17 months young

This past month, I have a few more accomplishments to brag about:

• When I wake up, the first word out of my mouth is often, "CAR!" I *love* cars. Lucky for me, they are everywhere in LA so I am easily entertained. My next favorite word is, "airplane" and the skies here are busy too.
  
• I can now do 360-degree spins when Daddy throws me up in the air.
  
• New words: hot dog, ball, horse
• I can point to pictures in my books when Mama or Daddy ask. I can identify the butterfly, flower (and I'll sniff it too), ball, drum, baby, door, telephone, and animals like rabbits, dogs, cats, and ducks. When Daddy or Mama ask me to point to the pants in the book, I always point to my dresser.
  
• At the playground I can climb the rock wall. I mostly use my arms to pull me up. I love to go down the slide on my belly, feet first. I'm gearing up for my next stunt, which is to go down the slide head first. I saw another boy do this and I am very curious about it.
• I like to take walks around the neighborhood with Daddy, Mama, and Lucy. I can walk about two square blocks with a little bit of resting here and there.
• I haven't had a bottle in about three weeks. I'm getting really good at sipping out of a regular cup and won't spill a drop as long as someone is holding the cup for me. I am starting to try to hold the cup myself. Mama and Daddy stopped giving me a straw because all I do is blow bubbles and leave chunks of chewed up food in my drinks.
• I love to watch the Elmo DVDs that my Jiu Jiu (Uncle Eric) gave me for Christmas. I love Elmo, but get really bored whenever the cartoon parts come on.
• I'm becoming a pro at letting Daddy brush my teeth at night.
• I'm still obsessed with wheels.
• With a lot of repeated requests and persistence, I can be convinced to lay down on my own on my diaper changing pad. Sometimes I will pick out a diaper before I lay down for a changing -- again, with a lot of encouragement.
• Everynight, Mama tells me when I have five minutes, and then one minute, left before I have to go to bed. Whenever she does this, I start to whine and then I hurry up and get my books ready for reading time.
• Yesterday, Mrs. Tran (my daycare provider) called Daddy around 4:00 in the afternoon to ask whether I'd slept well the previous night. Daddy said I seemed normal, but Mrs. Tran was worried because I'd started my nap at 11:00 AM and hadn't woken up since. She reported that I wasn't running a fever or anything, and wanted to know what she should do. Should Daddy call the doctor, or come pick me up early, or...? Daddy said immediately, "Wake him up now! Please, for the love of God!!!" Despite their worrying, I did sleep that night -- very well, I might add -- so maybe this is the sign of a growth spurt coming on. LOOK OUT!

Magnus and me, planning our escape

Me: Hmmm....how shall I distract them?

Magnus: Yeah, that's right, just as we discussed - you distract 'em, I'll unbuckle our high chairs, then we bolt for the door.

16 months...getting more exciting

1. New words this month (some require more prompting than others): Yeh Yeh (grandpa on mom's side), Halmoni (grandma on dad's side), Haraboji (grandfather on dad's side), Go Away (no translation needed), water, car, turtle, airplane, owl, baby, door, ball, mine. Unfortunately, he still refuses to say Lau Lau (grandma on mom's side) and Jiu Jiu (uncle on mom's side)....sorry, Lau Lau and Jiu Jiu!

2. Beginning to throw tantrums. This morning he pushed a 10-pack box of Diet Coke to the edge of the kitchen floor where the carpet begins, and when the box wouldn't budge further and I made no attempt to help him, he threw himself face down on the kitchen floor, screaming, crying, kicking, and pounding the floor with his little fists.

3. Showing definte signs of athleticism (or sheer bruteness). I took him to a Gymboree class this week to try it out, and he was the only kid who could climb up the rock wall. He didn't even break a sweat...just plowed up the thing like a machine. Of course, once he got to the top, he couldn't follow the teacher's instructions to get back down.

