Tae's Autumn

It's been a couple months since we've posted new photos of Tae. He's grown so much and is talking up a storm in his cute, deep voice. He's happily enjoying "preschool" 3 days a week and loves to read, play outside, bang on a xylophone/workbench/drum/whatever is available, and always asks for a "full body hug please." How can we resist?

Here are pictures of Tae's autumn:

Picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch

Tae as a bee for Halloween

Remembering his baptism on All Saint's Day

Tae the artist

Wagon ride with daddy

Putting away the clean silverware

Yummy!

Watching the recycling truck with grandpa Rod

Reading with Grandma Sharie

Tae's first visit to El Camino Pines Lutheran Camp in October

Sometimes life is like that...

Visit to see Uncle Mark and Aunt Michelle in Bellingham, WA in Nov. (at the Children's Museum)

Tae's first experience of snow! (It snowed 4 inches overnight!)

Fun to run in snow!

Up in the sky with daddy!

Thanks for my bath, Uncle Mark!

We took the train from Bellingham to Salem to see Mike's family for Thanksgiving. This was the stop in Seattle...and it was actually snowing! Tae was fascinated with it falling from the sky.

We also saw cousins Owen and Rachel...

...and played at Owen and Rachel's house

And had a great Thanksgiving with Grandma Mary Jane and Grandpa Don

And just for fun - here's Tae singing his own version of the "Itsy Bitsty Spider," with special emphasis on "washed the spider out..."

"Itsy Bitsy Spider" from Jana Schofield on Vimeo.

Grandma Sharie and Grandpa Rod are now visiting for 2 months - Tae is loving it! Blessings to you this Christmas season!

Tae is 2!

Our little boy is becoming a big boy! On August 31, Tae turned 2, and we celebrated with a "bubbles and balloons" birthday party:

He was so happy to have a birthday cupcake that while I was lighting his birthday candles, he took another cupcake and had a bite!

Tae began "school" (a Montessori toddler's program) the day after his birthday and they made him a "birthday crown" which his teachers said he wore all day and they had to pry off him for naptime:

They put him in the "special birthday chair" and sang a special birthday song:

We were blessed that both sets of our parents were here for Tae's birthday (and Mike's parents were here for almost 2 weeks helping finish our backyard deck bench and do "Tae watch" - bless them!). We took advantage of our families being here to get some professional photos taken at the beach:

Tae's "word explosion" continues, with recent favorite phrases being:

"boom boom truck" (for any big truck)

"ready, set, go!"

"mama dada work (or home or wherever we are at the time)"

"wake up mama" (said this morning when I was a little slow getting to his crib!)

and my personal favorite: "church - fun!"

And since Tae loves to eat and sleep, here he tries to do both at the same time on a recent hot San Luis Obispo day:

We simply adore our little 2 year old! How blessed we are!

One year Forever Family Day!

It's hard to believe that a year ago today in Seoul we were handed the greatest gift of our lives - our son. We will forever remember the emotional intensity of that day for all of us - the joy we were experiencing, the loss Tae was enduring. One year ago today when we received him in our arms he probably wasn't sure what to think:

However, we're quite confident that he knows us as his mama and dada now. Here's a quick video I took last night:

Tae - mama/dada from Jana Schofield on Vimeo.

And, we're quite confident that he also knows the word no.... Here's a video my dad shot the other day (my parents were here for a few weeks - bless them!- while mama and dada went houseboating and mama recuperated from a laparoscopy).

Untitled from Jana Schofield on Vimeo.

Tae continues to bring unceasing joy to our lives - you can imagine that we laugh a lot! We delight in his recent explosion of words and are amazed at the things he understands - today he said four colors, and he can pick out several letters and even spell his name.

This summer we've been enjoying lots of fruit from our trees and berry plants - here's Tae this afternoon picking strawberries and stuffing them in his mouth (I, of course, loved the shirt he was wearing today!)

Tae has also recently been enjoying reading lots of books...

helping clean up...

beach combing...

and being the sweet silly boy we just love!

Happy First Forever Family Day, sweet Tae! We love you!!!!!

Tae is an American citizen!

Yea! On Friday, April 16, Tae's adoption was finalized at our county courthouse and Tae became an American citizen. It was a fun "red, white, and blue day" to celebrate both his Korean heritage and American citizenship. and Tae loved waving his Korean and American flags all around:

During the short court appearnce the judge asked us if we approved one another adopting Tae, and then we signed some paperwork to make him forever our son!

We loved our judge -- she gave Tae a quilt made by courthouse clerks "to celebrate the warmth of family" and shook Tae's hand to welcome him into our family forever.

When we asked if we could get a photo with her, she said it was a rule in her courtroom that she got to hold the baby:

We were thankful for family and friends who joined us at the courthouse - they even got to sit in the jury box!

We are officially a family forever and ever!

And Tae is officially a "cool" American - especially walking with Grandpa Rod.

We celebrated with a "red, white, and blue" party!

Mama and Uncle Mark were especially in the spirit:

And Tae happily continued his day with a yummy cup of milk. What a celebration for our red, white, and blue beautiful star!

Finally...a new post!!

Well, it's official - going back to work is detrimental for regular blogging!  Life has been a bit crazy adjusting to both of us working since early November, but we think we have the hang of it now, and we feel very blessed that we only need 2 days/week of child care for Tae.

The past few months have been full of joy -- Thanksgiving in L.A. with friends (we went out for excellent Korean food on Thanksgiving in Korea Town!) and a trip to the L.A. zoo; my parents visiting all of December and a delightful first Christmas with a baby; time at the beach; and Mike's parents visiting last week. 

Tae's big milestones the past few months have included learning to walk like a pro, becoming an artist (with a crayon on the back of our front door), and going from 2 naps to 1 - big changes!  Rather than bore you with more words, here's our life with Tae the past few months: