It's getting cold

Brandon bundled up to go out on a very cold day.

Brandon got so excited when I put the wind shield on the pram.

Insadong and the Old Tea Shop

We decided to take Brandon to our favourite Tea Shop in Insadong. Not only is it a quaint and cosy place but it has little birds that fly around inside the shop. They sell a variety of Korean teas: plum tea, ginger tea, jujube tea, and a whole lot more. I had cinnamon tea and Brad had citron tea which tasted like marmalade (in fact, I think it is marmalade added to hot water). Brandon was enthralled with the birds; he was absolutely quiet for the first 20 minutes as he stared at the birds fluttering around us.

Thumbing a ride to Insadong

Brandon loved the taxi ride - he's not used to facing forwards in the car and he was loving the new perspective.

You know it's getting cold when the racks of scarves hit the pavement.

A quaint little shop. Brad is shopping for an ornamental Dragon, he's been wanting one since we arrived in Seoul.

The alley to our Tea Shop

The old wooden staircase up to the Old Tea Shop

Brandon was enthralled.

One of the little birds

Our little guy couldn't take his eyes off the birds

Taking it all in

Amazing, who knew such things existed

WOW

This is the life, eating and watching fascinating little birds

Mommy made it to Seongbukdong

Playgroup on Tuesday was at Judy's house in Seongbukdong. As the crow flies, it is not far away but in Seoul traffic it seems like it is. I was worried about finding it because the crazy street patterns and lack of road names makes it very difficult to navigate in unfamiliar areas, so driving to Seongbukdong was going to be a big adventure. Seongbukdong is an upmarket area that is very popular amongst expats because it offers big houses and gardens but it is far away from the foreign 'hub' of the city, Itaewon (where we live). On Sunday, I convinced Brad to come with me on an exploratory mission to find Judy's house so that I didn't get lost on Tuesday. We left at 3:30 and I thought it would take about half an hour to get there. We were due to go to our neighbour for drinks at 6pm so we thought we'd have plenty of time. Well, there's no such thing as a quiet Sunday afternoon drive in Seoul, we got stuck in such horrendous traffic that we just made it back in time to feed Brandon and head across the hall to our neighbour. But at least it helped me find my way on Tueday, with only a little confusion...one wrong turn. Playgroup was very small and Brandon loved all the new toys and especially the swing set Judy had.

Look at me!

Woohoo, here we go!

Oh boy, this is so much fun!

Look at this furry carpet!

(Brandon was so proud to have lifted this little mat off the floor)

Hey Mom, I need one of these nice fluffy things!

No, I won't let go...I want to keep it

Oh all right, I'll just roll about on it then and show off for little Annabelle

Faris
(Faris kept taking that little purple and yellow ball away from Brandon, it fascinated them because there's a small ball inside it and they can see it rolling around)

Okay, I'll play with this yellow puppy and the musical tiger?dog? hard to tell what it is

Baby Shower

We had Lenny's Baby Shower at our house last Saturday. It was very cute and she got lots of nice presents. Lenny's mom arrived early and she offered to feed Brandon while Brad got Brandon's things ready. Brad decided hanging about at home for a baby shower wasn't a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon so he went up to the pub with Brandon. Yes, the PUB!!! There are some tables outside the pub so he didn't actually go into the smokey 'no under 18' section. Apparently there was another man there with his two kids, so Brandon had some company. Roddy, a fellow South African, whose wife was at the baby shower also arrived and sat with Brad and played with Brandon. By the time the boys came home, the girls were busy leaving. Brandon got more attention and seemed to have had a fabulous afternoon, and Brad scored some left over food from the shower.

Lenny's mom

Lenny's mom, Brandon, Aidan and Erin
(There were two babies at the shower Aidan and another little girl so Brandon could have stayed at home but he had an exciting outing with Daddy instead)

Playgroup at Seoul Forest

Autumn in Seoul is a lovely time of year, the changing leaves are really beautiful; the rich reds, yellows and oranges make the mountains and parks very pleasant places to visit. The skies are blue and the weather is still warm enough to be outdoors. Our playgroup decided to meet for a picnic in Seoul Forest on Tuesday morning. The name is misleading because it's not really a forest but rather a huge park with lawns, ponds, fountains and jungle-gyms for the kids. We had a great time, Brandon really loves being outdoors and this was by far his best playgroup date. He was sociable and smiled and cooed at the other babies (usually he gets upset with the other kids and prefers to be with me). The pictures below tell a slightly different story, he was sitting happily with Josephine until they both toppled over, neither of them got hurt but Brandon was exceptionally upset by the fall. I propped him back up but he continued to cry until I picked him up. He calmed down after a few minutes and that was the only crying spell of the day. The pictures are so funny though!

This is great, I love the outdoors!

Brandon listening intently to Josephine's 'story' while Caleb tries to make an escape!

Aren't they a cute couple?

At this point, Brandon and Josephine had toppled over and Brandon was exceptionally upset. Josephine, on the other hand, enjoyed her little fall so much she did it again. Caleb was upset because his mom wouldn't let him escape and made him sit for the photo.

Still upset!

Squinting into the sun

Granny's visit

Here are some more pictures from my mom's visit!

Granny and Brandon at Seoul Club having lunch

Brandon showing off the cute new outfit his Granny bought him. All he wants to do these days is practise standing but he's very wobbly.

We found these great pyjamas at E-mart.

Hanging out on Granny's bed with her cool red glasses case

Look at me, I'm cute

Brandon started sucking in his bottom lip when he got his teeth.

Amcham picnic

On Saturday KEB (Korea Exchange Bank) invited us to the Amcham (American Chamber of Commerce) picnic. It was about half an hour away and we got there at 11:10; the picnic officially started at 11:00 and by the time we got there, there were no more tables and chairs left. Luckily we had a picnic blanket with us and we were able to sit in the shade under some trees. There were lots of food stands and we could just walk around and choose what we wanted. My mom and Brad went in search of food while I fed Brandon. They came back with plates filled with pizza, salad, chicken and much more. After that my mom and I went off to get some dessert - icecream and donuts...yummy!
Brandon had been given an orange hat to wear and he looked hilarious in it. My mom said he looked like a little welder. He enjoyed playing around on the picnic blanket and watching all the people. Brad and I took him for a little walk around and he loved seeing all the children and the different games that they were playing. All in all it was a good day!