Ellie's First Birthday! (돌잔치)

Some Korean friends of ours hosted a one-year birthday party for Ellie recently; luckily for us, not only did they open up their house to us but also their camera. Which means lots of good pictures for the blog! This party was particularly important to JooYeon since the 1st birthday is a huge deal in Korean tradition. 

Ellie had recently caught a cold (or allergies or something) and so we had two "snot-raggers" rushing in  after each picture to wipe her nose. I don't think Ellie minded the extra attention too much...

She even sent a shout out to Che Guevara halfway through the shoot.

Of course, we had to capture the full range of emotions. Poor Ellie :(

It was a whole-day affair with afternoon drinks, snacks, and a huge dinner.

 I'm not really sure where all the outfits came from, but I'm pretty sure Ellie wore at least five that day.

Towards the end, we held the traditional highlight of the Korean 1-yr birthday party (돌잔치). Another one of JooYeon's friends had created a series of small clay figures that represented different possible careers (diplomat, doctor, scholar, mechanic, businessperson, etc.). The idea is that you put the child on the table with all the objects and the first one that he or she picks up signifies their future career. Ellie started to go for the gavel (a judge) but then switched at the last minute and grabbed the toothbrush (a dentist).

She was happy at first until we told her how much dental school cost. That shocked her.

In her usual adaptive way though, she compensated by picking up the pen in her other hand, meaning that she will also be a scholar (which will hopefully get her a full-ride through dental school).

We ended the evening with some kiss pictures since that seems to be Ellie's new favorite hobby.

Of course, even Ellie has her limits when it comes to kissing!

Farewell to the Ohs and a Mental Marathon

After nearly 3 months of a full house, Jusu and the kids are getting ready to head back west. I figured I better snag some of the pictures off her camera and make a quick blog entry. Ironically, I don't think there was a single picture of Jusu on her own camera, so we'll save that for when I upload our pictures.

Tae Geom had a fun time with a slew of newfound friends and crossing off about eight playgrounds from his bucket list. He also did a great job in teaching his Uncle Dan some Korean although I have a sneaking suspicion that some is not adult-appropriate and other words are completely made up.

Hye Rin and Ellie evolved in their relationship over the three months. At the beginning, they barely acknowledged each other aside from being a "bump" in the other one's crawling path. By the end, they were loving their morning conversations in adjacent high chairs.

 

One of highlights was a dinner invitation to the Kleins where Tae Geom was absolutely delighted to find a blow-up bouncy castle.

With the Spring beauty in full swing, we took Ellie out to frolic among the flowers.

This past semester was my final one of doctoral coursework. A couple days after I finished my finals, I began the written component of my comprehensive exams-- a series of questions from each of four professors representing the different areas I studied (math, math education, teacher education, and educational research). I had two weeks to create my responses and 'twas a long two weeks indeed. A mental marathon of sorts. 

I barely saw the family during the two weeks, and there were more than a few occasions when I looked like this...

With much-needed encouragement from family and friends, I eventually pulled through. In the end, it was as easy as 1-2-3... 123 pages, that is (counting references). I have to admit it was interesting to dive in and explore some issues to depths that I had never done before, although I'll certainly be content with swimming on the surface again in the near future :)

Here come Jusu and her crew!

The laughter (and tears) of our household have multiplied with the coming of JooYeon's sister and her two children for three months.

Daniel after an interesting day of professional development.

Ellie-in-a-box.

Cousin TaeGeom...

Ellie delivering her conclusion to a political speech.

And the subsequent mudslinging.

TaeGeom's new house.

Hyerin is three months younger than her cousin Ellie.

And Jusu...

Abraham Lincoln visits.

Ellie loves peeking around things.

TaeGeom shows Samantha his behavior chart.

Ben attempts to read a Korean storybook.

Easter egg hunt.