Grandmother Love.... Ahhhh!

Greg doing a wrap impersonation, but all of us dancing away to the MP3 collection of great tunes, this one being "I Believe I Can Fly," R Kelly. Grandma also helped us train Noah to sleep regularly so Mom and Dad could sleep better. Thanks Grandma!!! Here's to Granmother-love! I never really appreciated my parents as much as I do now. What an insight into the connect between the generations. I'm so touched by it all.

Grandma Comes to Visit

Funny, it is. I never thought that I'd ever come to appreciate my mother as much as I do now that I have a son. My Mom, or Grandma, has helped Jinny and I have more quality time for each other, and we find Grandma's attitude oh-so helpful and all-embracing.

It seems that Noah really enjoys the extra attention, and the interaction of being all the more connected on a daily basis, whereas us parents can sometimes be distracted, Grandma is ever-present, except after 8PM when she needs to go to sleep. She's an early riser and early sleeper. In this picture we are all together at The Seoul Arts Center with the fountain in the background. We all had some coffee and cheese cake at Mozart's Cafe. Noah just had milk - Momma's milk.

Noah Gets a Haircut...

Noah got his first haircut, and I must admit, I thought he had become a mini-monk! This being the case, I let him play with my mala bracelet, and he took a taste of the Buddha. Yummy!!! He even came back for seconds. Mmmm. I think he likes this toy...

Rock & Roll, Roll, Roll...!

Noah's first full roll!

Beethoven Roll-Over!: Noah Learns to...

Noah has learned to roll-over, and is enjoying it and doing it with increasingly greater ease as every day passes. We predict he will be crawling very soon! Jinny and I am floored listening to his laugh when tickled. We find Noah's energy SO authentic and integrous... and beautiful. Ahhh. But as Noah gets to walk, he'll be so much more active and challenging to care for... Here it comes in a couple weeks!

On the Gondola! Weeeee!

Jinny, me, and Noah stayed the weekend at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong, invited by a friend for a work/vacation holiday. We went up the gondola to Dragon's Peak at Yongpyong, and the view was so wonderful. There was a small garden at the top, and Jinny fed Noah there, and in the gondola on the way down. Thank goodness we were the only ones in the gondola. It was a real treat to go, and the view was stunning. Noah enjoyed it too, but I suspect not as much as us.

Noah Finds His Voice!

I've heard about singers finding their voices, but a baby? Yes, indeed! Noah has learned to say things outloud, in a strong voice. This is different from a baby's cry, or asking to be held. He can now project his voice, and he's reveling in his ability.

Also, worthy of note, Noah can now move around on his back on his mat, and turn on his side, though he still has a bit of trouble on his front, but can lift himself a tiny bit. Soon, he'll be crawling around bitting at my ankles.

In reflection, it was just four months ago that Noah opened his eyes for the first time, and now he's singing baroque - well, not exactly.... :-).

The vacation time for me during this July has been busy teaching at kids' camp for my university, as well as in other venues. Our money situation couldn't be better, and the quality of work is only improving by the year. In general, we are exceedingly lucky and are very grateful for all that we have. We hope to share our blessings with as many others as possible as time passes.

For those of you with investments, please check out www.solari.com/blog. The worst is yet to come for financial markets. Over the past six months our family has been building up our positions in gold to nearly 50% of our non-real estate investments. My favorite quote comes this time comes from Catherine Austin-Fitts of solari.com,

“Real estate has little or no value when the people who live in it don’t have jobs.”

For a fantastic alternative to business as usual, visit http://www.mcc.es/ing/index.asp. Be sure to download and watch their corporate video on what they have accomplished over the past sixty years. Stunning!

In much warmth and affection,

Greg

Breast Feeding is Hard Work!!!

In today's modern world, child care often goes unpaid and unrewarded. I am learning from Jinny just how much effort it requires to care for a child. As a husband who is often outside the home, I notice how hard it is to realize just how hard it is until I am home alone with Noah for a day. This picture reveals to me the sweet joy of Jinny's care and love for our son.

True Presence and the Power of Love

I never thought that babies could pick up on love so early, in essence, right out of the whom. When Noah was born, the nurses handed him to me three minutes after he arrived, crying and wailing. The moment he was in my arms, he became quiet, stopped crying, and the nurses owed and awed. After the nurses took a picture of Noah and I together with my cell phone, I handed Noah back to the nurses. Noah proceeded to start crying again. I just knew that Noah knew something, was intelligent, and how amazing that is for a being, a biological organizism, just nine months old. Totally amazing.

I appreciate so much, and am wowed by Noah when I sit gazing into his eyes with no thoughts at all, just showering him in pure attention and loving presence. His eyes light up, and he smiles so much, cooing and gurgling to his heart's content. Yesterday, it was just stupendous. I was holding Noah, as I usually do on my right thigh, and I lifted up his shirt and gave him a fart kiss on his tummy. He laughed three times really loudly, each time I did it. Jinny could hear in the kitchen. It was his first real laugh that I've heard, and he's only 14 weeks now. My head dropped in wonderment and that sound echoed through my mind the whole day, and even now. Little things like that stimulate me in ways that help me appreciate the wonders of infantasia.

