What Kind of Person Will You Be, Little Fry?

What kind of person will TheFry be?

He refuses to hold hands while walking. He heeds the directions of his parents about 50% of the time. Recently, he has begun a pattern of refusing to be fed - he must do it himself.

Last night, however, PapaFish witnessed the most telling actions of who our little man is growing up to be.

While strolling at the park, TheFry tripped over a crack in the ground, falling to his hands and knees. He got up, unfazed. He circled back to where he had been standing before. Very precisely, he walked over to the crack to step over it successfully.

It's one of those powerful moments I wish I would've caught on camera. Our little guy is very determined in everything he does. His will is strong. His sense of adventure knows no bounds. I hope he can keep these very good qualities into adulthood. I feel it is my responsibility as a parent to give him the kind of environment where he can be free to do so.

I'm so proud of my little Fry!

Developmental Review

Some new developments have been unfolding in the Fish Bowl, especially now that TheFry is finally over all the miniscule illnesses he’s been struggling with since Thanksgiving:

1. TheFry has started taking steps. He will only take one or two at a time, and then drop to his knees. Then he will either start crawling like a madman to his intended destination, walk on his knees for a little bit before crawling, or collapse altogether into a desperate temper tantrum. Usually it’s the first or second option, though.

2. TheFry recognizes himself in the mirror. When I showed him his reflection, I said: “Who is that? It’s Dexter!” He responded by saying “Deh-ter.” I said, “Yes, that’s Dexter!” He responded again by saying “Deh-ter.” The other day I showed him his reflection in a little toy mirror we have and he said “Deh-ter” immediately. He only appears to be interested in this activity about half the time, but I think he’s catching on!

3. TheFry continues to love to read. Now he really wants to help turn the pages. His current favorite book is 곰돌아, 어디가니? (Little Bear, Where Are You Going?"). I am not very good at reading it but about 60% of the time he waits patiently for me to stumble through the words. It’s really helping my Korean reading skills improve a lot!

4. TheFry began to “play pretend” about two weeks ago. This really moved me, watching him imagine scenarios. His favorite game by far is feeding. He still will not feed himself at the table – he thinks it is a game and he will just end up scraping all the food on the floor – but he will feed himself (and others!) imaginary food. If I give him a cup and plastic fork he can play pretend for hours. The other day I woke up in the morning to him dipping a fork in an empty cup and then “feeding” himself.

Another play-pretend game he plays is crochet! If he has a crochet hook he will look for yarn and he will try and stick the hook in the yarn. He’s watched me so many times, I guess, it’s one of the things he knows about best!

5. He has started really getting interested in sorting objects. He will pull all the plastic bowling pins out of his toy box, for example, and line them up. Or he might spend quite a bit of time figuring out how to stack a set of plastic nesting barrels he has.

One particularly new development in this area is that he has become interested in building towers rather than just knocking them down. About 80% of the time he is building he will hand the blocks to me or PapaFish and then we will build the tower. However, on my dinner break this evening I was handing the blocks to him and he was trying to stack them up in a tower by himself! I am really excited about this one.

The down side of these developmental heights we’ve been climbing are the temper tantrums that have come with them. He just really screams and throws little fits sometimes. Also, he’s learned how to wiggle out of his seatbelt in his highchair and stand up in it, which makes me pretty nervous. I can’t take my eyes off of him for a second!

And now, the Stages of Tantrums:

Oh, Hi!

You have the camera!

Give me the camera!

Why won’t you give me the camera?!

Alas, cruel world, how will I survive?! My life is MISERABLE!

Does no one understand my pain?!

Fine, I give up—but I’m not looking at that camera EVER AGAIN.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mothers Day, all you wonderful Mamas out there! Enjoy these beautiful apple blossoms, found not five minutes' walk from our home!

Spring has truly arrived "in full bloom"!

We even saw some cherry blossoms:

They are my favorite flower as far as blossoming trees goes (Tiger Lilies are my favorite of all flowers) - and it was the perfect gift for Mother's Day to see these flowers as I walked with TheFry on Saturday evening.

While we were walking at the park, we spied this bench with what looked like a bouquet of flowers on it...

But it wasn't a romantic gesture from a guy about to propose to his girlfriend, as I had hoped. Then again, I am a sap sometimes. But the flowers were pretty anyway, and I love the big shiny building in the background. There's something quaint about a city park.

We spent a lot of time watching these two birds. They kept singing and chirping and TheFry would just smile and laugh and kick his chubby little legs. Eventually, they flew off and we headed home.

TheFry has been eating a lot of spinach lately. We make our own baby foods at home, and he is afraid of the food processor. Therefore, I tend to prepare the foods after he goes to bed, and sometimes it takes several hours (like if he keeps waking up every hour). Such is life in an apartment. But I think a messy face is a cute face.

Lately, TheFry has been pushing himself up on his hands. Sometimes he forgets to unclinch his fists.

Here he is, chubby and happy and dressed like a mime (that one was for you, Mom ;) ).

This one's my favorite. That's not a tooth - it's just his gums. He really likes to play with his tongue, including turning it sideways (which I myself cannot do), chewing on it and the like.

In other news, I have a romantic husband! He made chocolate ganache-covered blackberries for Mother's Day! Aww...

Yes, those are slices of candied kumquat zest adorning the little nuggets of blackberry deliciousness!

A blurry close-up because I only have a P&S...

That's better! Mmm...ganache was a little melty, so it stuck to the paper instead of peeling off like plain chocolate. The blackberries were savory yet subtle - not overpowered by the ganache and yet now overpowering it, either. The kumquat added a little bit of zing to the overall feel, and a much-needed crunch. The sugar coating on the kumquat zest kept it from being bitter (which is how I remember kumquats from my childhood).

To be honest, I was skeptical about the kumquat zest because the only time I've ever had kumquats they were extremely bitter. However, this was an amazing dessert and I have a wonderful husband who stayed up after work buying and preparing the ingredients for me! He even made chocolate-covered pecans (also with the ganache - sadly, no pictures), and pecans are my favorite kind of nut!

Well, happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, and here's hoping you had a relaxing day with good food and family who loves you! Until next time!