Santa Train

Being in the U.S. this year for Christmas has been a bit different than our last two years. In Korea, the holiday is sporadically celebrated. Much fewer Christmas decor and certainly fewer Santas. This being our first real holiday with Micah, we have taken advantage of all opportunities, short of the mall scene, to visit Santa.
The latest visit was to Pt. Defiance Park and the Santa Train. For $2 we rode the train, got several minutes with Santa and despite the rain(surprise) and cold, had a great time with our friends, the Wiseth's.
Micah was a bit tired, but a trooper as he sat on Santa's lap and ate his biscuit. He asked for more tofu, cheese and Pediasure to help him keep his weight up during the Holidays.

Future Elf

Micah wanted to assure himself a spot on Santa's good list, so we took him to hob nob with Rudolph, Santa and Santa's helpers (some of Jim's students). I'm sure if Santa doesn't come fulfill Micah's wish list, then his grandparents will.

One of Micah's wishes is that he will gain weight this Christmas. Weighing in at 17 lbs and 12 ounces, he is vying for an Elf spot and may take Buddy's place at the North Pole this Christmas. Although Micah hasn't grown much physically, he is developmentally growing leaps and bounds. It is so nice to be able to better communicate with him now that he knows quite a few signs and words: ouch, more, hot, windy, bird, cold, food, daddy, water, milk, and shoes are some of the signs he has mastered and "amen", "bannana", "truck", and "dada" are his favorite new words. Too fun!

Bucket Boy

As is typical of children Micah's age, the box the toy comes in is a bigger hit than the actual toy. Micah loves to entertain himself by walking around with the bucket that holds his blocks on top of his head. Luckily this bucket is clear, so it allows him to avoid most of the collisions with stationary objects around the apartment.

The Buzzzzzzz around town

Since Bzzzzz is Micah's favorite animal sound to make, we dressed him as a bee for Halloween. Last Halloween was spent in Korea where the holiday is not traditionally celebrated, so this was Micah's first official Halloween. After buzzing around grandma and grandpa Brownlee's, we made our second "trick-or-treat" stop at the Boyd's home. From there, we all walked to the Proctor shopping district where hundreds of ghosts and gobblins were lined up to receive tooth-decaying treats. The best treat of all was seeing the creative costumes and not standing in the endlessly long line since Micah did not know what he was missing.

The Children's Museum

A few weeks ago, a small group of us enjoyed an afternoon at the Tacoma Children's Museum. It is chock-full of children-friendly activities and toys! A social child, Micah was mostly interested in following other children around, but once he was no longer intrigued by the social aspect of the trip, he settled down to play with some produce. Micah also taught his grandma how to stack and restack dishes, climb the rock wall, and eat a plumb; boy did she stay busy. Since the afternoon was such a hit, we returned yesterday for another fun day at the museum with his best bud Luke.

Strollin' in the Patch

Enjoy the video of Micah walking through the Pumpkin Patch.

BOOOO!

Micah made his first of many trips to Spooner Farms for the Pumpkin pickin'. The patch wasn't as we remembered it from our dating days, but it did have a couple of new additions that Micah loved. He walked around the pumpkins and enjoyed a ride on a tractor with Julie.

1 and done

No, this in not a commentary on the liklihood that Julie and I will have another. It is however a celebration of Micah's first birthday party. Micah was a trooper through the whole affair as many guest loved on him for 4 hours.
We decided to honor his "home land" by having a Korean themed party. Jim cooked Korean food and I set up the decor. We had Bulgogi, fried sweet potatoes, mandu and even sang Happy Birthday in Korean. In a Korean tradition, money, string and a pencil were placed before Micah. The one he chose, money, shaped his future...and ours...he will be rich. Who needs long life or smarts!
Micah is very grateful for all the love he was shown in the gift department. Some family even sent gifts even though they couldn't be there. We love all of you and hope you like the pictures.

Firsts...

Micah attended his first Mariners game with his Grandpa and Grandma Bechtel last weekend. G-pa and G-ma bought him a great outfit, his first tee and bat plus a glove and ball. Micah was the hit of Safeco Field as he walked back and forth from the Garlic Fries stand to his seat. Micah also attended his first Puyallup Fair. He was a little overwhelmed by all the people, but he really enjoyed his first deep fried snickers bar. Yummy!!!! You can look forward to some 1st birthday shots on the next posting.

Happy Birthday

No, it is not Micah's first birthday yet, but he did attend the festivities of his G-pa Stein. He met lots of his great aunts and uncles and they were excited to play with him and perhaps make an apprearance on our blog.
As you can see by the fact that he donned his party hat, Micah's favorite part of the day was having his own swimming pool.

Let's have a catch

Micah loves to play catch. His slider isn't biting as much as we would like, but I think the large ball and the fact that he must use two hands has something to do with it.
Julie and I are still looking for a house and considering moving from my parent's place to an apartment closer to my work. School starts on Tuesday and I have already been busy with volleyball.
Stay tuned for video of Micah walking on the next post. He has been a bit uncooperative when we pull out the video camera for this great event.