Oh, for balance, while I was giving Noah a bath, at Mommy's request, Noah spirted onto me for the first time. Luckily, Mommy warned me to take off my jeans before giving him a bath. 'Why?', you might ask. Noah has a tendency to pee-pee especially, or poo-poo the moment he feels warm water. I had to wash my own underwear after giving Noah a bath. Actually, I had to give myself a bath, too.

And before finishing, I was really impressed with my little Noah, startled even, when this young baby erupted in a sudden burst of volcanic bowel movement that made the diaper look like a suicide bomb, though light brown instead of dark red. I didn't know babies could do that! I'm more careful now, knowing that it might come at any moment.

We are inventing new games to play with Noah, such as wave the hands in a dance 1 meter away from his eyes. Also, we have an ABC mobile with an electronic tune that he enjoys. If others read this and have ideas of things Noah might like to do or play, please offer a comment below this post.

In much love and affection,

Greg (and Jinny)

Drooooool...

Noah is really good at drooooooling! Wherever we take him, we have the cloth, er, I mean the towel, er, I mean the blanket. It's good to the wash all of them regularly.

One of Our Favorite Games!

Noah loves to walk on Daddy's tummy, and drool all over the place - thus the big thick towel. I hope it's enough.

Noah Walks Up Daddy's Tummy

Dear All,

Yes, it's true. Noah has begun to walk, with a little help from his friend - Daddy! Noah can support his own weight for a short time, and with a little help, walk up Daddy's tummy. He's actually smiled more than usual today when I engaged with him in this. He's showing how much he likes to move around the apartment, and even go outside, though he doesn't stay awake long when we go outside due to, we suspect, and heavy stimuli. He's also sleeping a lot today.

More big news is that Noah's ability to turn his head as arrived, when hearing or noticing something. Before, he never turned his head, but now, it's normal for him. Waaaaa. Baby is growing.

Vacation has arrived for Greg, and he's beginning to study NVC in more depth (www.cnvc.org), as well as study Korean (imagine that, after 4.5 years of living here he's finally getting around to it - Uh-oh...I think he's evaluating himself - Ouch!).

Greg is transitioning into a more relaxed environment, where he's able to "live love" and source his presence from a deep connection with self and others. He's trying to get back the mindfulness he had when at Plum Village, and is strongly longing for a greater wholeness in his entire atmosphere. He knows just how much joy and happiness this will not only bring for himself, but for his wife and baby son, Noah.

In much warmth and affection,

Greg

Noah Moves

Dear All,

Noah has started to support his neck better and better theses days, and soon enough he'll be crawlin' 'round the apartment. He loves for us to carry him around the house while we hold him, and I've developed a new game of "touch the nose" with him, which he really likes.

Jinny and I are wantin' to go camping outside of Seoul, and are trying to do more of that... Searching for that perfect camping place, free of other people, is a challenge in a nation the same size of Oregon with a population of 50 million (Oregon has only 3.5 million). Also, I'm reducing my activities at my Buddhist temple to devote more time to enjoying life more... This summer my goal is learn more Korean and deepen my studies of Nonviolent Communication (NVC - see www.cnvc.org and www.krnvc.org). I am working toward becoming a Certified Trainer. Also under consideration, is returning to school for my PhD in Education, from a colleague of Alfie Kohn (Google "Alfie Kohn" to get a sense for my direction).

That's it for now... I'm really excited about taking more time with family..., and not having to sacrifice the money aspect to do it. Yippee!

That's all for now...

Greg

Noah Was Born

Well, better late than never, so they say. Here's our blog full of photos of our family and the ups and downs we go through in daily life - we'll, actually, mostly the happy moment when we felt like taking a picture. I'd consider us very lucky and happy to be in the situation we are in, and to have so much love and warmth among us all.

Noah was born on April 7th, at 2:13PM, 2008. We had a professional astrologer do his chart shortly after he was born. Looks like he'll make a GREAT professor one day, apparently. See next post for astrology reading... (fun!).

Jinny was in the hospital for a week after the birth, and then went home to her mother's home, as is tradition in Korea. She stayed there for nearly six weeks, leaving poor old Greg at the other home to fend for himself. It was a bit tough on him, but he managed somehow. He visited Jinny and Noah as much as he could considering his other commitments of work.

Finally, Jinny came back to her home with Greg not long ago, and Greg felt much better. Jinny is a full-time Mommie, while Greg works much less than most men like him, and has time to hold Noah and be an active part of his life, though he's not so active yet (aka he can't walk yet, and is just beginning to get some control over his neck - though he can kick and partially stand on Greg's tummy).

A Mature Look Into the Future

I like this photo because it begins to reveal a mature Noah, what he might be like as he matures. His clothing reminds me of Gandhi's native dress. What are your thoughts when you look at this picture of Noah? Hmmmm.