To Swim or Not to Swim..

"Okay, so Mom and Dad tell me that I am going swimming for the first time today... Dad seems pretty excited, but I am not sure about this..."

"Yes, Sarah, I know the water is not very deep, but I am not feeling very comfortable with this... Sit down? No thanks, I think I will just stand."

"Mom, where are you? Can you tell everyone that I don't even sit down in the bathtub for more than a second or two? I appreciate the effort here on this lovely sunny day, but I really think I will pass on this whole swimming thing..."
"Whew, thanks Dad. I knew you would save me!"
"Yea, swimming is not for me.... not right now.... but can I keep this toy duck though?"

Go Gators!

"Apparently Mom and Dad have decided where I am going to college.... Go Gators!"



"Do you think I could pay my way through college doing advertisements for Publix?"


NOTES FROM MOM:

1. Jared saw his first shiny birthday helium balloon while shopping with me at Publix this week. Seeing his sheer delight, the cashier offered him a courtesy Publix balloon which promptly became his favorite toy.

2. The oversized Gator t-shirt shown here was a gift from his "Uncle Martin" (dad's friend from the "Pot") who is studying abroad right now. Thanks Martin!

homeowners...

"As of today, Mommy and Daddy signed some papers and the house is ours!!! YAY!"

Go Baby!

"Hey Mommy, I am watching my new favorite show, Go Baby!"

"Hey-- look at this cute girl, Sophie! Hey Sophie!"

"Hey, wait.... I think this kid, Baby, is trying to steal Sophie from me!"

"Oh well, this frog is pretty cute too! A frog is as good as a girl at this age... "

Stepping Out

Well, its happening right in front of our eyes... Jared is growing up, preparing himself to take his first steps away from us...

My Lil' Lion King

My melancholy baby

Well, I took Jared for his 9 month photos and we just could not get a full-on smile out of the little guy... I can't figure it out; it's not like he minds having his photograph taken-- I certainly take more than my fair share of photos of my little man. I guess the combination of teething, hunger and semi-needing a nap was too much for him.

Nonetheless, here are a few photos of my bouncing, not-so-baby, boy~!

We decided to start with the glasses because I expected him to want to tire of them quickly, but they didn't really bother him. His dad has been working with him every day to get him used to the glasses and apparently, it is helping...
No matter how melancholy my little guy is, he just can't resist a book! He does not look 9 months old to me... this picture makes me fast forward to when he starts school... why do they grow up so fast??

I thought for sure if anything would get a laugh out of him, the trusty ol' mirror would but as you see, he maintained his solemn countenance even then...
And finally, we thought, okay we will try a ball! Let's play with the ball, Jared! As you can see, he resisted our attempts at play!

Helping Mom

"Mom has been really busy trying to enter grades for her students, so I thought I would give her a hand!"



"Mom, I am concentrating! I can't stop to talk to you right now! Let me finish the one I am working on..."

"Fine, Mom, now you have my undivided attention.... but don't blame me if you don't get your grades finished on time!"

Parents in Denial

Ok, mom and dad... apparently you are in denial about the fact that I am simply TOO big for this bathtub and the only way I can convince you is to roll over and simply climb out myself!

(Mommy note: Is that the beginning of a defiant/mischievous look I see on your face?)

FINALLY! My own big boy bathtub with lots of cool Baby Einstein bath toys. Oh and thanks, Mom for taking a picture of me making my "ouch, my bottom teeth are finally coming in" face! :)

Jared's First Easter

"So this is it... my first Easter egg. I am not sure what the big deal is, but the other kids seemed pretty excited to find these things. "

Cousins

" I love spending time with my cousins, Sarah and Micah. Not enough to put this cracker down, but a whole lot."

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well, after weeks of getting the house ready for appraisal, we finished! We will know the results next week... hopefully we will be homeowners soon! :)

The Karaoke Circuit

"Well, in addition to basketball, football and baseball, Dad also has me training for the Karaoke Circuit. We are planning to perform a duet. "


"Sometimes Dad tries to upstage me, so I have to take his microphone too!"

"My Halmonee (grandmother) says I will grow up to sing in the church choir... she may just be right! "

Growing Up Too Fast

"Mom and Dad took me to get fitted for glasses today. Mom isn't very happy about it, but the doctor says it will help my eyes and maybe I won't have to wear glasses when I start school."

"I am not sure how I feel about these glasses.... "

"Hmm, I think maybe I can see a little better with these glasses... "



"Okay, so maybe I like these glasses after all!"

Errands, Errands, Errands

"Okay, Mom, I know that we have alot of errands to run but this is my second marathon shopping trip in two days... Oh well, at least you feed me and let me lounge in my floppy!"

just a hello

Mom is too busy to post because mom and dad are trying to buy a house for us, so she told me to say hello to everyone! :)

Reading Rainbow

"Reading with Dad is fun! It's one of our favorite things to do... here I am reading about pets and farm animals while Dad reads about the Civil War..."

