Brennan at Sixteen Months

Today is March 25, 2012. Brennan is 16 months old. Hard to believe when I think about it, but the reality is my baby is wearing 18-24 month clothes! Hmmm...

To celebrate, we took Brennan to the 'Animal Kidsland' at Croance in Gwangmyeong.  The little thing played herself practically into a coma! She climbed up and down padded steps so many times that I lost count, she slid on a slide by herself for the first, second, and third times, met lots of new Korean friends (a new entourage), colored, played with building blocks and balls in a ball pit...

Afterwards, we went to the food court (one floor up) and had some lunch. Brennan was so tired that she just lay on my chest until the food was ready. She perked up and ate a sizable portion of James's lunch - noodles, beans and rice, strawberries... We also gave Brennan her first taste of ice cream. It was soft serve chocolate and vanilla on a cone. She was so cute. We had to hold her hands down so she wouldn't grab it. She would just put her mouth on it at first, but soon figured out how to get a big "bite"! :-)

Navigating the steps by herself with Daddy supervising.

Piece of cake, Mom!

Slip sliding away.... James found that turning Brennan over onto her stomach slowed her down and made for a smoother ride.

Ball pit. Brennan wanted to taste every ball! James would tell her each time, "It's not delicious." She would just pick up another to try!

Clapping with excitement after negotiating the steps.

Korean friends!

Seriously, who exactly is doing the playing here???

Brennan and Mommy coloring.

Yet Again...

Somehow, the time has slipped by again without me even being aware of it. We Hudsons tend to get rather busy with mundane things and the blog tends to get put on the back burner. Well, I am trying to rectify that now (if for no other reason than my Mom asked me to!). 

As for exciting things, not much has been going on. Weather has still been way too cold to really get outside much. Brennan is getting big... over 32 inches tall now! She hates going anywhere in the stroller and she is too heavy for me to carry for long distances. It ends up being a clash of wills and how much crying (like I am killing her) can a Mommy really take before going postal??? So, mostly we stay home or wait until Daddy is home to go anywhere. I feel really bad about that and long for the time when I can take Brennan outside to play in lush, green grass and not be worried about any of us getting hit by a car or motorbike or run over/into by some idiot person texting and not paying attention to where they are going.

Let's see... a few weeks ago (just after my last post), Brennan and I went to a clothing swap/coffee morning/ play date at a lovey home in Hillside Residence in Hannam, Seoul. Beautiful and really spacious. Did I say it was big? Brennan was so excited to have room to run (yes, run) around that she would not sit still unless I was plying her with food (and even then was only a minute at a time). It was nice getting out of the house, but at the same time, not. I don't know a lot of other Mommies here, so it was a good chance (I thought) to socialize with other Moms. Wrong. With Brennan running willy nilly everywhere, I couldn't stay in a conversation past "How old is your son/daughter?" before I was running after her. I should say here that Brennan was not misbehaving in any way. She was just super excited and needed to burn off some energy in a new place. *sigh* Good news is that we came home with some really cute things. 

Brennan's sense of humor is developing at such a rapid rate. It is astounding. Lately, she thinks it is hysterical when James or I pretend to sneeze. The giggles are infectious!

Brennan also loves to be sung to. It helps soothe her when she is cranky and often puts her in a giggly mood (depending on the song). Her favorite soothing song is "You Are My Sunshine" and her favorite giggly song is "Old MacDonald Had A Farm". Today I took some photos of her listening to James sing it and this is what I got:

March 25, 2012.

Brennan favorite thing to watch on TV now is pretty much anything Wiggles. She even tries to say Dorothy (for the Dinosaur) which comes out "Dor-see". She would be ecstatically happy to watch The Wiggles all day, every day if we would let her. It has gotten to the point that we have to tell her that they have gone "nap nap" or "night night" depending on the time of day!

Check out the crossed ankles! March 16, 2012.

Some other really cute photos over the past few weeks...

March 12, 2012.

Sometimes even big girls need some lap time with Mommy. March 17, 2012.

Out and About

James had two days off in the middle of the week last week, so we tried to get out and make the most of it. Luckily for us, the weather was very mild. We were all able to go out coat-free. Our planned destination was the aquarium at the 63 Building in Seoul. However, about half of Seoul had the same idea, so basically we went on the rather long journey to get there to only eat a mediocre lunch, use the restroom, and change Brennan. Super annoying. Also, it certainly didn't help my mood that I had recently given up caffeine as well!

Even though we didn't take any photos at the aquarium, we did get a few nice ones just in our neighborhood.

Going incognito with her security guard. February 29, 2012.

Enjoying the new sensation of touching this plant in a cafe.

Touching the dolharubang ('grandfather' statue) in Cheolsan.

Making Daddy work.

Well, hello there, shadow. Have we met?

Bren and Mommy.

Light and Art

Brennan has been keeping us super busy lately. Seems like more so than usual. She wants us to play with her ALL of the time now. She wants to walk everywhere and when she doesn't feel like walking anymore, she wants to be carried. Forget about using a stroller for any amount of time! I can't even tell you how many times we've taken her out with the stroller and ended up using the stroller as a cart while one of us carries her! Wow, super frustrating especially since this little one is not so little anymore weighing in at almost 25 pounds and 32 inches long! Whew! Brennan is pretty much wearing 18 month clothes these days. Some of her tops are even 18-24 months! Another new thing is that Brennan is now a die hard Wiggles fan. She will sit through an entire video now. I have even caught her imitating some of the ballerinas by waving her arms in the air.

Anyway, last week I had a chance to pull out the camera and use some of the scant natural light that we are blessed with in the house to take some photos of my dearest. That same day, I gave Brennan her very own set of crayons and an art book for her to scribble in. I thought she did really well although she was totally fascinated with taking out all of the crayons and throwing them! Silly girl. 

Here are some of the photos:

February 27, 2012.