4. Loves to be thrown up into the air. Daddy does this best. He will even do 180-degree turns.

5. Continues to love books. His new book is "Head to Toe" and he follows along with the animals. He can turn his head like a penguin, bend his neck like a giraffe, raise his shoulders like a buffalo, arch his back like a cat, wave his arms like a monkey (his favorite), thump his chest like a gorilla (his next favorite), wiggle his hips like a crocodile, bend his knee like a camel, kick his legs like a donkey, stomp his foot like an elephant, and wiggle his toes like a boy. And, Mama can recite the book from memory as you see here like a parrot.

6. Has learned how to give a real kiss, not just leaning his forehead into you. His new and improved kissing technique comes with the smooching noise.

7. Walking long distances. Can push his car/walker around the block when we take Lucy for a walk. The walker is not really there to help him walk anymore, but keeps his attention occupied so he doesn't run wild. He can turn corners with it, too. He also can step down a step or two without assistance and without descending backwards.

8. Gets upset when he thinks he's hurt me, like when he clocks me in the head with his board book or jams his push car into my leg.

9. More playful. Getting more interested in his stackable cups and shape sorter, and with lots of encouragement, he can kick and throw a ball. Loves to play with our keys, sticking them into keyholes, and trying to turn the doorknobs.

10. Seems to have weaned off of his morning bottle - has been drinking his morning milk with a sippy cup or straw for the past week. Has gone to bed two nights in a row now without the bottle. This morning, though, he caught a glimpse of a bottle on the kitchen counter and he started reaching out for it and whining. We hope he doesn't fall off the wagon. The next step is to get his day care provider to cut the bottle before naps. Done -- D.O.N.E. -- with his pacifier!

Cruisin'

For Thanksgiving this year, Mama, Daddy, and I went on a Yoh Family Reunion to the Eastern Carribean. Here's a photo series documenting our activities...

Goodbye, Miami!

Hello open waters.

Our home away from home...

But our real home doesn't have nightly turn-down service like this!

Nor do our bath towels look like this.

We saw land eventually, and took an evening stroll in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I hung out with some of my cousins: the boys...

And some of my cousins: the girls.

I got lots of attention from Lau Lau and Yeh Yeh, of course.

And took a catamaran ride in St. Maarten.

Vacation means lots of sleeping of course.
And fun in the sun with Daddy in the pool.

We hit the beach in St. Maarten...

and tested the waters in St. Thomas.

We took an open-air taxi ride in St. Thomas with Uncle Eric and Mama...

to see some Iguanas

And then we lounged around like lizards.

Lots of eating back on the boat.

And more sleeping...

Quick updates

Mom and Dad took me to the pediatrician again yesterday, and here are my most recent stats:

Weight -- 26 lbs, 11 oz (75%)
Height -- 32" (75%)
Head Circumference -- 19.75" (>95%)

Again, the doc took my head measurements TWICE to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Then she looked at my mom and asked, "Well. That's a really big head. Do either of you have large heads?" Mom immediately pointed at Dad, silently wondering to herselve how Dr. Kaminker really could've missed the huge talking globe sitting to her left. She obviously was ignoring the 800-lb head in the room.

Last night while I was taking a bath, Mom and Dad asked me, "Devin, where is the A?" It took me a little while to shift my attention away from the tile grout, but then I pointed to the "A" letter of my bath-tub alphabet set. Both of them just went bonkers after that. I also said, "ah-ble" and pointed to the round red fruit pictured under the A, and they just totally flipped. I thought they were gonna lose it, so to avoid sending them totally over the edge, when they asked me about the letter C, I just blinked at them and went back to poking my fingers in the bath tub drain. I gotta dole it out to them slowly, you know.

So I guess they are going to try to wean me off my bottle soon (I heard them discussing this with the doc yesterday). Noooo! Not when I was just getting into the habit of dangling the bottle between my teeth while walking around the apartment.

Early childhood trauma?

When Devin was only about three or four months old, he spent the night a few times with Davis's parents, leaving us to actually get some sleep. We were fine with being away from our baby because (1) we really enjoy sleeping, and (2) he never seemed to recognize us anyway -- any hand that held the precious bottle for him was a familiar hand. He just never seemed to mind. He alway returned normal and we greeted him with well-rested spirits.

