The Man.

17 Months: Chat ‘N Scat

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:56:34 -0700

After learning how to swing his arms, he began to run. He is quite a climber, including up to the slide above. Frankly, he makes most people nervous because of his itty-bity size. So, I hover a bit to reassure others more than the boy.

Isaac’s vocabulary has recently proliferated. This is my final opportunity to see if I can capture it all. He recognizes and uses these words (some are actually Korean) in context, albeit not all are spoken in high fidelity yet:

mom, dad, Ofie, bird, bug, dog, cat, ant, butterfly, fly, bee, spider, cow, pig, duck, frog, turtle, fish, bear, rabbit, elephant, snail, mouse, owl, whale, gorilla, water, juice, milk, bread, rice, cracker, apple, banana, kiwi, cheese, cereal, egg, fork, yogurt, knife, cup, head, eyes, mouth, nose, ear, belly button, toes, hot, bye-bye, hi, awesome, cool, more, all done, ball, balloon, park, sing, dance, chalk, paint, rainbow, star, light, kite, throw away, bath, book, tree, flower, out, in, up, upstairs, downstairs, walk, stand up, sit down, tooth brush, diaper, shirt, pants, socks, shoes, car, peek-a-boo, clap, shake, eat, bubbles, splash, kick, turn around, sing, shake, high-5, kiss, I love you (the first time he said it, he gave me a big hug and melted my heart),

and last but not least... “no!”.

How do I discipline him? He is persistent. Gentle redirection doesn’t always cut it. e.g., I can’t relocate the dog’s water bowl to an Isaac-proof location, meanwhile he will always try to knock it over or even drink from it. I don’t want to slap his hand, and inadvertently teach him to slap people. I don’t want to yell at him for the same reason. I am still wrestling with this.

Also at this age, I don’t think the concept of sharing is even conceivable. So, we parents go through the gestures, knowing full well we are pretending to be civilized with such a futile concept. I don’t like pretending.

Easter

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:02:51 -0700

Ah, I still remember last Easter.

This year’s Mass was much less eventful from Isaac’s standpoint. He was looking so sharp in his Kenneth Cole linen suit (thank you S & L!).

We let him stay up a little late from the night before to dye a dozen easter eggs, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Easter was a rainy day, so we did the egg hunt indoors. I didn’t really put too much effort into covertly hiding them. I was truly surprised that he figured out the objective of the game. Not only did he hunt for all the eggs, but he deposited them into his basket he carried continuously. Actually, who wouldn’t want to carry a gecko basket?

A photo album is posted.

14 Months: chase me

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:08:24 -0700

That’s me in my big new carseat :)

Isaac is almost running. He now goes up and down stairs. At the playground, he climbs to the top of the slide, sits, shoves off, slides down, and hops off. As far as I’m concerned, he’s an Olympian. Then one time, his grippy shoe caught during mid-slide which torked his leg and he was pathetically gimpy for the rest of the evening. I was so worried (and ineffectively reassuring myself that kids are made out of rubber), but he was thankfully back to full speed the next day.

It turns out that he is right handed.

I am contemplating potty training. We are all so sick of diapers. Perhaps he is also sick of baby food. Pureed sweet corn? Blegh. He is fixated on the Thai food at the table. Pureed sweet corn + spicy Thai curry = tasty. About once a week, Isaac eats the spicy stuff. With lots of milk on hand if needed. He leads the way - that’s all I’ll say.

Oh the babble, it’s hysterical. But some of the new words: (ba)nana, dog, hi, bye, and the word that comes out of his mouth the most: no. Perhaps he thinks that “no” is just a verbal cue for all highly desirable objects!

Spending time with Isaac is the best part of unemployment.

Who Me?

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:42:53 -0800

“No, of course I’m not getting into trouble. I’m just helping you rearrange the tupperware.”

Isaac has figured out how to open and close pretty much everything within reach. He attempted to toss my hairbrush into the toilet. I have been sharpening my reflexes.

Christmas

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:15:53 -0800

Isaac’s uncle and grandma (my side of the family) came to visit during Christmas. My brother is cute, but he can’t compete with a baby that wears sharp pajamas while donning a bow.

