An apple a day...

...keeps the doctor away. Well, not if you're due for your 12 month check-up. Jinjin went yesterday for his 12 month pediatrician visit and shots. He did great. The photo is of him after his fingerstick for lead and hemoglobin. Apparently the site bled a lot -- hence the bandaged finger!!

Per his measurements, he is not as big as he seems to us. He is only 35th percentile for weight, which surprised me because the little guy feels like a brick to carry! Sheref was happy about that because Jinjin is a REALLY good eater, to the point where we wonder if we are feeding him too much. Pretty much the only time he ever gets really mad is when mealtime is over...

Red Rider BB Gun, Lucy-style

You know the movie "A Christmas Story"? About the kid Ralphie who really really, with almost obsessive focus, wants a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas? Well, Lucy's version of the Red Rider BB gun was a Barbie car. This kid really really really wanted a Barbie car. She talked about it ALL.THE.TIME. She reminded us, "Remember what I want for Christmas? Don't forget: I want a Barbie car." She talked about it, she planned how she would play with it. She just really really wanted a Barbie car. Lucy is just so darn cute and funny and sweet. OF COURSE we got her a Barbie car. Actually Santa got her the Barbie car, but we passed on the message to him.

Seeing her Barbie car for the first time early Christmas morning.

Remember how I said she had plans for how she would play with the Barbie car? This is what went on at our house tonight. A few Barbies, a miniature American Girl doll, and, oh yes, that is a horse hanging out the driver's door. Does this look safe to you? Looks like Barbie version of wild and crazy spring break to me...

Guess who likes spaghetti and meatballs?

Charlie is most definitely a member of the clean plate club

Happy Birthday Jin-yeong

Jin-yeong's birthday is Christmas Eve. He was born at 11:55 am on 12-24-2009 in Seoul, South Korea. He was 41 weeks 2 days' gestation and weighed 3280 grams at birth, which is 7.2lbs. Seoul is 14 hours ahead of American EST, so his time of birth would have been 21:55 on 12-23-2009 in our neck of the woods. I was on call at the hospital delivering babies at this time. The girls were home asleep, and Sheref was packing our suitcases as we left the next morning (Christmas Eve) to drive to Murfreesboro TN to visit my sister for Christmas.

This year we were also at my sister's in Murfreesboro for Christmas, and also for Charlie's birthday. Shannon (my sister) was so sweet and planned a party for Charlie. She arranged 2 cakes and lunch from our favorite barbeque place in Murfreesboro, the Slick Pig. We ate barbeque, potato salad, and cake. We toasted with (really crappy $2.99) soju that we had bought at H-mart, a Korean grocery store, in Atlanta the previous day. Charlie wore the hanbok his foster mother had given him, and looked so handsome!

What? A party for me?

All the kids at the party table. My nephew Cooper is next to Ella, but you can only see the very top of his head!

Charlie's super cute cake

The "smash cake," which was thoroughly enjoyed by Jin-yeong. He actually cried when I took it away after he had eaten probably 1/5 or so of the cake...

So cute! I thought he might be bothered by the hat, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. I think he knew he totally rocked his hanbok:)

Charlie with Mama

With Dadda

Pop (my dad) was making faces and noises off to the side, which is what Charlie is so entertained by in this picture

What a beautiful little guy

Love this kid!

We plan to send photos of Jin-yeong in his hanbok to Holt, one packet for his birth mom and one for his foster mother. His foster mother will get the photos for sure, but we don't know about his birth mom. Holt keeps a file on each child for the birth mother, who can, if she desires, come look at the file at any time and get whatever the adoptive family may have sent. We have no idea if our birth mom will ever go to Holt again, but if she does, we certainly want to have photos and keepsakes of Jin-yeong for her.

There is a concept in Korean adoption of "Third Mom," meaning that the "forever mother" (adoptive mother), even though she is the child's real and final mother, is really his or her third mom. First he had his birth mom, then his foster mom, and finally his "forever mother." We want Charlie always to be aware of his first two mothers, who provided him such a healthy, loving and wonderful start to his life.

