First Steps!

Elijah took his first two steps! Yesterday, he was constantly practicing getting up on his own. Today, he got up on his feet and took two steps and fell into my arms. I felt so proud of him. And, I also felt emotional because it meant that Elijah is really entering toddler-hood....I wonder how it feels for him to take steps and know that he can move on his own without any aid...He will get to explore the world on his feet independently. Watch out! Mr. Explorer is ready to venture out!

Words, words, words...

Elijah is working so hard to communicate and I am working hard to understand what it is that he is trying to say. He can be very emphatic sometimes! But in the last week, Paul and I have had moments where we just looked at each other because we were having that moment, "Did you hear what I thought I heard?!" So some of the words, we are certain that we heard him say are,

"All DONE!" with the sign language. We were surprised to hear two words, "All done" so clearly enunciated. If I try to feed him, he emphatically says, "DONE!" as if he is trying to say, "Mom, I know that you know what that means....I'm done so get me off this chair now!"

"This/That" as he points to things that he wants or wants me to identify for him.

"Ah-pa!" He said this word for daddy in Korean so clearly the other day at the hospital that even the Nepalis looked at him and smiled. (The word for daddy in Korean is also used by some ethic groups in Nepal too.)

"Chaek" which is the word for book in Korean. Although Paul swear that he thought he heard the word, "book" a few weeks ago too.

"...te!" he is trying to say, "Namaste." He hasn't quite figured out how to say it, but he does the hand motion and says, "te" to our neighbors.

"Vroom.." for cars and motorcycles--he is obsessed with them.

The other day, I read to him and then, I gave him the book and said, "now, it's Elijah's turn to read to mom." To our amazement, he began imitating reading page by page. Paul and I were pretty blown away!

Some other funny things he does that are worth remembering:
He constantly blows whenever he sees candles now because he knows that you blow a candle out. He must have blown out his number one birthday candle a dozen times by now....

I showed him how to breathe on the window and draw pictures. He sits by the window, breathes out hot air, and draws!

Paul drew some random pictures of faces on a piece of paper and whenever he sees them, he laughs.

There are more but I can't seem to remember them all at this late hour.... we love watching him grow!

Oh yes, we can't forget--Elijah now stands up on his own and is trying to do it quite frequently. So, perhaps in a month or two, we might see this kid walking/running? I think as soon as he can walk, he will be running!

Yummy bites!

Here is a video of Elijah enjoying his chocolate birthday cake. I tried giving it to him without a fork to see if he would smear the cake all over his face, but he didn't. He didn't like having the frosting all over his fingers and was trying to get it off. But, he loves the challenge of using the fork. Once he got a really good bite of the cake, his eyes got all big and said YUM with me! (Hopefully, you can see it on the video.)

Happy Birthday, Elijah!

Our sweet and energetic son turned one year old today! Here's a video of Elijah's birthday celebration. We have been tutoring at a learning center for at risk kids three days a week. The organization we connected with works with street kids in Kathmandu. Although we have been in Nepal for longer stretches of time for language study in the past, we have never stayed in Kathmandu for more than a week. Since we didn't have family or close friends to celebrate Elijah's big day, we decided to celebrate with the kids at the learning center. What joy it was to celebrate with them and bring laughter and fun on this special day. May you, Elijah be the bearer of joy of God wherever you go.

Happy Birthday Elijah! We are so proud of you and we love you so much!

1 Year Old

One day before turning one....

Elijah turns one year old tomorrow! Can't believe it. Last year at this time, he was still in my womb. Now a year and a day later, he will turn one! When I was pregnant, I found the whole process of pregnancy absolutely amazing, beautiful, and mysterious. Yet, I still find myself absolutely amazed and in awe as I watch this little bundle of energy, joy, and curiosity grow into his own person. It is truly incredible to realize that your almost twelve month old has the ability to problem solve, to communicate, to express, and to exercise his own will. It's one thing to know that babies have the capacity for learning and to actually watch them in the process of learning.

Today, I was just marveling at how much he understands and communicates with me. He is constantly signing and pointing at the things that he knows with so much excitement. When he sees a bird in the air, a car or a motorcycle on the street, or an airplane in the sky, he quickly signs to let me know that they're there and seems so excited that he can identify those objects. When we are outside and the sun is bothering him, he signs for a hat. When he sees his dad's hat, he signs hat and wants his dad to wear it! When I tell him to put the spoon in his mouth, he does it. He surprised me today by showing me that he understood the word socks. (They are all in Korean but he is showing that he knows the English word to certain objects too.) Now, he knows how to give a kiss, how to use the gesture for "Nameste" and "Jai Maishi" (Nepali greetings), and he cuddles with his stuffed animal friends to let them know that he loves them. When we are in a department store, he now protests if we take him away from the toy he was interested in and he now grabs boxes and things off the shelves. He insists on using fork and spoon and prefers to feed himself than to be fed. He laughs, has a sense of humor, knows when he has done something wrong (like biting!), sings, dances, and climbs! A year ago today, he didn't exist in the outside world. But a year later, there he is, a little person. And, what a joy-giving little person he is! I had no idea on January 7th 2009 what an amazing journey of joy God had in store for me through this little son of ours. Elijah!!! You're going to be ONE!!! WOW!!! YIPEE!!!

Happy New Year!

Today marks the beginning of 2010, a new decade!

You, Elijah welcomed in the new year by taking a warm bath outside on the veranda under the warm sun. Why? We wanted you to experience the tradition that some people have where they jump into the icy cold water (forget where) to welcome in the new year...NO! Just Kidding!! We gave you a bath outside under the warm sun because it was much warmer to do that than to do it inside the flat in the bathroom. And you know what? You liked it so much more too.... So, what do you think about starting a tradition of taking a bath outside to welcome in the new year? ;)

Happy New Year, our little champ! In seven days, you're going to turn ONE!

(The last photo shows you how bundled up we are inside the house!)