10 Months

I just love naked baby bums especially my naked baby's bum. This was a VERY early morning emergency bath and he wasn't very happy with me but I just thought he was so cute standing there waiting for his tub to fill up.

Anyway, he is ten months now. How is that possible? It seems like he was born not too long ago. He has gotten to be quite the busy-body. I did some measurements myself and used some online growth charts to get his stats and percentiles:

• Weight: 20 lb 4 oz +/- (25th percentile)
• Height: 28 in +/- (25th percentile)
• Head Circumference 47 cm +/- (90th percentile)

So, as you can see, he takes after the big-headed, but hopefully not thick-skulled Mecham's.

Here are some things that he does now that he didn't do before:

• Stands unassisted for several seconds (as seen in the not so great photo above)
• Grinds his 5 teeth when eating just to make mom cringe
• Has to hold mom's hair while he is being rocked and primed for bed
• Twirls his own hair when drinking a bottle
• Loves munching on rice cake crackers with his front teeth
• Protests when pulled out of the bath
• Loves to play with doors, swinging them back and forth
• Gets very offended when you shut a door cause then he can't play with it
• Screams bloody murder when he is strapped into something (stroller, car seat, high chair etc.)
• Screams bloody murder when you put him in his play pen a.k.a. solitary confinement
• Just loves bananas

Lunar New Year... etc.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Year of the Tiger so far. For those of you who don't know, Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year) is the biggest holiday here in Korea, far surpassing Christmas. Matt got three days off for the holiday. We went to breakfast at home of some Canadian church members that live about a half hour away (they aren't in our branch unfortunately), and then the next day we had lunch at the apartment of Matt's co-worker Amit, his wife and two kids who are from New Delhi, India. They made us some amazing chicken curry!!! Lincoln quite enjoyed the flat bread (Roti) they made for us. Aside from that, I have to admit that we didn't do much for the holiday. Pretty much everyone evacuates the cities and goes to their hometown. I've heard that some people, especially kids will wear traditional Korean dress for the occasion:

We saw a few people on the streets wearing this type of get-up. Many people go to the Buddhist temples to worship. Matt got a few gifts from work that I think are quite common (cause we saw them in many grocery stores), but very funny. One was a huge case of canola oil, Spam, and tuna. My favorites!!!

Another was a huge case of Dove bar soap, body wash and tooth paste. To me that's like saying, "Please take a shower and brush your teeth cause you stink!!!" but I guess it's tradition. If nothing else, these gifts helped us add to our 3 months food/supply storage! I'm pretty sure I'd eat Spam if I were starving.

Here are some miscellaneous pictures we took on New Year at church for your interest:

Our little church

Our friend Kang Kyong Jin who comes to our house every Tuesday evening for "language exchange"

A couple of Lincoln's many admirers at church (I hardly ever have to hold him in RS cause he just gets passed around the whole time... what a dream!)

Sister Hadden (who often translates for me, bless her heart!) with the girls

Our friend Scott (the one other white person in our branch) who teaches us Korean every Saturday

Matt showing off our sweet ride (a Hyundai Tuscon) in the church parking lot

Life and Death in Shanghai

My mom gave me "Life and Death in Shanghai" to read on the flight to Korea, and I just loved it. It is a must read for everyone but especially for those who have an interest in China/Taiwan. It is an autobiographical account written by a woman who lived through the Cultural Revolution and was placed in solitary confinement for 6 years because she was more affluent and had international friends, and connections. The leadership under Mao Ze Dong accused her of being a "spy for the imperialists" which was far from the truth and they knew it. They used it as an excuse to take all her valuables and keep her in prison.

After reading this book, I was in awe of amount of damage one person ie. Mao Ze Dong could do. He crushed anyone who crossed him and created total social and economic chaos with the Cultural Revolution. He also caused the starvation of as many as 38 million Chinese nationals during the "Great Leap Forward". He kept good health care, clothing and food from the masses, but horded it for himself. Although I'm not an expert on the subject, I feel that China is still recovering from the damage done by this man.

Today while I was reading the scriptures, I came across these verses in Mosiah 29:

"21. And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much contention and the shedding of much blood. "

"22. For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God;"

"23. And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people, yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous king (or dictator, or president) doth pervert the ways of all righteousness."

I've never been one to get too involved in politics. I usually left that for my dad and grandpa. Since my mission, I have wised up a bit and realized that you are ultimately responsible for protecting your own freedoms. I've always thought that the government was responsible for protecting my rights, but many rights grated by a governmental body at some point in time have been taken away in the blink of an eye. This book has given me a great desire to always do the best I can to know who it is I'm voting for and to never place total trust in anyone else to protect my freedoms. Food for thought.

ps. Sorry Grandma Laila and Grandma Angela. I know you were hoping for pictures of Lincoln, but no such luck on this post. Well maybe I better post one. Here are his top teeth:

I told ya! They're a mile apart!

The Little Stinker

I love getting Lincoln up from naps or up in the morning cause I get to see this cute little face:

A couple of days ago, I changed his diaper after his nap and he got away from me before I could put his pants back on. I thought he was so cute, I just had to do a little photo shoot:

Playing on the windowsill... a favorite pastime

"Can't help it, I take after dad"

What a sweetie face

Showing off his new teeth. (He's got top teeth too that are about a mile apart)

A day in the life of Lucy dog

"You mean you want me to put THESE pants on?"

It's a Boy!!!

So our insurance finally kicked in and we were able to find a doctor this week who speaks English. The doctor himself did the ultrasound. The picture was so clear... I think better than the ultrasounds we had with Lincoln. I wish that he had printed out some of the other shots like of his forearms and hands and his backbone with all his ribs.

Honestly, since this pregnancy wasn't exactly planned, I haven't given it a whole lot of thought, but earlier this week I was going through Lincoln's closet and organizing the clothes by size. As I folded the itsy bitsy onesies and sleepers, I got so excited that we're having another one. And then when we saw him wiggling around during the ultrasound, my eyes teared up. I really am thrilled to have another boy. I hope he and Lincoln are just the best of buds. Anyway, enough blab, here are the photos:

Some basic profiles. The doctor kinda laughed and commented on how (besides looking at the parents) he could already tell it wasn't a Korean baby cause he has a bridge to his nose.

Left is the top of his head and his left hand. Right is yet another profile.

Here's a full (or almost full) body shot:

This one is a little freaky, the doctor pointed out his eyeballs in this one. Maybe we'll put this one up as a decoration for Halloween this October.

He Does Have Hair

Many family members when speaking with us on the web cam fear that Lincoln may never have hair. To prove that he does, in fact, have some hair (although he does have a receding hairline), I fluffed it up for you after his bath today. If I were to leave it like that, it would stay like that all day... no product necessary.