So quickly...

It's kind of astonishing how quickly Maxine is growing. Not that she looks that much bigger to me, but people who see her every week, like our church friends, notice. What I notice is how her skill set is growing.

She has always had the instinct to grab anything put in her hand, but during the first week that my Mom and Dad were here, she advanced to actually reaching for things to grab a hold of.

In this picture, she and I are having a laugh conversation. I laugh, she laughs. It sounds like talking, except the words are all "Ha ha." Perhaps I am biased, but Maxine is just completely adorable. I hope it's this easy to talk to her when she hits 13.



Mom and Dad are having a good time. Earlier this week Horyon's parents took them out sight-seeing and shopping, with Youngwhan as the official photographer. Here they are at the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Building. They are bundled up because it's right on the sea, and it was a pretty cold day. Still, they had a good time.






They even drove up into the mountains high enough to enjoy (?) the snow. Dad was wearing TEVA sandals, so I think he enjoyed the snow more than anyone else. (Chaeryon asked for this picture. Hi Chaeryon!)

Their last stop was a large farmers' market. When they came back to our apartment, all five of them were carrying bags of food. Five kinds of mushrooms, a huge box of apples (if any of you need apples, I'm willing to try emailing them), some oranges, even a few mangos. (You cannot hold the wind, but you can hold a mango.) We've been eating well, though we are fortunate that it is cold enough to store fruits in our kitchen verandah, because both of our refrigerators are pretty much full.

Do you remember Sookmo? Her family took us out to a duck restaurant.

They cook the duck by, I believe, smoking it first, then slicing it, piling it in pumpkins, then cooking it more. Looked a bit nasty at first, but tasted wonderful. As you can see, Horyon sat in the corner feeding Maxine for part of the time. One more example of how being a Mommy sets you apart.

Of course, you will notice that I am sitting front and center, diligently feeding myself. Being a father means that if I'm with Horyon my eating time is decreased, but when with family she gets passed around. Score!

And now, everyone else is in the living room trying to distract Maxine from being fussy. Sounds like they're doing a good job. Sometimes I just need to be off by myself, writing for my adoring fans.

All three of them.

Peace,

Rob