa - what are you doing to me?

No Camera

I have no new pics of the little guy because either the batteries for the camera are dead or I forget to take the camera with me. So I've uploaded some cute pics of him taken on our roadtrip.

Playgroup

Brandon and I go to a playgroup every Tuesday. It's nothing special just a nice social gathering of expat moms, we take it in turns to host the get together. It's fun for us to see the babies together and to swop advice and stories. The oldest baby is 8 months. In the photos below, Brandon is the youngest baby and the little girl, in the pink shoes, next to him is one week older than him.

Brandon and Hannah (one of his little 'girlfriends' - his other 'girlfriend', Josephine, is the little one in the denim dress)

After this get together a group of us thought we'd go to lunch. It was a rainy day and we got the babies geared up with raincovers over their strollers and off we went. It was really only a light drizzle at this point but because it had been raining continuously for a few hours there were lots of puddles. As we walked it started getting heavier and we made it to the restaurant just before the real downpour started. The people in the restaurant were horrified at the prospect of having to seat 5 women all with prams but they managed. As we ate the rain continued to bucket down and it showed no sign of letting up. Eventually I caught a ride back to the car (still parked at the house of the woman who hosted the group) with one woman's husband. Thank goodness he was able to give me a lift because there was no way Brandon and I would have made it to our car without nearly drowning. By the time I had successfully got Brandon into the car, I was absolutely soaked but Brandon was nice and dry and that's all that matters.

19 weeks

So far, Brandon is enjoying his food, he gets rice cereal, apple, carrot, potato and zucchini. At least, I think it's zucchini. The book we have recommends pumpkin and zucchini as some of the first foods so at the shop yesterday I bought what is called 'green pumpkin' but it looks and tastes a lot like zucchini...so not too sure what he's actually getting but he ate it with no fuss.

We recently purchased a 'Baby Bjorn' carrier. It's so much easier getting to the little corner shop now because I don't have to take the pram. Seoul is not stroller friendly and everything has stairs and not ramps so getting around has been challenging when I'm on my own. The only problem with the 'Baby Bjorn' is that Brandon keeps falling asleep while he's facing outwards (you're supposed to face them inwards to sleep because there's more head support). He loves being in it and I've often walked up to Itaewon with him in it so my back muscles are getting lots of exercise.

Here are some more photos...everyone thinks he looks just like Brad.

Brandon's first swim

On Saturday morning we headed to the Seoul Club. It was a hot day and we really wanted to get Brandon into the baby pool before it got too hot and too busy at the club. We had just purchased some swimming diapers (really hard to come by in Korea) and we were excited to get him in the water. The water in the baby pool was quite cold but he was a little champ - Brad and I both got into the pool and Brad lowered Brandon into the water slowly. We expected some protest but there was none. He seemed to enjoy the floating sensation. We didn't dip his head in the water (some people say you should cos babies instinctively know to hold their breath). Anyway we just swam him between the two of us and he even started kicking his legs. After that we got him out, dried him off and went to have some lunch - he slept so well through lunch.

Brandon's 'conversation'

(It's very quiet out here, I should tell a story...)

(Hey dad, are you listening???)

(Ooooh what's this...)

(What was I saying again???)

(Oh yes, now I remember...)

(I'll pause for the photo)

(actually pulling a funny face is more fun...)

(Oh no, now I've lost track of my story again...)

(Oh...and then...)

Korea Trip: Map

Here is a map of the route we took