Where'd it Go?

This is, bar none, Joseph's favourite game right now, dancing to the music and pretending shock when it stops. I'm beginning to wonder if he has a little theatrical blood in his veins. Maybe such things skip a few generations! (This goes on a bit, feel free to stop it in the middle. My high pitched "baby voice" gets a little irritating :)

Joseph's First Snow Day

December 2 was Joseph's first experience of snow. He was pretty excited, constantly pointing out the stuff to us!

Father and Son

So waddaya think? Any resemblance?

Video: Little Beethoven

Our little pianist seems to be taking after mommy! Though he also seems to have daddy's ability to get distracted...

Joseph's First BIrthday

Joseph had a ball for his first birthday! Three or four parties, presents from all sorts of people and the chance to wear a cool costume. In Korean it's called a "hanbok." Every time we put it on him the little narcissist walked over to the mirror to look at himself. I am constantly switching between thinking he looks like a Jewish high priest or one of the three wise men. We also followed a Korean tradition of letting him choose between a pen (intelligence), money (wealth), book, thread (long life), car, and a Bible. Our little genius chose the pen. Hopefully the Bible will come in useful too!
Anyway, it was all we could wish for in a birthday!

Dramatic Joseph

Joseph in one of the most expressive moods! Every time a new person appears, he feels the need to point out how interesting the world is with the constant cry of "Oo, Oo, Oo!"!

Thesis notes? What thesis notes?

Mommy may be done her school work, but daddy is not, and Joseph still likes to mess up his notes

Mommy's Done School, Time for Some Fun!

Okay, okay, we're back from our extended hibernation with more cute Joseph pictures.

Family at McDonalds

Just before Scott and Courtney left for the Middle East we got together at McDonalds.

Real Walking!

Joseph is very proud of himself these days! He's really walking! He can do 10 steps easily and his maximum is 20 before he reverts back to crawling mode. Life going to be hectic soon!

Synchronized Boogie

Joseph finally found a dance partner he feels comfortable with! When he doesn't dance well Joseph works hard to get him in gear. In the end though, they are able to make up. (For those of you who know us well, it's quite a surprise to have such an enthusiastic dancing son!)

Dancing in Turns

Joseph and cousin Josiah seem to be having a little dance competition!
They live by the credo: "Real men don't dance together!"

Joseph Performs for his Fans

Joseph is rarely inclined to move on to the next stage of development until he has an audience. When he has many people watching though, BOOM! instant progress! He caught the idea with Grandma the day before, and then on Sunday he voluntarily grabbed this bike and started walking! Life is fun these days!

Take That!

"This will teach you to take up all of Mommy's time!"
Joseph takes out his jealousy on Ami's school notes.

Afternoon at Westminster Abbey

We visited Westminster Abbey with another Korean Joseph
(a boarder at my parents' place) and he made this amazing photo video for us!
PS. Oops~! It's 10 times faster than it should be. I'll post some of those pictures soon individually!

VIctoria Journey

We really hadn't had a family vacation since Joseph was born - in fact not since our honeymoon - so a trip to Victoria was a nice change of pace. We did all the traditional touristy things and got some anonymous gifts to go to ridiculously expensive places like Butchart Gardens. Ami's friends, in the lower right corner, let us stay with them. The place was a wonderland of photo opportunities for Ami! If you click on them you can see them better.

Video: Mommy... or Daddy?

Joseph's enjoyment of games has grown exponentially.
He had a lot of fun with this one until he got dizzy.

Video: Wink

During mealtimes Joseph's favourite game is"Wink."
Hasn't quite got the concept down yet, but he's having fun!
(Thanks Blogger for finally getting video! More videos on
the way, Robyn!)

Family Reunion at the Mill Lake Park

Seeing as this is the last time the family will be able to be together for another two and a half years, figured we better make it count. This has been a great summer with everyone together. Now Robyn's back at Moody and Scott and Courtney are heading off to the Middle East for more than two years. We're going to be going through a lot of changes before we see each other again. You never know maybe there will be a few additions! (If you click on the pictures you can magnify them. Sorry Courtney, Google cut you in half in the family picture!)

Little Swimmer

This is our first trip to the ARC Pool. Joseph was beside
himself with enthusiasm!

Balls, balls and more balls

Joseph has really developed a passion for balls. In the top you can see Joseph's glee at the biggest "ball" he's ever seen! He has a lot of fun playing with these things with daddy!

Much Better Friends

A week ago the three of us went over to Scott and Courtney's

house to babysit their Stephen and Josiah. Joseph's

getting along with them pretty well now and Stephen was

a pretty good babysitter himself while they were watching DVDs!

"I will not be ignored!"

We were trying to catch some extra sleep one morning, but Joseph was having none of it!

Family Reunion of the Little Thoutenhoofds

Joseph finally gets to play with his cousins,
Scott and Courtney's Stephen and Josiah.
These play sessions aren't always peaceful, but
hopefully they'll be good friends by the time
these guys take off. When they meet again,
these three are going to be trying to communicate
with each other in Arabic, Korean and English!
Quite the United Nations family we have here!

Flying Fingers

The camera can't keep up as Joseph again gives
expression to his musical passion.

Good Singing Dude!

Our friend David decided to sing a little song for Joseph.
As you can see by Joseph's right hand, he approved!

Berry Season

Our first berry picking session as a family didn't
get us much. The field was pretty picked over, but
we got half a pail. Maybe Joseph can help next year!

Joseph: Super Napper!

Recently Joseph seems to have developed the ability to
nap at a moment's notice! In the top one, he was crying
from being in church all day. I put him on my shoulders
and immediately my head became a pillow. In the other
he just started nodding during a feeding and fell asleep
with his mouth full of rice.

Summer Fashion

Isn't he starting to look like a real boy?

I've been looking all over for you!

Our little elf plays with his friend.
(The toque's for protection. With his new mobility he keeps bonking his head!)

Another Two Weeks, Another Milestone!

Crawling hasn't satisfied Joseph for long!
A mere couple weeks of increased mobility has convinced Joseph that there is yet much more of the world he has yet to see. So now he's grabbing every thing he can, standing up and peeking over the edge. (He is in the first one if you look hard enough!)

Don't You Wish You Had My Sense of Style?

Joseph enjoyed his first swim immensely. He especially liked it with his floaty turtle. Guess all that kicking training in the tub paid off!

Finally Mobile!

Joseph's finally figured out how to co-ordinate those hands
and knees and is crawling. He's having lots of fun, but he
only seems to crawl to places he's not allowed to
touch!

Joseph's Warkentin Fan Club

We figured we'd better post these pictures now.
We think this fan club will likely soon move on
to a young up-and-comer in the cuteness department
named Benjamin