Life in the ROK

Max takes flight

2009-07-07T22:29:00.001-07:00

Max and Tyler have fun at Moran State Park, Orcas Island. Max and I spent the last 10 days here and will leave tomorrow for more family fun in Los Angeles.
Max practices some of his flying moves
Nice form!

Moran State Park

2009-07-07T22:18:00.001-07:00

Kaylie and Tyler have more fun building sand castles than Max

Max and Grandma

2009-07-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Max holds his first starfish
and checks out the oysters and crab we caught on my mom and Bruce's beach
I eat the freshest oyster I have ever had, right off the rock
Tyler and Travis admire their catch!

Shabu Shabu

2009-07-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

For Kaylie's birthday my Mom made Shabu Shabu in their newly remodeled kitchen! Tyler and his friend Travis have been working on the house for about 2 months.

Happy Birthday to you.
Make a wish.
Success!

Kaylie's Birthday

2009-07-07T18:49:00.001-07:00

For Kaylie's birthday Tyler, Travis and Kaylie build a catamaran. Here it is after they all abandoned ship.
Not quite as sound as they had hoped.
The ship started to sink pretty quickly after they all got on.
The birthday girl!

Last days in Seoul

2009-06-29T02:46:00.000-07:00

Colleen just finished this painting under the wire. It's the view outside our window on the 24th floor, looking across the Han River. Colleen painted the views from our apartment in LA and our house in Colorado Springs; they are some of my favorite paintings. I love getting a little memory jog everytime I see something like this. Thanks Colleen, great work!

The monsoons started last week. I wore my water shoes and Max wore his so we could stomp in all the puddles outside. When we came back, it was mission complete.

Otherwise Max and Colleen left this afternoon to go to Orcas Island and see MJ and Bruce for a few days. We'll meet up again on July 14th in Los Angeles when the Army finally lets me leave Korea too. In the meantime, cross your fingers the little fat guy up north doesn't try anything funny. Highly doubtful. See you in the US!

Max says Duck

2009-06-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

2009-06-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Hiromi from high school and her husband Ben came to Seoul and stayed with us. We had a great visiting with them;-)

Max at the Fish Market

2009-06-19T04:08:00.000-07:00

We took Ben and Hiromi to the fish market and they got some great pictures of Max with the octopus and sea cucumbers.

Being a cute read headed little guy in Korea definitely opens people up to Max. Koreans as a culture are very open and loving to kids, but the blue eyes, and curly hair help too;-)

Max liked touching all the sea animals.

Jay let him ride on his shoulders for a while so we could actually get through the whole market and Max waved at all the fish and the fishmongers. These days he waves at everything and everyone...really into saying HI!!

2009-06-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

Max was pretty excited about the skateboard Ben brought with him.

Max's first ride

2009-06-19T03:56:00.000-07:00

Max was so excited to see Ben doing tricks on his skateboard that Ben offered to take him for a ride.

The first time around Max was a little apprehensive about the while thing.

After the second ride he kept doing the baby sign for more...more!

Ben fixed Max's hat so he looked more like a skater.

ED Farewell

2009-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Emergency Department Hail and Farewell. A pretty good crowd showed up but we are never full strength for parties because there are always people on and post night shift too.

I gave out some awards, for example to CPT (Dr.) Katina Fosen. Max tried to get into the action too.

Awards to MAJ John Godesa and our trusty Ambulance Driver Supervisor, Mr. Yim, who has worked for the hospital since 1969. Before I was born!

And I got an award. A nice little bell, a replica of King Songdok the Great's Divine Bell that was made in 771 and still exists. I thanked Max for all his support and let him have a few words too.

I have learned many things in the last three years in Korea and last two as Chief of the Emergency Department. Maybe most importantly, I learned that respect is an action verb. Sometimes you just have to choose to do it, despite all feelings to the contrary, and have to repeat, repeat, repeat for it to finally take hold. Thank goodness things like that finally get easier after some practice.

Thanks everyone in the ED for all your hard work taking care of our patients everyday, day in and day out.

Carribean Bay

2009-06-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Caribbean Bay at Everland Amusement Park. Jay has ALWAYS!!! wanted to go and our friends Hiromi and Ben who are visiting us from the states were excited to catch some fake Korean waves. We liked this sign with the Korean Mikey and Minnie that led us into the park.