Well, these days we have learned how to cope with less sleep in our lives (paid for by lower-level mental functions, not that anything was that high to begin with), and Devin is older and has developed quite a set of lungs to express his discontent. When the opportunity comes up for Davis and me to send him packing on an overnight trip to Grandma's, we now find ourselves thinking carefully about it and engaging in a full debate about whether to take up the opportunity. We don't really crave the extra sleep anymore. Sometimes it's merely a practical issue, like maybe I have to be out of town overnight and Davis has to work late. Sometimes it's just a grandparents-wanna-have-him-all-for-themselves-overnight issue. Whatever the reason, we've found ourselves wondering, "Will Devin survive a night away from home? Will Davis's parents survive a night with him? Will we survive when he comes back?"

Being a parent takes a lot of practice - the first three to six months of baby's life when you are just walking around like a zombie completely glazed over and sleep deprived is really just like cruel brainwashing session to erase any memory of life as you knew it - life before baby. It's just like how Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, approaches dog training. Lots of excercise, then discipline, and then love. If you aren't familiar with Cesar Milan, his philosophy is to wear down obnoxious spoiled hyper uncontrollable dogs through vigorous excercise so that when they are absolutely exhausted and spent, their brains are ready to learn discipline. Then you reward them with lots of doggie hugs and love. See, just like parenthood. Wear the hell out of 'em with sleep deprivation, then they learn how to drag their beaten bodies out of bed every two hours throughout the night even when they think they can tolerate no more, and then...when the baby gives you that first smile and says, "mama" or "dadee," you know you've been successfully trained, and VOILA -- you're suddenly totally sprung on your baby! Just like that.

Over time, with practice you develop a system. We always keep a box of tissues next to the table, along with a stack of bibs and a collection of toys to keep Devin's attention while we feed him. We also have a system now where boxes of toys are strategically placed throughout the apartment so that Devin can stay occupied and IN SIGHT in various places while we perform daily tasks that require both hands, like brushing teeth or cooking. We have a system in place so that when we come home and dump our stuff, we do it into a big cabinet with doors on it, so that loose coins, keys, and receipts won't find their way into Devin's mouth. We have a secondary keyboard next to our computer so that he can bang away as much as he wants and not delete my entire dissertation chapter by chapter. Yeah, it's a system that's been honed over the past 15 months and it works like a well-oiled machine.

But, when Devin isn't around much, sometimes that machine gets a little rusty. When I haven't had Devin at home with me for awhile, suddenly that box of tissues has disappeared right at the moment when he has thrown mashed peas all over the table and is about to -- in slow motion -- run his white sleeve right into the clump of green mush. And when I haven't been around him for awhile and then try to pick him up, my back reminds me that muscles get stronger with use and not with sitting at a computer or in front of the TV set.

Tonight Davis's mom asked if she could take Devin to Phelan (about an hour away from LA) for two nights -- wow, we were not really prepared to deal with letting all that Cesar Milan training go to pot. In the end, we decided we'd send him over there, since I will be out of town for a conference and Davis has to work late. I'm still anxious about it. Two nights away from home just seems like eternity, when we've been able to tippy-toe into his room in the middle of the night every night, and peek over the crib rail at him whenever we want to feel some love. It's one of my favorite things to do. We just hope that when he returns he will still remember us, that he won't plot revenge on us for the rest of his life, and that we will remember how the whole system works.

Building blocks

This video was taken on 10/16. Check out the self-satisfaction!


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I hate Halloween...

1 year, 3 months

1. Claps his hands when you say, "pak soo," which means "clap your hands" in Korean.

2. If you ask him, "Devin, where's your foot?" he will point to his foot. If you say, "Devin, where's Mama's foot?" he will point to my foot.

