Caleb enjoyed his 1st Birthday Party a little bit early in Visalia with Grammie and Grandpa Griffis. He also enjoyed his first taste of dessert - a whole piece of chocolate cake!
The "Doljabi" (돌잡이) ceremony for a child's first birthday is a Korean tradition. The child wears a traditional Hanbok and different objects are placed in front of him. The first two objects he chooses are thought to say something about his future. Typical objects to be placed in front of the child: a pencil and paper representing being a scholar; thread representing skill and dexterity; a noodle representing long life; and money representing financial success. In modern incarnations of this tradition families may add other objects representing similar skills or paths in life.
In our ceremony, Caleb wore a hanbok given to him by Julie's former teacher's aide from TCIS, Sunah Chong. We placed thread, a ball (representing athletic skill), a stuffed animal (representing a love of animals), money, a Bible (representing a life in ministry), and a pencil in a semicircle in front of him and let him go...
Which two do you think he chose?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill come to visit
Caleb keeps us busy and joyful, and here are a few new videos with the little guy.
One game Caleb likes to play with Daddy is "Daddy's Gonna Getcha" - a little chase around the living room.
When Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill came to visit they had a great time playing with Caleb, and Caleb really enjoyed this book sent by his Great Grandma McClure - it has little flaps that make noises when you open them, and Caleb really got the hang of it quickly!
Playing horsey with Grandpa.
Caleb loves to eat and this day he was particularly enjoying mealtime:
Thanks for enjoying our videos! We hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
One game Caleb likes to play with Daddy is "Daddy's Gonna Getcha" - a little chase around the living room.
When Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill came to visit they had a great time playing with Caleb, and Caleb really enjoyed this book sent by his Great Grandma McClure - it has little flaps that make noises when you open them, and Caleb really got the hang of it quickly!
Playing horsey with Grandpa.
Caleb loves to eat and this day he was particularly enjoying mealtime:
Thanks for enjoying our videos! We hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Caleb is Crawling!
In the world of babies, everyday brings a new developmental feat. So, what is new one day is old news the next. Caleb has been crawling for about a month now, so it's not so new for him any more, but we realize that most of you out there haven't gotten a chance to see him in action. We thought we'd better post videos of him crawling before he starts walking! Here are a few short videos of him exploring the living room in our new home in Orange.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
New home, new videos of Caleb
Hi everybody!
Here we are in Orange County, getting settled and ready for a new adventure! We haven't been posting as much to the blog, and probably won't be, but we'll still use this as a place to share our precious Caleb videos. He's growing so fast!
In July we traveled to Michigan for Peter's wedding and as a bonus, Caleb got to meet his cousin Timothy for the first time. Timothy is just 15 days younger, and these guys had a ton of fun together. Here's a video of their first moment meeting - Caleb was six months old here.
After we returned to California, Brian's mom came with us to help us get settled. Caleb got a new high chair and started eating lots of different kinds of foods. Here's a video of him enjoying the tart sweetness of applesauce. Very cute!
Be sure to check our latest pictures on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.579739991043.2068253.179201877&l=6130010c34&type=1
Here we are in Orange County, getting settled and ready for a new adventure! We haven't been posting as much to the blog, and probably won't be, but we'll still use this as a place to share our precious Caleb videos. He's growing so fast!
In July we traveled to Michigan for Peter's wedding and as a bonus, Caleb got to meet his cousin Timothy for the first time. Timothy is just 15 days younger, and these guys had a ton of fun together. Here's a video of their first moment meeting - Caleb was six months old here.
After we returned to California, Brian's mom came with us to help us get settled. Caleb got a new high chair and started eating lots of different kinds of foods. Here's a video of him enjoying the tart sweetness of applesauce. Very cute!
Be sure to check our latest pictures on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.579739991043.2068253.179201877&l=6130010c34&type=1
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
More baby videos
Enjoy watching Caleb in action!
This first video is from a walk we took with Caleb and Sierra some time ago. The video is from February but I forgot to share it. This shows what life is like here in Mali outside of our mission compound.