Hiromi and Max chillin by the wave pool.

Good times at Caribbean Bay!

Max, Shoma, and the Red Car

2009-06-09T05:32:00.000-07:00

Max was so good about sharing his red car today with his friend Shoma! I was so proud;)

2009-06-08T04:46:00.000-07:00

We went hiking early for my birthday but got lost and ended up at a Buddist altar.

Max wondering about the whole inner peace thing. Or Cheerios. One of the two, at least.

He was a little scared by the mean face of the stone lion guardians and had to be coaxed to pet them.

Then he made friends and shared his water with them.

2009-06-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

We finally found the trail and made it up the trail to a nice little view out the left of the trees.

We made it to the peak and gave a hearty, Yes! A couple of years ago I climbed the rock in the background with Chris Strode on a four or five pitch route.

Mom and Max bag the peak of Yongbeong.

Pretty exhausted at the fork in the trail on the way down. Max was such a delight all weekend and Colleen, of course, was such a sweet wife. What a great birthday.

Red velvet delight

2009-06-08T04:34:00.000-07:00

Colleen made a red velvet cake per my request. It was the strangest looking cake coming out of the oven I ever saw. Then it gave me a big birthday kiss with those cake lips. It was an amazing birthday cake.

And some toasted pecans to make it healthy.

Max got some candle blowing lessons.

Jay gets a bubble gun for his B-Day

2009-06-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Jay opens his birthday present from Max.

Just what he always wanted....an automatic bubble blowing gun!!!

Max tries to eat

and catch all bubbles;-)

Max and Shoma Play

2009-06-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

Is that some sharing I see going on there?!?

Sorry guys there is a safety on that;-)

Max and Shoma pulled out a container of flash cards I made for studying Korean and made sounds like they were trying to read them....so very cute.

We will miss you guys when we move to Italy;-(

Max finger paints

2009-05-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

I bought some finger paints for Max and have been really excited about letting him try them. So this weekend while Jay was gone I set up Max's painting station on his high chair. He was pretty unsure about the whole thing and kept shaking his hand in the air trying to get the red paint off! Here are his first two masterpieces;-)

I like to call this one "Birds take flight"

and this one is "Untitled #1."

Max's new seat

2009-05-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

After reorganizing our storage porch........no garage when you live on the 24th floor...

Max discovered that he had a new favorite seat!

Boat Trip on the Han

2009-05-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

Max eats Korean food

and practices using chopsticks

before our boat trip on the Han River.

Behind us is the Korean Congress building. Yes, Max is wearing a San Diego Padres hat, for all you fans out there;-)

Toddler Cross Fit

2009-05-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Max does his toddler cross fit workout! He is getting very strong;-)

Murph

2009-05-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

Today I did my first full Hero workout for CrossFit. This one is called Murph, named after LT Mike Murphy of the Navy Seals, who died in Afghanistan. After Seals PT, he would do this next. It's a one mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, then run another mile. In body armor. I was ahead after the bodyweight exercises, but Trigg's long legs were his advantage in the run and he beat me by one second at 41:40.

RIP LT Mike Murphy.

Jay goes flyfishing in Korea

2009-05-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

Colleen was kind enough to let me go flyfishing before leaving Korea. I left Friday night on the express bus down to the south of the country and met up with my guide, James Card, in the morning. It rained all day, mostly a light but constant little drizzle. Thanks James for hooking me up with some rain and fishing gear to keep me dry. Behind James you can see the little gorge we started the day in, trying to hook into some barbels, notchmouth, and others. It was absolutely gorgeous, or at least my starvation for nature from being trapped in Seoul made me think so. I was loving it, despite the rain.

Here is my first and only catch. It's a little notchmouth, the only of its kind in the world.

Check out the front of the jaw, how it hooks down then up. It fits into a notch on the upper jaw, hence the name.

We spent the second part of the day fishing a beautiful trout stream up in the mountains. I got a couple of strikes in this little pool but did not hook into one of the cherry trout we were after. Granted, I am a very novice flyfisher and need to get some hours and days and weeks under my belt. This was one of those. Despite the paucity of fish catching, I had a great time in the outdoors, hiking all around, chatting it up with James, etc. A great, great day. Thanks Colleen! You're the best wife ever.

PS A few more photos on Facebook but not so much photo shooting due to the rain. Trust me, it was wonderful.