3. When he sees the moon in the evening sky, he says, "moo-"

4. When we take him to the park, he will ignore all the play gyms and run straight for any dog he sees.

5. Last week, he started to say, "da-dee."

6. He loves to open the bag of dog food, find the scoop inside, and use it to stir whatever's in lucy's bowl.

7. He is beginning to feed himself with a spoon/fork. In this video (taken 10/14), he actually manages to get the food in his mouth:


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8. Last night with the time change, he was very tired by bedtime. He threw down his milk bottle, walked to his crib, reached up for the rail, and started bouncing like he wanted to get inside.

9. Devin doesn't like sand. We put him in the sandbox at the park, and he stood on one foot the entire time until we lifted him out.

10. He can turn knobs now, and also switch the light on and off when we ask him (and lift him up to reach the switch).

11. Two days ago i taught him the word, "fish," and pointed to the fish on his blanket, his toy fish, and the fish that's on the side of his swing. This morning, i asked him where the fish was, and he dug around in his toy box and pulled out his stuffed fish.

12. When we ask him to get a book, he will walk to his bookshelf and pick out a book. He will also hand the book to us when we ask, but he won't sit through a whole reading anymore before getting distracted by something else to play with.

13. Every morning he walks with Daddy from the front door to the car to go to daycare. He leaves around 7:30 AM and returns around 6:30 in the evening.

14. When we hold out his socks and say, "which foot first?" he will lift one leg at a time to let us put his socks on.

15. To express affection, he will tilt his head to the side and try to rest his cheek on us. He especially loves to do this with Lucy, and rest his cheek on her butt.

16. He loves to watch Lucy eat and drink water. He crouches down on all fours and puts his face six inches away from her food/water bowl as she eats/drinks. He knows not to touch her while she's eating/drinking.

Version 1.2

One year, 2 months update:

1. Can walk like a pro. Walks around the apartment like he lives here.
2. Loves to crawl up and down stairs. Can lift his leg and pull himself up if someone holds onto one hand. He always leads with his left foot.
3. Still not sure if he favors his left or right hand.
4. When reading his "Baby Galileo Sees the Stars" book, he loves to turn the pages really fast to get to the last page where the moon lights up. When we get to the page with the sleeping bird and ask, "Devin, where's the BIRD?" He will point to the bird and tap it with his hand. He does the same on the page with the whale.
5. Sometimes he'll come sit down on the floor next to Davis or me and rest his head in our lap.
6. Loves to feed Lucy biscuits and pepperoni dog treats. He knows to let go of the treat when she takes it in her mouth, though sometimes he's a little more stubborn about letting go of the pepperoni strip.
7. When we ask, "Where's mama's nose?" he grabs my nose.
8. Loves to thrash and splash his arms around in the bathtub. Davis started to dunk him backwards, wetting the back of his head. At first Devin looked nervous, then he started to laugh. After that, he started leaning forward in the water, and putting one side of his head and his ear underwater like he's listening to it.
9. Still no words.
10. Can probably drink right out of a cup, though we are too nervous to try it. We just saw him drinking his bathwater using a container.

Sunday afternoon, family stroll in the park

Lucy is in heaven. Devin feeds her biscuits and they've grown mutually fond of each other now.


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Unintended consequences

You may have read the recent post about babies watching television. Soon afterwards, we got Devin a Sesame Street DVD of ABC's, but he definitely prefers the Baby Einstein video. I think the latter video appeals to him because it's made up of short vignettes of things that make absolutely no sense. Like worms popping out of apples, followed by colorful turning gears, and then computer generated bouncing worms. But hey, it works, it keeps Devin's attention focused on something other than screaming, wriggling, or crawling head first into Lucy's butt.

One side effect of his new television activity, however, took me by surprise. Last week when I was catching my breath and sitting down for the first time all day, Devin was seated on the other couch, mesmerized by the strange kaleidoscope on the TV screen. Some music came on, and he instantly stood up on the couch, then turned around, and slid -- quite deftly, I might add -- down the side of the couch, feet first, on his belly, and landed on the floor like a cat. Then, with both arms held out straight in front of him like Frankenstein, he put one leg in front of the other and walked stiffly across the living room to the TV set where he began clawing at the screen. This was a week ago, and since then, he's been walking with impressive balance and coordination. Who would've thought that TV would be the catalyst that set him off on walking, when we solely intended for it to keep his butt glued to the couch?