Teaching Again

Julie and I have been blessed to be able to teach English to Korean college students from Daejeon. We have loved being a small part of their community and remembering all the cultural differences that we find fascinating, funny and a bit strange. Grandmas Brownlee and Carson have taken turns babysitting while we trek 20 miles south to teach.

We also took Micah to a beach in the Tacoma area and tried to introduce him to Puget Sound. He kept his eyes on the water the entire time just in case a Tsunami hit.
When we edged him toward the water, he would only allow one foot to enter. The other foot was in the Karate Kid Crane position to avoid getting it wet.
A toddler nearby aparently noticed Micah's fears and in an effort to make him feel comfortable gave Micah a huge hug and kiss. As you can see from the pictures, I don't think it did much good.

Home Again?

Although it doesn't feel much like home, we are back in Washington and enjoying our time with family and friends. Micah is a big hit with all he meets due to his unassuming manner and quick smile.

We are looking for a house, have bought a used car and travelled to Canada for a family reunion in the month of July. Julie and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary by attending Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Julie is excited to teach Koreans at a local church during most of August. They will be travelling around the Pacific Northwest to see sights and hope to learn grammar and improve their pronunciation. I will be taking care of Micah (can you say stay at home dad) while see brings home the bacon.

We are still looking for a job for Julie that will allow here to stay at home and take care of Micah, but earn enough to cover our medical insurance...Korea sure was nice.

Hope all of you are enjoying your summer and excited to return to the old or begin the new things in your life. We think of you often and wish for a time when we can be together again.

What a Hike!!

Julie and I finally made it to Daedunsan, one of the most famous hiking spots in Korea. It is only 1 hr outside of Daejeon and sports a suspension bridge and steep metal staircase. We traveled with our friends Mike and Jaci and Jeff, Robyn and Owen. Micah and I did not make it to the top (he was sleeping) because the cragginess and scrabbling nature of the top section prevented me from seeing my feet below Micah in his front pack.

The weather was beautiful and the company was fantastic too. Hope you enjoy the shots.

ELC

Although it may not look like in this picture, Micah enjoys playing with his friends in the ELC (Early Learning Center) each day. We feel very comfortable leaving him in the care of the women who work there, and he loves each of them: Mrs. Bahta, Miss Kim, Mrs. Song, and Miss Jung (not pictured). He plays on the floor with his friends Sara and Yeoung Suk and the other toddlers like to come "play" with them too. Micah will miss all of the wonderful people in the ELC!

Micah Rolls Over

Although not an Olympic sport yet, I beleive Micah would at least get a bronze. Take careful note of the technique used....spectacular

Owen's 1st Birthday

We enjoyed celebrating Owen's 1st birthday on Hannam University's park-like campus. Robyn, Owen's mom, put together a wonderful picnic lunch and fun gifts for all of the kids. Micah received his first party bag and was more interested in gumming the bag than opening it to find out what was inside.

There were quite a few little ones in attendance, and two of our friends in the picture are pregnant with their first child: Elisha (sitting right behind me) and Jaci (2nd person on the right). As they say, "come to TCIS and you WILL get pregnant." I can't believe our time with our friends is nearing an end. We have been blessed by our friendships here and will be spending as much time with them as we can over the next month!

Birthday Bash

Baby Owen's first birthday was a beautiful day. It was great to hang out with friends, eat some cake, and take lots of pictures. We will miss the friends that we have made here!

Baby Micah may seem a bit devoid of emotion, but trust me, he will be sad to leave too.

The picture on top is of Julie and Laura Price. Micah was born just one month before Sarah, and they spend lots of time "playing" together and enjoy napping in the same room in the ELC (nursery).

Spring in Korea

Spring has hit in Korea and that means two things...more time to bike ride and Easter. Some friends and I took a long bike ride around a resevoir on Good Friday. The weather was great and the ride was better despite some Dam traffic at one end. As you can see we ran into some more archain modes of transportation on the way.

Julie and I dressed Micah in his first Easter outfit and of course some coaxing was necessary to get him to smile. Dad more or less made an idiot out of himself as mom steadied the camera for the winning shot.

Opening Day

With the fervor of any young fan, Micah begged to be dressed in his favorite baseball outfit, complete with circa 1920's style cap. He excitedly waited in the ELC to find out the outcome of today's M's A's match-up. Sidebar: Can't the ELC afford its own subscription to MLB.com Gameday... When his daddy walked with the good news of a 8.0 inning, 3 hit, 12K masterpiece by Felix Hernandez, his little legs waggled for 10 minutes. The word of Richie Sexson's 3 run blast after a timely error by the A's shortstop brought a laugh to his already smiling face. Imagine what he will do when he sees his first major league game...or the Hanwa Eagles anyway in a short couple of months.