Han River Park

2009-05-16T00:31:00.000-07:00

These days we spend a lot of time at the Han River Park in our neighborhood.

The apt we live in is in the second row behind Max.

Max and Jay eat Grapes

2009-05-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

Max is really into feeding us lately.

He is kind of like a little prince afraid he will be poisoned so he makes us try everything first.

Here he and Jay were eating grapes while we were at the Han river park.

He also says mmmmmmm whenever he gives us a bite....I wonder where he learned that?

Max the traveler

2009-05-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

Max tries out his new backpack/suitcase and prepares for our next trip to the states and our move to Italy!

Busy Max

2009-05-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Max turns in circles, chases birds, throws grass, picks up sticks, and kicks a soccer ball all in 3 minutes.

Max the loud phone talker

2009-05-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

We are not sure where he got it from, but Max is a loud phone talker...babbler really at this point. It seems like he is yelling at someone for a business deal gone bad or maybe just not being able to play outside when he wanted to.

Max's first short film

2009-05-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

Max loves playing with our little video camera. We probably have about fifty 3 second videos that he has taken, mostly of me changing his diaper. I am sure other mom's can relate that you will give them just about anything to keep them distracted long enough to actually get that clean diaper on. Here is one of his more intersting short films.

Max talks on the Korean Dictionary

2009-04-27T03:27:00.000-07:00

These days Max pretends just about anything mechanical and the right size is a phone. He pretends to talk on the air conditioning control, the TV remotes, the mouse for the computer, and here on my Korean dictionary.

He often makes little "ah ah ah" sounds while he is doing it and walks around the house.

Here he is talking while chillin in his shiny red coupe.

And apparently does know how cute it is;-)

Max the fussy eater

2009-04-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Much to his parents dismay.....Max has become a fussy eater;-( This is not normally how we feed him, but we will do pretty much whatever it takes these days to get him to eat as much as we can.

It can be a bit frustrating at times. I usually end up eating more than he does trying to convince him how good it is. Now when he gives me a bite he always says "Mmmmmm."

Luckily it is not all torturous.

Cherry Blossoms

2009-04-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

My favorite cherry blossom pictures of the season.

Spring is here

2009-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

The cherry blosoms were blooming right after we returned from Vietnam! We were very happy we did not miss them.

So was Max!

Yea For Spring!

Max discovers chocolate

2009-04-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Max discovered chocolate the other day when he pulled a box with one candy left out of the cupboard and started chewing on it.....little did he know how tasty it was going to be. He ate it right through the wrapper. I tried to help him, but there was no way he was letting that sticky little piece of deliciousness out of his control.

A few days later I found chocolate hand prints on the sliding glass doors out to our porch;-)

Our trip to Vietnam

2009-04-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

This was the view from our room at the Victoria Hoi An Hotel in Vietnam.

Every morning a guy with a water buffalo would comb the beach to make it all nice and fresh for us. Yes it was misty in the morning, but this photo looks extra foggy because my camera was so cold from being in our air conditioned room when I took it outside it got all fogged up and if I waited for it to un-fog I would have missed the water buffalo.

I had the same fogging problem with this photo...but thought it was nice enough to include.

There were lots of beautiful pods with fish all over the resort. Max made his fish face every time we passed the fish. I will try to get a picture of his fish face and put it on the blog soon.

Max Plays

2009-04-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

One of Max's new things is to put his hands up in the air to say "Where is it?" We do this all the time and hide all kinds of things. It is hard to capture on film since you have to also be hiding something....Here he is saying where is Dad.

Max loved playing in all the water all around our hotel. This was just outside our door so you could wash your feet before entering your place.

More water!

Max also loved rearranging all of the rocks.

Max's girlfriends

2009-04-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

Max's hair was soooo cute and curly in the humidity of Vietnam!

Here one of Max's Vietnamese girlfriends tries to chat him up. Max gets a lot of attention from just about everyone in Asia because of his red curly hair, blue eyes and sweet smile. Since he is used to getting so much attention he smiles and waves at just about everyone since he assumes they are friends of his....and I guess you could say they all are;-)

Boat Race

2009-04-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Our Hotel was just across the street from this river.

One day while I was putting Max down for a nap I heard really loud noises that sounded like someone was playing a bad radio station too loud. I asked Jay to go try to ask someone to turn it down.....