Stay posted, I'm going to add a video of him walking soon.

One plus one

Update on my progress at a year and a month:

1. I now have some bottom molars peeking through my gums...mostly on my left side. I'm continuing to chew on everything and to drool everywhere.
2. I'm eating more table food like tofu, rice, and seaweed soup; macaraoni and cheese; french toast; scrambled eggs; quartered and peeled grapes; bread. I'm also eating cottage cheese, Goldfish snacks (the low-sodium kind), and pasta or noodles.
3. I'm starting to transition to cow's milk, too. I had a few days of goat's milk. I like it just fine, though the first couple of days I pooped five times a day (perhaps that was a little too much information for you).
4. I like holding the phone up to my ear and talking into it. But if anyone says anything back to me though the phone, I become very very silent and confused.
5. I used to like making Baby Teradactyl noises, but I've progressed now to making T-Rex roars.
6. I'm walking across the room now without much assistance. In fact, today I walked with Mama all the way out to the mailbox at the end of our driveway. Of course, I held her hand.
7. I've learned not to bite anyone anymore.
8. I sometimes blow kisses on command. Sometimes.
9. I still have trouble clapping my hands, but I can bang on the table quite well.
10. Today, I saw a cat on TV and I said, "Kuh, kuh, kuh."

Safari

Marta elena took these photos of me right after I returned from my expedition where I captured a hippo wearing a bowtie. My overalls strap came undone while I was wrestling the beast to the ground.

Should I be doing this?

This is what my parents saw last night when they parked me in front of the tube. I don't usually get to watch TV, but last night Dad and Mom popped in a Baby Einstein video that I got for my birthday. As I sat like this, Dad and Mom were able to enjoy dinner at a pace that didn't require subsequent surgery for ulcers, execute a decent conversation with each other, and discussed cracking open a bottle of wine in celebration that I remained in one place for more than 5 seconds.


No, I didn't try to eat the phone book. No, I didn't rip off all the electrical outlet covers. I didn't try to chew on Lucy's ear or on Dad's shoes. I didn't scream, I didn't try to tear down the screen door. In fact, I sat like this -- peacefully and absolutely enthralled -- for a good 10 or 12 minutes while the TV screen glowed with psychadelic colors. Whoa, man. It was good.

So, do your parents let you watch TV? If so, how old were you when you started? (Hey, I'm talking to all you other babies out there who still live with your parents and don't shop for your own clothing yet.)

12-month checkup

Today I went to see Dr. Kaminker again for my 12-month checkup. Here are my stats:

Weight: 24 lbs. 9 oz (75%)
Height: 31" (90%)
Head Circumference: 19.5" (>95%)

I'm off the chart on my head size. Maybe it's all this hair?

I got two shots, MMR and Prevnar, one in each arm, and MAN DID THEY HURT! After the shots, Mom had to go feed the parking meter, and Dad stayed with me to console me. Mom said she heard my crying from all the way out in the street! Babies in the waiting room were beginning to feel a tad bit uncomfortable.

I got the green light to start eating more table food off of Dad and Mom's plates. They realized they need to start eating healthier themselves. In a couple weeks after I see the dermatologist for my skin rash, I can start transitioning to whole milk!

Doc said I will probably be able to kick and throw a ball soon. Wow, can't wait!

Can't keep up

Mama and Dad can't keep up with my new activities in this blog. Here are recent updates:

1. I can say, "go go" which means dog in Chinese. My babysitter, Mrs. Tran, reported to Dad that I'll say this and point to the calendar on her wall, which has a picture of a dog on it. Mom and Dad haven't tested this theory to see if I call Lucy a "go go."

2. I point to stuff and say, "whuh whuh," all the time. No one understands me yet.

3. Tabletops are no longer safe haven for things like Mama's glasses, PDA's, laptop computers, etc. I can reach and pull them down now. My parents (and their gadgets) are in trouble.