Santa brought him stacking blocks, a Tonka truck, and crafty Crayola stuff.

iPod in the background is playing “A Charlie Brown Xmas”. Vince Guaraldi is fantastic.

Below: Xmas morning and Xmas dinner.

11 months

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:38:53 -0800

So what has he been doing the last few months? Oh, a thing or two.

There has been plenty of jabbering, with an occasional “Mommmm, Dadda, dog, bah (bath)” thrown in there. Isaac now claps his hands and dances on cue. He can wave goodbye and shake his head. He pulls off his socks. He is a gymnast on the diaper changing table. He also climbs the stairs from the ground floor to the 3rd floor on a daily basis. All new items to inspect must be tasted and dropped onto the floor. Here is his first work of art, created during the wee hours of Korean jet lag (Artist: Isaac Gunho Kim. 2008. 2” x 3”. Media: Digital scribble application on mother’s iPhone. Private collection.):

The food arena has definitely gotten more entertaining. I am so relieved that he eats pretty much everything without any issue, which was definitely a good thing when we were in Korea (e.g. eel). With his 4 teeth, he is able to bite off his own finger foods. Of course, Ofie is ever ready to sweep in and devour anything that hits the floor. We still often take him out to restaurants. What can I say, eating makes him happy.

Isaac is sleeping through the night!!!

1st Haircut

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:11:27 -0800

I took him to my salon, where he was introduced to the buzzy clipper. He sat more still than I had expected. Afterwards we went to brunch to sport our new do’s.

Halloween

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:04:12 -0700

We just sat on the stoop and handed out candy. I caved in and gave him a twizzler, but his evil father took it away before he could finish it.

7 Months: Here comes trouble!

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:35:21 -0700

Despite the protesting in the photo, Isaac did love the beach. I had to use this pic, cuz if you look closely, you can see his nubby teeth!

This big news this month is mobility. Isaac is crawling all over the place, and hoisting himself up into standing position using any available prop. He’s even started to cruise and climb a bit. He’s beginning to get into mischief. Toys? Eh. Power strips and electrical wiring are far more enticing. It’s the dawn of a new era. Isaac is now on the prowl for anything and everything below 30”.

Up until this week, he has liked all foods that he has tried. But now I have discovered that he doesn’t like cooked egg yolks. Guess who else doesn’t like egg yolks? Yours truly. Surely, some of us are genetically programmed to not like it. Then there are people like Tom who would prefer to swim in a sea of runny egg yolk. That’s raw baby chicken juice!!!!!!!

6 Months = Milestones Galore!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:24:01 -0700

This might be the perfect age where he can entertain himself without getting into trouble. Isaac will sit up and tinker with his doo-hickeys for quite a while. Although he can skootch around and crawl a bit, he hasn’t taken off across the room yet.

We had to lower the crib mattress level. Lately, his big thing is to pull himself up into standing position, preferably in his crib at the wee hours of the morning. You walk in and he gives the killer smile and hug-me-arms, “since we’re up, you wanna play?” So bittersweet. When he’s tired of standing, he just crumples and laughs. He’s a brute; rarely gets spooked by falling down/over. Mr. Devil-May-Care loves to get swung and tossed around. I was doing this with him while waiting at the post office for his passport submission. A woman came over to me and told me that I was giving him brain damage since I was rattling his brain around in his skull. Are you kidding me? Do you see the smiles and hear the giggles?

Isaac has broken the seal. He likes food, pretty much all of it including a very bland and unseasoned pureed avocado that I wouldn’t eat myself. He will grab the spoon and try to eat on his own, if you aren’t serving it up fast enough. Tragically, his poop now smells like poop. It used to smell like caramel candy. I shit you not.

And last but not least: teeth! I couldn’t really tell if teething bothered him since it also coincided with his first nasty cold virus (daycare, argh). He was a total grump for 3 days, and especially nights. You take blowing your nose for granted. Between the snotty nose and teething drool, he was slimeier than the mascot of UC Santa Cruz.