Later I went out to see for myself and found out there was an inter-village boat race about 100 yards from the front of our hotel.

The race only takes place once a year and people were really into it. Luckily Max napped though the whole thing;-)

Max says a prayer

2009-04-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

This stone is supposed to give you long life and prosperity!

Max says a prayer over the rock.

And tries to imagine the Cham people as they once worshipped in these beautiful ruins hundreds of years ago

My Son- Cham temple ruins

2009-04-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

We went over to some 1,000 year old ruins called My Son. Our guide, Newt(?), was pleasant and helpful.

Back in the Vietnam War, the Vietcong used the area as a staging base. The US dropped a few bombs and knocked down some of the temples. Bummer. But they are still pretty impressive.

The temples are built of brick with sandstone for the figures heads.

Water Taxi

2009-04-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

To get to the town of Hoi An one day we took a water taxi.

And Max got to drive.

I guess it was less fun when he had to sit with mom and dad again.

Walking around Hoi An

2009-04-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

The city of Hoi An was a historic trading post because it is located on a river that connects to the China Sea.

A Japanese bridge in Hoi An.

A ship Jay likes.

At da beach

2009-04-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

Max loved playing in the sand and ate enough of it that we were still finding it in his diaper days after returning to Seoul.

Building sand castles with Dad.

Max pix

2009-04-08T05:07:00.000-07:00

Before hitting the sack tonight, a few photos of the cute cabana boy.

Stretching out the down dog.

The rear view.

You really don't know who knocked the phone off the table?

Last day in Vietnam

2009-04-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

Our last morning was pleasant, after the obligatory and expected, by then, 5 am wake up and rowdy breakfast a la the one year old.

Max learns the rules of paddle ball. Er, what rules?

We passed by the Marble Mountains in Da Nang on our way to the airport.

Max made a friend in the Hanoi Airport during the 6 hour layover. The difference between the capital city airports in Vietnam and Korea is night and day. Score one for capitalism.

Sneak Peek

2009-04-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of our Vietnam trip for our loyal viewers. There will be more to come, but now I need to go to bed;-)

2009-03-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

A Korean coworker of Jay's kindly bought Max this traditional 1st birthday costume. The 1st birthday in Korean culture is a very big deal. The parents are supposed to throw a big party and invite all of their friends, family and coworkers to a party and ceremony in honor of the 1 year old. Instead we are leaving on a vacation to Vietnam on Saturday and will have a birthday BBQ for Max when we return. But we couldn't let his birthday go by without a celebration and since we had such a fabulous costume....

with a matching tote!

Max was a pretty good sport about all of it, although as you can see he was not really convinced that there was much fun to be had in his costume.

2009-03-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

Like the good Koreans we are we decided that Max should follow Korean tradition and choose his profession on his first birthday. We are not sure exactly what is supposed to be represented on the tray so we came up with our own ideas with the things we had lying around the house. And what did Max choose???

The video camera!!! He will take after his Granby and be a film maker;-) (I know it looks like we blindfolded him with his hat but he could actually see for this activity.)

Then he wanted to use it....

And then a Zen birthday moment.

2009-03-26T04:23:00.000-07:00

One of Max's b-day presents from Jay was this blue dog. I explain to Max that his new dog is the character from the Boowa and Kuala website that he loves....Doesn't it look like we are having a really serious conversation?

Max and Boowa!

2009-03-26T04:17:00.000-07:00

The Cake! Max was pretty tentative about digging into his birthday cake....

And like most things these days he wanted Mom to taste it first

and then Dad...

and then with a fork!

2009-03-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

He did manage to get a little messy....most of the frosting and cake ended up on the floor and not in his mouth. That chunk out of the side was eaten by me in between photographs;-)

The aftermath.

2009-03-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Now that Max and his friend Shoma are both walking they can finally really play together.

It was so fun to watch the two of them walk in and out of our porch and peeking at each other through the glass.

As you can see Max is working on his speed. Luckily I ran track in high school so I will be faster than him for some years to come...but I may have to start practicing my sprints again....

"Um you goin in or out?"

2009-03-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

Max even shared his new ride with Shoma! The car was an early birthday present.

And as you can see Max takes his pushing very seriously.