4. I like fitting and putting things into containers. Where I used to just chew on my stackable nesting cups, I now like to stuff them full of lego pieces, or nest them in one another. In my bath, I like to fill a container with water and pieces of the alphabet and then pour them all out. Then I repeat this over and over. I also have started to play with my shape sorter set, though someone has to point where I'm supposed to insert the shapes. But once I know where to put the shape, I can fit it in with a little help here and there.

5. I understand "no" better now, as well as "gentle." But...that heater vent in the hallway is just sooooo irresistable and tempting, I can't help but try to stick my fingers in there, even when I'm shaking my head, "no." I just can't help it.

6. A couple days ago, I was playing in the living room and Mom was in the kitchen around the corner. I guess I must've been silent for awhile, so she came to check on me. When she rounded the corner, I was just on the verge of figuring out how to open the cabinet door to get to the DVD/CD player. Based on the expression on Mom's face, I knew in an instant that this was not cool. Mom's a sucker for my charms, so I gave a BIG sheepish smile, crawled right over to her ankles, reached up, and when she picked me up, I squeezed her neck as hard as I could to give her a huge hug. She couldn't do anything but laugh. (Note to self: Remember this technique for future reference. Bwaaaahhh ha ha hahhh...)

7. I like to push my walker toy across the living room floor. When I hit the wall or corner, I scream until someone turns me and the walker around. Then I take off again. We can do this about 30 times in an evening.

8. I enjoy back massages from Dad at night after my bath. It calms me down and helps me relax.

9. I am learning the meaning of "together" and "apart." I can sometimes put together two mega block pieces (these are like Legos only bigger and chunkier), and I can always pull them apart.

10. My appetite is back. Last night I actually ate some zucchini and carrot pieces by myself while Dad and Mom had dinner. We try to eat together as a family every night.

New and improved

Thanks to Jenni (and Maiya) for turning me on to this new video hosting service! Let's see if this works...let me know if you have any problems viewing this on my blog.


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Feeling much better

Sleeping much better

Smiling more

Playing harder

Feeling much better

I love to read

In addition to my BBQ in the park, I also had a Korean celebration of my first birthday. There were about 50 or 60 of my relatives there from Dad's side of the family. It was pretty opulent -- Halmoni and Haraboji rented a hotel banquet room with a Korean buffet, and the setup was pretty fresh. Check out the above head table where I sat, and check out the balloons!


And here's a pop-quiz for you: look at the photo below, and tell me which of these things is not like the others?


During the party, we played a traditional fortune-telling game called dol ja bee where I basically get to choose from a layout of various items. There was thread (representing long life), book (scholarship), crayons (artistry), money (wealth), and pencils (not sure, maybe a life of sitting at a desk?). Mom and Dad asked guests to vote for what I would choose. They made these cute baskets where people cast their ballots:

After photos (more will be posted later), eating, and cake-cutting, I sat down on a blanket and Dad and Mom arranged all the items before my feet. Can you guess which item I went for? I went for a computer mouse! You see, at the last minute before the game, the hotel manager brought over his own dol ja bee set that included, of all things, a computer mouse. Against Mom and Dad's objections, however, Halmoni and Haraboji replaced my colorful crayons with a computer mouse. Mom still prefers to believe that I will grow up to be artistic and creative, and not develop tendonitis in my mousing hand.

After the mouse, I chose the book. Dad had a feeling that was going to happen, since I've been pretty interested in my books at home. There's a basket of books in my room, and sometimes I will even forgo the chewable toys and wheels, and pick out a book and flip through the pages. THIS, however, is my all-time favorite book, Touch and Feel WILD ANIMALS.


When given a choice between this and any other book in my collection, I always choose this one. There is a lion with a hairy mane, a lizard with bumpy skin, a dolphin with smooth, slippery skin, a koala with a furry body, and this....this is my all-time favorite page in the book -- a tree frog with sticky pads on its fingers. I can sit for minutes, just poking the sticky pads like this:


Well, it's gonna be awhile before I get to play with a mouse or a computer so in the meantime I'll gladly settle for my books.