On Easter Sunday we went to church at Bethel. You'll notice Caleb and Brian wearing their matching Easter cloth outfits - see our facebook album for a family picture. In this video Caleb enjoys the singing. (18 weeks old)
Sometime in the last few weeks Caleb has really discovered he loves playing with Sierra. When she comes close he puts his arms out and leans in. He especially loves "petting" (ie grabbing) her ears. She has been very sweet and patient, and usually reciprocates (or preempts) the pets with a big lick to the face! (18 weeks old)
This first video is from a walk we took with Caleb and Sierra some time ago. The video is from February but I forgot to share it. This shows what life is like here in Mali outside of our mission compound.
Next is a video from Easter. Grandma and Grandpa Griffis sent Caleb a little lamb as a present, and he took an immediate liking! He tried to eat the lamb to the best of his abilities. (18 weeks old)
On Easter Sunday we went to church at Bethel. You'll notice Caleb and Brian wearing their matching Easter cloth outfits - see our facebook album for a family picture. In this video Caleb enjoys the singing. (18 weeks old)
Sometime in the last few weeks Caleb has really discovered he loves playing with Sierra. When she comes close he puts his arms out and leans in. He especially loves "petting" (ie grabbing) her ears. She has been very sweet and patient, and usually reciprocates (or preempts) the pets with a big lick to the face! (18 weeks old)
Caleb also loves singing, or at least loves it when Mom and Dad sing. A couple of his favorites are the Alphabet Song and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider. Here he gives some smiles during the song and also tries to eat the camera. (19 weeks old)
Finally, be sure to check out our newest facebook album with plenty of Caleb pictures!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
New videos
Happy Easter, everybody! Here are a couple new videos of Caleb from the last couple weeks. We have a couple more from Easter weekend, so stay tuned.
Caleb playing with his Spaceship toy at 16 weeks.
Caleb playing with his Spaceship toy at 16 weeks.
Caleb talking in the morning. He usually wakes up a pretty happy baby, and this lasts anywhere from one to ten minutes, depending on how hungry he is.
Waking up in the morning.
At 15 weeks, Caleb discovered he could grab his feet! He's 16 weeks now and changing so fast!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Paris
We just got back from our spring break, and we had a wonderful time! Julie's parents decided they did not want to wait till June to meet their grandchild, so we planned to meet somewhere in the middle between Mali and California - but since the midpoint is in the Atlantic Ocean we settled on Paris.
It was a short trip - only four days to see the City of Light! - but it was well worth it. Caleb loved getting to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Griffis, and they love him very much! Highlights include:
Travel: Caleb did a great job with travel, and enjoyed his priority seating in the bassinet in bulkhead. For those who haven't flown with a baby, shortly after takeoff they bring out a small bassinet that attaches to the wall in front of your seats. We made the rookie mistake of traveling without a pacifier (we don't use them at home) but luckily a fellow missionary in Bamako came to our rescue (thanks Becky!). I'm pretty sure some other travelers on the plane thank her too. There was only a one hour time difference, so we'll have to wait till June to find out about baby jet lag. :)
Grandparents: Julie's parents were ecstatic, of course, to meet their little baby grandchild, and it was nice for Julie and me to have some help watching him. They even gave us a night on the town alone - Caleb's first evening without Mom and Dad! I think this picture says it all though - the very first meeting.
Hotel fire: Yes, our hotel did catch on fire. We came back from seeing the Eiffel Tower at around 5:30 PM. We first noticed there was a lot of commotion going on up ahead in the street. Then we saw lots of fire trucks and police, and noticed a fire ladder up against a building. Hey, there was a fire pretty close to our hotel. Wait, a minute - that IS our hotel! The block was roped off so we could not even get near. A few police officers told us in broken English that there'd been a fire. When we told them we were staying at the Best Western they made a face like, "Ooh, too bad for you!" It was looking bad and we couldn't get much information about how extensive the damage was. Fast forward a few hours: Julie waited with her mom and Caleb in a different Best Western lobby down the street while her dad and I waited in line for an hour or so to be escorted inside and claim our belongings. Turns out the sixth floor was wiped out - one guy lost everything but the clothes he had been wearing, including his passport - but the fifth floor was only affected by water. The parents' stuff (fifth floor) got a little wet and smelled like smoke, and our stuff (fourth floor) was nearly unaffected. By 9:30 or 10:00 PM we were settled in our new hotel, a Holiday Inn on the other side of the river. Our new hotel was nicer, location not quite as great, but overall we were thankful not to have had any damage and thankful to have a place to stay.
