Firsts

Lots of firsts happening lately!

Joel is quite a clapper, and every time we say "yay!" now, he claps. I was holding onto his hands and walking with him, and I said, "yay!" Joel let go of my hands, sat down and clapped! It was the cutest thing ever.

We've left Joel alone twice now with Grandma! And I wish I could say it was so that Travis and I could enjoy a nice evening together or so that I could get a massage. Unfortunately that was not the case. The first time, I needed to do some errands since Travis is working so much and Joel was sick. He was napping, though, and never even woke up to know that she was there. The second time Travis and I attended a wake for one of our church members that passed away. I was emotional from that as it was, and then to leave Joel made things worse. Thankfully we were only gone for about an hour and a half, and when I returned Joel was so happy to see me. As soon as I came in, he crawled right over and held out his hands for me to pick him up. He didn't want anything more to do with Grandma that day, either. We've been very hesitant to leave Joel with anyone because of the attachment process, which is what made these two times hard. It at least affirmed that he is attaching well to us.

Joel has been sick for the first time since coming home. It wasn't anything too severe, mostly a runny/stuffy nose. It's much better now, but for a few days we could tell he just wasn't feeling well at all. Poor baby. :(

Joel had his first eye doctor appointment. An eye clinic near us does a free eye exam for infants, and we thought it would be a good idea to make sure that Joel's eyes are developing normally. He thought the funny noises and creatures that the doctor was using to track eye movement were very fun and he was quite happy. Until...the dreaded eye drops. And then the shining of a light into his eyes. He started screaming rather loudly and crying. He calmed down slightly when I sang "Twinkle Twinkle" but then resumed crying. Despite that part, he did great and his eyes are perfect!

We are busy planning Joel's first birthday party! It's so hard to believe that he is going to be one in a week and a half! We can't wait until his Tol (which is Korean for first birthday).

I took Joel outside on a gorgeous day this week for some fall pictures. We did go to a pumpkin patch this year, but I didn't like how any of the pictures turned out. Out of the fifty photos I took, I like maybe ten. It was very difficult to take pictures while constantly pulling leaves out of Joel's mouth and wiping his drool. It was also very hard to get him to smile. Then he got bored and crawled away from the leaf pile and pumpkins. Such is life with an eleven month old!