Favorite Activities These Days

Cooking and playing kitchen--Our little guys picked a "knife" during his Dol celebration (traditional Korean one year birthday celebration), which supposedly means that he will become a cook/chef in the future. Well, if there is any truth to it, he sure is showing signs that he might one day become one. ;) He loves playing kitchen and cooking up pancakes, french toast, eggs, bacon, and dhaal-bhaat! He uses the little red stool we have as his stove (he even pretends to turn it on) and then puts his hand over the pan and says, "hot!" Then, he pretends to crack eggs and make fried eggs. He loves the spatula (I love how he says the word) and pretends to flip the pancakes. Oh yes, and we can't forget tea and coffee and the "cheers!" he likes to give! Pictures will be posted soon.

Drawing--They might look like "doodles" to us, but he is making art and is very focused about what he is doing. He can spend quite a bit of time playing with his crayons and markers. I introduced him to painting a few weeks ago. Pictures will be posted soon.

He likes it so much that the other day, it was warm and I asked him if he would like to go swimming. He says, "No. Elijah busy."

Singing/playing "piano"--He sings by himself, with us, and whenever it seems there is a free moment. He really loves music. He has this small toy piano and he loves to play it. Sometimes even while we're eating dinner, if he's singing, he'll pretend that he's playing the piano on the table. I definitely want to give him piano lessons when he gets older as I also enjoy the piano very much.

Nowadays, when we're in the car, he asks the stereo to be turned on. The other day, he said to our driver, "Uncle, turn on." We're still working on the "please" part.

Going to the office--He has a little pushing cart that he used to use when he was learning to walk. Now, he uses it as his car and says, "Bye mommy. Going to office." Then, I'll ask, "What are you going to do at the office?" He replies, "Working." We say our good-byes and he's off to the office.

Reading--He's a an avid "reader." His favorite author these days is Richard Scarry. He has practically memorized some of his books and can finish the sentences for us.

Yesterday, we went to the swimming pool but it was closed and we had to come home. I purposely said, "Oh, What a disappointment." (which is a phrase in one of the books - because they can't go sailing as it started to rain.) He says to me, "Father Cat!" (Father Cat was the one who said it to his children as he was putting away the sailing boat.) Then, we had a fun "conversation" about how our situation was of similar to the story and that it was disappointing that we couldn't go swimming because the filter system was broken. He amazes me.

Learning the difference between "Want" and "Need" -- I don't know if Elijah would put this as his favorite activity, but we are in the process of learning how to use these two words appropriately. He's learned the two words and uses them often, but hasn't quite figured out how they are different. Although, recently, I can see that he might be making some connections. Sometimes, he'll say, "Need it." and I'll just respond back with, "You don't need it Elijah. You want it." It's been a good reminder for me to think about how I use the words too....do I really need this or do I want it?