The sights: We had a wonderful time touring around, though we've begun to see how having a baby changes the way you travel. We toured around Notre Dame, the Champs de Elysee, climbed up the Arc de Triomphe, saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night, went up the Eiffel Tower in the daytime, and spent one afternoon at the Louvre. Four days is nowhere near long enough, but we felt good about what we did get to see. L'Open Tour buses allow you to hop on or off all day at any of their tourist destinations, and that provided a great way to get around to the places we wanted to go.
Be sure to check out our pictures from Paris in our facebook album (It's a public link; you don't need facebook to view these.)
It was a short trip - only four days to see the City of Light! - but it was well worth it. Caleb loved getting to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Griffis, and they love him very much! Highlights include:
Travel: Caleb did a great job with travel, and enjoyed his priority seating in the bassinet in bulkhead. For those who haven't flown with a baby, shortly after takeoff they bring out a small bassinet that attaches to the wall in front of your seats. We made the rookie mistake of traveling without a pacifier (we don't use them at home) but luckily a fellow missionary in Bamako came to our rescue (thanks Becky!). I'm pretty sure some other travelers on the plane thank her too. There was only a one hour time difference, so we'll have to wait till June to find out about baby jet lag. :)
 |
| Caleb arrives at Charles de Gaulle Int'l Airport |
Grandparents: Julie's parents were ecstatic, of course, to meet their little baby grandchild, and it was nice for Julie and me to have some help watching him. They even gave us a night on the town alone - Caleb's first evening without Mom and Dad! I think this picture says it all though - the very first meeting.
 |
| Caleb meets Grammie and Grandpa Griffis |
Hotel fire: Yes, our hotel did catch on fire. We came back from seeing the Eiffel Tower at around 5:30 PM. We first noticed there was a lot of commotion going on up ahead in the street. Then we saw lots of fire trucks and police, and noticed a fire ladder up against a building. Hey, there was a fire pretty close to our hotel. Wait, a minute - that IS our hotel! The block was roped off so we could not even get near. A few police officers told us in broken English that there'd been a fire. When we told them we were staying at the Best Western they made a face like, "Ooh, too bad for you!" It was looking bad and we couldn't get much information about how extensive the damage was. Fast forward a few hours: Julie waited with her mom and Caleb in a different Best Western lobby down the street while her dad and I waited in line for an hour or so to be escorted inside and claim our belongings. Turns out the sixth floor was wiped out - one guy lost everything but the clothes he had been wearing, including his passport - but the fifth floor was only affected by water. The parents' stuff (fifth floor) got a little wet and smelled like smoke, and our stuff (fourth floor) was nearly unaffected. By 9:30 or 10:00 PM we were settled in our new hotel, a Holiday Inn on the other side of the river. Our new hotel was nicer, location not quite as great, but overall we were thankful not to have had any damage and thankful to have a place to stay.
The sights: We had a wonderful time touring around, though we've begun to see how having a baby changes the way you travel. We toured around Notre Dame, the Champs de Elysee, climbed up the Arc de Triomphe, saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night, went up the Eiffel Tower in the daytime, and spent one afternoon at the Louvre. Four days is nowhere near long enough, but we felt good about what we did get to see. L'Open Tour buses allow you to hop on or off all day at any of their tourist destinations, and that provided a great way to get around to the places we wanted to go.
Be sure to check out our pictures from Paris in our facebook album (It's a public link; you don't need facebook to view these.)
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