November 2008 Archives

I took Anna & Sarah to a ballet studio to check out a class for Anna for next year. One or two other girls from Anna's class at school are also interested in signing up. Anna was wowed to say the least by the class. Hopefully there will be room for her to start in January. Sarah was not super excited by watching the girls but she is now more interested in some of the little Angelina Ballerina books we have around.

Anna took her first sick day from school this year. She has a small ear infection and the same yucky cold/flu thing that Craig had earlier this week.

Anna helped me make some fairy cupcakes today for my birthday. She was concerned that I wasn't having a party and thought we couldn't have the cupcakes until my friends got here but she was happy to learn that we were really only waiting for Craig to come home. Unfortunately, by the time it was time to eat them tonight after dinner she wasn't feeling well so we didn't do it (although Sarah had fun helping me blow out one of the undecorated cupcakes over and over and over). They were a bit too much work for not much reward as far as I can tell. I didn't take a picture because they're not attractive (not Anna's doing, but my own)! Hopefully we can have them tomorrow.

The girls and I heard the song "Tequila" a while back at VIPS and they were both dancing in their chairs. So, I finally made a new CD for the car and put Tequila on it. They both shout, "louder!" whenever it is on and when it ends they should, "again!" (and then repeat with the louder request).

I went to Costco with Karen & Siren today in hopes of getting some good Christmas gifts for the kids (as well as stocking up on other Costco essentials). Craig took the girls to Busan to get me a birthday present. This is the conversation I had with Anna when I came home:

Becky: What did you do with daddy today?

Anna: We took the ferry!

Becky: The car ferry again?

Anna (sadly): No, the passenger ferry.

Becky: Oh, you went to Busan?!

Anna: Yes, to get your surprise! And the surprise is (brief pause for drama) a WATCH!

We took the car ferry to Busan today and went to the aquarium. Both girls had a great time but the best was when Sarah laughed at the otters and penguins.

We got back in the car around 2 PM hoping Sarah would fall asleep (she always takes a nap at 1 PM). We weren't going to make it to the ferry so we decided to drive home instead... Sarah never fell asleep! The girls were good on the drive home but we were all wiped out when we got home (around 5 PM).

Sarah's new favorite thing is to pretend to drive my car when we get back to our apartment after dropping Anna off at school.

It's cold enough to break out the winter jackets, hats, and mittens! Our outdoor thermometer isn't working but my car thermometer has read between 1-8 degrees Celsius the past few days. Also, Anna has been wearing her new skirt every day since she got it and I finally gave in and let Sarah wear it on the same day since we went to Emma's farewell party today.

Sarah is really into building with Legos the past few days. I think she understood how to use them much earlier than Anna did and now we are having fun building lego castles for their fairies (and car ferries, too).

Sarah:
Sarah asks to drink "milk" (it's actually drinkable yogurt but we call it milk) frequently throughout the day. Today though she said, "milk" then changed her mind and requested: "coffee." Craig's bean-roasting has inspired her! She loves to smell the freshly roasted beans and loves when he makes coffee.

Sarah saying more and more two-word phrases. This morning she said, "brown box" the other day it was "blue bus." She is really good at color identification as well!

Anna:
Anna's class had a Pajama Party today where they "turned the classroom into a bedroom!" Anna was so excited for this day she could hardly contain it. She thought it was super fun to go to school in her pajamas. I didn't have my little camera in my purse this morning though so I didn't get any pictures.

Craig/Korea:
Sarah & I were going to the bakery and Import Lady today before we picked up Anna from school. I went to the trunk of the car and her stroller wasn't there. Craig had taken the girls out to dinner last night so I could work and he left the stroller on the sidewalk and drove away. I asked him to please drive by where he left it on his way home for lunch to see if it was around and he said it was in the exact spot he left it last night. I thought that was a pretty good reflection of Okpo that the stroller was still there. I really expected to see an ajumma walking down the street with my stroller loaded down with cabbage on her way to the market! The stroller is now safely back in the trunk of my car.

Sarah loves it when I vacuum (thanks to her this happens daily). She usually is satisfied just vacuuming along with her toy cleaner but today she overtook mine when I was finished. Nana will be proud!

Sarah came up with this on her own. The "hat" is the sink from her kitchen.

I know this looks bad and that's why I posted it. Anna is not actually strangling Sarah here, I assure you!

And Sarah can smile a little for the camera... too bad they were both done after this one.

