sixteen months.

it is amazing to be able to celebrate a month-a-versary with choi boy *home*. every month until now, we'd come up to the ninth, smile that our boy was growing another month older while he was loved and cared for in korea, but part of us would be so sad that we didn't have him in our arms to celebrate.

well, my friends, today is january 9th, and my sweet little boy turns 16 months today! and the best part is, i get to tell you things that he is doing/experiencing/loving as we celebrate 16 months of his life, because we are celebrating *with* him! :)

i realize that this update is probably boring for a lot of you to read through (especially since i just did an update last week!), but i thought it would be nice to document all this for the sake of posterity. so bear with me, y'all!

to celebrate our little one, here are sixteen facts about our sixteen month old:

1. he's hilarious. choi boy is so goofy and silly and does things that make us laugh all day long. among other things, he makes silly faces, imitates us and piper, puts random objects on his or our heads and gestures asking, "where'd it go?!"

this was choi boy tucking things under his chin and walking around the living room. he came and tucked a stacking ring under each of our chins and was in sheer amazement when i was able to fit TWO rings under my chin. i'm so talented. ;)

2. choi boy loves to get down and shake his groove thang. we had a family dance party the other night and he was showing off his best moves. oh, and he also has a lovely little sway for slow music.

3. he currently has 14 teeth -- 8 on top, 6 on the bottom. his bottom incisors are also just coming in and he looks a bit like a baby vampire. i tried to look his teeth tonight and he bit me. hard.

4. he's adventurous. he loves to climb and crawl under things and explore every nook and cranny.

this was at the indoor play area of our local mall. he was so busy running around and trying to get on top of everything that it was hard to snap a picture!

5. choi boy has a few words: umma; appa (still not totally solid, but getting there); mmamma (food); oh-wah (wow); jee-jee (yucky -- we use this ALL the time...see number 10 for why); a-meh (amen, after grace at mealtimes. i'm pretty certain he picked this up quickly because he knew amen = time to eat!); ko-kkee -- i think this is the beginnings of ko-kkee-rhee, which means "elephant" (because he points to his elephant humidifier and says it), but peter thinks it's go-ggi, which means "meat" (the jury is still out on this one), ppo -- translation: pororo, whom he loves. he likes to point to my laptop and say "ppo" repeatedly to get me to pull up an episode online. don't worry, he can't sit through more than 2 (5 minute) episodes!

6. he is currently in the 12th percentile for weight and 60th for height. but he's got big ol' size five feet!

see those cute little baby high top chucks? love.

7. choi boy is tough. see the bandaid on this head? yeah...he fell while reaching for something and hit his head on the floor and got a small cut. i was freaking out and nearly dialed 911, but he was fine and was laughing up a storm after the initial cry.

8. he's also super fast and it is HARD to keep up with him! he's gotten a few bumps and bruises from traveling more quickly than his feet can handle and before we can even catch him, he's down! and it makes me feel like such a bad momma every time...but he gets right back up and starts moving again!



9. he loves books! he loves to open up books and pretend to read, looking at the pictures and babbling and turning the pages. it's so sweet! and it makes this teacher's heart soar!

10. he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. he's constantly sticking things in his mouth or licking (?!) things. oh, he also loves to stick things in his ears. oh...and up his nose. actually, he loves to stick things in any orifice on his face. is this normal??

maybe piper taught him the joys of chewing on little people?

11. choi boy also loves to cheer. he claps for himself regularly and any time anyone is cheering, he loves to join in. there's a local car dealership commercial where they chant the website name and every.time.it's.on, choi boy joins in and looks at me to start cheering, too. he had a lot of fun cheering for the packers tonight! whohoo! the hubs is convinced choi boy is a lucky charm and that we will see the pack make it to the super bowl this year. ;)

12. he is very affectionate and loves to give his stuffed animals and lovies hugs and kisses.


13. though he is generally very happy and sweet-natured, there are still times when choi boy grieves for his foster family, and understandably so. some nights, he still has some wake ups with heavy crying. it takes a few minutes to calm him down and get him to go back to sleep, but the next morning, he's all happy smiles again and ready to play.

14. and goodness, does choi boy love to play! he currently loves cruising around his little car:


15. he loves to eat. a lot. his favorite is cheese. he could literally eat gobs of it. he cries and furiously signs "more" when i tell him "all done."

and 16. he brings us SUCH joy. his laughter and smiles melt our hearts and we are crazy grateful to have him in our arms!


happy 16 months, sweet choi boy!