Could he be any cuter!!

Benjamin loves his bath time and much to Mommy's chagrin, he doesn't much like to wear any of the many cute outfits in his closet. He much prefers his birthday suit and it's hard not to appease him when he smiles like this. Oh well, at least it's summer.

If you can't beat 'em, Join 'em

We were worried that our kitties (who have been our children up until now) might have some problems adjusting to letting attention shift from them to Benjamin. Having to share lap time and petting time with each other was hard enough. We didn't have to worry because any lap is fine, and any petting is fine, even if it comes from Benjamin. We're teaching Benjamin how to "pet gently" although it doesn't seem to make much difference to the kitties. They purr no matter what.

Benjamin and Aunt Sarah

Aunt Sarah has been in town this week which means PARTY for Benjamin. He doesn't like to nap right now because there are more important things to do like go on walks with Auntie and playtime with Auntie.

Benjamin's 1st Playdate (okay I know it's a cat)

Benjamin the Rock Star (Matt the Groupie)

Just in case you're wondering, this drumset is not in our house.

Baby's 1st Peas

Baby Exercises

Benjamin is not the only one in the Cail family that thinks the Johnny Jumper is the best invention ever. Matt and I like it a lot although an 18 lb baby makes for good weight training. Benjamin's favorite activity is jumping so we spend a lot of time holding him up while he launches.

Baby's 1st Stroll

Our first day back, Matt was dying to try out the new "Mac Daddy" stroller. For those of you that know Matt well, he had definite opinions about what amenities the stroller had to have (think shocks and real tires) for all the stroller four wheeling we'll be doing.

The Morning After

Baby's 1st Bath

This was after Benjamin's first bath in Steamboat. Even though we got home late on Thursday night, it was after 20 hours of planes and airports and spit up so we all needed a bath and shower.

Cosby and Cail Families

Above is a picture of us in the San Francisco airport with the Cosby family (Amy, Randy and Daniel). We escorted Daniel from Seoul to San Francisco as the Cosbys were not able to travel as far as Korea. It was definitely good practice for Matt and I.

We visited a Buddhist Temple in Seoul as well. It was a very moving experience watching the ceremonies. Also, there are a couple pictures we took of the future generation of Buddhist monks. They were adorable. I guess many Korean families will give one of their sons to the monastery and one of their daughters to the nunnery. This is done when they are 3 years old and they don't see them again. Not the sort of sacrifice I could make.

Royal Palace (Matt's a Rock Star)

Matt and I visited the Royal Palace which was an amazing compound. It was HUGE. These pictures don't do it justice. It was amusing as well. There were about 2000 school children there on field trips. They love Americans and I guess they thought Matt was the ideal American. Everyone wanted their picture taken with him. There were little schoolgirls following him around sneaking pictures of him on their camera phones. Oh to be 10 years old again.

Foster Home Visit

These are some pictures from the home of Benjamin's foster Mom. As you can see he was very happy there and I think a lot of credit goes to her for how well adjusted and adaptable a baby he is. His favorite activity is jumping and since he can't stand on his own yet that makes for a lot of weight lifting for Mom and Dad. The couple pictures of Matt are Benjamin propelling himself off the floor with Matt "maintaining" the height of his jump as well as his "uprightness". His laugh and smile are directly proportional to how high his jump is so we try to go for very "high" for the laugh and giggle reward.

Are you Kidding??!!

Matt shot this picture as we were on the way to visit Benjamin at his foster home. We were both very anxious as we hadn't seen him for a whole day and this was after only 1/2 an hour with him. We were pulled over by Seoul police because the driver made an illegal U-turn on our way there. Matt found it very amusing and so wanted a record of it.

Eastern Social Welfare Society

We didn't get a whole lot of time with Benjamin (about a total of 1 1/2 hours total for the whole 5 days we were there. We filled this time up with lots of sightseeing and we were given a tour of Eastern which is the agency that our local Agency works with in Korea.

The first couple are pictures of the nursery that hold about 40 newborns. It is always full which was very sad to Matt and I. Most of these babies are a few days to a few weeks old and are being evaluated on when they can go into foster care.

The last picture is of Matt and I and the director of Eastern. He is 91 years old and still goes to work everyday. So much for retirement. A very generous and dignified man. It was an honor to spend some time with him.

The First Meeting!!!!

These are pictures from the first day we met Benjamin. As you can see Matt is a natural which is saying a lot given I tried to put babies in his arms to "practice" every chance I could and he always said he would wait and hold his own child. Needless to say, I didn't have to worry.