It looks like it might be a Korean store-bought card this year! The only trick that mildy worked is to get Sarah to sit on a Cars book and then say quotes from the movie like, "Gas! I've got lots of gas!" It looks like I need a bigger "studio" (wider background paper), too.

We took the car ferry to Jinhae today. I knew I could get us to the McDonald's there by sight since we were there this spring with my mom for the cherry blossoms. Too bad they built a brand new ferry terminal on the other side of town! We ended up driving for a little while but eventually found it. The girls had a blast on the ferry, at the restaurant, and at the playground near the ferry terminal. I think this will be an outing I'll repeat over Anna's three-week winter break.

The safety rules for one of the car rides at D-Cube.

Checking out the cars near the "Culture & Events Center" at D-Cube after we signed up.

Sarah and I signed up for classes (starting the first week of December) at Home Plus earlier this week and then last night I found out there are more classes at D3 (D-Cube, the department store above Home Plus) so we got over there when they open (at 11 AM!) and signed up for another class. I don't really know what we've signed up for except that they are in Korean, they are for kids Sarah's age, and there is probably music, gym, etc. in both classes.

I took Sarah in for her eighteen-month check-up today (which really means I took her in for one vaccination—the doctor does check her eyes, ears, mouth, and chest but it's not like the exam you get at a well-child visit in the States!). Sarah weighs 11.7kg (25.8 pounds) but I still need to measure her height on my own.

I left the crib rail down today after I made Sarah's bed and she discovered that she can climb into her crib (she was after a pacifier). I really wonder how long it will be before she makes the connection that she could probably climb out as well.

I love the pose Sarah has while reading with Craig in this picture. I will post a video of Sarah shouting the name of her favorite American football team. Any guesses who it is? (Any time this shirt is hanging in her closet in the morning she asks for it.)

Anna had Miruna over for a playdate today. I was a little worried because I wasn't sure how much English Miruna understands/speaks but she knows more than I realized which is a relief since I know zero Romanian! The girls had a lot of fun together so we'll do it again sometime.

The kids love this really awful treat called Pepero. It's basically a super dry bread-type-stick dipped in cheap chocolate. Anyway, Sarah likes to eat hers like one would eat an ear of corn which I thought was endearing. (Anna apparently thought so, too, since she copied Sarah's approach.)

I really tried to get a Christmas Card Picture of the girls today but it just wasn't happening. We might try again or everyone might just get a picture-less Korean card from us this year!

Anna & Sarah have been talking about the cable car ride non-stop since we went on Thursday. Craig was a good dad and indulged them on another trip while I did some work.

Anna wanted to do a fall craft this week after I put out all of our fall/Thanksgiving decorations. I briefly tried to explain to her what it meant to be "thankful" without putting ideas into her head. She also helped me come up with some things that Sarah is thankful for. Anna signed her name on all over her "leaves" and she wrote her name on the black background paper.

The leaves all read: "I am thankful for..."
(Anna's)

• pink and purple
  
• Flo the car
  
• my cat's collars
  
• flowers
  
• butterflies

(Sarah's)

• owls
  
• hands (Anna's suggestion)
  
• Cars, the movie
  
• friends and family
  
• pacifiers

Anna got some new dresses from Elizabeth and was inspired to play "beach" today so Sarah followed along to the beach (the office) with a ton of stuff packed for the visit.

Sarah is eighteen months old! She is learning so much so fast that I can barely keep up! She recognizes several colors (blue, pink, white, brown (her favorite)) and is adding many new words each day. Like I posted eariler, she says pretty much everything now so I've stopped counting. She has said a few two-word phrases ("cheese, please" and "blue bus") and it's fun to see what is interesting to her and what she likes to talk about.

Sarah really likes art-time (playdough, coloring, and stickers) and playing with cars (we have a set-up outside that she and Alfred like to do in the mornings where they send cars down one of my old photo background paper rolls). She also likes everything Anna likes and there are many fights over toys! Sarah also is showing interest in Anna's dollhouse so I'm excited to give Sarah her own at Christmas.

Anna has three days off of school this week so I decided to take the girls up to Tongyeong to check out the sky car. The girls loved it but it got rainy and windy shortly after we got up to the top so we didn't stay long. This outing will definitely be repeated if the girls have anything to say about it!

We had Alfred over to play today while Karen ran some errands. He only speaks Norwegian but he knows how to play cars and play with play-doh!