Words and More

I'm long overdue on posting an update, so I'll try to cover some ground as best as possible. Oh, and as it's the end of the month, Oliver has been part of our family for just over 4 months now! 

Happy Easter! and He is Risen. Hallelujah!
The first big holiday as a family of three (yes, we were together at Christmas. In Korea. With a very sick and grieving child. Not really a "holiday" if you ask me!). We know Oliver was involved in church activities in Korea, but we aren't sure what his foster family might have done to celebrate Easter. 

We began with an egg-dying session (he had fun though he didn't really "get" what was going on), baked a cake and continued with the traditional Easter Bunny visit on Easter morning. While we attempted to incorporate the story of Jesus and His resurrection into the festivities, I will admit that we failed miserably this year -- aside from actually attending church on Sunday morning. He had fun in his Sunday School class and we enjoyed a great Easter message.

Oliver enjoying the cake clean up process

But back to the bunny. The Easter Bunny did make a visit, bringing Oliver an Easter Basket, a bucket of sidewalk chalk and a Mr. Potato Head, all waiting for him on the coffee table. Scattered about the upstairs were piles of grass holding plastic eggs (filled with candy) and a few other little candies and gifts. He managed to wake up while I was desperately waiting for the coffee machine to heat up, so he saw the surprises before I could get Tony up or grab the camera. His expression was priceless -- unmasked joy, surprise, excitement and delight. 

Learning how to play with Mr. Potato Head

Since he didn't have words to express what happened or how he was feeling, he acted it out for us. He put his hands by his head and pretended to snore, then "woke" up and placed his hands up by his face with a huge "surprised" expression and gasp! All to show us that he went to bed, then woke up to this big surprise. So cute and wonderful.


Tony and Oliver wore matching green checked shirts. I tried to snap a good shot with my phone's camera, but this is the only one that I could manage (let's just say that Oliver was very distracted). We have other photos on the *real* camera, so maybe one day in the distant future I will be able to get those posted to the blog!


After church we headed to Tony's Aunt and Uncle's place for the traditional family celebration. Delicious food, a fun egg hunt for the kids, great family time. At least that's what I vaguely remember....the day was, well, exhausting. Oliver was all over the place, refused to eat during the meal time, generally behaving well and having a blast -- just staying very busy. Tony and I barely got to speak to the family as we were busy tag teaming to keep tabs on the active kiddo, start conversations with family members that we wouldn't be able to finish, inhale some food and occasionally sit down long enough to catch our breath. Oliver always gets a bit hyper at new places, and around other kids, so we weren't surprised. All the chaos did mean that we missed out on a desperately needed/wanted family photo -- all three of us dressed nice for Easter. Bummer. 

What we didn't miss out on -- Oliver doing the egg hunt with his cousins, joy from the adults that after two Easters of waiting he was finally here and taking part in the festivities. Pure joy.

And perhaps Oliver's biggest take-away: a Chuggington train track and nearly all of the Chuggington trains, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa. 

Spring? Hello?
Where are you? Oh...you're arriving in the form of cold and rain. And one last major snow storm before Easter. Great. More inside time for the little ones, after a teasing couple of days outside. Thank you (note the sarcasm...this Missouri girl is ready for the warmth).

And in other news, we think Oliver might be suffering from seasonal allergies. Runny nose, coughing, streaming eyes. It did give us a excuse  opportunity for an early night  valid reason to see how he would react to Benadryl, and he slept like a baby. It seemed to help a little, but the weather also changed to cold and rainy. I guess we will just keep an eye on how he does as the weather warms (because it has to warm, right?). 

Words
Oliver's vocabulary continues to expand! It's pretty amazing. He isn't putting too many words together, though we did hear the phrase "Daddy, where are you?" the other day. 

Two long awaited words/phrases passed through Oliver's lips this past weekend. The phrase brought me to tears, literally. He said "love you".  Do you remember the exact moment you first heard the words "I love you" from someone close to you? Honestly, I can't recall the moment Tony first said those words to me. And I can't remember the first time I heard them from my family (because they were always said). But I will remember the first time Oliver uttered them -- as Tony was leaving for work Friday morning. He said to Oliver "I love you" and Oliver responded "love you". Precious. And we've heard it since!