One of his favorite features is the radio button that plays three different 10 second songs, country, oldies, and rap....Max dances to all three whenever he pushes the button.

Shoma....just chillin.

2009-03-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the Children's Museum at the Korean National Museum across the street from our neighborhood.

Max thinks it would be cool to be a Korean cavalry archer when he grows up.

Then he had fun banging the fish and yelling "time for dinner". It's all fun and games until...

...Dad gets bonked on the watermelon. Ouch!

2009-03-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Max discovers he has pockets.

So I put a rattle in one for him to find.

"Yum Yum."

2009-03-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

Korean Pizza....Again! We really want to like Korean Pizza so we keep trying it. Unfortunately our favorite part of this pizza was the box. Apparently these guys are competing with each other over who's pizza is best. Yes those are pickles on the side of the pizza. All pizzas in Korea come with pickles, sweet pickles to be exact for you to eat with your pizza....there is not much more I can say about that.

We ordered the squid octopus pizza. The seafood was fine, but the sauce was Not pizza sauce, it was more of a sweet and sour sauce...without even the suggestion of tomato.

2009-03-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

Max shows off his red curls.

And his new trick of carrying two things in one hand around the house as quickly as possible....could be a block and a sock, a whistle and plastic flower, or the steel cut oats can with an instant oatmeal on top (this is a favorite of his;-)

"Ok mom enough with the flash already!"

2009-02-20T22:16:00.000-08:00

Home sweet home.

2009-02-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Ann helps Max pack up some things before leaving for Seoul.

Our last visitor was my great Aunt Evie.

Max plays with a fire truck his friend Jack lent him. Thanks Leia and Jack!!! I really enjoyed all the toys;)

2009-02-20T22:08:00.000-08:00

Our last week in CA we went up north to see Elisa and her new baby and stay with my good friend Irene.

Irene's daughter Kate and Max are just about the same age. It was fun seeing them together.

Elisa introduces Minna to Kate and Max.

It was amazing holding Minna and remembering how little new born babies are. I forget since these days I am lugging around a 22 lb 11 month old!

2009-02-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

Max and Kate spent a lot of time playing with the baby safety gate.

They both always wanted to go through it at the same time.

There was definitely some pushing that went on.

And lots of negotiations.

2009-02-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Fun in the hot tub with Granby.

2009-02-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

Who can resist the bath photos?

They are just too darn cute.

And look at that hair!!! Still quite RED!@!!

2009-02-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

Max shows off some of his newly aquired musical talents.

And makes the elephant sound as he

works on some moves for his latest modern dance performance;)

2009-02-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

We went on a picnic with my girlfriend Rosana and her daughter Martina.

All Max wanted to do was push Martina's tricycle around the park.

2009-02-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Tyler and I took Max to the Zoo. He liked the giraffes and the elephant.

But his favorite thing to do was pushing his stroller. Now he wants to push is wherever he goes. I wish he could push me around in it;-)

2009-02-20T21:35:00.000-08:00

We had a little party for some of our visitors at my Dad and Ann's. Here Max tries to reach the camera my cousin Jen is holding, while her daughter Tallulah plays with a puzzle. In the background are my sister Kaylie and friend Cara.

It is hard to get little kids to cooperate at the same time in photos....This was the best I could do.

My friend Leia and her son Jack.

Max attack!!!

2009-02-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Feelin fine!

2009-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Max plays with my friend Cara from college who visited us in LA.

We were fortunate enough to also get a visit from Uncle Tyler.

2009-02-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Max shows off his new walking skills for his Dad. Jay visited in LA over Inauguration weekend.

Hey Dad you still watching?

Hmmm what does this one taste like?

Oh, Dad!

2009-02-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I'm cute.

2009-02-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

The Granby swing.

Fun for everyone;)

2009-02-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Fun with Allison at Griffith Park.

Max does some more leaf explorations;-)

2009-02-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Max had lots of fun playing with his Grandma Mary Jane while she visited us in LA.

He loves knocking down those blocks.

Over and over and over....

2009-02-18T15:35:00.000-08:00

Max tries to decide what to do today.

Maybe we should investigate the front yard....we spent many hours doing this while in LA;-)

Yea free teef!!!

2009-02-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all the Bakers who made it up to LA for a Mexican lunch to see Jay, Max and I!!!

Max relaxes with Aunt Christy and Uncle James.

