Although my son’s birthday was yesterday, we celebrated it today.  Because of the time difference between Korea and the U.S., his birthdate actually occurred this morning because time on the U.S. West Coast is 16 hours behind Korean time.  Early this morning, I woke up and remembered that fateful day when he was born.  Our lives have never been the same.  My first image of him was when he stretched out his hands and reached out for someone to hold him.  I couldn’t believe how strong he was for a newborn.  As a new father, I was a bit apprehensive about this new life we had brought into the world.  He seemed so fragile and breakable, and I was not sure how to touch and hold him.  It’s a feeling many new fathers experience when their first child is born.

Since my son’s birth I’ve matured as a father.  We now have a great father-son relationship.  This morning we drove around together running errands for his birthday.  We picked up a few groceries, some balloons, and his birthday cake, a Thomas the Tank Engine cake.  He was a great boy this morning and behaved well, in spite of the fact that his mom stayed home to finish preparing for his birthday party.  His birthday party was a great success.  About nine adults and five children attended.  My son received a number of outstanding gifts, including a wagon, wading pool, books, train toys, and a toy bus.  We gave him another toy train set, a Fisher-Price Geo Trax set.  It’s not Thomas the Tank Engine, his favorite, but it’s much cheaper and features a remote control.  He really loved it.  I put it together for him today.  We also received the outdoor playset we purchased yesterday.  The playset includes a playhouse with a slide and a swing set.  It’s still a little too big for my son, but he’ll grow into it.  Right now he can’t even use the swing set on his own.  He will sooner or later.  We’ll be in Seoul for the next two years, plenty of time for him to enjoy it.