The second word we heard was only said once, but it gives us hope. He said "Oliver". Keep in mind that just last week when I asked him if his name is Oliver, he said no. When I followed up with, "Is your name Chae Ha?" he said yes. So not only did he identify that his name is Oliver, but he said it out loud! 

Amazing. Precious. 
This kid just melts my heart and warms my soul.

Mommy Reaction
I'm learning about what I will call the "Mommy Reaction." This is where something happens or is been said (or not said) that causes an immediate and intense defensive Mommy response. Illogical, irrational, not founded in reality, but yet it is a strong and visceral reaction. And it's hard to rationalize yourself out of the feeling. Protective of the child, standing up for the family, reality be darned. So, I've now had (many) mommy meltdown experiences, and I can add mommy reactions to the list. :)

Expanding Our Korean Cooking Repertoire
This past weekend we decided to try another classic Korean dish: Bulgogi, or grilled marinated beef. Thinly sliced by the butcher, marinated and quickly cooked on the grill, this is another meal right up Tony's alley. We've had this numerous times here in the U.S. as well as in Korea, and Tony's parents have made it as part of the New Year's Day celebration. This was our first time trying it out.

Oliver also requested another batch of Japchae (over jjajangmyeon, or black bean noodles), so I put that together while Tony mastered the grill. Both dishes were wonderful and Oliver seemed to really enjoy them (though if we are honest, he mostly ate the "bap," or rice, with kimchi). Perhaps one of these days we will feel comfortable enough making a few Korean dishes to invite some friends or family members over for a Korean feast.

Cute Pictures
I snapped these pictures tonight after bath, just before bed. First he's posing for the camera, then he's treating his dump truck like a "baby." Which is what he was doing when I first started taking the pictures. He is such a sweet child, very compassionate and tender. He likes to baby his stuffed animals and, apparently, his trucks.

New

Lots of new things in the Meyers' household these days!

New Birth Certificate.

Friday's mail brought Oliver's Minnesota Birth Certificate. Yippee! This document confirms his new legal name and our role as his parents in one concise piece of paper. It's nothing fancy, but it's a game-changer. 


After it arrived I called the Social Security office to see if we could possibly get his Social Security Number with the documentation we have on hand. I sat on hold for 39 minutes. Once a representative came on the line I was pleasantly surprised at how nice she was. Unfortunately, her answer wasn't what I had hoped to hear. She said we must have Oliver's amended Certificate of Citizenship in order to prove his status as a U.S. citizen, so we must wait. And wait. The last pieces!

New Experience.
On Saturday Oliver went to the zoo! Grandma and Grandpa have been waiting for years to take their grandchild to the Como Zoo, so Saturday was a big day for the three of them. While the weather was cool and many of the animals were still inside or off display, they had a blast. Here are a few photos of their time at the zoo:

New Haircut (for Oliver).
Well, the haircut itself isn't new. It's the same cut we've been doing since arriving home. However, this haircut differed in two ways: First, Grandma and Grandpa came along to see how he did (and take a boatload of pictures and video) -- and then treated us all to frozen yogurt after. Second, the stylist added a little product to his hair when she finished, making him look much older than two and a half! What a cutie... Not something we plan to do on a daily basis, but a great idea for special occasions. Here are some post-haircut pictures from the frozen yogurt store, courtesy of Grandma's phone.

New Work Schedule; Job.
Beginning this past week, my work schedule moved to four days a week, Monday - Thursday. As I've previously posted, my company is wrapping up its business in the next couple of months. As part of our winding down, a few of the key events we hold throughout the year will be transferring to other related organizations in town. In addition, our big annual fall conference will be managed by a new firm going forward. This past week I accepted an offer to work for that organization, managing the conference and working on other things. The new job will be begin sometime in May, though I'm already working on the conference items. Beginning a job at a new place after 10 years is a bit scary for this "change averse" person, but I'm hoping it will bring interesting opportunities and a nice mix of new people. It's also a blessing to have a job lined up and to have it be a four day a week position. 