Cousins eating chips.

After lunch we saw the Rose Parade Floats at Victory Park. Apparently Max and Gramby had the same reaction to this one.

2009-02-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

While in LA we visited with our painter friend Fernando Barragon and saw an awesome mural he painted at a school in East LA.

2009-01-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yes it is true...Max can walk!!! He even beat his mom's family record of walking at 10 months. Max will be 10 months Jan 26.

I have many more pictures to share, but am having some technical difficulties being away from home, so there will be lots of updates when we get back to Korea! In the meantime I will try to keep adding a few new pics for you restless viewers;)

2009-01-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Max is pretty happy to be in sunny So Cal.

2008-12-26T04:44:00.000-08:00

Lucky for us Santa still managed to come to our home even though we have no chimney, live on the 24th floor, forgot to put out cookies and had a house plant for a Christmas tree.

And Max was ready!

2008-12-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

He enjoyed opening his stocking,

then was much more interested in all the ribbons and wrapping paper than any of his gifts.

We were able to get him to unwrap a few gifts,

but mostly he just wanted to chew on all of them;)

2008-12-26T04:32:00.000-08:00

Jay bought Max "The Dangerous Book for Boys".....It seems that Max already has some dangerous ideas of his own, possibly involving his mom's new yoga mat spray.

Max and Dad have a not so dangerous moment.

Now for some upside-down time.

2008-12-26T04:26:00.000-08:00

Max enjoys his new foam blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Baker.

And has already perfected his left handed swipe to knock the tower over while still chewing on a block....what a talented baby;)

He also loves his new Monkey!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa=)

2008-12-26T04:11:00.000-08:00

Max shows off his cute new Babyracer onsie that my cousin Jen made.

Enough pictures already! If you want to order your own you can at www.babyracer.etsy.com

2008-12-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas cake from our landlord.

2008-12-15T03:30:00.000-08:00

Max and his friend Shoma are learning about sharing. So far this has been pretty hard for Max...

I like this picture because it looks like they are happily drumming together, but I actually think Max was trying to push Shoma's hands off the drum. We will keep working on the sharing;)

2008-12-15T03:18:00.000-08:00

Max in his Korean hat.

2008-12-12T16:35:00.001-08:00

Max is an early riser and, now, so is Dad. We like to play with some kitchen utensils and refrigerator magnets to start our day then we migrate to the computer to sing songs with Boowa and Kwala at uptoten.com. It is always invigorating.

2008-12-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Max is a curious little guy.

2008-12-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

The annual holiday ball photo. I've got to do something about my lapels hiding my best medals.

2008-11-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

For the ER Thanksgiving Jay grilled an award winning Turkey......yes he really won an award for it=)

2008-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

It is getting cold in Korea! Max shows off his new coat and his first two teeth=)

2008-11-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

The other day while Max and I were at story time at the base library a women asked me if I would try out a product for her marketing class, baby knee pads. Apparently they are popular in Japan and Korea for babies learning how to crawl. She said that Americans expect their babies to be tough and was wondering if I would use a product like this for Max. I have noticed bruises on Max's knees from crawling all over the place...but really knee pads? The truth is they would not stay put on his chubby knees. Luckily he was a very good sport about trying them, and tough enough not to need them;)

2008-11-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Max tries out all 38 muscles it takes the human body to frown. It's a work in progress.

2008-11-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

Max's new favorite toy.

2008-11-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

Max and Shoma together again! Max has his first playdate with his Japanese friend Shoma since we left Korea.

Now that they are a few months older they can actually play....or at least they are aware of the other one's presence. When Shoma first arrived and started sucking on Max's stuff, Max just stared at him with a totally shocked look on his face. We will see what happens next week=)

2008-11-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

We took Max on his first subway outing in Seoul in the stroller/backpack from Aunt Liz. It worked great! Here we are looking at the electronic timetable waiting for our train to arrive.

We went to Seoul Grand Park to enjoy the fall foliage and one of the last temperate days of the year.

Fall in Korea is a beautiful time of year with fire-painted trees and hills on every side.

We went to the zoo at Seoul Grand Park. Here is some of the wildlife.

2008-11-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Our visit inside the zoo was somewhat truncated by necessity but at least we saw the impressive barbary goats.

The males wear some funky knickers and put my chest hair to shame.