Seoul by Night

The night before he was to meet Charlie Jin-yeong, Sheref decided he should take advantage of his last baby-less night in Seoul and get out to explore the city by night. He said he was absolutely exhausted and tempted to go to bed, but thought, "Wait, no, I'm young, strong, fit. I'm in Seoul, South Korea. There is no excuse for me not to go out and explore this city." So he walked, and he walked, and he probably took the subway, and then probably walked some more.

He walked past cars, and a blue bus, and lots of bright lights.

He walked past some sort of temple (? -- I'm sort of making this up, since, as we all know, I wasn't there)

He walked past more bright lights, and past cool young Korean people

Until he came to the Seoul Tower

Sheref and I had both heard and read about the Seoul Tower, and, quite frankly, it sounds pretty cheesy. Now I admit, I'm not exactly the touchy-feely cheesy type, but the Seoul Tower (per what we had heard) is a tower (duh) that people climb to the top of in order to place a lock on the gate, or some part of the tower. Something about hearts, and love, and locks. Also, there is a Teddy Bear Museum at the top of Seoul Tower. Again, I admit, I rank quite a bit lower than average on the touchy-feely meter, but still. Sheref said he felt the same, but thought he should at least check it out. Turns out, he said it was one of his favorite moments in Seoul. He said the Seoul Tower really does have sort of a magical atmosphere, especially lit up at night. I really love the above photo, and looking at it, I can actually imagine how special the moment was (for the record, I still wouldn't have visited the Teddy Bear Museum)

Did you think I was making up the part about the Teddy Bear Museum? Think again.

Cool image of the Seoul Tower

More bright lights. Sheref is no country bumpkin and has been in his fair share of major cities, mind you, but he said Seoul is by far the BRIGHTEST place he has ever been.

Can I play with the Nutcracker?

This question comes out of Rose's mouth quite frequently. We have a fairly large traditional-style red Nutcracker that I got from Dabby (my grandmother). It pretty much stays in a drawer until the holiday season, when it comes out and is displayed on our mantel. A good blogger would have taken a picture of said Nutcracker, uploaded it to the computer, and put it in this post. Yeah, well, that just seems like way too much effort right now. Anyways, Rose always asks if she can play with the Nutcracker. Tonight: "Can I play with the Nutcracker? I want to open his mouth." Umm, no. You may not play with the Nutcracker's mouth.

So you can imagine how excited Rose (and Lucy) were to go see a REAL production of "The Nutcracker." I took the girls to this last year, and they went with their school class this year. I was working, of course, so I couldn't go. Sheref, however, is off with Charlie for 3 months, so he went along and took Charlie with him.

Yeah, this photo is horrible quality and Rose & Lucy look weird. However, Charlie looks pretty cute and it's the only one I have of them getting ready to leave for the theater!

At the theater.

They were so excited to get dressed up and go to the Nutcracker with their school friends. They told us over and over what a great day they had. Cute!

A Boy & his Dog

Willie is the family member who had the hardest transition with Charlie's arrival. Seriously. He wasn't quite himself for weeks. Willie is sort of like a neighborhood celebrity. Sheref walks Willie a lot, and always walks Willie to pick Ella up from school. Consequently, it seems like EVERYONE in the neighborhood knows Willie. If I take him for a walk, inevitably I pass several people, who say, "Oh hi Willie!!" They don't even look at me, just talk directly to my tiny dog. Little old ladies, kids, even big gruff looking guys comment "Hi Willie!" or "your dog is so cute!" Which is a funny thing to hear come out of a large tattooed guy's mouth, when referring to a 4lb dog. Anyways, 5 weeks after Charlie's arrival, Willie's coming around now, is back to his cute cheerful self, and actually seems to really like Charlie.

Willie's favorite toy is "Chippy," a $6 stuffed chipmunk. Chippy is just slightly smaller than Willie himself. Willie loves to carry him around, bite him, throw him in the air, bite him some more, etc. Charlie has figured out that Willie will jump around, bark and "fake growl" if he (Charlie) grabs Chippy. So Charlie grabs Chippy and swing him around, Willie goes nuts, and Charlie laughs. It is hysterical to watch.