New Haircut (for me).
My stylist thought it was time for a change and had a specific style in mind. She tried to explain it to me, but in the end I just had to trust her. I'm glad I did! Here are two shots -- one Tony took on our brunch date Saturday. The other I took myself, so it's not the best but it does the trick.

New Photos.
Grandma has been busy taking photos! Here are a few to end the post.

Enjoying a break with Grandpa

Oliver sharing the jeep, which dates back to Tony and Mike's childhood.

Super Sunday

This morning began with a five mile run as the sun was rising. A beautiful start. During the week I run very early (just after 5:00), so I've not been running outside much. It's too hard to avoid the icy patches when running with a flashlight. This morning I was able to go out just after 6:00 and loved running outside --- only my second time this year. Sadly there was still a lot of ice on the trails, but I'm counting on our warm day to have melted it away so my early run tomorrow is safe. 

We then had coffee and breakfast before heading off to church...for the first time in a couple of months. We finally feel comfortable with the idea of leaving Oliver in his Sunday School class, and he seems to be okay with our leaving him. We were still nervous that something would go wrong, but he did terrific! Tony and I finally got to make it through an entire service. I really missed being spiritually fed through the worship and sermon, so this was a much needed addition to my Sunday. I even snapped a photo during the peaceful sermon time:

This was the first time anyone outside of our family watched Oliver. Scary!! We celebrated with brunch after church, and thanks to a refused nap I whisked Oliver off to Target so Tony could get some work done. The afternoon also brought a walk, some tractor time and a little reconnecting with our neighbors. It's great to finally see people outside again! 

Tonight we attempted two Korean dishes for dinner. 

Japchae: sweet potato noodles with thinly sliced vegetables and beef. 

Galbi: barbecued beef ribs. 

Both were a success! A very yummy dinner. Oliver was especially happy to see his plate of japchae, galbi, rice and kimchi:

Here is our excited little guy:

Let's hope this is the start to a good week!

Nutella, a Story in Pictures

Scene: dining room table, bedtime snack

Props: whole wheat bagel with small amount of (begged for) Nutella on it

Summary: happiness and Nutella mustache ending in a tantrum because the evil mommy person wouldn't let him shove a quarter of a bagel into his mouth at once. 

Sweet dreams!

Tractor

Tractor
Oliver's new favorite word -- sometimes the first word out of his mouth (before he's even out of bed)! 

A friend of Tony's generously passed on a small battery-powered John Deere drivable tractor. When the weather warmed over the weekend we brought it out for Oliver to drive. Boy does he love it! He went up and down the driveway for as long as we would let him, and of course wanted more. The weather held out and he got to drive again Monday after work, but since then it's been too cold and/or wet. That hasn't stopped Oliver from imitating his driving the tractor, talking about the tractor, making vroom vroom noises, etc. He has tractor on the brain!

Tony took a few pictures of Oliver driving it. Unfortunately none of them turned out all that great, but you can get the idea:

With the weather taking a turn for the worse (possibly up to 10" of snow), it may be awhile before he can get back out there to drive around. I am trying to have faith that the snow in our yard will eventually melt and we will be able to leave the house without a coat or gloves sometime soon. That Oliver will be free to run around and explore without all the trash and junk resting at the bottom of the melting snow. That the massive potholes get filled. Lots of things that I hope to be thankful for soon!

This weekend Tony and I are also hopeful that we will get to go to church. We made a few attempts early on to bring Oliver with us to the service, but we simply could not make it all the way through. It is too long for him to sit (or stand) quietly. I recently spoke with our church's early childhood educator and I think it is time we try leaving Oliver in the 2 year old class during the service. She assured me that the staff will contact us if Oliver panics or struggles with being left in the class, which has been a worry for us as is one of the reasons we haven't tried it yet. With any luck he will not only tolerate it, but enjoy the interaction with the other kids. We know he was quite involved in his church in Korea, so it may be a positive experience for us all!