Crazy Hair Cutie

While I was in Phoenix a week or so ago, I asked Sheref to take some photos of Charlie to potentially use on our adoption announcement. He tried, but none of the photos was quite the quality I had hoped for, although some came close.

Obviously this particular photo is not quite publishable quality, but it just tickled me. He just looks so cute and impish.

The other thing this photo points out is the crazy stick-straight-up-in-the-air hair. I've trimmed his hair since this photo was taken, so he's looking a bit more clean-cut these days.

Rewind Post -- Seoul

You, kind reader, are going to have to bear with me. I wasn't actually IN Seoul, yet I'm going to blog about it. I intended to write about Seoul each day Sheref was there, using pictures he had taken and sent to me. However (and this is not a slight, Sheref, if you're reading this...I'm not upset you didn't send me pictures daily...really), Sheref didn't send me pictures while he was there, so that blog plan didn't exactly pan out.

I do want to write posts about Sheref's time in Seoul, both for the benefit of anyone reading this blog (especially future adoptive parents who may be thinking ahead to their trip to Seoul), as well as for Charlie's benefit later on. Soooo...

Sheref stayed at the Sheraton Grande. It is apparently fairly far away from the city center, around a 30 minute subway ride. Nonetheless, it is quite a nice hotel and was for us, thanks to Sheref's parents who used some of their travel benefits to get us a deal, very reasonably priced.

The lobby...

More lobby...

Some sort of futuristic lounge area...

More space-age lounging around...

Still lounging...

I'm really not all that into "modern," futuristic type style. That said, I really love the look of these rooms. Cool, no?

Sweet Baby

I hope our little guy's birth mom is at peace and somehow knows that her baby is doing well and is loved. Look at this sweetheart she brought into the world!

Pudgy little hand...

I think he's actually yawning here. Mama, get on with the picture-taking.

Father & Son

Jin-yeong is Introduced to Having 3 Sisters...

Charlie is quickly being introduced to what it means to have 3 sisters. Today, what having 3 sisters meant was going on a 2 hour walk through our neighborhood dressed as fairies. Well, let me clarify. Charlie and I were not dressed as fairies, but Ella, Rose & Lucy were sporting fairy wings and sparkly wands.

This, I believe, is a fairy table with centerpiece, and 2 fairy chairs. I was solely the photographer.

There is more fairy furniture, but I'll spare you.

While the girls played fairies, I attempted a photo shoot with Charlie.

The kid is cute, no?

"Mama's not so interesting. I'm much more interested in what the sisters are doing over there on the playground."

"Ok, Mama and her camera are in my way. I'll try peeking around the other side..."

"What?"

Getting sleepy in the stroller...

...and, out like a light.

A True Korean Mystery

There is a true mystery unravelling in our house. I call it the "Mystery of Imposter Charlie."

Remember way back a few months ago when I posted "Will the Real Jin-yeong Please Stand Up?"? Yeah, ok, fine, you probably don't remember it because you didn't read it. Well, scroll back and read it. In that post, I commented that the picture below, which was only the second picture we had ever received of Charlie (and the 2nd of only 3 sets of pictures total that we saw of Charlie prior to actually meeting him), looked nothing like the first pictures we saw of him.

Then at the end of the post, I wrote something cheesy like "once I meet him and see the intricacies of his face, I will recognize both this baby and the other pictures in his face..." Blah blah blah. So now that I have met Charlie in real life, I have to say that I in no way recognize this baby in his face.

Which leads me to wonder...is the picture above just a weird angle or odd lighting such that it looks nothing like Charlie? Oooooor, in a more dramatically woven theory, is this not Charlie at all?? An online friend said she saw a group picture at Holt of a bunch of kids and their foster mothers. She said she distinctly recognized our foster mother (this friend is the one who blurred the foster mother's face in the picture above, so I could post it without compromising foster mom's identity), but the foster mother was holding "Imposter Charlie" in the picture!!

In the picture above, the stuff on the table in front of "Charlie" is the contents of the care package that we sent. And, in the 3rd photo we received of Charlie, he is wearing one of the outfits we sent. In the 3rd picture, he looks once again just like the first pictures. So, yes, I realize that the most likely explanation is that the picture above is just a weird photo such that it looks nothing like Charlie. However, it REALLY looks NOTHING like Charlie. Different hair, different eyes, different mouth.

I am not suggesting anything like "we got the wrong baby." The Charlie we have is clearly the same baby in our referral photos, and also clearly the same baby as in the most recent pictures we received of him. No, I am more amused by this "mystery" than anything else.

A true mystery...

Jin-yeong Goes to the Doctor

Charlie went for his first pediatrician visit today. I'm still in Phoenix, so Sheref took him. This was just an introductory, make sure he is doing ok, routine visit. Dr. C, who we love, thought Charlie is doing perfectly and is completely on track developmentally. Isn't Sheref a board-certified pediatrician, you ask? Hadn't he already assessed Charlie's development? Well, yes. However, being enamored with your child can bias your judgement a bit, so I think both of us are happy that Dr. C agrees Charlie is doing great! Charlie did get two shots -- influenza and (I think) Hib, but apparently did well with the shots.

Ok, one more picture, just because...