"Hey, wait, what are YOU reading, Dad? Your book looks better than my book!"

"Hmm, I don't know, Dad. There aren't very many pictures in your book... and why aren't any of the pictures in color? And there are no puppy dogs in this book, Dad... Mom, maybe I should just read my own book... what do you think?"

How fast they grow...

Every once in awhile I turn to look at you... and catch a glimpse of the man you will become one day...

self concept

Seriously, who are you? Why are you always hangin' out with my mom and dad? Well... I don't know who you are-- but you ARE pretty cute! ;)

My new addiction

As though I needed a new addiction... I have started scrapbooking. Does this make me officially a mom? :) I am desperately trying to organize pictures from Jared's first seven months-- I feel so guilty that none of them have made it into an album yet. So for some reason I decided to start with pictures from Halloween. That didn't seem to be quite as daunting as his birth... or Christmas.... or his Baek-Il celebration... or his Baptism. Two simple pages and I was done. :) Since I finished these pages, I have now started working on his Christmas pages.

On top of acquiring this new hobby for myself, I have also decided to be a sales consultant for a scrapbook and stamping company called Close To My Heart. Why am I a crazy person? :)

4 things

I was tagged to do this, so here goes...

4 jobs i've had:
professor
high school teacher
personal assistant
tutor

4 movies i can watch over & over:
color purple
joy luck club
urban cowboy
the negotiator

4 places i've lived:
florida
texas
kentucky
korea

4 tv shows i love:
lost
prison break
grey's anatomy
oz

4 places i've vacationed:
jamaica (montego bay, ocho rios, kingston, may pen, etc)
san francisco, ca
paradise island, bahamas
savannah, ga

4 of my favorite dishes:
rice and kalbi
peanut satay
bbq ribs
curry chicken and potatoes

4 sites i visit daily:
www.google.com
that's about it, with the exception of work-related sites.

4 places i would rather be right now:
i don't think there is any place i would rather be than where i am.

4 bloggers i'm tagging/slightly alienating:
curlygirl
javajess
mk
padoodie

baby loves daddy

Well, you haven't said your first words yet... but you have begun to babble syllables as is appropriate for babies your age.

My question is this... why is it that when you are happy and blissful (often after a meal with mom) you babble breathlessly and sweetly "dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah" and when you are frustrated and upset you shriek "mah-mah-mah-mah-mah" in an almost guttural tone?

Disaster Averted

A recent excerpt from The Jared Letters:

For the first time today, you were almost seriously hurt.

I went to lunch with a friend and we decided to sit outside to enjoy the fresh air. I thought you would especially enjoy it given that we have been experiencing Florida's version of winter and you've spent alot of time indoors recently. After lunch was over, I began the new parent's rather cumbersome preparations to leave the restaurant, packing up your diaper bag, getting your stroller ready, etc. You were sitting up in my lap playing with anything within your grasp when suddenly you bucked and hurled your body backwards off my lap. Because of your growing independence and your profound confidence in the safety of your world, you thrust your little body from mom's lap and landed on the cold, hard concrete.

I am not sure who cried louder... you from your sheer terror from the fall or me from my absolute despair at the possibility that you could be physically hurt. Miraculously, thankfully, you were unharmed. My unspeakable fears were not realized and I was overcome with a feelng of gratitude that you will only understand when you have children of your own.

As big and as strong as you are becoming, when I recall the sight of your tiny body on that concrete sidewalk, my entire body cringes in fear and agony. Tears come to my eyes even now.

As you begin to master all the skills and milestones of a baby your age, I must ask myself... how can I help you thrive and grow AND yet shield you from as many bad landings as possible? I imagine this is a question I will grapple with for years to come. For now, I will simply hold your tiny, warm, fragile body close for as long as I can... and relish the reprieve we received today.

quote of the week: geisha

"I am so glad you bought me that book, because I thought a geisha was a princess."

lesson 1

Lesson 1: Write one compelling sentence.

Please follow these rules:

* It should be the first sentence of a story you’d like to write.
* It should make the reader eager to read more.
* It can be fiction or nonfiction.
* Do not try to tell the whole story in one sentence.
* It doesn’t have to be long or wordy to be compelling. “Call me Ishmael.”
* Don't overthink.

writing

After browsing through a number of very odd, sometimes interesting, sometimes frightening blogs, I found a blog by the Phantom Professor who offered an online writing workshop and I thought it might be fun to do some of the lessons here at my leisure.

Here is a link to the phantomprof's blog:

http://phantomprof.blogspot.com/

Jared's first Christmas

Christmas this year was perfection. Jared was still too young to have any real sense of what was going on around him, but he had a delightful time being showered with affection by loved ones--sometimes from very close up!

Although he enjoyed playing with the various music-making, light-blinking, song-singing, jingly, bouncy toys he was given, his favorite source of entertainment remained shiny, crinkly, sparkly wrapping paper.

I can say emphatically that it was definitely my most blessed Christmas ever.